Dearly Begotten

After my sister died last year, my wife and I flew out to Indiana to empty her storage unit and haul it all back to California by truck . In the over four months since, we have been going through everything: trashing, recycling, shredding, and/or donating items as appropriate. It’s been an arduous task, but finally our house is regaining some semblance of normalcy (meaning I still have my things to trash, recycle, shred, and/or donate as appropriate).

Included in box after box from storage were hundreds of family treasures; not gold and silver, but old photos, documents. family writings, and truly historical artifacts. Specifically, things like souvenirs from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, newspapers announcing the end of World War II, a newspaper from 1901 detailing the death of my grandmother’s brother-in-law during the “Philippine Insurrection,” and accounts of my family’s wanderings such as stories of one great-great-grandmother sailing to America from Germany in 1864 (while another ancestor was being wounded repelling the Confederates from their attack on Washington, DC).

We found so much that we needed to put in order, that we joined a couple online genealogy sites to flesh out our family trees by building on earlier attempts to do so. I had already drawn several trees for a project back in junior high or late grade school (talk about ancient documents!), but they needed correcting and updating.

It’s taking a lot of time and effort, but we have been enjoying the work; we’ve been detectives, solving who was related to whom and how, and what they did in their lifetime. From all this study, we’ve found lots of fascinating stories:

  1. Two ancestors from different lines, both wounded in the leg during the Civil War and carrying the bullets the rest of their lives.
  2. A grandmother who was a concert soloist and was offered the chance to study music in Italy, but turned it down to marry my grandfather. (Which proves not every good gene gets passed down to your grandchildren.)
  3. One ancestor murdered by counterfeiters when he discovered them.
  4. Great-grandparents living in a sod-house on the Kansas prairie.
  5. A great-grandmother saving her paper dolls during the Chicago Fire of 1871.
  6. The first Eddy coming to America in 1630 on the last of the Pilgrim ships: the Handmaid.
  7. The death of one ancestor during another pandemic in 1918.

It’s been fascinating to not only read about events like these, but to do so in the handwriting of family who have gone before. I joke to Karen that we need to establish a museum to preserve and exhibit all these treasures!

But, as wonderful as learning about family can be, it has had a sobering effect on me, sometimes leaving me drained emotionally and mentally. It’s done so because of the weight of all those lives, lived over the centuries, but now gone from the earth. As I plug in birth and death dates for each relative I am reminded of the temporary nature of life. It reminds me of reading parts of the book of Genesis in the King James Version, such as chapter 5 with its repeated formula: “so-and-so lived and begat so-and-so and then he died.” For example:

“And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.” (Genesis 5:5-11)

All my family down to and including all my aunts and uncles, are dead and buried. Now even my sister is gone, and looking ahead, I know that one day this century my own leaf on the family tree will receive its last notation. How depressing is that!

And yet, there’s something else I have found and been encouraged by, one fact that inspires and actually overcomes the sad notes of loss and the temporary nature of life on this earth: almost all of my family were, or are, Christians. There is a thread of faith that winds its way down through the various family lines and generations, from parent to child, and from our family to others. Besides the many statements connected with eulogies and gravestones, there are letters, testimonies, and artifacts that celebrate Christ:

  1.  An article in German celebrating the life of one great-great-grandmother who came to faith in Germany before coming to America and joined a church in Chicago immediately upon arrival. It said that in spite of much suffering at the end of her life, she had einen unerschütterlichen Glauben, that is, an unshakeable faith in God.
  2. A stranger who walked into my parents’ 50th Anniversary party and thanked my dad for bringing him to faith when the man was a student in my dad’s Sunday School class – 50 years earlier.
  3. Speaking of Sunday School, we found a 10-year Perfect Attendance pin.
  4. We have photos of South Dakota in the late 1800s taken by one great-grandfather who was a Methodist Circuit Rider and minister in that area.
  5. Another line that included a Lutheran bishop in Stuttgart, Germany.
  6. There’s the statement from one genealogist that there has never been a generation of Eddy’s without a pastor.

These evidences mean so much to me, for not only did so many relatives live lives here on earth in ways that honored Christ and sought to obey his Word, but their faith in God’s promises means that their lives did not end when they left this earth. It means they are even now in the presence of the One they believed in. It also means that one day, their gravestones will need a new date added: the date of their resurrection. On that day, Christ will return with a shout and call the vast numbers from every family and lineage forth from their graves, some to judgment, and others to eternal life. It gives me joy to anticipate the resurrection of the many ancestors I never got to meet: what a family reunion that will be!

I’d like to close with a poem I found from the pen of a grandmother* I was too young to know before she died, but whom I expect to one day meet. I found this poem in her handwriting among the papers we saved:

We know that our works don’t save us; that is the result of God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. But how much better would life be for us and for the world around us if everyone sought to please God by our “Kind Words. Loving Acts, and Christian Living”?  And how much better our family relationships and legacy might be if we taught the next generations to believe and love Christ and seek to follow his commands? There is a reason God commanded us to do so in places such as Leviticus 10:11, Deuteronomy 6:7, Matthew 28:20, John 14:15, and John 14:21.

Eventually the day will come when God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Thanks be to God for that promise, and for the gift of eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

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: Genesis 5, Leviticus 10:11, Deuteronomy 6:7, Matthew 28:20, John 14.

*The same grandmother who gave up studying music in Italy.

A Better Baptism

Have you ever seen a TV commercial that went like this: a clunker of a car putts along while other cars race past, leaving it in the dust. Finally its engine conks out, and the driver coasts to the shoulder of the highway, while a soothing voice comes on to say, “Our cars don’t run too well, but they make excellent gifts to charities.”

Or did you ever see a fast-food restaurant named “So-So Burgers” with signs in its  window that read, “The burgers are better…across the street,” and “We love to see you frown”?

Or did you catch any candidates in the recent presidential campaign say anything like this: “I appreciate your support, but my opponent will make a much better president, so I’m voting for him myself and think you should, too!”

Or imagine Bill Gates holding a press conference where he says, “Our Windows software is pretty good, but if you want a better system, get a Macintosh.”

We’re not too likely to hear that kind of advertising, are we? Everyone claims their own product or service is the best available, because they want your business. It makes sense for them to promote what they have to sell. We’re used to that self-promotion; in fact, we expect it.

That makes it all the more fascinating when we read what John the Baptist had to say about the baptism which he was offering to the people of his day. Crowds of people had come down to the Jordan River valley, responding to John’s call for repentance from their sins. The culmination of their repentance was to be baptized by John in the river, and many answered the call. It was to these people that John made an astounding announcement. Basically John said something like this: “This baptism you’re getting from me is okay, but just wait. Someone is coming soon who will have a far better baptism than mine.” Poor John. He sure wouldn’t have made it in the advertising business….or would he? Why did John downplay his own baptizing in favor of someone else’s?

John did so for two reasons.

First, the crowds were beginning to believe that John the Baptist could be the Messiah they had been expecting. The time was right, he was preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins, he called for righteous living in preparation for the coming of God’s Kingdom, John lived a holy life, and he even looked like a prophet –  dressed in camel’s hair coat and leather belt. And so the people began to ask each other, “Is John the Messiah?” John wanted them to know in no uncertain terms, that he was not the Messiah, but only the one sent to prepare the way for the true Messiah who was yet to come. John told them his own baptism was inferior, because he was inferior to Christ – unworthy to even untie Christ’s sandals.

The second reason John played down his own baptism was that the nature of John’s baptism was different from the baptism which Jesus would bring. Something different was taking place when each baptized someone. Let’s compare them:

  1. John’s baptism: in one sense, what John was doing was not new to the Jewish people. Already, when a gentile converted to Judaism, he or she would be baptized as a symbolic act that their uncleanness as a gentile was being washed away. And for Jews, many would have repeated washings or baptisms to get rid of ceremonial uncleanness so they could go to the temple and participate in Jewish rituals. When John called for repentance of the people, he was asking them to repent more fully of their sins, but the actual act of baptizing them was not much different from what went before – it was a symbolic act, and primarily a human promise to turn away from sin.
  1. Jesus’ baptism, on the other hand, was, and is, much more than symbolic. Jesus’ baptism is primarily an act of God by which God’s grace and forgive- ness are truly granted to those being baptized. It is an act of God because Jesus is God. It is also an act of God because the Holy Spirit, who is God, comes upon the person being baptized. They are baptized with the Holy Spirit and not just water. With the Spirit comes forgiveness, but also new life as one is reborn a child of God. Baptism is more than water cleansing the outside; it is also the Spirit of God cleansing and remaking the inside. We are never alone, for the Spirit lives within us: guiding us, enabling us to resist sin and empowering us to do works which are pleasing to God. Eternal life is promised to those who believe and are baptized, and we are told that our baptism joins us to Christ’s death, and to his resurrection. When you see all that Christ’s baptism brings, you can see why John pointed his hearers to look for the greater baptism to come.

It’s not that John’s baptism was bad. The Gospels say John spoke the word of God, and in Luke 20 – Jesus implied that John’s baptism came from God. And as we read earlier, Jesus himself was baptized by John.

But the superiority of Christ’s baptism was shown later on, in Acts 19, when Paul met a group of believers who had been baptized by John, but didn’t know anything about the Holy Spirit. Paul baptized them in Jesus’ name, and at once the Holy Spirit came upon them powerfully. You might say their baptism was upgraded!

In a sense, John’s baptism was the last act of the Old Covenant. Like the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, it brought remedy for sin to those who believed God’s promises. But also like the rest of the Old Covenant, John’s baptism was a temporary shadow of what was to come. Now that Christ had come to institute the New Covenant, the Old had to pass away. With the New came something better – a better baptism than what John could offer.

As baptized Christians, we have a better baptism. We have the baptism promised by John and instituted by Christ, a baptism with the Holy Spirit.

So why would you go back and trade in your better baptism for a lesser one? If you wouldn’t, that’s great, yet today there are many Christians who seem ready to do just that. They actually prefer the baptism of John. They certainly wouldn’t say they do, nor even think of it that way. But, the truth is: they treat their Christian baptism as if it were no better than John’s baptism, and thereby miss out on some of what Christ has for them. They make two major mistakes:

  1. They forget that Christian baptism is mainly an act of God. Some Christians think baptism is a good work they are doing for God, like they’re earning Brownie points. Others, even entire denominations, deny that baptism has any real power in it. They call it an ordinance, meaning something we do because Christ told us to, as a sign of our faith, but not as a saving act of God. Worse yet, I’m afraid many people view baptism only as an initiation into church membership, like when I joined a fraternity in college, and had to walk around downtown Chicago at night, carrying a wooden sword and selling toilet paper at a penny a sheet to earn bus fare back to the college. (Fortunately I ran into a guy who bought the whole roll for $5.00!)  Baptism is a gracious gift from God, and he remains the primary actor in the drama. His blessings given are real, not just symbolic, and once we understand and accept this, we view our baptism with gratitude and certainty, because its value depends on the faithfulness of God and his promises, and not on our actions.
  1. They forget that they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and not just water.

There are two groups that make this mistake. One group sees baptism as a symbolic action, a church ritual without any supernatural power. They don’t expect any real changes to occur except what the people do for themselves. It’s really sad they have that view and expect so little from God in the sacrament. Scripture describes them as: “Having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

The other group believes greatly in the power of the Holy Spirit, except they don’t think the Spirit comes during water baptism. They teach that there is a second baptism – a Holy Spirit baptism – which comes at some other time. And in their view, speaking in tongues is the evidence you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.

While I respect their desire for spiritual gifts, this group reduces Christian baptism – that which Christ commanded us to do for all nations – with water – and relegates it to something no greater than John’s baptism, because like John’s they say it is just water and no Spirit.

But the New Testament knows just one baptism – Christ’s – complete with the Holy Spirit and the promise of forgiveness and new life. When a person is baptized, there may not be any outward evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work. But the greatest work of the Spirit is what takes place invisibly as the Holy Spirit regenerates and brings spiritual life to the person being baptized.

That is the baptism you have received – the one instituted by Jesus Christ, commanded by him, and empowered by his Holy Spirit. Don’t despise the great gift which God has given you, or trade it in for a lesser one. You have the better baptism, so rejoice and treasure it.

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

Read: Luke 3:15-22; Luke 20:1-8; Acts 19:1-7

 

New Year, New Names

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 

 

The Twelve Months of Covid

In my previous blog, I referred to different versions of favorite Christmas carols and hymns, modified due to the current pandemic. While not belittling the people who are suffering from this disease or the shut-downs, it does help to be able to laugh adversity in the face (even if that face is masked).  Here is my version of The Twelve Days of Christmas:

The Twelve Months of Covid

  • On the first month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Stay home and you’ll be virus-free!
  • On the second month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Two hands keep washing!
  • On the third month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Three diff’rent masks!
  • On the fourth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Four sterile wipes!
  • On the fifth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Five quar-an-tines!
  • On the sixth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Six feet apart!
  • On the seventh month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Seven meals delivered!
  • On the eighth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Eight grades home schooling!
  • On the ninth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Nine Zoomers meeting!
  • On the tenth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Ten months and counting!
  • On the eleventh month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Eleven sports not playing!
  • On the twelfth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Twelve recalls coming!

Of course, I actually prefer a different version of The Twelve Days of Christmas, one in which the numbered gifts serve as a memory device for Christian beliefs. In this other version, the verses represent:

“My true love” = God; “sent to me” = by God’s grace

  1. The Partridge = Jesus Christ
  2. Two Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
  3. Three French Hens = Faith, hope and love, the theological virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13)
  4. Four Calling Birds = the four Evangelist and/or their four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
  5. Five Golden Rings = The first five books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch” (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
  6. Six Geese A-laying = the six days of creation (Genesis 1)
  7. Seven Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, understanding, piety, and fear of the Lord; all but piety listed in Isaiah 11:2)*
  8. Eight Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes (Matthew 5:2-11)
  9. Nine Ladies Dancing = the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
  10. Ten Lords A-leaping = the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21)
  11. Eleven Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles (Acts 1:13)
  12. Twelve Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed, the twelve tribes of Israel

In keeping with the “laugh at Covid” theme, our Christmas decorations this year have changed. Since nobody is visiting, Karen decided to put just one ornament, a red cardinal, on our main tree. When she sent a picture to one of her friends, the friend replied that the bird was “in isolation.”

And then, there is the nurse ornament from my late sister, which we modified slightly before hanging it on our smaller, “retro” tree:

If only we could get her to keep her nose inside the mask!

That’s all for now. Until we communicate again, 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: Job 8:21; Job 39:22; Psalm 2:4; plus all the verses cited in The Twelve Days of Christmas listed above.

*But see also 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, which lists 9 gifts: “For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” (Emphasis added)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contactless Faith?

Thanks to new restaurant dining restrictions here in California, I went to pick up a meal from one of our favorite restaurants for us to eat at home. As I stood outside the restaurant’s front door, waiting for my order to be brought to me, I read the various signs posted around the entrance: “Mask required,” “Maintain six feet of social distance,” and “Contactless Curbside Delivery Available.” I wondered about the last one; wouldn’t some contact be needed, since the food is handed from one person to another? Or do they just throw the food out the window like someone feeding bread to the birds?

I also began wondering about other areas where “contact” between people is discouraged. Schools, grocery stores, parks, sports events, and even churches. The last is especially troubling; it’s one thing to warn people about packing together in small spaces, and another thing to have “Caesar” intervene in matters of the free practice of religion, which is supposedly guaranteed by our Constitution.

And now, with the current three-week restrictions on gatherings, we are being told to stay away from church services even through Christmas.

Which got me thinking even more: is faith possible without contact? Can we really have or practice “contactless faith”? How would this have changed the history of our faith, if today’s rules had always been in force? Just imagine:

  1. If Adam and Eve had kept social distancing, none of us would even be here.
  2. Mary and Joseph would have sung in the stable, “A way we’re in danger, no mask for our heads.”
  3. The wise men wouldn’t have been allowed to travel across national boundaries to visit the infant Jesus. We’d be singing, “We three kings of Orient are, staying home, can’t travel too far . . .”
  4. Other Christmas songs we’d be singing: “Deck the Halls with Rolls of Plastic,” “Edicts we have heard on high, telling us to stay inside,” and, “O Quarantine, O Quarantine, your rules are always changing. . .”
  5. Pontius Pilate would have not just washed his hands at Jesus’ trial, he would have washed his face and used sanitizer, too.
  6. Martin Luther’s famous defense at the Diet of Worms would have been: “Here I stand, six feet apart from you.” Then he would have self-quarantined at the Wartburg Castle for the next year.
  7. And finally, we’d have to revise the old Twelve Days of Christmas to go something like, “The Twelve Months of Covid.”*

On a more serious note, the biggest change would have been in our Lord’s earthly ministry, which was all about making contact with us and all the people around him. Just consider:

  1. Jesus had contact with lepers, who were the most socially-distanced people of his day: they were required to call out when they walked so other non-infected people could avoid them. When a group of them saw Jesus, they “stood at a distance” and called to him. Rather than running from them, he healed them, resulting in one falling at his feet (Luke 17:11-19).
  2. Jesus associated with sinners, including tax collectors and prostitutes, who were the “social lepers” of his day. “And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?'” (Mark 2:16).
  3. Jesus touched several dead people (just before raising them to life), something that was socially and religiously forbidden in his day. Numbers 5:2 ordered, “Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead.” (Talk about social distancing!)
  4. And just imagine the Last Supper, with Jesus instituting a “drive-through” Communion service as the disciples filed in and out of the upper room.

But the whole point of Jesus coming to earth was to make contact with us, the “apple of his eye” (Psalm 17:8) to save us from our sins (Luke 19:10, etc.). Rather than “staying at home” in heaven, safe from all the ill effects of the deadly disease of sin, he came down to us to suffer and die for us. He didn’t just “Zoom” us from heaven; he showed up in person, freely accepting not only the risks, but the certainty of his death. And because he did, we have eternal life – free from any future diseases!

Jesus made contact, but what about us today? Can we have faith and maintain that faith in our “contactless” society? Can we have “contactless faith”? Well, the answer is both yes and no.

“Yes,” in that we all have God’s Word available to us in many forms, both printed and electronic, so that we need never lack for his saving Word of life. God’s law and his gospel are in our hands, though we be shut away from contact with each other. As God’s Word promises, it will not return empty, but will accomplish its purpose (Isaiah 55:11).

And “no,” in two senses. First, because even when separated from each other, we are not separated from God in Christ. His Holy Spirit has come upon us and remains with us no matter what. Jesus spoke of this Spirit in John 14:17, “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” No distancing there. And, even when Jesus was about to “distance” himself physically from the disciples at the Ascension, he promised them, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This was consistent with God’s promise made in several Old Testament Scriptures that he would “never leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 13:6-8, Joshua 1:5, 1 Kings 8:57, 1 Chronicles 28:20), as well as in the New Testament book of Hebrews (13:5). Even if we were locked up in solitaire, in a prison cell, or in a cage, Christ would still be with us. Apart from him, we have no faith, for it is his gift by his Holy Spirit that we can believe. As Luther’s Small catechism states, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”

And second, though we find ourselves separated right now by circumstances, this situation is not normal and cannot continue. Christians are by nature called to come together, to be the Church, called out from the crowd and joined in fellowship. Hebrews 10:25 tells us to not neglect meeting together, “as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Faith when isolated and neglected can grow cold. We can get too comfortable not going to church, that we forget to hold up Christ as the center of our lives and as the core of all our decisions. We begin to look at the world in the same secular way that we hear and see espoused all around us. We forget that “though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.”** We need the fellowship, teachings, sacraments, and sharpening of character that only the Church, by the power of God himself, can provide.

Therefore, join with me in praying for relief from this pandemic, from the sickness and death it causes, and from the social, economic, and spiritual damage our response has caused, for “contactless faith” is a contradiction in terms.

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 lit up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Mark 2:13-17; Luke 17:11-19;  John 14:15-27 

*See the next blog for a full rendition of this slightly warped song.

** From the hymn, This Is My Father’s World, by Maltbie Babcock, 1901. 

Me and Ebenezer

What do you think of when I say, “Ebenezer”? No doubt, you think of the stingy miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, from Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol. So, when I say, “Me and Ebenezer,” you may worry that I’ve become crotchety in my old age, ready to grumble, “Bah, Humbug!” at the drop of a hat. Not so, though I don’t blame you for thinking that; I would have made the same connection as you: “Ebenezer” always meant that character.

At least it did, until I actually paid attention to the lyrics of the old hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Verse 2 begins with the words, “Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I’m come;” I wondered why it mentioned Ebenezer? Was it referring to Dickens’ novel (unlikely), or to someone or something else? I figured it had to be a biblical reference, so I got out my concordance and soon solved the mystery.

Ebenezer is a Hebrew word from the Old Testament. It means literally, “stone of help” and refers to a stone which Samuel set up in remembrance of the help which God gave the Israelites to save them from an attack by their pagan enemies, the Philistines. Note carefully: the stone didn’t do the helping; Samuel wasn’t worshiping a rock. It wasn’t his good luck charm. Instead, he set up the stone to remind everyone who would pass by and see it, that God had helped his people right there in that place.

The book of 1 Samuel (7:5-13) tells what happened. Samuel, who was the last judge and leader of Israel before there were kings, had called the people of Israel together at a place called Mizpah to repent of their disobedience to God. The people fasted, prayed, destroyed their idols, and asked for God’s forgiveness. While they were in the midst of their repentance, the Philistines got wind of their activities and sent an army to destroy them. The Israelites trembled in fear as the Philistines approached and called on God for deliverance. Then, as Samuel offered a sacrifice to God, the Philistines struck. The Israelites were certain to be destroyed – until God intervened. The passage says, “But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.” The Israelites attacked the fleeing Philistines and defeated them.

To commemorate God’s saving intervention, Samuel set up a stone and named it “Ebenezer,” – stone of help – for as he put it, “Thus far has the LORD helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12). This wasn’t the only memorial stone set up by biblical heroes. Genesis 25:14 says, “Jacob set up a stone  pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.” And, in Joshua 24:26-27, when Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem,  he took a large stone and set it up there under an oak tree as a witness and reminder of their promises to God. Therefore, when the hymn sings of raising an Ebenezer, it acknowledges our dependence on  God’s help, and our gratitude to him for all he has done.

Which is an appropriate attitude for Thanksgiving.

James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” So no matter what we are happy to have, if it is good, God is the One who gave it to us. Martin Luther explained in his Large Catechism that to keep the First Commandment, we must recognize that every blessing we have is from God; to do otherwise is to put some other god before the true God by making any other source of goodness our god.**

We probably haven’t been delivered from the Philistines lately, but there are plenty of other blessings and deliverances we should acknowledge. Do we have food to eat, clothes to wear, a roof over our heads, families to love, and friends to enjoy? Do we have medical care, medicines, and access to fire and police protection when needed? Do we have recreation, education, and jobs (or a secure retirement)? Do we still enjoy much freedom and peace, in spite of the evil in the world? Do we have a loving church family? Are we still Covid free, with a vaccine soon to be available?

Let me suggest a way to commemorate what God has done in your life. Just as the Bible itself is a record of God’s help for the world through the promise and fulfillment of a Savior, each of us has a history of what God has done in our lives to provide for us, protect us, bless us, and bring us to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Only in most of our cases, it’s probably not yet written down. It’s in our heads, in family stories, or in objects which carry special meaning because they remind us of things God has done for us. Let me suggest that you create your own personal “Ebenezer,” in which you record the special things which God has done in your life. Begin jotting down just a few of the things you remember about how God has blessed you. As you write, more ideas will come to mind. Be specific, not general, and offer your prayers of thanksgiving to God for each one of them.

When Samuel raised the Ebenezer stone, it was to commemorate the deliverance which God gave them from certain destruction at the hands of the Philistines. God was their help because only he could have saved them; they could not have saved themselves from the doom that was descending upon them. Likewise, the greatest help which God gives us is the salvation provided through his Son, Jesus Christ, providing the deliverance from eternal destruction that none of us could have accomplished on our own. God alone is our help for salvation. Only he could save us from our sins, and that is what he has done.

Therefore, join “me and Ebenezer” in thanking God with a grateful heart for all his blessings, especially for our Savior, Jesus Christ. And as you do, have a great Thanksgiving Day!

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: 1 Samuel 7, Psalm 77, Philippians 4:4-7

*by Robert Robinson, written 1758. Public domain.

**The Book of Concord, The Large Catechism, Part I, The First Commandment, by Martin Luther.

For All the Aints

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
those who were aints will rise in bright array;
now they’re saints, their faith is on display.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

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

Read: Hebrews 11, Revelation 7, Mark 13

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

More Than Just Halloween

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just Plain Nuts

Just plain nuts!

No, I’m not ordering a snack of cashews, almonds, or peanuts; nor am I doing a little maintenance on my car, and asking Karen to hand me small threaded metal pieces to go on the end of some bolts. No, when I say, “Just plain nuts!” I’m referencing an old Far Side cartoon* in which a psychiatrist is writing “Just plain nuts!” in his notebook while listening to his patient ramble.

I used that cartoon a few years ago during a training session I taught to our church’s new Stephen Ministers, to emphasize that their work as Christian caregivers was not to diagnose or treat psychological problems. But now, I have found a new use for that cartoon’s phrase: for I have come to the conclusion that the words, “just plain nuts,” apply to me.

Oh, I wasn’t always this way (though there are some who might disagree with that assessment); I used to be rational and level-headed, a “rock” of stability and calmness, a living fulfillment of the phrase,”If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs.”** Yes-siree, I was the poster-child for mental stability and common sense (not to mention, humility). But then something happened: eight months (and counting) of coronavirus shutdown have driven me nuts.

Now, I know that many people are suffering mentally, as well as physically and financially, from this pandemic and the ensuing shutdowns across our country. What I am saying in no way is meant to minimize or mock their very real sufferings. But in my case, I find that my sense of humor has always helped me deal with many of life’s stresses. Such as:

  1. The time I went in for a colonoscopy, and the nurse came to the waiting room to fetch me. She apologized for the delay, saying that “the doctor is a little behind in his work.” You can guess my reply. We walked another ten feet before the nurse got it and started laughing.
  2. The time I rode in a tow truck while my car was being towed. The chatty driver went on and on, telling stories laced with profanities, until he asked what kind of work I did. I smiled and said, “Pastor.” We rode in silence for the next five miles.
  3.  Or the times when I was in my wheelchair, and would look for down-ramps where I could let it roll while singing out, “Wheeee!”

Now, after all these months of shutdown, I see similar signs that I am indeed becoming, “just plain nuts.”

  1. I thought of pasting photos of the coronavirus on my face mask to ensure six feet (or more, maybe a lot more) of social distancing.
  2. Among my late sister’s belongings we found a Christmas tree ornament, a little nurse doll complete with stethoscope and face mask. I wrote 2020 on the face mask and set it aside for this year’s tree .
  3. I want to wear my Darth Vader mask next time I go to the store.
  4.  I got the idea of giving out oranges for Halloween. Not so crazy, except I wanted to stick golf tees in them sticking out in every direction.

I have had other, even more wonderful ideas, but fortunately, cooler heads (i.e., Karen) have prevailed, and I have behaved myself. But you get the idea: sometimes we just have to laugh at our troubles to prevent being over-whelmed by them. I am not alone in this view: The American novelist, E.W. Howe, said, “If you don’t learn to laugh at troubles, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you grow old.” So, knowing that I will one day grow old, I am learning to laugh at my troubles while still young.

The problem with my laughing during times of trouble is that other people think I’m not serious about life, that I take things too lightly, or don’t care that others are hurting. I might even be considered a fool, someone with no idea of the seriousness of a situation. You may agree, and think this about me because of my (sometimes) slightly warped sense of humor. You may be right. But, in my defense, let me offer the following:

  1. Humor and laughter can be escape valves to relieve the natural stress that builds up in us when faced with difficult situations. Like the safety valve on a hot water heater that can prevent a catastrophic explosion when the pressure gets to be too much, it’s better for us to “let off a little steam” by laughing than to “blow a gasket” in anger.
  2. Sometimes, if we step back and look at ourselves as others see us, what we see can be genuinely funny.
  3. Mistakes, injuries, and embarrassing situations just show we are human and that we share the same challenges of life with every other person who has ever lived. It is a humbling check on our egos to recognize our short-comings and to be able to laugh at them. (That doesn’t mean it’s good to laugh at other people’s problems; that can be just plain mean!) Also, the ability to laugh at ourselves and not take ourselves too seriously is one of the traits which humans share, something that sets us apart from other creatures.
  4. Why be miserable, dwelling on every problem, real or imagined, when our lives can be so much more enjoyable? Shakespeare wrote, “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once.” (Julius Caesar, II, 2).
  5. God has a sense of humor. Where else did we get our sense of humor than from the One who created us in his own image? The Scriptures have numerous examples of humor, for example:
    • When Elijah mocks the priests of Baal after nothing happens in response to their calling upon their pagan deity to send fire from heaven; Elijah tells them to yell louder, in case their god is sleeping or busy relieving himself in the bathroom (1 Kings 18:20-40).
    • Or when the non-believing seven sons of Sceva try to exorcise a demon in Jesus’ name, only to be overpowered and run away naked from the encounter (Acts 19:11-17).
    • In Jonah, the reluctant prophet refuses to go overland to the east to Nineveh, instead fleeing to the west by sea to escape God’s call, even though Jonah admits that God made both the land and the sea! (Jonah 1:10).
    • According to 2 Chronicles 21:20, “Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.” I think we get the not-so-subtle message: Jehoram was not popular!
    • In Job 40:15, God gives Job an example of his majestic creative power when he says, “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you.” When I behold the platypus I see an example of God’s sense of humor as well.

There are plenty of other examples, such as 89-year-old Sarah laughing when she heard that she would have a child, only to have the child a year later, a boy whose name, Isaac, means “Laughter” (Genesis 18:10-15). Some of the Bible’s humor is more evident in the original languages, due to puns and other plays on words. And much of it comes when people try to take themselves too seriously.

I think one source of our taking everything too seriously is the devil, who constantly tries to accuse, frighten, distract, and ruin our lives. He tells us to forget all of God’s blessings, and focus on the judgment we deserve. Or, he turns us against each other and builds up our own pride so that we take offense at everything and everyone who we think degrades us. With such attitudes, how can we laugh at misfortune?

The cure is not to give in to such spiritual temptations and fears, but to have the right attitude regarding our problems. That means to trust in God, to believe his promises, receive his grace and forgiveness, and to look for the many blessings he gives us even in this fallen world. This is more than just looking for the silver lining in the dark clouds; it is about having a truly biblical perspective that ultimately, God is in charge, and that we will spend all eternity with him in a heaven when “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” (Revelation 21:4). That should encourage us, no matter what we are going through during this pandemic, or afterwards.

And if the devil still won’t leave us alone, remember what Martin Luther said: “The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn.” So shall I laugh in the devil’s face, even if the rest of the world thinks that I am “just plain nuts!”?

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: Acts 19:11-20, 1 Kings 18:20-40, Job 40, Jonah 1

*(c) 1990 by Gary Larson

** From the poem, “If”, circa 1895 by Rudyard Kipling

 

Are You Woke?

Are you “woke”?

That’s a question people may ask you when they hear you snoring during one of my sermons. Hypothetically. Not that it ever actually happened. How could it? Sure, I did see a few yawns during my times in the pulpit, but I’m sure those were from people who had worked all Saturday night and found peace in what I was preaching . . . right?

More likely, these days when people speak of being “woke,” they’re not talking about the physiological state of not being asleep, but rather about being aware of issues of social justice. According to The Urban Dictionary, “woke” is “A word currently used to describe ‘consciousness’ and being aware of the truth behind things ‘the man’ doesn’t want you to know.” The idea is to be “awake” to the social situations and realities of our history and culture.

It’s an interesting term. Of course, its use implies there is a specific reality to which one should be “woke.” To be considered to be properly “woke,” one must not only know about, but also agree with a certain political viewpoint, specifically that of left-wing politics. It would do you no good to claim to be “woke” to other political or economic realities. You couldn’t say, for example, that you are “woke” to the benefits of the free market. Or are “woke” to the great accomplishments of our nation’s founders. Or, that you are “woke” to the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.

And yet, that last statement is the one true statement that shows you are really “woke” to the reality that is the most important fact of all history, the fact which transcends all others: political, economic, and historical. While today’s use of the term “woke” may seem new, the idea of knowing and understanding truth is as old as, well, the Bible.

Scripture speaks of waking up in three powerful ways besides the normal use of the term to refer to arousing from natural nighttime slumber.

1. The first is the call to wake up from the slumber of going through life unaware of God and our relationship to him. Psalm 14:1 proclaims, “The  fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'” To go on through life unaware of God, his power and his sovereignty over everything is to be foolish. It is like sleeping all day and missing all that is important in life; worse, our eyes are open, but the cares and needs of the world around us keep our eyes blind to the reality that is really important. Like the person whose house is burning down, but hits the snooze button on his alarm clock to shut off the smoke detector, our “few more minutes of sleep,” ignoring God’s call on our lives, puts us in mortal danger.

Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32*). But his statement was not about knowledge in general, or science, or philosophy, or the latest political correctness; rather, it was about being set free from the bondage to sin by knowing him and believing in him. In today’s parlance, he could have said, “Be woke and you will be liberated!”

 The Apostle Paul tells us that when we awake to the reality of God in Christ, our behavior should change. He says, “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning” (1 Corinthians 15:34).

Ephesians 5:15 promises us blessing if we come out of our sleep-like stupor and turn to God: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

In the early 1700s, a series of revivals swept the American colonies, in which a renewed interest and devotion to Christ spread and impacted many people who had lost their religious fervor. It was called “The Great Awakening,” because people were said to be awakening from their spiritual lethargy. It is high time for another Awakening to come our way!

2. Second, the Bible speaks of being awake and alert as we await Christ’s return and the end of our current age. Romans 13:11 says, “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” By this, Paul tells us that there is urgency to our waking up to the reality of Christ’s return.

Likewise, Jesus told a parable in Matthew 25 about ten virgins awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom; five were ready but five were not, so when they were awakened at his coming, only the five who were prepared could enter the wedding feast. Christ commanded us to be like the wise virgins who were prepared: in verse 13 he said, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” His message is clear: we are to always be alert and ready for his coming. Being caught asleep is not an option.

What does this mean for us? It means that when Christ returns to bring judgment on the world, there will be two groups of people. One group will be those who ignored him and his warnings, and fell into a kind of spiritual sleep. The other will be the believers who long for his return, who pray for it daily (does “Thy kingdom come” sound familiar?), and who live in the expectation that Christ could return at any moment. This second group will not be caught off guard when he appears, but will rejoice at the sight of their Savior.

In Mark 13, Jesus  tells of the signs of his return and the end of the age. Four times he commands, “Stay awake!” Sounds like he meant it!

3. Third, Scripture uses the word “awake” to describe our coming resurrection as waking from the sleep of death.

The Old Testament had already used the term “sleep” to refer to death, and “awaking” to refer to our resurrection. Job 14:12 says, “So a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.” Isaiah 26:19 proclaims, “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” And, Daniel 12:2 tells us, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

The New Testament reinforces this usage, and gives us the basis for our hope of the resurrection: Jesus Christ, who himself died and rose again as the first-born of those who will be raised (Colossians 1:18).

In Chapter 11 of John’s Gospel, Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, sickened and died while Jesus and his disciples were away. The Lord knew what had happened, and told his disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him” (11:11). Verses 12 and following tell us what happened next: “The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.’ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus has died.'”

Other passages also refer to death as sleep, and to resurrection as waking up. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 describes that great “getting up day”:

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

The temporary, sleep-like nature of death is memorialized in our word, “cemetery.” Prior to the early spread of Christianity, graveyards were called by the Greek term, “necropolis,” meaning, “city of the dead.” But the early Christians understood that the graves of believers were only temporary resting places where the deceased awaited the great day of Christ’s return and their rising to new life. Therefore, they started using a new word which was the Greek term for an inn, or traveler’s resting place. The new word they chose was “kemeterion,”  which became “cemetery” in English, a testimony to their faith in the resurrection.

Then will come to pass for all of us the miracle referred to in Matthew 27:52  “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.”

So, I ask you again, “Are you woke?” Are you awake to the reality of God? Are you awake and ready for Christ’s return? Do you look forward to falling asleep in the Lord and waking up at the resurrection? And finally, are you still awake after reading my blog?

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: 1 Thessalonians 4, John 11, Job 19:24-26

 

* This quote from John 8:32 appears in the lobby of the CIA headquarters, but without the Scriptural context or meaning.

You CAN Take It with You!

On September the 1st, Karen and I made a second trip to Indiana to handle my late sister’s matters, this time to pack up the contents of her 10′ x 10′  storage unit into a 16 foot rental truck. After a couple nights in Indiana, we hit the road for a 2,290 mile drive back to our home in California. Here, we would unload everything into our living room (and family room, and back porch, and. . .) for a safer and more leisurely opening and sorting.

As we hit the road, Karen and I talked about all the stuff my sister had left behind when she passed in mid-July. For the most part, we had no idea what all was in the many boxes, plastic bins, and garbage bags, except that much of it had probably been saved by my father, who had himself passed away in Indiana seven years earlier.

Karen summed up the situation with the true comment, “Well, you can’t take it with you.” But as soon as she said it, we looked at each other, and both blurted out at the same time, “We ARE taking it with us!”

Somewhere in the middle of the six-day journey (we rested on the seventh day), as we barely outran a sudden SNOW storm in Wyoming and dodged hurricane-force winds of 100+ miles per hour in Salt Lake City, I began to wonder whether we should have just abandoned the storage unit and waited for it to appear on the show, Storage Wars, instead.

Now, as we go through the unbelievable quantity of papers, clothes, and various objects, we’re glad we didn’t just abandon it all, since we are finding some incredible family-history items, including old pictures, antique jewelry, watches, and even newspapers from the early 1900s. It’s really a journey back in time, made possible because, well, “You can’t take it with you.” Now we have to figure out what can be saved and how, because we, like our deceased family members, can’t take it with us, either, when our time comes. I’m thinking . . . maybe an Eddy Family Museum or Eddy Presidential Library (don’t laugh; we’re not too old for one of us to be President; we’re still just in our 60s!).

The truth that “we can’t take it with us” when we die has prompted me to ask the question, “Is there anything we can take with us when our time comes?” And after some study and consideration, I believe the answer is “Yes! There are some things we can and will take with us.” But what are they?

First of all, we know that our material possession are NOT on that list. That’s why there are many jokes about people who tried to take their wealth with them:  from the dying guy who begged his wife to bury his money with him when he died, so she wrote a check and stuck it in his coffin; to the guy who cashed in all his money and bought a block of solid gold, only to be asked by St. Peter why he brought a paving brick with him; to the 1938 romantic comedy (and Academy Award winner), You Can’t Take it With You. As King Solomon lamented in Ecclesiastes 2:18-23, you can work hard your whole life to gather wealth, only to have to leave it to those who come after you when you die. Many tombs, from ancient times to the present, are filled with what archaeologists call, “grave goods,” which were placed there to assist the deceased in the “next life.” Of course, since those goods are still in the tombs, it just proves the old saying, “You can’t take it with you.”

So what can we take with us?

1. Our souls/spirits. Theologians debate over the meaning of those terms, and whether they refer to the same thing or not. I’ll use “spirit” to refer to that essential non-material part of our being that defines us as a living being made in the image of God. At the moment of death, our spirits depart our bodies and pass into what we call, “the intermediate state.” Some believe that this temporary period is one of unconscious sleep (“soul-sleep”), but I believe the Scriptures teach a period of consciousness when we are either with Christ and joyously awaiting his return, or held awaiting our judgment apart from him. Evidence for this comes from Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man, in which the two are found after death to be in two separate places, “Abraham’s side”* and Hades. Both are conscious and in very different conditions (Luke 16:19-31). Further evidence comes from John’s revelation in which he sees the souls of the martyred under the altar in heaven (Revelation 6:9). Also, when 1 Thessalonians 4 describes Christ’s return, it says, “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep (that is, died)” who will then be raised (resurrected). Since the bodies of the dead will not rise until the resurrection, how can they be with Christ already, unless it is by their spirits?

2. Our bodies. “Wait, pastor, didn’t you just say our spirits leave but our bodies remain? After all, those same tombs holding burial goods are also holding remains of people’s bodies. So how can you say we will take our bodies with us?” Okay, you’re right . . . but so am I, because I’m not speaking of the intermediate state following our bodily deaths, but to the eternal state after the great resurrection of the dead when Christ returns. On that day, the cemeteries will empty and the sea will give up its dead (Revelation 20:13) and our spirits will be reunited with our resurrected bodies so that we will be whole again. But what about our bodies; will they be the condition they were in at our death? Will we be missing parts, suffering from diseases, needing glasses or wheelchairs or oxygen tanks? No, the word of Scripture is clear that we will be made perfect. 1 Corinthians 15 is a wonderful chapter that describes our resurrection to come, stating, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (verse 53). Paul describes our death to be like the planting of a seed that is sown in weakness and dishonor but then sprouts in strength and honor. Our Creeds attest to this faith when we confess, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” There’s more we would like to know, such as what we will look like, what “age” we will appear to be (I’m guessing 30), and what abilities we will have (will I be able to fly?), but Scripture tells us all we need to know: that we will be raised to eternal life, and that we will enter into the joy of the Lord. In the words of the old gospel hymn, “it’s good enough for me!”**

3. Our memories. This is a little more touchy to assert, since all of us have memories we treasure and want to hold onto, while at the same time having horrible memories we would just as soon forget. Will we remember all our hurts, all our sins, all our mistakes and embarrassments, along with all our joys and blessings? The Bible isn’t clear about this, but I think there are some conclusions we can draw. Since Christ promises to wipe every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4) and replace our mourning with joy and laughter (James 4:9, Lamentations 5:15), we can assume that at a minimum, whatever pain or regret our memories cause will be removed. If we do remember, we will see things from a now sinless perspective, and understand God’s purposes in what we went through. We will be so grateful and joyful to be with the Lord that any memories of our sins will just cause us greater joy at God’s mercy and forgiveness. Likewise, I believe we will recount the many blessings which God gave us in our earthly lives, which will result in our greater adoration and worship of the One who blessed us. Will we remember our faith, those special times Christ touched our lives, and our loved ones? Yes, I believe we will. Will you remember my sermons or my blogs? Probably not . . .

4. Our crowns. What we do here and now in this life will impact eternity. Our lives impact the lives of others, whether we give them life through having children, or saving lives from danger, or taking them by accident or on purpose. The immediate effect can be seen, but there can be eternal consequences as well. When we raise a child in the faith, teach someone about Christ and they believe, or do a good work that brings glory to God, we affect lives not only here, but potentially forever. The Bible promises eternal life as a gift to those who believe, and says “there is now no  condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1), but at the same time says we will stand before the Judgment Seat to give account for all we have done (2 Corinthians 5:10). This accounting by those who are saved by faith will be to reveal and reward the good works which we have done (which of course are also by God’s grace and power). Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3 that we will receive a reward for any works that are built on the one sure foundation of Jesus Christ.The degrees of reward will vary, as they should: for I expect Christian martyrs to receive greater reward than I will; but there is no competition or boasting, only joy at what such works accomplish. Christ told of rewarding those who have been faithful with what they were given (Luke 19), and Paul speaks of his converts in the churches of Philippi and Thessaloniki as his crowns: “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?” (1 Thess. 2:19).

Therefore, I think of our rewards as crowns bestowed by Christ as signs of the eternal blessings he has done through us. And what will we do with those crowns? Will we parade around those streets of gold, strutting and showing them off (“My crown’s bigger than your crown!”)? Naw, we’ll do what the elders do and throw them at the feet of the One who gave us those crowns, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to whom be all praise and honor and glory and thanks (Revelation 4:9-11). For whatever we accomplish here that will be of eternal merit will be done by God’s will and by his power, so the rewards truly belong to him.

So go ahead and live your life, thanking God for that life and doing the good works he created you to do (Ephesians 2:10), knowing that you CAN take everything that is truly good and matters to God with you!

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: Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, Revelation 4

* ESV version; older translations call it the “bosom of Abraham.”

**Gimme That Old Time Religion, an African-American folk gospel song dating from 1873. Published by Charles Davis Tillman in 1889.

 

 

The Rescue Mission

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still in This Together

In the previous blog, I lamented the fact that although the common sentiment these pandemical* days is that “We’re all in this together,” our society is anything but “together.” We are divided and set at odds with each other over many issues and identities, causing much animosity and even violence. I responded by suggesting several biblical approaches to mending our divisions, beginning with these four: 1. Remember that we are all related; 2.Remove the log from our own eye; 3. Don’t judge the heart or motives; and 4. Speak the truth in love. Now we continue, with three more ways to help bring us together:

5. Walk together and find common cause. How do we overcome feelings of division? By working together with someone and accomplishing a common purpose. Whether it be in our job/career, in sports, in school projects, in family emergencies, in combat, or just about any common endeavor, when we stand and strive side by side with someone, we create a bond that can overcome real (and artificial) barriers. When you have identified someone as your teammate or helped each other do something, or come along side in times of difficulty, you have in some way become one person.

I think of past barriers and prejudices that have fallen when previous opponents have come together to work in common purpose. Former enemies become allies when a new threat emerges; shared resources provide for common needs, and a shared sense of accomplishment breeds good will. Rather than sitting around and airing grievances, why not work together and celebrate what you have done? After all, “We’re all in this together!” As Amos 3:3 asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” If we do agree to walk together, have we not begun to share a common experience and done so peacefully? And will that sense of agreement not grow and bless our relationship?

There is an Arabic expression: “There are salt and bread between us.” It refers to a bond of friendship forged by acts of hospitality, when two or more people have shared a meal. As a proponent of potlucks (and other buffets, but I digress) I have seen the enjoyment and commonality people have when they share their bounty and eat with each other. It’s interesting that after Jesus’ resurrection, two disciples who walked with him on the road to Emmaus didn’t recognize him until he broke bread with them (Luke 24:30-31). How many divisions could we mend by working hard together and then sitting down to share a meal? I think that would help a lot.

6. Forgive as we have been forgiven. An absolutely vital step in breaking down barriers is to forgive the wrongs the other person has done to you. Refusing to forgive not only hardens the wall between you, it also hardens your heart and diminishes your soul. Unforgiveness grows a bitter root in you that colors all your relationships and makes them awkward, painful, and unrewarding. Just seeing the other person causes your stomach to tighten and your mind to close down; you anticipate more conflict and dread what could happen. But when you forgive, you free yourself from the hurt that was caused you. As one of my pastors once wisely said, “When you forgive someone, what that person did loses the power to hurt you.”

While going through a painful divorce, one of my relatives was understandably angry at her soon to be ex-husband. He had in truth done some horrible things to her, for which she was very bitter. As we talked, I asked whether he was unhappy the way things had turned out, and she said no, that he was probably out having a great time. So I asked her how she was doing. She said she was miserable. Then I asked, “So, why make yourself miserable when he was happy?” A few days later, she was able to forgive him and found the spiritual release that forgiveness provides.

In his Sermon on the Mount, our Lord taught us how to pray, giving us what we call the Lord’s Prayer. After saying, “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. .  .” he continued with, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:12, 14-15). Jesus sure made it sound like our own forgiveness depends on our willingness to forgive others, a point he later made explicit in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. In the parable, a servant who owed his master a huge, unpayable amount was forgiven his debt, but then went out and refused to forgive a tiny debt that another servant owed him. When the master learned of his unforgiveness, he reinstated the first servant’s debt and threw him into jail (Matthew 18:21-35).

Colossians 3:13 says, “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Can’t say it much plainer than that; not only are we obligated to forgive, we are the primary beneficiaries of the forgiveness we give, both for God’s forgiveness of our own sins and for the effect it has on us. There is a genuine freedom we experience when we let go of the anger we harbor and the regrets that go with it, and knowing at the same time that we have likewise been forgiven.

One of the most moving stories of the power of forgiveness is in the book, The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom. If you get the chance, find and read her story (It was also excerpted in Guideposts; you can easily find it online). The short version is that Corrie was talking to a group about her experiences as a prisoner in the Ravensbruck concentration camp for hiding Jews from the Nazis. At the end of her talk, one of the former guards at the camp came up to her and asked her to forgive what he had done. Her struggle and what happened next, are so authentic and powerful, I would cheapen it by trying to summarize it here. Please find it and read it yourself.

7. Pray for the other person. By that, I don’t mean that you should pray that the other person gets hit by a bus or suffers some other horrible fate. You are, after all, to pray for that person and not against him or her. You pray that the Lord touches that person’s heart, whether to open their eyes to the mistakes they are making, or to turn to the Lord for forgiveness, or for restoration of your relationship with them, or for the Lord to bless them and keep them (Not quite what the rabbi prayed in Fiddler on the Roof, “May the Lord bless and keep the Czar – far away from us!”). Not only may God answer your prayer and actually bless the other person, he will also bless you by softening your heart toward that person. God works in your heart, growing your love for the other person to be like his own love: a love that is forgiving, patient, and desiring good for even an enemy.

Jesus addressed this, saying that our prayers are not just for our friends and family. In Luke 6, he said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” You may think, “That’s easy for him to say; those pastoral types always say nice things, but what happens when they are attacked? How do they respond then?” Well, we know exactly how Jesus responded: when they crucified Jesus – after torturing and mocking him, he prayed for his tormentors, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He who could have called down legions of angels to save himself and destroy his enemies, prayed instead for their forgiveness. That is the same forgiveness the Father gives you and me inspite our our sins which out Jesus on that cross.

There you have it: seven suggestions for helping each other to heal the fractions in our society, so that we may truly be in this “together.” While these steps are all scriptural, they would help anyone and everyone come together and overcome the problems that divide us. And it’s high time we did something, for as Benjamin Franklin once said about the need for unity among the states at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

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 18:21-35; Luke 24:13-35; Luke 6:27-36

*Yes, pandemical is a word.

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.

 

Statues of Limitation – Part 2

Last time I began addressing the issues surrounding the current smashing and toppling of historical statues, and made the first two of four points: First, that such statue smashing is wrong, and second, that all the people represented by such statues were flawed sinners (with feet of clay) who overcame their flaws to accomplish significant things (whether we like what they did or not). Now, I continue with the final two points:

3. Should we erect any statues at all? While I recognize the value of holding up certain people as examples to us of flawed individuals who nevertheless accomplished great things in their lives, my musings have led me to ask the question, “Should we erect any statues at all?”

My question is based on the commandment given by the LORD on Mount Sinai: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8).

The reactions to this commandment have varied by religious communities over the centuries. The Israelites broke it even before Moses delivered it to them when they made a golden calf and worshiped it as their deliverer from Egypt. Later, the Jews prohibited any statues as idolatry, and rose up in armed rebellion against their enemies who put idols in the Temple: first against the Greek rulers in the days of the Maccabees (167-160 BC) and then against the Romans in 66-73 AD. During the Exile in Babylon, the captive Jews refused to bow down to the golden statue which King Nebuchadnezzar had erected on the Plain of Dura; the story of faithful Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is told in Daniel 3. Today, orthodox and some conservative Jews practice what is called aniconism (from “an” meaning “not,” and “iconism,” meaning the use of images). They prohibit any 3-dimensional representations of people, animals, or God, but allow pictures that are 2-D. Additionally, strict Muslims prohibit use of any images, which is why their mosques are decorated with geometric figures and “arabesque” swirls.

Christians have varied their observance of this commandment. Some have propagated such statues as honoring saints and instructing often illiterate populations in biblical and Church history, while others, known as “iconoclasts,” have forbidden and destroyed any such human forms for being “graven” or carved images and thus prohibited.

Today, the idea that statues are forbidden by God seems to have faded away among Christians in this country. We look at the verses following God’s prohibition against carved images and read the ban in context: “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God. . . ” (Exodus 20:5a). I think we have generally reasoned that as long as you don’t worship the image and call it a god, you’re okay. (Even though we watch television competitions that tout their winners as “American Idols” – something I’ve never been comfortable with.)

I understand God’s commandment to be against worshiping anything or anyone but him, but I still think we should be careful not to invest any hero-worship in our heroes, whether “statued” or not. This applies to all famous people, celebrities of all kinds: athletes, movie stars, musicians, politicians, pastors-emeritus, etc. This concern came to mind in 1990 when I stood in front of the Novosibirsk State Polytechnic University in what was the Soviet Union. Standing with me was a Russian student who pointed to the huge statue of Vladimir Lenin that rose before us. The student leaned toward me and said, “Our last idol.” I hoped right then that I would never consider any statue to be an idol of mine.

4. Finally, what about statues of Jesus? What about the crucifixes that bear his form on the cross? Since we do worship Jesus as Lord and Savior, as the Son of God and the Second Person of the Trinity, are such images prohibited? I actually have mixed feelings and thoughts about this.

On the one hand, we must not worship the image, whether as a crucifix, a statue, or a drawing/painting. We worship the One that such art represents. We don’t know what Jesus looked like for sure, and I think that was God’s intention. Therefore people around the world have pictured him as looking like them, whatever their race or ethnicity. We can worship Christ without any artistic rendering, and must realize that whatever image we have in mind when we think of Christ will be inadequate. How can we describe the risen and glorified Christ in mere human terms? The Apostle John tried in Revelation 1:13-16, saying, “one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

On the other hand, I don’t want to criticize the faith and devotion of those who adorn their homes with pictures of Christ or crucifixes that bear the dying form of our Lord. They see his face or form daily, and are reminded of his sacrifice for their salvation. Like crossing oneself or wearing Christian jewelry, their faith is on display, and I commend them for it – as did Luther when he returned to Wittenberg. In defense of such images, while God cannot be confined to any finite image, Jesus did come to earth and become one of us, taking human form and life (Philippians 2:7-8).

I remember as a child (and later as a Sunday school teacher) using the old flannel graphs to tell Bible stories. Some of the flannel figures represented Jesus – walking on the water, healing the sick, sitting with the children. It’s hard to think that those pictures were idolatrous, since they presented visually what we were learning and teaching verbally. Even today, there are non-literate people who cannot read Bible stories in their language who can benefit from such visual representations.

So where do I stand after all these considerations? I think my title for these blogs, “Statue of Limitations,” says it pretty well. God’s prohibition against carved images is to prevent us trying to represent him by anything he has created. As Paul said, wicked men have exchanged true worship of the Creator with worship of his creation: “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:22). Therefore, we who worship the true God must not hold up any statue or image as sacred; Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Our God is greater than any thing we might use to represent him. That is our limitation. But, if a statue or other image can be used to instruct, inspire, or encourage faith, then let it be used for that purpose, for God knows we need it!

And as far as a statue of me is concerned: God knows we don’t need that!

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

Read: Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5; Romans 1:18-32; Philippians 2:5-11.

Statues of Limitation

To my many friends and admirers who have wanted to erect a statue of me, whether on the front lawn of my church, in front of City Hall, or in some national park known for its oversized presidential heads, I say: just wait awhile; now is not the time for such an honor to be bestowed. There is just too much statue- and monument-smashing going on right now, and I would hate for your investment to be wasted. I would hate to see my bust get busted. I suggest waiting until the current anti-statue fervor dies down.

Like you, I have watched the news and seen videos of recent vandalism and mob violence directed against many monuments: first, against statues of Confederate generals, then against founding fathers, explorers, and pioneers, and finally even against statues of abolitionists and black soldiers who fought against the Confederacy. The message is clear: “It doesn’t really matter whom the statue represents; if it’s part of American history, it’s evil and needs to come down.”

As I watched these acts of destruction by mob violence, I have considered various aspects of what’s going on, and among my many thoughts, have come down to four issues I would like to share with you.

1. The actions are wrong. They are just senseless acts of hatred against our country. While supposedly motivated by the failures of our society to live up to our proclaimed noble ideals, these violent actions against people, property, and the duly instituted authorities of our country, violate those very same principles. The smashing of monuments and statues are attacks on our country and its history, and attempts to destroy our common identity. The range of targets by the mobs betrays any virtue in their actions. The point is destruction, not improvement. Not to mention the admonitions by Scripture to respect our authorities and render to the government what is due it (Matthew 22:21, Romans 13:1-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-4)

It’s not that I’m approving of statues of men who defended slavery; my great-grandfather, Leander Allen Eddy, fought against the Confederacy, spent time in a prison camp, was wounded in action, and carried a bullet (a Minie ball) in his leg the rest of his life. I’m glad “our side” won. But the Civil War happened, and the generals and soldiers who fought on both sides are part of our heritage. They – and the slaves who were freed – are part of who we are as a nation.

Statues which were erected by communities to commemorate some event or person who positively affected those communities can certainly be removed whenever those communities no longer revere those people or events; but such removals can be done by vote and consensus and not by violent actions of a few people who have no regard for the wishes of those communities. This is not even taking into account matters of private property. If you don’t like someone, buy or build your own statue and destroy that; your protest would actually cost you something and carry more weight.

Interestingly, the start of the Reformation in the early 1520’s brought  about a period of statue-smashing, as well. While Martin Luther hid out in the Wartburg Castle, some of those who were won to his cause back in the town of Wittenberg decided to show their new-found faith by smashing the symbols of the old faith in what had been the Roman Catholic churches. To that end, the religious rebels smashed statues of Mary and the other saints, broke stained glass windows, and tore down other religious images. Luther was horrified to learn of the destruction, and returned to Wittenberg to help stop such actions. He spoke against what he saw as the desecration of people’s faith as well as images.

2. All statues have “feet of clay.” The saying, “feet of clay,” comes from the book of Daniel, chapter 2, describing a dream of the king, Nebuchadnezzar, in which he saw a statue made up of different metals, but with feet of iron and clay. The clay symbolized a vulnerability in a future kingdom, and since has come to represent any vulnerability in a person who otherwise is strong and capable.

So, when I say all statues have feet of clay, I mean that every statue today represents a person who has flaws and faults (except for statues of Jesus, but that’s another topic – see my point #3 below). There is no one who is righteous, not one (Romans 3:10); rather, all have sinned (Romans 3:23). There is no one who could be honored with a statue if sinless perfection were a standard. Nor, with changing attitudes, could the hero of a past era or event by considered a hero today. Thus, Kate Smith’s statue was removed from the Philadelphia Flyers’ arena, even though she inspired millions of Americans through World War II and beyond with her recording of God Bless America, because someone found her recording of a racist song from the early 1930s. (The Flyers had a win record of 100-29 when they played her recording instead of the national anthem before their games; hence, the statue being erected there in the first place.)

George Washington had slaves. Thomas Jefferson had slaves. Cinque, the African slave featured in the movie Amistad, won his freedom, then went back to Africa where he joined the slave trade capturing other Africans to be sold into slavery. Martin Luther wrote horrible things against the Jews which were used by Hitler to justify his persecution against them. John Sutter mistreated the local native tribes in Sacramento, numerous U.S. presidents have had mistresses and adulterous affairs, etc., etc. All our heroes (and villains) have or had feet of clay. We can find fault with each and every one of them because they, like us, were sinners.

So why do they get statutes and we (I’m speaking of me as well) don’t? Because those people, in spite of their sins, flaws, and shortcomings, rose to face the challenges and circumstances of their times and places, and in the process, overcame difficulties to accomplish things, to establish societies, to change people’s lives, to make history, or to win conflicts. They were giants in their effect on their part of the world, even standing on feet of clay. That doesn’t always make them heroes, but it does warrant some recognition, because ultimately their story is the story of mankind: people facing life and striving to overcome difficulties to accomplish something good. The goal is that we, who also have feet of clay, will rise above our shortcomings and flaws to make life better for us, our families, and our communities.

To be continued next time . . . . in “Statues of Limitation – Part 2”

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 22:15-22; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-8

 

 

Ode to My Father/Owed to My Father

They say an ode is just a poem to someone we should respect; so Father’s Day is time to say, some thoughts as I reflect.

Though a poet I’m not, I’ll give it a shot, for someone I owe a lot; so here’s my ode to one I’ve owed: the one who me begot.

So, Dad, here goes, from one who writes prose, I’ll attempt to write you an ode; though my rhymes be rough and my rhythms quite tough, my thanks to you is still owed.

I called you Dad and I was sad, when you passed before my eyes; but ere that day you had much to say, such wisdom I will always prize.

Like, “Stand up straight!” and, “Love, don’t hate!”, “Don’t step in your own bear trap!”; “Don’t sleep till noon, but work for your room,” and “Don’t be a lazy chap!”

“Go kiss your mother and be a good brother; respect those who are older than you!” (But now I find, near age sixty-nine: those older than me are so few!)

“Salute the flag, don’t let it drag, but hold it for others to see. Your land has flaws, but it’s still a cause worth fighting and dying to keep.”

“To church we go, through rain or snow!” You showed me that Jesus is Lord; “So sit up straight, and pass the plate, e’en though by the sermon you’re bored.”*

“Your faith is more than what you swore in church when you were confirmed; it’s how you act, and that’s a fact, though salvation is nothing you earned.”

Yes, you said much, but your gentle touch showed your wisdom was more than just words. You lived your life through joy and strife; your lessons were both seen and heard.

An acorn, they say, will always stay close to the oak where it grew; I pray that’s true, and that I grew to be like the one that I knew.

To say, “We love God,” is naught but a fraud, if we don’t love the ones that we see. Thank the Father above that he showed me his love: he made you, my father to be.

So, Dad, I must say, on this Father’s Day, “I want you to know of my love; as you walk with the Lord, whom you always adored, and rejoice with your Father above!”

And now, for all who read this: 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: 1 John 4:7-21; Deuteronomy 5:15-17; Ephesians 6:2

 

*Note: This never happened whenever I was preaching.

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

Happy Birthday, Church!

I feel a song coming on . . .

Wrights Iron On Appliques Black Musical Note 3"X2" 1 Pkg | JOANN  Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Church, Happy Birthday to you!  Wrights Iron On Appliques Black Musical Note 3"X2" 1 Pkg | JOANN

I wanted to attach an audio file of me singing that song, but for some reason the computer kept crashing every time I tried . . .

Nevertheless, I do want to wish the Church a happy birthday, with wishes for many more to come. And which church is that? Is it my church, St. Peter’s in Elk Grove, California, which incorporated 97 years ago this month? No. How about the other St. Peter’s, that one in Rome built in 1506 and serving as the cathedral for the Pope and his homies? No. Or how about the oldest church building in the world, the Dura-Europos Church in Aleppo, Syria, dating from AD 241? Still no. It’s not any particular congregation or worship space I am wishing Happy Birthday to, but to the Church (with a capital C), the great body of believers spread throughout the world, whose unity we confess every week in the Apostles’ Creed as the “holy catholic Church” or “holy Christian Church,” or the Nicene Creed as the “one holy catholic and apostolic Church.”  Yep, that Church!

So, why that Church? Do we know when it was born, that our celebration right now would be timely? The New Testament uses the Greek word, ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, ek-klay-see’-ah)*, those who are called out from the world to follow God, to refer to the Church.

In one sense, the Church has existed wherever and whenever people have responded to God’s call. That would include the Old Testament patriarchs and saints, the gatherings of the Israelites in the Tabernacle and Temple, and the congregations of the local synagogues. And, in another sense, you could call the gathering of Christ’s disciples a church, in that they, too, were “called out” to gather together and follow God. Using these understandings of church, we can’t really pick a day when the Church began.

However, there is a day that Christians throughout the centuries have marked as the birthday of the Church, and that is the Day of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the earliest followers of Christ, and fulfilled Christ’s own promise, recorded in John and Luke:

John 16:7-8 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Luke 24:49 “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 2 contains the record of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring upon the first believers. The event was accompanied by outward signs which gave evidence of the spiritual reality:

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

These visible and audible phenomena were, well, phenomenal. But the greatest miracle of all that day took place after Peter explained what was happening, along with the Gospel, to a skeptical crowd, and three thousand believed and were baptized. The Birthday of the Church, indeed!

Today is Pentecost. What had just been a Jewish holiday celebrating the first harvest and the giving of the Law by Moses, is now also a Christian holy day celebration. So how do we celebrate this special birthday? We do it in many ways like any birthday: with cake and ice cream! Okay, that’s my idea, but before you reject my recommendation, consider the ways that Pentecost celebrations are already just like birthday parties:

  1. We get together. Okay, so this year is different for most of us; we usually gather to celebrate Pentecost. This great day took place on a Sunday (the first day of the week) on the fiftieth day (seven weeks) after the resurrection of Christ. Likewise, it is still celebrated on a Sunday, the Lord’s Day, when Christians gather for weekly worship.
  2. We dress up festively. Many Christians wear red to church (remember when we used to go to church?). Red ties, shirts, dresses, sweaters, socks – you name it. Just as congregations use red paraments on the altar and red stoles on their pastors, congregants wear red to symbolize the coming of the Holy Spirit and the flames which rested on the disciples. Red is also fitting as a sign of fire as a purifying (Malachi 3:2) and judging agent (Matthew 3:11).
  3. We sing songs. Besides “Happy Birthday” we also sing songs like, “Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling,” and “O Day Full of Grace.“
  4. We get gifts. Just as the “birthday girl” or “birthday boy” gets gifts, so does the Church, whose birthday it is. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to the Church, both individually and corporately (1 Corinthians 12). These spiritual gifts equip the Church and its members to carry out the ministry to which Christ has entrusted it: the proclamation of the Gospel to the world and the making of disciples through the Word and the Sacraments. Matthew 28 quotes Jesus’ charge to his followers: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” The Spirit’s gifts help us to do just that, as well as strengthen our faith and comfort us in our difficulties. The Scriptures list some of those gifts, noting that we don’t all get the same cookie-cutter present. One size does not fit all. Instead, each is given with a special purpose matched to who we are and what we need most, unlike that one gift you got back in junior high you had to accept with a forced smile and a “Thanks so much, Uncle Mort and Aunt Gerty, I’ve always wanted one of these.” But whatever wonderful gift the Holy Spirit gives you, the best of his presents is his presence.
  5. We have flames! Some might call them candles, but whatever they are, most birthday parties have lit candles, one for each year of age, that the birthday child has to blow out. People my age must apply for permits from the local fire district to follow that tradition; unfortunately, my birthday falls during California’s fire season, so I have been told, “don’t bother.” On the original Pentecost tongues “as of fire” rested on the believers, and though we don’t see those flames appear visibly today, we do have Paul’s instructions in 2 Timothy 1:6, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God.” We are not to put out (quench) the Spirit, but use the gifts he has given. 1 Thessalonians 5:19  says, “Do not quench the Spirit.”
  6. We send thank-you notes. Our prayers of thanksgiving, our offerings, our service given to others, are all responses to the gifts which God has given us, the greatest being forgiveness and eternal life. Pentecost is a Sunday, which like every other Sunday, is a miniature Easter, a day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and the giving of the Holy Spirit. For these things we are truly grateful, which calls for our response. We do this in worship, but also in all relationships, loving God and our neighbor at Christ wants us to do. We don’t keep silent when someone gives us something wonderful; nor do we say thanks and throw away the gift. Likewise, when God gives us gifts through his Spirit, we say thank you and show our appreciation by putting the gift to use.
  7. We eat ice cream and cake. Okay, I tried to sneak this one in again. But, don’t you agree it’s a great idea?

Today (May 31, 2020) is  Pentecost. So celebrate it well, even if we are kept from gathering and celebrating this significant event as we would rather do. And just as the same God who created the Church holds us in his hand, let us hold his great creation in our hearts, and celebrate his wonderful gift.

Happy Birthday, Church!

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

Read: Acts 2, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12.

* You can see this Greek word living today in the words various Romance languages use for church: la chiesa (Italian), la iglesia (Spanish), and l’eglise (French). Our English word come from Germanic roots: die Kirche. All have feminine grammatical gender, which fits since the Church is the Bride of Christ!

Let My People Go!

It’s Sunday today, and once again Karen and I are attending church: on YouTube on our TV in our house. Since March 22 (for 2 months now), this has been our modus operandi – our way of doing things when it comes to worshiping and participating in the life of our church. That, and dropping off our offering envelopes (with the offerings in them, of course).

We’re not worshiping/participating this way because it’s our preference (because it’s not), nor because it allows me to sleep in on Sundays and still attend church (though that is a nice thing). Nor is it because this method of church is better than an in-person service (it’s not, though the pastors and staff are doing a very good job in both content and video quality). We are doing church this way for one reason: it’s the law.

Not that the law requires us to hold such online services, but the governor and other government officials have prohibited church gatherings as part of the closures and social distancing ordered to slow or stop the spread of the coronavirus. In other words, the government has stopped us from holding church services in person.

Which is a problem.

Setting aside the statistics that half of all churches in the U.S. have less than 80 attendance on a Sunday, or that precautions could be taken to limit actual physical contact within sanctuaries, there are serious issues of state interference in the religious freedoms guaranteed to Americans by our Bill of Rights. Of the many freedoms enumerated in the Bill, the very first one cited – before speech, the press, assembly, trial by jury, or arms-bearing – is the freedom of religion. It was that important to our country’s founders, and it is still that important to us today.

While most people have accepted such government interference on a short-term, emergency basis, and churches have cooperated for the love of the people who could die from this nasty virus, we are now seeing protests and lawsuits against religious restrictions. Even the US Justice Department has joined one lawsuit against a state that was overly zealous in persecuting its churches for holding services. One example of such excessive state control is the state that fined people who attended a drive-in service where everyone stayed in their separate cars: the police even recorded the participants’ license plates. Such selective and over-zealous enforcement does seem like persecution when liquor stores and cannabis shops remained open as “essential” businesses.

Our own governor has recently announced some easing of restrictions regarding retail businesses, but still categorizes churches as a “Phase 3” group of activities that must remain closed for weeks – or months – to come until the government decides they may re-open.

Which, as I said, is a problem.

Upon hearing that, I was reminded of the old African-American spiritual song, “Go Down, Moses.” I would sing it for you, but that would be banned by every government in the world and not protected by the Bill of Rights. Here are the words:

When Israel was in Egypt’s land,
Let My people go!
Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let My people go!

Refrain:
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt’s land;
Tell old Pharaoh
To let My people go!

This anti-slavery song is based on the events just preceding the Exodus, when Moses went before Pharaoh and told him God’s command that the Egyptian ruler allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. This command begins in Exodus 5:1  “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” As we know, Pharaoh refused God’s command numerous times, in spite of the plagues the Lord sent upon Egypt. Not until the final plague, when all the first-born males died, did Pharaoh relent and let them leave.

Hmmm – a deadly plague that killed people who were not sheltering at home? The call on the authorities to let the people go out and worship God? Interesting similarities, for sure. Of course, there are huge differences, too – the people were ordered in not by Pharaoh, but by God, and they were protected by the blood of the lamb on their doors (a symbol of Christ and his shed blood) and not by face masks. Still, as I hear the song in my head, I can’t help but say to our rulers:

Let my people go!

It’s time to reopen our churches, or more correctly, to be allowed to do so. This is a civil rights issue, of course, and an expression of our rights as Americans, rights endowed to us by our Creator, and not by government, according to our Declaration of Independence. But as always, we cannot separate our social realm from the biblical and spiritual. So consider the following:

1. The Church is an essential service. Humans are by God’s design spiritual beings, and need the hear his Word and comfort at all times, let alone in high-stress times of danger. Bottles of water and rolls of Northern tissue* have their roles (or rolls), but are no substitute for the encouragement in faith provided by believers gathering and carrying out the public ministry which Christ entrusted to his Church. Even those most in need of spiritual care – the sick in hospitals, the lonely seniors at home, the grieving families who have lost loved ones – have been shut off from personal in-person ministry by their pastors.

Not only are churches vital to their members, they are also essential to their communities. People are so used to there being social services and agencies, they forget that most such care-providing organizations (and their workers) only exist because of Christians who put their love into practice to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked. Food and clothing banks, housing, night schools, relief efforts during catastrophes, and even hospitals, have their origins and major support from churches and individual believers.

Many of our national founders, including John Witherspoon and Ben Franklin, spoke of religion’s value in maintaining a self-governing republic. George Washington said in his farewell Address, “religion and morality are indispensable supports” for “political prosperity.” He said, “Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.” The very ability of a society to survive is the self-regulation of faith and obedience to godly commandments. There aren’t enough police or jails (as we are learning) to control everyone who might do evil. Only the fear of God allows us to serve and not harm each other.

2. God commands us to respect and obey government. This is true, even when we don’t like our government or didn’t elect it; after all, how many Christians in biblical times actually voted for the Roman emperor? Key Scriptures tell us,

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

“Jesus said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.'” (Mark 12:17)

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. . . . For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” (Romans 13:1, 6-8)

Lutherans especially have recognized the two ways in which God provides for his people: through his “proper work,” symbolized by the right hand, which is the Church and its proclamation of the Gospel; and his “alien work,” symbolized by the left hand, which is the government, which acts to protect people and punish evil (Romans 13:3-4). Note that Moses appealed to Pharaoh to let the people go, and they did not leave until Pharaoh allowed it. They didn’t rebel or fight their ruler, but obeyed God and let him handle Pharaoh to get them permission to leave. Likewise, we must pray and let God change our leaders’ hearts when he knows the time is right.

3. But God also commands a higher authority: himself. Note that when Jesus said to render to Caesar, he also said to render to God that which is his. When the two commands conflict, as they have throughout history, the obligation to God is greater than our obligation to government. That is why Christians have always met to worship, hear God’s Word, and receive the sacraments even in times when Christianity was outlawed, Christians were persecuted and even martyred, Bibles were burned, services and catechism were banned, and priests/pastor jailed.

We have a higher calling to obey God and not men. When the authorities ordered Peter and the other apostles to stop preaching in Jesus’ name, he replied in Acts 5:29-30, “We must obey God rather than men.” When the Chinese communist government expelled all foreign missionaries and banned churches, believers formed churches in their homes and the faith grew exponentially. When the Nazis tried to run the churches in Germany by assigning approved “bishops,” believers formed “The Confessing Church” and remained loyal to Christ. When ancient Rome called Christianity an illicit religion and banned it, the faithful still met to worship and pray, even if the location of their final church service became the arena. As you can see from these examples,  obedience to God is not contingent on happy and easy times. As the Lord said in Deuteronomy 4:30, “When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice.”

4. When we re-open, we must still obey the greatest commandment: to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. We still have the obligation to each other which Christians have always had, to protect and care for each other. This means we should still follow the components of preventive health: physical separation, masking, cleaning of surfaces, and frequent hand-washing. We can find ways to have church that take these principles into account. We can pass the peace without shaking hands or giving a “holy kiss” (2 Corinthians 13:12). We can commune safely while spaced apart and the pastors using gloves (though we may need to drop our masks to actually partake of the bread and wine!). Because we care about each other, we can take the right steps to protect each other, but that should be our responsibility, and not by the government’s permission.

This is a difficult time for the Church, and for Christians who long to gather once again. We need each other; we are all parts of the body of Christ which need each other to function (See Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12). At some point, we need to stand up and assert our rights as believers, acting respectfully and peacefully toward the government, yet standing firm in fulfilling our greater obligation to God, even should it cost us penalties, for as Peter said, “We must obey God rather than men.”

So, to all those who wield authority over us during this pandemic and beyond, I repeat, “Let my people go!”

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

Read: Romans 13:1-9, 1 Corinthians 12, Acts 5:17-29, Exodus 5-12

* Like my previous blog in which I cited Charmin, I am just being fair, and am not endorsing Northern nor receiving any payment for naming or using it. Although, if rolls of either (or both) showed up mysteriously on my doorstep, I would be tempted to keep them . . . 

In These Certain Times

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

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

No, they are not.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks to our Lord, Jesus Christ, and to his birth, death, and resurrection, God’s greatest promise has already been fulfilled, and we can look forward to eternal life, when God will “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

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

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

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

 

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

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?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
12 even 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

 

Prison Break!

Prison Break!

When some of you read that, you thought to yourself, “Finally! Pastor Rich is taking a ‘break’ from writing articles supposedly from prison, as if his missives could in any way compare to the great letters actually written from prison by such notables as the Apostle Paul, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King, Jr.”

But, no. By “prison break” I just mean that yesterday I escaped from my shelter-at-home prison of the mandated coronavirus quarantine. In other words, I got out! Okay, it was just for an hour or so to a local store and home again, but the “parole” was refreshing, and my wife and I did practice safe social distancing, wore face coverings, and washed our hands before and after what little surface contact we made.

One can look at our current stay-at-home isolation in two ways: it is harmful to our freedom and to our economy, to our social interactions and to our organizations, especially our churches. But hopefully, we will find the isolation will slow or limit the spread of this disease, and at the same time force us to find new ways to interact with our families, and with God through more study of his Word and time in prayer. We may even find time to go through those old VHS and casette collections to see if they’re still any good!

While on the way to the store, the words, “jail break” and “prison break” went through my mind, which in turn mutated into thoughts about prison breaks in movies such as The Great Escape and The Shawshank Redemption. From there, it was just a short mental jog to considering other, more significant escapes worth thinking about. This blog deals with some of those important prison breaks:

1. In Acts 12, the Apostle Peter was put in prison. This was pure persecution, in which the ruler, Herod, arrested Peter for the horrible crime of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Herod had already executed James and planned to do the same with Peter, ostensibly handing him over to the crowd the next day. To make sure Peter didn’t escape, the jailers made him sleep between two soldiers, bound him with two chains, and posted sentries outside the door to guard the prison (Acts 12:7). But during the night, an angel woke Peter up, made the chains fall off, told him to get dressed, and led the drowsy prisoner past the sleeping guards, through an iron gate that opened on its own, and out into the street. Peter was free! The story ends jubilantly when Peter joins the group of Christians who had gathered to pray for his release, but not before those friends humorously left him outside their locked door while they debated whether it was really Peter or just his ghost! (Verse 15).

2. Similarly, the Apostle Paul and Silas make an impressive prison break in Acts 16. Once again, preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ were thrown into prison by local authorities, ostensibly to keep the peace. In this case, it was in the Macedonian city of Philippi. And as with Peter before, special measures were taken to make sure they didn’t escape: the jailer “put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks” (16:24). This time, an earthquake hit around midnight while the two prisoners were praying, making their chains fall off and the doors swing open. But though they were now free, they didn’t leave, resulting in the conversion and baptism of the jailer and his whole family. Once again God showed his power, and his saving grace toward the jailer, who was about to kill himself when he thought the prisoners had gotten away.

The above accounts are wonderful examples of God miraculously freeing his servants. I always loved these passages, because they show God’s power over men (even tyrants like Herod). They demonstrate that God is with his people, that “no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed” (Isaiah 54:17), and that “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). And yet, such examples have their limitations. Not everyone held unjustly gets freed supernaturally, not even faithful believers. Most remain in jail and some die there for their faith. The same Acts 12 passage tells us that Herod put James to death “with the sword,” and eventually, even Peter and Paul were executed during their final imprisonments from which God did not free them.

So what good do those prison breaks do us, given that they were temporary and not universally available?

There are several, more obvious answers. First, they remind us that God has power over creation and can intervene for his Church as he wills. Second, in Peter and Paul’s cases, God had much important work yet for them to do. Third, God’s actions on their behalf validated their apostolic authority. And fourth, the events happened, and are part of the history of the Church worth telling.

But beyond these reasons, I believe there is a greater spiritual lesson and example here for us to learn. I believe that these liberations of some of God’s people are partial, visible fulfillments of the Messianic prophecies which God’s Old Testament prophets foretold would mark the work of the Christ.

We read in the Old Testament prophet Isaiah (61:1), these words about the coming Day of the Lord’s favor: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” Then, when Christ began his earthly ministry, he read those same words from Isaiah’s scroll in his home synagogue and added this comment: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16-21). Jesus knew who he was and what he had come to do, which included proclaiming liberty to captives and opening the prison to free the captives.

But unless the gospels leave out a lot of what Jesus did while on earth, we don’t see him going around to various jails and prisons and opening the gates to let all the prisoners go free. He didn’t hand out “Get out of jail free” cards to his disciples or the crowds which followed him. He didn’t abolish incarcerations as some kind of social activist or reformer. So what did he do to fulfill the prophecy? How was it fulfilled in his reading?

First, we should understand that when reading that passage, Jesus was claiming that the whole prophecy of Isaiah about the Messiah was pointing to himself. He was claiming messiahship; his coming, and the work he was about to do, would fulfill the words which God had given Isaiah to write.

Second, as Messiah, Christ would fulfill all that was foretold, but each thing in its own proper time and in its own proper way. We see in the gospels the fulfillment of all Isaiah’s Chapter 61 predictions about Messiah except the freeing of prisoners; even John the Baptist died in prison during Jesus’ earthly ministry, and if there were anyone Jesus would have wanted to free, it was certainly him (Jesus said, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.” Luke 7:28). Interestingly, when John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus to ask if Jesus were really the Messiah, Jesus again quoted the Isaiah passage, but this time left off the “free the prisoners” portions (Matthew 11:4-5 and Luke 7:22-23). Maybe he did so because John was in prison and Jesus knew how that would end?

Third, this puts the freeing of Peter and Paul in a new light. Not only were they specific and personal blessings for those two and the Church they would serve, they were also signs of Christ’s messiahship, fulfilling what was promised by Isaiah. Even from heaven, Christ reached down and freed the captives, for it is clear that God freed these proclaimers of Christ. Now, the fulfillment of Isaiah 61 was complete.

But just as the fulfillment of the prison prophecy was temporary, so were the healings which Isaiah had foretold and Jesus had claimed: the blind saw .  .  . but would die. The lame would walk . .  . but would still die. The poor would die. And even those Christ would raise from the dead would, once more, die. Does that mean Jesus was only a “temporary” Messiah, one whose work applied to one place and time? Isn’t there a more permanent fulfillment of Christ and his work?

Fourth, indeed there is. While the signs which validated Jesus’s identity as the Christ had temporary fulfillments, the work which he accomplished on the Cross and by his resurrection is permanent, even eternal. Christ died so that all who believe in him would be freed forever from the bondage to sin and death. He freed us from sin’s curse; we are no longer its slaves: “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.” Therefore, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1), and “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

Jesus proclaimed about himself, “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed” (John 8:36). But he did more than just say we are free; by his death he set us free from the curse of the Law, canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. Colossians 2:14 says, “This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

Because of Christ and through his sacrifice, our sins are forgiven, our debts are paid, and we are set free! The Liberator has come, broken our chains and opened the prison gate. We have been pardoned, our record has been expunged, and we are free to follow him now and into eternity.

Talk about a prison break!

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 61; Acts 12; Acts 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letters From Prison, Part 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

Read: Everything above!

Letters From Prison, Part 2

As I stated in the previous blog, I am in prison.

But as I also pointed out, I’m not locked up in the state penitentiary, nor in the local hoosegow (yes, that really is a word!). Rather, like millions of Americans and others around the world, I am “sheltering at home”as ordered by the authorities to prevent or at least slow down the spread of the coronavirus in our communities. I guess you could call it a “virtual” prison.

In keeping with the example set by other, more famous personages throughout history, from the Apostle Paul to Martin Luther King, Jr., I thought I might take advantage of this enforced isolation to write some “Letters from Prison” about our current situation. Enough has been said by pundits on TV about the political, medical, and economic aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, but not much about the spiritual and religious considerations.

So, in light of that oversight, let me share a few thoughts with you.

1. Today I heard of a teen who complained about the cancellation of things he wanted to do, thanks to the sheltering-in-place order. He said, “I didn’t ask for this.” To which I reply, “Duh!” No one asked for this. No one wanted to get sick and die, no one wanted travel restrictions, job losses, business and school closures (well, maybe the school closings), or orders to stay home. But it happened. So do all other interruptions of life, from car accidents to cancer to acts of violence. No one gets married because they want to get divorced later, but it happens. Close friends and love interests break up, and people get fired. Natural events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, etc. claim lives, destroy homes (no sheltering at home possible!), and change futures. We have had the luxury of living privileged lives in this country during this century, but nothing on this earth is guaranteed or permanent. Like the farmer who built bigger barns to hold his wealth and boasted that he could eat and drink and be merry with all he had accumulated, we must be ready for the Lord to tell us that tonight our soul may be required of us, when all we desire in this life will be taken away (Luke 12:20). So no, we didn’t ask for this, but it comes with living in a fallen world.

2. Even though our world is fallen and dangerous, it still has much beauty and goodness in it. God’s divine nature, power and wisdom are still seen in what he has created (Romans 1:20). He designed our immune systems and our bodies’ ability to heal. He gave us intelligence and the raw materials for us to devise and use treatments and vaccines. And there is great beauty in most of life that lies beyond today’s viral concerns.

Even among us fallen sinners, enough of God’s image remains to move us to compassionate works, caring for those who are afflicted and suffering. We hear of people selling fakes cures on Amazon and shake our heads; we hear of a 72-year old priest in  Italy giving up his respirator to save the life of a virus-afflicted younger person, and we wipe tears from our eyes. We see videos of someone licking public surfaces and we get angry; we see medical staff working diligently and risky themselves to help the sick, and we feel very grateful. I urge you to look for what beauty and goodness remains in nature and humanity for your daily encouragement.

3. During this time when we are told to avoid personal contact, to practice social distancing, and stay home, only those businesses and jobs that are deemed “essential” are being allowed to operate. The government has listed specific essentials such as groceries, pharmacies, medical practices, first responders, utilities, radio stations, and banks. It makes sense, since there are services and goods we need in order to stay safe and healthy and in touch. But I have noticed one glaring omission from the list of essential services, and that is “church.” What is more essential than gathering to worship our Lord and Savior under even the best of circumstances? And what about now, to worship the One who has the power and wisdom to protect and guide us through these difficult times?

Throughout history, believers have gathered to pray for deliverance from whatever was threatening them, whether the enemy was human or disease. They did so because they called on God who provided all their needs and promised never to leave them or forsake them. And at times, the Lord did deliver them in answer to their prayers.

When the Mongols threatened to overrun a defeated and undefended Europe in 1241, the people of Europe gathered in their churches and prayed. Suddenly the Mongol Great Khan died, and the invading leader rushed his horde back to Mongolia to seek election as his replacement, sparing Europe. When the plague struck the German town of Oberammergau in 1633, the people gathered to pray for God’s deliverance. After they prayed, people healed, there were no more deaths, and the next year they began the ten-year cycle of Passion plays in thanksgiving. (Which play for this year has been cancelled due to this new plague, and moved to 2022). And the Apostle Peter was quickly freed from prison in answer to the prayers of the Jerusalem church – before he had time to write any letters from there. The people were still praying for him  when he walked in and joined them! (Acts 12:6-17) As Christians, we are called to pray for our deliverance whatever is facing us.

4. But the question arises during this time of social-distancing, whether we can still worship God, pray as a community, and be the Church when we are all scattered to our individual homes. The answer is yes, though we would much rather gather as the Lord tells us in Hebrews 10:25, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. . .”

a. The Church is not a building, nor one location, but rather is the collection of believers around the world, wherever and whenever they be. We will always be absent from most of our fellow believers in this life, yet are joined with them in faith by one body: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

b. Article 7 of the Augsburg Confession (the basic Lutheran doctrine) states, “The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.” In our day of enhanced communication over the internet, we are able to hear the Gospel being preached, even by our own congregation’s pastors, and to hear and see the liturgy of worship, a liturgy based on Scripture. So in that way, at least part of the definition of a local church is met.

c. As far as the Sacraments, that could be more of a challenge, though with some careful adjustments, the elements of bread and wine could be administered. It could be done as a drive-through procession, or even online*: the pastor could institute communion at a specific time, and the congregants (that is, non-congregating congregants) could self-administer their own bread and wine (or grape juice) at the direction of the pastor. After all, it is not the pastor who actually institutes the communion, but Christ, whose words are spoken by the pastor; nor is the church-owned bread and wine any more holy than what we have at home. Likewise, it is not the pastor’s touch of the elements that sanctifies them, but the Word of God. As Luther said in the Small Catechism about the benefits of communion: “It is not the eating and drinking, indeed, that does them, but the words which stand here, namely: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins. Which words are, beside the bodily eating and drinking, [are] the chief thing in the Sacrament. . .”

d. If the mandated shut down of people-gatherings were actually government persecution of churches specifically, then I would say to resist the order and accept the consequences that disobedience would cause. Christians have done that over the centuries under many regimes that sought to stamp out the faith. Literally millions of martyrs testify to that fact. They sought to honor God, “rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:17), and they chose to “obey God, rather than men” (Acts 5:29). But this situation affects everyone and every institution, not just the churches. Here the question the churches must answer about gathering in person goes to Christ’s statement on what is the greatest commandment. He said the greatest commandment is to love God, and secondly, to love our neighbor. Our local congregation, as well as most others, recognize that for the sake of loving our neighbors (not to mention our brothers and sisters in Christ), we will support the social-distancing for now to protect our neighbors from becoming sick from gathering with others who might be infected. Fortunately, because of our technology, this is possible without losing all contact.

There are two more points about the current pandemic I would like to make, about (1) whether this pandemic is a harbinger of the end times, and (2) about what passages of Scripture comfort us in these times, but as I look at the clock and at my word count for this blog, I realize I need to break here and write a Part 3 for the next blog. So now, while you wait with bated breath for the next installment,

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: Mark 12:13-17; Acts 5:17-42; Ephesians 4; Ephesians 5:22-33

P.S. An alert female reader reminded me to finish the passage I started last blog where I quoted Ephesians 5 about wives submitting to their husbands . . . Too bad I’m out of time and space to do that now. Maybe later . . .

*Disclaimer: Online communion is not an acceptable practice according to the Executive Committee of my denomination, The American Association of Lutheran Churches (AALC). Our Presiding Pastor issued that statement the day after I first posted this blog. As a member of the AALC’s clergy roster, I would not practice what my denomination rejects, but still believe it warrants discussion.

 

Letters From Prison

I am in prison.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ephesians 6:12-13 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (followed by the description of the whole armor)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read: Acts 16; Philippians 4; Ephesians 6

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

 

 

True Cleansing

On March 15 I filled in for Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Galt, California, leading worship and preaching.  My sermon began by my walking to a table set with a bowl of water and a hand towel. I washed my hands and said the following:

In a short while we’re going to receive communion. But with all the news about the coronavirus, and practically every government agency, company, and health provider telling us to wash our hands regularly to avoid passing on the disease, I thought it would be prudent to wash my own hands before handling the bread and the wine.

As of March 14th, the coronavirus, or Covid-19, had spread to 142,530 confirmed cases and 5393 deaths in 135 countries. People are under quarantine, and all kinds of travel and public events are being cancelled. Some sports teams are competing in empty stadiums! Globally, the 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 lockdown, Germany’s cases spiking, and international travel being cancelled or banned, our prospects are looking very dim. And that doesn’t count the actual disease and its serious effects on those who get it.

And so, today I wash my hands for your sake and mine.

The only problem is, as I stand here washing my hands, I am reminded of another very famous hand-washing. It took place in Jerusalem when Jesus stood trial before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate. Pilate realized Jesus was innocent of any crime deserving death, but when the crowds threatened to riot, Pilate gave in to the crowd’s demands that he crucify Jesus. Matthew 27:24 tells us what Pilate did next: “. . . he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’”

By washing his hands, Pilate was denying his guilt for what was about to happen, by washing away any blame for Jesus’ death.  Ever since then, whenever anyone denies responsibility for someone or something, they say they are washing their hands of the matter. As if just saying that, or washing one’s hands physically, can take away sin or guilt.

But, it takes a lot more to get rid of guilt than just water. Or soap and water. Or soap and water and hand sanitizer! Real cleansing of guilt and the sin that caused it require a cleansing act by someone who is able to actually remove that guilt. When it comes to our sin and guilt, the One who has the authority to forgive and remove it is Jesus Christ (Mark 2:5-10), and the cleansing act was his death on the cross.

That act was remarkable in what it cost Jesus for our sake. I am reminded of another sacrifice made in Jesus’ name. In 1864 a Catholic priest from Belgium known as Damien answered the call to missions, and traveled to a leper colony on the island of Molokai, in Hawaii. At first he failed in his work, making few converts, 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 as one of them, 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.

In a way, Damien’s story parallels Christ’s sacrifice for us. Christ came to a world full of people infected with the deadly disease of sin. He lived among us, sharing our lives, healing, teaching, and caring for real needs in this world. Finally, he took on our sin and the guilt that goes with it, becoming sin for our sake, and dying for us, just as Damien gave his life for those infected with a deadly illness. The difference of course, is that Jesus’ death brought life and the eternal cure for our sin and guilt.

Why did Jesus do this? Why did he accept the horrible death of crucifixion and the taking on of our condemnation for sin? Why did he go through with it, knowing what was to come? Romans 5 tells us why: 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.”

And how do we receive the benefit of the cleansing that Christ did for us? Through faith in him and what he did. Romans 5 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

So how do we respond to the pandemic now affecting our world?

Interestingly, Martin Luther was asked a similar question about the Black Death which had swept across Europe killing millions of people. This was his reply:

“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”

Luther’s answer was that we should take proper precautions to avoid getting or passing on the disease, so as to not tempt God, but to accept risks when serving those in need. Above all, pray for God’s merciful protection.

I like what he had to say. It’s okay to avoid dangers that would harm us or others, but when called upon to alleviate suffering, we step forward faithfully in prayer.  We are not called to try to become sick, but if we do, we have God’s consolation. Paul’s Roman passage promises: “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.”

Luther’s call to prayer recognizes that we are truly dependent on God in every situation, and not on ourselves. Sure, we take precautions, including washing our hands, avoiding the sick, covering coughs and sneezes, and developing a vaccine, but ultimately we have to submit our future to God. We need to trust his promise to be with us through whatever we face, and that he loves us and has the power to heal according to his purposes.

We appreciate Luther’s response, but how about ours?

  1. When troubles come our way, are we ungrateful for what God has already provided for us, and ask, “What have you done for me lately?” Or do we thank him for how he has already blessed us beyond measure in so many ways?
  2. When we have fears or unmet needs, do we grumble to God and blame him for what we’re facing, or do we accept his will and look for how God will bless and grow us in this situation, producing character and hope?
  3. When problems strike, do we doubt his existence (“A loving God wouldn’t let me go through this!”) and search elsewhere for answers? Or do we believe God’s promise never to leave or forsake us, and Christ’s promise to be with us until the end of the age, taking us to be with him no matter what happens in this world?
  4. Do we live in a world of Massah and Meribah (see Exodus 17 and Psalm 95) where the Israelites grumbled for lack of water, or by the Spirit of God with love, joy, peace, and the other fruit of the Spirit?
  5. Do we face the dangers of this world, such as the coronavirus, with paralyzing fear, or with trust and confidence in the Lord? What if we get the virus? Will it shatter our faith, or lead us to seek God’s will for us in the new circumstances we face?

My prayer is that you all avoid getting the coronavirus, and maybe my hand-washing will help a little. But whatever happens, rejoice in all the Lord has done, for he has cleansed you for all eternity.

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 95:1-9; Romans 5:1-8

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

Going Viral

The big news story this past week has been – no, not the primary elections – but rather the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Hardly a day, or even an hour, goes by without news that the virus has spread to a new country or state. It’s hard to keep up with the progress of the disease as we read or hear new reports of the numbers of infections and fatalities associated with the illness. It doesn’t do much good to remind people of the greater lethal risk from the regular flu, from car crashes, or violence. The coronavirus has captured our imagination and activated our fears.

While it’s not the Spanish Flu of 1918 (which infected 1/3 of mankind and killed maybe 50 million people), nor the start of the Zombie Apocalypse, it seems to be very serious and worth paying attention to.

As I’ve watched the spread of the virus and considered its implications, I considered writing about it, but at first I wasn’t sure what I could write that would be informative/acutely insightful/coherent about the situation. Then I realized, a blog doesn’t have to be informative/acutely insightful/coherent to be written and published, so here goes. Here are some random thoughts that more or less come together around the coronavirus epidemic:

First. My wife and I are planning a trip to Europe to see the sights and end up in Oberammergau, Germany, to attend the famous Passion Play, which reenacts the final week leading up to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. I have been wanting to see this performance for 50 years now, ever since I learned about it in my high school German classes. It’s performed only every ten years, so I figured this could be my last chance to see it while still fairly young and mobile. We started making reservations for the trip, and then the virus struck. At first we were okay, because the virus was in China, and we were flying to Rome. Then cases started showing up in Europe. And where in Europe? In Italy, of course. Now we watch as trains and flights are being cancelled and tourist venues are being shut down to reduce the threat of infection. My wife showed me a picture from Milan (on our itinerary) with armed guards in face masks guarding the cathedral. Now we’re wondering how much will be closed or restricted if we do go. It wouldn’t be worth it to fly there and just sit in quarantine for two weeks!

(Great! I just started sneezing while writing this!)

Second. As the reports of Italy’s growing problems came in, I thought: “Well, at least Germany is okay. We’ll arrive in Munich as planned and take the train to the play in Oberammergau.” Then Germany reported its first case of coronavirus. In Munich of course. Since then, the disease has spread so that as of this writing, Germany is second only to Italy in corona cases in Europe. I’m waiting for reports of cases in Oberammergau, or a decision by the German government to do what France has done, and ban large public gatherings. Since thousands attend each Passion Play performance, such a ban would be devastating to that town and to all the tourists/pilgrims who plan to go there.

Which would actually be ironic, since the whole reason that small Bavarian town has performed the Passion Play is because God delivered them from a plague in 1633. After first being hit hard for over a year (during which 80 citizens died), the people of the town gathered and prayed for deliverance, promising to honor Christ with a passion play every ten years if God spared them. After they prayed, the sick recovered and there were no more deaths; the townspeople honored their promise, performing the first play the next year on a stage built in the graveyard where the plague victims were buried. Ever since they have held a passion play every ten years except in 1940 due to World War II. I imagine it could be a crisis of conscience if the town were ordered to suspend the play which was promised to God for deliverance from a disease.

Third. Closer to home, last week my wife and I traveled to Florida to attend the graveside service for a 36-year old nephew who passed away suddenly at his work. Karen’s brother and his family live near Tampa, so after flying to Orlando we drove there to console them and attend the service. After that, we drove down to Sarasota, played some mini-golf there, and then went on to stay with friends in Venice (Florida, not Italy). Finally, we had dinner with my cousin and his wife in Orlando before returning home. For me, one of the good parts of the trip was a visit to Gatorland in Orlando, where Karen and I got to see a whole lot of gators and other Florida critters.

Here’s Karen, about to be devoured . . .

It was a bitter-sweet trip, though I was glad we were able to make it to a virus-free area. At least I was glad until we got home, and heard that Florida was reporting its first coronavirus cases. And where were those cases? In Tampa and Sarasota, of course.

Fourth. A news item caught my attention this week. It reported that Amazon has taken down a million products from its online catalog. Why? Because they were being sold by various people as cures for the corona virus. It’s hard enough to comprehend that Amazon has a million products to sell; even harder to think that a million of them were bogus and dishonest in just this one area. There is no natural problem, danger, or disaster that cannot be exploited by certain people to take advantage of others. There is no technology so helpful and beneficial to mankind that it cannot be misused to cheat or harm people. The sellers of such products didn’t have to be infected with corona; they were infected with the virus of greed and sin, which for them will end up being far more deadly than any virus. If anyone doubts there is sin in the world, they only have to hear of stories like this to know it’s true.

Fifth. Wednesday I went to the dentist. As I sat in the chair, I wished I had brought my face mask with me. Not that I thought I needed it to avoid infection, but I wanted to see my dentist’s reaction when I insisted he leave my mask in place while working on my teeth. (It’s only fair, considering he wears one while he works on me!) Then on my way home, I stopped in a new Chinese restaurant to take home and try one of their dishes. Chinese . . . I wonder if they could be from Wuhan . . . and so my story comes full circle.

After all this, I have sort of a fatalistic view, that if I get the virus, I get it. I don’t expect to die from it, but rather see it as an inconvenience affecting travel plans. Unfortunately, it has sickened and killed plenty of other people, and caused serious economic harm to many businesses and the people who work in them and depend on them for their livelihood. We should pray for God’s intervention, as did the people of Oberammergau, that he slows the spread of the virus and speeds the healing of those affected; that cures (real ones!) and vaccines be quickly developed and made available; that leaders avoid political judgments and work together to meet this problem; and that people turn to God for comfort and peace. It is my hope and prayer that we will be able to look back on this time and see how a threatening illness can be conquered for the blessing of the whole world.

In the meantime – stay healthy and look to the Lord for your strength!

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

Read: 2 Samuel 22:1-3; Psalm 95; Psalm 103; Psalm 46

 

 

 

Borders and Bridges, Part 2

In my last blog, I introduced the idea of “Borders and Bridges” and spoke to the necessity for the first half of that phrase: borders. As I pointed out, from the separations established by God at the beginning of creation (light separated from dark to be day and night, for example) to the structure of cells within a defining and protective membrane or cell wall, to national boundaries, we saw that borders play an important role. We also saw that borders exist in spiritual matters, such as those between God and man, and between the lost and the saved. We read in Jesus’ parable about Lazarus that there is a great chasm (border) fixed that no one can cross between those in paradise and those in Hades who suffer in anguish  (Luke 16:26). Even non-believers establish behavioral boundaries to require permission and respect when it comes to interactions between people. But borders are only half the story. What about bridges that transcend those necessary borders?

Part II. Bridges are Necessary

As necessary as borders, boundaries, and walls are to separate, protect, and identify different individuals, places, and other things, they can also be a problem. If there is no way for anything to cross the border for a good and needed purpose, the barrier can prove to be harmful or even fatal.

A cell wall will cause the cell to die if there is no way for needed nutrients to get into the cell and waste products to get out. An example is type 2 diabetes which I have: the cell membranes become resistant to the insulin needed to transport glucose (sugar) into the cell, where it provides energy. Instead, the sugar remains in the blood above proper levels, where it causes damage to other tissues. Treatment usually begins with medicines which reduce that resistance to allow the insulin to pass into the cell and do its work. In essence, the medicine builds a “bridge” across the cell membrane to bring in what’s needed.

You see the same thing in other contexts. A prisoner locked in solitary confinement is essentially in a cell (duh!). If no one brought food and water through that cell wall, or removed waste, that prisoner would die (and go crazy in the process). A city under siege has its supply lines cut off, sealing it off from the outside world and preventing both reinforcements and any resupply of basic food supplies; the city has to surrender or starve (read Lamentations 4:1-10 about the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem and its consequences). A more recent siege took place when the Soviets blockaded West Berlin from mid-1948 to mid-1949. The city was left in dire straits without food or coal for winter heating until the U.S. and its allies formed an airlift, which over an entire year flew in 2.3 million tons of supplies, saving the city and causing the Soviets to lift their “siege.” The airlift created a vital bridge which preserved the freedom and lives of the Berliners.

Wealth and prosperity come from trade across borders. One person or company or country produces more of one item than it needs, and trades with another entity for what it produces, and now both are richer. For example, our orange tree produced over 100 oranges this year. We couldn’t eat that many, so we gave some away, which prospered more people with good food from our tree. Other people have shared with us their walnuts, lemons, limes, plums, and pomegranates. We were all enriched by the trades. But without such trades, if non-bridegable borders had forced us to keep everything to ourselves, there would have been rotting produce in all our yards and we would have all been a little poorer for it.

Trade was so important to our nation’s founders that they prohibited tariffs between states. The Constitution essentially established a trade bridge across all state boundaries.  When it comes to countries, trade treaties form bridges to allow the transfer of goods and services across boundaries. Both countries are benefited by those cross-border exchanges. That’s why the terms of trade treaties are such big news these days: the prosperity of the trading partners is at stake. The fact that we do have trade around the world is a blessing to everyone: just check out the food can and produce labels in your kitchen to see how much our diet is enriched by having economic bridges with the world.

Cross-border movement of people is important too. Besides international business and tourism travelers, there are those who cross borders to escape persecution or seek a better life. Immigration has been the life-blood of our nation for 400 years; the issue is not whether there should be borders or bridges across those borders, but how easy or difficult it should be to cross those bridges legally. I wouldn’t be here in America if my ancestors had not crossed some borders on their way from the British Isles. By the way, I still have the actual travel papers used by my great-great-grandmother when she emigrated from Germany to Chicago in the 1860’s. Once again, I am glad such a bridge existed for her to do that.

So far, you can see the benefits, and indeed necessity, of bridges in various areas of life. But there is ultimately an even more important area for there to be a bridge, and that is the spiritual. As I showed in the previous blog, our sin created a border between us and God, between us and the joys of eternal life. We were shut out from the earthly paradise in which God placed us, and remain excluded from heaven from birth. No matter how we try, we cannot cross that border by our own strength or goodness. That is what Christ did for us by his death on the Cross; the effect of his death was shown in that the Temple curtain (a border wall) which closed off the Holy of Holies from the people, tore from top to bottom, showing that we now had access (a bridge) to God.

When I consider the interplay between borders and bridges, I see the scriptural, Lutheran doctrine of Law and Gospel at work.

1. God’s Law defines the border between what God accepts and does  not accept. It shuts out those who sin and disobey God, and sets boundaries for our behavior. “Thou shalt not” and “thou shalt” command our obedience and threaten us with harm if we trespass them (a word which means “to step over,” and is perfect border-violating language.). The Law divides the sheep and the goats, the wheat and the tares, and speaks of burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. This is the Law, and God is righteous in establishing and enforcing all such boundaries.

2. The Gospel proclaims that in spite of our sin, the boundaries which would separate us from God and consign us to hell have been breached by God’s mercy. Because God loves us and does not want us to be separated from him or see destruction, he has provided a Savior in his Son, Jesus the Christ. All are invited through faith in Christ to cross over the bridge into eternal life. Now, the way is narrow and not everyone will cross it, but the way is there. Jesus proclaimed he is the way (John 14:6), and Ephesians 2:14 joyously proclaims, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” The way is open through faith in Jesus Christ.

There are more things that could be said about borders and bridges, about how they impact life itself and the way we relate to the environment, to each other, and to God. But for now, it’s important to see that both are necessary to order and freedom, to Law and Gospel, to you and me. May we always thank God for his righteousness and his mercy and for the borders and bridges his love provides for us.

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

Read: Luke 16:19-31; Lamentations 4; 2 Kings 25; John 14:1-6

Borders and Bridges

Borders and bridges. Two politically charged and controversial terms and subjects. Today I drove past an “On the Border” restaurant and the building that used to house a Borders Bookstore. But those aren’t what I or today’s politicians are talking about. And tomorrow, I’m seeing my dentist to have a bridge installed (for real). That’s not what gets the political classes all upset, either.

No, in current political discourse, the terms, “borders” and “bridges,” deal with restrictions on the identities and movements of people. Borders refer to physical demarcations of national identity and sovereignty which separate groups of people, and bridges to connections between individuals and groups. One side says, “Build the wall!” and the other side says, “Build bridges, not walls!” (A third group, the construction industry, says, “Just build!”) The two terms are set as opposites and loaded with all kinds of personal and and political agendas, which I’m not going to get into.

After pondering the issue, and putting aside my own personal political predilections, I have come to the conclusion that both borders and bridges are necessary, not only to the social and political realm, but also to our faith and to life itself.  Let me explain . . .

Part I: Borders are necessary.

When we speak of borders, we can also use the term, boundaries. Borders and boundaries are limits on space, time, matter and energy. They define identity and create units of life. They designate what is, and what is not, when it comes to speaking of anything. If I say who I am, I am separating myself from others who I am not. If I ask how are you, I am distinguishing myself from you. If I say this is where I live, I am defining one certain place as distinct from everywhere else.

This has been the case from the beginning, and I mean, from the beginning. When God created light, he said it was good, and he separated the light from the dark and called one day and the other night (Genesis 1:3-5).  As God continued to create, the separations continued: earth, sun, moon, stars; plants and animals; the sky (“he separated the waters above from the waters below” – Genesis 1:6-7); the sea and the dry land (Genesis 1:9). Then, the pinnacle of God’s creation: mankind. Even in this final act, there were boundaries set: man/God, man/other creatures, and man/woman. Distinctions were made, and boundaries on actions were set: the fruit of one tree was made off-limits, out-of-bounds. And, when the man and woman violated that rule, God expelled them from the Garden and positioned the original border guards to keep them out: Genesis 3 says, “and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” The original ICE agents. Or should I say, FIRE agents?

As Christians we know the separation was more than closing off a piece of land by a physical border; we know that the real separation was spiritual: sinful man from a holy God, and life from death. (As Christians, we also know how God would build the bridge needed to reunite us, but you’ll have to wait until Part II for that!)

Leaving spiritual matters of borders, consider how essential boundaries are to our biological lives. All life is based on cells which are made up of a bunch of really cool stuff (nuclei, mitochondria, ribosomes, cytoplasm, etc.) which are contained within what? A cell wall (plant) or membrane (animal). The cell wall holds everything together that is needed for the cell to live, and keeps out the substances and other living things that would destroy the cell it is protecting. Whatever is within the wall or membrane is the cell; whatever is outside the boundary is not the cell. Life itself is based on such tiny borders. When a wall or membrane is broken open, the cell dies.

Moving up in size, the collection of cells which comprise an animal, person or plant are grouped together within an outer boundary – skin, exoskeleton, or bark, for example – which define the creature. Again, what is needed to sustain the creature’s life is within the body, and distinguish it from what is outside. When that outer boundary is compromised by injury or disease, the life of the entire body (and the cells which form it) is at risk.

Then there is the social order. The most basic unit of human society is the family. While there are numerous ways we speak of families and define them, the basic definition is of a group of people related through marriage or ancestry, or living together as a household. The classic example of a family is a set of parents living with their children. Whatever the makeup of any specific family, there is a common understanding within the group of who is part of it and who is not. Best friends are not part of a family. An overnight guest or visitor is not part of it. A pet is not part of a family (sorry, Fido and Fluffy). This doesn’t mean others cannot be accepted into the family through birth or marriage or adoption, or treated as one of the family, or expelled from the family for some horrendous behavior, but even all these exceptions depend on there being a social unit called the family which has an invisible, socially agreed-upon boundary. The basic family is formed when a husband and wife vow to forsake all others and keep themselves only unto their spouse; talk about a boundary – a boundary that defines the family!

In the social order above the family come clans, tribes, countries, nations, and other politically defined entities. Even with these, there are borders and boundaries which define membership, citizenship, and sovereignty of people. Whether you look at who pays taxes to whom, who pays tribute to whom, who enforces laws on whom, or who gets to vote for whom, the boundaries our societies draw to separate one people from another make a huge difference in our lives. Laws vary by state, the primaries going on as I write this vary by which state holds them, and the voters of one state cannot vote in a different state.

This kind of division also goes way back in time. We read in the Bible of God separating the people of earth into many nations, beginning by confusing the language which they spoke as they were building the Tower of Babel. Then, we read the names of many nations cited in the Scriptures: the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Hittites, the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, etc. bearing the names of the places they inhabited. Each had sovereignty over their own lands, and fought wars to gain control of other people and lands. Finally, when the tribes of Israel gained their freedom, God gave each one a separate piece of land in which to love and grow. God gave them laws and boundaries (see Joshua 15) , and forbade them from moving the boundary stones which marked off their borders (Proverbs 22:28). It’s obvious from history, in the Bible as well as from secular accounts, that people have not been satisfied with border restrictions placed on them. For many reasons – land, food, pride, lust for power and wealth – people have fought wars with people who lived on the other side of those boundaries. But ultimately the goal of such wars was not to erase boundaries, but to extend their own boundaries to include their conquered foes. Not always a good thing or a noble goal, but even so, establishing a sovereign nation (or city or states or county, etc.) is needed to social order and safety.

Which brings me to one final point about borders. We speak of respecting boundaries in our personal relationships as necessary for peaceful, respectful interactions with each other. Whether the boundaries are physical (not abusing someone physically or sexually), verbal (not gossiping or slandering someone), or social (not demanding favors, calling late at night, or interfering with someone’s life), there are and should be limits to how we treat each other (the Bible has some good ideas along those lines . . .). Many such boundaries are serious enough that we have passed laws regulating or forbidding their violation; most laws are just that: boundary setters with penalties attached for crossing them. The purpose of such laws and penalties is in line with the biblical mandate for government, which is to restrain evil (Romans 13:1-7).

Boundaries are natural, good, and necessary, but there are times they can be harmful and destructive, too. In those cases, or to prevent such harmful consequences, there also need to be bridges. And those I will cover next time in: Borders and Bridges Part 2

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

Read: Joshua 15; Romans 13:1-7

Just Be Just

We are currently mid-way or so in the US Senate’s impeachment trial. If you asked, “What impeachment?”, your name must be Rip Van Winkle*, and you’ve been asleep since November 2016. The House managers (the prosecutors) finished presenting their case, and yesterday the president’s lawyers (the defense team) began their presentation. There are at least two days of arguments ahead before we know exactly what will happen.

While watching the defenders reacting to the prosecutors’ assertions, I remembered the words of one of the sayings from the Bible’s book of Proverbs: “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (Proverbs 18:17). How true it is, for if you only heard one side of the story, during the impeachment or during any other trial or debate, you could easily be swayed to believe that version. Not until the other side has spoken can you better decide who is right.

I once served on a jury that heard a felony case about a man charged with tethering and abusing his dogs. The prosecutor, an assistant district attorney, showed pictures and presented testimony from two animal control officers. Then came the animal shelter veterinarian who showed and described the dogs’ injuries. When the prosecutor finished, it would have been easy to conclude the defendant was guilty. But then the defense attorney got up and shredded the prosecutor’s case. Not only did the animal officers’ testimony disagree with the physical evidence and photos, the vet testified that apart from the superficial wounds (caused by the dogs when they attacked each other) the animals’ conditions showed they were properly nourished and cared for. Our verdict: not guilty.

It’s interesting that the Bible, and other ancient Jewish writings, hold a lot of wisdom about trials and other legal remedies, such as the admonition in Proverbs that a person hear both sides of a story before deciding what is true.  I’m sure a biblical scholar could write a book about all the lessons, but for now, consider the following few examples of “biblical jurisprudence:”

1. Justice is blind. If you see modern courthouses and statues representing justice, you often see a blindfolded figure holding a scale in one hand. The figure is weighing evidence and testimonies to determine the truth, in order that justice be done. The blindfold is to show that “justice is blind,” meaning that non-relevant factors (such as who is at trial or what they look like) do not play a part in the decision. Of course, this is an ideal; it’s very difficult for people to remain completely non-biased in their verdicts. You would have to have a perfect judge to render a perfect verdict; which we have fortunately in the perfect Judge of the universe. Isaiah 11:3-4 says this about the LORD: “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” God is not swayed in his judgments by the earthly factors that might prejudice our opinions. This truth is reiterated in Acts 10:24 by the Apostle Peter, who declares, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality [no respecter of persons].”

2. Don’t let witnesses collaborate. There is a reason witnesses are kept from hearing other witnesses’ testimonies before they speak: it’s too easy to let their testimony be swayed or to conspire in a lie. Suspects are questioned separately, as well. There is a story found in the Apocrypha, a collection of non-canonical books and stories written between the testaments. The story is called Susanna or Susanna and the Elders, and tells of a married woman named Susanna who is observed bathing by two elders. Inflamed by lust, they demand she have sex with them, but the righteous woman refuses. Rebuffed, the elders concoct a story that they saw her commit adultery with a young man; Susanna is arrested and sentenced to death until Daniel intervenes and says the witnesses should be questioned separately. When this is done, the two elders give conflicting accounts of where the event took place. When their lies are exposed, Susanna is freed and the elders are put to death instead. Perjury has consequences!

3. Capital crimes require two or more eyewitnesses. Crimes which are punishable by death require two or more witnesses to the act, to prevent anyone charging someone else with such serious crimes just out of spite. The specific text in the Bible is Deuteronomy 17:6, “On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.” The writers of the US Constitution included this requirement in the one capital crime they included: treason. Article 3, Section 3 states: “No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.” When the stakes are so high, the corroboration of eyewitnesses is vital for the accused to receive justice.

4. Tell the truth. In today’s courtrooms,witnesses swear or affirm to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” They used to swear to do so, “so help you God,” placing their hand on a Bible. When people looked to God as their judge, they feared God’s judgment on them should they lie under oath. Leviticus 19: 12 says, “You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.” While I’m sad to see such a statement disappear as a sign of the decreasing relevance of faith and religion in our society, according to the Bible we should tell the truth whether under oath or not.  James 5:12 says, “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” The commandment to not bear false witness against our neighbor (Exodus 20:16 and Deuteronomy 5:20) is always applicable, even in daily speech; we don’t have to be under oath to be forced to tell the truth. Note that the admonition against false witness is not just about lying in general, but especially about harming someone by false accusations. God sets the standard (“God is not a man that he should lie” – Numbers 23:19) and expects us to be truthful as well. As believers on Christ and witnesses to him as our Lord and Savior, people must know that we speak truthfully, that our testimony be believed and trusted. Proverbs 12:22 says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,” so don’t lie!

5. God hates those who pervert justice for their own sake. God’s word speaks warning against those who pervert justice and use the law to rob others, especially those least able to defend themselves. Consider the following:

Proverbs 11:1 – A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.

Proverbs 17:15 – He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

Isaiah 10:1-2 – Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record unjust decisions, So as to deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.

Deuteronomy 16:19 – You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.

Amos 5:11-12 – Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor And exact a tribute of grain from them, Though you have built houses of well-hewn stone, Yet you will not live in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine. For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great, You who distress the righteous and accept bribes And turn aside the poor in the gate.

There are other condemnations of injustice throughout the Bible, but you get the idea. Our desire for justice, for being treated fairly and for having our case rightly heard align us with God himself, who desires that we not only receive justice but dispense it fairly as well.

In this fallen and sinful world, we will not always receive the justice we want, but God’s word promises us that one day, all will be set right. those who pervert justice will be punished, and those whom they mistreated will be justified. While we wait for that day, let us exhibit in our dealing the same high standards of justice and mercy which God has shown to us and demands from us. In other words, just be just.

And let us pray along with the Senate chaplain, Rev. Barry Black, that God’s will be done in the impeachment proceedings, for God’s thoughts are above our thoughts, and his ways above our ways, even as the heavens are above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9).

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 look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Susanna and the Elders (available online or in the Catholic version of Daniel, chapter 13); Deuteronomy 19:15-21; and Amos 5:21-24.

*Old timer’s reference to the 1819 short story of the same name by Washington Irving, in which Rip fell asleep for 20 years.

The Crux of the Matter

While checking the offerings of an online movie service, I noted that a number of James Bond movies showed up as currently popular. I didn’t watch any, opting to go to bed instead. But as I lay there, before falling asleep, my mind mulled over some of the movie titles, and I remembered that the movie, The World is Not Enough, was based on the supposed motto of Bond’s family: Orbis non sufficit, (Latin for, “The world is not enough”). Interestingly, the motto actually did belong to a real Bond, Sir Thomas Bond of the 1600s.

From there, my mind roamed through other mottoes I knew:

      • Honi soit qui mal y pense. The motto of the British Order of the Garter, which means, “Shamed be the one who thinks evil of this.” Supposedly spoken by King Edward III when he put his nieces’ garter on his own leg, sparing her embarrassment when it fell down from her leg during a dance. It also appears on the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.
      • Dieu et mon droit. “God and my right,” said to have been Richard I’s battle cry. Also on the UK royal coat of arms.
      • E pluribus unum. A little more familiar to Americans, our national motto proclaims we are “out of many, one.”
      • Novus ordo seclorum. The second US motto, found on our dollar bills and on the Great Seal of the United States, it means, “New world order.” Okay, maybe that’s a little scary, but the designers meant well.

Finally, my mind being exhausted by the exercise, I fell asleep, but not before wishing my family had a cool Latin motto, too.

But as I remembered when I woke up, we do. The Eddy family has an official crest, registered in English books of Heraldry. Our crest is this:

Related image

What’s really cool about the coat of arms is that it is very Christian in nature. First, there are the crossed sword and cross above. Then there are the three aged pilgrims on the crest (I used to tell my dad they represented him; now I find that they represent me). But most exciting of all is the Latin motto underneath: Crux mihi grata quies, which means, “I find welcome rest in the Cross.”

What a wonderful family motto to have! For what could be more true? Just consider all that this proclaims – which is true for every Christian, and not just the Eddy variety:

1. Crux – “Cross” When we say something is the “crux” of the matter, we are saying it is the all important point, the essential issue on which the matter hangs. A different way is to say it is “crucial” to the matter, another word which derives from the word, “crux.” To all Christians, the cross is the essential point of our faith, for we know that it was on the cross that Jesus died to atone for all the sins of the world. Without his sacrifice on the cross, we would still be in our sins, unredeemed,  unforgiven, and lost forever. Scripture tells us that God nailed all our sins to the cross with Jesus  (Colossians 2:13-14) so that they are canceled. The cross is the symbol of our faith, because it is the basis for our hope and joy. The burden of the Law was lifted from us and put upon Christ; by his death, our debt was wiped clean, and by his resurrection, we know that we too shall rise again. It’s interesting to me that religions that deny the Christian faith reject the cross: Jehovah’s Witnesses say Jesus did not die on a cross, but on a “torture stake”; Mormons reject the cross as “idolatry”; and Muslims claim it wasn’t Jesus who was crucified, but Judas. What Christ did on the cross is essential, it is central, and it is crucial to what we believe, and to who we are.

2. Mihi – “I” This personalizes the message of the Gospel for me, and by extension, for each individual.  Christ died not only for the world in general, as in John 3:16, but also for every person in that world. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that the Lord is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” This speaks to me, not only telling me that God loves me personally, but also that all my sins, no matter what they are and how much I regret them, are forgiven. There is no thought that God may forgive others who are holier than I am, but my sins are greater, or are too numerous, or still crop up too often for him to wipe away. The message of the Gospel is that all sins are forgiven, and that includes all my sins. This personalized message means that by faith in Christ I have become a child of God (John 1:12), and have a restored relationship with him. His Spirit dwells within me, and not just in a distant Temple somewhere; indeed, I am now a temple of the Holy Spirit, a Temple made by God himself (1 Corinthians 6:16-19). God has assured me of his presence with me through thick or thin, even to the end of the age. You can’t get more personal than that.

3. Grata – “welcome” We have all heard the expression that certain people are “persona non grata,” meaning that they are not welcome somewhere. It is usually applied to diplomatic personnel who are kicked out of a country for some breech of behavior or protocol. But in Christ, we who were estranged from God by our sins have now been welcomed back, just as the Prodigal Son was welcomed home by his father. We know that the entire mission  which Christ had was to reconcile us to the Father, which we could not do ourselves. We read, “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Because of Christ, we are now welcome guests at the great wedding feast of the Lamb to come, and welcome in heaven forever. There’s a second sense of being welcome, and that is this: in Christ and by his cross, we find what is truly welcome for us, including relief from sins, hope for the future, love and acceptance, and as we will see in the final word of the motto, rest.

4. Quies – “rest” If you’ve noticed, certain old gravestones have the initials, “R.I.P.” on them. We understand them to mean, “Rest in Peace,” though they originally were for the Latin phrase of the same meaning: “Requiescat in Pace.” You can see the root word, “quies” in the middle of the first word. The phrase is a Christian message, praying that the deceased will rest in peace until the day of the resurrection. Certainly, we believe that those who die in Christ will be at peace and will blessed with eternal life and heaven to come. But there is also the sense that we Christians still find rest in Christ even while we are still alive. As pilgrims in this world (like the pilgrims on my crest) we struggle and search on our journey through life. We encounter good and bad, joy and sorrow. We strive with great efforts at times, whether with problems or just with the labors that life demands. We seek to know God, and our purpose in life. We can search high and low, near and far, but until we find God through his Son, we remain unsure and restless. As St. Augustine of Hippo put it in his book, Confessions, in 400 AD, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” When we find God, when we know he welcomes us with love and forgiveness, we can finally have true rest, now, in this life. We don’t need to wait till it’s inscribed on our grave stone. We have true rest.

So there you have it. No need for me to invent some new motto; besides, my Latin’s not good enough. I’d probably come up with something like, “sus sit mihi rosea” (my pig is pink) or “vaccasque inposuerunt super lunam salire” (cows jump over the moon). Nope; better I stick with the motto handed down to me by wiser generations than mine. But as much as I love the Eddy family motto, it doesn’t really matter what Latin motto I inscribe on a coat of arms; what matters is the faith that Christ has inscribed on my heart. In that faith, by the cross of Christ, we find true rest. And that is the crux of the matter!

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: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Hebrews 4

2020 Vision

This is a blog that has taken over 2000 years to write. Two thousand and twenty years, to be exact. Or maybe I should say, two thousand and twenty years to wait before it could be written. And why do I say that? Because we are on the verge of the year 2020, which happens to be the same number as the designation of good eyesight: 20/20.

When optometrists say someone’s eyesight is 20/20, they mean that the person can see a line of text at 20 feet that a “normal” person sees at 20 feet. If someone has 20/40 vision, that means that person has to be 20 feet from what a normal person sees at 40 feet: in other words, they only see half as well.* So the bigger the bottom number, the worse the person’s vision. Therefore the goal for vision correction (what we laypeople call “glasses”) is to help a person see with 20/20 acuity.

That was the goal when I was first given glasses at the age of nine. My school teacher suggested I see an eye doctor when she saw me not only squinting to see the chalkboard (yes, we used real chalk in those days); she also saw me curling my fingers in front of my eyes to make little pinholes: I had discovered that I could refract the light enough to see the board clearly by doing that. I still remember how weird everything looked when I first walked out of the doctor’s office with my new glasses!

Of course, the effect of my sudden clarity on me was nothing compared to what it must have been like for the blind people Jesus healed. Among those to whom Jesus gave sight were a blind beggar in Jericho named Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52), a second blind man in Jericho (Matthew 20:29-34), two other men in Matthew 9:27-31, a man in Mark 8:22-26 (who required two touches to be healed), and a man who was born blind in John 9. Can you imagine what it must have been like, to suddenly see? For your brain to make sense of visual images when there had been none before?

The healing in John 9 was especially remarkable, in that an entire chapter was devoted to the miracle and its consequences. In no small measure that was due to the fact that, as the healed man said, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.” It was truly a miracle, one which could only have been done if the Healer were from God, as the healed man also proclaimed.

But the real importance of the John 9 healing is greater even than giving one man sight, as miraculous as it was. The resulting disbelief and challenges by the Pharisees who witnessed the results of Jesus’ act gave Jesus the basis for teaching about what true vision really means. For he spoke not of physical sight and blindness, but of spiritual. He said to the formerly blind man, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Then, when some of the Pharisees near him asked him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” To our Lord, true sight, no matter how we do on an eye chart, comes from the heart, that is, from our spirit rather than from our body.

Therefore, true sight has to do with recognizing God and his works, and with believing in his Son as our Savior, something which the blind man did, but the Pharisees could not. True 20/20 vision has to do with the eyes of faith which see reality for what it is, in spite of all the distortions and camouflage which the world throws up to disguise or obstruct the truth. As 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” And Hebrews 11:1 teaches, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” True sight, true perspective on the world, comes from faith in God.

So then, what does this have to do with the year, 2020? The connection could apply to any new year, or in fact, to any day of any year, but 2020 happens to be the year which confronts us now, and therefore is worthy of consideration. What I want us to think about is how we are going to view the coming year. What perspective will we have on its events? What is the lens through which we will “see” the world with 20/20 vision in 2020?

There are many lenses that people wear:

The economic lens. How is the economy doing? How are my investments doing? Will I have enough to pay my bills? Is GDP up, and is it up enough? What about trade, tariffs, sanctions, and taxes? What about inflation and income disparity? What are the jobs and unemployment numbers? To many people, and not just in the business world, the answers to these questions will determine whether they have a “good” year or not. Changes in their financial status, in their bottom line, determines their satisfaction and even happiness with life. A tenth of a point change in the stock market can elate or crush them, depending on how it affects them. But as Jesus told in the parable of a farmer who became rich, wealth is nothing when your soul is required of you at death (Luke 12:13-21). Even the extremely wealthy Solomon lamented that he was going to have to leave his wealth to someone else when he dies (Ecclesiastes 2:18). So seeing the world economically is temporary at best, and even then is subject to the daily vagaries of the news.

The political lens. Certainly, 2020 is starting off as one of the most politically tinged (or should I say, tainted) years in our lifetime. With our nation sharply divided in its vision for the future, with our political parties at war in the Congress, with judges disagreeing with each other’s rulings, with the President impeached (or was he?), and with primaries and the general election coming this year, it seems the world revolves around politics. Catch any national newscast and you’ll believe that the only thing happening in our country is politics (or any event that can be politicized). Even the magazine, Christianity Today, got into the fray by calling for the President’s ouster. But as heated and as all-encompassing as politics seem to be this coming year, we need to keep true perspective. Such questions were just as important in Jesus’ day: which Jewish party was the right one: the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Essenes, or the Zealots? Who was ruler: Pilate, Caesar, Herod, or the high priest? What about those tax collectors (always lumped with sinners by the people) and Roman soldiers walking around? And as for the Bill of Rights – forget about it! Politics will always play an important part in our lives, but are they what life is really about? Romans 13:1 states, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” But Jesus reminded us to put things in the right order: sure, we are to render to Caesar (our political leaders) what is Caesar’s, but more importantly, to God what is God’s. When we make that distinction, and realize that no one can rule without God’s permission, we can catch our breath and look to God for guidance in how we interact with the political situation in which we find ourselves.

The popularity lens. How many followers do I have on Twitter” How many Facebook friends? How big is my “posse”? Do people crowd around to talk to me, take my advice, and copy how I dress or wear my hair? (In my case, do people dye their hair gray to look like me? Sadly, I think not.) Is my professional image what I want to project, of confidence, competency and success? Does this dress/shirt/pair of pants make me look fat? While we all crave acceptance at some level, when we make it our priority, and judge our happiness based on our perception of how popular we are, we are making a huge mistake. Not only are our perceptions subject to misunderstanding (am I being emulated or mocked?), it turns out that what is popular is a temporary and fickle thing. Saddle shoes or high heels? (I had neither.) Pegged pants or bell-bottoms? Wide lapels or narrow; wide ties or narrow? Shaved head, butch, crew cut, Afro, Mohawk, duck-tail, or buzz cut? Or ringlets, curly perm, or page boy? It is so easy to copy what we think makes other people popular, and think it will work the same for us, only to be disappointed when the popular person moves on to something else and we become so “yesterday” (so 2019, in other words). But when we see with the spiritual lens, we know that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34, KJV). And we read Paul in 1 Corinthians who proclaimed, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” Our social popularity means nothing to God; its only purpose, when used rightly, is to witness to others about Christ and what is truly meaningful in life.

Other lenses: There are other ways to look at the world which people use, such as scientific, medical, corporate, tribal, etc. But time and space limit me from going into those. Maybe another time – like 2021.

But the key to remember is that the ability to have 20/20 vision for 2020 rests not with the forces around us, but in God’s Word, which gives us the true perspective, God’s perspective, on what is real and what is important. It tells us who God is, who we are, and what God has done for us: a joyful reality that transcends anything we would otherwise think important. Are we living in accord with God’s law? Do we accept his grace and forgiveness? do we forgive others who harm us? Do we help the unfortunate?

When the final reality for which God has saved us comes to pass, and we stand together in God’s presence before his throne, on that day we will see him face to face, and glorify the One who has given us true sight: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

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

Read: John 9, Mark 8:22-26, Mark 10:46-52

*Interestingly, Chuck Yeager, the famous WWII fighter ace, had 20/10 vision, which allowed him to see enemy fighters long before they could see him, which in a less electronic era made all the difference.

The Star Still Shines

The Star Still Shines

The star that shone so bright in the night, pierced the dark with its glorious light.

Beneath the star lay a world dwelling in the dark, but also from the benighted condition of a world subject to sin and death. The Scriptures spoke of people living in darkness, and so it was: a darkness bred by greed, malice, lust, theft, murder, hatred, political intrigue, oppression, and worship of the creation instead of the Creator. A people yearning to be free outwardly, yet unable to change their internal bondage to sin.

And yet, the star still shone, knowing that in spite of the depth of the darkness below, it was announcing by its small glow, the coming of a more brilliant Light, One that would ultimately banish all darkness, that would be the great Light also promised by Scripture: the Light that would save people from their sins, that would break their bondage to iniquity, and make them free indeed. And so it was that under the light of that star a babe was born. And the light drew men from near and far, even those who had longed to see the sign for what it told.

The star still shines so bright in the night, piercing the dark with its glorious light.

The Scriptures told us that not all people love light and not all people will love the Light. Evil deeds love the darkness, for darkness promises its own rewards, of selfish gain, sensual satisfaction, pride, vanity and replacement of God with self. The world is filled with evidence of what darkness truly delivers, yet people blame God for what they have caused. So it is that most of the world rejects the Light, hoping to shine in its own way, but only becoming fireflies that glow briefly before being snuffed out. The world mocks those who love the Light Hoping to justify their own dark souls.

And yet, the star which shone before shines still, proclaiming that the promised Light has come. It calls all people to believe, and to rejoice that the unending love of our Creator has shone and shown us the way out of the darkness. No longer must sin rule over us; there is a new way, a way that leads to life by following the true Light of the world.

Though the darkness will rage and fight to the end, it cannot overcome Whom God did send. The day will come when there’ll be no night, for the Morning Star will be our Light!

Merry Christmas, and may your celebration of Christ’s birth fill you with the love and joy of the true Light!

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

Read: Luke 2:1-29, Matthew 2:1-12, John 1:1-14

Unimpeachable

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

Friendsgiving?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Say to the People

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

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

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

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

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,”Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”‘ So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:22-27).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For all these reasons, I therefore pray for you:

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a Chance!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lead a Cat to Water

There’s an old saying: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Well, this past week, my wife modified the saying slightly to say, “You can lead a cat to water, but you can’t make him drink,” thus providing the title to this blog. The occasion for the new saying is one of the reasons my blogging has been delayed: our cat, Charco*, suddenly got sick, started hiding out all day and night, and stopped eating and drinking for almost a week. I took him to the vet twice, including one 3:00 am trip, for hydration shots, and we have been trying all kinds of things to get him to eat and drink something. The good news is that after five days he finally came out and started eating; the bad news is that after eight days he still isn’t drinking from his water bowl, which he always loved to do. As my wife said, you really can’t make a cat drink. (By the way, after vet exams and blood work, Charco was pronounced a healthy cat! Healthy, except for being sick . . .)

As I thought about this experience, several ideas, or lessons, came to mind that I believe are worth sharing.

  1. God’s mandate at creation was for us to care for what he has created. Ever since our first parents were placed in the Garden of Eden, God has charged us with the proper management of the land, plants, and animals (Genesis 1:28 “have dominion over every living thing” and 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”). All living things are God’s, which he declares in Psalm 50:10-11, “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.” Therefore, we are responsible to our Creator to properly care for all he has made. All Christians who take God’s ownership of the earth seriously, should be ardent environmentalists, not in the sense of radicals who think the world would be better without humans, but in the sense of being true stewards who protect what God has made and given to us for our blessing. This means in my case, to care for the animal God brought into our life at a time when I needed a special blessing.
  2. Though sickness and death affect all living creatures, God still loves what he has made. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” And when God threatened to destroy the great city of Nineveh, he sent Jonah to warn them, saying he took pity on the people and on the “many cattle” who lived there (Jonah 4:11). Even when God’s wrath was poured out by flooding the whole earth due to mankind’s overwhelming sinfulness, he preserved animals as well as humans on the ark (even though we wish some insects like flies and mosquitoes would have missed the boat!). The Bible calls Jesus the Good Shepherd who cares for his sheep, using the analogy of a shepherd who goes out to save his lost sheep (which we are!). And when God wanted to show his wisdom and power to Job, he used two of the animals which he had created as evidence of his greatness: behemoth and leviathan, mighty land and sea creatures, respectively.
  3. Pets are more than just animals. The fact we call them “pets” is evidence of that. Though my wife and I have often said, “He’s just a cat” about Charco, meaning there are limits to what we would do for him, when it came down to this week, we found ourselves worrying, working at feeding him, petting him, and spending hundreds of dollars on his medical care and medicines. He’s not a child, nor are we “pet parents.” But we find that he has a special place in our hearts just for who he is. He doesn’t actively do anything for us; he doesn’t do tricks, fetch my slippers, or even come every time we call him. He is, after all, a cat. But he does amuse us, and we care for him. In this way, our relationship to him is similar to God’s relationship to us: we don’t earn God’s love and grace by what we do for him; he loves us because of who he is. We are just people – sinful and imperfect – yet to God we are more than just animals he created. By his love, he considers us as valuable enough for Christ to die for, and desires us to be with him in paradise. He does not desire for any of us to perish (2 Peter 3:9) but considers us to be of far more value than the birds of the air (Matthew 6:26 again) or many sparrows (Luke 12:7). We are not just God’s pets, either; he calls all of us who believe in Christ to be his children (John 1:12). 
  4. You can lead a cat to water, but you can’t make him drink. Charco resists our efforts to get him to drink. I tried reasoning with him but he just stared blankly. I tried threatening him, but he just yawned. Karen changed his water bowls and where they are placed, but he just said, “Puhleeaze” and walked away. Karen finally mixed water in with the food he ate, so he is getting some water. But even though we knew he needed to drink, he just isn’t going along with the program.Which leads me to my final observation:
  5. You can lead a person to Christ, but you can’t make him or her believe.  As with cats and horses, so with us human beings, if not with water, then with matters of faith. We read in the Bible and see in the world around us, that you can proclaim the Gospel, explain the Scriptures, show evidence in your life of what Christ has done for you, answer objections, explain the benefits (here and in eternity) of faith in Christ, and talk until you’re blue in the face, but you can’t make someone believe. This has been true ever since Christ himself walked the earth. There was a rich young ruler who was devout in his Jewish faith, but when Jesus told him to sell his wealth and follow him, the man walked away. When Jesus proclaimed his Messiahship at his home synagogue, the people tried to throw him off a cliff. When he did miracles in front of the Pharisees, they accused him of breaking the Sabbath law and of using the devil’s power. Worst, after personally witnessing three years of Jesus’s authoritative preaching, teaching, and performing incredible miracles, one of his closest disciples betrayed him and another denied him. Later, Paul taught two Roman governors who held him in prison, Felix and Festus, and King Agrippa, about Christ, but they didn’t respond in faith to what they heard (Acts 25 and 26). As in biblical times, so today. When I was pastoring, many of our members came to me, lamenting that they had family members who were raised in church but didn’t believe in Jesus anymore. We all know other people who know about Christ and Christianity who have chosen other religions or consider themselves atheists (or agnostics, as if that were a kinder, gentler way of saying they don’t believe). In almost all these situations, the problem is not lack of knowledge, but a lack of faith. Which is not a good thing, because “without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
  6. So how does a person come to believe in Christ? First, they need to hear the Gospel. Paul tells us in Romans 10:13-14 that we are charged with teaching people the Gospel: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” The Word of God works on their hearts and minds and spirit to produce faith, which is created in them by the work of the Holy Spirit. It is a supernatural act which cannot be done by our own effort (as hearers or teachers) but by God himself. That is why he tells us in Ephesians 2:10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” This truth is echoed in Luther’s Small Catechism, which says in explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” Therefore, although we present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people in love for them and in obedience to Christ’s command to evangelize the world, we cannot make them believe. We do the best job we can and then pray for them to believe, and for God to work in their hearts to create that saving faith we all need.

Thanks be to God that he loves us as much as he does, and that he is more patient with us than Karen and I are with Charco. For as we know that our cat needs water to live, so our Lord knows we need faith in his Son to live forever. He has told us that without him, we are planted in a desert, a dry and thirsty land (Ezekiel 19:13). So don’t let that thirst ruin you: drink deeply of the Living Water he has given for us!

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

Read: Job chapters 1-4, Acts 26

* Charco is not short for “charcoal,” even though he has black fur; it’s short for “Charcot,” the name of the foot disease that I came down with just before we got him as a kitten. My wife’s idea, since she wanted something good to come out of this, and for the name to mean something good. So now we have the only cat in history ever named after a foot disease.

Cross-Words

One of the new activities I took up after retiring was doing crossword puzzles. I don’t know why I didn’t do them “all these years” before retiring, since I do enjoy working with words and language, unless I was just so busy with other word puzzles such as writing sermons and Bible study materials. Not until retiring did I have enough free time to just sit and work a puzzle.

I have been doing two or three a week, depending whether the local paper has one in it; the most enjoyable ones come weekly, especially the New York Times Sunday puzzle. The Times puzzle is usually hard but very clever, using ambiguous clues and phrases following some theme. My favorite one was called, “Advice to Writers,” in which several long answers broke the rules which they were advising. For example: “Don’t use contractions,” “Avoid redundancy. Avoid redundancy,” “Sentence fragments are not,” and so on. I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I write in the final words to such puzzles.

Which is why I was disappointed this week when the Sunday paper didn’t arrive. (Note: I didn’t call it the newspaper since I only read the comics and the puzzles!) What was I to do?

Fortunately, I have plenty of other things to work on, but as I thought about the missing puzzle, the word, “Crossword” stuck in my mind. I began to think about the different meanings it might have in various contexts.  So, after deep study and contemplation, I came up with the following:

1. The first use is to describe the kind of puzzle I’ve been talking about, in which answers to “Across” clues and “Down” clues intersect each other. This use is so obvious and understood that I don’t need to say much about it, except for one life lesson that I have to relearn every time I work one of such puzzles. The lesson is this: it is dangerous to jump to conclusions based on limited evidence. Too often I think I know the answer to a clue because it seems to answer the clue in the right number of letters to fit the right squares, only to be wrong. It isn’t until other words fill in that cross it that I realize my error; since I write my answers in ink, it gets awkward having to cross out my wrong assumption to put in the right word. Only when all the letters are finally in place do I see that the clue fits the word the puzzle designer was looking for.

This is such a good life lesson about the dangers of jumping to conclusions (especially about other people) based on insufficient information. We hear or see one thing, only to find out later, when more facts come in, that our initial idea was wrong. Too many people have been judged, scorned, or harmed by those who make such judgments. Of course, since none of us knows all the facts about anyone or the situations they are facing, it’s always dangerous to assume things about other people. Only God knows all the facts about a person, and he is the perfect Judge. (“Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?” Genesis 18:25).

I fell into the error of uninformed judging early in my ministry, when I noticed one of our members sitting in the back pew. It was during my sermon, and I saw that he had a cord hanging from an earplug. I was a little irked, figuring that he was listening to some ball game instead of my preaching. Imagine how ashamed I felt when the service ended and the man got up, took out the earpiece, and turned it in to the sound technician, along with the hearing-assist pack it was connected to. Not only was he listening to the sermon, he had taken efforts to hear it better!

2. The second use of “crossword” could be better written as, “cross words.” By this I mean the nasty things we say to each other when we get upset with something that someone says or does (or doesn’t do when we expected them to do it!). We get cross with them, and say things that belittle, insult, or dismiss. Things like: “You idiot!” or “That was stupid!” or “You never listen!” or “You’re worthless!” or . . . you get the picture. Often, such comments come out when we jump to conclusions about the other person’s actions (see the first use of “crossword” above), but usually they say more about us than about the person we slam.

When we belittle others we are judging them (“Judge not” Luke 6:37) often by harsher criteria than we use to correct ourselves (“Remove the log from your own eye” Matthew 7:3-5). We are trying to puff ourselves up by bringing others down, but such nastiness only reveals the smallness of our own character. Such insults also can crush the other person emotionally, or cause an equal reaction in them by which they become hateful and angry back at us (or the next person who upsets them). How many children have grown up under emotional and verbal abuse, who then treat their own children the same way, perpetuating the hurt and estrangement?

This is not to say we cannot ever criticize an action or attitude; we are to call sin, sin. But it’s far different to correct a sin than to condemn the sinner; Scripture tells us the purpose of calling out sin is to win back and restore our sinning brother or sister by correcting them gently (Galatians 6:1).

Jesus spoke plainly about our duty to speak well to and of each other. He told us to bless those who curse us, for what good is there in loving only those who love us? He also warned us that insulting others was a sin similar to murder: ““You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matthew 5:21-22).

The command not to speak ill of each other goes back to the Decalogue, or what we call the Ten Commandments. Command number eight tells us not to bear false witness against our neighbor. While at first glance, we might think that bad-mouthing a person is not the same as lying about them to others, Martin Luther captured the full sense of that command in his Small Catechism. He explained the command this way: “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.” Not much room there for name-calling! Cross words are not appropriate language for a Christian.

3. Now, the third use of “Crosswords.” Whereas the first two uses are about the Law, that is, what we should do and not do, this third use is about the Gospel. And the Gospel is about what Jesus Christ has done for us, to save us from condemnation for our failure to live up to the Law and all its demands.

These are the Words of the Lord spoken to us by the Cross on which Jesus died, bearing the judgment and punishment of all our sins, including our failure to keep the Law regarding not judging and insulting our neighbors. These “Cross-Words” were both literally spoken by Christ and written by his apostles, and shown to us by the very death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Consider just some of the words recorded for us by Scripture:

1. “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Spoken from the cross by Christ.

2. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (Ephesians 1:7).

3. “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28). Spoken by Christ at the Last Supper.

4. “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

5. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

6. “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19-21).

7. “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14).

Now those are the cross-words that really matter! For by his death on the cross, and through the promises made by God to us on behalf of his Son’s sacrificial death for our sake, Jesus has reconciled us to God, forgiven all our sins, and opened the door to eternal life. Therefore, I don’t need to get a new crossword puzzle each Sunday, when each Sunday I can hear the real Cross-words, proclaimed as they have been since that day when our Lord and Savior died to give us life. To him be the glory, now and forever!

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: Luke 6:27-42 and Colossians 1

 

Pluribus or Unum?

This past weekend, our town celebrated its ethnic diversity by holding its annual Multicultural Festival. It’s a gathering of the community showcasing many different cultures through art, dance, traditional costumes, and (my favorite) a variety of foods. We didn’t make this year’s event, but attended previously, and found it to be fun and educational. Also, uplifting, to see so many different cultures represented here in our town, brought by people from around the world who found Elk Grove to be a desirable place to live. As people who have now lived here for 25 years ourselves, we can understand some of the attractions.

In relation to such rich diversity in our country, I have heard some people, mostly politicians, speak glowingly of such variety, saying, “Diversity is our strength.” But is it?

I believe diversity can be a great strength, if it is paired with another, vital social attribute: unity. This important connection is best expressed in our country’s motto, first adopted in 1782: E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one). This motto, which proclaimed the unity of the thirteen states and their common federal government, is even more relevant today when applied to the makeup of our citizenry. More than two centuries have seen waves of immigrants (some legal, some illegal, and some forced against their will) from all over the world come to this country.

So why is a 240 year-old motto still relevant? Because, if you have only pluribus or unum, you’ve got big problems.

First: If pluribus is all you have, you can end up with factions, rivalries, disputes, and eventually, chaos. Historically, the term, “Balkanization,” was invented to describe such a situation in the Balkan countries (such as what was Yugoslavia), where a number of small countries with different ethnic divisions fought each other. The term is now applied to any country or region that breaks apart into small, contending factions, leaving the whole vulnerable and beset by constant war.

I enjoy studying languages. Besides the intellectual challenge, I like being able to understand other people and communicate in their languages. I wish I could read and understand all 6,500 languages! (Good thing I’ve got eternity ahead to work on it.) I love that there are so many languages, but when everyone speaks a different language only, it’s hard to connect or accomplish anything together. Think of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11); how did God stop that project? By confusing their one common language so no one could understand each other. The project stopped and the people spread out, going different ways. Diversity was not their strength.

I believe everyone ought to be able to speak two or three languages fluently, if for no other reason than to better understand other people and their cultures. But at the same time, I believe we should all share one common language, too, so that we can all better communicate with each other. That way no one is an “outsider” who has to sit out while the rest of us communicate with each other.

When people interact and communicate openly with each other, and desire unity, walls can break down and people whose ancestors were enemies can end up becoming good friends. Think of former enemies of the US: France, England, Germany, Japan, Italy, etc. which are now allies. Think of Lutheran immigrants from Northern Europe who settled in the Midwest, setting up different Lutheran churches on each corner according to language: Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and Germans. Over time, those differences diminished and their new, American identity (and English language) took over. Unity brought together diversity. Pluribus needs unum to be compete.

Second, if all you have is unity, the result is a bland sameness and tyranny. Did I say “tyranny”? Yes I did, because the only way you can have complete unity is by forcing it on people who want to think, act, dress, dance, sing, speak, and write in different ways. Whoever is in power sees any divergence from the approved order of things as a threat to society that must be stamped out. Dictators around the world have always suppressed speech, press, religion, and even minority languages to force common allegiance to the state. In the name of unity, they have oppressed anyone who dares step out of line, even committing genocide to force purity of race or religion.

Even if everyone were willing to adopt one common culture and language, how bland and repetitious would society be? Variety is the spice of life, according to one old saying, and there is much truth to it (especially if the spice is jalapeno!); if we all dressed the same, ate the same food all the time, wore our hair (or lack of it) the same, how boring would that be? Gone would be varieties of food, song, dance, art, etc. that have enriched the human race and shown off the great skills and creativity with which people have solved basic human needs over the millennia. That doesn’t sound too exciting to me (as just today I bought some sauerkraut, ate an English muffin, munched on some tortilla chips, and had some fettuccine Alfredo and a Caesar salad. Maybe some ramen noodles for a bed snack?). No, unity without diversity can be trouble; unum needs pluribus to be complete.

So, how does this issue relate to the Church?

The Christian Church has the same tension between unity and diversity that is experienced by the societies in which it operates. Here are some aspects to that:

1. There is the matter of ethnic and racial diversity. While churches can feel the pressures of cultural divisions reflected by their members (refer to the comment above about Lutheran churches in America divided by their languages and ethnicities), ultimately, the Church around the world is and will be eternally comprised of the greatest diversity. The Bible is clear that not only is God the Creator of all people, he also desires all kinds of people to be saved and to dwell with him in eternity.

From Old Testament prophets who foretold all nations coming to worship God on his holy mountain (Isaiah 11:1-10 and 66:20), to Jesus commanding his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20), to John’s revelation of heaven in which he saw “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,” (Revelation 7) God’s desire is to save us. He is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He so loved the world (that’s everybody!) that he gave his only Son, so that whoever (that’s anyone!) who believes in him shall be saved (John 3:16). God’s love is universal; his Church is the largest faith on earth today, and the most diverse in people and cultures from around the world.

One Sunday in 1988 I worshiped at a Lutheran church in Helsinki, Finland. The service was in English (led by an American pastor from one of the Dakotas), but the small congregation was representative of what heaven will be like: worshipers were from Australia, Germany, Finland, and even from Namibia in southwest Africa. One of the Namibians was the mother of that country’s president. We were all different, but united in our faith.

2. Unfortunately, just as countries can be divided, so can the Church. I’m not talking about disputes over what color to paint the church door, or what kind of clothes the pastors should wear when preaching, but about matters of real importance. I’m talking about doctrines and essential practices such as baptism and communion. Over the centuries Christians have disagreed on the Nicene Creed (does the Holy Spirit proceed from just the Father or from both the Father and the Son?), the nature of Christ (God or man or both?), the cessation or continuation of the charismatic gifts, the role of the Church in society, and how we are saved (by grace or by the works which grace enables?). Some baptize infants, others insist on a “believer’s baptism.” Some believe that communion is only a symbol but done by obedience, others recognize that Christ’s true body and blood are received with the elements, and still others say the elements change physically into flesh and blood.

Schisms, anathemas (curses) and even wars have resulted from such divisions, and though settling such issues is important (the Bible commands true doctrine and condemns false teachings), the resulting divisions are a scandal to the world. Rather than presenting a united (unum) message to the world, we have such a diversity of beliefs (pluribus), that you can find some theologian, preacher, or church body that will proclaim just about anything. We see the Balkanization and weakening of the Church.

3. What we need in the Church is unum. Yes, we are a very diverse group of people consisting of people from every nation, tribe, and language. Our cultures and forms of worship vary. (Luther said, “Liberty must prevail in these matters and Christians must not be bound by laws and ordinances. That is why the Scriptures prescribe nothing in these matters, but allow for freedom for the Spirit to act according to his own understanding as the respective place, time, and persons may require it.”) Our songs and hymns vary. Our languages vary. But what must not vary is the Gospel.

For ultimately, we are one people, a royal priesthood, a chosen nation, created and called out by God from darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). We are one, for which Christ prayed in the Upper Room, as he is one with the Father (John 17:21). We are one, because “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

So which should we seek? Pluribus, or unum? The answer for Christ’s Church, for America and the world, and indeed, even for my town, has to be “E pluribus unum.” Let us celebrate our diversity – but in unity, for we have but one God, Creator and Savior of us all. To him be the glory. Amen.

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: Genesis 11:1-9, Ephesians 4:1-16, Revelation 7:9-17

 

Don’t Get Stung!

Over the past few weeks, Karen and I have been under assault by swarms of paper wasps that have taken up residence all around our house. And I mean, all around. They have built nests on every corner of our roof line, under the front porch overhang within three feet of the door, and even in our outside electrical box. Now, normally, I have a “live and let live” attitude toward all God’s creatures (except the ones with tasty meat on them), so I wouldn’t object to bees and wasps doing their thing.

But this summer has produced so many wasps, the risks of getting buzzed and stung have greatly increased. That, and the fact we have house painters coming over next week to do their thing, means we had to get the flying stingers under control. We could hardly have painters getting stung and falling off their ladders and scaffolds.

Since two of the nests greatly impeded our movement in and out of the house, I attacked them first. Under cover of darkness, when the temperature had dropped to where the wasps would be sluggish, I bravely sprayed the two most dangerous nests, and then quickly ducked back into the house. Each nest had over 20 adult wasps in it, which the spray took care of. Unfortunately, that was but a small portion of the total population, so I called in a professional exterminator. And stayed inside while he worked. Just to be safe. We did unlock our doors so he could duck inside in case he was attacked.

Which he was.

He sprayed all the affected areas, but the last we saw of him was him running from the wasps, spraying back over his shoulder as he ran. And the last we heard was him yelling when he got stung. In the days since then, the situation has much improved; the few wasps we’ve seen seem to be flying in from other locations. It’s just too bad the exterminator got stung.

When I thought about getting stung, a passage of Scripture came to mind. I thought of 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul writes about Christ’s resurrection and ours. After proclaiming the day will come when our perishable and mortal nature puts on the imperishable and immortal, Paul says, “. . . 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?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

The more I considered stinging as a metaphor for sin, the more I saw an analogy between what we were experiencing with our wasps and the dangers of sin. Some of my thoughts were the following:

  1. Infestations of wasps can start small. Likewise, sins can start small and be hardly noticeable in our daily lives: a small indiscretion here, a well-meaning lie there, a fudge of taxes here, an “innocent” flirtation there. It may all seem normal and harmless (it’s not – see James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”) but just as the few wasps produced hundreds more until we could no longer ignore the consequences, so one small “peccadillo” can lead to more and worse trespasses. One lie leads to another; coveting leads to theft; anger leads to violence.

2. A live and let live attitude may be good in many ways, but when it comes to sin, we can’t ignore it and hope it goes away. What doesn’t seem to bother us or be our business does have a ripple effect on our lives and on our society. Hearts are hardened and sin is accepted, even celebrated. The more sin is winked at or openly condoned, the more it flourishes, building nests and strongholds which make it hard to root out. Even if there are not immediate practical consequences to us from other people’s sins, the fact we accept it cannot help but sear our souls. When we excuse sin or call it “victimless,” we are “calling evil good” (Isaiah 5:20) and earning a “woe to you” from God.

3. Another part of the wasp analogy to sin is the fact that our home was not immune to their invasion. Sin is not just something that happens to other people out there somewhere, but comes crouching right at our door (see Genesis 4 and God’s warning to Cain before he murdered his brother), ready to come in and infest our homes themselves. If we don’t address sin when it first shows itself in our lives, we will suffer its consequences. As believers in Christ, I don’t believe we are lost because of our sins (after all, we all continue to sin even when we detest doing so – see 1 John 1:8 and Romans 7); Christ came to redeem us from the eternal consequences of our sins. But there are still earthly consequences from our sins, affecting ourselves and other people and hurting and even ruining lives. We can lead and cause miserable lives here due to sin, even as we look forward to heaven.

4. When you sin, you get stung. Those earthly consequences can be devastating to us and those we love. Relationships suffer or are broken completely, people are hurt, and our lives can be overturned. Divorce, estrangement of children, criminal charges and punishments can change our lives for the worse.

It’s interesting that police conduct what are called “sting” operations to catch criminals. My favorite story is of investigators in New York who suspected a man in Washington State of being a murderer. They even had the killer’s DNA, but not enough direct evidence to warrant testing him directly. So, the police invented a phony lottery, and mailed the man a notice that he had won a huge prize. He just had to return the enclosed envelope accepting the prize and show up to claim it. The suspect sent back the acceptance letter and showed up on the designated day – only to be promptly arrested. When he licked the return envelope, traces of his DNA appeared on the glue, providing the needed evidence. The man sinned against God and man, and got stung for his actions.

5. Sin leads to death. In the case of the wasps, probably dozens, if not hundreds, of them died. If enough of the wasps had stung one of us or the exterminator, we could have died. So also with us and sin. The only way to finally deal with sin is through death. Romans 5:12 teaches, “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. . .” Likewise, Romans 6:23 begins: “For the wages of sin is death.” Paul continues in Romans 6:23 by adding, “. . . but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Fortunately for us, God loved us enough to provide us with someone to bear the punishment of death that our sins have earned. Christ is the Great Exterminator, who though he suffered the sting of sin for our sake, won the victory, eliminating sin and its eternal consequences. Thank you Jesus!

6. We must remain constantly vigilant, lest the wasps (and sin) take hold once again. One victory does not mean the war is over. We may resist one temptation, only to be hit with another when we think we are safe. We must respond quickly to the first signs of either problem. How do we do that?

In the case of the wasps: “Let us spray!”

In the case of sins: “Let us pray!”

Ultimately, we have the victory over sin only in Jesus Christ. When we are found in him, we are victorious. We share in his victory. Our sins were nailed to the cross with him, and forgiven totally by God. We are reconciled to our Creator, and can look forward confidently to eternal life without sin or death. When we trust in God’s Word, we read not only that our sins are forgiven, but that Christ understands our temptations and that he will provide us a way out of every temptation to sin. His Holy Spirit guides and warns us about the sins which are trying to build nests in our hearts and minds; only through him can those inroads be cleared out.

This life will not always be easy, but we need not live it alone, for God is with us, and promises never to leave or forsake us. May you always rest assured in that!

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: 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 7, Hosea 13:14

P.S. This is my 100th blog since I started in January 2017! Thank you to everyone who has commented and encouraged me to continue!

The Hearing

The big news this week has been the Congressional hearings in which Special Counsel Robert Mueller was grilled by members of Congress regarding his findings in his recent investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. I’m going to leave opinions on the content of those hearings to others; but I wondered as I heard the grilling by the two opposing parties, what it would be like to have to face that myself. Then I had an even better thought: what if you had to face such a hearing?

Only, in your case, the hearing is not before the US Congress, but before a special committee formed to judge you and decide your eternal fate. Similar to this week’s hearings, there will be two groups of committee members: one side wants to throw the book at you, while the other wants to let you off easy. But just to avoid any connections to our political system, I’m going to call the two parties the Apples and the Oranges*. The two don’t get along, but that’s just what we would expect, because we’ve always been told, “Don’t mix apples and oranges.”

So, how would it go? Maybe, something like this:

You enter a room set up almost like a courtroom. There is a long, semi-circular table facing you, behind which are seated the committee members. In front and facing them sits a small table with two chairs. You make your way forward to the table, when the committee chairman, who is the leader of the Apples, scowls at you and barks a gruff command: “Sit down!”

You take your seat in one of the chairs, and the committee chairman continues, “Frankly, this is a waste of time: we all know you’re guilty, but we have to go through the motions. So let’s begin, shall we, and get this over with . . .” You gulp hard and start to dread what lies ahead.

“Not so fast!” comes a shout from the rear of the hearing room, and a man walks forward, stopping right by your table. “Esteemed committee members,” he says, “I am here to represent the accused as Attorney, Advocate, and Counselor.” The stranger takes a seat beside you. The committee chair groans. “And what credentials do you have to be this person’s Counselor” The man, your self-appointed Counselor, opens up a briefcase and pulls out a thick stack of papers, and lays them on the desk. “Here are my credentials,” he answers, “sixty-six books full. You can read them if you like . . .”

The Apple leader shakes his head and says, “No, we only have about 1400 words to go in this blog, so let’s just get this over with.” Now the grilling begins.

One Apple member asks you, “Do you remember that time when you were a kid and you sassed your mom and made her cry?” You search your memories and the incident comes back to you. You were ashamed of what you said, and you never apologized to her. But before you can answer, one of the Oranges butts in and says, “Look, what do you expect when a kid – just a kid! – gets scolded for spilling a little milk and eating some pie that mom made for a bake sale? It’s perfectly understandable!”

You like the Orange member’s reasoning, and are about to affirm it when your Counselor leans over, covers the mic, and whispers to you: “Don’t worry; I got this. Just tell the truth.” You aren’t so sure, but your Counselor seems absolutely sure, so in spite of your fears, you hear yourself reply, “Yes, I did sass my mom and I am ashamed of it.” The Apple team smile at each other, while the Oranges frown.

The second question follows almost immediately”: “And do you remember that time you were at the store and saw a candy bar you wanted, but didn’t have enough money to buy it? So you slipped it into your pocket when no one was looking and stole it!” Once again an Orange jumped in. “Are you serious? It was just a candy bar that cost maybe 50 cents! [substitute a higher or lower price based on how old you are]. The store had theft insurance, so they weren’t really out anything!”

Again, you like the Orange’s argument. That’s exactly what you had thought back then, when you took it. You really wanted it, and no one would miss it. So you are about to defend yourself when your Attorney once again reaches over and whispers, “Just admit it. I’ve got your back.” Again, you speak into the mic, “Yes. I’m guilty as charged.” This time the Oranges shake their heads, while the Apples grin widely and wink to each other. This is not going well for you.

A third question comes to you from the Apples: “And what about the time you cheated on that final exam, and blamed another student by slipping your answer key into her desk? You cheated and discredited another student. That was just wrong!” Before you can answer, the Orange side speaks up. “Really? Who wouldn’t try to gain some advantage in that situation? The whole grade depended on that final, and the grade determined whether our defendant here would be able to get into a good college! And as for the other student? She was always the top grade getter; she deserved to be knocked down a peg or two.”

You look at your Counselor; please let me defend what I did; please?  But he gives you a look that cuts through your excuse, so you meekly admit, “Yes, I did that. And the other student flunked when the teacher found the key.” Now the Apples were high-fiving each other and the Oranges were hanging their heads in defeat. “How can we help you,” one cries, “when you don’t take the lifelines we keep throwing you?!” But the Advocate whispers to you again, “Just keep telling the truth. I have your back all the way.”

And so the questioning – or should I say, interrogation – continues, and it is not a pleasant day for you. As the charges pile up (how did these guys find out about all these things?) you begin to sweat profusely, maybe in anticipation of your eternal destiny. No charge is omitted, no fact forgotten, no stone unturned. One after another, like the blows from a jackhammer, your life is laid bare for all to see. The Oranges try to explain away your moral failures, but their reasons melt like snow under the heat of the charges.

You hear about that time you swore using God’s name, the time you used Christ’s name in a joke, the time you wished someone would get sick and die, the time you broke your wedding vows – or wanted to, cut corners on your taxes, visited some places that were inappropriate, and so on, and so on. The charges and the evidence are so overwhelming that the Oranges finally give up and start clipping and filing their nails. One falls asleep. But the Apples are radiant with their certain victory; you are going down, and there is nothing you can do about it.

You hang your head in despair as well, as the chair of the committee stands and with a snide grin on his face, delivers the committee’s judgment – or at least, starts to: “We have considered all the charges and affirm they are true. Shame on you! We recommend an eternity in hell with no chance of parole. May God have mercy on your soul!”

Your Counselor jumps to his feet, and shouts in a loud, commanding voice: “God has had mercy on the defendant’s soul. Every one of those charges has been forgiven, and the penalty you would inflict has already been paid . . . by me!” At that the Attorney holds out his hands and you see massive, deep scars on each of them. He reaches down and lifts up the papers from the desk and says to the committee, “You should have read these books before you passed judgment. If you had, you would have known that this poor person, a guilty sinner to be sure, trusted in me for forgiveness and therefore belongs to my Father. This sinner is clothed in my righteousness and no longer faces condemnation. This sinner is also a saint by faith; would you condemn a saint to hell?”

At this the Apple chairman squirms and looks around for help, but his team is all looking down. “No,” he mutters weakly.

Your Advocate continues. “Remember that I came to call not the righteous but the sinner to repentance. I came to seek and to save the lost – which this person, and all of you, by the way – certainly is. And yet by faith, any sinner can be saved. As far as the East is from the West, so far have I removed this person’s sins. I will remember those sins no more. Therefore I declare this saint and sinner to be free, and when I set you free, you are free indeed!”

“And as for the committee, all of you need to examine your own lives. To the Apples I say, ‘Judge not, lest you be judged,’ and ‘Let the one who is without guilt cast the first stone.’ And as for you Oranges, ‘Woe to him who calls evil good and good evil.’ Prepare yourselves, admit your own guilt, and come to me for the same forgiveness I have given to this person before you. For one day, you too will all sit there; pray that I am your Advocate when that day comes!”

A wave of relief, joy, and love sweep over you. The hearing has ended, and you enter into the joy of the Lord which he has prepared for you since before the world began. And that deserves an Amen!

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: Psalm 103:12, Hebrews 8:12, Luke 19:10, Matthew 9:13, John 8:7, Isaiah 53:5

* Not to be confused with current political parties or with “Apple and Android” a topic clearly not addressed here.

 

 

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

 

 

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?”

 

Odds & Ends #1 Revisited

One of my earliest blogs was called “Odds & Ends” which explained a number of approaches I was taking to my blogging. Since many of you have joined the vast (?) crowd of readers well after the first year, I decided to repeat that early blog for the benefit of my newer readers. At the end I added an updated note, #5. So, here it is again:

Our church’s monthly newsletter has a page called, “This ‘n That” which provides the pastors a space to post announcements of upcoming events, give short summaries of recent developments, congratulate people, offer condolences, and list people who need prayers for healing. It is a helpful way to communicate important matters to the members in a succinct manner.

I found it very useful, which is why I’m beginning a similar “page” for my blog. I’m calling it, “Odds & Ends” (to avoid copyright infringement?). I don’t know how often it will appear, but whenever I accumulate a few things to tell you which don’t warrant an entire article, I’ll stick them in “Odds & Ends” and pass them along. I hope you will find these short comments useful and interesting.

  1. The Bible translation I am using the most in my blog citations is the English Standard Version (ESV). It follows in the long tradition of the King James Version/ASV/RSV while taking advantage of recent textual discoveries and updated language. Before switching to the ESV I used the NIV because it was very comfortable and understandable, but its tendency to play loose at times with its translations, plus the decision of the copyright holder to forbid public use of the NIV from any editions before 2011, led me to make the switch. (Besides, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want” (ESV), just sounds better than “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing” (NIV). I know my preference is subjective and not a rigorous scholarly opinion, but it is after all my blog!
  2. You may have noticed that except for my first post, I have not been capitalizing the personal pronouns which refer to the Deity. This is not to show any lack of respect or honor for God, but to be consistent with both the modern English translations which I cite (such as the ESV) and the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts from which those translations are made. Pronouns such as he, his, him, and himself are not capitalized in the Greek or the Hebrew texts, so using lower case letters is actually more scripturally accurate.
  3. The Bibles pictured in the heading on my blog pages are from my own library. While I was looking online for stock images of books to place in the header and portray my interest in reading, my wife asked me why I didn’t just take a picture of my own books since I had so many to choose from. It was one of those “duh!” moments. She was right of course, so I got out the camera and took the picture you see. We like how it turned out, and besides . . . no royalties! (Unless you want to use it, then let’s talk . . .)
  4. Besides writing my blog and trying to assimilate the books from my church office into my home library, I’m also finishing work on my second book, which has the working title of Raising Ebenezers: Recognizing God’s Miracles in Your Life. I was almost done with it until I taught a course on miracles at church and realized there were a few more things to be added to the book. By the way, Ebenezer means “stone of help,” and refers to a stone that Samuel erected to commemorate God’s help in defeating the Philistines at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:12). Watch for news of publication when it’s done!

And now, an update for June 2019:

5. I finished the Raising Ebenezers book, which received a favorable review from a Christian writers’ service, but which I will probably self-publish soon. I also wrote a novel about biblical times, titled: Out of the Tombs. It tells the fictional story of one of the saints raised when Jesus resurrected that first Easter (Matthew 27:52-53). I have begun laying out plans for two other novels, also about other fictional saints resurrected that day.

P.S. I just received an invitation to my high school’s 50 Year Reunion. How is that possible? I don’t remember graduating when I was only seven years old . . .

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

Read: 1 Samuel 7:5-14

Wearin’ o’ the Red

Today, my wife and I wore red to church.

So did the pastor, the altar, the pulpit, the lectern, and the music team (all except one singer who didn’t get the memo). So did many of the other congregation members. Even the flowers behind the altar were red.

Now, I get wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day, even if the Irish side of my ancestors were “Orangemen” Protestants from Northern Ireland. Green is associated with Ireland, as are shamrocks, leprechauns, green beer and St. Paddy himself. But why red? Is this for a Russian saint’s day? St. Dimitry’s Day? St. Vladimir’s Day? St. Nicholas’ Day (yes, he is Russia’s patron saint)?

No; we wore red because today is Pentecost, the day in the Church year that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit in power upon the Church and into the lives of believers. Acts 1 and 2 tell us that the first believers, about 120 in number, were gathered in Jerusalem waiting for “power from on high” (Luke 243:49) before taking the message of Christ and his resurrection out into the world. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus had ascended into heaven, but not before promising the Father would send the Holy Spirit to his disciples in his place. Now another ten days had passed, and Jews from around the Mediterranean had gathered in Jerusalem for the feast day of Pentecost.

Pentecost, from a Greek word meaning “fifty,” was a feast held fifty days after Passover. The Jews called it the “Feast of Weeks” (7 X 7 weeks plus the actual day) or the “Feast of First-Fruits,” which celebrated the first harvest of the year. It also came to celebrate the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. It was one of the three major feasts of the year, one which Jewish males were supposed to celebrate by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But now, it was about to take on special significance to Christians.

Acts 2 tells us the events of that day: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

The Holy Spirit came upon them in the promised power from on high with signs that were both visual (tongues of fire) and audible (the sound of rushing wind). Then, to show that the Spirit not only came around them but also entered into each of them, the believers began to speak in other languages beyond their natural capabilities. By the power of God, they spoke in many other languages which were understandable to the various nationalities of Jews who had come to Jerusalem and now heard them speaking – and praising God – in their different tongues.

This amazed the hearers, who realized the Spirit-empowered believers were predominately Galileans; how did these back-country folks know their dialects? The phenomenon was so striking that some of the hearers thought the disciples were just babbling drunkenly; maybe those critics couldn’t understand the languages themselves.

Many Christians today focus on the supernatural gift of tongues which the Holy Spirit bestowed that day, as if that were the great sign of God’s presence and empowerment. But it was just a sign, an announcement of sorts to get people’s attention to pay heed to the greater miracle which was about to occur. For following the miraculous speaking of foreign tongues, Peter got up and spoke in a common, understood language, explaining not only the just-witnessed phenomenon, but also proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This man Peter had gone from hiding out in fear and denying his Lord three times, to standing up boldly before a crowd and charging them with killing their Messiah. This was miraculous in itself that Peter would do so, but Pentecost’s miracles were not finished. When the crowd cried out in conviction of their sin and pleaded how they might be saved, Peter told them to repent and be baptized. The Holy Spirit moved in the people’s hearts, and we are told that 3,000 of them were baptized that day.

And thus the Christian Church was born, and disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit would go out into the whole world, risking and giving their lives for the sake of Jesus Christ and the souls of the people of every nation, tribe, and yes – language.

Over the centuries, Christians have noted several things about the events and significance of that special day of Pentecost:

1. God chose the Feast of First-Fruits, a harvest festival, to begin the harvest of souls in the Church. The 3000 who joined the Church that day were the first-fruits of evangelism by the newly-empowered apostles. That gathering of fruit continues to this day, in that over 2 billion alive today have been baptized in Jesus’ name.

2. Just as the Jews marked the giving of the Law to Moses in their Pentecost celebrations, so the Christian Church marks the giving of the Gospel at the new Pentecost. This also celebrates the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy that God would send another prophet “like unto Moses” to whom the people were to listen (Deuteronomy 18:15). The comparison/contrast between Moses and Christ is stated explicitly in Acts 3:22 and Acts 7:37. John 1:17 puts it this way: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

3. Pentecost is a reversal of God’s curse upon the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11), at which he confused what had been the one common language of all mankind so that the people could not understand each other. This thwarted their building of the tower, and caused them to spread out over the earth, as God had originally commanded them to do. Ever since, the world has been filled with many languages and dialects which developed in the millennia since the days of the confusion. Today there are estimated to be around 6,500 different languages (I don’t know if this includes invented languages like Klingon). Then along comes Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit bridges the language gap, uniting people from many countries into the one Church by speaking their language. As God once cursed mankind by separating them due to their sin, he now unites them in the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

4. Today, mission work requires people to study and learn other languages through hard work. Organizations such as Wycliffe and Lutheran Bible Translators are committed to providing the Scriptures in every language. But it is still the Holy Spirit who takes those translated works and uses them to change the hearts and minds of the hearers and readers, creating faith and bringing them to Christ their Savior, who died for them as well as for first-century Greek and Hebrew speakers.

Personally, I don’t lament that there are many languages around the world; they have added a richness to human life and experience. How else could we eat hamburgers, tacos, chow mein, pad Thai, pizza, sauerkraut, borscht, sushi, bagels, and lutefisk? Wait, skip that last one. But what I lament is that we (and I) can’t speak or understand all of them. The Bible promises that people of every language will be in heaven: “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9). I believe in that day we will understand each other, whatever language or languages we will use, and that our words will do the same as the miraculous words did on Pentecost: we will praise the mighty and wonderful works of God.

But again, why do we wear red on Pentecost? To symbolize the coming and work of the Holy Spirit, who manifested his coming by tongues of fire resting on the disciples. May his power, so evident that day in so many ways, bless and keep you strong in the faith every day of the year!

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: Acts 2, John 1.

In the Blood

Today I gave blood.

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

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

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

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

The life is in the blood.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

we receive new life in his blood.

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

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

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

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

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

Read: Hebrews 9, John 6

 

Kate, How Could You?!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Steeples are Falling

I watched the news report in shocked silence. The video showed the burning cathedral of Notre Dame. As the flames leapt into the sky from the engulfed building, suddenly the main spire came crashing down into the flames. It was not what I expected to see on the news, especially during Holy Week, when my wife and I were enjoying a vacation getaway to see family and friends in the Midwest.

As I watched, the words of an old Lutheran hymn went through my mind: “Built on the Rock the Church shall stand, Even when steeples are falling;
Crumbled have spires in every land, Bells still are chiming and calling.” Though the message of that hymn (Built on the Rock the Church shall Stand by Nicolai F.S. Grundtvig) is ultimately positive and optimistic, the mention of falling and crumbling spires has always made me profoundly sad.

Likewise, I feel saddened whenever I see or hear of any church building being destroyed or converted to some other use because the congregation has moved, died out, or lost its faith. The fact that many churches have been converted to museums, warehouses, mosques, or nightclub venues because no one worships in them anymore, troubles me. It somehow makes the term “post-Christian” all too real – and scary. I am reminded of Jesus’ words in Luke 18:8 about his return: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Those images of abandoned church buildings remind me of the nations and peoples who, over the centuries, had become Christian, only to fall victim to heresies or conquests and forced conversions to other religions. Areas like North Africa, Palestine, and Turkey were once almost completely Christian. Europe was strongly Christian, but now is populated by empty churches. And then there’s the US . . . which now has more people claiming no religion than Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants, or Evangelicals. (Thanks to reader Dave K. for sending me that data.) One could get very discouraged, indeed.

It’s hard to believe that any nation or people, once enlightened by the Gospel and transformed by the Holy Spirit would ever intentionally discard the faith and either become secular or wander after other gods. Why would anyone exchange the blessings, both spiritual and practical, that come from faith in Jesus Christ, for the shallow pursuit of what cannot satisfy or save?

Here are some of my thoughts about how this happens:

  1. Even though we refer to “Christian nations,” there is never a time when everyone in those nations is a devout believer in Jesus Christ. While its leaders or even a majority of its citizens may profess Christ, there are always a good number of people who just play along, giving lip-service to gain some social benefit. They use the words of the faith and sound Christian as they cry, “Lord, Lord,” but in the words of Jesus, “I never knew you; depart from me . . .” (Matthew 7:23).
  2. There’s a paradox in nations where Christianity has taken root. As people live lives in keeping with biblical truths and principles, their society thrives with peace, generosity, cooperation, law-abiding behavior, and prosperity. (Look up the effects of the Welsh Revival of 1904 for examples.) Then, as the blessings flourish, people get comfortable and pursue those blessings, rather than the One who has blessed them with such good things. There is a Christian song with the words, “I seek the Giver and not the gift” (“I Bow My Knee” by Ron Kenoly), but unfortunately, too many people have sought the gifts only, believing that they have earned them by their own efforts and deserve them.
  3. This is a problem as people look to themselves as the source of their good fortune, rather than to the true Provider. A classic example of this thinking is in the 1965 movie, Shenandoah, in which Jimmy Stewart’s character says a table prayer with these words: “Lord, We cleared this land; We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn’t be here—we wouldn’t be eating it—if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel But we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we’re about to eat. Amen.” This blasphemous prayer denies the words of Scripture, that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). Unfortunately this is too prevalent an attitude in our country today, where we demand material things as our “right,” while ignoring the Creator who endowed us with those rights. We are so concerned about our own pride that we fail to humbly seek the Lord who provides us with everything.
  4. Another problem is that the faith and devotion of one generation does not automatically pass on to the next generation. In the words of Exodus 1:8, even though Egypt had been saved by the prophetic word and efforts of Joseph, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” Likewise, people who are redeemed by Christ too often have children who, in spite of those parents’ efforts, “do not know Jesus.” This was shown in our country’s history, when the descendants of the devout Puritans soon founded heretical churches like the Unitarians and Universalists. I have heard the expressions, “God has many children, but no grandchildren,” meaning that each person must believe for him or herself, and not ride on their parents’ coattails. Another saying warns of the dangers of this truth: “Christianity is always just one generation away from extinction.” Thus, a nation can be strongly Christian in one generation, and then fall away the next, boarding up or converting the buildings which were lovingly built for the Lord.
  5. Even when churches and denominations seem strong in numbers, they must guard against false teachers and what I would call “heretical creep.” Too many preachers want to enhance their own reputations by bringing in “new” ideas to titillate their audiences (appealing to their “itching ears” as Paul put it in 2 Timothy 4:3). Wanting to be respected by their academic peers or other religions, they introduce ideas from the secular world, such as the newest popular philosophies and latest scientific theories.
  6.   And don’t forget the spiritual archenemy of the faith: Satan is active in the world, seeking to turn people away from God. He accuses and condemns us, denying our forgiveness and thereby trying to drive a wedge between us and God. He tempts people with the kingdoms of this world and all their glories, and promises satisfaction and happiness through sin. The Bible says he will deceive the nations (Revelation 20), and “lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). Too many people, even nominal Christians, fall victim to the devil’s lies; in fact, we all do to some extent.

All these factors contribute to the closing of churches and the falling of steeples. So what do we do about it?

First, we must remember that the Bible warns strongly against falling away from the faith. The book of Hebrews (6:4-8) puts it this way: “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.” This is scary stuff that people must not dismiss lightly.

Second, we must remember that the Gospel call is the same today as it was in those first centuries. Just as the faith first spread in a hostile, pagan world by the power of the Holy Spirit working through faithful believers, so it can spread again through the same Spirit working through us. If God has “no grandchildren,” then neither does Satan; we can bring the faith to a new generation just as it was brought to us. It may be hard because of the mischaracterizations of  Christianity so prevalent in our culture today, but our faith has always been slandered and maligned b the world. Didn’t Jesus say something about the world hating us for his sake? (Yes, he did, in John 15:18-19, and affirmed in 1 John 3:13 – “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”

Third, our imperative (our “Prime Directive” in Star Trek lingo) is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them about Christ. This has not changed in 2000 years, nor will it until Christ returns and “every knee bows, in heaven and earth and under the earth” to worship him (Philippians 2:10-11). Though this may seem futile at times, remember that God’s Word promises that heaven will be filled with “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation 7:9).

And finally, we must remember that the Church is not a building. It is the body of believers, those who by the Holy Spirit are being built up into a temple suitable for God. People have gathered to hear God’s Word and worship him in every kind of place: homes, synagogues, meeting halls, forests, catacombs, rented schools, empty store fronts, sports stadiums, and yes, churches. While a dedicated building adorned with the symbols of our faith can be comforting and even inspiring, it is what happens there, and the people who gather in Christ’s name, that is important.

To that end, even as we watch the collapse of a famous cathedral’s steeple, we take note of the second verse of the hymn, Built on the Rock the Church shall Stand:

Not in a temple made with hands
God the Almighty is dwelling;
high in the heav’ns His temple stands,
all earthly temples excelling.
Yet He who dwells in heaven above
chooses to live with us in love,
making our body His temple.

Thank God that his beloved Church will go on in us whom he has saved!

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: 1 Peter 2:4-6, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

 

 

 

The Tax Man Continueth

In last week’s blog article, I set aside working on my own taxes long enough to address some of the issues that arise from our tax systems and how a Christian should relate to them.

Basically, I pointed out from Scripture that:

1. God has instituted all authority (Romans 13:1); 2. The rulers are God’s instruments for justice and the restraint of evil (Romans 13:3-7); 3. Everyone is to be subject to the governing authorities (Romans 3:1 and 1 Peter 2:13-14 – “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.”); and 4. Jesus himself commanded us to “render to Caesar” what belongs to him, namely his taxes, but to render to God the things that are God’s (Matthew 22:21). This two-way submission is God honoring, but it may lead to problems when our duties to God and our duties to the state  conflict with each other.

At the close of the last blog, I said “At some point, we may need to just say ‘No’; there may be a point when obedience to God means saying no to government demands.” I then ended with the statement:  “Before we do, there are certain criteria we must take into account if our protest is going to be God-honoring.” But, what are those things?

  1. First, we recognize that “no one can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13). If God and government disagree, God is the supreme authority. As Jesus told his disciples regarding coming persecutions: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). I would rather be judged by the state than by God.
  2. Next, we have to make sure that our objection to particular government demands is based on God’s word, and not just our opinions or attitudes. Just because we don’t like a certain tax or law doesn’t mean we get to refuse it. The Apostle Peter was clear about this when he told Christians to behave, so that if they were persecuted it was for their faith and not for their criminal actions. He wrote in 1 Peter 2:19-20, “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”
  3. The form of government does not matter when it comes to honoring those in authority, since all authority is given by God. Whether we are in a kingdom, an empire, a republic, a democracy, or a dictatorship, we are still to do our civic duty. In fact, for most of history, including all the earliest centuries of the faith, believers were under pagan kings and emperor – yet Christ’s command was still valid.
  4. Our form of government puts more of the onus on us as citizens. We cannot just point the finger at distant rulers and blame them for everything (as guilty as they might be); we share the responsibility because of our role in electing our leaders and decision-makers (or passively allowing others to elect those leaders for us). Our approach must be one of humility before we complain too loudly.
  5. If a law or tax violates God’s word, we must first seek to change that law or tax in ways that respect government and those who work in it. This means lobbying our legislators, speaking out publicly, forming organizations that seek to overturn the bad policies, etc. We must first make the case for why we object to the law or tax.
  6.  Refusal to follow an evil law must be done while still honoring our fellow citizens who are enforcing those laws. We owe them respect, recognizing the position they are in, even if they fully endorse what they are doing. By treating them well we remove the personal nature of our refusal and have a better chance of winning them to our viewpoint. Hatred breeds hatred; love calls forth love.
  7. If we decide that we must disobey a law or tax, we must do so without violence. All violence decides is who has the biggest, or most, guns. People will decide that might makes right, rather than see the rightness of our cause. When a matter is decided violently, it is never truly settled; anger, hate, and revenge can simmer just below the surface, waiting for the chance to boil over. The early Church grew in spite of persecution by winning the hearts and minds of even the persecutors.
  8. If we disobey the law, we must be ready to suffer the consequences. We may not like the punishment, and may truly suffer loss of property and freedom, but those are prices that we must sometimes pay if we are to obey God. The martyrs before us, and those in other places around the world today, gave all they had for the faith. And they considered themselves blessed to suffer for their Lord who had suffered for them. Why should we expect to avoid government’s rod or sword?
  9. Ultimately, God will judge those in authority for what they did with their power. He brings down people and governments for doing evil and for not fulfilling the purposes for which he raised them up. God requires rulers to restrain and punish evil, to establish and administer justice, to protect the vulnerable, and to guard the lives of its people. It’s very interesting that the founders of many of our states’ early constitutions required that elected officials be Christians, or otherwise believed in judgment after death; they wanted leaders who recognized they were under divine authority and would one day be judged for what they did in office. (Too bad we don’t require that any more!)

There is a question to which all these considerations point: namely, what are the things of God that we must render to him? We owe him our very lives; we owe him our possessions (recognizing that he says to pay some of them to Caesar); we owe him our time; we owe him worship; we owe him our relationships and our activities; we owe him obedience to all his commandments (even recognizing that we cannot fulfill any of them); we owe him our faith and trust. We owe him love with all our heart and mind and strength; we owe him love for our neighbors as ourselves. In other words, we owe him everything. Should government command we look to it as our god, we must refuse. Should government outlaw our faith, we must resist. Should government order us to violate God’s commandments, we must refuse. For where our duty to God conflicts with the demands of men, God wins.

Finally: when Jesus was asked about taxes, he pointed to Caesar’s image on a coin and asked whose image was on it. If you look at a dollar bill today, you see a picture of George Washington, and the words, “In God We Trust.” If Jesus were asked that same question today, I can imagine him saying, “Render to Washington the things that are Washington’s, but render to God the things that are God’s, and trust in God for the outcome.”

With that in mind, have a great April 15th!

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: 1 Peter 2, Matthew 10:16-33

The Taxman Cometh

“Oh, you better watch out, you better not cry. Better not pout, I’m telling you why: the tax man is coming to town . .  .”

Okay, I know that’s not how the song goes. And I know the arrival of Santa is much more joyfully anticipated than the metaphorical coming of the taxman. It is after all, more blessed to receive than to give – at least in this context. But we are now in what is known as “tax season” (“To everything there is a season,” as it says in Ecclesiastes 3?). Which means that millions of us are negotiating the impossibly complex world of the US tax system to file tax returns (or extensions) by April 15th.

It’s not that paying taxes is wrong; the Bible tells us that it is proper we pay what we owe. When Jesus was asked whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, he pointed to the image of Caesar on the coin and commanded famously, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:15-21). Later, Paul said, “For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed . . . ” (Romans 13:6-7). And apart from paying the imperial taxes levied by the Romans, every Jewish man over the age of 20 also paid an annual half-shekel Temple tax to support the upkeep of the Temple. Throughout history, the words of Ben Franklin have been true: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” (By the way, Ben died five months after writing that. I wonder what his estate tax was?)

It’s not so much that taxes are wrong; after all, someone has to pay for the protections and services that governments provide. But there are problems with our taxes, which make the annual April 15th deadline so unpleasant.

First, there is the complexity of our system, or should I say, systems. There are local, state, and federal tax codes and requirements. The federal code alone is over 10 million words and 71,600 pages long. It is so complex that no one really knows what all is in it: when people call the IRS to get help with tax questions, they get different answers depending on who answers the phone. Entire industries of tax preparers, attorneys, and software engineers exist solely to help people and companies navigate – and pay – the right amount of taxes.

This hit home recently while Karen and I were preparing our tax returns. After careful reading I learned that we cannot claim our cat as a dependent. Nor can we claim cat litter as a medical expense, though it would make us sick if we didn’t scoop or change it often. Similarly, I cannot deduct my haircuts, even though keeping my hair at a good length is a community service: I am helping to keep California beautiful by doing so. At the very least, this blog should be a charitable deduction; it is after all, non-profit. But I won’t try slipping anything past the IRS – they have guns and prison cells, after all.

Second, there is the vast amount of government waste of our taxes. One sore point we have about paying the taxes we pay is that so much of it is wasted in corruption, boondoggles, bad choices, and political favors. There are so many inefficiencies, duplications, and overpriced purchases, not to mention the billions of dollars that just vanish without a trace. This is not just the loss of money – it is the squandering of human effort, labor, and resources which are taken from us “for the greater good,” but which never get used for what they are intended to help.

Just a few examples, courtesy of The Waste Report*: $50,000 given to the Georgia Christmas Tree Assoc to run commercials promoting Christmas trees at Christmas; $158 million in federal lunch money diverted by LA schools to pay for lawn sprinklers and TV station salaries; $188,000 to study why Americans don’t want to use the metric system;  over $250,000 for Pakistani kids to visit Space Camp and Dollywood; and $15 million to study the effectiveness of golf equipment in space. Seriously.

Even when our tax money is spent where it is supposed to be, we have to wonder whether the programs we fund actually accomplish what they are supposed to. And this is an issue regardless of one’s political leanings, because the benefits of spending as much as we do in any area can be questioned, whether it is for welfare, farm subsidies, the military, or education. If we knew that every cent we paid was doing some good, we probably would feel better about paying what politicians call our “contributions.” But we know it’s not.

Third, there is the conflict between what is Caesar’s and what is God’s. The third level of disquiet I have when it comes to taxes is with the conflict between what government demands and what God demands. I will gladly render to Caesar what is his, but if it conflicts with what I owe God, then there is a problem. Here I am thinking about a range of things: the funding of abortions and abortion providers; the persecution of Christians who stand up for their faith in the workplace, in school, or in their businesses; government agencies suing people for following their consciences when baking wedding cakes; the denial of tax-exempt status to religious organizations; the carrying out of wars and assassinations for political reasons; and the censoring of speech by government-funded colleges.

I could cite many examples of this God/Caesar conflict, but my point is not to argue over specific cases but to address the bigger question: what if Caesar commands me to do something, or to fund something, that is in direct conflict with what God commands? Here are some thoughts to consider:

    1. The physical and spiritual realms overlap. We can’t just divide things neatly into two piles, one for spiritual activities such as worship, prayer, fasting, and scriptural study, and the other for secular things such as school, work, sports, and taxes. Jesus always directed us to the spiritual application of every area of life. He didn’t say to withdraw from the world like a hermit, but to be active as God’s children in all we do. This makes it harder to divide Caesar-things from God-things, but that’s just the point: everything belongs to God ultimately, and the way we act toward everything in our lives is how we are acting toward God. Do we care for the poor and oppressed? Then we are caring for Jesus (Matthew 25:40). Do we “work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23)? Do we approach all areas of our lives with thankful hearts, seeking to please and honor God by what we do? If so, then we have to view our relationships to the governing bodies in our lives in terms of how God would view our actions.
    2. God himself has instituted all authority. He has done so to establish order, restrain evil, and ensure justice (Romans 13:1-4). Likewise, Peter commands us, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:13-17). How we act toward authorities shows how we act toward God, for he is the Supreme Ruler over all, and our actions and attitudes are visible witnesses to the world. Therefore, we are to respect the people who serve in government and treat them as people who themselves have duties to perform.
    3. We are part of the problem. In our country (and state and city), we have a role as citizen-voters to speak up and vote our consciences. Too long too many good people have sat back and allowed others to make bad governing decisions. Too many times we have just shaken our heads and said, “Isn’t that terrible!” and just gone back to our own selfish pursuits, rather than standing up and speaking out. We hear about “activists” who shape public policy and the use of taxes; why are we not as active in voicing our concerns? When our forefathers rebelled against British rule, one of the main issues was “taxation without representation.” Now we have representatives whom we elect, but are they representing our values?  Not if we don’t speak up. Likewise, how many of our voices have been “bought” by politicians through government payments, grants, and subsidies? It’s hard to speak out against misuse of money when some of that money goes back into our pockets.
    4. At some point, we may need to just say “No.” God’s law is greater than man’s, and there may be a point when obedience to God means saying no to government demands. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statute (Daniel 3). Daniel refused to cease praying to God in spite of Darius’ forbidding it (Daniel 6). John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed for speaking against the ruler named Herod, and Peter and the Apostles were arrested and beaten for speaking about Jesus (Acts 5). And so on. Throughout history, Christians have suffered persecution and martyrdom for refusing the commands of anti-Christian rulers to deny Christ and worship the approved gods. We may face the same dilemma: do we keep quiet and go with the flow, or do we stand up for what we believe. Before we do, there are certain criteria we must take into account if our protest is going to be God-honoring.

What are those things? Tune in next week for Part 2 of this article . . . 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: Daniel 6, Acts 5:17-42

 

*The Waste Report, issued annually by Sen. Rand Paul.

 

 

 

 

Half a Mind is Better Than None

Have you ever heard the expression, “I have half a mind to . . .” followed by some action the speaker is contemplating? An example might be, “I have half a mind to go to my boss and tell him/her off!” or “I have half a mind to tell that blogger he’s just plain nuts!” (For your sake, I hope the other half of your mind talked you out of blasting your boss; for my sake, I hope the second example has never occurred to you.)

Actually, I have come to suspect that the expression may be a description of me after all; that for all intents and purposes, I have only half a mind. Let me explain.

Half my mind is beautiful.

On the one hand, I have a marvelous mind (a “Beautiful Mind” as described in the 2001 movie by the same name, about a math genius named John Nash). Not that I’m a math genius, but my mind does come up with things that astound even me. For example, I can remember poetry my mother told me in grade school (Old Ironsides), the seven hills of Rome, Avogadro’s number (6.023 × 1023), the words to German folk songs I learned in high school, and the name of the Zulu king at the 1879 battle of Isandlwana. I once devised a math formula on my napkin while eating at a restaurant, for the number of lines needed to connect any number of dots on my napkin: x=n(n-1)/2. Since retiring I have taken up doing the New York Times crossword puzzle, and have been surprised how many archaic words I never use that pop into my mind and are the correct answers to the given clues. I can memorize sermons and dramatic monologues. And, recently I stood behind a young man who was wearing a t-shirt written in Russian; though I’m not a Russian speaker, I realized that I could read it: it was Jesus’ statement in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Нет больше той любви, как если кто положит душу свою за друзей своих.) Yes, I have a beautiful mind, matched only by my humility.

The other half, not so good.

But, like I said, it’s only half a mind. The other half, not so good. The other half is what happens when I walk into a room and forget why I went there. It’s what shows up when I think about someone I’ve known for twenty years and somehow can’t remember their name. It’s what takes over when I sit down to write a blog and end up distracted by everything else in the room instead. And unfortunately, it’s what takes over at night when I lie down to sleep. Instead of blissful peace and dreams of cuddly sheep jumping over a fence, my mind races with whatever I was doing in the hours before bedtime. I lie there with my (half) mind tied in knots, obsessed with solving the aforementioned crossword puzzles, moving colored blocks in a Tetris-like video game I was playing, replaying exciting scenes from an action drama I was watching, or imagining conversations in various situations that are unlikely to ever happen (such as what I would say from the gold medal podium at the next Olympics). Worst of all, I find my faulty half-mind thinking about things that are contrary to what God would have me think. Too many unpleasant, judgmental, prideful, or just plain sinful thoughts try to form and get my attention.

Recently, while I lay there contemplating sleep (Or as Edgar Allen Poe put it in his poem, The Raven, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,”) I was struck by how much I was obsessing over trivial matters and letting those random thoughts control my mind. I thought to myself, “If I have a decent (half) mind, why can’t I just stop those other thoughts and fall asleep?” and “If I can’t keep my mind from dealing with all those fruitless thoughts. how can I apply it to fruitful pursuits, instead?” It was in the turmoil of that struggle that 2 Corinthians 10:5  popped into my mind: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

It was one of those moments when something seems so obvious we wonder why we weren’t thinking it all along.

It was one of those moments when something seems so obvious we wonder why we weren’t thinking it all along. In my case, I knew that those random thoughts that were keeping me awake had taken me captive and that I had let them, for whatever reason. Maybe my mind was trying to hold onto the satisfaction that those thoughts had given while I was awake and doing them. But now, that it was time to sleep, I needed to take them captive so that they served me and not the other way around. The more I thought about the verse from Second Corinthians, the more I realized I had to deliberately control my thoughts and take them captive.

It’s amazing how many times the Bible talks about our minds. On the one hand, Scripture teaches us that our very thought processes and abilities are imperfect and flawed by sin. When God destroyed most of mankind by the Great Flood, it was because “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Second Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers . . .” Romans 8:5-6 warns that “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires;” and Jesus said in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts.” Acts 17:19 tells us that idols are formed “by the art and imagination of man.” There is even one verse that describes me: “even at night their minds do not rest” (Ecclesiastes 2:23)!

Although our minds have tremendous abilities and can sometimes do wondrous things, they were affected by mankind’s fall into sin and God’s resultant curse on all creation. Just as our bodies eventually wear out and die, so also our minds depend on our flawed brains to function properly. When I applied for a graduate program in history in my 30s, I was accepted, but told that I would have been too old for a similar program in math – because by that age my brain would have already lost too many math abilities.

And even when our brains are “firing on all cylinders” we tend to use our mental faculties for selfish and sinful purposes. How many geniuses were involved in creating the atom bomb? How many brilliant chemists devised poison gas? How many crooks use their smarts to embezzle funds at work or con people out of their savings? Even though there are many videos out there showing dumb crooks doing stupid things (such as robbing a gun store), how many successful schemes never get detected?

Sin has affected every part of our being, including our minds. Luther called it the “bondage of the will,” arguing that we are unable to choose God or what is right on our own power.  Luther’s Small Catechism puts it this way: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. . . ” Likewise, Reformed theologians called our mental sinfulness part of the “total depravity” that sin has caused, in which every part of us, including our minds, is affected.

So then, what do we do? Do we give up and say, “Well, that’s just human nature. I might as well not try to do better”? The answer is, “No.” Even though Scripture recognizes our shortcomings in mental ability and sinfulness, it still commands us to look to the Lord and focus our mind on him and his will. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Philippians 4:8 reads, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”  Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 14:20, “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.”

When I graduated from high school, my parents gave me a little book which bore a title taken from the King James Version of Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Their point was to encourage me to think right thoughts, so that I might have a better life and one more in keeping with God’s commandments. In other words, I could overcome my inherent limitations by focusing on the good and striving for it.

That was good advice, which I will strive to follow more now, and which I will commend to you as well. Let us follow the advice of the song, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”*

And with that thought and song in my mind, good night!

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

Read: Philippians 4:4-8, Romans 7:21-25, Romans 8:5-6, Colossians 3

*from The Heavenly Vision, by Helen Howarth Lemmel

Elegy in a Churchyard

In 1751, Thomas Gray published his famous poem, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” in which he contemplated life and death and his own waiting grave. Yesterday I contemplated some of the same subjects while sitting in church. My wife and I were attending the memorial service for a man we’ve known for almost 25 years now. He was elderly and in poor health, and had expressed he was ready for his earthly journey to end. As a solid Christian, he anticipated heaven and the chance to see his wife, who had preceded him in death just a few months earlier. Still, it’s always hard to say good-bye to someone you like, even though you know his passing is a blessing to him.

As I sat in the service, I thought back over the many funerals I conducted while serving in active pastoral ministry. I officiated at 160 services, of which five were during my first year of retirement, and one was before going to seminary. (This compares to 76 weddings and over 300 baptisms.) As I pondered the words of yesterday’s service, a number of incidents from “my” funerals came to mind. I’d like to share some of the “high-lights” and “low-lights” with you.

The first service was while I was serving as an interim preacher at a small, country congregation in nearby Edinburgh, Indiana. The pastor had died, and my own pastor sent me over to help out while I was still taking part-time seminary courses by extension. I preached almost every Sunday and taught confirmation classes, but when it came to administering sacraments and conducting funerals or weddings, a real pastor was called in.

It was in this context that I assisted at the service of a 12-year old boy who had suddenly become ill and died. His parents and the small, family-like congregation were devastated; I remember visiting the dad right after the boy died, and hearing his lament that God could have let his son live long enough to play his beloved baseball one more season before taking him. I didn’t know how to respond – I probably still wouldn’t.

But I definitely wouldn’t say what the real pastor said during the eulogy. She said, “God has a lot to answer for, to take this boy so young.” She was in touch with the family’s questioning of “Why? Why him, and why now?” but even though I had barely begun my seminary studies, I knew her statement was wrong. God has nothing to have to answer for. He is God, and he can do as he wishes. Whether he caused the death outright or just allowed a natural disease to run its course was his decision. Who am I, or who was that pastor, to charge God with wrongdoing?

Scripture says that God’s ways are beyond our scrutiny and judgment. Though we may ask, as the psalmists do, “Why, O Lord?” (Psalm 10:1, 88:14, for example) when evil befalls us, we are in no position to judge God. We are told that God’s ways and decisions are unsearchable: “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable” (Isaiah 40:28), and in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are his ways higher than ours, and his thoughts than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). When righteous Job questioned all the suffering he endured, God responded to him with, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding” (Job 38:4), and “Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?” (Job 40:8). Clearly, to charge God with wrongdoing and attempt to judge him based on our limited knowledge and standards, is itself wrong.

When the service ended, we stepped outside to the small cemetery in the adjacent churchyard for the burial. I read Jesus’ words from John 11:25-26 aloud: “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.” When I read the words, I choked up, barely getting them out – not just because I shared the family’s grief, but also because I looked forward to the day when that entire little cemetery (and all others) will empty at Christ’s return. The hope of what is to come trumped the loss at what had happened. That is the message every funeral should proclaim.

The second service I conducted was about nine months after I was ordained. The woman was a non-member referred to me by friends of hers when they learned she had terminal bone cancer. I visited her off and on for several months, praying with her and reminding her of our faith even as the cancer spread and wreaked havoc in her body. Finally, on a Maundy Thursday morning, I sat with her and her family as she said her final good-byes and slipped into eternity. It hit me hard. As it happened, I preached at out church’s Maundy Thursday service that evening, and struggled greatly with the message, which was about Judas’s betrayal and our participation in his sin. And about Jesus’ pending death.

When I preached at her service, I had no idea that I would be doing the same for her unbelieving husband two years later, though thanks be to God, he came to faith during one of my visits to him just prior to his death. After his conversion, his family wondered about the change that had taken place in him, and asked me just prior to beginning his service, “What did you do to him? He’s a different (better) man now!” I had to reply that it wasn’t me, but God’s doing. I realized that my ministry to his wife was not only for her comfort, but also the means to lay the groundwork for his salvation.

There was the “Wrong Name” service.  Less than two years after my ordination, I made the one mistake every preacher dreads: saying the wrong name in a funeral service. In my defense (he rationalizes) the odds were stacked against me. I had two services just three days apart for two non-member women who were about the same age. Both services were at funeral homes. One woman’s name was Barbara and the other Margaret, both of whom, you will note, had the same number of syllables, and basically the same vowels. Though the sermons were different, I used the same template for both services, just erasing the first person’s name from my service book and writing in the second one. Of course, I missed one of the changes, so when it came time in the second service to read the deceased’s name, I said the wrong one. As soon as I did, my heart sank and I knew the family would be upset and my career would be over, but from every indication, no one noticed – except of course, my wife, who was attending that service. Spouses always catch those things. I determined to be more careful in the future, and never again made that mistake – at least as far as I know . . .

The “Open Mic” service. Though I did officiate at a number of services where the family wanted everyone who wanted to, to get up and say something, there was one that stood out more than others. We held the service at a school cafeteria where the young man had worked. There was a large turnout of co-workers, students, and friends of the family. The service proceeded just fine until it came time for the eulogy. In keeping with the family’s request, I invited people to come forward to the microphone and give their tributes. Many people spoke, until finally it appeared it was time to move on. Just as I began the benediction, a man stood up and asked to speak. I started to tell him he was too late, when the family asked me to let him speak. I deferred, and stepped back. He came up, took the mic in hand, and began his remarks with the words, “I didn’t know the deceased, but . . .” He went on to completely undermine my Christian message of faith and resurrection, telling everyone that the deceased was now a tree, or a bee or something like that. I resolved never to let that kind of thing happen again, so in future services, I declined requests for open mics and asked family to designate two or three people they knew and trusted to give a few memories of the deceased. Those services went much better.

There are many other funerals and  memorial services I could tell about, such as the one where I had to inspect the un-embalmed body of the deceased to make sure he was wearing his glasses and wedding ring; when I reported to the widow that he was, she asked me if he still had his dentures.

But rather than going too long, I want to close with my philosophy of the reasons we conduct Christian funerals. As I tell the families, we have four goals in every service. First, we remember and honor the deceased, being thankful for his or her life and the memories they leave us. Second, we seek to comfort all who are grieving, easing their pain and giving them hope. Third, we praise and honor God, thanking him for his gift of life – for that person and for all of us. And fourth, we preach the Gospel to all who attend, calling on them to believe in Jesus Christ and what he has done for them by his own death and resurrection, that they too might not fear death but look forward instead to eternal life. To fail any of those goals is to let down all who mourn, for even though Christians mourn the loss of loved ones, Paul reminds us, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

No matter how many funerals there are, or whatever human failings enter into the services, the great message of hope is the same as what I read at that first service years ago: Jesus is the resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in him, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in him shall never die. May you also believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing have life in his name. (John 20:31).

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: Job 38-41, Isaiah 40, John 11

Rise and Rejoice!

When I get up each morning (unless I sleep until noon) I usually listen to the radio during my morning ablutions. My preference is talk radio shows on the AM dial, which can be entertaining and, at the same time, help me keep up with the news. Unfortunately, they can also be discouraging, as the hosts and guests tend to focus on the problems we face in our country and world. The problems can be the actual developments – bad news – or the disagreements and arguments about those developments which seem to divide our country and its people. A person can come away from those talk shows feeling down about what the future may hold for us all.

Well, last Saturday I turned on the radio again, only to find the AM dial to be a wasteland of infomercials, you know, the kind that are structured to sound like real news stories or interviews, but are really just advertisements for some product or service. There’s nothing wrong with companies using such programs to sell their wares; I just don’t want to listen to them. And so, yesterday I switched to the FM dial, planning to listen to some music.

After scanning the available frequencies I finally settled on a station that was playing classic Christian hymns: songs like “Crown Him With Many Crowns” and “Holy, Holy, Holy.” I was enjoying the music while I shaved, trying not to cut myself while singing along with my resonant, bass voice. Then, one of the songs ended, and the announcer identified the program as “Rise and Rejoice.” I liked that phrase.

This is not an endorsement of that show, which is found on the Family Radio network, because I haven’t had the chance to listen to their commentaries and teachings enough to vouch for them. What I am endorsing is the concept that as Christians we should “rise and rejoice,” that is, begin each day by rejoicing in God our Savior.

This was a good reminder to me that my Christian walk is about more than doctrinal statements or theological study. Such things are good and necessary, but I have been too focused on believing and articulating the “right” beliefs, that I have sometimes forgotten to thank God for what he has done and rejoice in knowing him and his grace. As I considered this call to rejoice, I thought about the ways in which rejoicing is beneficial to me and to everyone who come into contact with me. So, what is so good about rejoicing?

It is commanded in Scripture. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4); “And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake” (Deuteronomy 12:18); “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!” (1 Chronicles 16:10 and Psalm 105:3). Because Scripture commands it, we rejoice whether or not we feel like rejoicing. It is like generosity, forgiveness, and service: we do those things because they are right for a Christian to do, regardless of any special giftedness or desire to do them. We owe it to God to rejoice in him.

It follows the example of Christ himself. Luke 10:21 tells us that Jesus rejoiced: “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.'” Christ was righteous in his act of rejoicing, and he set an example for us to do the same.

It is a positive way to begin each day. If we were to get up and take a long car trip, we would make sure we had a full tank of gas before starting out. Likewise, a good breakfast helps us have the energy and nutrients needed to face the day ahead. How much more should our spirits be focused on God before we do anything else? Think of the difference it would make to face the day’s challenges knowing in your heart that God loves you and has already blessed you greatly! Instead of starting out glum (thanks to the news), we can start out refreshed and encouraged, ready to face whatever lies ahead.

It is a counter to the unending stream of bad news that assails us. It is easy to become glum when we are constantly bombarded by stories of crime,  war, injustice, terrorism, and political squabbles and lies. But when we consider what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, how can we not be uplifted? We have a loving God who made us, redeemed us and reconciled us to him though we were his enemies, and who has prepared a place for us in heaven for all eternity to come. How great is that! Plus, even in this life he has given us gifts, and works through us to bless others. Isaiah 16:10 gives us good reasons for rejoicing: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Our rejoicing is based on the objective facts of what God has done for us.

It puts reality into true perspective. If all you hear are the news media (whatever political slants are favored), you come to define the world around you – in fact, all of reality – in political or sociological terms. Your priorities become what the news tells you is important, and you are subject to their manipulations. You find yourself running to and fro, following one person and angry at another, only to switch when new stories come out. But if you turn off the chatter and listen again to God through his Word, you come to realize that no matter what happens around you in the visible world, there is an invisible reality in which God works. As the Nicene Creed says, Christ is the Creator of  things, “visible and invisible.” The hymn, “This is My Father’s World,” says, “That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.” We would forget that truth if all we saw, heard, and thought were limited to the secular media. What is real and true goes so far beyond what the world says is so important.

It blesses others around us. We can see how rejoicing lifts our spirits and “centers us” on what is important and real in this world and beyond. But beyond us, the impact of our rejoicing can have a dramatic and beneficial effect on other, as well. When we are uplifted and encouraged, our joy can be contagious. Even among nonbelievers, it helps them to interact with someone who is happy; how much more so among other believers, when our rejoicing reminds them of their own blessings in Christ.  When we rejoice, we are witnesses to Christ for those who don’t know him yet (“You are my witnesses” Isaiah 43:10), and encouragers for those who do but are having tough times or are even wavering in their faith (Hebrews 10:24-25). To not rejoice is to deprive our fellow Christians of something we owe them.

It glorifies God and helps fulfill the 1st Commandment. One of our sinful tendencies, if not the greatest one, is our tendency to look anywhere except God when it comes to recognizing our blessings. We thank other people, the economy, our education and training, our own abilities, our “connections,” luck (“our lucky stars”), or something else, when it comes to finding the source of the good we have in life. “I earned it!” we think, forgetting that God gave us the life, the abilities, and the situations which have blessed us. Luther reminded us of this in his explanation to the First Commandment, saying, “For even though otherwise we experience much good from men, still whatever we receive by His command or arrangement is all received from God,” and “For creatures are only the hands, channels, and means whereby God gives all things.” When we recognize and rejoice at what God has done for us, we are recognizing him as God above all other so-called gods of money, possessions, pride, and nature. We see the Creator, and not the creation as the source of all good things.

So, then, I encourage you to follow my lead in rejoicing at the start of each day – in song, in prayer, and in the Scriptures. I am sure I will forget to do so some days, or be distracted by various things (such as the smell of breakfast cooking – another reason to rejoice!). But if we consider all his benefits, how can we not rejoice in God our Savior?

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 43, Philippians 4

 

 

 

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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Lessons From the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl was yesterday. I didn’t watch it, except for the final two minutes, so I guess I saw all the exciting parts. Part of the reason I didn’t watch was I wasn’t sure what time it was to start. Between pre-game shows, the puppy bowl, the kitten bowl and the cat bowl, there was too much to keep track of. Besides, I wasn’t invested in either team (emotionally or financially) to feel the need to watch the “big game.” It’s not that I don’t like football – I do enjoy watching it whenever I have it on – and I did play football back in college (okay, intramural flag football – still it was football) – but I usually have something else I’d rather do whenever it’s on. Like nap or write a blog.

And yet, as I thought about this year’s Super Bowl, several things came to mind which I could consider as lessons which I am taking to heart. There are three such lessons that come to mind:

First Lesson: I should have stuck with my flag football career in college and built it up to employment with the NFL. Those guys make serious money. Just to be on a team that plays in the Super Bowl, each player gets $53,000. Being on the winning team brings you $107,000. And that’s in addition to the multi-millions earned for the rest of the season. Like I said, I should have played more football. Of course, playing football can lead to brain injuries, so I would pick a safer position such as designated kicker (the opposing team is penalized for even touching the kicker) or water boy.

Second Lesson: I’m glad I gave up on my musical career. It turns out that the half-time performers don’t receive any pay for their singing and/or dancing. I could be up on stage, thrilling millions of people with my dulcet tones, yet only get a pat on the back when it was over. Then too, there is always the danger of a wardrobe malfunction. But we won’t go there.

Third – and Real – Lesson: Okay, there was something that caught my attention about the lead-in to this year’s Super Bowl, and that is the role the referees and officials played in the outcomes of the two league (AFC and NFC) championship games that determined which teams finally made it to the Super Bowl. Both games had questionable, actually downright bad calls that favored the teams that went on to win those games: New England and Los Angeles. While not getting technical about the nature of those calls, I can say that fans of the teams that lost have legitimate gripes against the calls that were made. They could justly claim that their teams were treated unfairly.

If there’s any particular ethical expectation left in our society, it is the doctrine of “fairness.” We expect judges to be unbiased, playing fields to be level, opportunities to be equal, produce to be fair-traded, teachers to grade fairly, taxes to be fair, and scales to give fair weight. The concept of fairness is so ingrained in us that one of our earliest complaints as a child is, “That’s not fair!” And as adults, we pass laws and enact policies that are intended to ensure fairness in all transactions.

Unfortunately, the world is not fair.

Unfortunately, the world is not fair. Life is not fair. There are no guarantees of fairness in this fallen world. Refs make bad calls all the time (just think of some of the judging at the Olympics!). Elections are cheated in, and spouses are cheated on. Insider deals make millions for favored investors, while seniors lose value in their pensions due to inflation. Small countries are bullied by bigger ones, and small mom-and-pop stores are crushed by big box giants. The coach’s son always gets to play, while the shy, unknown kid does not. The crook who embezzled millions gets off on a technicality, while someone like you or me has to pay hundreds of dollars for driving three miles over the speed limit or parking one inch over a line. And, tragically, sweet, loving, generous people we know and love come down with horrible diseases like cancer. It’s just not fair.

God is well aware of the unfairness we sinners have brought into the world. His Word is full of admonitions for his people to be fair in all their actions toward others. In Deuteronomy 25:15 he commanded the use of full and fair weights and measures in commerce. He charged Israel with treating its people unfairly, of judging in favor of the wealthy, and of taking bribes (Micah 7:3). In Proverbs 31:9, he commanded, “Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

God demonstrates fairness in his own actions:

As an example to us, God demonstrates fairness in his own actions: in Isaiah 2:3-4, we read about God’s Anointed One, “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” Psalm 67:4 praises God: “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.” God affirms that he is not partial to those who might have undo influence in society: Acts 10:34 says, “God shows no partiality” (about nationality); Romans 2:11 says, “For God shows no partiality”(toward Jew or Greek); Galatians 2:6 teaches, “God shows no partiality” (toward people in respected positions); Ephesians 6:9 adds, “there is no partiality with him” (toward master or slave); and Colossians 3:25 teaches in a paragraph dealing with relations between husbands and wives, masters and slaves, parents and children, that all will be held accountable to God for their actions because with God “there is no partiality.” The Lord demonstrated this when he directed Samuel to anoint David as king, bypassing one of his brothers named Eliab who looked very regal: “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).

The only place where God does not deal fairly is with us when it comes to our sins

The only place where God does not deal fairly is with us when it comes to our sins. Instead of  giving us what we deserve, he forgives us. Instead of casting us all into the pit of fire, he provides a means of escape. Instead of turning his back on us, he provides reconciliation through the sacrifice of his Son. As the psalmist said, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3) If anyone could claim to be treated unfairly, it was Jesus, who lived a perfect life and obeyed all of God’s commands, who showed love and compassion toward those who suffered, and who paid for our salvation through his own horrible death on the cross. But though he suffered unfairly for us, he came to earth for that very purpose, and went uncomplaining to his death. Thanks be to God that he has ignored what we believe to be fair in order to save us from ourselves.

Recognizing that there is much unfairness in the world, yet knowing that God commands us to do good to each other, how do we respond when we have been treated unfairly?

The answer is not complicated, but is sometimes hard to do, depending on how hurt we are and how severe the wrong we have suffered. There are two parts to it: our obligation to others, and our obligation to God.

Regarding our obligation to others:  1. Christ told us to turn the other cheek, to forgive, and bless those who hurt us (Matthew 5:39, 44). 2. Vengeance is the Lord’s property, not ours (Deuteronomy 32:35). 3. We have an obligation to protect others and try to stop the unfairness from continuing. This means confronting the wrong with gentle firmness, speaking up, warning others, and working with the authorities to restrain the evil that is being done (Romans 13:3-4). Forgiving the person who wrongs us does not mean we have to condone the actions they did or allow them to continue against us or other people.

Regarding our obligation to God: Jesus told a parable about a servant who owed a huge, unpayable debt to a king. The king forgave him the debt, but then the servant went out and jailed another servant who owed him a trifling amount. When the king heard it, he became enraged and threw the first servant into prison, saying, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (Matthew 18:21-35). By this parable, Jesus showed that because God has forgiven us greatly, we must forgive each other as well.

Unfairness hurts, but it is part of living in a fallen world

Unfairness hurts, but it is part of living in a fallen world, where sin drives people to lie, cheat, and steal, to take unfair advantage of people, and to believe they deserve whatever they want. But God has broken into this world through his Son, and has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to forgive and to receive the comfort and healing God wants for us to have. So when you have such hurts, take them first to God in prayer to ease the pain, to find the power to forgive, and to receive guidance for how you should respond. And when you respond, remember to be fair in what you do!

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 18:21-35, 1 Samuel 16:1-13

 

 

State of the Union

What is the state of your union?

The US Constitution requires the President to inform Congress “from time to time” of the “state of the union.” Traditionally, this is done each January. It’s about that time right now, but due to some political disputes between the parties involved, when and how that report will be delivered is up in the air. Regardless of how this plays out, an honest assessment of our country’s health would require both causes for celebration, and reasons for deep concern. One primary concern is the lack of union between segments of our population; our national motto, e pluribus unum, (out of many, one) seems to have been changed to ex uno plora (out of one, many).

You’ve heard the statement, “United we stand, divided we fall.” This aphorism goes back to at least 600 BC in one of Aesop’s fables called “The Four Oxen and the Lion”:

A lion used to prowl about a field in which four oxen used to dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned their tails to warn another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, they fell to quarrel among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in the separate corner of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end of all four. United we stand, divided we fall.

Patrick Henry quoted the statement, “United we stand, divided we fall,” in 1799 regarding a threat to our national unity; he added, “Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs. Let us preserve our strength . . .  and not exhaust it in civil commotions and . . . wars.” (Where is Patrick when we need him?)

Earlier, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Ben Franklin said famously, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” And when Abraham Lincoln called attention to the disunity caused by slavery in the US, he quoted from Jesus’ words in Mark 3:25, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”

Division and disunity are dangerous, potentially fatal, for a country. They are also dangerous for any important relationship, such as marriage or family membership. In the Old Testament, the union of husband and wife – “the two shall become one”(Genesis 2:24) – uses the particular Hebrew word for “one” (echad) that signifies a single entity, the same word used when describing our God as One: “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one (echad)”(Deuteronomy 6:4). God’s intent is for true unity in our marriages, and by extension to all our relationships with each other.

The most important relationship, and the one I really want to address, is our relationship with God. As I wrote in my most recent blog, our sin set up a wall of separation, of enmity, between us and God. This was symbolized by the heavy curtain in the Jewish Temple which closed off the Holy of Holies from the world. Only by very stringent, God-ordained ceremonies could that barrier be breached  and then only for sacrificial purposes. When the curtain tore in two at Jesus’ death, it showed what his death accomplished: the barrier was removed, and we were granted access to the mercy seat of God and welcomed back into his fellowship.

But now what? Now that we have been forgiven and reconciled to God, how do we continue in the unity which that requires?

  1. First, we recognize that it is Jesus’ will that we remain in union with him and the Father (and of course, the Spirit). At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed what is called the High Priestly Prayer, which is recorded in John 17. He prayed for himself, for his disciples, and for all future believers (such as us). Part of that prayer is for unity: “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me”  (John 17:21-23). Note that our unity is not just for our benefit: it is also a sign to the world that Jesus came from God, and that we are God’s beloved. Our disunity defames and slanders God; our unity glorifies him and lifts him up to the world.
  2. Second, we submit to God and recognize that the power for unity comes from him, and not from our good efforts. Jesus praised the Father for giving him his disciples, showing that God is who calls us to himself. His Holy Spirit calls, enlightens, and convicts us of the truth, creating in us the faith by which we are saved. The same Spirit continues to work in us to gather us together in the Church, and to enable us to follow God’s commandments. When we try to force unity (such as by church mergers) according to the world’s patterns, we will fail; when we try to make people work together, we often just push them further apart: “You’re going to be friends with each other and like it!” Our efforts will always fall short because our residual sin gets in the way. Pride, grudges, and divisive spirits ruin our efforts.
  3. Third, though all sins create barriers, some are particularly devastating to unity with God and each other. Pride, idolatry, gossip, unforgiveness – and others you could mention – make true unity very difficult to achieve or maintain. The Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians against one such sin, a party spirit, when chastising them for dividing into parties devoted to different teachers. He said in 1 Corinthians 3:3-4, “For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human?” God calls on us to avoid such sins for the sake of unity. Once again, petty bickering destroys our witness to the world; love shown in our caring treatment of each other reveals we are Jesus’ disciples: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
  4. Fourth, there are practical ways to promote this unity. primary among them is the frequent and regular reception of Holy Communion. In that act, we are communing both vertically with God, and horizontally with each other. This sacrament is something that unifies us in Christ by receiving his blood and body, and to each other by publicly showing our faith and need for forgiveness. Receiving communion is an act of humility which levels us with all other believers regardless of human-contrived divisions such as status, demographics, or politics.  Other practical ways are by regular worship and fellowship activities, service opportunities, and leadership in the church. Finally, regular study of God’s Word helps correct our sinful and divisive tendencies and draws us close to God.
  5. Finally, if we would be in unity with God, then following his will for our lives plays a big part. This means obeying the commandments which he has laid out in general for everyone such as “Do not steal.” But it also means following his directions for our individual lives. He has a purpose for each of us; finding and seeking to follow that purpose honors God, fulfills his intent, and blesses us with the peace of knowing we are in God’s will. Once again, we recognize that apart from God we cannot keep his will, nor by keeping it do we earn his approval. But as those who are one with him, how can we not seek to do his will?

So then, how is your state of the union doing? Do you find yourself avoiding God’s Word out of fear that it might tell you to change your behavior? Do you feel at peace with him, or are there things that are making you feel uncomfortable? Do you look forward to worship and other church gatherings, or are there some people there you would rather avoid? Have you prayed for forgiveness, and have you prayed for his strength to face difficult situations or temptations?

God wants you to be one with him and with your brothers and sisters in Christ; how is that union doing?

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

Read: John 17, 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

 

The Wall

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of talk about “The Wall.” Politicians and pundits of all persuasions have been arguing the merits and demerits of adding to the barriers on the US’s southern border with Mexico. The issue has led to acrimonious charges back and forth, and is at the center of the current partial government shutdown. It is a hot-button political issue that has reached an impasse.

I have been following the debate to some extent, and have some opinions on the matter, but the good news is that I’m not going to inflict them on you. Instead, I’m going to tell you how thinking about the issue led me to consider “walls” in the biblical context, and to share with you what the Bible says about them. In particular I want to talk about the most important wall in the Scriptures.

But first, a quick review of what walls do. Basically, a wall is a barrier that keeps someone or something from going from one place to another. A wall may be used to keep people in a location, such as a prison wall that keeps inmates from leaving; or it may be used to keep people out of an area, such as a wall around an embassy that restricts movement into the facility. A wall may provide protection from natural forces, such as sea walls that break up waves and protect shoreline buildings, or it may keep animals from raiding your kitchen (unless the animal is our cat, who parks himself in front of our refrigerator and stares at us until we feed him). Walls provide privacy, such as the walls between stalls in, well, you-know-where. Walls may be opaque, to limit distractions or visibility, or clear, to allow “transparency” in office settings. A wall may delineate property lines, and keep property safe from theft. It may provide barriers against the spread of disease, such as in a hospital, or help a patient breathe better  by “tenting” them with enhanced oxygen flow. And then there are walls that provide canvases for graffiti artists, or launching platforms for skateboard and parkour (obstacle course) athletes. Walls have many uses, which is probably why we have so many of them.

Walls are usually physical dividers, but they can also be psychological or symbolic. Once, when I was in college, my roommate and I had a disagreement over some stupid issue, and decided to give each other some needed “space.” So we divided our 10 x 12 foot dorm room in half with an imaginary wall. That lasted for about ten minutes before we realized how petty we were being. Plus, the bathroom door was on his side of the room.  Likewise, our state borders are usually drawn with imaginary lines which nevertheless carry the force of law. If you have ever been to Wendover, you know the town is divided in half between Nevada and Utah. The main street actually has a line painted across it indicating the border; when you look up from it, you can see that all the town’s casinos are on the Nevada side of the line. Those state boundaries make a difference.

There are also social barriers or walls that divide people into those who are accepted and those who are not. Such walls may separate people by income and social status, race, sex, and religion. Some of those social barriers are helpful – such as our church requiring pastors who are Christians (duh!) – while others are not – such as the drinking fountains I saw during a childhood trip to Florida that limited use to “whites” or “coloreds.”

So walls can be good or bad, but they are so common it is hard to imagine living without them to some degree in certain places.

But what about the Bible? What does it say about walls? The ESV uses the word “wall” 226 times. It usually uses the term to refer to protective walls around cities, such as the wall around Jericho in the book of Joshua, which the Lord had to bring down to allow the Israelites to attack the city successfully. Or the wall around Jerusalem. But it also uses the term in other, related ways: for example, it uses the term to describe the parting of the Red Sea during the start of the exodus, saying, “And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (Exodus 14:22). 1 Samuel 25 refers to David’s men as being a wall that protected some shepherds: “They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep” (1 Samuel 25:16). And when Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, attention was paid to the construction of the Temple walls, which were made of stone lined with cedar (1 Kings 6:15).

The New Testament speaks of walls, too, mentioning them a few times, culminating in the description of the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation: it describes the walls of the heavenly city in chapter 21 as being built of jasper and measuring 144 cubits (216 feet) tall.

But the usage that interests me most is found in Ephesians 2:14, where it speaks of there being a “dividing wall of hostility” which Christ broke down “in his flesh.” What is that talking about?

The dividing wall of hostility refers to the separation we have from God due to our sin. The first evidence of this is in Genesis 3, when after Adam and Eve sinned, God expelled them from the Garden of Eden. God set up a kind of wall in the form of cherubim wielding a flaming sword to keep them from returning. Talk about a barrier! Sin had now separated us from paradise, and from the blessings of God’s presence. Later, God established his Law for Israel, which included first a tabernacle, and later a temple, where his presence would manifest itself for the benefit – and forgiveness – of his people. But even then, people were still separated from God by barriers: one wall (or curtain) kept everyone except priests out of the holy place, and another curtain kept everyone except the high priest out of the innermost place – the Holy of Holies – where God was most present. Only on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) did the High Priest venture behind that final barrier to bring the blood offering which atoned for the sins of the people. Only in that way was the wall of hostility breached.

But though the High Priest could enter the Holiest place on that one day, the dividing wall remained. We were still separated from God. It was not until Jesus Christ died on the cross did we receive full forgiveness; only by his death was the true blood of atonement shed. This amazing transaction was shown at Christ’s death, when, according to Matthew 27:51, “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” By his death for our sake, Jesus became our High Priest, essentially carrying his own blood into the Holy of Holies, offering it for our forgiveness. By doing so, the curtain was torn apart to show that the dividing wall was removed, and we now have access to God himself. Our sins, which required there to be such a barrier, were forgiven, so the barrier was no longer needed.

In the Old Testament, God broke down the walls of Jericho to allow his people access into the promised land of Canaan. This had a practical and immediate purpose, but it also was a pre-figuring of what was to come, because in the New Testament God brought down the wall which kept us from the Promised Land – which was a wall created by our sin and sinfulness. Thanks to Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, reconciled to God, and destined to dwell in that New Jerusalem with the jasper walls.

Just as the heavenly city has walls, so do we in this fallen world, where barriers are needed to protect people and property, and to help in many other ways: after all, without walls, where would you hang pictures? But it’s good to know that the most important wall, the wall of hostility which kept us away from God, is now gone!

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: Ephesians 2, Hebrews 7, Revelation 21

 

 

 

 

I’ve Had an Epiphany!

Yes, I’ve had an epiphany. Today. Actually, I’ve had 67 consecutive Epiphanies, since I’ve lived 67 consecutive January 6th’s, the day the Church has long designated as the Epiphany. (Although, the term “consecutive” is a bit redundant, since the only way for me to live 67 non-consecutive January 6th’s is to have died before a January 6th and then been brought back to life after  that date. And as far as I know, that hasn’t happened.)

Normally, when people say they’ve had an epiphany, they’re saying they’ve had some sudden insight or realization, like the cartoons that show a light bulb over someone’s head to signify the character has just had an idea pop into their head. Examples in daily life might include: parents who realizes just how caught up in social media their child is when they discover that child’s media page full of hundreds of pictures, likes and dislikes. Or when a doctor’s lab test scares you enough to make you realize you need to start exercising or you’re soon going to have serious health issues. You have had an epiphany about your health.

An epiphany doesn’t create something new; it just makes known to someone a thing that was already true. Thus, if  I have an epiphany about corruption in Washington, D.C., my sudden realization doesn’t create the corruption; the corruption was already going on. This point is important to understand, because an epiphany is a kind of revelation, a making known of something to someone.

A word often used to define “epiphany” is “manifestation.” In this sense, an epiphany is a fulfillment of something that was foretold and is now coming together or taking place. Thus, a winter storm can be tracked and forecast for days ahead of time, but finally manifests itself when the snow starts falling. The classic example is that of a hurricane, which is tracked across the ocean and warned about for a long time before it finally hits land and does its damage. The hurricane was manifested when it dumped its rain and wind onto the targeted state or country, even though the storm already existed.

In our nation’s history, the term, “manifest destiny” was used to assert the (averred divine) plan for the United States to fill the North American continent from Atlantic to Pacific. Our destiny was considered proper and inevitable, to spread across the entire land; the destiny was made manifest in its fulfillment.

So, an epiphany has two ideas associated with it: first, that something which was foretold is finally taking place, or becoming manifest. Second, that people come to realize the reality and truth of what is taking place. Both of those ideas can be seen in the Church’s use of the term Epiphany to designate a certain day (and season) of the Church year:

The earliest reference to Epiphany as a Christian feast day was in AD 361. In the Eastern churches, the festival grouped together all the earliest events in Jesus’s life, up to and including his baptism and even his first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana. In the Western churches, the emphasis was on the visit of the Magi as recorded in Matthew 2. We have followed the Western tradition, at least as far as the actual day of Epiphany on January 6th.

Epiphany is also the season of the Church year which begins January 6th and lasts until the onset of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Because the date of Ash Wednesday varies each year depending on the day of Easter, the length of Epiphany also varies. This year, the season of Epiphany runs through March 5th, with Ash Wednesday on March 6th. During that season, we do commemorate not only the visit of the Magi, but also Jesus’ baptism, the wedding feast at Cana, and the Transfiguration.

You can see how Christ is revealed to the world in each of these events: the visit of the Magi reveals Christ to the nations as fulfillment of the prophesied king; at his baptism, Christ is revealed as the Son of God who is beginning his earthly ministry; at Cana, Jesus’ divine power is revealed in his first miracle; and at the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John behold Christ’s divine glory. By celebrating these events, we are recognizing the manifestation of who Christ is to the world.

When the Magi visited the infant Jesus, they did not just stumble across him while on vacation; they intentionally went to Judea to find the one who was to be born the “King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2). They knew the birth had been prophesied (probably from the writings of Daniel) and went to see the manifestation of that prophecy in their day. By being found as foretold, Jesus was made known to the Gentile nations, represented by the Magi. The visit did not make Jesus to be the King of the Jews; he was already that by nature. The visit just recognized what was already true.

When thinking about the Epiphany, and considering what difference such a celebration might make to us, I am reminded of Martin Luther’s comments in his Small Catechism when he describes the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. When he speaks of the words, “Hallowed be thy name,” He says that God’s name is already hallowed, so what we are praying is that his name be hallowed by us. Likewise, when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we know that his kingdom will come, but are praying that it comes in us. And finally, when we pray, “Thy will be done,” we know that God’s will, will be done even without our prayer; we are praying that his will be done by us.

So also with the Epiphany. It reveals things about Jesus Christ that are already true, things that are true about his nature, and things in his life and actions that fulfill God’s promises. When we celebrate that nature and those events, we are not causing them to be true; they already are true, we are just recognizing them for what they are. And by doing so, we are affirming the importance of who Christ is and what he has done for us.

When we celebrate the coming of the Magi, we are affirming that Jesus is the King of the Jews and of the nations, for the Gentile Magi came to worship him and bring him gifts suitable for a king. When we sing, We Three Kings, we stand in the place of those wise men of old as we sing, “Gold I bring to crown him again,” “Frankincense to offer have I,” and “Myrrh is mine,”and so on. We are acknowledging for ourselves, and to the world, that Jesus is “King and God and Sacrifice.”* We are affirming Jesus is our King.

Likewise, in all the celebrations of Epiphany, we are just recognizing what is already true about Jesus Christ. He is King, he is the Son of God, he is divine in his power and glory. We are saying that we affirm who Christ is and what he has done. For those of us who have known and believed in Christ our entire lives, we may not have a specific “light bulb” moment when we first realized who Jesus is. But that’s okay; it doesn’t change who he is, and now we can join with those who have just had an “epiphany” about Christ in celebrating the Son of God who came to seek and to save the lost. May this season encourage you as you consider the very nature of our God and Savior!

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 2, Matthew 3:13-17, John 2:1-12, Mark 9:2-13

As you read Matthew 2, take note of all the statements that show the Magi arrived to see Jesus later than his birth. They were not at the stable, though we usually include them in nativity scenes.

  • We three Kings, originally Three Kings of Orient, written by John Henry Hopkins in 1857.

 

What’s in a Name?

William Shakespeare wrote in his famous play, Romeo and Juliet, the equally famous line, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” His point was that a name is just a name, and does not change the actual nature of what it denotes or describes. It is used in the play to lament the fact that the star-crossed lovers respectively bore last names that belonged to warring families, preventing them from what could have been a wonderful life together.

Those who study languages know this all too well, as different languages use different words to refer to the same item. Pointing to a frog, for example, various speakers might call it a frog, a Frosch, a grenouille, a rana, a kikker (my favorite) or  a sammakko. And that’s just in Europe! Even though people have come up with different names for the same animal, the nature of that animal does not change. That which we call a frog by any other name would smell as . . . I mean, hop as far. Well, you get the idea.

But when it comes to the names people call themselves and each other, the matter is not so simple. Especially when it comes to grouping people into different categories, the name or title used can be happily embraced, angrily denounced, or changed daily according to fashion. Thus, people in our society have insisted on being called certain things, some of which are brand new names. And those preferred names can and do change. For example, people who were once called idiots (not an insult at the time) were then called retarded (meaning slower to develop, again not an insult), then special education students (or “speds” which did become an insult), then  “developmentally challenged,” “people with cognitive disabilities,” and most recently, “differently capable.” But the people so-described or so-named didn’t change.

People are lumped into generational categories, racial and ethnic groups, and self-described gender identities. It’s hard to keep track of the name-du-jour, if one wants to be politically correct.

Not decrying such efforts, I embrace them in today’s blog, as I suggest to you some names with which you may group Karen and me. We will not be offended by any of the following, but fully endorse your usage of them when it comes to describing us:

We are biennials. As we begin a new year, Karen and I stand across two different years, 2018 and 2019. We have no regrets from the outgoing year, but look forward to the incoming year with anticipation. We will not, however, celebrate it by watching Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. We will be lucky to watch the ball drop in Times Square . . . on TV . . . at 9:00 pm Pacific Time.

We are perennials. Like flowers that are planted once and keep coming back, so do we. Year after year after year. Even if you don’t want us to, we are there. Like weeds. Twenty-four years so far in California, which was originally planned as a one-year internship. Yep, perennials.

We are bi-centennials. Not only did we live during America’s Bicentennial celebration (1976-1981 for you youngsters out there), our lives have spanned two centuries (so far). We were there at Valley Forge on July the 4th, 1976, and at the Battle of Yorktown – the reenactment in 1981, of course – we’re not quadri-centennials, after all, regardless of my hair color!

We are trans-millennials. Spanning two centuries is cool, but spanning two millennia is just plain awesome! How many people in all history can say they lived during two millennia? Okay, maybe billions of people, but it’s still awesome.

I am a batrachophile, Karen is a bactrachophobe. Considering the Greek word for frog is batrachos, you can figure out where we stand in relation to my pet frog, Romeo (not to be confused with Shakespeare’s character of the same name. Actually, I suspect the frog may be a Juliet instead . . . as the Bard said, “What’s in a name? . . . “).

We are sexagenarians. Don’t assume you know what this means. Look it up.

We are uniterrestrials. Not to be confused with members of a church bearing a similar name. We live on one planet, the same as everyone else, except the few who at any one time are orbiting the same planet in a space station. By the way, that space station isn’t that far away; it’s closer to us than Bakersfield, CA. So wave, the next time it goes by. And be thankful you’re down here and not up there.

We are bibliophiles. Yep, book lovers. Karen reads all her books now in e-reader format, and that way can carry hundreds of them on her at a time. Which is about right for a weekend’s reading for her. I, on the other hand, require thousands of hard- and soft-cover books weighing at least a ton, books that I can actually hold in my hand – before going to the computer and reading them in digital format. At least I know that when the world runs out of electricity, I’ll be the one with the library. And library cards will not be cheap.

I am an omnivore. We have a nephew who as a little child loved dinosaurs. Each day he would announce to his parents whether he was a carnivore or an herbivore, so they could choose his food appropriately. Eschewing those names, I chew as an omnivore, meaning I will eat anything that is edible and not moving, though I could waive the last part if I get hungry enough. Then, I may turn from a batrachophile to a batrachovore.

We are Christians. Ah, now we’re on to something important! What could be more vital than to bear the name and title of our Savior? In the Old Testament, God spoke of those who were called by his name. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 he said, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Then, in Isaiah 43:6-7 he said, “Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Then in the New Testament, Philippians 2:9-11 proclaims triumphantly, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” To be associated with Jesus Christ, to be found in him, to be called by his name, is the greatest title we ever could have. The title will outlast all fashions of political correctness, and will be with us forever. Because of Christ.

We are trans-peccatoris. We are sinners who have “crossed over,” that is, been made righteous by the grace of God through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. In the words of Martin Luther, we are “simul justis et peccator” (“at the same time, saint and sinner”), whereas without faith we are just peccatoris.  In the words of John Newton’s great hymn, Amazing Grace, “[We] once were lost, but now are found, [were] blind but now [we] see.” There is a basic change in our very nature, in which the righteousness of Jesus Christ was imputed, that is reckoned to us by faith. We retain the old nature in part, but we now have the new nature as well. We are “trans” in the highest use of the term.

We are eternalists. If we thought spanning centuries and millennia was something special, just wait until we span eons and ages without number. When we have, according to a verse added to Amazing Grace by another lyricist:

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ll have no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.”

That’s one of the best descriptions of eternity’s duration, though not of course, of all its glory. That we’ll just have to wait to see for ourselves!

So then, what’s in a name? Either nothing, or everything. It depends on what the name is, and why we have it. We can choose any name or title for ourselves, and find that it is only temporary, or we can take on the Name of Christ through faith in him, and be conformed to him forever. Interestingly, the Book of Revelation speaks of new names that Christ will one day give us. Revelation 2:17 says, “To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

So what’s in a name? Plenty, if it is the Name which is above every name: the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. May his name be found in you now and forever!

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

Read: Philippians 2:5-11, Acts 2, Acts 15:6-21

 

 

 

The Unopened Present

In the corner of the living room sat a beautifully-wrapped Christmas present. The colorful paper, bright bows, and festive ribbon promised a gift inside that had been carefully and lovingly chosen for its intended recipient. The present had arrived early under the tree, and the entire family – as well as their holiday guests – had marveled at it and wondered just what treasure lay hidden inside. The big night finally arrived; the family returned from their church’s Christmas Eve service (of course!) and began the time-honored tradition of opening their presents while gathered around the tree. One by one the gifts were passed to their recipients, and one by one the wrapping was torn off to the accompaniment of laughter, squeals of “Thank you!”, a couple “You shouldn’t have’s” and even one “But I’m glad you did!”

Finally the evening’s festivities were over, and after hugs and kisses all around, the family went off to bed while in the corner, under the tree, amidst all the wrapping paper debris, sat that one special present, still intact and unopened. And there it would stay, unopened, long after Christmas was over.

An unopened present. . . not likely to happen, is it? Especially if the giver were someone you knew and loved, and you knew that giver had chosen the gift just for you to give you joy and make your life better than it is, you’d be sure to open it wouldn’t you? I’m sure you would happily unwrap such a present, for the joy it would give you – and the giver, who wanted you to have it.  And yet, the truth is, there is a great and wonderful gift which has been given to the world, and which has been largely unopened, left  to sit in the corner of our lives. We know it’s there, and we sometimes give special attention to it at Christmas time; we talk about it, marvel that it’s been given to us, and even say thank you to the Giver occasionally, but for the most part, we leave it alone. What is that gift? Listen to the words spoken at the very first Christmas when the gift was announced by a multitude of heaven’s angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

Peace. What a wonderful gift, yet one seemingly in such short supply in today’s world that it could be considered “the Unopened Present.”  What did God mean by sending such a message through his angels, and why is it that a gift announced over 2000 years ago has yet to be fully opened by the world to whom  it was given? Why is peace missing from so many families, from our country, and from the world at large? As we celebrate the Advent of the Prince of Peace, let’s prayerfully consider God’s gift of peace:

  1. The gift is not found in some abstract idea of peace, but in the Gift Himself, Jesus Christ. We do not and cannot find true peace apart from Him. Like the bumper stickers that say, “No Jesus, No Peace; Know Jesus, Know Peace,” we look to Jesus as the source and goal of peace. Our own efforts at peace through our own strength, wisdom, political savvy, “visualization,” or good intentions will always fail.
  2. The peace promised by God through Christ is first and foremost peace with God, reconciliation with God by the forgiveness of our sins through faith in His Son. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,” (2 Corinthians 5:19) “. . . having made peace through the blood of His cross.” (Colossians 1:20)
  3. When we receive peace with God through Christ, we have both God’s love and the power of His Spirit to move and enable us to seek peace with our families, the world, and even our enemies. It is because so many reject Christ and His call to love and forgive others that attaining peace is so difficult. And yet, we must not give up, for our work is to seek peace, by showing Christ’s love and making the Gift known. So make sure everyone knows their Gift is waiting. . . and don’t leave your own gift unopened this year!

Merry Christmas, and may the God of peace be with you all!

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

Read: Luke 2

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Yesterday I listened to a radio station that was playing Christmas songs. Amid the mix of secular tunes and religious carols, there were two songs that particularly caught my attention: Burl Ives’ version of “Holly Jolly Christmas” and Andy Williams singing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” In the first song, Burl sings, “It’s the best time of the year.” Then, Andy follows with the lyrics: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

But is it? Is Christmas (or the Christmas season) the best, or the most wonderful, time of the year? When the second song ended, it was time for the news. One of the news stories reported on a recent medical study which found that Christmas is the worst time of the year when it comes to heart attacks. According to their findings, the most dangerous time – when more heart attacks occur than any other time during the year – is at 10:00 pm on Christmas Eve.

Considering that I often preached at 10 pm at our church’s Christmas Eve services, it’s a good thing I retired when I did! As the saying goes, I “dodged a bullet” by getting out alive!

The report surprised me, because I’ve always found Christmas to be a very special season and one of my favorite times of the year – although growing up in Wisconsin I also looked forward to the summers. I mean, singing about Frosty was fun, but building snowmen in April was a bit much, so summers were always welcome.

In a way, I shouldn’t have been surprised at the report, because we know about the stresses this season puts on people: cleaning the house, shopping for presents, decorating, entertaining, and meeting various social obligations. On top of that, several million people suffer from S.A.D. – Seasonal Affective Disorder – a kind of depression caused by changes in a person’s body chemistry due to winter’s reduced sunlight. Most difficult of all, many people have lost loved ones at this time of year. While such a loss is felt and grieved at any time of year, it can be especially hard at Christmas when everyone is singing about being “happy and gay” (old definition), and the expectation is to have a wonderful, joyous time. The persons grieving see all the (real or contrived) cheery faces around them and their own grief is harder to take. Such losses are felt not only when they occur, but again every year when the “joyful” season returns.

Wow; I’ve just talked myself out of having a happy Christmas! There seem to be more reasons not to have a good time than there are to be happy. No wonder heart attacks peak on Christmas Eve!

But do not despair! Christmas can be, and should be, a wonderful season, especially for Christians. The key question to ask is, “What are we celebrating?” When we consider the various answers which people give, we find both the reasons for people’s disappointments, and the “formula” for  true joy and happiness. So then, what are the various “reasons for the season” and how do they affect us?

The key question to ask is, “What are we celebrating?”

  1. Christmas is a celebration of winter! Sure, Christmas is celebrated on December 25, just a few days after the winter solstice. And sure, some pope from centuries ago set that date, apparently to co-opt the festival that pagans were observing at the same time. In a way, he “baptized” a pagan feast and made it a Christian one, which is what Christ does for all of us in our baptisms. But you can see a number of problems with that when it comes to making us happy. For one thing, what if we don’t have a wintry holiday? What if, like in Sacramento, there’s no snow? What if (unlike in Wisconsin) there are no Frosty snowmen, sleigh rides, or “Jack Frost nipping at your nose”? No question: a forest of snow-covered pine trees is beautiful, but what if you expect a “white Christmas” and only get slush and fog? Your anticipation can let you down when your postcard image doesn’t come true.

And then there’s that S.A.D. thing. Maybe the reason for the pagans having a holiday when they did, was that they were facing a bleak time of year. Maybe that pope could have picked a cheerier time for Christmas . . . like at the summer solstice.

On top of all this, there’s the fact that we don’t know what day Jesus was born (or even which year, though we number our calendars based on his being  born in 1 AD). Based on the shepherds watching their flocks by night (Luke 2:8) out in the fields, scholars believe Jesus was born just before the Passover, at the start of Spring. The reason for the flocks at Bethlehem was to supply the sacrifices for the Temple at Passover . . . anyone see any connection here to another Sacrifice offered at that time?

Finally, regarding Christmas as a winter holiday: what about those poor people living south of the equator? Their Christmas is celebrated at the start of summer, so if they based their enjoyment of that day on having “a sleigh ride together with you . . .” they would always be disappointed!

2. Christmas is a celebration of family! Yes, this is the theme of just about every TV Christmas movie which purports to teach us “the real meaning of Christmas.” It also is part of the richness of the holiday, that families come together and share their love in words and in deeds. And, certainly, families are important in our lives and in the health of our society as a whole. But if that is the core of Christmas, then we set ourselves up for disappointments and even sadness.

What about the people who don’t have a family? Plenty of people will find themselves alone at Christmas. They see the smiling faces of families in public or on TV, and feel left out of the fun. They may be alone due to divorce or the death of their spouse, or maybe never married. Others hear about the joy people have in seeing Christmas “through the wondering eyes of their children,” but don’t experience that themselves because they are childless. This familiar expectation is hard when Christmas was the time you lost a close loved one – parent, child, spouse, or sibling – and yet you hear about the joy of family.

Even when you have a large, fully intact family with whom to celebrate Christmas, there can be conflicts and disappointments when those real people get together with all their quirks and “issues.” For some families, the only time happier than the arrival of family is their departure!

3. Christmas is a celebration of gift-giving . . . and getting! Oh boy! It’s time to get that new (fill in the blank) thing I’ve always wanted! Or at least, wanted since I saw it in a commercial two weeks ago. Kids fill out lists for Santa, and adults drop hints to family or special friends to “help” them make informed choices when they buy gifts.

I still keep a list for Santa, but I have to keep updating it when I find I am always behind the curve when it comes to what I ask for. I had to cross off: a Zune, a Palm Pilot, an 8-track tape player for my car, a new typewriter, some nice bell-bottoms, and an AMC Gremlin (like I used to own!). As you can tell by my list, things I would have been happy to get once, would no longer excite anyone to get now. Such is the fickle nature of what will make us happy. At least, candy canes haven’t changed!

Yes, I keep a list for Santa, but unfortunately, Santa keeps a list, too, so I doubt I’m getting anything from him . . .

Gifts are nice, and can be a lot of fun. And the gift-giving spirit does reflect the generosity of our Lord who gave us the most precious gift of all: his own Son (Matthew 7:11, John 4:10, Acts 2:38, Romans 5:15-17, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8). This gift-giving was mirrored by the magi, who brought gifts to the Christ-child (Matthew 2:11). But when the giving or getting of material possessions defines our Christmas celebration, we are setting ourselves up for disappointments.

Can I get the right gift? Is the store sold out? Can I afford it? Will the recipient really like it? Will it break within hours, will the child get bored with it in a couple days (and play with the box it came in instead)? Will I find the precious gift I gave at Goodwill a week later? What do I do with this “white elephant” someone gave me but I don’t like at all? I wonder if they ever shop at Goodwill . . .

4. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Okay, there we go. Finally, a Reason for the season that won’t disappoint us. No matter who we are, where we live, what time of year it is, what our family is like or if we are alone, whatever our financial resources or accumulation of stuff might be, or whatever disappointments or losses we experience at this time of year, there is one constant fact that cuts through everything and makes all the difference, and that is the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. Or as Isaiah put it,

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

When that is our focus, when HE is our focus, we can truly rejoice with the knowledge that our Creator loves us and gave himself for us, that we might be reconciled to God and have eternal life. There is no greater reason to celebrate Christmas than that, nor is there any reason more rewarding.

The most wonderful time of the year? When we celebrate the coming into the world of the Wonderful Counselor, it most certainly is!

Have a merry and joyful 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 and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Isaiah 9:2,6-7, Romans 5:12-21, Ephesians 2:8-10

 

We Are Not Alone

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

Recently, I saw part of a TV program that was discussing the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. The program talked about governmental agencies and private organizations that are heavily involved in the search for alien life out there in the cosmos. Using massive radio receivers and telescopes mounted on earth and on space vehicles like the Hubble, the researchers want to answer the question of whether we are alone in the universe.

Shucks, I could have answered that question for them, and for a lot less money than they’re spending! Of course  we are not alone in the universe! But the researchers are looking the wrong direction, because the proof of that life is not to be found in the “heavens,” but here on earth, for it is here that a Being from heaven came down to live among us. That Being is Jesus Christ.

Christmas is the celebration of that life-changing event, when the God of the universe – its Creator and Sustainer – came down to earth to not only live among us, but also to live as one of us. He became us, being born as we are, growing up and living as we do, understanding life’s struggles from both divine and human experience. Then, though he had lived without sin, he became sin for our sake (2 Corinthians 5:21) and took our sins with Him to the cross to save us from the just punishment those sins deserved. His earthly journey to the cross began in the womb and then in a humble stable in Bethlehem.

Sure, there were signs in the heavens that Christ’s birth was special: the shepherds looked up into the night sky and saw first one angel and then a multitude of them; they heard the proclamation that the Savior had just been born, and were convinced enough to go and see the newborn child for themselves. There was also the other celestial sign – the star that led the wise men from the east to the place where the infant Jesus lay. These signs in the heavens were miraculous confirmation that the Savior had been born, but note where both signs directed the attention of the people: back to earth, where the heavenly Being now lived.

For the next 33 years or so, Christ walked among us. He performed miracles, healed many and even raised the dead. He taught about the kingdom of God and proclaimed that it was now here through Him. Then, He died, rose again, and after another 40 days teaching His disciples, returned to heaven. You might think that was it, that now we’re on our own because the One who came down from heaven is no longer with us. If that were the case, we would still be grateful that God had come down, showed us what He is like, and then provided for our forgiveness and eternal life. It would have been enough to struggle through this life on our own, knowing that we will spend eternity with God.

But the good news of Christmas is that God is Emmanuel, which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23). The kingdom which He established is still here; He didn’t take it away when He ascended to heaven. He is still in His Church “wherever two or three are gathered in (His) name” (Matthew 18:20). Christ has not abandoned us; rather, he is still “God with us.” As He promised before returning to heaven, He will be with us always, even to the end of this age (Matthew 28:20). We can trust He will “never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

We are not alone in this universe, now or ever, because God Himself is with us. He walks beside us through this life and longs to welcome us into the next. He came to earth as the Babe of Bethlehem, lives in us even now through His Holy Spirit, and will come for us some day in the Second Advent to take us to be with Him forever.

When that glorious day comes, even all those who don’t yet believe in Him will know in a powerful moment the truth that their telescopes and radio receivers could not prove: that we are not alone. May all of us who already know that truth celebrate it with joy this Christmas, at the birth of Emmanuel!

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 1:18-25, Matthew 28:16-20

 

Come, Lord Jesus!

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20 ESV)

Happy Advent! I know, you expected me to say, “Merry Christmas!” now that it’s December, didn’t you? Well, of course I do wish you a Merry Christmas, but it’s not Christmas yet . . . for as of this coming Sunday, December 2, we enter a new church year and a new church season, namely, the season of Advent. Advent means “coming” and refers to someone or something that is approaching us or arriving. It is applied to the four weeks leading up to Christmas as we anticipate the coming of only one very special person: Jesus Christ our Lord. The season of Advent is a time of preparation, prayer, and pondering about Jesus’ birth and why he came to earth to become one of us.

Advent is a season with its own special traditions: special songs and hymns like “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” the Advent wreath, special wall banners, Advent calendars, and even the Advent Buzzard (ask me about that one some time!). It’s a season to be enjoyed and experienced for itself, and not just four weeks to get through before the real celebration of Christmas.

Unfortunately, for our culture around us, Advent has totally disappeared and been replaced by the season of “Let’s shop and party and get stuff.” To our society, the Twelve Days of Christmas are the last twelve shopping days before Christmas, rather than the real twelve days that begin on Christmas and last until January 6, the Epiphany,  when we celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men. Even in many churches, Advent is squeezed out as they move straight from Thanksgiving to Christmas in decorations, song choices, and programs. (Okay, as pastor, I did some of that, too!)

Advent is an important time for Christians because we know that the true meaning of Christmas is more than parties, decorations, songs about grandmas and reindeer, and gifts. It is about more than even the sentimental “family-discovers-the-true-meaning-of-Christmas” TV specials this time of year (none of which actually gets around to mentioning the name of Jesus!). Advent reminds us each year of just who Jesus is and why we needed him to come to us, how we were lost in our sins and unable to save ourselves. We are reminded of the prophecies that foretold His birth and sacrifice for our forgiveness. It truly prepares us to celebrate His birth with our eyes and hearts and minds wide open to the wonderful life-giving miracle of God becoming man.

But Advent is about more than just pre-Christmas preparation, because during Advent we recognize that Christmas is only one of three ways that Jesus comes to us. There are actually three Advents:

  1. Advent #1 – Christmas, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth when the eternal Son of God took on flesh and became one of us. This Incarnation was essential for Jesus to become our sacrifice on the Cross.
  2. Advent #2 – the Parousia, a fancy church-word for the Return of Christ, when he comes in power and great glory to judge the living and the dead and to gather His people to be with him.
  3. Advent #3 – our Conversion, when we are born again through water and the word, receiving Jesus Christ and His Spirit when we believe and are baptized. This is the individual Advent each of us needs.

In the weeks ahead, you will be challenged by the society around you to skip over Advent and move straight to a secular celebration of “The Holidays.” Now, it’s okay to enjoy a secular celebration such as New Years at this time of year. It’s even okay to enjoy the secular traditions which have become part of Christmas, accumulated like barnacles onto the core celebration of Christ’s birth. Just don’t let society rob you of the rich meaning of Advent, for Advent can prepare you to understand and await eagerly the coming of our Lord. And it can do so in ways that no special sale (in-store or online), holiday special (sentimental or funny), or holiday party (family or office) can do. So have a Happy Advent – and a joyous Christmas – too!

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

Read: John 3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 22:6-20

 

 

 

I Am Rich

Yes, it’s true. I am rich.

Now, by rich, I don’t mean that I won the latest Super Mega-millions, Power Ball, half-billion (with a “b”) dollar lottery; I would have to buy a ticket first to be eligible. Nor am I saying that Publisher’s Clearing House arrived at my door with a (measly) million dollar check (if they did, I wasn’t home at the time). Neither am I saying that I drove my Maserati to the airport to board my private Gulfstream jet to fly to Monaco for the weekend (if I did, at least I was home in time for church today).

No, I’m not rich in those ways, though as many commentators have pointed out, today’s American middle class is rich by any historical measure of wealth: to have the abundance of food choices and quantities, homes with reliable heating, cooling, and electricity, motor vehicles, closets full of clothing, electronic gadgets, and money in the bank (not to mention the need for rented storage to hold all our stuff!), is beyond even the wildest dreams of the richest kings and queens through centuries past.

I am not even saying I am Rich because that is my name, for I am far too sophisticated and serious to ever use puns in my speech (though I must admit that I may have possibly told people in the past, “My parents named me Rich because they figured that was the only way I would be called that.”)

No, by saying, “I am rich,” I am expressing the thought that came to mind last Sunday during one of the songs we sang in church. The song was, “Give Thanks,” written by Don Moen. I have always liked that song, both for its music and for its lyrics, but this time the chorus struck me perhaps a bit more powerfully than usual. The words go like this:

And now let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”

As I sang it, I smiled when I got to the “I am rich” line, thinking at first, “Yes, that’s right: I am Rich!” (Okay, so maybe making a pun is not beneath me . . .). But the more I thought about it, the more I thought along the lines of how blessed materially my wife and I are, to have all the things I cited above as middle class wealth (except the storage unit), so that even as retirees, we are able to live comfortably. I even thought about the “I am strong” portion of the chorus, thankful to God that even though I am once again riding a wheelchair following recent foot surgery, I am strong enough to work the chair, use crutches, and handle numerous (seated) daily tasks. So in many ways, I can truly say that I am strong and rich.

But then as we continued to sing the song, the real message came through to me as it has over the years whenever hearing or singing, “Give Thanks.” The last line of the chorus says it all: “Because of what the Lord has done for us.” All the things I’ve already mentioned: material comfort, and strength in the middle of disability; plus those I haven’t, such as friends and family and a loving wife who helps me in my affliction while doing all the daily tasks I can’t do while seated; all these are blessings that the Lord has done for us (or in this case, for me).

I also thought of my blessings in contrast to the horrible losses so many others have sustained in the wildfires still raging in California. Homes, businesses, pets, belongings, and loved ones – all gone in minutes. The monumental tasks ahead of the survivors seem overwhelming. Add to their losses the stories of recent hurricane survivors, and we whose houses still stand must be grateful, and not take our present condition for granted. We must recognize that our continued “normalcy” is itself the Lord’s doing, and worthy of thankfulness.

But even that is not the extent of “what the Lord has done for us.” The greatest of earthly blessings is only temporary. As time passes, so do we, and all those things we use, enjoy, or rely on will go away – or be left to someone else. Solomon – the richest man of his day (though even he lacked a good smart phone) – lamented this in Ecclesiastes 2:18, “ 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 in 5:15, “As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.” Jesus pointed out much the same in his Parable of the Rich Fool, where God says to the rich farmer who worried about tearing down his barns to build bigger ones to hold all his wealth: “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). Likewise, Jesus warned about our emphasis on earthly treasure, saying, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).

The greatest of earthly blessings from God (and he is the source of all good things) are by his decree only temporary. But the extent of “what the Lord has done for us” reaches far past this time on earth into and through all eternity to come. For God also provides us permanent, unending blessings in heaven, and in the new earth to come. We have forgiveness of sins, full reconciliation with God, and unbroken fellowship with each other. We will have resurrected, glorified bodies that will never again sicken or die. We will enjoy all the radiance and glory of God’s presence, and never have to worry about losing any of it. Jesus promised, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

All this is ours because of Jesus Christ, who for us poor (yes, poor) lost sinners gave his life as payment for our sins, and then rose again to defeat death and show the way to our own resurrections to come. When we consider all that God has done for us, if we don’t include the gift of his own Son for our sake, we are robbing him of his glory and the honor due him. For while we were still his enemies, he sent his Son to die for us, that we might be reconciled to him and have eternal life. The old favorite verse of all Scripture still says it best: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, the time for turkeys and touchdowns, for gravy and gridirons, and for sweet potatoes and couch potatoes. But most of all let it be a time when we can, in the words of the song,

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son

Give thanks for all that God has done for you – in this life and the next. And be grateful that you, indeed . . . like me . . . are rich!

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

Read: Ecclesiastes 12 and Luke 12:13-21

 

Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost.

This was the title of an epic poem written in 1667 by the Englishman, John Milton, which recounts Satan’s rebellion and banishment from heaven and mankind’s fall and loss of their earthly paradise. In the title, as well as in the story, we lament the loss of what was and what could have been: a perfect world, full of beauty and joy and absent any suffering or death. Milton’s account is a classic of Christian literature, and even today resonates with us as we face the challenges of this world.

It especially resonates with us this week as the term, “Paradise Lost,” takes on new meaning, with the destruction of the California town of Paradise by the holocaust of a raging wildfire. Paradise – an apt name for a small town set in the idyllic setting of the Sierra foothills – until this week when in one day, the so-called Camp Fire overwhelmed the town of 26,000 people, forcing a frantic evacuation, destroying over 6,700 structures, and killing twenty-three people. Evacuees  clustered in the middle of large parking lots, hoping for a break in the walls of flame so they could flee.  Car windows melted, and some cars had to be abandoned in the evacuation gridlock. The entire business district is gone, save for one church, city hall, and the hospital’s main building. At the time of this writing, the fire has spread to over 100,000 acres and is still largely uncontrolled.

In the coming months, as the survivors struggle to start their lives all over again, to rebuild or relocate, and to bury family, friends, and neighbors, there will be no shortage of opinions about how such tragedies could be prevented. Alarm systems, fire prevention, and evacuation procedures will all be scrutinized with the hope of saving lives and property in the future. For my part, I’ll leave such speculations and opinions to the experts (actual or self-proclaimed), and just join my prayers with others for the comfort and care of those affected and for those who have died, that they all may indeed have passed from one Paradise to an even greater one.

When such disasters occur – whether they be wildfires, hurricanes, or mass shootings – we are reminded that we have indeed lost the Paradise which God intended for us on this earth. In the beginning, the world and its first occupants lived in peace and harmony. There were no wildfires in the Garden of Eden, no storms, and no shootings. There was no illness, injury, or death. There was an abundance of food and water, and close fellowship – even intimacy – between man and woman, and between mankind and God. There was order and perfection. It was Paradise.

But then, sin entered in. Not content to live in such a wonderful world, Adam and Eve doubted God’s word, rebelled against his authority, and broke his strict commandment. For that sin, they – and all of us, their descendants –  were expelled from the earthly Paradise and subjected to disease, injury, hunger, and death. Their very first child became the first murderer, killing his brother – and we haven’t stopped doing that ever since. Only we’ve gotten better at it. Now we fight and kill each other by the millions.

Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, or what used to be called, “The Great War” (but to quote the renowned philosopher, Yoda, “Wars do not make one great.”). At 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the fighting stopped, and the belligerents hoped it would be the end of all wars. I guess they forgot about the sin thing going on in us, for within 30 years they were all back at it again, causing even greater loss of life – at least 60 million people. After each World War, leaders of the major nations sought to usher in eras of peace by forming organizations in which international disputes could be peacefully resolved: first, the League of Nations, and then the United Nations. Though such actions were commendable – Jesus himself blessed the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) – our Lord also taught us that “there will be wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6 and Mark 13:7). Mankind’s sin was not solvable by human organizations; mankind’s sin problem will not end until Christ returns in judgment. We will not find true Paradise in this world before then.

But as great as our loss of an earthly paradise has been, the greater loss and tragedy has been our exclusion from the heavenly Paradise. Our sin has not only messed up this life, it has also kept mankind from heaven. As God placed the cherubim with flaming swords to keep mankind from returning to the Garden (and thereby have access to the Tree of Life in our sinful condition), so he has barred entry into heaven after death.

So, what hope do we have? I love the old hymn by Horatio G. Spafford, It is Well with My Soul (1873). The hymn, written by a man who had just lost his four daughters to an accident at sea, proclaimed the hope which gave him “peace like a river,” and that comforted him even as he sailed across the very spot where his daughters had died:

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Our “helpless estate” can certainly apply to overwhelming situations in this life, such a raging wildfire,  or when a category 5 storm hits our town, or when someone starts shooting, or when an illness or accident brings us close to death. But beyond this life, it also applies to our ability to erase our sins and sinfulness, and claim a place in heaven. We are indeed helpless and unable to save ourselves or open the way to eternal life. As horrible as are the flames of the Camp Fire, they are nothing compared to the unending fires which await those whose names are not written in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15, 21:27).

So how can we have hope in such times now and when we face our departure from this world? The answer is found in in the words, “That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.” By shedding his own blood for our sake, Christ opened the way to Paradise for all who trust in him. He paid the penalty for the sins which we committed, freeing us to be accepted by God. Now, fully forgiven, we are allowed into heaven  and the eternal joy it holds.

That this forgiveness is not something we earn by our actions, but is a gift from God, is shown by the promise Jesus made to a violent criminal who confessed his sin while dying on a cross beside him. Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

It is the same promise made to all who are in Christ, that one day we too shall live with Christ in Paradise. He says in Revelation 2:7, “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Our exile from the Garden and from access to life itself will end, and we will live forever without wildfires, storms, shootings, wars, disease, or death. Revelation 21:4 proclaims, “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.”

When that happens, true Paradise will be restored, and we will enjoy a place far more beautiful than the one that perished this week. May you look forward to that day, even as we thank the One who made that day possible: Jesus Christ our Lord.

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 2, Revelation 21-22, Matthew 5

 

The Best Halloween Treat of All

It was October 31, and a solitary costumed figure made his way through the darkening city streets until he reached the side door of one of the local churches. He looked around, but ignoring the questioning looks of passers-by, he reached into his robes, and drew out a heavy hammer. While one hand held the points of iron nails against the door, the other swung the hammer forcefully, driving the nails deep into the heavy wood.

It wasn’t an act of Halloween vandalism. The door served as a public bulletin board for the people of Wittenberg, Germany, and the man pounding the nails into the door was posting a notice inviting a debate over some of the Church’s teachings and practices.

It was All-Hallowed Eve of 1517, and the man doing the nailing was a Catholic monk and priest by the name of Martin Luther. He chose that day to post his “Ninety-five Theses” because the next day, known as All Saints Day, would draw many people to the church for worship, including those theologians he wanted to debate.

That event is considered the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, because the questions he asked and the arguments he subsequently made, spread quickly and convinced many Christians of the need to reform the Church’s teachings, especially about what a person must do to be saved.

His teachings are just as important to us today as they were then, and are especially critical for anyone who is searching for the right relationship with God. Luther’s key teachings are the following:

  1. We are all sinners, deserving God’s just punishment, and are unable to save ourselves, no matter how good we try to be.
  2. God loves us and does not desire for us to come under his judgment, so he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to take our sins upon himself and pay our penalty on the Cross.
  3. We are saved from death and brought to eternal life by God’s grace (that is, his unmerited favor) solely through our faith and trust in Christ and in what Christ did.
  4. Freely forgiven, we are now able to do the good works which God desires us to do, serving each other andthose in need with Christian love.
  5. The Holy Bible is the authority, above all other writings or earthly teachers, for our faith and life.

What Luther did 501 years ago today opened once again for all the world the good news of what God has done for us, how through trusting alone in Jesus Christ for our salvation, we can have the peace of knowing we are right with God. And that has to be the best Halloween treat ever given!

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: Psalm 46 (the inspiration for A Mighty Fortress), Romans 1:16-17, Ephesians 2:8-10, and Romans 3:20-28.

(I wrote this article originally for the Pastor’s Corner column in the Elk Grove Citizen, which appeared on Friday, October 31, 2003. I updated the number of “years ago” in today’s blog to reflect 2018.)

 

The Day of the Living

I was recently in a store’s Halloween section, looking for some fake vampire teeth to wear when I go to the dentist – which appointment happens to be on October 31st. There I noticed some gaily colored ceramic skulls, clustered in a display that bore the label, “El Día de los Muertos” – The Day of the Dead. When I see such displays, or see videos of parades which celebrate that day (as in the opening sequence of the James Bond movie, Spectre) I think to myself, “How macabre and ghoulish! Skulls and skeletons!” (Unlike fake vampire teeth, which are absolutely normal and sane . . .)

“El Día de los Muertos” is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and in Mexican communities in the U.S. The holiday is celebrated for the purpose of helping people remember and honor their deceased ancestors and loved ones. It’s also a chance to dress up in costumes and party, and I believe, it performs one other function: it lets people laugh at death, thereby allowing them relief from death’s tragedy and inevitability – if only for a short while. Like Halloween, which lets people mock death and all kinds of scary, nightmare-inducing monsters (like vampires), the Mexican holiday seeks to control death and its scariness by an in-your-face attitude. What we can laugh at or reduce to manageable decorations and activities, can no longer frighten us or harm us . . . or so we think.

Of course, death is a reality. Since becoming a pastor, I have conducted 161 funerals, and assisted with one before that. I have also said good-bye to my parents, Karen’s father, and all my aunts and uncles. I led services for seven of those family members. Even today, as I write this, we received word that one of our church members we have known for a long time just passed away. Death is, as said by Ben Franklin, as inevitable as taxes. (This from a guy who supposedly flew a kite in a thunderstorm with a metal key attached to the string.)

Of course, we didn’t need old Ben to teach us that. It has been the human experience throughout history, and when we seek God’s Word on the matter, we read that the inevitability of death fulfills the warning given to our first parent, Adam, in Genesis 2:17, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” As we know, Adam and Eve broke that one prohibition, so judgment was pronounced on them and all their descendants: “till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). That God’s curse has continued is taught in Scripture: “For as in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22); and “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12); and “[I]t is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

So given death’s hold on mankind and all other living creatures, how do we “laugh” at death? Do we dress up and wear vampire teeth or place ceramic skulls around the house? (Vampire teeth, maybe yes; the rest, maybe not.) The answer to how we deal with death is to recognize that Jesus Christ has overcome death, and is alive today, bodily risen. Death could not hold him (Acts 2:24), nor will it hold those who are in him. When I quoted the above verses on the inevitability of death, I intentionally left off some portions of the verses. The Corinthians passage which says, “For as in Adam all die” continues with, “so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (verses 22-23). Likewise, the Romans 5 passage continues a few verses later by saying, “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” We affirm our faith in Christ’s resurrection, and our own future resurrections whenever we proclaim the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe . . . . in the resurrection of the body, and in the life everlasting,” or the Nicene Creed: “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”

A lot can be found in Scripture about our resurrections, but let me just read what Paul wrote in his first epistle to the Thessalonians: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (verses 16-17). Likewise, 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 affirms Christ’s victory: “For [Christ] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

Given our eventual victory over death, how do we respond to that good news? I have a suggestion: instead of celebrating “El Día de los Muertos,” why not celebrate “El Día de los Vivos,” or, “The Day of the Living”? I would love to take credit for that clever suggestion, but the truth is, we already have such a day. It’s called, All Saints Day, and the Church celebrates it every November 1st. On that day (or the Sunday closest to it), Christians remember all the saints (that is all believers in Christ) who have died and have already gone to be with their Lord. Those departed saints are alive and living in Christ’s presence, waiting for his return and the great day of Resurrection to come. With those living on earth, those living in heaven will be clothed in everlasting bodies, free from all illnesses, pain, sin, or death. In some churches, the list of the year’s departed is solemnly read. In others we pray, not to get the dead into heaven, but to thank God for their lives among us and for the promise of eternal life.

Yes, we have such a day – but actually, we have a lot of “Days of the Living.” Every Sunday is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection and therefore his victory over death. Every Sunday, we celebrate what that means for us and for our beloved saints who have gone before us: that eternal life awaits all who are in Christ.

That’s why death does not frighten us. That’s why we don’t laugh at death as if it doesn’t end earthly lives, break up families, and cause so much pain and suffering. It’s not our bravery that gives us hope – and peace – in the face of death, but the promises of God fulfilled in the resurrection of the One who came to pay the price of our forgiveness and future glory. 

That’s why I can enter the Halloween and Muertos season without worry! That is, except for my dental visit . . . maybe I shouldn’t play around with those vampire teeth; what if the dentist decides to pull them . . .

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: 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thessalonians 4

 

No Pain, No Gain

Pain.

What comes to mind when you hear that word? Kittens and puppies frolicking in fields of daisies under a warm summer sun? Or multi-color pinwheels spinning in a gentle breeze, to the sounds of little children’s laughter? Or an ice cream sundae with hot fudge flowing down over mint chip ice cream, topped with whipped cream and a cherry?

I’m guessing those weren’t your first thoughts. Instead, you may have remembered burning your finger on a hot stove, enduring a toothache until the dentist could work you in (and work your tooth out), breaking your arm during recess, or being crushed under the enduring agony of a migraine headache or, even worse, of cancer eating at one of your bones.

And those are just the physical pains we suffer – added to those hurts are the emotional pains that come from severe disappointments, failures at work, and broken relationships you thought would last a lifetime. There’s the loss of a loved one to death; there’s the pain of guilt and shame before God and others for things you have done.

Now that I’ve thoroughly depressed you, you’re probably wishing I would talk more about those happy kittens and puppies again, or at least tell you why I’m talking about pain. Okay, so here goes . . . I’m talking about pain because, well, I’m not feeling any right now. Let me explain: just a few days ago I had corrective surgery on my left foot, the one whose recurrent ulcers have periodically returned me to a wheelchair. The foot doctor sliced off the ends of a couple bones that were abnormally bulging from the foot and were the cause of the ulcers. The surgery lasted a couple hours, and when I woke up, my foot was well-wrapped in bandages. I felt rested and comfortable.

Because of the bones being “resected” (the medical term, though I prefer the more graphic term, “sliced and diced”), the doctor prescribed pain killer opioid pills to help reduce what would certainly be severe pain. Not wanting to take an opioid unless I absolutely needed it, I decided to wait to see how bad the pain would get before taking any medication for it – even though everyone recommended starting the medication before the pain started.

So I waited for the pain to begin, and waited, and waited. It’s now been over four days since the surgery, and I’m still waiting; but there’s been no pain at all. When they called me from the podiatrist’s office to ask my pain level, I told them, “Zero.” So what do I make of it? And what do I think about pain – since I have felt it in other situations before, and expect to feel it in the future?

Pain is a normal expectation of life in this world. Only in the new heavens and new earth are we promised freedom from pain – “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” (Revelation 21:4). Until then, pain is part and parcel of our human nature. It is, literally, hard-wired in; there are 45 miles of nerves running through our body. To damage or activate most of them is to cause us physical pain.

Pain is not something we want to feel, and that is good; that’s why it hurts. The purpose of pain is to show us that something is wrong, and to move us to do something to correct the problem. We feel heat from a stove to keep us from severely burning our hand; we feel pain when we cut our arm, and apply first aid to stop potentially life-threatening bleeding; our tooth hurts, and we seek dental help to treat an abscess that could cause severe bone damage and even a heart attack; we feel chest pains and are motivated to seek medical treatment that may save our life.

That’s why we sometimes seek things that cause us pain in the short term, to benefit us in the long term. That’s the philosophy of physical exercise, which pushes us to to stress our bodies for the sake of strengthening them; the physical trainer’s mantra is “No pain, no gain!” Some discomfort now leads to better strength and health over the long run.

So how do we deal with the reality of pain? The following approaches come to mind:

We can understand it. This means we recognize its benefits, and seek to find the reason for any pain we are feeling. We can accept its role in protecting us from danger and motivating us to avoid or correct the source of our pain.

We can treat it. Because pain hurts, we don’t like to feel it. Which means we can try to reduce or eliminate our pain, as long as we don’t try to ignore its cause and just mask our pain. This means treating the reason for the pain, and not just the symptom. Taking pain-killers may make our broken leg feel better, but it won’t set bones or protect us from an embolism. Treating the pain is just to get us over the hump until we correct the reason we hurt.

We can endure it. Sometimes, the cause of our pain is a chronic condition which cannot be “corrected,” or even some disorder that is not understood, like fibromyalgia. There is no relief in sight, aside from heavy medication, which has its own set of problems; sometimes, even pain-killers don’t work. Then we face ongoing pain for what may be the rest of our life. How do we endure that? What mental attitudes can help us? What support from others may help us get through each day? How do we live a normal life when there’s no end of pain in sight? Job 30:17 describes such endurance: “The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.”

We can accept it as part of our fallen, human condition, which like death, comes to us all. It is not a respecter of persons; if we hurt it’s not a sign that we are more sinful or less important or worse than other people; we do not hurt as a sign of being rejected by God. As Jesus asked when he spoke of  some people who had died tragically, “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?” His answer was, “No” (Luke 13:4). It’s not that sinful actions don’t cause pain (getting shot while robbing a bank can hurt), or that mankind’s sinful nature is not at the root of our mortal and vulnerable condition, but not every pain flows from a particular sin.

We can help relieve it in others. Just because we know pain has its purpose and can even accept it in our own lives, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to alleviate the pain that others feel. Rescuing people from accidents, visiting the sick in the hospital, donating for relief services, and giving care to loved ones are all ways we show love for our neighbors as commanded by God. The hospice movement is all about relieving the pain in those who are terminally ill, and that is a biblically sound principle: Proverbs 31:6 tells us, “Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress.” When pain no longer serves its warning purpose and just causes unremitting agony, our call is to help relive it where we can.

We can pray about it. This is so important, because God is the One who created our bodies, who knows what is going on, who has the power to relieve the pain and its cause, and will do what is best for us because he loves us so much. Are you in pain? Pray for relief and for correction of the cause (and this applies to both physical and emotional pain). Is someone else hurting? Pray for their relief and healing, even as I am praying for relief for you from whatever pain you have. When my foot first broke down eleven years ago, I had several weeks of burning and pain in the foot; sleeping and concentrating on my work were difficult. Then several church members and leaders got the same idea simultaneously: to gather and pray over me and anoint me with oil as directed in James 5:13-18 (“Is anyone among you suffering . . .”). As they prayed, the pain stopped, and never came back. That prayer, the prayers of so many of you for my recent surgery, and the Lord’s merciful answer to those prayers, are the reason I don’t hurt today. And for that, I am truly grateful to you and to God.

Before closing, there’s one more pain I need to address. It is the pain that is sometimes proclaimed as a modification to the old, “No pain no gain” saying. And that is, “His pain, your gain.” This of course speaks of the pain that Jesus endured for our sake; without him suffering and dying as he did, we would have no forgiveness of sins, no resurrection, no eternal life in which pain and death are no more. No pain for him would have meant no gain for us. As the old hymn proclaims, “Died he for me, who caused his pain . . .” (from And Can it Be by Charles Wesley).

His pain was no mere discomfort; it was pure agony, physically from the torture, mentally from the public shame and apparent defeat, and spiritually from taking on our sins and feeling the Father’s abandonment (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46, and Psalm 22:1). His suffering was foretold by Isaiah 53, and fulfilled in the Gospels. But thanks be to God, its effects will endure long after our greatest pains have vanished forever.

And for that reason, we should all feel better. Even better than frolicking kittens and puppies . . .

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: Psalm 22, Isaiah 53:1-12, James 5:7-18

Visions of Sugar Plums

Lots of people have visions. In the Bible, the prophet Daniel had visions of the coming Messiah, whom he described as the Son of Man. In the 1800’s, children had visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads on Christmas Eve (while nestled all snug in their beds). Over the centuries, Christians have had visions of founding ministries that have healed the sick, housed the poor and orphaned, comforted the grieving, and spread the Gospel around the world. Even I have had visions: one of me standing on the platform at the Olympics, hearing the national anthem play while they hang a gold medal around my neck – unfortunately, I haven’t figured out yet which sport to compete in. The other vision, of me standing in a pulpit and preaching God’s Word to crowds of people, has fortunately been realized.

It’s easy to have a vision – if by vision we mean something that we see in our mind’s eye. But even as we recognize that we have seen something in our mind that does not yet exist, we have to ask two absolutely essential questions: 1. What is the source of the vision? and 2. What do I do about it?

“What is the source of the vision?

First we must ask, “What is the source of the vision?” Is it something I have conjured up from my own desires and ambitions? Maybe my friends or family have expressed an interest in something, and I imagine a way to make their wish come true. Maybe I see a neighbor’s new car, and visualize myself driving around in something faster and cooler (I’m not coveting my neighbor’s car if I want something better than he has! . . . I think . . .). Maybe I hear of some need in the community, and form a vision of meeting that need through a new organization. Maybe I just want to do something important so I can feel my life counts. Maybe, my vision comes from a combination of motives, some more altruistic than others. For example, my Olympic vision (or fantasy) is a combination of patriotism (winning a medal for the USA) and ego (me being on the stand and hearing the applause).

This isn’t to say that self-created visions are necessarily bad. My winning a gold medal would be a good thing! Likewise, many of the good products and services that enrich and enhance our lives came about because someone had a vision of something that could be done better. The technology we take for granted these days began as ideas – even visions – in people’s minds. “What if we could talk to people far away?” and “What if we could talk to those people with a device we can carry in our pocket?” and “What if we could see what’s going on in a sick person with some kind of machine?” and “What if we could fly?” and so on.

But self-devised visions can also be evil.

But self-devised visions can also be evil. Psalm 73:7 says, “From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits.” and Jesus said in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” As I wrote in last week’s blog, there is nothing that man has not corrupted by his sin, and that includes our ability to imagine, create, and devise things; in short, our self-inspired visions may harm ourselves or others. A ruler who has visions of wealth and glory sends armies to conquer, kill, and destroy. Or a CEO has a vision of market dominance, and therefore destroys smaller competitors. A televangelist has a vision of leading a megachurch with his own mansion, jet plane, and yacht (for getting away to pray?). A man or woman has visions of how wonderful life would be if they could only be with their neighbor’s spouse. You get the idea: visions which come from our own minds and hearts can bring good and/or evil if they are fulfilled.

There is of course, another, very different source of visions, and that is the almighty God. He who gave Daniel the messianic vision (Daniel 7), who gave Jacob the vision of a ladder joining heaven and earth (Genesis 28), who gave Peter a vision that led to the acceptance of gentiles into the Church (Acts 10), and who gave John of heaven and of things to come (Revelation), can still give visions to his people. He does so to inform, inspire, and guide believers to do good works which he has prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). He can warn us in a vision, as he warned Joseph to flee to Egypt to avoid Herod’s soldiers (Matthew 2). He can rebuke us to stop what we were going to do (Numbers 22). He can show us the future. He can reveal the spiritual realities around us (2 Kings 6). As Joel prophesied would happen, and as Peter confirmed was now taking place: “your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” These visions and dreams would come through the power of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon us (Acts 2:17). God does give visions, but unlike our man-made visions, the ones from God are always good and holy.

So, you might (and should) ask, “How do I know a vision is from God and not from my own imaginings?” Good question; I’m glad you asked. There isn’t always a clear answer to this, but the following are indications your vision is likely from God:

  1. You have prayed about the vision and asked God whether it is from him.
  2. The vision is consistent with Scripture. God may inspire you to start a homeless shelter program to help the poor; but is not going to inspire you to start a drug cartel.
  3. Fulfilling the vision would bring good to people, not harm. And in doing so, God will be honored and glorified. Jesus said to let our light so shine before others, that they see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
  4. While you may benefit in this life from following the Lord’s will, your desire is to please and serve God, not yourself. Seeking financial and prideful rewards for your actions are clues your vision may have earthly (or even demonic) origins.
  5. The vision is about doing something that is out of your comfort zone, and is not something you have always secretly wanted to do. Maybe you have a vision of serving in the mission field, but the thought of living in another country terrifies you; that vision is likely from God. When I received my immediate call to ministry, being a pastor was not even in my mind as an option. The thought terrified me.
  6. Your vision is confirmed by other people, especially other believers. They may come to you and say they think you should consider a certain action or ministry, or they may convey that the Lord wants you to do that thing. The fact that others are confirming your vision is evidence it’s not just in your own mind.
  7. The vision won’t let you go. It sticks with you, keeps coming up, and won’t let you push it aside. You may even be miserable trying to avoid doing what you are being called to do. My former senior pastor said that his advice to young men considering the ministry was to do anything else but pastoral ministry – if they could. Only if the Lord wouldn’t let them have peace in every other pursuit they tried, should they seek the ministry.

If these points consistently support your vision, then it is probably from God.

“What do I do about the vision?”

The second question we must ask is, “What do I do about the vision?” Of course, if the vision is from ourselves, we can decide whether or not to pursue it based on our preferences, resources, and abilities. We still should pray to make sure our vision is at least consistent with biblical teachings, and we should conduct ourselves with honesty and integrity as we pursue our dream. We should also pray to make sure our vision will not interfere with something else God has for us to do. For example, one of the men featured in the movie, Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell, was a fast runner for his day (and he won a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics!). But though he had success as an athlete, God had a greater call on his life. Eric used his fame as a platform for preaching the Gospel, and followed God’s vision for him to serve as a missionary to China -where he gave his life for the Lord. We can’t let the good thing we want to do prevent us doing something even more important that God has for us to do.

But if, on the other hand, we are sure the vision is from God, then it must take our priority. There may be a timing factor which delays our response until God has put things in place for fulfilling the vision, but if we keep putting off our response until everything is “ready,” we may end up missing out entirely. If we trust only in our knowledge, abilities, contacts, and material resources, we’re not trusting God to provide what is needed to do what he has called us to do. When God calls, he provides, even if we can’t see how it could happen. In fact, I believe God holds back our knowledge at times to force us to depend on him. He wants our faith and not just our works.

He wants our faith and not just our works.

Therefore, if God has given you a vision, go for it! It may seem beyond your reach, abilities, and resources. It may upset your carefully manicured life. It may threaten you health, wealth, and pride. But that’s okay, because when God gives you a vision, it’s for something much better than sugar plums!

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 28, Daniel 7, 2 Kings 6, and Joel 2:28

 

But Not Forsakin’

In last week’s blog, I lamented the fact that everything we do gets corrupted by sin. I posited the following truism: There is no good thing devised by man that cannot be corrupted by sin. And I suggested an accompanying corollary to that: There is no good thing devised by man that has not been corrupted by sin. I also gave examples of how mankind even corrupts those things he has not made in the natural world around us. Let me add one more example: there are an estimated 170 million pieces of man-made debris – in orbit around the earth. This debris is composed of dead satellites, spent rocket boosters, and alien motherships (no, wait, that was a movie). This includes 18,000 pieces large enough to be tracked by our space defense command. I guess the earth wasn’t big enough to hold all our junk! Interestingly, check out John 21:25 – “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” If we’re going to fill up earth and space, it might as well be with books about Jesus!

I referred to this problem of corruption by the terms, “makin’, breakin’, and achin’,” meaning we invent and create things (makin’), our sin corrupts the use of them (breakin’), which leads to evil results and suffering (achin’). There is where I left you, in the “slough of despond” (to quote John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress) into which the Christian sinks under the weight of his own sins and despairs of any hope.

There is where I left you, in the “slough of despond.”

But there is hope. God knows our condition – in fact, knew it before we sank into it – and prepared a remedy for our brokenness and pain. Before he even created us, Christ was the Lamb of God who would be slain to cover the guilt of our sins. Revelation 13:8 claims that Jesus was “slain from the foundation of the world” (KJV), and Ephesians 1:4 promises that God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” I like that: holy and blameless before God, even though we have messed up everything he has given us in this world.

But there is hope.

He tells us to therefore have courage as we face the struggles, dangers, and aches of this world: “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8). Hebrews 13:5 repeats God’s promise: “For I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So, I guess we can add “but not forsakin'” to the chain of makin’, breakin’, and achin’. Though we have sinned and corrupted everything, God sent his un-corrupted Son to save us, the Son who likewise promised us, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

This is a remarkable promise, because God made it to sinful creatures even in light of our ongoing rebellion against him. We have brought our woes upon ourselves, either directly by our own actions, or indirectly through the actions of others. Yet, Scripture tells us that, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And Romans 5:10 continues by proclaiming the effect that Christ’s death and resurrection had on us sinners: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

One important term the Bible uses to describe the transforming effect of Christ’s sacrifice on sinners is “redemption.” To be redeemed is to be freed from lawful bondage by payment of a ransom. We use it today to refer to what takes place at pawn shops. A person takes an item of value into the shop, and leaves it with the pawn broker in exchange for cash. The person then has a set period of time to return to the shop with money and a pawn ticket to buy back, or redeem, the item left there. If not redeemed, the item is forfeit to the pawn broker, who may sell it to reclaim the cash paid out. In biblical teaching, we are in bondage to sin, unable to redeem ourselves, so Christ came and paid the redemption price – his own life – to set us free. We are his, valuable enough to him that he paid the price for our freedom.

We are his, valuable enough to him that he paid the price for our freedom.

This redemption has a three-fold effect:

  1. On our standing with God as forgiven, righteous children.  Romans 3:24-25 says that we “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” When we believe in Jesus Christ we receive right now complete forgiveness of all our sins, including the sins we have yet to commit! After all, Christ died for us before we committed any sins. This means all our breakin’ is forgiven; though the consequences of our actions may continue to bear bitter fruit in our life or in the lives of those around us, the guilt and prescribed eternal punishment for those sins are taken away. Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Psalm 103:12 proclaims, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” And  John 1:12 promises, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” You get the picture: the redemption of Christ frees us from the guilt of our sins.
  2. On our lives now and on the culture we create. We are told not to conform to the world, but rather to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). When Christ redeems us, he puts his Spirit into us and we begin the process of being transformed into Christ’s likeness and away from the sinful nature which enslaved us (Romans 8:29). We call that process “sanctification,” which means we are being made to be holy in our thoughts and actions, even as we were declared to be holy by God’s loving grace and forgiveness. Then, as our actions and attitudes change, the effect we have on the world around us changes too, and we see changes in the culture. Though at times we need to just walk away from certain cultural traditions when they are opposed to God, at other times we can transform the culture to be more God-honoring and pleasing. I thought about this while attending our city’s recent Multicultural Festival. While there I saw a wide variety of costumes, saw (but did not eat!) various ethnic foods, and listened to music from different nations – my favorite being the Japanese Taiko drummers, though most of the drummers were Caucasian (cultural appropriation or cultural appreciation? I think the latter, since I certainly appreciated what they were doing). While most cultures have desirable attributes, history shows that every culture also reflects mankind’s fallen nature. Every culture is “brokin'” to some extent in various ways. We see beautiful artwork – but some is devoted to idols and false gods; we hear drums beating, but their skills were developed to guide troops in battle; we enjoy varieties of food, even as man-made famines starve innocent people from the “wrong” tribes. And the culture that developed algebra and the numerals we use today instituted the thousand-year long slave trade which continues even today. And then there’s our own nation’s participation in said trade. Our cultures all need to be redeemed, by the power of the Holy Spirit working in believers of every nation, tribe, and language to mend the breakin’ and stop the achin’ to the extent we can.
  3. On our futures. Ultimately, we can only change so much in this world and in this life. Sin will continue until the Lord returns to judge the living and the dead. Therefore, our hope is in the Lord and his promises of eternal life in bodies that will also one day be fully redeemed and restored to their pristine condition, free from sin and all its effects. Revelation 21:4 says, “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.” Revelation 22:3 continues the promise, “No longer will there be anything accursed.” As Paul puts it in Romans 8:23, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Because God is not forsakin’ us, we can look forward to complete healin’ of our achin’ and no more breakin’ of what we are makin’. God’s love for us overcomes all that we have done to ourselves, each other, this wonderful world, and yes, even space. For that, we can be eternally grateful!

God’s love for us overcomes all that we have done.

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

Read: Hebrews 8, Revelation 22

 

 

 

Makin’, Breakin’, and Achin’

This week I heard a news report on the radio about a new bill just passed by our state legislature and signed by the governor into law. To be honest, I often cringe when I hear about new legislation, wondering what negative impact the new law will have on us and our society. But this time, I agreed that the new bill was probably necessary, and recognized that it helped confirm something I have sadly noted about life in this world.

What is the new law? It forbids and criminalizes the flying of drones over prisons, jails, and juvenile correctional facilities. Why? Because people have been using drones to carry drugs, mobile phones, weapons and other contraband into California’s prisons. This new law outlaws such flights, which certainly makes sense. . . after all, only Amazon should be allowed to make such deliveries!

So what does this new law confirm about the world around us? What truth does it illustrate? Simply this: There is no good thing devised by man that cannot be corrupted by sin. And the corollary is: There is no good thing devised by man that has not been corrupted by sin.

There is no good thing devised by man that cannot be corrupted by sin.

We could call this the makin’, breakin, and achin’ cycle: in other words, people create wonderful things, which are corrupted to sinful uses, which in turn cause misery and loss in the world. Let’s consider each of these briefly.

Makin’: Mankind has devised, invented, and made so many amazing things I hardly know where to begin describing them. Just think of all the tools and technology we have created over the ages: agriculture, hybridization of animals and crops, plows, tractors, combines, crop dusters (and the stuff to be dusted on our fields); wagons, cars, trucks, trains, boats, airplanes, and spacecraft; knives, hatchets, axes, hammers, screws and screw drivers, wrenches, nuts and bolts, lawn mowers, edgers, vacuum cleaners; oil lamps, flashlights, bulbs, LED lights, fluorescent tubes; furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, solar panels; computers, lasers, printers, 3-D printers, cell phones and tablets; and medical tools and techniques from medicines, x-ray machines and ct scanners to robotic surgeries and heart transplants. The ability to imagine, design, invent, manufacture, and use so many technologies is proof of mankind’s intelligence and of the fact that we were made in the image of God – the original Creator. We have invented so many good things that have healed, fed, protected, and brought comfort to the whole world, that life should be wonderful for everyone. And today we stand on the threshold of unbelievable advances in genetics and physics that promise cures to cancer and other deadly diseases. For example, did you know that researchers have printed functional rat kidneys on a 3-D printer, and reawakened dying organs by injecting a person’s own mitochondria into the organs? Who knows what advances lie just over the horizon? We are indeed very good at makin’ wonderful things!

Breakin’: And yet, no sooner do we invent or produce anything, than it gets twisted and used for sinful purposes to harm others. Atomic energy is used to produce energy, fight tumors, and power ships, but is also packed on top of thousands of missiles aimed at population centers around the world. The internet provides instant communication, access to practically all the world’s knowledge immediately and cheaply, entertainment, and the ability to find and purchase goods and services that help us; but this great tool has been corrupted with computer viruses, ransomware, phishing scams and verbal abuse – not to mention pornography and illegal drug sales. Boats have provided mankind with the ability to travel the world and ship vast quantities of trade goods – or to invade, smuggle, poach endangered animals, and commit acts of piracy. In the example I mentioned at the start of this blog, drones can provide visual recon of archaeological sites, farm fields, and cattle herds spread over vast pasture lands, and they can deliver packages to remote locations cheaply and safely – or, they can be used by peeping-toms to spy on neighbors, or to deliver contraband to prisons. And how many things have been invented but not made available to help people due to suppression by greed or political expediency? It seems that once a new thing becomes available, someone is thinking about how that thing can be used for some evil purpose. We’re as good at breakin’ things as we are to makin’ them.

Unfortunately, this corruption extends to things mankind did not invent or devise: the natural world. This corruption extends first of all in a general way to all creation because of the curse which our sin caused. On the day our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned, God pronounced his curse upon us and all creation (Genesis 3). Therefore, all creation was subjected to death (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 futility (Romans 8:20). All creation groans under the pain of sin and death (Romans 8:21-22) – all caused by our rebellion against God and fall into sin.

Besides the general condition which our sins have brought upon the world, there are also the specific acts by which we misuse, waste, or destroy the natural blessings which God has placed around us. Examples include the polluting of our air, water, and soil; the training of animals to attack each other for sport, or to attack people to cause harm; and the long-term destruction of plant and animal life for short-term, temporary gain. Chief in this misuse of God’s creation is the abuse of other people, for we, too, are God’s precious creatures. And because God made us in his image, whenever we strike against another human being, we are striking against God himself (Genesis 9:5-6).

Because we ourselves are corrupted by sin, everything we touch is affected by it, too.

Because we ourselves are corrupted by sin, everything we touch is affected by it, too; even our best efforts to treat the world rightly often have unintended, negative consequences. We have imported plants and animals to regions to help combat some problem, only to have the imported species become a far greater pest than it supplanted. The American South is covered by an invasive vine known as kudzu, first planted as a forage crop; and cane toads (Rhinella marina) have overrun Australia, replacing and eating all kinds of native species (including birds) and not just the beetles they were introduced to control.  Check out one of these monsters:

Achin’:  The result of all this breakin’ is pain and suffering – the achin’ which we feel from the broken promises which our inventions first gave us. We hurt each other, emotionally, physically, financially, and mentally. We oppress, abuse, and steal – breaking all the commandments which God gave us to help us love him and each other – and the result is tragic. We even use things which can be beneficial, to kill each other. So much good could have been done – yet what was meant for good is turned to produce evil. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” and Romans 3:10 warns us that “None is righteous, no not one” so we shouldn’t be surprised when people use good things for evil purposes – though we often are, and are hurt when it happens.

we shouldn’t be surprised when people use good things for evil purposes

So, what do we do? Is all lost? Is there no hope at all? Are we doomed to be eaten by giant toads? Are we doomed to the unending cycle of makin’, breakin’, and achin’ from the consequences of our sins? Fortunately, the story doesn’t end here; there is hope. There is a solution, because though we’re achin’ from the breakin’ of all we’re makin’, the One who made us is not forsakin’ us. We’ll look at that some more next time . . . See you then!

Fortunately, the story doesn’t end here; there is hope.

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

Read: Romans 5 and 8

My Birthday Suit

You’re probably familiar with the term, “birthday suit.” Since it refers to the “suit” we’re born in, which is no clothes at all, when you hear someone say it, you may get images of (in)famous examples of nudity, such as Lady Godiva, the 11th century countess who is said to have ridden through the streets of Mercia, England, bareback (in all meanings of the term). Or maybe Hans Christian Andersen’s  story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” comes to mind, you know, where an emperor is hoodwinked into buying clothes that are said by the weavers to be invisible to people who are stupid and unfit for their position – which of course the emperor and most of his court are afraid to admit, even though they can’t see the non-existent “clothes.” Finally, a little child calls the buff, I mean, bluff, shouting, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” Or, maybe you’ve heard about the Laguna del Sol “clothing optional” resort located (appropriately) on Rawhide Lane in nearby Wilton, CA.

Well, since I titled this blog “My Birthday Suit,” I want to set your mind at ease and free you from any scary images that my words may conjure by explaining what I mean: “My birthday suit” means it’s “my birthday,” and I decided to write about what “suits” me. Hah hah.

This weekend I turned 67 years old, and now that I’m approaching becoming a senior member of society, I thought it would be a public service if I could share with you some of the things that I have learned by living these three score plus seven years. In other words, things that have suited me to learn and practice in my life. So, if you don’t mind me “baring” my soul, here goes:

  1. Let’s start right off with the most important thing I’ve learned: God is real. And not some kind of “higher power” or “force,” but specifically the personal, living God of the Bible – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. With that goes the necessary co-belief that the Bible is true in what it teaches about God, about us, about what God expects from us, and about what God has done for us through his Son, Jesus Christ. That God is real: a personal, loving, and powerful God who is interested in, aware of, and actively involved in our lives. When I say that this is the most important thing I’ve learned, I’m certainly affirming that God ranks highest in worthiness to be known, but I am also asserting that knowledge of God affects everything else I might know. Belief in God and trust in him informs and permeates everything else; everything else I might know has its basis in God, for he is the Creator and Sustainer of everything there is. As Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,” and as Proverbs 9:10 adds, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” How can I truly know anything if I don’t know the God who created it all and explained the significance of life and death in his written Word? So then, you might ask, how do I know that God is real? Ultimately, as Luther’s Small Catechism teaches, I can only believe because the Holy Spirit has given me faith through the Gospel; it is not my doing, through reason and intelligence, that I have somehow figured out that God is and who God is. But I believe that God has shown me his existence in three ways. First, and definitively, through the Scriptures, in which God reveals himself and tells me all I need to know about him. If that’s all I had, it would be enough. But second, God has confirmed his presence by means of gracious interventions in my life (and the lives of others I know). He has guided, rebuked, protected, and healed me at different times according to his will, showing me that he is both a loving and righteous God who is concerned with the lives of his children. And third, the Spirit has worked through my emotions and reason to show that he is real. I have found the knowledge of God to be both emotionally and rationally fulfilling. Everything I know about the world just fits into the biblical explanation of reality and makes more sense than any other “theory” that men have invented to explain why thing are the way they are. This knowledge has inspired me, comforted me, and helped me make sense of life, both the good and the bad. It’s not that emotion and reason have brought me to God, but once I received faith from God, my emotions and reason have served my living out that faith.
  2. It matters where we put our faith. So much in the world clamors for our attention and says, “Trust me!” “Put your faith in this product! It will solve your problems and make you happy!” “You deserve the good things we can sell you!” “Do I have a deal for you!” and so on. Some are just unable to provide what they offer, even though they have good intentions; others are outright crooks trying to scam you into following them or giving them your money. Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn’t try to scam us by phone or email, claiming to be a computer tech service or the IRS (at least, I hope the IRS calls were scams, since I hung up on them after they said the “local police” were on their way to arrest me!). We have to trust others much of the time: when we eat at a restaurant, we trust the cooks have safely prepared the food; when we fly, we trust the pilots, mechanics, and air traffic controllers to transport us safely to our destinations; when the doctors prescribe a medicine, we have to trust them and the pharmacy and the drug companies to provide a beneficial product. And so on. Likewise, when it comes to our religious beliefs, it matters where we put our faith. Certainly, we trust Jesus Christ and what God’s Word says about him, but we also must make sure that those who interpret that Word to us are worthy of our trust. Over the centuries, many false prophets have gone out and twisted the Bible to deny the true Gospel. It was a problem already in the earliest churches, because the Apostles had to warn against such false teachers that were misleading the believers (2 Peter 2:1, Galatians 1:6). That’s why creeds and confessions are so important, because they state the true faith and help guard against false doctrine. That’s also why the choice of church one attends is so important – are the preachers and teachers faithful to the Scriptures, or are they seeking the approval of people to benefit themselves (Galatians 1:10)?  Where I put my faith is always important; when it comes to matters of eternal life, it’s essential!
  3. The amount of faith we have is not important. What?!? How can I say that? It sounds like heresy! But I think people get hung up on how much faith they think they need, and are afraid they aren’t good Christians if they don’t feel like their faith is strong. But 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” (Matthew 17:20). Since the mustard seed is described as the smallest seed, Jesus is saying that even a small amount of faith can accomplish much. Do some people have more faith than others? Sure; some people have a special gift of faith. But faith is just believing in Christ and what he has done for us. It’s not something we can build up by our own will to make God accept us; it’s a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our call is just to believe, and let God apportion to us what he wants us to have. I like how one saying puts it: “It’s not that we have great faith in God, but that we have faith in a great God.” So if you believe, then take comfort and be at peace, read the Bible, receive communion, and you will likely find your faith increasing!
  4. Treat everyone with respect. As the late Aretha Franklin put it, “R-e-s-p-e-c-t. . .” Some respect is earned, such as when someone proves trustworthy or capable in their work. But there’s also a level of respect due to everyone regardless of their appearance, attitudes, trustworthiness, or likeability. That respect is due to those with other religions or none. It is due to all races and ethnic groups, sexes, and “genders,” whether we agree with the designations or not. It is due because that person was made in God’s image, just as we were, so to disrespect him or her is to disrespect God. As Jesus said about our respect for our parents, if we cannot love the father we see, how can we love our Father in heaven whom we do not see? I think the same can be said for our love for all people made in God’s image. Sure, we are also all fallen sinners, so people do things and say things we don’t have to agree with, but we still owe them respect. Jesus taught us the Golden Rule – to do unto others as we would want them to do unto us; not surprisingly, when we respect others, we find they will likely respect us back. This is something I have tried to follow toward everyone, though I know I have sometimes failed to do so.
  5. Keep a sense of humor. This is so important. It helps us get through discouraging times, it often puts things in perspective, and it keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously. It helps break down walls between people when we can laugh together. We are flawed creatures, and we make mistakes. Sometimes, those mistakes are frustrating or even harmful, but sometimes, they are just funny. We find ourselves in situations that make us laugh. And as long as we’re not laughing at someone, laughter can benefit everyone involved. (As I tell my wife, “I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing with you.” But I don’t think she always believes me.) One recent example of seeing humor in a situation took place when I called my sister. She was taken into the hospital for one night due to an episode with her heart. It took some doing, but after a few calls I tracked her to her room. When she answered the phone, I said the common expression, “You can run, but you can’t hide!” To which my sister, who this spring had her second leg amputated, replied, “I can’t run; I have no legs.” Fortunately, she saw the humor in it, and we both chuckled over my faux pas.* Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” May you have a cheerful heart, even in the face of adversity!

Over the many years I have learned many more things as well, but I decided giving you the “bare” bones would be enough for this blog. Maybe I’ll give you some more in the future – when I’m even older and wiser – and when it “suits” me. 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: Genesis 1:26-31, Genesis 9:5-6, Ephesians 2:8-10 

*Used with her permission.

Are You a True Believer?

Last Friday, I heard a True Believer speak. But before I tell you what she said that revealed the depth of her sincerity, I need to tell you about an occasion when I was asked the question, “Are you a true believer?”

It was the summer of 1990. I was in Moscow (Russia, not Moscow, Kansas), participating in an international exchange between leaders in various fields from the USA and the USSR. At the end of the two-week program, we were gathered at a Moscow restaurant (or pectopah, in Russian) for a farewell reception before returning home. After snagging a few appetizers, I drifted over to a group of Russians who were serving as translators for our group. They were very skillful and proficient in their knowledge of English, though their Russian accents were still noticeable.

I was surprised at their discussion, which was mostly in English, because two of the young women were talking about their plans once the Soviet Union fell (which everyone there knew was inevitable). Earlier we had met some Russian educators who tried to broker business deals with our own educators to set up student exchange programs. But the plan of these two translators was to become international prostitutes, using their language skills to emigrate to the West where their chance for material success was greater. When the group saw that I had a bottle of soda for my beverage, someone asked why I wasn’t drinking any of their wonderful vodka. When I told them it was for religious reasons, one of the women asked me, “Are you a true believer?” I said yes. Which probably discouraged the aforementioned women from offering to practice their “translation” skills on me.

She asked me, “Are you a true believer?” I said yes.

Now, to the other true believer from last week. I was listening to a radio talk show (doing serious, political and cultural research to keep me in touch with the pulse of society), when the host took a caller who wanted to rave to him about one of the products he shills for – I mean, advertises. The product: bed sheets. She talked excitedly about how, after years of sleeping on what felt like burlap sacks, she and her husband “bit the bullet” and bought the $200 sheets he had been advertising. The sheets had changed her life – and she wanted him and everyone to know how wonderful the sheets were. The host could hardly contain his happiness to hear her, and gave her some gifts from his online store, plus – another set of sheets.

I chuckled at her enthusiasm, and shook my head at how this show was able to get a product endorsement into the “call-in” portion of the program. Then I thought about it some more . . .

When it came to that particular brand of sheets, the woman was a True Believer. But what if this woman had called to rave about something more important that had changed her life? What if she had been cured of cancer? Or had discovered the cure? What if she had invented cold fusion, and with it unlimited, clean, inexpensive power to benefit the world? What if she had called to say, “I have found my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and in him forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation with God, and eternal life!” Would she have sounded just as excited and eager to tell the world that news? Would the call-screener even have let her call through? (I doubt it!)

As this idea about witnessing to something wonderful rolled around the empty spaces in my brain, it began to generate some related thoughts:

How do I respond to questions about being a true believer in Christ? Do I excitedly share how he has changed my life? Would I call a talk show and rave excitedly about my Savior? Would I give my testimony, or let the occasion pass without saying what he means to me?

I am sure that if I found a cure for some dread disease, like cancer, I would excitedly proclaim it wherever and whenever I could. I would want people to know, so they could avoid horrible suffering, death, and family-crushing expenses. And, if that cure were actually freely available, and I knew about it, could I ever be justified in not telling people about it? If that’s true, then how can I not tell people about the Greater Cure, the cure for sin and death, who has saved them from hell, and has opened the way to an eternal life free of all diseases and suffering? Especially when that Greater Cure is freely available to all? And no health insurance needed! As Jesus told his disciples, “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8).

If that’s true, then how can I not tell people about the Greater Cure?

Or, to the contrary, might I be reluctant to admit my faith, for fear of disapproval or other social rejection? And what if there were serious consequences to admitting my faith? What if I, like so many others before me, faced severe punishment, imprisonment, or even death to identify with Jesus Christ? Could I be like Polycarp, who when facing being burned alive at the stake in AD 156, refused to deny Christ, saying instead, “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” Or like the Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS in 2015, who all proclaimed, “Jesus is Lord!” before their deaths. Am I enough of a true believer to endure such horrors? Could I say, with Polycarp, that while the executioner’s fire lasts but a little while, the fires of judgment reserved for the ungodly cannot be quenched, and submit peacefully to my fate, knowing that Christ had saved me from the unquenchable fire?

If our news is so wonderful, why don’t we act like the true believers we are and tell everyone the Good News? Why don’t we rave even louder than the woman who found her new bed sheets to be so comfortable? If we hold back our excitement, maybe it’s for one or more of the following reasons:

  1. We fear we will risk serious consequences: rejection, persecution, or even martyrdom. Some churches’ missionaries to certain other countries have had to be careful about their public ministries there, such as listing themselves as tourists for their visa applications. They have done so to protect their local Christian hosts and to preserve their ability to enter those countries to do their mission work. So far in our country, we don’t risk martyrdom for our faith, but there still can be serious social prices to pay for a forceful public declaration of our faith. We may suffer on the job, in school, or in other social groupings for being outspoken in proclaiming Christ. But when I think of what public proclamations may cost us, I remember the words of the 20th century martyr, Jim Eliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” What penalty could I possibly suffer on earth that would outweigh eternal rewards?
  2. We underestimate the importance of our endorsement.  What difference does it make if we tell people excitedly about Jesus Christ? It may seem that people don’t react the way we want them to when we praise Christ publicly, but we can’t see what’s happening in their hearts and minds. We might be the one that plants the seed of faith, or we may be watering the seed someone else planted before (1 Corinthians 3:6-8). But whether we see immediate results or not, we still are the means God uses to reach people with the Good News. As Paul wrote in Romans 10, “And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” The bed-sheet woman wasn’t afraid to make her trivial endorsement; why should we be for a more important testimony? If someone buys sheets because we promote them, it’s no big big deal; but if someone hears our Christian testimony and believes, that leads to eternal joy! 
  3. We fear we don’t know enough about the Bible to proclaim Christ. First off, let me say that no one knows enough about the Bible. We can study it every day of our lives and still be surprised with new information and insights every time we read, even when we reread familiar passages. On the other hand, we do know enough about what the Bible teaches to know who Christ is and what he did for us. We have been told all we need to know. That doesn’t mean we stop reading or learning – being in God’s Word can only benefit us and grow our faith and understanding. As 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” But we don’t have to wait until we’ve been to Bible college or seminary to be able to share the faith effectively and powerfully. And consider this: the bed sheet lady didn’t know how the sheets were made, the names of the workers who made them, or how much the sheets cost to make. She just praised what she knew about them, and did so enough to make me consider (for a moment) that they might be nice to get.
  4. We think that sharing the Gospel is best left up to the professionals. While we hope that our paid preachers, teachers, and missionaries are solidly grounded and skillful in their work, the testimony of a lay believer is often more impactful on people. For one thing, the public expects a paid preacher to promote the faith. Such professionals are viewed like paid celebrities or salespeople who tout their products: you expect that the stars who rave about a product were paid to say what they did. But a friend who tells you they found a good detergent or restaurant or babysitter will probably carry more weight when you need the product or service. In the case of the bed sheets, the host touts them almost every day – and his endorsements go in one ear and out the other, because I know he’s making money on it and would tout that company’s competitors if they had paid him more. But along comes a caller to praise the same product, and people will listen. That’s why the host got so excited at what she said! The other reason a lay person may be more effective in witnessing about Christ is that they have a wider range of people and places to do their sharing. When I was pastoring, almost everyone I came into contact with was a believer and even a member of the church. My impact was limited to those who already knew Christ, or who visited the church on a Sunday. However, those members had many more opportunities to reach out to non-believers in their schools, workplaces, teams, and neighborhoods. Sharing the Gospel is not limited to the professionals, nor should it be!
  5. We have been turned off by other people’s evangelizing. Maybe we’ve seen people on TV, in movies (which always stereotype believers as fanatics or charlatans), or in person, who have proclaimed Christ in hateful ways or acted hypocritically against what they preached. Even if what they say is theologically correct (it usually isn’t), the vessel containing the message is so flawed we reject what they say or at least don’t want others to identify us as one of those people. I understand and feel that at times myself. But it’s helpful to realize:
    • We don’t have to act like them to get God’s Word out to people. We’ll be far more effective if we don’t. Our message is one of reconciliation and love (2 Corinthians 5:18), and hatred has no place in it.
    • We don’t have to be loud and boisterous to get the message across to others. Often a quiet ministry of listening, serving, and compassion can open doors to a soft-spoken testimony about our faith.
    • We don’t carry the burden ourselves: the power of conversion is the Holy Spirit working through God’s Word. We are the imperfect means of bringing that Word to others, but God gives the faith and does the saving. Will we make mistakes in our witnessing? Sure, but Paul addresses this perfectly in 2 Corinthian 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” When our witness impacts others and brings results, God gets the glory and praise for it.

Are you a True Believer? If so, thank God for that blessing, and realize that you believe because others before you for 2000 years have witnessed to the faith, scorning all the risks involved to pass the Good News on to you. As the great hymn proclaims, “Faith of our fathers, living still, in spite of dungeon, fire and sword. . .” Our fathers (and mothers) in the faith endured those hardships and much more to cling to the faith and proclaim Christ to all around them. Hebrews 11 recounts some of the ordeals faced by the faithful through the ages: “Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:36-38)

Are you a True Believer?

As a True Believer, are you ready and willing to proclaim what you believe to the part of the world in which God has placed you? Are you willing to risk temporary discomfort to know the peace and joy that comes from sharing the faith with those who are lost and are in desperate need of Jesus Christ? If so, praise God that he has moved you to speak for him, and keep your eyes open for the people and opportunities he will bring your way!

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: Hebrews 11, Romans 10

 

Odds & Ends #5

Every now and then I put out a blog article titled “Odds & Ends” to serve as a catch-all for announcements, updates, and thoughts that might not require as long an article as usual. This is one of those times, so sit back, relax, and get comfortable as some new “odds and ends” come your way . . .

  1. As you’ve probably noticed by now, my blog has a slightly different look. For those who have followed this blog from the beginning, it shouldn’t look too unusual, because it’s very similar to what I first had. The main reason I changed back was due to a report I get on my administrative page that shows which pages visitors actually look at. What it showed was that a number of viewers don’t get past the “home” page, which only showed the first paragraph of the three most recent articles. That meant that some people weren’t getting to read the entire article, because they had to click on the title of each article to go to that article’s page. So, just in case that second step was keeping readers away from the articles, I made the new home page consist of the entire new article. All the previous information is still available on my “Greeting” page, which link is in the overhead menu. I hope the revised format makes your reading smoother.
  2. I added a few new pieces of information, too. On the “Martin Luther Live” link, I added a report about last October, when I portrayed Dr. Luther at the AALC’s 500th Anniversary of the Reformation celebration. I presented the Reformer at each of the two lunchtimes, on the 31st and November 1st. One of the attendees drew an amazing sketch of me making the presentation, and our national newsletter’s editor, Lisa Cooper, wrote a a very kind article about the presentations. With their permission, I added the sketch and the article to this page of my website.
  3. I also just finished revising my new book, Raising Ebenezers: Recognizing God’s Miracles in Your Life, and am now seeking final editing and publication. I included a description of the book (with a mock-up cover picture) on my website under the “Books” menu link. Hopefully, before long I’ll be able to include publishing and availability information as well!
  4. Many, if not most websites include paid advertising that pops up alongside or beneath the writers’ articles. This is very common, and is one way for the “blogist” (Is there such a word? If not, there should be – “blogger” sounds so mundane. . . ) to pay for his or her site, or even to make money, based on the number of views they get. I have decided not to use paid ads, for three reasons. First, because I’m not doing this site to make money, and I can afford the low cost the web hosting company charges. Second, I can write what I believe without looking over my shoulder at sponsors, being afraid to run afoul of their editorial policies. I already have one very special Editor looking over my shoulder regarding my writing – and He is the only one I am accountable to. Third, in most cases the bloggist, er, blogger, does not get to choose which ads appear on the site. I have seen Christian blogs with some very questionable ads, and my immediate reaction has been to ask why the bloggers chose those ads – and then I remember they didn’t have a choice. So, to avoid those mixed messages, I chose not to take ads.
  5. For those of you following the ongoing drama (or is it a comedy – or better yet, what they call in TV a “dramady”) regarding my foot, here’s the news: I finally have a surgery date of October 4 this year to have my foot attended to. I’ll spare you the details, but the main point is that this procedure should correct an ongoing problem I have had with recurring ulcers on my left foot. This means I’ll probably be cruising around in my wheelchair until the end of the year – so I need to warn you to watch out when you see me coming, since I don’t have a back-up beeper!
  6. Wheelchairs can be difficult at times, though I’m very glad to have one to use. The worst time I ever had was several years ago (during one of those ulcer episodes) when I decided to go see a movie. I dropped Karen off to shop elsewhere in the shopping center before driving to the theater. I went right to the handicapped parking area, but found it was full. So I drove up and down the nearby lanes looking for a parking space, but they too were all filled. So I drove further out, still having no luck, until I was a block away from the theater entrance. There was a free spot! With the start time of the movie fast approaching, I took the space, and unloaded the wheelchair from the back of the car, using crutches to get from the driver’s seat to the tailgate. Then came the arduous roll down (actually, up) the length of the block. By the time I got to the box office, my arms and legs were aching from the exertion. I caught my breath, bought the ticket, and went in. Only to discover the actual theater showing that movie in the multiplex was the furthest one in the place from the entrance, back in the direction I had just come. So, I rubbed my arms took a breath, and started rolling. If you’ve ever had to use a wheelchair, you know that rolling on a smooth surface is one thing, but rolling on carpet is another. The carpet seems to fight you the whole way and makes the roll twice as tiring. Of course, the place was carpeted. So, by the time I got to the theater’s door, I was exhausted. Then, when I rounded the corner into the theater proper, I had to laugh (or did I cry?) because this “Handicapped accessible” theater was uphill. That’s right, after all I had exerted already, I was now facing a steep incline to get to where I could even see the screen. I struggled like never before. I cried, I sweated, I bled (okay, that was an exaggeration), and finally pushed up backward until I made it! Finally I was in the theater! And there before me, were several empty wheelchair spots. With what was left of my strength, I rolled the last few feet, swung around to face the screen, and settled back to relax. That was when another wheel chair came in, pushed by someone else. They decided to take an open spot just past me. Which they did – but not before ramming their chair into my bandaged foot. And the movie wasn’t all that good.
  7. You may have noticed I used the word “handicapped” when the preferred term these days is “disabled” or more euphemistically, “variously-abled.” As someone who has a parking placard granted to me as an authentic “disabled person,” I have to say that I prefer the term “handicapped.” Supposedly, the term comes from a time when beggars went around England holding cap-in-hand, asking for money, so the modern use of the term is seen to be insulting to people with disabilities, calling them beggars. On the other hand, I think saying people are dis-abled means they can’t do what other people can, and is more limiting to them. Handicapped persons are still able, but if they’re disabled, then what? I look at it this way: golfers have handicaps, race horses have handicaps, the tortoise had a handicap compared to the hare, but they are all still able to win. So don’t feel bad to call me handicapped – because I’m still very able to do a lot.
  8. When you read the Bible, you find that people’s physical limitations, whether you call them disabilities or handicaps, are stated plainly and without any circumlocution. People are said to be blind (also a spiritual condition), deaf, and lame. There’s no attempt to soften their conditions with nice words. The Bible says what is, and what is not. Imagine Isaiah’s prophecy of the works of the coming Messiah being written today:”The unsighted will see, the hearing-impaired will hear, the differently-abled person will leap for joy.” Even the prophecies of the resurrection would have to change: “The passed-on ones will rise again.” Of course, Paul did use one euphemism – for the dead in Christ. He said they had fallen asleep, but that was because he knew their death was temporary, and they will rise from the dead as sleepers arise to the new day. Jesus said the same about Lazarus, until his dense (or is it, “intellectually-challenged”?) disciples misunderstood him -so then he said, “Lazarus has died.” (John 11:11-15). There are times to be kind and gentle in speech so as not to cause shame or affront, but there are times to speak plainly, with no malice intended, to address reality and perhaps to improve upon it.

Well, that’s about it for now. Until next time: May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: John 11, and Judges 3:12-30 for brutal honesty in biblical speech

Saved But Through Fire

As I write this blog, California is burning.

There are nineteen substantial wildfires raging across the state. The largest is called the Mendocino Complex, which is comprised of two adjacent fires – the Ranch Fire which has burned 157,000 acres and is 27% contained, and the River Fire at 45,000 acres and 50% containment. Slightly smaller but more destructive is the Carr Fire near Redding, which has burned 142,000 acres, caused six deaths, and destroyed 1,500 homes; it stands at only 41% containment and is being called “apocalyptic” by the press.

The demand and strain on firefighters has been incredible. They are working minimum 16 to 24 hour shifts. Four have died, and one man fighting the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite learned that his own home was destroyed in the Carr fire. The state’s resources are stretched so thin that firefighters are coming to help from as far away as Australia and New Zealand. Tens of thousands of people have had to be evacuated, including people already in evacuation centers and hospitals.

These are big picture statistics and situations, but besides video images of burning trees, mushroom clouds of dark smoke, and swirling “fire-nadoes,”we have seen images of the individual tragedies being repeated so many times in areas hit by the fires. We have watched as men and women stood in front of the smouldering embers of what used to be their homes, wiping away tears as they report the loss of everything they owned. One woman said that this is the second time she has lost a home to fire, so there wasn’t much left to burn this time – but now even that is gone.

As I watched one of the survivors talk about her losses, and how she and her family had just enough time to grab their pets and escape the rapidly advancing flames, I remembered the passage from 1 Corinthians where the Apostle Paul used the powerful image of fire to address an important spiritual matter.

Paul was chastising the Corinthians for their petty squabbles and divisiveness, for their spiritual immaturity, and for their jealousies. He wanted them to understand that their conflicts were contrary to the faith he had proclaimed to them, and that they would be ineffective in accomplishing anything for the kingdom of Christ. He derided their failure to build on the foundation which Christ had laid for them through Paul’s teaching, saying:

“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:10-15 – emphasis mine)

Elsewhere, Scripture uses fire to describe judgment and condemnation. Wicked Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone (sulfur) from heaven (Genesis 19). Exodus 19:23-24 tells us the the Lord sent hail and fire down upon Egypt as one of the plagues. When the Israelites grumbled in the desert, God sent poisonous, fiery serpents to kill many of them (Numbers 21). John the Baptist spoke of the Messiah baptizing people with the Spirit and with fire, explaining that fire was the fate of those who were chaff (Luke 3:15). And of course, the Book of Revelation describes the final judgment against the devil, his demons, and those whose names are not written in the book of life: they will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10,15).

Paul’s use of fire is along those lines, but directed not at the believers – who will be saved by their faith in Christ – but rather at their worthless works. Because of their squabbles, they are accomplishing nothing of permanence that will build the kingdom. Paul reminds them that the permanent foundation was built by Christ, the works which his people build upon that foundation, as a house is built on a foundation, will last. But all our works which we do apart from Christ, no matter how impressive they are to us, will perish, as our goods do in a fire. He doesn’t spell out what specific works will perish, and what specific ones will endure, but we are left with the understanding that some of what we do in this life will bear eternal fruit, while much will end when we die. The difference is what is done through Christ.

So how does this idea of fire, judgment, and works which burn up relate to what is happening in California this summer?

  1. First, I want to be clear that the loss which people have sustained of houses, possessions, animals, and even loved ones, is not God’s judgment against those individuals for some sin they have done. Those who lost homes were not more sinful than the people whose homes were spared. This principle is laid out in Scripture in several places. In Matthew 5:45, Jesus says of the Father, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Jesus also answered people’s questions about suffering when he referred to two contemporary incidents in which individuals were killed: “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5). We also know that Job suffered the loss of just about everything in his life, including possessions and family, though God considered him the most righteous man on earth in his day (Job 1:8). So we should never look upon anyone’s suffering and think they must have done something to deserve it; we all deserve God’s judgment, so we should look with compassion and remind ourselves that but for the grace of God, we could be in the same situation.
  2. The possessions which people lost were valuable to them. Many of the destroyed items had sentimental value, such as photo albums and heirlooms. Other items had monetary value, including expensive furniture and equipment. The houses themselves represented significant financial investments made from lifetimes of work and sacrifice. And yet, all were gone within minutes. This should make us think carefully about what we invest in: what is important to us? Stuff? Things that are considered valuable to the world? Showy things that impress others or build our egos?  Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20); he could have added fire to his examples of earthly dangers. We should remember that it is not the value we put on something that makes it truly valuable, but what God says of it.
  3. Which brings us to the final point: the phrase, “You can’t take it with you” is true. No matter how important our stuff is to us here in this lifetime, when we die, it all stays behind. It will all be consumed in the final fire if not before.

The story is told about a very wealthy man who on his deathbed made his wife promise to bury his money with him when he died, so he would have it in the afterlife. She protested, but he insisted, so finally she promised to do what he asked. On the day of his funeral, the grieving widow sat watching them lower the casket into the ground. Her best friend sat beside her to console her, but knowing about the strange demand of the deceased, she asked the widow, “You didn’t do what he asked, did you?” The widow turned to her friend with a smile and said, “Yes I did. I put it right in the casket with him. I wrote him a check.”

So are all our efforts and work and striving in this life wasted? King Solomon seemed to think so, even as he considered all his vast wealth. It was probably he who wrote in Ecclesiastes 2:18, “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.” But while most of what we have and do here will perish, the Bible also speaks of works which will endure. What are those works? Paul says they are the works we build on Christ’s foundation. But what do such works look like?

What will last through the fire and into eternity are spiritual works, those things which glorify God and bring the Gospel to people. These include preaching and teaching people about Jesus Christ, baptizing in his name, showing compassion to hurting people, sacrificing one’s time and resources to help others, caring for the sick and dying (including family members), helping people reconcile and resolve conflicts (being a peacemaker), and suffering persecution and even martyrdom for Christ’s sake (“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10).

Jesus told us not to worry about what we have to put on, because our lives are more important that our clothing. All who lost clothing (and so much else) in the California fires are more valuable to God than what they owned. Their lives matter, so let us pray for them and for their safety and recovery, as well as for the safety of those who fight to control these raging infernos and protect others from such devastating losses.

Let us also thank God for the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ’, whose death and resurrection has won for us eternal life. Knowing that our lives will endure through all eternity, let us seek to do those works which will also endure the fire, that will glorify God, and be the instruments which God uses to save others.

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: Job 1, 1 Corinthians 3, Luke 13:1-5

 

 

 

 

Wholehearted or “Hole”hearted?

In my previous post I wrote about my recent heart catheterization. As I reported, the test revealed my heart was fine, for which I am very grateful. If you haven’t yet read that post, I encourage you to do so, as you may enjoy some of the more humorous aspects of that experience.

At the close of the article, I listed several Bible verses which speak about “the heart.” While appropriate for my theme, “You gotta have heart,” the kind of heart spoken of in those verses, and throughout the Bible, is not the kind that pumps blood or undergoes a heart catheterization. Rather, when the Bible speaks of the heart, it almost always refers to a person’s will, thoughts, feelings, desires, and so on. We use the word the same way in English, too, as in “You gotta have heart” (courage, desire), or “That person has a good heart” (attitude, character), or “I heart my wife” (love). Our use of heart is so similar to the way the Bible uses it that we usually know immediately what the Bible is talking about when it says, “heart.” In fact, our use of heart likely comes from the biblical usage of the term.

Given that understanding, we turn to what Jesus said when asked about which of God’s commandments was the greatest. Matthew 22:34-40 records what happened:

But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘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 foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

There’s a lot we could talk about in this passage, such as the attitude of the Pharisees in asking the question; the division of the Ten Commandments into two tables – one dealing with the love of God (Commandments 1-3) – and the other with the love of neighbor (Commandments 4-10); what it means to love God (a feeling, an attitude, or actions?); and what it means to love our neighbor (again: a feeling, an attitude, or actions?). But the point I want to focus on is this: Jesus said to love the Lord our God “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” What is that all about? It’s about much more than just saying, “I heart God.” The word used for love in this passage is from the Greek word, agape, which transcends feelings to express commitment, devotion, and selfless action. But according to Jesus, it goes even further.

Jesus calls us to love God whole-heartedly. We are to love God without reservation, without conditions, without exception. God wants all of us, and all of each of us. He wants us to recognize him as Lord with our whole being, and to obey him in all he has commanded us. What does that look like? Does it mean we all become monks and nuns (or more properly, monks or nuns) and spend 24 hours a day in the church sanctuary in worship and prayer? Or give all our possessions away and fast every day? Or give our life on the mission field? Maybe . . . As the 20th Century Lutheran pastor and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, put it, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Talk about following Christ without conditions!

To better understand what it means to love God “wholeheartedly,” let’s look at the opposite, and consider some of the many “holes” in people’s love which show they only love God “hole-heartedly“:

  1. The Time Hole: “Okay, so I went to church yesterday. I gave God his due, and now I’m off the clock. As the beer commercial once said, ‘It’s Miller time!'” What’s wrong with this picture? I mean, besides the fact I don’t drink beer? Our relationship with God is not one of many things we schedule or allocate time to. If we truly love God, we love him all the time, not just when the calendar and clock call us to worship. All the time we have is a gift from God, so why do we try to divide it into “his time” and “our time,” as if he didn’t matter during our time? The important point here is not that we spend 24/7 attending religious services in a church building; what’s important is knowing God is with us and present every second of our lifetime. There is no time or place when we are away from him, and there is no time when God does not love us nor want us to love him. Wherever we are, we can keep God in our thoughts and prayers, and honor him with our lips and actions.
  2. The Money Hole: Jesus ran into this problem when he encountered a rich, young ruler who wanted to follow Jesus, but wasn’t willing to sell all he had and give it to the poor – “for he was extremely rich” (Luke 18:23). Jesus went on to say that it was difficult for the wealthy to enter heaven because their riches became their priority – the hole in what otherwise could have been fervent love for God. Any time we put money and material possessions before God, we are not loving him completely; when we realize that all we “own” still belongs to God and we are but his managers of that wealth, then we begin to make all our financial decisions according to what we believe God wants them to be. That shows our love for him and trust in him that he will graciously provide all our needs.
  3. The Social Media Hole: In previous years I might have called this “peer pressure” or “social pressure,” but just to show I’m hip to current trends, I’m calling this the “social media hole.” Whatever we call it, it refers to people wanting to be accepted by other people, especially by those they like. They don’t want to be mocked or laughed at; they don’t want to seem like a religious fanatic, they don’t want to be excluded; so they go along with even anti-Christian bias in social and public media, leaving God out of the discussion or even dissing him. If you really love someone, you stand up for them, and won’t let them be insulted, even by your friends; but for many there’s a hole in their love for God because they let him be denied or insulted freely.
  4. The Plan B Hole: Here the person likes the Christian message, but decides to hedge his or her bets just in case it’s not completely true. Maybe it’s another formal religion, or maybe a philosophy built around science, or maybe they depend on some sense of personal spirituality and mystical experiences. Whatever the “other” plan might be, the person reveals his or her lack of faith in the God of the Bible, and therefore a lack of love. If people truly love God wholeheartedly, then they have no fall-back plan; they so live and trust God that if Jesus is not the way to heaven, then they will be totally lost forever. Are you willing to live under that commitment?
  5. The Pride Hole: “Sure we love God, but don’t we have to love ourselves as well? Doesn’t God want me to perform for him, to show him I’m worthy of his love? If I love God, don’t I have to prove it by being religious and holy? God saved me, but didn’t I have something to do with that – something in me that God saw as worthy and lovable?” This is actually a very subtle flaw, in that it sounds good to want to please God; the problem is that by believing I had anything to do with my salvation I actually am despising Christ and his sacrifice. Why did he need to die if I could have been good enough for God without it? Loving God is accepting fully his gift of grace and not trying to make it depend on my cooperation. The song, “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” (1991 by The Temptations), refers to love between people, not the love God has for us.
  6. The Feelings Hole: “I really want to love God more, but I just don’t feel it. I try but I don’t have any deep emotional experience when I pray or attend worship services. If only I felt “my heart strangely warmed” as did John Wesley before he founded Methodism, or felt a “burning in my bosom” as the Mormons say I should, or wept and shook and dropped on the floor like my Pentecostal friends do, then I would feel closer to God.” You can see the error in this thinking. Is my faith and love for God dependent on my fickle and changing emotions (“He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me . . .) or on his promises which find their “yes” in the atoning sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ for me? Romans 5:8 should give us all the “feeling” we need to love God: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  7. The Knowledge Hole: Maybe we don’t love God fully because we just don’t know him. We have not read his Word enough to know what we need to know about him. We don’t understand the depth of his love for us, the lengths he went to in order to save us, and his bountiful provision of all our needs, including life itself. This ignorance is our fault, especially in this country where we have unlimited access to a hundred different Bibles in every format in our language. For some, the ignorance is willful, because they fear reading about their moral and religious obligations; ignorance of God’s Law is bliss . . . but the Bible says people perish out of their ignorance: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). The remedy is to spend more time in God’s Word, where you will find good news of God’s love that frees us from the judgment of the Law.
  8. The Lock-Box Hole: Do you keep secrets from the ones you love? Maybe you’re embarrassed about something you said or did, or maybe you just want your own private area to keep separate. In marriage, it might be a “man-cave” where a guy has and does what he wants in a certain space. Little kids might have a clubhouse with “No girls allowed!” or “Boys keep out!” posted. Adults may keep a lock box to hold their most precious and secret possessions. The problem comes when people treat God like that, trying to keep an area of their life secret from God (as if they could). They’re willing to turn over most areas of their lives, but not everything;
  9. The Black Hole: Okay, at first, I listed this just because of the name; I thought it would be cool to include it as a joke. But the more I thought about it, I realized it actually does describe one of the reasons that many people fail to love God fully. These people attribute Creation to natural processes, such as the “Big Bang” and black holes. They divide science from religion, and look to science for the answers regarding the physical reality, and to religion for “spiritual” matters. In doing so they are robbing God of his creative genius and power, and of his ownership over all reality, both “seen and unseen” (Nicene Creed). They are falling into the trap warned against by the Apostle Paul, who wrote in Romans 1: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (There’s that “heart” reference again.) To attribute the origin of anything God created to some impersonal process apart from him, robs him of the glory due him and diminishes our love for him.

How many of these are playing a part in your affections toward God? Are there “holes” in your heart by which you are holding back on your complete love for our Creator and Redeemer? Are you willing to search out these holes and fill them with true worship and love for God?

Christ gave us Law that day, and it sounds scary. How is it possible to love God so deeply and completely that we can say “with all our heart?” Of course, we can’t. It is an impossible standard. We can strive for it but never obtain it fully. Knowing this, we properly despair at our shortfall. How can we love God? We stand condemned by our failure.

But that’s where grace comes in. 1 John 4:19 tells us, “We love because he first loved us.” Our love is a response to God’s love; Christ came into the world not to condemn us, but to seek and to save the lost (all of us!); and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We fulfill God’s commandments, including the greatest commandment – to love God with our whole heart – by believing in the One he sent – his only Son, Jesus Christ. May that knowledge richly bless you, and may your love for our Lord and Savior increase constantly. May you love him, “Wholeheartedly”!

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

Read: Romans 1:18-32, 1 John 4:7-21

 

You Gotta Have Heart

“You’ve gotta have heart, All you really need is heart. When the odds are sayin’ you’ll never win, That’s when the grin should start. . .” (From the musical, “Darn* Yankees” by Jerry Ross and Richard Adler, 1955**). I thought of attaching an audio file to this blog of me singing that song, but then I realized it would be heartless of me to do so.

Last week, I had a heart procedure. Technically, it was a heart catheterization (cath), in which a tube was inserted into my wrist and threaded up into one of my cardiac arteries to see if it had any blockages. I had not suffered any heart failure, chest pains, or any other symptoms indicating a heart problem, but the doctors required the test before giving me clearance to have some long-awaited corrective foot surgery. The procedure went very well: the cardiologist announced that the artery was clear and there was no problem. That was great news, and hopefully this was the last hurdle before fixing my foot.

Strangely, I had no fear of either the procedure or any negative results they might have found. Partly, I felt fine and thought of the procedure as “overkill” (maybe not the best term to use when considering someone threading a tube into your heart). Also, I was confident that God would protect me and use the procedure to reveal either my health or my need for some corrective action, either of which would be a good result. Therefore, all through the prepping and recovery periods (which took much more time than the actual procedure), I found myself in a good mood. So much so, that I began finding humor in various aspects of the experience. Like the above-mentioned song says, “That’s when the grin should start. . .”

My first grin was when I registered at the Patient desk. That was right off the street on the ground level, which made sense. But then, to go to the heart cath clinic, you had to walk about a block away, up to the next floor in a different building. I wondered how many patients they lose between registration and the clinic, since all the patients they send up there have heart issues! Maybe, if you make it all the way to the clinic without having a heart attack, they release you as being healthy! Fortunately, due to my foot issue, I had arranged for a wheel chair and attendant to push me to the clinic. Karen and our friend Peg had to walk behind (as usual).

Next came the arrival at the clinic, where I was ushered into a curtained-off room where I would be prepped. Of course, I had to change into a hospital gown, which was missing a tie on the “backside,” (not that there was a backside to be tied!) My wife Karen was in the room with me, and she asked for a better gown for me They brought me one that was twice the size of the other; it was warmer and had two ties, but they were both up by my neck, so the backside coverage was not much better than the first one.

Fortunately, I lay on my back almost the entire time. Except when I had to use the bathroom. I tried to postpone that trip, and at first thought I didn’t have to go. But then, the videos on the large-screen monitor in the room changed. The pictures on the video loop were intended to calm and relax the patients: beautiful scenes of mountains and prairies, desert flowers, fields of colorful blooms, and baby animals frolicking in the grass. So cute. So restful. Until the scenes changed. It started innocently at first – just some trees after a rainstorm, dripping water off their leaves. Then the drips increased to little rivulets, pouring into puddles. I tried to look away. I tried to think of the desert scenes again. But then came the streams and rivers, then mighty waterfalls, and by the time the scenery changed to huge waves crashing into the shore, I was on my button asking the nurse to get me to the bathroom. Later, after the procedure, they brought me back to the same room – and the same evil video. This time, they wouldn’t let me get up to go, so I learned how to use a plastic gallon jug in a reclining position.

I had great nurses. One female nurse complimented my smooth, soft wrist; I corrected her to use the word “rugged” instead. Then a male nurse came in. He looked so old – thinning gray hair, unsteady walk, hunched over with what used to be called a “dowager’s hump.” Then I found out he was 11 years younger than me! He had had a kidney transplant after 10 years on dialysis. And he said he had the heart of a 20-year old – literally – having received a heart transplant from a 20-year old girl who died of head injuries while skateboarding at Yosemite. Ironically, while he told me about her, the monitor behind him was showing peaceful mountain scenes of – you guessed it – Yosemite. I did not call his attention to it.

One of the female nurses was being trained for the unit, and as she read my vitals, I asked her if I were her first patient. She chuckled and said no, that she had been a nurse for many years, and was just new in this unit. I liked her response, so when the cardiologist came in to make his pre-op visit, I asked him the same question, “Is this your first heart cath?” To which he replied, “No. I’ve done 15,000 of them.” No chuckle. No smile. No humor. No way I’m ever going to ask that again of any doctor before operating on me.

According to my chart, I slept during the heart cath, though I don’t remember dozing off at all. I thought I had been awake the whole time, but was surprised how quickly the procedure went. So likely, I had slept some from the sedatives they had administered to me. The following Sunday, I ran into Don, one of our church members, who was going in for a heart cath the next day. I wanted to encourage and calm him with how smoothly mine had gone, so I told him, “Yeah, I guess I actually slept during the process without even knowing it.” To which he instantly replied, “Sort of like us during one of your sermons.” Ouch! That hurt worse than the cath itself!

So, a week has gone by since my heart procedure. I feel fine, and am relieved that the results were so good. I am thankful to God for my heart health, for protection during the surgery, for the good medical staff (even the one who wouldn’t smile), for a sense of humor, and for the faith which welcomed any result as God’s will for me. On the way to church Sunday I thought about the praise song, “Give Thanks,” by Don Moen, and felt how appropriate it would be to sing it for this experience; I was not surprised when I got to church to find that “golden oldie” was one of the worship songs for our service:

“Give thanks, with a grateful heart. . . “

A grateful heart, indeed!

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:

  • Psalm 9:1 “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”
  • Psalm 10:17 “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear.”
  • Psalm 13:5 “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”
  • Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
  • Psalm 28:7 “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”
  • Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
  • Psalm 57:7 “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody!”
  • Romans 10:9-10 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

 

*Not the actual title, but this is a family blog . . .

** No, I did not watch the musical when it came out. At that time I was busy watching Romper Room, Soupy Sales, Sagebrush Shorty, and Looney Tunes cartoons. I’m not that old.

The Myth of Independence

“The Myth of Independence.” A strange title for a blog the day before our July 4th celebration of Independence Day! Actually, I toned down the title a little; it was going to be called, “The Independence Delusion,” but I didn’t want any of my readers to think I was calling them delusional. (Of course, some of you may think that the description applies to the author of this blog . . . )

Calling the idea of independence a myth is not a political statement. It is not a slam against the holiday nor against our nation’s history or sovereignty. I do not long for those days of yesteryear when we were English colonies ruled by King George the Something. No, my comment about the mythical nature of our ideas of independence is much broader than that.

My position is two-fold. First, that none of us is independent in our personal or social lives. We need other people. Even the most “self-made man” (as we used to call a successful person) depended on others to get where he is. And second, that’s the way God desired and designed us to be – dependent on each other, and ultimately, on him.

We are truly dependent on each other and on God, and that’s the way God intended us to be.

Let’s look briefly at each point, since I know you’d rather get out and grill something and watch fireworks and celebrate Independence Day than read some guy’s blog. So here goes:

First: we are dependent on each other from the start of our lives to the very end. We are born not on our own, but we were conceived, gestated, born, nursed, fed, sheltered, and clothed all by the loving acts of our parents (or other guardians if something happens to them). We are taught and acculturated by family, school teachers, books and other media produced by others. The languages we speak were created and passed on by others: I don’t speak Richeddyese; I speak English and smatterings of other languages developed and taught to me by other people.

Then it comes to our material needs, which are met by things produced by other people. I could survive for a while eating grubs and berries and tasty insects, but all the food I eat was grown or raised and processed by others. (As Luther said, it’s good we have farmers, because if we were all pastors we would starve without anyone to grow us our food!) We even depend on others for the water we drink: not that they created it, but they filter, purify, and pump it into our homes and workplaces. And some people bottle that water and sell it to us at high prices! And how do we buy that and other products? With money and a monetary system created and regulated by others.

And what about our clothes, our homes, our cars, our computers and phones, our TVs and radios – for all these things we depend on others to create, manufacture, distribute, and repair. Sure, we could sew fig leaves together for clothing (that was tried once) but given my luck, I’d probably grab poison ivy or stinging nettle by mistake.

Then we get into categories like medicine, medications, medical equipment and instruments, physicians, other skilled health care workers, and care-givers. And what about police, firefighters and rescue workers, armed forces to defend our country, and government services to protect us and help us in case of personal need or social tragedies.

Even the most successful billionaire who thinks he or she has done it all and doesn’t need anyone else is delusional: they only got to where they were by the help of others, including lenders, partners, employees, and customers – or wealthy parents or a rich uncle.

I thought about the myth of independence when I first heard Hank Williams, Jr.’s song, “Country Boy Can Survive.” I like the song’s tune, Hank’s voice, and the pride in self-reliance it proclaims, but it’s that last thing, self-reliance where I also have an issue. The main point of the song is that “country folks” know how to take care of themselves from living close to the land with old-fashioned values. One verse goes like this:

I live in the back woods you see, A woman and the kids and a dog and me. I got a shotgun, a rifle, and a 4-wheel drive. And a country boy can survive; Country folks can survive.

What bothered me about the song was not the skills that country folks have (which can be awesome) , but Hank’s mention of some of the tools of their self-reliance: shotgun, rifle, and 4-wheel drive truck. Where did they get those things? Did they make them themselves? No. Or were they manufactured by city folks somewhere? What about the ammo for their shotgun and rifle? Did they make that? What happens when they run out of bullets? Sure, they can load their own ammo – but where do they get the gunpowder, brass casings, slugs, etc. to load more rounds? And as for the 4-wheeler, did they manufacture that themselves? And what about the gasoline to run it? (Okay, maybe they could use moonshine instead.)

Our need for each other extends to basic social interactions as well. We need human contact for our mental health, and even to be fully human. Children left abandoned or unheld as babies can become feral or emotionally ill; this was the case in Romania where infants were warehoused in large orphanages without human touch; they failed to develop physically, mentally, and emotionally. In prisons, one of the hardest punishments is to be put in solitary confinement, away from most interactions. Studies show serious physical and mental effects on prisoners, such as migraines, digestive problems, anxiety, hallucinations, heart palpitations, and paranoia, to name just a few.

Let me illustrate how hard isolation can be: in 1951, McGill University conducted a study of volunteers who were to spend six weeks in isolation. They all quit after just one week, unable to take it any longer.

We are truly dependent on each other – as John Donne famously wrote in 1624, “No man is an island.” But is that a weakness? An aberration? Are we just not tough enough to make it on our own, socially, mentally, and materially when we should be able to? No, the fact is that our need for others, our mutual dependence, is hard-wired into us. It is an essential trait of being human.

Second: that is because God designed us that way. This is a point that is worthy of its own book, let alone a complete blog article, but I think I can lay out enough evidence here to justify my claim. God designed us to be dependent in two ways: on each other, and on him.

Regarding our dependence on other people, we can go right back to the creation. The very act of creating us male and female and commanding us to reproduce requires some social interaction (actually of the most intimate kind), provision, and protection. In that day of creation, after God made Adam, he pronounced, “It is not good for the man to be alone,” which right there shows God’s intent for us to need each other. So he created Eve – who was dependent on Adam’s rib for her existence. He proclaimed in Genesis 3 that the woman’s desire would be for her husband, again showing interpersonal need. God’s judgment of Cain in Genesis 4 showed the falsity of Cain’s attempt to deny his responsibility to care for his brother (let alone not to murder him!). Even the fact that of all animals, we are the most helpless at birth, born needing others to provide and care for us, is proof that God intended us to be dependent on each other.

Psalm 133:1 proclaims, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” and Proverbs 18:22 says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.” Christ, the all-powerful Creator of the world, surrounded himself with disciples to join in his work of proclaiming the kingdom of God. And as he hung dying on the cross, Jesus made sure his mother would be cared for by his disciple, John. These are just hints of God’s design for humanity.

But our ultimate, hard-wired and essential dependence is on God. At the most basic level, neither we nor the earth itself would exist apart from God (Psalm 8 and Genesis 1 and 2). We would cease to exist if God ever withdrew his sustaining power: Acts 17:28 proclaims, “In him we live and move and have our being,” and Colossians 1:16-17 tells us that Christ is our Creator, who made us “and in him all things hold together.” Psalm 145:15 tells of our need for God’s provision, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.”

We affirm this dependence on God in the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread,” which we know from the Small catechism includes much more than bread, extending to all our material needs. And note that our dependence is a daily thing: our prayer asks him to give us our needs this day; tomorrow is a new day and our dependence is new once again (it actually never goes away).

Our dependence on God finds its final and complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who by his love and grace did what no “self-made man (or woman)” could ever do, and that is to reconcile us to God through his death and resurrection. We depend totally on Christ for our forgiveness and for eternal life; recognizing that dependence and knowing that Christ meets that need for us is the very definition of faith.

So, let’s not perpetuate the “myth of independence,” for we are truly dependent on each other and on God, and that’s the way God intended us to be. And have a great 4th of July celebration!

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: Psalm 8, Colossians 1:15-20

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

I recently had one of THOSE telephone calls.

You know the kind I mean; in fact, you’ve probably received the same call yourself. A recorded woman’s voice begins in mid-sentence, warning you that you are in trouble with the IRS. She says that a criminal lawsuit has been filed against you, and that if you don’t reply, the “local cops” are on their way to arrest you. She then gives you a phone number to call, which she urges you to do right away. She closes with a pleasant, “Good bye.”

Whenever I get those calls, I just shake my head and hang up. I know the IRS doesn’t make such calls (not that I’ve experienced any real IRS calls myself), and recognize that the mid-sentence start is intentional to create tension in the hearers that they have missed important information. The hearers are more likely to call to find out what they need to know, which makes them more vulnerable to the scammers who sent that recorded message.

I watched a couple YouTube videos recorded by people who actually called the number and pretended to believe the warning. The person answering at that number identified himself as an IRS agent and gave some badge number. (Based on the accent, the IRS must hire only agents in India to answer phones.) The scammer explained that the victim owed thousands of dollars in back taxes and penalties, and that the IRS believed the person intentionally cheated on their taxes. To which the pretend victim expressed horror and asked what he or she could do to avoid going to prison. The scammer connected the caller to his “supervisor” who offered to reduce the amount owed and drop the criminal charges if the caller would go right away to a Target or Walmart store and buy hundreds of dollars of pre-paid debit or gift cards and mail them to a specified address. Of course, the person pretending to be a sucker never actually sends the money or cards, after which the scammer usually starts cussing and threatening before hanging up.

While watching the scammers get scammed is somewhat entertaining and appeals to my sense of justice, what amazes me is the brazen, in-your-face dishonesty of the scammers. Not only are they bold-face lying to people and upsetting them in order to steal their cash, they don’t care how much it hurts the person they scam. When one intended victim explained she had only $800 in the bank, and was a single mom with four kids to feed, the scammer just asked how fast she could send the debit cards. When another intended victim said his mother was dying and needed pain medicine, the scammer asked how close the Walmart was so he could wire them cash. How hardhearted such scammers are!

You would think that such scams would fail, and yet they succeed often enough. Tens of thousands of people have sent and lost millions of dollars. How is it that the victims believed the scammers? Partly because of our mistaken belief that people are basically good. When someone tells us something, we tend to believe them right away. After all, we depend on honest communication for practically everything in our lives, from our parents teaching us life skills, to our school-day education, to safety rules, to work assignments, to loving relationships, to our doctor’s prescriptions, to our religious faith and teachings. Most of what we hear is true, or at worst, mistaken; rarely have we experienced blatant lies, so when someone tells us something and sounds authoritative, our default reaction is to believe them. Why would they lie to us?

Unfortunately, I personally know two people who fell for phone scams. One supposedly won a lottery in England, and only had to send a fee/duty fee/tax which cost them $20,000 and led to threatening phone calls when they stopped sending money. The other fell for a phony online/telephone romance with someone whose purported mansion turned out to be a vacant lot in an industrial park. These are evidence of our need to believe people who sound sincere toward us.

To be honest, even when I hear the scammers’ lies, I find myself still wanting to believe them, though my mind tells me not to. I’ve always wanted to trust people, even when I learned they were lying. When I was in active pastoral ministry, I would  hear couples talk about their relationship problems, believing what they told me, until I realized from the contradictions that at least one of them was lying. People would come into the church from off the street and ask for financial help, sometimes changing their names or stories depending on which time they asked or whom they asked. One man’s mother died at least twice. Another father-son team needed gas money/bus fare to get to Arizona/Texas to see their grandfather/uncle who was dying. I actually met them at the bus station and shook my head when they ran back off the bus because there were no seats/the bus wouldn’t stop near their home before heading to L.A. Then there was the guy I bought groceries for at a store to feed his hungry children, only to have him sneak back in and return the groceries for a refund after I left.

Of course, as Christians, we are called to be honest in our dealings with others. We have the 8th Commandment not to bear false witness against our neighbor – that is, don’t lie to them! Luther explained this commandment in his Small Catechism: “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.” Thus, not only does this commandment forbid us from saying things that are outright lies, we are also forbidden from saying things that may technically be true, yet by their effect deceive or cause harm to others (unlike the scammers who didn’t care about starving kids or dying mothers, just so they got their money!). We are even commanded to consider ways that what someone tells us may not be a lie; they could be mistaken, or maybe we don’t have enough information to judge their statement as false. Thus, if a kid comes running down the block screaming he is being chased by a T-Rex, it’s possible he’s not lying . . . maybe I should look for myself or duck under cover . . . just in case!

And yet, though we are called to be honest, we know that the world in general is not. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” and Jeremiah 9:5 says, “Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.” Psalm 116:11 cries out, “All mankind are liars.” When children break something, we expect them to cover it up with a lie. When courts swear in witnesses, they threaten penalties for perjury, because they can’t count on truthful testimony by the goodness of people’s hearts. And let’s not even start talking about politics!

Why is deceit so prominent? The problem, of course, is sin. Which entered into the world as a result of . . . a lie, told by the devil, whom Jesus called “the father of lies” (John 8:44), when he lied to Eve in the Garden and told her that she would surely not die if she ate the forbidden fruit. By those words, the devil called God a liar, and revealed his own true nature. Unfortunately, the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20) believed his lie and acted upon it – falling victim to the world’s first scammer.

But although the world is full of lies, God is Truth. Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true, though everyone were a liar . . .” God’s Word is true and righteous; it is the power of salvation for all who believe. It is the sure foundation of life here and in eternity. We can trust it in all matters of faith and life, receiving faith, inspiration, strength, and hope by his Word and by his Spirit who works through the Word to call, save, and sanctify us for our benefit and God’s glory.

Therefore, we can endure a world of liars – and phone scammers – remembering to be cautious and clear-thinking, being “as sheep in the midst of wolves . . .  wise as serpents and gentle as dove” in all our dealings with the world (Matthew 10:16). We can endure the times because we know how they will end, when the Lord fulfills his promises and returns to judge the living and the dead. And when he does, he will judge all liars with the infernal father of lies, and unless they have repented and trusted in Christ for their forgiveness, they too will be thrown into the lake of fire with the devil and all the other wicked creatures (Revelation 20:10 and 21:8).

There’s an old taunt that goes, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!” On fire, indeed!

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 3, Revelation 20 and 21

Skipping Church

I skipped church last Sunday.

There. I said it. As hard as it was for a retired pastor (who always encouraged church attendance by his flock) to admit it, I skipped church. They say that confession is good for the soul, which I hope is the case, since I am confessing that to you now.

Of course, even in the midst of confession, the rational (and sinful) mind slips in a few rationalizations, or what is referred to in the legal system as “exculpatory” reasons for my absence. The first is that I attended a church service on Friday afternoon for one of our late church members, and though I did not lead it, I did listen intently to the sermon and even joined in singing the Lord’s Prayer at the close of the service (which singing may require further confession and repentance). Then, on Saturday, I participated in our church’s monthly senior luncheon, where I got to fellowship with a number of members and visitors and even got to lead the mealtime prayer. That should count for something!

But the real reason for skipping church was the onset of a head cold with sneezing and coughing, which I decided was my duty not to pass on to our members who might be in attendance. So actually, you could say I did something righteous by skipping church!

Or not. But what about this matter of attending or skipping church? What do we as Christians understand to be God’s will and our obligation in this matter? Because there can be some confusion due to different denominational teachings, I’d like to share a few ideas about what I believe the Bible, and the Church, teach on this matter.

1: First, our practice and beliefs about weekly worship go back to the act of creation itself, when God created all there is in six days, and rested on the seventh. Genesis 2:2-3 tells us, “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

2: The commandment to institutionalize man’s observance of God’s creation and rest is given in the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20:9-11, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” This command is repeated and expanded slightly in Deuteronomy 5:12-15. Obedience to this command became one of the chief hallmarks of the Israelites/Jews over the millennia and regulated their weekly lives.

3: Regulations regarding weekly Sabbath observance multiplied over the centuries as devout religious leaders developed rules to ensure compliance with the general command to keep the Sabbath holy. Some of the rules were excessive and burdensome on the people, extending even to food prep, bathing, distances you could walk, etc.

4: Jesus and his disciples ran afoul of some of these extra rules by doing such actions as healing the sick and blind, casting out a demon, and eating some wheat grains while walking through a wheat field (Matthew 12:1) – all on the Sabbath. He was harshly criticized by the Pharisees for doing so, to whom he replied in three ways:

  • First, by comparing his acts of mercy with other Sabbath-permissible acts such as circumcision (John 7:22-23) and rescuing one’s son or ox from falling into a well (Luke 14:5). He even compared his disciples eating wheat grains on the Sabbath with the time David and his starving men entered the Tabernacle and ate the holy show-bread (Bread of the Presence) that sat there (Matthew 12:2-4).
  • Second, by explaining that God’s purpose for establishing the pattern of Sabbath rest was to benefit mankind. Though it was a law, the purpose was according to God’s grace. Thus the need to serve/help people trumped the need to keep strict rules (many of which man had invented anyway).
  • And third, Jesus proclaimed that he himself was Lord of the Sabbath, and therefore he had the authority to determine what was proper or not: “And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.’” (Luke 6:5).

5: Of course, Jesus, the disciples, other Jews, and the first Christians (most of whom were Jewish) observed the Sabbath day on what we call, Saturday, the seventh day of the week. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, his followers also observed Sunday, the first day of each week, as “The Lord’s Day,” in celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Specific references to Sunday gathering and worship by Christians are made for Resurrection Day itself, the following Sunday (when Thomas showed up), and the Day of Pentecost. Acts 20 tells of believers gathered to break bread on Sunday (at which a man named Eutychus fell asleep during the sermon, fell out the window and died – a warning against falling asleep in church! Actually, Paul immediately raised him back to life . . .). Also, in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he told his readers to set aside an offering on the first day of each week (which may have been during worship). Finally, we read that John received what he recorded in the Book of Revelation while he “was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.”

6: As time went on, as the Church increased and spread among the Gentiles, and as separation from Judaism grew, Sunday became the Christian Sabbath. Apparently Pope Sylvester (AD 314-325) made the change official in the Western Church, though the practice was already common. Most Christians have kept the Sunday Sabbath ever since, except for certain groups like the Seventh-Day Adventists, the Seventh-Day Baptists, and many Messianic Jews.

So, now that we have reviewed the basis for our weekly worship services, the question comes to mind: “Do we have to go to church each week?” and from that, another question: “Is it a sin to skip church?”

To answer that, we need to go back to Jesus’ own statements about the Sabbath (and here I am accepting the Lord’s Day – Sunday – as our Sabbath). He said two essential things: first that he is the Lord of the Sabbath, and second, that the Sabbath was made for us. The Apostle Paul explained what this means in terms of observing the Sabbath by two critical verses in his letter to the Colossians. In Chapter two, verses 16 and 17, he wrote, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Sabbath was the shadow; Christ is the substance to which it points.

Keeping the Sabbath is law; but we can only keep it perfectly by faith in Christ. He is our Sabbath rest, he has fulfilled the demands of the Law and is the Sabbath personified. Therefore, if we are in him, we have kept the Sabbath, just as we have kept all the Law by believing in the One through whom grace and truth came into the world (John 1:17). Do you believe in Jesus Christ? If so, you have already fulfilled the Law, which without Christ would have condemned you for imperfectly keeping its letter and spirit. If you ever did any work on a Sunday, missed one worship service, ever felt reluctant to go to church, checked out during the sermon or scripture readings, let your mind wander to impure thoughts toward or against fellow worshipers, or failed to tithe when the offering plate came around, you have broken the commandment and have sinned! Except, the Son has set you free, so you are free indeed (John 8:36); Galatians 5:1 says, “For freedom Christ has set us free.”

Therefore, our freedom in Christ sets us free from the condemnation facing all who break any of God’s commandments, by graciously forgiving our sins and removing the burden of fear and guilt. We can skip church without fearing that we will go to hell, for the Lord of the Sabbath is taking us to heaven.

But that brings us to the second part of what Jesus said, that the Sabbath was made for us. Therefore, though we can skip church or violate the prohibition against working on Sunday, when we do we miss out on the blessings that God has in store for keeping that command. What blessings are those? On the one hand, there is the benefit of physical and mental rest, of “down-time” from the daily rigors we face at work or around the home. A day of rest gives us a “time-out” but in a good way.  On the other hand, there are the significant blessings that come from gathering with fellow Christians to worship our Lord. Besides the fellowship we share with each other – a not insignificant blessing – there is the hearing of God’s Word, the explanation and application of God’s Word in the sermons, the call to confess our sins and receive absolution, being joined with others in prayer, the reminders of Christ in the church’s furnishings and symbols (such as the altar, the candles, the crosses, etc.), and the receipt of the sacrament of Holy Communion with its promise of forgiveness.

When we gather we are strengthened and we strengthen each other – weekly, or else we may face our daily challenges weakly. Even if we don’t feel we need church (a self-delusion), other people do; our participation in worship gives testimony and support to all who are there with us. Our faithfulness is a blessing to others.

Doing so follows the pattern of the first church recorded in Acts 2, beginning with verse 42:  “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Such corporate worship is so important, the author of Hebrews exhorts us in Hebrews 10:24-25, “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.”

Martin Luther said of keeping the Sabbath: “The spiritual rest which God especially intends in this commandment is that we not only cease from our labor and trade but much more-that we let God alone work in us and that in all our powers do we do nothing of our own.” How much more could the Sabbath be made for us, than that we receive God’s spiritual blessings as well as physical and mental rest? He also condemned both a rigid legalism that focused on obedience, and a despising of the Sabbath by those who would ignore or reject it. He said we had evangelical freedom regarding the Sabbath, but should not abuse that freedom by staying away from church.

Most significantly, Luther detached Sabbath keeping from being a particular day, to the hearing and learning of God’s Word. Thus, every day was to a Sabbath, for each day we are to hear and learn from God’s Word. To give God just one day a week diminishes his role in our lives, and reduces the blessings he would give us when we recognizing him daily as our Creator and Redeemer.

So where does this leave me, a week after skipping church? I guess I’ve talked myself into making sure my absence doesn’t become a habit, for in missing church, I would be missing a lot, not worshiping and receiving blessings from the Lord of the sabbath himself.

See you Sunday!

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: Matthew 12:1-12, John 9, Acts 2:42-47

 

 

 

Odds & Ends #4

Once again, I have several different thoughts bouncing around in my skull that occasionally hit some gray matter and take hold; as in Jesus’ parable about the soils, some of these thoughts take root and grow to produce fruit, while others wither away or are snatched away before they can do any good. So here are some of those thoughts; I’ll let you be the judge as to which are useful crops and which are just weeds . . .

Brain Surgery Post-Op: My recent post about “cultural appropriation” (titled, “It’s Not Brain Surgery“) was timely, because no sooner had I posted it than I read about the flap that was occurring over a high school girl’s choice of prom dress. The girl found a very pretty used Chinese dress, and posted pictures of her wearing it to her prom. To which some people responded in social media that the girl had no business wearing that dress because she was white, not Chinese, and therefore it was “cultural appropriation.” The point of my post was that not only is the adopting or “appropriating” of someone’s cultural trait a compliment to that culture, the practice is inevitable and actually necessary; we cannot have common practices or even communication without sharing useful cultural tools such as language. Well, as it turns out, the vast majority of actual Chinese responses to the furor were positive; one Chinese official said that the girl was not showing “cultural appropriation” but rather, “cultural appreciation.” I couldn’t have said it better (but wish I had used that phrase in my post!). By the way, that dress style was itself appropriated by the Han Chinese from the Manchurian people, and only became popular in the 1920’s and 30’s after Western influence grew in China.

One of the things I wrote about was Y-Indian Guides and its positive impact on my life and my relationship with my dad. Since writing that, a couple men have told me about their own Indian Guide experiences, and what the program meant to them. Thanks for the feedback! Again, I told about Indian Guides as an example of “cultural appropriation” that did a lot of good and was intended to be complimentary to aspects of Native American cultures. I also pointed out that at times the Indian theme was misused, or “misappropriated,” when some participants were disrespectful toward the very people they claimed to imitate. I also told how Native American representatives had confronted the national Y-Indian Guides with their concerns.

What I forgot to mention was that a similar event took place at the Promise Keepers national pastors conference, held in Atlanta in 1996. Among the 40,000 pastors who attended from all over the country and many different denominations were some Native American pastors. During one very moving moment, some of the Indian pastors got up before the crowd. Their leader reminded the crowd that the White man had come and taken their land, driven them away, killed many of them and destroyed much of their culture. The crowd hushed. Then, the speaker said, “But we forgive you, because if you hadn’t come, we never would have learned about Jesus Christ.” Wow. The ultimate “cultural appropriation” was the acceptance by many Native Americans of the faith which was brought to them by the believing European Christians who had invaded their land; and for that they were eternally grateful! What they said echoed the words of Paul in Philippians 3:8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

Nothing to do but pray! One of the common phrases that Christians often hear and are annoyed by, is a statement such as, “There’s nothing left to do but pray!” The meaning is that someone has done all he could in a situation but without success, and now can only hope and pray that things turn out well. The implication is that everything is really up to us, and we must rely on our own strengths first; only when something is beyond our control do we turn to God for help. Worse yet, I suspect that many people who say that are not really intending to actually pray; they’re just expressing their hope that things turn out the way they want.

I was reminded of this phrase once again thanks to a new commercial for an online job site, which shall remain nameless here. The announcer touts their service as being much more effective at finding qualified job candidates than other job sites, or than “posting your job and just praying” for the right candidate to come along. I know the commercial is using “praying” and a synonym for “wishing,” and not making a theological statement, but that actually makes it worse. The announcer is really saying that praying equals no more than wishing, and that praying does no good. The implication is that even if there is a God, praying to him won’t help you. You may be thinking, “Okay, Rich, lighten up. It’s no big deal. He’s not really talking about praying; it’s just a commercial!” You’re right in that it’s just a commercial, but the subtle effect on us each time we hear prayer is not effective or even desirable can accumulate and bias us against something that should be a central part of our life. Hear it enough and we begin thinking that way, and eventually may start saying it ourselves.

In the Church, and in our personal lives as Christians, prayer is essential. Essential, as in being the essence or necessary part of life. Not just to accomplish something, as in praying for a favorable outcome, but to actually be a child of God. Prayer is about our relationship with God, before and beyond anything he does for us. Thus, not only did Christ pray to the Father when he did his miracles (e.g., John 11:41-44), he was in constant communication and could say that he and the Father were One (John 10:30), and that everything he did and said came from the Father (John 5:19, 8:28).

To illustrate the difference between a job site that recommends you not just “post and pray” when seeking an employee, and the Church, consider how big a part prayer plays when we seek to hire someone. At every stage of the process, we pray, because we recognize that we are not just seeking the most qualified candidate nor even the best candidate, but the right candidate, the person “of God’s own choosing” (from A Mighty Fortress by Martin Luther). Therefore we form the search/call committee by prayerfully selecting the committee members, gathering them for prayer for the process, praying for candidates, praying for and over each candidate, praying for the decision, and then asking the candidate to pray over his or her acceptance of the offer. In the case of a pastoral call, we can add prayers by our national church leaders and the assembled congregation. For the Church, it’s not “just post and pray”: it’s “pray, post, pray and pray again.”

The key to prayer is to recognize that we are calling on, depending on, and submitting to an actual, all-powerful personal being, the God of the universe who created us and invites us to come to him with all our wants and needs (Matthew 7:7-11). In other words, the God of the Bible. While prayer does change us, it is not our power that makes things happen. What changes in us is a humbling of self as we recognize our utter dependence on God, and our willing submission to his will for us. When he answers our prayers, we praise him and recognize that all good comes form him and from nothing else; Luther said this recognition is part of keeping the First Commandment, that is, to have no other gods before the true God. This does not mean that we never strive for good outcomes or use our (God-given) strengths and abilities for good purposes; it does mean that we acknowledge God’s will and power in all things.

One example of God’s power at work in response to prayer is the deliverance of Europe from the Mongol hordes in the 1200’s. In 1242 the Mongol army, 130,000 soldiers under their leader Batu, swept across Russia, defeating the Rus, the Poles, and the Hungarians. All Christian Europe lay defenseless before them, their armies having been annihilated. The people of Europe put aside their quarreling differences, gathered in their churches, and prayed for deliverance from certain destruction. The invasion stopped. The great Khan back in Mongolia had suddenly died, and in order for him to be proclaimed the new Khan, Batu had to return to the homeland. So he stopped the attacks, and returned to the East. When the Mongols resumed their attacks toward the end of the century, the Christian kingdoms had rearmed and were able to mount an effective defense, eventually pushing the Mongols out of Eastern Europe. You could say that the 13th Century Christians of Europe had “nothing left to do but pray. . .”

Update on my sister: Just a closing note to thank all of you who have been praying for my sister during her recent medical crisis. She did suffer the amputation of her remaining leg, and had several weeks of difficult recovery due to the effects of the anesthesia and other medical conditions. Thanks to answered prayer, she is now back in her home with her beloved doggies, thinking clearly, and in much better spirits. Thank you for your prayers, and to our Lord for his gracious provision!

That’s all for now. As you celebrate Pentecost tomorrow, may the Holy Spirit give you peace in knowing God’s love and forgiveness, and strength to meet your challenges – both daily and special.

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 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount)

 

 

 

 

 

A Day Worth Remembering

There are special days in our lives that we find significant enough to commemorate with anniversaries. What are some of those that you celebrate loudly or mourn quietly? This week is full of significant days for me and my family: yesterday was my sister’s 60th birthday; today is Karen and my 44th(!) wedding anniversary (and Star Wars Day – May the Fourth be with you!); tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo (156th anniversary of the Mexican victory against the French at the Battle of Puebla) and our town’s annual Western Day parade and festival.

Every day is an anniversary of something for someone – a birthday, a wedding anniversary, a job or promotion anniversary, a graduation, a sobriety milestone, or the remembrance of the death of a loved one. And then there are those anniversaries celebrated nationally as holidays: Christmas, New Years, Presidents Day, and Mother’s Day, to mention just a few. Some entail big gatherings and parties, such as Thanksgiving; others are marked with  community parades and sporting events, like New Years. Some are more somber in tone, such as Memorial Day, others more celebratory like July 4th.

Each occasion has become almost ritualized into being remembered in certain ways – you wouldn’t expect to see a Mardis Gras style parade on Veterans Day, or hear a bugler play “Taps” at a New Years Eve countdown, or have the Blue Angels fly over my house on my birthday (though they did fly overhead on my birthday, once!). So, commemorations of significant days’ anniversaries have become important to almost all of us.

But is it a good and proper thing to do? I can hear some objections to annually celebrating anniversaries or remembering more somber events:

  1. Don’t anniversaries keep us mired in the past? We can’t go back and change the past, so let’s live in the moment and be fully present for those around us. Look forward and build new memories rather than trying to hold on to past glories or feelings.
  2. Most such anniversaries, especially at a national level, change or lose their meaning and reason for existing over time. Do Cinco de Mayo celebrants really even know about the 1862 Battle of Puebla when they lift their glasses of cerveza? Do people think about the end of World War I on Veterans Day (which used to be called Armistice Day)? Then there’s Columbus Day, which doesn’t quite have the support it once did. And what about St. Patrick’s Day, which is named after someone who wasn’t Irish or Roman Catholic? Unfortunately, the same can be true about our most important Christian holy-days, Christmas and Easter: what do Grinches and bunnies carrying eggs have to do with the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
  3. There’s also the cost of such celebrating. Think how much we spend on costumes, decorations, and vast quantities of party food – money that could go to pay bills or feed the needy. Are we being good stewards of our resources to blow our money on New Years parties or Mardis Gras beads?
  4. And there are so many different days to remember! Who can keep them all straight? (Asked by a guy who forgot his wife’s birthday . . . no, not me . . . I took my wife on a trip for her birthday . . . I’m just saying . . .).
  5. There are some, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who say birthday celebrations are a pagan practice not celebrated by believers in the Bible. Only two birthdays are mentioned in Scripture, both involving non-believers and both ending in murder. (Genesis 40:20-22 – Pharaoh; and Mark 6:21-29 – Herod).

So then, what about remembering the anniversaries of special days and events? Right, or wrong?

The answer for me comes from Scripture, regardless of the bad actors like Pharaoh and Herod whose problem was corrupt life-and-death power, not celebrating birthdays. God has not only allowed us to hold anniversary celebrations, he actually commanded it!

  1. Right from the beginning, God established order in the cosmos, for the purpose of people being able to mark the timing of events. In Genesis 1:14, God created the celestial lights “for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.” Then he established the Sabbath Day as a day of rest for people to remember that he rested on the seventh day of creation: “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:3).
  2. When God gave the Law to Moses and the Israelites, he codified the celebration of the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15).
  3. Most importantly, when God acted to deliver his people and save us from enemies or from our own sins, he commanded us to remember what he did for us. He freed the Israelites from the Egyptians at the Passover, which he commanded them to celebrate every year (Exodus 12:14,17 -“And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.”) The Israelites and then the Jews celebrated important feasts throughout the year to mark what God had done.
  4. Even our Lord, when he instituted Holy Communion at the Last Supper, commanded that we are to do this, “In remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19), and Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
  5. The Christian church year is comprised of one anniversary celebration after another: Christmas, Epiphany, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Reformation Day, All Saints Day and so on. Each remembers some special work of God on our behalf through his Son, Jesus Christ.
  6. Speaking of whom, the weekly Christian worship on the Lord’s Day (Sunday) is actually a miniature Easter celebration. We can rightly proclaim, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!” every Sunday – actually every day, because he is still risen!

Okay, so celebrating the works of God through Christ in creation and redemption are worthy of celebration; but what about those special days in our personal lives? What about birthday and anniversaries, for example? I believe they are important days. too, and rightfully celebrated. Not only are they important in our life stories, markers of significant events we want to remember, they also are part of Christ’s story in us. We remember our baptisms, our confirmations, our conversions; we celebrate our marriages (blessed by God who gave our first two parents to each other in marriage, and who blessed the wedding feast at Cana in John 2); we remember the promises of resurrection and eternal life when we commemorate the passing of someone we love.

Christ became one of us, and lived life as one of us, in order to redeem us and reconcile us to the Father. Why would he not celebrate the good days in our lives, and weep with us at the sad days? He rejoiced when someone showed faith in him, and he wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, even though he knew he would raise him. And Scripture says the angels in heaven rejoice at the salvation of even one sinner (Luke 15:10).

Oh yeah, and the Bible even tells us Jesus’ age at two points in his life. (Luke 2:42 and Luke 3:23) Do you think his parents might have had birthday celebrations for him?

So, go ahead and celebrate those special days in your life: birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, especially those days that mark what Christ has done for you and me. Those are days worth remembering!  As for me, I’m thinking maybe tacos for tomorrow . . . Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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 40, Mark 6, and Colossians 2:16-19

 

 

It’s Not Brain Surgery

Back in my first career as a YMCA youth director, I recruited and directed the local Y-Indian Guide program. In this way I was following in my dad’s footsteps, for he had done the same for three YMCAs where he worked. Not only was he the “Wandering Brave” or “Roaming Sachem” for those programs, he also included me as Little Brave to his Big Brave in two of the cities. Actually, I was in the program longer than most boys got to be since my dad was the director, and it was good for him to be a participating member as well as overall leader.

My Indian name was Running Deer and he was Walking Deer, and our “tribe” chose the Kickapoo name for our group of six or seven pairs of braves. The program’s slogan, which we repeated at each meeting, was to be “Pals forever with my dad/son.” I enjoyed the meetings and outings, much like a Scout troop, except our dads had to be present with us at each event. This program was certainly one of the reasons my dad and I had a close relationship right up to his passing in 2013.

So it was an honor for me to lead the program in the YMCAs where I worked. Of course, not everyone understood how the program worked. One dad, a brain surgeon signed up himself and his son after the tribes had already been formed. I checked the rosters, found a placement for them, and called his office to give him the news. The conversation went like this:

  • Receptionist: “Hello, Dr. Mirabile’s office.”
  • Me: “Hi, could I speak to Dr. Mirabile, please?”
  • Receptionist: “I’m sorry, Dr. Mirabile is in surgery right now. Could I take a message?”
  • Me: “(pause) Yes, could you tell him that Wandering Brave called and that I found a tribe for him.”
  • Receptionist: “(pause) Would you repeat that please?”
  • Me: “Tell him that Wandering Brave called and that I found a tribe for him.”
  • Receptionist: “Are you one of the doctor’s patients?”

I also remember the day that I arrived at one school to give my recruitment talk to an assembly of grade school boys: as I pulled up to the school, Harry Chapin’s song, “Cat’s in the Cradle,” about a dad who was always too busy with work to spend time with his son, was playing on the radio, and as the final strains of the father lamenting that his boy had “grown up just like me” played, I had to stop and literally wipe away a tear before I could head into the school. I can tell you that my talk that day was the most fired-up one I ever gave, knowing the importance of helping dads and sons build life-long relationships. Later, we expanded to include dads and daughters in the Y-Indian Princess program.

So, how are these programs, that once impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of families each year, doing today? Well, they’re gone, relegated to the fond memories of the vast numbers of “Little Braves” who are now middle-aged adults and seniors. In its place is a program called “Adventure Guides,” which is much smaller and less visible than the original. Hopefully, it still build family bonds the way the program did when I was a Little Brave.

What happened to the program? It was shut down due to increasing complaints about it being culturally insensitive, demeaning, and even racist toward Native Americans. My first awareness of the issue came while I was still a Wandering Brave. I heard that a delegation of Indians had attended the national Indian Guide convention and presented their criticisms of the program. At the time, I was surprised, since to me the program honored the Indian by copying what we saw as positive traits such as strong father-son bonds and reverence for nature. After all, the program got its name – and start – when a real Indian guide from the Ojibwa tribe named Joe Friday commented to the white man he led on a fishing trip, “The Indian father raises his son. He teaches his son to hunt, to track, to fish, to walk softly and silently in the forest, to know the meaning and purpose of life and all that he must know, while the white man allows the mother to raise his son.” These remarks stung the white man, Harold Keltner, who happened to be a YMCA leader. He took it to heart, and with the Ojibwa man’s help, started the Indian Guide program in 1926. So to me, learning about Indian cultures and emulating the father-son traditions were all very positive.

When I read the complaints, though, I recognized that the program had not always been kind to Native Americans or their culture. Fathers and dads sometimes chose goofy names like Running Bear (Bare), Y tribes mimicked Indian dances and adopted stereotypical words (e.g., “squaw”) and broken English (“Me gettum food for camp-out”) in their meetings, satirical logos were used, and religious ceremonies were copied for entertainment. And while some groups studied the culture and history of their namesake tribe, too often the participants just used Hollywood Indian generalities. Admitting these shortcomings, the national YMCA tried to clean up the program, but eventually, decided to drop the ethnic connection.

So, you may ask, why this excursion into Rich’s ancient history? Simply because the issues raised around the Y-Indian Guide program are still relevant today; in fact, the issues have grown in public discussions and are being applied to all kinds of situations. People are being charged with “cultural appropriation,” which is defined by the Oxford Living (online) Dictionary as, “The unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.” Like when a white kid like me dressed up as an American Indian and called myself Running Deer – though I am not apologetic for having done so.

It’s actually become a hot issue, as the term is used as an accusation against people who use or adopt another culture or components of a culture as their own. The assumption is that doing so is insulting and wrong. But is it? I’ve been mulling over the term and its use, especially as it relates to our faith, and offer the following observations:

  • I would make a distinction between appropriation and misappropriation.
    • appropriation is adopting things from another culture which one finds useful, beneficial, attractive, or enjoyable. People like what they see or hear, and desires to make it part of their own lifestyle. Thus, no matter where cell phones originated, people of almost every country and culture use them.
    • misappropriation is adopting aspects of another person’s culture in a way that is harmful, insulting, demeaning, or mocking to that other person. Plagiarism is a form of misappropriation, as is outright stealing. The sin of coveting is about wanting to appropriate for oneself what belongs to others.
  • Appropriation of another’s cultural traits proves the  statement, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” It says, “I really like what you do/eat/wear and would like to adopt it in my life.” It is a compliment to the person or culture that developed it.
  • People everywhere and throughout the ages have had to solve the same basic challenges of life – food, shelter, clothing, protection, language, reproduction, and so on. They have solved them in different ways based on their different resources and experiences. We can learn from each other how to meet life’s challenges by following their example. Thus, people can learn to eat certain plants and avoid others by observing the experiences of other societies. For example: Native Americans introduced corn and potatoes to the European explorers; where would we be without French fries and corn-on-the-cob today? (Note: French fries are just called that; we didn’t misappropriate them from the French. Likewise, when I introduced a Frenchman to French toast, he made a face and said he would call it “American toast.”) As one person learns from another, so one society can learn from another.
  • There would be no culture without appropriation. Everything we have, do, or say has been copied/borrowed/adopted from other cultures. If we have developed something new, the skills, material, and even thought processes have borrowed from others before us. Our world would be much plainer without the variety available to us:
    • clothing: tunics (Romans), telescopes (Dutch), dresses, pants (Germanic tribes), pajamas (Persians), sandals, hats, suits, etc.
    • food: sandwiches and blood pudding (English), bratwurst (Germans), hot dogs, hamburgers (Tartars), tacos (Mexicans), pizza (Greeks and Italians), spaghetti (Chinese), bagels and matzohs (Jews), sushi (Japanese), potatoes (Peruvians), crepes (French), corn (Mayans), curry (Indians), chocolate chip cookies (my wife), and haggis (okay, we can skip that one), etc.
    • tools and machinery, electronics. Mathematics such as Algebra (Arabs), and calculus (English and German). The alphabet (Romans who borrowed from the Greeks who borrowed from the Phoenicians).
    • language is appropriated (made one’s own) from someone else. Few of us will create a new word or thing, and if we do, it will die out and disappear unless people appropriate it for themselves. The fact you can read this blog means you understand English, which comes from the English but had been developed over centuries by contacts and infusions with other languages – including Britons, Celts, Danes, Anglo-Saxons, Normans, Latin writings, etc.
  • Appropriation is unavoidable, necessary, and desirable. Proper appropriation is done with respect, honor, attribution, and where possible, permission. The use of one trait by another culture should be a compliment and a way for that trait to persevere.

This is important to recognize because the transmission of the Christian faith depends on cultural appropriation. We are recipients of a faith first begun in the ancient Middle East. We worship with forms handed down thousands of years ago thousands of miles away. The Word of God was written in languages far different than ours, in formats (scrolls and codices) invented by other cultures. Yet those words, and that faith belong to us because we have appropriated it to ourselves (through the work of the Holy Spirit). Likewise, every time we translate the Bible to a new language using words and phrases familiar to that culture, it now belongs to them as well.

When we proclaim the Gospel to a culture other than our own, we seek to find ways to express our faith in ways that people from that culture will clearly understand. Our goal is not to make “Americans” out of the hearers, but believers in Christ. Our desire is not for them to abandon their culture for ours, but to “redeem” it by bringing Christ into their lives.

Acts 17:16-34 gives the example of Paul’s mission work in the very pagan city of Athens. He uses an object from the Athenian culture – an altar dedicated “To the unknown god” – and quotes from their own philosophers, to make a connection for them with the true God.

The ultimate example of appropriation is our Lord himself, who appropriated human form and culture to become one of us (Philippians 2:5-10), in order to save us from our sins and redeem us for eternal life. Just as he did so for us, so one day will we appropriate his heavenly inheritance for our own (Colossians 3:24, Hebrews 9:15, 1 Peter 1:4).

May your life be rich with the proper appropriation of all that is good. It’s not brain surgery – just faith in Jesus Christ.

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: Acts 17:16-34

Pardon My Bias

Back during my high school years, I discovered two books that helped shape my adult thinking and fed my interest in words, their meanings, and their impact on people, both positive and negative. One was a book by Darrell Huff called, How to Lie With Statistics. It has proven quite valuable over the years whenever I was bombarded by arguments using statistics to “prove” a point. Not only have I been able to recognize that the writers were using numbers to falsify the truth, but I have often also been able to identify the techniques the authors or speakers were using to “stack the deck” in their favor. Reading that book put me in the 99th percentile of high school students (how’s that for a statistic I just made up?).

The other book I enjoyed reading was S.I. Hayakawa’s Language in Thought and Action. This professor of English (and later President of San Francisco State University and a US senator) wrote his influential book on the role of semantics. His book dealt with how words have both denotations, or “official” dictionary meanings, and connotations, or additional meanings people find in the ways those words are used. Words therefore can have great emotional impact on their users and hearers far beyond the information their definitions provide. For example, in English usage, “man” was often added to a country’s name to designate a person from that country. Thus you had an Englishman, an Irishman, a Welshman, a Scotsman, a Frenchman, a Dutchman, etc. Likewise, a person from China was called a “Chinaman,” but because the term came to be used as an insult akin to the “N” word, that term is now very incorrect politically and therefore no longer used. The connotation has overwhelmed the denotation. Add to that now, the issue of using “man” when both men and women are included in a term, and you switch “fireman” to “fire-fighter,” and “policeman (and police woman)” to “police officer.” Again, connotations are more important than denotations when it comes to the impact of many words.

The reason I am bringing up these books, especially the one on language, is because there are some words and phrases going around today that have developed connotations that can be divisive. In fact, some terms which have legitimate usages have become weapons in our culture wars; people use them to silence their opponents and stifle speech or actions. Often, it is a case where the terms have innocent, or at least neutral, denotations, but their connotations are loaded with meanings that become “hot buttons.”

Why does this matter? It matters because we use words to convey the Word; our faith is a propositional one in which word meanings – both denotations and connotations – proclaim the Gospel message we present and affect the way in which people receive it. It is incumbent upon us to strive for the clearest meaning (even if I use the phrase “incumbent upon” instead of the more common and clearer term,”important”).

One term which has become a victim of bad connotations is the word, “bias.” It has become highly controversial today and I believe, is often used incorrectly in ways which harm our defense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Oxford Dictionary definition of bias includes the following denotation: “Inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair.” It then gives two examples: “there was evidence of bias against foreign applicants” and “the bias towards younger people in recruitment.” The dictionary definition also includes the connotation: it is “considered to be unfair.”

But is it? If you watch or listen to the news or media pundits, bias is a horrible thing we always need to avoid. The pundits charge each other with “media bias” and complain that investigators have operated with preconceived notions and biases, People speak of getting judges or reporters with no biases, so that we can trust their words as being fair and honest rather than slanted to favor one side or slam the other.

Granted, bias can be a huge problem, especially when it comes to administering our laws. We want impartial judges who can consider the facts of a case without prejudice, and render a fair and just judgment. In that realm, we work to strain out bias. If you have ever served on a jury, you know from the attorneys’ questions of the potential jurors that they want people who have not decided ahead of time against their side. (When I was once considered for jury duty, I considered wearing my clerical collar and saying, “Judge not, lest ye be judged” but chickened out. I served on that jury.)

So there are areas where we legitimately try to negate the effects of bias. Unfortunately, we often “throw out the baby with the bathwater” by discrediting legitimate testimonies and arguments by claiming the speaker is biased, and therefore doesn’t need to be listened to.

One of the areas where such charges are made is the testimony of the Apostles regarding Jesus Christ and his resurrection. “Of course,” the argument goes, “you’d expect Jesus’ followers to say good things about him and claim he resurrected; they were his followers, after all, and they were biased in his favor. Only Christians reported the resurrection. Therefore, their testimony is discredited.” Of course, we could reply that only non-believers are biased against the divinity or resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I’ll answer the charge of apostolic bias, but first, I want to state the following proposition: “Bias is not necessarily bad; in fact, it is necessary to human life.” Okay, set aside your bias against bias, and consider the following illustrations:

  • You are living in a cave with your family, while outside the wind howls and wild animals growl and roar. You huddle over a fire and eat some roots and berries you gathered during the day. You see your son reach for some white berries he picked, and recognizing they are poisonous, you swat them from his hand and grunt disapprovingly. Why? Because you know they are poisonous and you are biased against them, and in favor of the red berries your spouse picked. Then your toddler daughter walks toward the cave entrance calling “Here, kitty, kitty! Look daddy! Pretty kitty cat!” and just in time you grab your spear and slay the saber-toothed “kitty cat,” saving your daughter and providing a little meat for the family. Again, your love for your family and life experience have created a bias in you for your family and against anything that would harm them.
  • In less dire straits, we are biased for favorite sports teams, certain kinds of music, certain foods, the clothing we wear, the cars we drive, certain people we count as friends, and for things that protect our freedom, security, material needs and opportunities. Likewise we are biased against those things we know will harm us, or that just don’t taste good, look good, or smell good. We constantly make decisions based on our experiences and knowledge of what is good and bad, and that ability is absolutely necessary for our survival. We don’t need to put our hand into a fire every day to prove we are not biased toward it being hot; one burn as a kid is enough to bias us for the rest of our life.
  • Likewise, when it comes to our social interactions, bias is impossible to avoid. We learn from other people’s experiences that help us shape our understanding and preferences of the world around us. For example, I didn’t have to take up smoking to know from other people’s studies and experiences that smoking would be bad for me. I also have a bias not to take up cage fighting or run for public office, seeing how brutal both those activities can be!

The problem comes in when bias occurs either before one has sufficient facts or experience to base it on, or after learning false or bogus information. An example of the first bias, was my reluctance ahead of time to try sushi because it might contain raw fish; after I tried it I found I could enjoy it after all. (By the way, I’m still biased against trying haggis.) An example of the second one is a bias against certain nationalities or races based on prejudicial “information” given by people who say bad things about the group. This kind of bias always comes out in wartime, when the enemy is demonized in order to make them worthy of hating and killing.

Biases exist, but can we keep them in check so that they serve us, and not have us serve them? Are we willing to change our biases in light of new facts, (Proverbs 18:17) and are we careful to consider those facts in light of the biases which shaped them? Are we wiling to accept that certain biases are absolutely necessary to knowing the truth?

If so, we are ready to consider the matter of apostolic bias. Were the apostolic writers of the New Testament biased? Of course they were! John states near the end of his Gospel the purpose of his writing it: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31). John was not writing a dispassionate, objective, dry chronology of Jesus’ life and death; he was writing a Gospel, that is Good News, about the Son of God and the salvation which his death and resurrection provided him and his readers. He knew Jesus and was a personal witness to both the crucifixion and the resurrection. His bias came from what he knew, heard, and saw, and not from some preconceived notion that Jesus should be the Messiah. Likewise, Peter recounts in 2 Peter 1:16, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

I want the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ majesty and work on the cross to be completely, passionately, and factually biased toward our Savior. I want them to be willing to lose family and friends, jobs and social standing, and even their lives because they fervently believed in Jesus Christ and who he was/is and what he accomplished for our sake. Something happened that completely won these men (and the women who followed them) to Christ, and the same thing should change us.

I am biased that the Bible is true. I am biased that the worldview in the Bible is true. I am biased that Jesus Christ is the Savior, that he came, died, and rose again for our deliverance form sin and death, and that believing in him I will have eternal life. I am biased against all claims contrary to these truths, and will contend for the truth. So, I ask you, “pardon my bias,” because it is the most necessary bias of all!

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: 2 Peter 1:16-21

P.S. For a good rebuttal of the bias charge against the Apostles, check out Steven Bruecker’s article, “Were the Gospel Writers Biased,” at http://biblical worldview academy.org/were-the-gospel-writers-biased/.

 

 

A Need to Know Basis

We’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s on a need to know basis,” when speaking of certain facts that may be unknown to some people. Only those who have a “need to know” are kept informed about certain sensitive or private information. For example, a military commander may give orders to his troops who need to know their objective, but don’t need to know all the reasoning that went into selecting that objective. It’s become a cliched phrase used so often in movies, that I find myself using it with Karen; she asks me what I want for dinner and I respond with, “That’s on a need to know basis.” To which she replies, “Well, if you want anything to eat, then I need to know . . .” After which, of course, I promptly tell her!

In my last blog, I tested my readers with a series of True/False statements about things that might have happened to me. Checking with some of you, I learned that most did pretty well in ascertaining what was “Fake News” and what was true. However, when it comes to information about me, there is no real, “need to know” basis. You could have gotten those statements all right or all wrong, and it would not affect your life in the least. What’s true about me and my life is hardly important in the grand scheme of things.

That’s also true about much of what we use to fill our minds. The latest Dow Jones average, the stats of the team that won the NCAA basketball tournament, the dilemmas faced by our favorite soap opera character, whom The Bachelor picks, or what the ratings were for the Oscars; all these are transient, ephemeral details that will be replaced and soon forgotten with little permanent impact (except maybe on the stars who experienced them).

Now, that doesn’t mean there is nothing worth knowing; there certainly is! Your anniversary, where you put that winning lottery ticket, the old cheese in the back of the refrigerator, that book report on Tolstoy’s War and Peace that’s due tomorrow, the Easter egg that the kids didn’t find, and your ATM PIN number, are just a few examples. But there’s something that’s much more important to know than any of these: God’s Word as written in the Holy Bible.

Certainly, most Christians know about the Bible, and many are familiar with some of what it says, thanks to hearing sermons in church or to their own personal reading and study. I’m sure that anyone who reads this blog has more than the average level of Bible knowledge (and that’s before you started reading these articles; hopefully reading them hasn’t caused your Bible knowledge to diminish!) But just to test you a bit about how well you know your Bible, I offer the following short quiz. So, here goes: True or False?

  1. The first person to translate the Bible into English was King James of England.
  2. The Bible consist of 66 books, 36 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New.
  3. Moses took two animals of each kind onto the Ark (and 7 pairs of each clean animal).
  4. The Bible teaches, “God helps those who help themselves.”
  5. The Bible claims that two men never died, but went straight to heaven.
  6. The wise men took gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the stable in Bethlehem.
  7. The Bible says that a donkey actually spoke to a prophet.
  8. The Bible teaches that money is the root of all evil.
  9. The oldest person in the Bible lived to be 969 years old.
  10. Jesus never actually claimed to be God. It was the disciples and Paul who said he was.

The answers are at the end of this blog. See how well you did, after you finish this article!

Knowledge of the Bible itself is incredibly important. Knowing what God said (and what he didn’t say) is necessary for us to be in a right relationship with him. Are we saved by what we do, who we are, or by what we believe? Who was Jesus – just a teacher, a prophet, a model citizen, a social revolutionary, an example to follow – or Son of God and son of man, our Savior? What does Jesus’ crucifixion mean – the end of a promising ministry or its fulfillment? Who are we, who created us, and what responsibility do we have to the earth, our neighbors, and our Creator?

Knowing Scripture is also vital to counter the attacks and false claims by those who are antagonistic to Christ. A lot of nonsense and false charges are made against the Bible; knowing what it says can correct false impressions and slanders against it. One such false claim is that Jesus never claimed to be God; see the answer to Question #10 below for some of the answers to that charge.

Sharing the faith with others also requires some knowledge of what the true faith is, and it is God’s written Word that teaches us the true faith. As 1 Peter 3:15 tells us, “always be[ing] prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;” When others see our reverence for God’s Word and how it affects our lives, they will realize that the Bible is not just any book, but rather has power to transform lives – including theirs. Remember, too, that when you quote Scripture, it is not just the sound and meaning of your words that changes lives, but the Holy Spirit who accompanies God’s Word. For “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Knowing the Bible – or at least some of what Jesus called the “weightier” parts of it – by heart can also help us when we are suddenly thrust into critical situations and dire straits. The Bible calls it “laying up,” “letting the word dwell in you,” “storing up in your heart,” etc. as a way to guard our steps and guide the multiple decisions we face every day. The Holy Spirit brings these words to our active remembrance, helping us face challenges and opportunities before us. I like what Proverbs 6:21-22 says: “Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.”

And finally, one more advantage of learning Scripture: it can help you win trivia contests; but that benefit is, well, trivial. (Unless you’re a pastor being challenged by Confirmation students at a “Stump the Pastors” party!)

Let’s face it: the Bible is on a “need to know basis.” But everyone “needs to know” what it says and what it teaches. There is no excuse for a Christian to be ignorant of the Bible unless they came to faith a few minutes ago – and even then the desire to know more about one’s God and Savior should be unrelenting and all-absorbing. Like falling in love with someone and wanting to know more and more about them, reading and re-reading their love letters time and again, seeking to find every hint and shade of meaning in every word, a Christian has the privilege of having and reading the greatest love letter of all: God’s written Word. It is something we all need to know!

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: Psalm 1 and all the Scriptures referenced in the answers below

Answers to the quiz:

  1. False. The first full English translation was handwritten by John Wycliffe in the 1380s, although parts had been translated into Old and Middle English as early as the 700s. King James didn’t do any translating, but commissioned it, which was finished in 1611.
  2. True, although there are 73 books in the official Roman Catholic Bible. They add books from what we call the Apocrypha, ancient writings that we do not consider to be true Scripture.
  3. False. Moses didn’t take any animals onto the Ark; Noah did!
  4. False. That saying or teaching is not in the Bible.
  5. True. The men were Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11).
  6. False. The wise men took their gifts to Jesus in a house in Bethlehem.
  7. True. The prophet was Balaam, and it says that God opened the donkey’s mouth to chastise Balaam for beating it after it saved his life. (Numbers 22:28-30).
  8. False. 1 Timothy 6:10 teaches that the love of money is the root of all evil (or all kinds of evil).
  9. True. That person was Methuselah (Genesis 5:27). By the way, he fathered one son when he was 187 years old!
  10. False. Jesus asserted his divinity multiple times in many ways, by words and signs. One of his clearest statements was, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Another was, “Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9). And again, when Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am,” at which point the Jews picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy, since “I AM” is God’s name and they recognized what Jesus was claiming (John 8:57-59). See also Matthew 26:57-68, for how the Jewish Council condemned Jesus for blasphemy in claiming to be God.

Fake News, or Good News?

There’s been a lot of talk lately about honesty and accuracy in reporting the news. A new phrase, “Fake News,” has entered our vocabulary, and is thrown around or denied by various politicians and media pundits. While some people seem too ready to cast the term accusatorily when they read or hear something they don’t like, as if they could change reality by changing what we say about it, it really is important that we strive to speak, write and report, to the best of our ability, only what is true. We need to be able to trust what we hear, especially when it comes to things that can have an important impact on our lives. Unfortunately, some people report things that are false, not just because they themselves are misled or too lazy intellectually to check their facts, but because they intend to deceive others for some personal or political gain.

With that in mind, I thought I might test your ability to recognize “Fake News.” Following are a number of statements about myself that are either true or false. What I challenge you to do is figure out which is (or are) fake and which is (or are) true. So, here goes; true or false?

  1. I was once the only white singer in a Gospel choir.
  2. Boris Yeltsin once chided me personally and told me, “Mind your own business!”
  3. I was a National Merit Scholar.
  4. I rode a Soviet Army tank in Siberia.
  5. I won a citywide tennis tournament, undefeated in my division.
  6. I shook hands with Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton.
  7. I once invaded Canada.
  8. I found gold, rubies, and sapphires in North Carolina.
  9. I was the lector (Scripture reader) at Martin Luther’s church in Wittenberg, Germany.
  10. I visited Santa Claus Land above the Arctic Circle.

Have you decided which of the above statements are true and which are false? Answer: they are all true statements! Yes, even the claim about Santa Claus Land; it’s located in Rovaniemi, Finland, which I visited in 1988! No “Fake News” here! So score yourself accordingly: if you guessed they were all true, you are gullible (but right). If you thought they were all fake, consider yourself skeptical (but wrong). If you thought some were right and some were wrong, you are thoughtful, a discerning thinker who was still wrong part of the time.

As you can tell by my phony labels, “gullible, skeptical, and thoughtful,,” the truth of a statement or claim rests not in the perception of the hearer, but in the accuracy of what is reported. Contrary to postmodern ideas of relative truth and subjective realities, there are objective, real-life events that really happen. What we know about them is imperfect and limited, how we feel about them will be different based on who we are and how they affect us, and what we tell others about them will likely be shaded by our biases. But regardless of flawed human perceptions and motives, there is real news of real events.

This Sunday, we celebrate the greatest real event that ever occurred: the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. By rising from the dead, as he had prophesied and promised, Jesus proved his sacrificial death for the forgiveness of our sins had been accepted by God the Father, and opened the way for our eventual resurrections to eternal life. He defeated death, proving that his promises to us will also be fulfilled. This is not “Fake News,” but Good News; in fact our word Gospel comes from an old English word, godspel, which means “good news” and is a translation of the New Testament’s Greek word, “euangelion” (evangel).

Because of Christ, others were also brought back to life. There were those he raised during his ministry: Jairus’ daughter (Matthew 9, Mark 5 and Luke 8), the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7), Lazarus (John 11). Also there were those saints who rose from their graves at the moment of his death on the cross (Matthew 27:52-53). And not to be forgotten, there were those people raised in Jesus’ name by Peter (Tabitha – Acts 9:36-43) and Paul (Eutychus Acts 20:7-12). But as far as we know, each of them eventually died again, and awaits as we do the return of Christ and the bodily, permanent raising of all people, including you and me, some to eternal life, and some to eternal punishment.

Christ’s resurrection was a real, objective, historical event. It is as certain, from the perspective of history, as any other event that has ever happened on earth.

  1. There is the empty tomb.
  2. There is the failure of any doubters or persecutors of the Church to ever produce bones or other evidence of Jesus’ non-resurrection.
  3. There is the written, eye-witness testimony of multiple apostles in the New Testament.
  4. The testimonies were written shortly after the events, and texts of those testimonies dating from within 40 to 80 years of the events still survive. Compare this to Julius Caesar’s Gallic and Civil Wars, which texts date to no earlier than 1100 years after the writing, yet which everyone accepts as true history written by Caesar.
  5. There was Jesus’ appearance to the disciples, to over 500 followers, and finally to Paul.
  6. There was the self-sacrificing evangelism and willing martyrdom of the disciples. People are not likely to die for something they know to be a lie; all the disciples died for the sake of the Gospel except for John, who was persecuted and exiled on the Isle of Patmos for his preaching.
  7. There is even testimony of ancient non-Christians, who though disbelieving the resurrection, gave testimony that the early Christians believed Jesus had risen from the dead. One such testimony was a letter from a father to his son, explaining that the noontime darkness (at the crucifixion, Matthew 27:45) was not from an eclipse, since it was a full moon at the time which made a solar eclipse impossible.

Nevertheless, from the very beginning, there have been people who have cried, “Fake News!” about the claims of Christ’s resurrection. The first doubters were the disciples themselves! They doubted the women’s claims that they had seen the risen Lord, until they saw him for themselves. We think especially of Thomas, who disbelieved the other disciples’ testimony, demanding to touch Jesus’ wounds himself before he would believe.

But the ones who cried, “Fake News!” the loudest were the chief priests who had sentenced Jesus to death and convinced Pilate to carry out the sentence. We are told in Matthew 28:11-15 that they actually bribed the guards they had placed at the tomb (Matthew 27:62-66) to report that the disciples had come and stolen the body. And so the “disinformation” campaign began and was accepted by those who rejected Christ.

One of those people was a man named Saul of Tarsus, who actively persecuted the first Christians. This enemy of Christ and denier of the resurrection, was confronted by Christ himself while on the way to persecute the believers in Damascus. The encounter and call by Christ to serve him, changed Saul into the greatest of the Apostles, who as Paul wrote much of the New Testament Scriptures and established churches around the eastern Mediterranean. His testimony and theological teachings have convinced many millions of the truth and meaning of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. The truth was too much for him to deny; he had to set aside his biases and pride and submit himself to the Truth, eventually giving his life as a martyr for the faith.

That’s what the Truth finally does. It comes out, and proves itself true to all who believe now by faith, and eventually to all, by sight. For we are told in Philippians 2:9-11 that the day will come when “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

That’s not “Fake News,” but Good News! For on that day we will rejoice at Christ’s triumph and vindication, and at the final fulfillment of all God’s promises, which are “yes!” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). That’s something you can truly believe in: the Truth which Christ’s resurrection on that first Easter 2000 years ago made real.

May you have a joyous Easter celebration this year, as you celebrate the greatest Good News of all!

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

Read: John 20 and 21

 

Crossing Paths With a Celebrity

Today’s blog is from a sermon I preached at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Yuba City last Sunday, March 18th, the Fifth Sunday in Lent:

Have you ever had the chance to meet some well-known person, a celebrity such as a pro athlete or rock star? I have; in fact, I actually met several presidents before they took office, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, the Russian Boris Yeltsin (no collusion involved!), and Martti Ahtisaari (who became President of Finland and won the Nobel Peace Prize, in case you didn’t recognize his name!). But the real celebrity champ was a friend of mine who with confident boldness could almost always talk his way backstage to meet big-name performers – except for the time the Ohio State Police stopped him in his tracks from meeting the performers at the Ohio State Fair. They would not be fast-talked into letting him through. I was with him at the time, and for a moment I thought we were going to be arrested!

In last Sunday’s Gospel, we read about a group of Greeks who wanted to meet a famous celebrity of their day – Jesus of Nazareth. They approached one of the Disciples, Philip, and said, “We wish to see Jesus.” Now, we don’t know why they wanted to meet Jesus: maybe they had heard of his great miracles such as the recent raising of Lazarus from the dead; maybe they were attracted to what they had heard about his teachings; maybe they hoped that he was the long-awaited Savior, the Messiah. Or, maybe they were just thrill-seekers, wanting to add Jesus’ name to their list of famous people they had met.

We don’t know their motivation, though from the text we can learn a few things about them:

1) They were “Greeks” which could mean either gentiles, or Greek-speaking Jews. We are told that they were among those who had gone up to Jerusalem to worship during the Feast of Passover, which would have meant they were Jewish either by birth or conversion. Of all the disciples they could have approached, they chose Philip, who bore a Greek name and was from Bethsaida, a town in a region of Galilee where Greek was commonly spoken.  Philip took them to Andrew, who also had a Greek name.

2) Jesus treated their request with respect, not challenging or testing them as he so often did with the religious leaders like the Pharisees. That would lead us to believe their inquiry was due to genuine interest in Jesus, which he recognized.

3) They got more that they asked for, because Jesus laid down some heavy teachings about his impending death, including the purpose for his death and even the way he would die.

So, what did Jesus have to say to them that was so important? Let’s look at that by comparing what Jesus said to what celebrities today commonly talk about:

  • Celebrities boast of all they have gained in life: fame, money, and accomplishments in their fields; Jesus talked of losing his life and what that would accomplish for our sake.
  • Celebrities boast of their many fans, endorsements from other celebrities, and what future presidents they have met; Jesus spoke of his endorsement from God the Father.
  • Celebrities glorify themselves; Jesus glorified the Father and said he would be glorified by him.
  • Celebrities are raised up by adoring fans for their own benefit; Jesus said he would be raised up – on a cross – to benefit the world.

Jesus spoke clearly about his approaching death and compared it to a seed which falls to earth and dies. So why such a somber message from our Lord? Why would he say things that might scare off these potential Greek or Greek-speaking followers? The answer lies in the promises that came with his prophesied death:

  1. First, he promised that his death was the seed whose death would produce much fruit. Jesus’ death was not going to be a failure of his ministry. It was not the end of the road for those who believed in him. It would not be a defeat, but a victory. His death would bring about much good by producing eternal fruit in the lives of all who would believe in him. Before coming to Jerusalem for the last time, Jesus made this promise to Martha, sister of his friend Lazarus who had just died. On his way to raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus promised Martha, “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).

How did his death accomplish this? In Mark 10:45, Jesus said that he, the Son of Man, came “to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mankind was held hostage by sin, death, and the devil, unable to free itself from the consequences of its sins, so the One who was without sin had to pay the ransom price in our place. He took our punishment upon himself, and we were set free. As Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

How abundant would the fruit of Christ’s death be? 2000 years earlier, when God called Abraham, he promised that all the nations of the earth would be blessed by one of his offspring; and Revelation gives us a vision of heaven populated by a vast multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, and language. The effect in the world is such that 2000 years after the small group of disciples and women watched their Lord die, the Christian faith has more adherents and is wider spread than any other faith ever.

  1. The second promise Jesus gave that day was that God the Father will honor whoever follows and serves Christ. I’m reminded of the great scene in the movie, Chariots of Fire, in which the British athlete, Eric Liddell, refuses to run in his favored race because it was to be held on a Sunday. Everyone, even the King of England, appeals to Liddell’s patriotism, but he won’t run on the Sabbath. So instead, he runs on a different day in a different race, not his best distance, as his third race of that day. Just before the race begins, an American runner slips him a note that says, “It says in the old Book, ‘He who honors me, I will honor.’” Eric goes on to win the race. But the greatest honor was yet to come, for the following year Eric Liddell went to serve the rest of his life as a missionary in China, eventually dying in a Japanese prison camp.

Jesus didn’t say the honors would come easily; elsewhere he said that his followers had to take up their own crosses to follow him and that the world would hate them, for Christ’s sake. But the rewards of discipleship, of honoring God before others, will be great. Jesus promised that those who acknowledge him before the world, he will acknowledge before his heavenly Father (Matthew 10:32). Imagine how great that day will be, when we stand before the Judgment Seat of God: our name is read, and Jesus calls out, “It’s okay – she’s with me . . . or . . . he’s with me . . .”

  1. The third promise Jesus made was that his death would defeat the devil and all the evil that rebellious creature had brought into the world. Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.” By referring to Satan as ruler of this world, he is not denying his own or his Father’s sovereign ownership of all creation. He is referring to the fact that much of the world is living in rebellion against the true God and has made the devil their god, whether overtly through idols and demon worship, or more covertly through pursuit of wealth, material possessions, fame, pleasure, or power. To the world, the devil is their ruler; but Christ’s unjust murder by the powers of evil has revealed their bankrupt nature and brought judgment upon them. Christ’s death won victory over sin and the devil his resurrection completed the victory by defeating the wages of sin, death as well.

Of course, we still see the effects of sin everywhere in the world. It shows itself blatantly in hatred and violence, murders and wars. But it also permeates even the best of our efforts to live good lives, hurting our relationships and corrupting our institutions – whether political, economic, or religious. Even our own personal sins and mortality show that world is not yet freed of the consequences of evil.

But the difference is that evil is a defeated enemy. Like a rattlesnake that can still bite soon after it is killed, evil is still dangerous. But we know that Christ has won the victory, and that no evil can separate us from Christ’s love or final victory.

And what is the sign of Christ’s victory? His death and resurrection.

Recently I was in Indiana, where I drove past a tire shop that had a sign out front that read, “Jesus will rise, but our prices will not.” I was pleased to see a statement of Christian faith proclaimed publicly. Of course, I couldn’t help but silently correct it each time I drove by, “He already rose! It’s we who will rise, even if your prices won’t!”

As Jesus finished his message to the Greeks and those others who had gathered around him, he said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John tells us that Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die – being lifted up on a cross. But Jesus was also lifted up from the grave and from the earth at his ascension. Together, Jesus’s being lifted up means you and I will also be raised up from our graves, and lifted up from the earth to meet Jesus in the air, to be with him forever.

That’s quite a promise, and quite a message those Greeks took with them that day.

And it’s the message we should take with us in our hearts and in our mouths for the sake of all for whom Christ died. For we are ones who have “crossed” paths with the greatest Celebrity of all.

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: John 12

 

 

 

Just Not Yet

This is proving to be a very difficult article to write.

The first part is easy: to thank all of you who have been praying for my sister during her recent surgeries and for me during my 10-day visit to be with her during this trying time. Your messages sent by email and through Karen have been incredibly moving and encouraging; after about five in a row Karen sent them to me with her added note that she was tearing up just reading what you had to say. Maybe all of you should be writing blogs, instead of me!

Now comes the hard part: knowing what to tell you, and trying to put it into words that draw from our faith and the promises that God made in his Word that he would never leave us nor forsake us, that he would be a very present help in time of need.

First: deciding what to tell you. Without wanting to compromise my sister’s privacy, and recognizing that many of my reactions have been subjective, I can share just the basics: my sister went into her local hospital due to a mild heart attack and collapse of the arteries in her one remaining leg. After two surgical attempts to restore the circulation to the leg failed, the doctors determined that the leg would need to be amputated. This is about three years after losing her other leg. Knowing the blow this would be to her, and her critical condition, I flew out to be with her and help where I could. The doctors did amputate the leg on Monday the 5th. She came through fine surgically, but has medical conditions that still need attention and require her remaining under hospital care until she can be released. When she is stable enough, she will move to a rehab facility in the area.

Unfortunately, her medications and surgery have impacted her mental and emotional clarity. This has been as hard on me as was seeing her suffer before the surgery; I knew the amputation would relieve her pain and infection, but her subsequent mental and spiritual issues have no such clear ending point.

Through this all, we have prayed for a miracle, first that her circulation surgery would take, then that her leg could be saved, and now that she will recover and heal in every way.

During this time, I talked with one of our national church leaders, and after our prayer together, we agreed that we expect God to do a miracle in this situation. I still believe that God will do something powerful and amazing, but as the title of this blog states, “Just Not Yet.”

Faced with the apparent delay in answers to our prayers, I offer the following thoughts:

  1. The fact my sister made it through three serious, back-to-back surgeries in spite of complicated medical conditions, is a miracle in itself. God answered our prayers and brought her through safely. (He also brought me home safely!)
  2. We don’t know what God has in store in the days and weeks ahead. God is not bound to our timing, definitions of what a miracle is, or what kind of miracle is best for everyone. What I want to see may not be as good as what he will do.
  3. The miracle may have already begun without my knowing. God doesn’t have to tell me everything he is doing. My role is not to approve his work, but to trust him completely.
  4. This is not just fatalism or wishful thinking on my part: Jesus told us to call on the Father with all our needs in his name, and God will answer our prayers: “Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” (John 16:23). He also encouraged us to pray, saying, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11) Jesus tells us to pray, and then sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede on our behalf (Isaiah 53:12, Romans 8:34, and Acts 2:33)
  5. Dealing with my sister’s mental confusion and emotional sensitivity right now has forced me to evaluate my own response to her and her condition. While I have always loved her, we are very different in many ways, and I found that many of her responses to her situation have been difficult for me to handle. This has forced me to consider two things: one, how would I respond to having both legs amputated? And two, I realized better what unconditional love is about and what it demands. She is looking forward to being reunited with her pet dogs and cat, because they give her unconditional love. They don’t care what has happened to her; she is still their world to them. If animals can have and show such unconditional love, then so can I. After all, isn’t that the kind of love Christ showed for me? “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
  6. As I wrote in my previous blog, my faith in God and in Jesus Christ does not depend on him answering my prayers. Along with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, I say that our God is able to deliver us, “But if not . . .” still I will worship only him (Daniel 3). Likewise, as Job said in the midst of his physical and emotional anguish, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15), and “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) Therefore, even if there is no further apparent miracle, my faith will not be shaken.

Finally, please continue to pray for her. She has a long road to recovery ahead of her, with serious changes in her life as a result of the surgery. Please pray especially for a strengthening of the true faith in her heart and mind, that she may trust fully in Christ’s atoning work on the cross for her salvation. Let her have assurance of the greatest unconditional love of all, that of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And thanks again for your prayers!

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: Matthew 7 and Job 1

 

 

But If Not . . .

This post is a hard one.

As I write this, my sister is undergoing surgery to restore circulation to her foot through an arterial bypass in her leg. The surgery is serious and dangerous, given that she has other health problems, including heart failure. What is especially concerning at this moment is that the first attempt at the bypass seemed to go well, then quickly failed and needs to be redone. So . . . right now she is in the followup surgery.

We are praying for her to come through the surgery, and for the bypass to work well; she already lost her other leg a couple years ago due to similar circulation problems, and having to lose this one would be devastating.

We are praying for successful surgery and healing for two reasons: first, because she needs the healing, and second, because we believe God can and many times does heal, often in answer to prayer. So the prayers are going out to our church’s prayer chain, and to family members and friends.

But what if she doesn’t heal? We were thanking God when she came out of her first surgery, when everything seemed to go smoothly and the bypass was working. But why then the complication? Does it mean that God doesn’t love her? Does it mean she didn’t deserve the surgery to go well, either due to some flaw or sin or lack of good works on her part? Does it mean she didn’t have enough faith? Does it mean that we are not praying hard enough in the right way? No, none of these reasons is valid.

So why then, does my sister have these critical health problems? The answer is: we don’t know. Sure, there are medical reasons that we can point to, but they just push the same question back further: why did she have those medical issues in the first place? Why does one person get cancer and others do not? Why does someone get diabetes and other do not? Why ALS, why Altzheimer’s, why leukemia, etc.? Why do high school kids get shot during classes in one town, or on the streets of another town? We don’t know why any particular person gets sick or hurt or killed, other than to point to the fact that ALL of us are mortal and have bodies that one day will give out, no matter how healthy we may be right now.

Another question we could – and should – ask is, why does God heal anyone? Why does God protect us from harm and preserve our life as much as he does? And why does God promise us eternal life in resurrected bodies that will never again become ill or be injured or die (Revelation 21:4 and 1 Corinthians 15:42-57)? God didn’t have to create us in the first place (Genesis 1:26-27), nor sustain our lives each moment we live (Colossians 1:15-17), nor make a way for us to have eternal life (John 3:16). But he did! And why did he do that? For that question, we have an answer: God created, sustains, and will raise us imperishable because he loves us.

So how do we respond to the possibility that God doesn’t answer our prayers for healing or protection? Do we get angry at God and turn away from him? Do we doubt his love or his power? As God asked Moses when that leader doubted God’s ability to provide for all the Israelites, “Is the LORD’s arm too short?” What do we do?

God’s Word provides us a lesson for such times, which I presented in the book I am writing about miracles. Let me share with you the following excerpt from the chapter titled, “But If Not.”

Three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, stood before the mighty king of Babylon, knowing that their lives could well depend on their next words. Although they held favored positions in the kingdom, that would not save them from King Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath, for they had flouted his authority by refusing to obey his command. And kings do not like to be flouted.

To most people in the Kingdom of Babylon, the king’s edict was harmless enough: whenever anyone heard musical instruments being played, he or she was to fall down and worship a huge golden statue that the king had set up. But to faithful Jews such as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, worshiping a graven image was forbidden by God, and therefore they had not obeyed. Now hauled before the king and given the choice between bowing down and being thrown into a fiery furnace, the three men gave their answer: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18, emphasis mine).

But if not. Note carefully what they said: they knew that God was fully able to save them from the furnace, but even if he did not, they would still hold true to their faith and obey God. Their faith and trust in God was not dependent on his miraculous intervention to rescue them; they trusted in him no matter what would happen to them.

I want to emphasize one point to you in the strongest terms. I praise God in gratitude for his amazing blessings. I honor him as he deserves and I am extremely thankful for every special thing he has done, but  . . . my faith in God and in his Christ does not depend on the personal helps he has given me.

My faith in God and in his Christ does not depend on the personal helps he has given me.

I believe in God and in his Son, Jesus Christ, because I trust what the Bible says. If God helps me with a problem, protects me from danger, heals me or someone I love from illness or injury, or provides my material needs, then well and good, and I am thankful; but if not, I will still believe and trust in him. Should everything suddenly go badly in my life, I will not stop believing in my Savior.

Likewise, although God has given me signs of his presence and power at many critical points in my life, I do not depend on those signs to trust God or to discern God’s will for my life. God did not need to give me any signs to validate what he promised in Scripture, even though he sometimes did so to help me when my faith was weak, or in response to my prayers. But whether he gave them or not was his decision.

God is God. I will praise him and pray to him, whatever comes for my sister – or for me or for anyone else. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

Read: Daniel 3

(Update: the second surgery seems not to be working either; she is now in the ICU post-op waiting to see what develops. Please pray for her.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Random Musings

Today, I thought I would share several short musings which have lately been bouncing around in my head. (Which should be a concern, that there’s so much room in there for several things to be bouncing around!) So, in order to clear out the debris and create enough space to let new things bounce around, here are some of what I have been thinking about, in no particular order:

First, there was the super-blood-blue-moon that appeared on the night of January 31st. Even though the eclipse didn’t begin until almost 4 am and continued until almost 5:30, Karen and I watched a good portion of the event (throwing off our sleep schedule for a couple days!). It really was cool; the moon was large, sort of an orange color, and we watched the earth’s shadow creep over the moon’s surface until it was completely covered. And the great thing was, unlike with the solar eclipse, we didn’t have to drive up to Oregon to see it! But besides the visual phenomenon of the event, what impressed me was that astronomers were able to predict that the event was going to occur, when it would occur – the specific day and hours, and what it would look like. How did they know? For the same reason that star- and sky-watchers all through the ages have been able to predict eclipses, seasonal equinoxes and solstices, and planetary alignments: the regularity of the natural world and its cycles. There is order to the universe, created by God who as the Bible tells us, is not a god of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Genesis 1:14 says that when God created the heavenly bodies, he commanded, “And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years . . .” They could hardly mark times and seasons if their movements were random and chaotic. God is a God of order. We can count on a succession of day and night, as well as so many other physical and natural properties, to sustain life and provide our material needs.

The Bible teaches us that God created order out of chaos in the physical realm (Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form and void. . .”), and he does so also in the spiritual realm. Though our sinful rebellion has tainted an otherwise perfect creation, and has led to our spiritual chaos and death, God has restored spiritual order by sending his Son into the world to reconcile us and the world to the God of order. Paul can write about how all creation has longed for the day when we are restored as the children of God and creation itself will be free from all the effects of our sin (Romans 8:18-25). When Christ returns, the old things will be made new – and the perfect order of spirit, matter, and energy will become as God desired it to be when he first created us. When that happens, any “blood moons” will only serve to remind us of the shed blood of Christ which made the restoration of perfect order possible.

Second, there was the niche. Earlier this week I accompanied a church member to a local cemetery to say a few words of committal for her husband’s ashes as she placed them in their niche. I spoke the time-honored words, “In the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to come, we commit our brother’s body to its resting place – earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” and she carefully set the box into the niche. We watched  the cemetery worker close the niche and then sat and talked while looking at the niche with its temporary label.

The niche was part of a small columbarium, a short wall filled with similar niches for urns containing what are called “cremains.” (The term columbarium comes from the Latin word “columba” and originally referred to compartmentalized housing for doves and pigeons.) As my eyes scanned the wall, I saw that about half of the compartments were already filled; this particular columbarium had full-color pictures of the deceased on each niche, along with each person’s name and life-dates. What struck me as I scanned the face-plates and names was the “inclusive” nature of those who had died and been placed there: men and women, young and old, black and white, Asian, and Hispanic. The names reflected a wide range of ethnicities, and some of the information was written in Chinese and other Asian characters.

To me this inclusivity was not politically or socially significant; its significance was spiritual. What it spoke to me was the inclusivity of death. No matter our background, race, age, gender (real or perceived), social or income status, strength or weakness, popularity or lack thereof, every one of us will die (or more nicely put, “pass away”). Scripture says, “it is appointed for man to die once” (Hebrews 9:27), because “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). And yes, the term “man” here is inclusive. Unless we are alive when Christ returns (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17), we will all face death.

But of course, that’s not the end of the story; although the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Because God loves us and does not desire that anyone should perish (2 Peter 3:9) he has provided his Son, Jesus Christ, as the path to resurrection and eternal life. For God so loved the world . . . that is everyone . . . he sent his Son. After his own resurrection, Jesus gave an inclusive command to his disciples, that they were to take the Gospel to the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). The result will be the greatest gathering ever of all the nations of the world, when heaven will be filled with “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9).

That’s an inclusivity that will put the columbarium I saw to shame.

Third, there was the immigration checkpoint. Karen and I just recently vacationed in Arizona. After seeing the big Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, we drove down to the frontier town/tourist trap known as Tombstone, “The Town Too Tough to Die.” While preparing for the trip, we noted a couple things. First, that new, more secure, ID cards will soon be required for all flights in the US; and  second, that the map showed a US Immigration checkpoint on the highway just north of Tombstone – not at the Mexican border, but 50 miles inland from it.

Putting these things together, we decided we wanted to be sure to have definitive identification papers with us, so we took along our US passports – the plastic card versions. In my mind, I imagined us being stopped at the checkpoint and asked to show proof of citizenship; I would smile and whip out my passport, humbling the officer who would apologize and wave us on through. Of course, he would have to check Karen’s, too . . .

We passed the checkpoint on the way south into Tombstone, and saw that they were checking north-bound cars only. At the time we passed, there were several cars stopped in line being checked. We continued on into town, smiling knowingly that we would be ready for our turn the next day. Since we arrived early in the day, we went and did our touristy things, had dinner, and retired to the motel for the night.

Then it was morning – the big day of our Immigration Validation! We packed up and carefully put our passport cards where they could be easily produced, and headed north out of town. There it was! Just ahead! The US Customs and Border checkpoint. And there were no other cars ahead or behind us; they would have an uninterrupted chance to inspect us, our ID’s, and the car. What would they find? What would they say? The tension mounted as we approached. We slowed down as the speed limit decreased, until we came to the designated stopping point. Out from the booth stepped an agent: here it was – the moment we had prepared for – and the agent took one look at us, smiled, waved us on though, and said, “Have a nice day!”

That’s it?! All that preparation, and all he did was wave us through!? Did he profile us? Did we look that harmless? Were we so obviously gringos that he didn’t need to see our IDs? Couldn’t he have stopped us and at least made a show of inspecting the car? He could have found a banana from the motel in the suitcase – would that qualify as contraband? I was so disappointed that we didn’t have to show our cards – but I was polite, so I just shouted “!Gracias!” as we drove on through . . .*

Of course, the experience did raise one question I’d like to ask you: if heaven had an immigration checkpoint to get in (manned by St. Peter, of course), how would you prove your citizenship to be allowed in? Scripture says our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), but on what basis?

That’s it for this time. Until later,

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 8, Romans 8

 

*Actually, Karen talked me out of it . . .

Happy Candlemas Day!

Happy Candlemas Day, or as it is known in some circles, Happy Groundhog Day!

I know what you’re thinking: “Okay, Pastor, what do you mean, ‘Candlemas Day’? Did you mean to say ‘Christmas’ and the spell-checker changed it to ‘Candlemas,’ instead?” Not likely, since my spell-checker has flagged “Candlemas” as a misspelling. Apparently, whoever programmed the spell-checker was as unfamiliar with the celebration of Candlemas, as most Americans are, and as I was (until just today!).

So, what is Candlemas? It is an ancient Christian holiday, still celebrated by many churches in various parts of the world, which commemorates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, 40 days after he “opened the womb” (Luke 2:23) – that is, the 40th day after Christmas, or February 2nd. It was traditionally on that day that Mary and Joseph followed the Jewish law and presented the baby Jesus to God in the Temple, redeeming him with the offering of two turtledoves or pigeons (Luke 2:22-38). During that visit, an aged prophetess named Anna, and an elderly man named Simeon, came to them and recognized that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting to see. Simeon took Jesus into his arms and prophesied that Jesus was his salvation, and that Jesus would be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:32). Because of the reference here, and elsewhere, to Jesus being “the light,” Christians often light candles on Candlemas or take them to church to be blessed that day in celebration of Jesus as the true Light that came into the world (John 1:9). (See also John 8:12, “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”)

Interestingly, and appropriately, I was already pondering the matter of light and darkness today before I came across information about Candlemas. What got me thinking about it was the more well-known (at least in America) celebration known as Groundhog Day. Yes, I confess I was more knowledgeable about a goofy secular tradition than about an ancient Christian holiday! But what had struck me this year about Groundhog Day, from a spiritual point of view, was how Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and was therefore frightened back into his hole for six more weeks of winter, or so the superstition goes.

Now, I don’t take that prediction seriously. Sure, it is an economic boon to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where people flock to watch the annual groundhog celebration, but there is no correlation, let alone causation, between the groundhog casting a shadow and the weather patterns that follow. So that is not what interested me.

What interested me was this question: assuming a groundhog comes out on a bright day, a day when the sunlight casts its shadow, and it is frightened enough to run back underground, what is it really being afraid of? (Besides the crowds of spectators?!) You could read it either of two ways, either of which could have spiritual symbolism.

1. First, there is the possibility that the groundhog sees its shadow (as the tradition says) and is frightened by the darkness and runs away. I see a connection between the shadow and all the evil things in the world which might frighten us: disease, crime, war, an asteroid hitting earth, a super-blood-blue-moon, temptations, or the devil and his demons. We rightly avoid or even run away from certain evils when we can, not putting ourselves in situations or relationships which might endanger us physically or spiritually. In fact, Scripture tells us to have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness (a list of such deeds is found in Galatians 5:19-21) and even to flee from them (1Corinthians 6:18). Paul admonishes us in Romans 13:12, to “cast off the deeds of darkness, and put on the armor of light.”

At the same time, though we avoid such works of darkness, we need not fear them, for Scripture promises us that we are “more than conquerors,” and that nothing, not even death, can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37-39). He is in us, and is more powerful than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Therefore, we don’t need to live in constant fear of our shadow, worrying about what is going to happen to us. Nothing can take the Lord by surprise; God’s “got our back,” and the rest of us, too.

Sometimes it is right to stand up, speak out against, or take action against the forces of evil in the world. There is a time and place for our rulers to “bear the sword” (Romans 13) to restrain evil, and for you and me to speak out and rebuke wrongdoing. But ultimately, the remedy against darkness is light, specifically the Light which is Jesus Christ. As the Gospel spreads and people are converted from the kingdoms of this world to the kingdom of heaven, darkness is pushed back and the light advances. Every person redeemed from evil and brought to Christ is a defeat for the devil and a victory for God. While governments bear the sword, the Church (which is all Christians) bears the Gospel. And as the Gospel advances and pushes back evil, we see the continuing fulfillment of the prophecy, “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light,” – the Light of life who is Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:46).

2. Of course, there’s a second possibility with good old Phil the groundhog: maybe he’s not really afraid of his shadow; maybe he’s afraid of the bright sun. Likewise, those who do evil, or like to dwell in sinful deeds, shun the light. We know from experience that many sins and crimes take place in the dark, away from people’s eyes that would see the acts of wrongdoing. There are hours of the night when it’s just not safe to be out walking – or even driving. Sometimes evil deeds take place in hidden places, but often at night, when the darkness of the night matches the darkness of the person’s heart and hides them from sight.

Scripture teaches this also, saying that people rejected the Light of the world because they loved the deeds of darkness: “The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). They didn’t want the light to shine and reveal their evil thoughts and works, so like cockroaches that scurry for shelter when you turn on the kitchen light, they too try to cover up their misdeeds.

The only problem is that God sees all; the darkness is as night to him (Psalm 139:12), and he will hold everyone accountable for the hidden deeds they do in the dark. God is not mocked, he cannot be fooled or avoided or rationalized against. What is done in darkness will be revealed – and that is why many people hate to hear the Word of God, because it convicts them of the wrong they are doing. It sheds light on their deeds of darkness, and they try to jump back in their holes to avoid the painful light of God’s righteous truth.

As Christians, we should never have to fear someone finding out what we were doing. We should never be scandalized by a microphone that is left on, by a phone call or text made to the wrong person, or by something we did when “no one was watching.” We should welcome the light of truth being shone on us, because our actions are showing what it means to live in the light of Christ. Transparency in government is nothing compared to transparency in the life of a Christian.

So there you have it. As your life reflects the light of the true Light who came into the world, I hope you had a great Groundhog Day, I mean, Candlemas Day. Oh, and be sure to dress warmly for the next six weeks – just in case Phil was right!

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: Psalm 139, John 1:1-18, Galatians 6:1-10

 

 

 

 

Spiritual Gluttony

This week I tried out a new restaurant and the experience reminded me of a spiritual truth.

A friend of mine and I had lunch at a restaurant – new to us and to our town – that specializes in a kind of Chinese food that I hadn’t had before: Taiwanese hot pots (no, not that kind of pot, even if it’s legal now!). This was different from other Chinese foods I have long enjoyed, such as Cantonese and Szechuan dishes, and even faux-Chinese foods such as chop-suey and fortune cookies (which are both American inventions). The new restaurant’s food turned out to be quite tasty, so I’ll find some excuse to go back there sometime in the future. Although, there are so many other restaurants I haven’t yet tried and really should: a man’s work is never done. . .

So what spiritual truth did I think about? Was it that gluttony is one of the “seven deadly sins” as decreed by Pope Gregory in 590 AD? After all, according to medieval scholar Thomas Aquinas, gluttony is not just eating too much food; it can also be committed by eating too expensively, too daintily, too soon, or too eagerly! (So maybe I do need to repent!)

No, the spiritual lesson that came to mind was the similarity between my enjoying new culinary experiences by trying out new restaurants and food varieties, and something that the Church has struggled with over the centuries, something that theologians refer to as, “novelty.” That is, the desire of people to seek novel, or new, spiritual ideas and experiences beyond what God has already revealed in his Word and in the historic Christian Church’s teachings.

This desire for spiritual novelty shows itself in several ways.

1. One way is by seeking new beliefs. The old beliefs may be difficult to understand or accept, so some people seek ideas that are more to their liking. They hear an interpretation that sounds better, so they abandon what they were taught for the “novel” idea. This is how many of the historical heresies arose; for example, when people found it hard to understand how Jesus could be both God and man, they fell into one of two opposite but equally false doctrines: adoptionism, which taught that Jesus was just a man chosen and empowered by God to be the Savior, and docetism, which taught that Jesus only seemed to be a man, but was in reality only God (or a god!). The Nicene Creed was written as it was primarily to counter a popular heresy of its day, Arianism, which taught that Jesus was just a man. Thus, the Creed states that Jesus Christ is “true God from true God, begotten not made, of one being with the Father.”

Paul refers to this tendency to seek other teachings in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

One of my professors at seminary warned us “budding theologians” against pursuing novel doctrines. He put it this way: because the Church has studied and wrestled with the Scriptures for a couple thousand years now, it has considered all the legitimate options for understanding any passage. Therefore, if you do your diligence and study multiple commentaries on a certain biblical passage, and you come up with a new interpretation different from all those you read, then you are wrong. Not just different, but wrong.

[If] you come up with a new interpretation different from all those you read, then you are wrong.

Another reason people seek new teachings is that the old ones are just that: old. As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt, and when people hear the “same old, same old” over and over again, they may become mentally bored with hearing the “old, old story” no matter how true and wonderful it is. A new teaching sounds exciting; it stimulates the mind and gets them thinking in new ways. They feel they are at the cutting edge of religious thought, and feel pride (another deadly sin!) in their intellectual ability. Besides, how could something written 2000-3000 years ago have relevance to today’s digital world and rapidly changing social norms? The truth that we are still the same people with the same sins and the same righteous Lord and Savior gets left behind in their drive to stay up-to-date.

You can understand the challenge Bible-honoring preachers face. We must take eternal, unchanging truths and make them understandable, interesting, and clearly seen to be relevant, to a culture that has “heard it all before.” We need to keep our message fresh to each new generation, and to those who have heard it their entire lives. And we need to do so again and again, never changing the core message. As one stand-up comedian said, “I could never be a pastor – to have to face the same audience every week and come up with new material each time just terrifies me!” Fortunately, we pastors have a great source book to draw from!

2. Another way is by seeking new spiritual experiences. People can hold to the right doctrines and still be given to seeking “novelty” in their faith by becoming addicted to the spiritual “highs” that come from certain religious activities. These may be conferences, retreats, mission trips, or small group meetings. They may include healing services, the use or witnessing of charismatic gifts, or a big-name evangelist’s crusade. Whatever the event, people go from one “mountain-top” experience to another, always restless with their mundane church life until they can go do something again to feel closer to God. They come back from the event or activity all aglow and happy, but after a while the glow fades as the daily grind takes hold. They begin to long for the next event to recapture the glow once again.

Is there anything wrong with those activities I mentioned? No, such things can be God-honoring and believer-edifying. We all enjoy some of them from time to time. The problem comes when they serve as an addictive drug for the participants, when the activity, rather than Christ, takes center stage. The events become an end in themselves. We participate to get our “fix” rather than fixing our eyes on Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

Another problem with seeking new experiences is that they can deceive us. Just because something makes us feel good or spiritual doesn’t mean that it is from God or beneficial to us and our faith. An experience may touch us deeply, evoking powerful emotions and giving us a sense of release and healing, yet not be good for us at all. Our subjective feelings are not a good indicator of true spirituality. Like the former hit song, “If loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right,” we can find many reasons to validate our feelings, even when they go contrary to God’s will and Word. Doing something that feels right to us is no defense either in a court of law or before God.

The other problem with seeking new experiences is the tendency it creates to minimize the objective truth of the Scriptures. Our faith is based on God’s Word, and is true however we feel about it. Whether we feel sad or happy, angry or peaceful, strong or weak, the promises of the Christian faith are there day after day and are unchanging. When we base our contentment on how excited we feel, we diminish God’s promises and the solid fact of what Christ did for us. Does my knowing about Christ make me happy? Absolutely! But even if I don’t feel happy, I still know what Christ did for me on the cross, and that is enough!

But even if I don’t feel happy, I still know what Christ did for me on the cross, and that is enough!

3. Finally, people may seek novelty in a new church: Just as hearing the same doctrines may get old to us, sometimes we just get tired of the same songs, the same decorations, the same order of service, and dare I say it – the same preacher(s). We want something new and more exciting. We’re feeling a little bored at church and know that out there somewhere is the perfect church just waiting for us: a fast-growing church with great music, happy and sinless people, rousing preachers, and a feeling of being where God is doing a special work.

There may be good reasons to change churches: your current church or denomination may have departed the faith and started teaching heresies (that is what brought Karen and me to The AALC and St Peter’s). Or you are genuinely called by God to change churches for the purpose of serving a church where God has a place and mission for you (again, relevant to Karen and me coming to St. Peter’s). Or if by staying, you would damage the current church or cause a schism to develop and split the congregation (not relevant to Karen and me). Or, of course, if you move away. The biblical example of separation is the split between Paul and Barnabas, who had worked together on their first missionary journey, then split and led two different missions with other partners – to the end that twice as many people were reached with the Gospel.

But unless there is a genuine call from God to leave your church and join another church, there are real problems with church-shopping or church-hopping. One is that you never really belong to one body; the more you leave over whatever reason, the easier it is to leave the next time. When Karen and I moved to Indiana, it took a couple years before we joined a church. Even though we attended services, we kept looking for the right church to join and didn’t find it – until we went ahead and joined a church anyway – the church where I would eventually receive my direct call from God into the ministry.

Another problem is that whatever issues you had in your previous church, unless they are resolved, will carry over spiritually into your new situation. If you had something against the pastor, guess what – that will eat at you even years later. And of course, the other big problem with looking for the perfect church is: there is no such thing. There is no perfect church out there – this side of heaven – that will make you happy.

As with job changes, sometimes it is better to change yourself in your job, than to change your job. Sometimes it is better to examine yourself, repent, and let the Spirit change you in your current church, than to change churches. A new and better you is better than a new church, any day!

A new and better you is better than a new church, any day!

So is it wrong to try out new foods or restaurants? No, of course not; Jesus himself showed that all foods were permissible (Mark 7:19 – “Thus he declared all foods clean.”). But don’t let that enjoyment of new experiences at the table intrude into your faith, for it is a precious and life-giving food which was “once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). That’s better than spiritual gluttony. Chew on that!

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: 2 Timothy 4, Hebrews 12

 

 

 

 

This Is Not a Drill

By now, just about everyone has heard about the false alarm sounded in Hawaii last Saturday morning. A government emergency management employee pushed the wrong button during a test of the state’s emergency notification system, and a million people received a text message that a ballistic missile was inbound on Hawaii. It told people to seek shelter and ominously added the warning: “This is not a drill.”

For thirty-eight minutes, until the state sent a new message saying the alert was a false alarm, people scrambled to find shelters such as bathtubs, storm drains, and reverse slopes of nearby mountains. Many thought the end was near, with one newlywed couple despairing that their new life together would end as soon as it had begun. When the alert was cancelled, the people certainly felt relief, but also anger that such a scary mistake had even happened. Others have since expressed my concern that the false alarm could have a “boy who cried wolf” effect, so that any future real emergency alerts could be ignored.

When I heard about the false alarm, I thought back to my early grade-school years. During those days, the nuclear threat from the Soviets seemed very real. Civil Defense groups and shelters were organized (I remember one being in the basement of the YMCA building where my dad worked), some people built underground fallout shelters in their back yards, and schools held air raid drills. Yes, I grew up with those: when the school alarm sounded, we all had to leave our classrooms and line up along the hallway walls, with our hands on our heads and our heads tucked between our knees. They never told us what we were to do next if there had been an attack, but since they were just drills, we always went back to our desks and classes resumed.

Later, when I was in college, someone had a poster in his room which gave the same air raid instructions, but with a slight twist: the final line read, “Tuck your head between your knees and kiss your (you-know-what) good-bye.” That irreverent poster poked fun at the naïveté that thought our actions would save us from a real atomic bomb, but you have to remember those days were less than 15 years from the end of World War II, during which people did survive bombs and missiles. Also in defense of those drills was their usefulness in doubling as tornado drills; the procedures were exactly the same, and the likelihood of a tornado was much greater.*

Today (January 15) I was listening to Tom Sullivan’s talk radio show, and after talking about the false alarm in Hawaii, he asked a very good question: “What would you do if you heard that a nuclear missile was headed your way?” The responses were all over the place: one caller said he would go up onto his roof to watch the fireworks, another said he would start drinking because he heard that radiation cannot pass through alcohol (he was joking), while others said they would just express their love to those they care about and wait for the end. People generally realized that trying to evacuate their city would just result in massive traffic jams, and that there was nothing they could do to survive the attack. I guess those fallout shelters of the 1950’s and 60’s weren’t such a bad idea after all . . .

Tom’s question and the various answers seemed to center on practical, physical actions that people might consider when faced with such an impending disaster. Would they try to flee, hunker down in their homes, or seek better shelter nearby? That’s an interesting question, one that everyone should at least consider. Having a family action plan in preparation for any disaster is a good idea, whether that be for a tornado, a hurricane, an earthquake, a volcano, a riot, the zombie apocalypse, or a nuclear attack. Having a few provisions, extra food, water, and clothing on hand is always prudent.

But while practical actions can be important, I am more concerned with people’s spiritual preparation for the end. If you knew absolutely that today is your last day on earth, what would you do about it? How would you spend your day?

  • Will you try to avoid thinking about it by keeping entertained or by self-medicating with drugs or alcohol?
  • Will you contact all your friends and family to tell them you love them and say good-bye?
  • Will you reconcile with those whom you have wronged, and forgive those who wronged you?
  • Will you spend your last hours in prayer, reading the Scriptures, confessing your sins and receiving forgiveness?
  • Or will you charge up a bunch of stuff on Amazon and opt for same-day delivery?

The question about your spiritual preparation for “the end” is not an idle, hypothetical exercise. After all, we all face the end in one way or another. If it’s not a nuclear missile flying our way, it could be a car accident, a wildfire, a mudslide, a sudden or chronic illness, or a violent crime, to name just a few dangers. However our lives end, they will end, unless the Lord returns before we die – and if he does, then spiritual preparations will mean everything!

So how do we prepare? God’s Word gives us instructions:

  1. Recognize that we are mortal, and that we will die. “For dust you are and to dust shall you return.” (Genesis 3:19) and “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) and “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls.” (1 Peter 1:24). These are just a few among many passages that affirm our mortality.
  2. Rejoice that God loves you and has provided a way for you to overcome death and live forever – through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. John 3:16 summarizes God’s love and provision through Christ; other verses include 1 Peter 3:9, which says that God does not wish “that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” And let’s not forget Jesus’ own promise in John 11:25-26, “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.”
  3. Realize that the time of our departure is not up to us. Jesus told a parable about a rich farmer who delighted in his bounteous crop and built bigger barns to hold all his harvest. “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you!” (Luke 12:20). Similarly, Jesus warned that no one knows the day or hour of his own return; he said he would return like a thief in the night, so we should always be ready. (Matthew 24:43, also in 1 Thessalonians 5:2)
  4. Reconcile to God through faith in Jesus Christ, and to others with whom you may have hard feelings. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;” (2 Corinthians 5:18). Ask forgiveness for the wrongs you have done, and forgive others who have wronged you. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:23-24, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
  5. Receive God’s own peace, the peace that passes understanding, that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)

These are good practices whether we know a missile is on its way, or not; after all, even though we pray that day will never come, our own personal time is approaching. And as for putting your head between your knees, how about just putting your knees on the floor, bowing your head, and spending time in prayer to your Creator and Redeemer instead?

After all, this is not a drill!

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

Read: John 3, 1 Thessalonians 4

*(In fact, a tornado hit a church preschool in Franklin, Indiana during a tornado drill, destroying all the classrooms but not harming anyone, since they were safely in the hallway, heads tucked between their knees . . . I spoke with one of the firemen who responded to the tornado; he said that it happened on a beautiful day, and that the preschool director ordered the drill after a passing thought that they hadn’t had a drill in a while. When the fireman arrived on scene, he was in horror and expected to find bodies everywhere, but found instead that no one was hurt. He said it was absolutely God’s protection that saved the children.)

 

 

Happy Second Year!

It has now been one full year since I retired, and one year that I have been writing my blog. It’s hard to believe that twelve months have gone by so quickly!

  1. Karen and I have enjoyed the lighter schedule and increased time together, and we have been able to get some household projects done (and to do some travel when we were tired of doing household projects!). We visited family and friends back in the Midwest twice, once in May and the second time in October. And, we drove to Oregon in August to get a better view of the eclipse and learned that our best tent camping days – no, make that, all our tent camping days – are behind us.
  2. For the first time in my adult life, I was no longer under an employer’s health plan, so we had to navigate the uncharted waters of our changing health system. Being of mature age, I came under Medicare, and found I needed to pursue not only supplemental and drug coverages, but also locate a doctor who was taking on new patients. Without going into too much detail, let me just say that after two months, I finally got hooked up; which was after being assigned to a retired doctor no longer in practice, then to a doctor who quit halfway through my first exam with him (was it something I said?), then to an obstetrician (true!) before finding the right physician.
  3. We have continued to worship at St. Peter’s, and have enjoyed friendships and participating in events sponsored by the men’s and women’s groups. Karen has continued to be active by leading the very-busy email and daytime Prayer Chains, and by coordinating funeral luncheons for the church’s Women of LIFE.
  4. As far as my ministry involvement, I conducted four funeral services, filled in to preach and teach one Sunday, taught a couple advanced Bethel Bible Series classes, and conducted a chapel program for our church’s school. Then, in the fall, Karen and I attended the AALC’s 500th Anniversary of the Reformation celebration in Minnesota. While there, I gave presentations as Martin Luther during the two luncheons. Other than not being able to fully relax until the second presentation ended, I enjoyed the chance to teach and entertain with the Reformation and Gospel truths which brother Martin discovered. The new issue of the AALC newsletter, The Evangel, has a wonderful article about the celebration and the part I played.
  5. And then there’s the blog . . . I remember the second article I wrote last January in which I pondered what I might write about next (“Okay, Now What?” Jan 19, 2017). I was afraid I would run out of ideas before last February, but then I thought, “Hey, I’m a pastor! I’m used to speaking and writing about all kinds of things!” What’s even better, since I can’t see my audience when blogging, I don’t get discouraged to see people sleeping, checking their phones, or leaving in the middle of my sermon! As it turned out, last week I posted my 45th blog! It’s still hard to believe there have been that many. Of course, each time I sit down to blog, I still ask myself, “Okay, now what?” but the ideas come and my fingers start flying across the keyboard (Okay, that’s a euphemism for my typing style known as “hunt and peck” or what a German friend once called, “Die Adler Methode [the eagle method] – hover and dive!” Personally, I call it the “Biblical Method” – “seek and ye shall find”. . .). If there is one thing about my youth I would change if I could, I would have taken typing in school. (“Typing” is an archaic word that meant, “keyboarding” and was done on a manual typewriter using an inked ribbon. You can Google those terms if you are under 40.)
  6. Your responses to my articles have been especially gratifying; some of you have written comments which show up in the blog, others have sent email notes separately, and still others have spoken to Karen or me personally with requests to keep blogging. Whether you actually enjoy the blogs or just want to keep me busy and out of trouble (“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”), I am grateful for your encouraging words.
  7. There are two things that I was sure I would get done in 2017 that are still in the “unfinished” category:
  • Cleaning out the clutter and accumulation of books and other stuff from the 20 years we have lived in our current home, not to mention our 43 years of marriage (See “Too Much Stuff” from Feb 18, 2017 for more details). We are discussing the options: storage shed, storage unit, large dumpster, or moving away quietly in the middle of the night. No decision yet . . .
  • Finishing and publishing my book, Raising Ebenezers, which is in the revision stage. I really must complete it so I can get on to writing the Great American Novel. I actually have one in mind; it starts off with a clever opening, “It was a dark and stormy night . . .” I will announce publishing plans and progress for Raising Ebenezers as soon as I know them.

8. Finally, there’s one spiritual matter I’d like to share briefly, and that has to do with how retirement has affected my understanding of who I am in Christ. After five years preparing for ministry (part-time and full- time seminary studies), a year of internship, and 22 years of pastoral service, it was quite a change to no longer be a pastor of St. Peter’s. I was used to people seeing and talking to me as their pastor, asking my counsel, and offering their help in areas of ministry. I was used to many meetings and staff working relationships. In a sense, I defined myself by my work (as men usually do) but more so because I was serving the Lord. Now, as a retiree, I still have friends at church, but the relationship is necessarily different – not worse or better – just different.

Likewise, my self-understanding is different. Who am I in Christ? I am still me, the person God has called and saved as his own. I am loved of God and love him in return (“We love because he first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19). That has not changed. After all, I don’t believe in Christ because I was a pastor; I was a pastor because I believe in Christ – and was called by him to serve in that calling.

A year ago I wrote this in my first blog: “I understand my retirement as not so much retiring from one vocation, as retiring to a different one, a new vocation. This new vocation is also a call from God to serve Him, but in a new way.” Only by recognizing that God calls us into different seasons in our lives, have I been freed to relax and enjoy this time, even as I stay alert to new calls which God may give in 2018 (such as my recent appointment to the AALC Clergy Commission). Please pray for me to always be faithful to Christ and his call, whatever that may be!

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:  1 John 4

Late to the Party?

During the final weeks of the old year, there were many parties and other celebrations which commemorated the birth of Jesus Christ – at least in our circles. For many other people, the parties were more about the onset of winter and the arrival of a new year. But for us, Christ was at the center. So, with many of our church friends, we attended our school’s elementary Christmas program, the Sunday school program, a Christmas Choir Cantata, the Christmas Home Tour, and a house party. To ensure good parking places and good seating – not to mention politeness to those hosting the events – we made a point of arriving on time, or even early. It was the right thing to do!

Likewise, the shepherds were on time to their Christmas party. They made it on time, of course, because they were in nearby fields when Jesus was born, and they were summed by what you might call a “singing telegram.” (And yes, you can still send them!) You can almost hear the angel’s words as recorded in Luke 2 announcing the birth and commanding the shepherds to go and see for themselves: “Stop shaking and get off your duffs and go check out the stable . . .” Well, actually, it was more like, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12) They made it to the party on time, and got to see their newborn Savior with his mother Mary and Joseph. That just started their celebration, for we are told that they went from there, glorifying and praising God for what they saw. Party hearty!

But for some people, some very important people, you might say they were late to the party, They didn’t make it there for the blessed event because they began their journey far to the East. These “latecomers” were the wise men – magi as the Bible text of Matthew 2 calls them – who also received word of the birth. Their notice was by way of a special star that rose, signalling the birth of the Messiah – the King of the Jews. Whether the star appeared at the moment of Jesus’ birth, and it took a while for the magi to prepare for their trip, or whether the magi set out as soon as the star appeared later on, we don’t know  – the Greek words in verse 2 can be translated either as “For we saw his star when it rose,” or “For we saw his star in the east.” – though I favor the first translation based on what happened later. Either way, they saw the star, knew its significance, and set out to see Christ, and to bring him gifts to bless and honor him. So in their case, the “baby shower” came after the birth! And how many magi were there? Answer all together now, “We don’t know; all it says is that they brought three kinds of gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Correct! The names often ascribed to the magi – Balthazar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Caspar) – come from an Armenian tradition and not from the Bible.

The evidence that they arrived long after the birth is found in Matthew 2.

  1. The first point is found in verse 11: “And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.” House, not stable. There’s no mention of the manger, so it is obvious some time has passed with Mary and Joseph staying in Bethlehem with the infant Jesus until the time was right to leave.
  2. The second point is the Greek words used to describe Jesus: Luke calls him a brephos (baby), while Matthew uses the term, paidiov, (little child). This difference implies some aging between the two events.
  3. When King Herod decided to kill Jesus to remove any potential rival to his throne, he ordered the murder of all the boys in Bethlehem, and in the region around it, who were two years old or under. Why that range? Verse 16 tells us that age was “according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” which meant from when the star first appeared. This event is called the “Massacre of the Innocents,” and those murdered boys are considered the first martyrs for Christ.

Since the wise men weren’t at the stable, does that mean we have to clean up our manger scenes and get rid of the (always) three wise men figures, their camels, and their gifts? You can if you want, but I’ll keep them in our nativity sets, especially the one made of balsa wood that I hand-carved for our first Christmas, 43 years ago. Because even though the magi were late for the first party, they threw an incredible second party when they finally got there! And the point of the manger scenes is to celebrate Christ taking on flesh and becoming one of us, regardless of who got there or when.

There’s also a special reason to celebrate the arrival of the wise men, and that is the fact that the magi were Gentiles – non-Jews – to whom the Savior was revealed, and who came to find and worship Christ as King. Their arrival is celebrated today, January 6, and is the start of the Church season known as Epiphany. Epiphany means “manifestation,” or “appearing,” and marks the revealing of Christ as the Son of God to the world, including both Jew and Gentile. During this season we mark the arrival of the wise men, the ministry of John the Baptist and the baptism of Christ, Jesus’ first miracle at Cana, Peter’s confession of Jesus as Christ and Son of God, and Christ’s Transfiguration before his closest disciples. Together, these events signify Christ’s true identity and nature.

There’s another reason for the delayed arrival of the wise men to Bethlehem, and it leads me to the opinion that maybe the magi weren’t late after all: maybe they arrived perfectly on time and according to God’s plan. For their job was not only to announce that the kingship of Christ would be for the whole world, it was also to provide the material riches they bestowed on Jesus and his family. Sure, their gifts had powerful, symbolic meanings, but they were also valuable resources that would provide for Jesus and his earthly parents during the years they fled to Egypt. The magi also indirectly triggered the escape by informing Herod about Jesus’ birth without returning to Herod to tell him Jesus’ specific location. Their gifts kept Jesus safe until Herod died, and fulfilled the prophecy that God would call his Son out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15).

So in God’s plan, the shepherds had one role, the wise men another, and you and I have still another. The story of the wise men should encourage us all in our faith, for no matter how “late” in life we come to believe, God has a place for us in his eternal house, and he promises that the party will be absolutely AWESOME!

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: Matthew Chapter 2