BOOTSTRAPPING

Job 8:1-11:20; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28; Psalm 38:1-22; Proverbs 21:28-29

“Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty? Such knowledge is higher than the heavens—and who are you? It is deeper than the underworld—what do you know? … If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer! Get rid of your sins, and leave all iniquity behind you. Then your face will brighten with innocence. You will be strong and free of fear. You will forget your misery…. You will have courage because you have hope.”

“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.”

“For I am waiting for you, O Lord. You must answer for me, O Lord my God.”

“The wicked bluff their way through, but the virtuous think before they act.”

Back in the days of John Wayne westerns, life seemed a whole lot simpler. Then, adversity didn’t seem quite as real, and certainly not so overwhelming. For a kid like me, it was reassuring to know The Duke could always be counted on to pull himself up by his bootstraps when the chips were down. While the fantasy he represented never quite attained immortality – oh, how I hated Bruce Dern in The Cowboys for slaying my idol – as long as we could hear that Texas drawl, we could muster our own courage and had reason for hope.

The Duke is gone now. I’ve crossed the half century mark, and the world has gotten a lot more complex. Very bad things are happening to very good people, while the wicked clearly prosper. Hope is an ever more elusive commodity. People are literally giving up on God, then on themselves. Our leaders don’t know where to turn for answers, and many of us in the rank and file feel lost and abandoned by the society and communities we helped build. This is just not how things are supposed to be, and the idea that we can simply pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and tough it out seems more and more unrealistic.

Several weeks ago, though, I committed to changing my perspective and being more positive. Doing so is easier said than done under present conditions. What is becoming clear is that optimism is not just an act of will; it is an act of living faith. It is no good - and can be downright dangerous, pardner – just to blithely ignore the obvious, especially when the obvious is getting more and more difficult to ignore. But on the other hand, we need to understand what it is we are looking for to keep us afloat in the chaos. Simply, I think we’re looking for that one sign of hope that will give us courage again. Many of us are depleted by circumstances. We need to reconnect with some source of power outside ourselves that will renew our strength and lift us up. Like Job, we don’t need comfort or criticism. We need hope.

What different approaches Zophar and Paul apply to the need for hope! Adopting a fatalistic, “you should have seen it coming and brought it on yourself” mantra, Zophar essentially tries to whip Job back into shape. Unfortunately, like a prizefighter who has taken one too many shots to the head, the only fight left in Job is to resent the ones who claim he did not fight hard enough. He has no strength to bootstrap himself off the canvas; he is down for the count and needs to know someone in his corner can and will help him up. Paul turns things completely around. Whatever our own condition, the first, most important thing he wants us to know is that Christ is in our corner just waiting for permission to lift us up. He knows what it’s like to get knocked down; He knows what it’s like to suffer for things He did not do or cause. He understands being poured completely out, but He also experienced resurrection, and because He did, so can we. This is THE matter of first importance, for without it, ultimately, all of life pretty much dissolves into vanity and futility.

Christians have reason for hope. Our faintheartedness is a reflection of our weariness, and our weariness is a reflection of our loss of enthusiasm for the new life and courage Christ provides. Cling tightly to the resurrection! When we allow our faith in the empty tomb to slip through our fingers, we give up on the only power that is really capable of lifting us up. Being more positive is not an act of bootstrapping. It is instead a recognition that God wasn’t kidding when He offered us eternal life. We walk a much surer path when we keep our eyes off the ground.

FRIENDS IN NEED

Job 4:1-7:21; 1 Corinthians 14:18-40; Psalm 37:30-40; Proverbs 21:27

“In the past you have encouraged many people; you have strengthened those who were weak.
 Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees. But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart. You are terrified when it touches you. Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope? Stop and think! Do the innocent die? When have the upright been destroyed?... My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.
 A breath from God destroys them. They vanish in a blast of his anger…. If I were you, I would go to God and present my case to him.”

“But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.”

“The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.
 They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.”

My mother was always harping on me about my criticisms of others. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” She meant well, but was a pretty inconsistent model. Over the years, I also learned that some things which must be said just cannot be said in a way that sounds nice. “Nice” tends to get misinterpreted, especially when coupled with politically correct euphemisms. People who do not want to hear the negative won’t hear the negative, at least unless it is thrust upon them in no uncertain terms. Nice or not, there is a time and place to speak the truth in love.

Nevertheless, Mom got it mostly right. First, talking to a young man with little experience in living life and even less maturity, she was wise to counsel me not to sound too big for my britches. (Not that I ever listened, but that’s another blog….) Second, silence was a good discipline for me; it was not my default response to much of anything. But finally, it came down to this: my criticism just wasn’t helpful. It was not spoken in a spirit of love. It did not typically offer solutions. There was no real intent to assist the other person, only an intent to drag him or her back down to the level I thought they should be (meaning, below me). It was not unusual to use my powers of criticism simply as a means of elevating myself over those I saw as competitors. Nor is that a strategy unique to me. In most any competitive environment (is there one that isn’t these days?) there can be found those who practice criticism as a cat sharpens its claws to attack its prey.

Paul laid down a better principle. He had nothing against correction or education or even outright criticism, so long as whatever was done conformed to one rule. Everything that is done must be useful to all and build up everybody in the Lord. I’ll admit when I first came across this verse and began to apply it, it made me more than a little frustrated and sometimes downright angry. Such wisdom was being withheld! What righteous judgments went unpronounced! Come to find out, though, that folks usually got along just fine without my critical counseling. They mostly knew if and what they were doing wrong from the start. They did not need my input to figure it out in any event. One way or another, as time passed, they came to understand their sin and its impact. They did not need a judge; they needed a supportive friend. They did not need someone to fix them (or would not accept a “fixer” at the time, regardless). They needed someone to love them in spite of their shortcomings.

I first “got” this when I saw it in action in my youth group at church. A big-time leader in the church got caught embezzling funds from work, and by the time he was caught, he’d already squirreled away north of a million dollars. His son drove a too-expensive car, dressed too well and had always been an arrogant sort. When his Dad went down, the car got repossessed, and raggedy jeans and t-shirts became his Sunday best. I had my talons ready to skewer. One thing stopped me. No one else was doing or saying anything that was not supportive of the boy. My own friends, who had been alienated as much as I, suddenly formed a protective hedge around him that kept me and others like me at bay. My folks fumed that the church continued to accept the man into its fellowship until he finally went to jail, and after he’d done his time, welcomed him back with open arms. Later, I learned his son had understandably gone through a very rough time and paid a huge price elsewhere for being the son of the wrong man. Church was the only place he felt safe, and it was to church he turned when he got so depressed suicide seemed like the only way to end his personal mortification. Even today, I shudder to think what I might have said and how it might have affected him if I had, and I praise God for the fact that my friends were a whole lot wiser and more compassionate than me. That incident marked a turning point for me as well. Paul’s admonition began to look like it made a lot more sense.

I don’t know where people developed our irrational need to fix each other – whatever the personal cost to the ones needing fixing. I do know our feeble efforts often backfire and end up doing more harm than good. So it was with Job’s friends, and so it is with us. People are almost infinitely capable of punishing themselves for their misfortune. Judging and second guessing ourselves are two talents we require little help to develop. Loving ourselves in spite of the messes we make,… now, that’s another story. It is nearly impossible, especially in the midst of guilt and self-loathing, to see ourselves as God sees us. Truly, the kindest thing a friend can do in such times is remind us how to love ourselves by allowing the Spirit to love us in spite of ourselves. The lesson may begin with something as simple as an arm around the shoulders or a quiet listening ear.

We cannot fix each other any more than we are capable of creating each other out of a sperm and egg. Only the Original Manufacturer actually knows how to fit that sperm and egg together to make a unique individual according to His Plan, and only He can fully and faultlessly repair His Creation when it gets broken. We do no one any good when we just break them down further. The next time I cannot say anything nice, I think I’ll try just being with the person and sticking around in support until I see how God handles the situation. I figure I’ll probably learn a thing or two that way, and I won’t have to worry about doing any additional damage, either. Win-win.

GOD RESTORES

Job 1:1-3:26; 1 Corinthians 14:1-17; Psalm 37:12-29; Proverbs 21:25-26

“Then the Lord asked Satan, ‘Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.’ Satan replied to the Lord, ‘Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!’ ‘All right, do with him as you please,’ the Lord said to Satan. ‘But spare his life.’ So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot. Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, ‘Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.’ But Job replied, ‘You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?’ So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.”

“Let love be your highest goal....”

“For the strength of the wicked will be shattered, but the Lord takes care of the godly. Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever. They will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough…. For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die.”

“Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin, for their hands refuse to work.”

I’ve been avoiding issues with the Psalms to this point, but today’s Scriptures raise a contradiction that can no longer be avoided. Job and Psalms just cannot be reconciled. Even the briefest glance at today’s readings proves that. God clearly abandoned Job to Satan – twice! Psalm 37 is but one of many passages which appear to deny the obvious. The absolute truth, however, is and always has been that being “godly,” “righteousness” or even outright “saved” is not any guarantee of safety, security or well-being. In my personal experience, and according to John 16:33, being children of God actually guarantees us trouble. It may provide some solace that God eventually restored Job, plus some. But then again, done buns can’t be undone, no matter what good we – or God – may do later. Just look at how happy Job was to have been born! (See, e.g., Job 3:11-26.) It is likewise an insufficient response to hold that God still maintained a shred of sovereignty over Job’s life by forbidding Satan from taking Job all the way to death. What about His complete abandonment of Job’s children, farmhands and servants? Were they all uniformly “unrighteous” or just meaningless collateral damage which would detract from the main point if they were given more detailed Scriptural backstories? These are very tough questions, and they deserve better and more honest than most of us are willing to give them.

Once more, I confess a certain confusion and uncertainty in this area, but here’s what I think. In truth and fact, most of the “God preserves the righteous” Psalms are subject to the same pragmatic conflict: they just don’t ring true based on what we, like Job, actually know of life from having lived and seen it. God does not always take care of the godly or the innocent here on earth, nor is there any covenant they will survive through hard times. Worse, if Job is to be believed (and, being Scripture, it is), then even the idea that God will never abandon the godly seems subject to serious question, if not outright doubt. Of course, there is at least one answer: neither we nor the Psalmists have/had any real idea of just what it takes to be “godly” or “righteous.” “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” and “the wages of sin is death.” Even Christ Himself knows what that death feels like, although He only suffered it in our place. So, do the Psalms simply set before us a tantalizing possibility none of us have even a prayer of realizing in this lifetime? Well, that would certainly be their practical effect, except … for the empty tomb.

Whether or not God does or even has to abandon us at some point in this life is a strategic misdirection thought up by the Father of Lies to keep us away from any serious relationship with the Holy Spirit. We destroy ourselves and abandon God all by ourselves; we don’t require His or anyone else’s assistance in that regard. We actually deserve abandonment, regardless of God’s role in it, if any. That’s not the point. The point – the only one worth considering, if we want to be theologically accurate - is that God restores. We may never be able to make sense of our situation from a human perspective. Obviously, the writer of Job never clearly did. But the moral of the story is that God is always ready to restore us, if we will let Him have His way with us first, whatever that may mean in our given circumstances. It’s called letting Christ be Lord so we can truly call Him Savior. And sometimes, it is a very hard thing to do.

Most any of us can probably recall a situation where things happened to us or others that really were too much to bear. Committed Christians experience the overwhelming pain of divorce, the loss of a child or spouse and even suicide, too. It is unkind and intellectually dishonest for us to simply dismiss such occurrences by claiming, “They must not have been real Christians; God sees the heart.” Even Christians feel lost and abandoned at times. Again, though, restoration is God’s point and purpose.

Psalm 22 is one of the few Psalms that tells the whole story from abandonment to restoration (which may include, of course, resurrection).  It begins, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Let us be clear, then, even though it makes us squirm. God forsakes sin. At some point, He has no choice. Until the debt of sin was paid, God’s holy character could not deal with sin.

Nevertheless, God does restore. The price of sin was paid, once and for all. This does not guarantee our safety, but it does guarantee we are secured in heaven. I am aware some will say that the promise of heaven is poor recompense for injuries suffered here on earth. But those who know heaven is the only place to fully experience unconditional love know its rewards will eclipse any adversity we may face here on earth.  Sometimes, it feels like a heavenly answer has little practical significance on earth. For those who feel that resurrection is insufficient compensation for their earthly lives, I feel truly sorry. But they will never appreciate heavenly things until they develop an eternal perspective, anyway, so we’ll leave things where scripture seems to leave them… for now.

TALK LESS, LOVE MORE

Esther 8:1-10:3; 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13; Psalm 37:1-11; Proverbs 21:23-24

“Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister, with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself. He was very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem, because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.”

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

“Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm.

“Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.”

I talk too much and spend too much time trying to defend myself and my perspective. This bent toward self-justification is so automatic I’m usually into it at the first hint of disagreement, even before knowing the exact problem. I don’t know where this defensiveness comes from. What I do know is there’s too much CYA in my life and not enough concern about what that kind of mentality is doing to my creativity and relationships.

The fact is, when I defend myself, I inevitably alienate others. No one wants to be around someone so insecure they spend more time justifying themselves than listening to others. Besides, what hasn’t Christ forgiven? Do we really need to continue to impress each other with our words of wisdom and put ourselves over each other when Christ has invited us all to His banquet? It seems my defensiveness says more about my relationship with Christ than I thought, and I don’t like the picture it paints one bit.

A defensive personality just cannot be a loving personality. Defensiveness belies an emptiness of the soul – a need for man’s approval – of disproportionate and unhealthy size. When we get defensive, others recognize our insecurity has jeopardized our self-image and warped our personality. If we are filled with the Spirit and have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, our place in heaven is secured. There is simply no need to be defensive. There is no need to be self-centered at all. Yet, most of us still get defensive at times. Being right still gets priority over being loving. That doesn’t make it right. We are still thinking like fallen creatures, not like forgiven and remade saints.

The Spirit fills us apart from anything we can say or do, and nothing we say or do short of outright rejection will cause Him to fill less of us. The next time we feel the temptation to be defensive, let’s let the Holy Spirit take the hit. God is big enough to handle any criticism thrown at Him. If we will get serious about thinking with the mind of Christ, pretty soon, my bet is we won’t have anything to defend. We can, and will, be loving and right at the same time, and there won’t be anything left to prove. Christ’s presence in our lives will not just get us through but will shine out to others, no apologies or justifications needed.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

FOR THIS VERY TIME AND PLACE

Esther 4:1-7:10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-26; Psalm 36:1-12; Proverbs 21:21-22

“Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

“There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”

“Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor.”

Humans have always complained a lot about injustice, inequity, immorality and any number of other things, but most of us do precious little to combat any of it. A familiar refrain in human history is the plaintive question, “But what can I do about it?” The Holy Spirit’s answer to Christians is always the same: “Plenty!” However, instead of taking the risk and acting on and in faith, we take the coward’s way out. Passivity. Que sera, sera. That has got to change!

Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." How right he was! It is time for Christians, especially, to quit whining and start acting in the power God gives them. Our problem is not that we are not empowered; our problem is that we do not believe we are empowered, so we will not, cannot, act in and based on faith. Consequently, we fail to take advantage of the gifts the Spirit gives us to change our world and win souls for the Kingdom. We doubt the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives, so we have never tested the power of Christ. Most of us have no idea if it will hold up under stress or not. More’s the pity when we don’t claim our power as children of the Father, and it just lies inside us, dormant and wasted. Let it lie long enough, and we become spiritually atrophied. This is precisely what James was referring to when he stated, “Faith without works is dead.” Unused muscles soon waste away. A faith which is missing in action has a similarly limited longevity.

Here is my question. What good is an unused, untested faith? Why bother with religion at all if we are just going to put it on a shelf where we can look at it in a vain effort to derive some emotional comfort from its presence? Some might say emotional comfort itself is reason enough for faith. I beg to differ. Anyone who claims emotional comfort from an untried and untested faith is just kidding themselves into thinking they have a relationship with Christ. There can be no relationship without connection, interaction and mission. If we do not allow Christ to empower us, even to the point of discomfort, we really have no part in him, and we among all men and women are most to be pitied. We may as well worship an idol or golden calf for all the eternal good our cosmetic faith generates in the world.

When life throws us curve balls – as it certainly did Esther – our first question should not be “Why me?” or “What can I do about it?” It should be “What if God put me here precisely to deal with this situation?” Odds are, He probably did, after all. The next self-challenge ought to follow if only as a matter of logic. “What would He want to do about it, if the only tool He had was me?” Then, get about it. This is exactly what Esther ended up doing, with a little help from ol’ Uncle Mordecai. She evaluated her situation, her blessings and her need, and then she acted, even at the risk of her very life. And God prevailed. Scripture is clear about the outcome had she refused to act. At the very least, she and her family would not have lived to see the victory of Yahweh or the salvation of the Hebrews. What a waste of a perfectly good Queen that would have been.

Paul is very clear. Each one of us is gifted by the Spirit. We have different gifts for different uses and reasons. Each one of us is gifted by the Spirit for a specific purpose. We are gifted to help others. It follows, then, that it is quite impossible to be filled with the Spirit and yet be unwilling to step forward and take the risk of helping others. Too many claim the Spirit while too few do anything with Him. If we can be honest with ourselves about nothing else, let us at least be honest about that. And if we honestly do claim the Spirit, let us put our faith into action. Who knows but that we were given grace and hope specifically to share them with others at such a time as this.

TRUE SIGNIFICANCE

Esther 1:1-3:15; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Psalm 35:17:128; Proverbs 21:19-20

“When it was Esther’s turn to go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem. She asked for nothing except what he suggested, and she was admired by everyone who saw her. Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the royal palace in early winter of the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti.”

 “But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized! When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.”

“O Lord, you know all about this. Do not stay silent. Do not abandon me now, O Lord.
 Wake up! Rise to my defense! Take up my case, my God and my Lord. Declare me not guilty, O Lord my God, for you give justice. Don’t let my enemies laugh about me in my troubles.”

It’s hard to know at first blush what to say about Esther. She certainly did not come to be Queen as a result of any great spiritual decision. If pressed, most of us would admit to feeling a little morally conflicted about her role as a conscripted concubine-turned-monarch. But I think there are several more positive points to be drawn from her story that are especially relevant to circumstances today.

First, God raises up. Oh, I know we talked about resurrection just last week at Easter, but that’s kinda the point. Easter need not be just a once a year event focused on an ancient tomb in Israel. Resurrection (even if a bit metaphorically) is offered to us in the here and now. If we allow Him to do so, God can and will raise us up out of the depravity, anxiety and frustration of everyday life just as surely as He raised Jesus from the grave. How else could an obscure Hebrew female go from being an impoverished orphan to beauty queen to real Queen to the savior of her entire race? That’s more coincidence than even the most optimistic among us could credibly accept. But the point is, it did happen. Divine compassion reached down and found its voice in a young female heretofore all but invisible to the larger world. We are never insignificant when we are aligned with the Creator.

Which gets to the second point. Esther apparently needed help aligning herself with the Will of God throughout her life, but her willingness to listen and learn saved the entire Hebrew nation. This does not imply she was wayward necessarily, only that her full purpose might never have been achieved without some helpful advice. Her primary saving grace seems to have been her willingness to accept the counsel of those who attempted to help her. Actually, her real gift was even more fundamental. Distilled to its essence, Esther’s great advantage was an absence of blinding pride. She was never too proud to accept the help of others. More important, she was willing to admit when she needed it.

There was no false bravado in Esther – not an ounce. Nor was there a victim mentality. Where she could have felt demeaned, Esther claimed blessing. She did not fight circumstances, but accepted and reconciled herself to them and allowed them to work for her and for her people. She played her part in history so well because she filled the role thrust on her perfectly. She took advantage of her situation in a positive way without trying to take the one extra step of “more.”

How different was the approach of the Corinthians! Literally elbowing each other away from the Lord’s Table to claim more for themselves, church members developed pathological egos. They worked to create divisions in the Body rather than heal them, just to get noticed. The illogic of their actions was lost on them. They ignored the opportunity to get noticed for doing good and replaced it with a penchant for being right and powerful. Paul made clear there is nothing worthy of praise in these sorts of actions. The notoriety one gets from doing evil is not the sort of notice that counts for much that really matters. Certainly, it does nothing to build up or save others.

Each day, we face any number of choices. Ultimately, though, most come down to a single decision. We must decide whether to live in pride or humility.  This may give rise to other, derivative preferences – like whether we decide to live for ourselves or others – but most of these are resolved by the pride vs. humility choice. It sets our course, and is a very real decision.

I too often act out of pride, but today, I cast my vote for humility. Humility just works better in the long run than pride. Humble people seem to have less stress in their lives, and they seem much less likely to experience lasting conflict. They live life with a consistency and balance and contentment I can only envy. Moreover, the truly humble are some of the most visible and significant people I know. It’s just that no one hears it from them. I think I work too hard at trying to be important. A little more reconciliation to circumstances and a little more positive outlook about how they might work to good would probably give my soul a lot more rest. And a restful soul in troubled times is a soul that remains most available for the Holy Spirit to use most fully. It is not afraid to seek help and follow the advice of others. It does not reject the opportunities of circumstance, either, especially when humility is a prerequisite to claiming the opportunity. Perhaps it really is the truly humble who are the truly significant. 

PRAYING FOR VENGEANCE

Nehemiah 12:27-13:31; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16; Psalm 35:1-16; Proverbs 21:17-18

“I did them no wrong, but they laid a trap for me. I did them no wrong, but they dug a pit to catch me. So let sudden ruin come upon them! Let them be caught in the trap they set for me! Let them be destroyed in the pit they dug for me. Then I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be glad because he rescues me. With every bone in my body I will praise him: ‘Lord, who can compare with you? Who else rescues the helpless from the strong? Who else protects the helpless and poor from those who rob them?'"

“The wicked are punished in place of the godly, and traitors in place of the honest.”

One of the things I like best about the Bible is its unflinching honesty. Those who put it on a “sacred shelf” and believe that it teaches only about how life ought to be are missing a very important point. The Bible is not a how-to book; it is a true biography of the Children of God. As such, Scripture deals with the injustice, sin and corruption of life just like it addresses redemption, salvation and resurrection – as choices making up the fabric of real life by which the courses of our lives are determined. In a similar vein, every once in a while (particularly in Psalms like today’s), a blast of oh-so-human feeling shouts out so clearly it cannot be ignored. These emotional slices of real life often involve petitions for vengeance. They make us uncomfortable because they ring so true. We know they are inconsistent with the “turn the other cheek” ethic of the Christ we claim to follow. Nevertheless, the urge to repay evil with evil (even if dressed up as holy retribution) is nearly automatic.

However instinctive it may be, we need to be careful when praying for vengeance; we may well end up as victims of our own wrath. Most of us, in the darkness of our souls, know what it is to wish ill upon those who hurt us, just as did the Psalmist, King David. It may be fundamentally “un-Christian,” but it is also a very natural reaction. What we fail to understand is that, however natural our reaction may be, it is a response that can literally swallow us up and destroy us if left unchecked.

In my younger days, when it came to wounds (real or imagined), I historically had a long and unforgiving memory. I was also fairly thin skinned, which made for an even worse combination. It was not unusual for me to write off an entire relationship over just a few hurtful words. Of course, while I considered those bold enough to criticize me as spiteful or thoughtless, I viewed my usually caustic, in-kind responses as nothing more that tough truth-telling. For years, most of my relationships were extraordinarily conditional. Admission was granted only as long as criticism did not come with it. I had no interest in accountability and dealt harshly with anyone who tried to hold me to it. Beyond arrogant, I watched the body count rise around me with little regard for the consequences. I finally woke up one day to a grim picture. I was isolated in my own bitterness and had pushed away most everyone, including Christ, who could have saved me from myself. Remaining friends were few and far between. Most tellingly, my life was devoid of thoughts of charity. I do not mean charity in financial terms – though there was precious little of that, either. Tit for tat, I had gotten lost in the habit of thinking unkind thoughts about others.

There is a reason Jesus taught us not to judge, and to turn the other cheek. We cannot handle any other response. Anger soon begins to control. Bitterness poisons. Alienation overwhelms. Eventually, the same yardstick we apply to others really does get applied to us, and we do not have to wait for God’s Judgment to see this work itself out, either. There is such a thing as Hell on earth. It usually begins with isolation. Resulting resentment leads to more isolation and so forth, until we are caught in a downward spiral only the Holy Spirit can lift us out of. But over the course of years, I’ve learned some additional reasons to give up on vengeance as well.

First, I like myself better, and feel more secure about and in myself, when I have others who hold me accountable and can do so without fear of retribution. There is much we can learn from others and much strength to be gained from the support of friends. If we separate ourselves from our egos, we will see most criticism, especially from our friends, is not mean spirited. It honestly is intended to be helpful. Our rejection of it is usually more an issue of pride than inaccuracy. We need friends willing to fade the heat to show us ourselves as others see us.

Secondly, the body count caused by resentment and hypersensitive overreaction to criticism or injury is just not worth inflicting. Ultimately, if we can still be truthful with ourselves, we will see the ones hurt worst by our lashing back in anger and vengeance are us. We become the last survivors on a spiritual island of our own making. There is nothing to nourish or refresh either our hearts or our souls. The stench of abandoned, decaying relationships haunts our memories. But finally, it comes down to this for me. I simply no longer want to be guilty of wounding another precious soul. Souls are God’s creations. They are not for us to trifle with or harm. Considering that the souls I hurt the worst on earth are likely to be the first ones to greet me in heaven has done wonders for keeping my pride in check. Wonders of wonders, with pride in check, I’ve found I learn a lot more, too!

So, what’s up with David? How can any “man after God’s own heart” call down heaven’s curses on those who have injured him? I suspect the answer can be found only in the correct interpretation of the phrase “after God’s own heart.” David had his moments, to be sure, but at the end of the day, he proved himself every bit as human and fallible as any of us. His saving grace was that he continued to quest after God’s heart. He was a man almost constantly searching for God in crisis and blessing alike. And he was smart enough, when overwhelmed by the desire for revenge, to turn the matter over to God. David’s prayer may be a hard prayer for the pacifist to understand at all. But for the rest of us, laying our conflicts at the foot of the Cross is always a better decision than trying to extract an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. The sight and dentition we save is usually our own!

ONE LEADER, ONE LOAF, ONE BODY

Nehemiah 11:1-12:26; 1 Corinthians 10:14-33; Psalm 34:11-22; Proverbs 21:14-16

“A record of the family leaders of the Levites was kept during the years when Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua served as high priest. Another record of the priests was kept during the reign of Darius the Persian.”

“When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.”

“But the Lord will redeem those who serve him. No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.”

“Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers. The person who strays from common sense will end up in the company of the dead.”

I always thought Communion a personal act by which we remind ourselves individually of the gifts of grace and forgiveness represented by the Bread and the Wine (or juice, as it may be). It is certainly all that. But in looking at Paul’s description with fresh eyes today, that seems too restrictive a view. Most biblical scholars believe Paul was the first to actually refer to Communion in writing; the Gospel accounts came after his Epistles. It is worth noting, then, that this first reference says little about forgiveness or grace. Clearly, Paul’s theme is on unity:

Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?

Paul sees Communion as something that does not just bind us to Christ as we partake of His Body and Blood. Communion also binds us irrevocably to each other. Our sharing of the elements joins us to each other as brothers and sisters every bit as much as it reconnects us to God through the sacrifice of Christ. Communion is the way the Creator has chosen to bring His family all back together again. It’s the ultimate family reunion!

Paul stresses over and over again in his writings that one of the greatest blessings of being a Christian is that we know our siblings in the faith have got our backs. We are to care for the widows and orphans among us without expecting payback. Those of us with abundance are to share with those who have little. In a word, the freedom and power we find in Communion are the very same forces that enable us to love each other as we love ourselves. Having taken on Christ, we are free to share Him – and all that He is – with others without risking our own well-being. In fact, as we share Christ with others, we actually grow outside ourselves by growing into others. This is a heady thought, that all who call Christ Savior really are a spiritual part of others who do the same, but that is how the Bride of Christ is created, after all.

So, why do dissonance and conflict still exist in the Body? Perhaps it’s because we do not know who our leaders should be. Any time leadership is an open-ended question, there will be those not qualified to lead who insist on having more than their share of the say. Likewise, there will be unhealthy competition among those who are qualified. The Body will be torn apart. Jesus understood this problem as well as anyone. That’s why He counseled His followers to lead through service. Those who would be greatest must be willing to be the least. Ultimately, we have only one Leader. We are free not to compete.  There is no need to compete with our brothers and sisters for preeminence in the Body. One Man calls the shots for all Christians.

The next time we are tempted to rush in and claim leadership for ourselves, let us stop first and ask ourselves who we intend to be serving. The answer to that question will do as much as anything to determine whether or not we are qualified to lead. One Body, one loaf. Godly leaders are committed to bringing everything together under One Head. Godly leaders lead to Christ.

TEMPTED TO TURN AWAY

Nehemiah 9:22-10:39; 1 Corinthians 9:19-10:13; Psalm 34:1-10; Proverbs 21:13

“They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings. But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.”

“If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

“I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
 In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles.”

For Holy Week, Newsweek’s cover story was entitled, “The Decline and Fall of Christian America.” The story’s major point was that a smaller percentage of America’s population than ever identify themselves as “Christian.” It went on to add, however, that about the same number of people overall still claim to be “spiritual” - despite a complete lack of any recognizable faith. Two wrongs do not make a right. That’s just another way of saying that more Americans than ever before are resisting any form of recognized spiritual commitment. The verse from Revelation comes to mind: “Because you are neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” It appears Americans are not yet ready to give up altogether on God; they just want to keep all options option. What a cowardly and intellectually dishonest way to live that is! Rather than being content to float in the cesspool of indecision, we ought to at least have the moral integrity to declare allegiance to something, or not. Get real. There is no such thing as a multi-faith (or non-faith) spirituality. Spirituality without faith in God is just wishful dreaming. It has no rational basis or foundation. In fact, we cannot hedge our bets. Aim at nothing and we’ll surely hit it (as I believe I’ve mentioned before). Consistent with that idea, the article concluded, somewhat depressingly for those “spiritual” beings among us, that America’s situation mirrors the prelude to the affirmative non-spirituality found in Europe today. It did not come out and say that religion is passé, but it got right up to it.

If one had no memory or history, it might, in fact, be tempting to believe there is no God or, at least, no divine plan for good. At this precise moment, one need only look to CNN to know the few bright spots are mostly manufactured. However, what has become painfully obvious in the last nine months is that they are no more manufactured than was the supposed “prosperity” of the first half of this decade. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that God had little to do either with yesterday’s prosperity or today’s recession. We need to take responsibility for our own actions (and omissions). When are we going to grow up and quit forcing credit and blame (take your pick) on God for things over which we allow Him no control? That kind of “spirituality” is nothing more than hypocrisy. Yet still, many are quick to deny the existence of God and the potency of the Holy Spirit when things don’t go according to human desires, even as they happily “praise” Him for any perceived blessings, however mundane or secular they are.

The simple fact is that those who reject any long term perspective or delayed gratification have been claiming disillusionment for generations upon generations. Their story is pretty much the same now as it was in Old Testament times. As long as things are going their way, nebulous spiritists are happy to accept the concept of a benevolent and loving God. But let times get tough and require anything that resembles self-denial, and faith is among the first of the “baggage” to be jettisoned.

Let us be clear. Present times need to be viewed in the guise of the temptation that they are. Adversity is, at its worst, a temptation not to believe in Christ (or a God of any sort, for that matter). It may equally be a temptation to give up on ourselves. Either reaction is misguided and inappropriate, and we do well to remember that.

We do not have to fall to adversity any more than we have to grow fat and inconsiderate from abundance. The temptation to turn away from God can be resisted from either end of the spectrum. More importantly, it should be resisted from every point on the spectrum. In the end, only God makes sense, and only Christ can reunite us with Him despite our sin. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the apple in the Garden, humans have been trying to fix what is wrong with them, right down to manipulating our belief systems when it suits us. However, what is wrong with us is that we consistently deny the Holy Spirit the opportunity to cure what ails us. Satan’s plan is insidious in its simplicity: just keep us from any real reliance on the Spirit. If we never allow ourselves to experience His Power, eventually, more likely than not, we will convince ourselves there’s no reason to even believe in His Power. Instead of whining about God’s failure to act, then, what about initiating a strategy that will test whether He can act or not? Give Christ a chance. At least, we will then have a basis for our lack of belief. Or not.

THE GIFT OF IDENTITY

Nehemiah 7:61-9:21; 1 Corinthians 9:1-18; Psalm 33:12-22; Proverbs 21:11-12

“Three families of priests—Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai—also returned…. They searched for their names in the genealogical records, but they were not found, so they were disqualified from serving as priests. The governor told them not to eat the priests’ share of food from the sacrifices until a priest could consult the Lord about the matter by using the Urim and Thummim—the sacred lots.”

“Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord? Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle.”

“But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love.
 He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine. We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield.”

One of the most fundamental human questions we get asked is “Who are you?” The question may be put in a variety of ways, e.g., “What’s your name;” “What do you do;” or “Aren’t you Fred’s daughter” – but it all amounts to the same thing. People have a basic need to identify themselves and be identified by others. We each have separate names, but we also are known by the company we keep, our lineage and our generation.  In fact, who we say we are ultimately carries far less weight than the identification that comes from what we do and other external indications of personality. We may claim to be honest, but if we are recognized as liars, we will not be trusted or seen as trustworthy. We may claim to be Christian, but if we live as pagans, our self-depiction means nothing. However, actions alone do not determine identity, either. None of us, save Christ, are consistent enough to say our acts and thoughts mirror our identity all the time.

Identity goes deeper than name or actions. It also is subject to change. Who we are is not necessarily who we will be. (Think Jacob/Israel, for example.) Given that we can change identities, it follows that we run the risk of losing our very selves if we do not live consistently in a way that both claims and supports our character as children of God. 

How sad it would be, for example, to be a priest and not be able to prove our status! That’s exactly what happened to the Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai families. Unable to establish their credentials from genealogical records, they were banned from the ministry to which they were called until others (actually, God, through the use of sacred lots) established their identities for them. We have no need to look back thousands of years, however, to find relevant examples of lost identities destroying ministries. The world is full of those who claim special spiritual standing but live in such a way as to lose all credibility. More personally, we are all members of the priesthood of all believers. Many of us go so far as to call ourselves disciples. But if we were pressed, could we prove it? Do we claim Him? Are we doing what we were made to do? How can we really know who we are?

While our claims and/or actions may provide definite clues to our identity, and can certainly reveal character or lack of it, we are not just what we say or do. The fact is, we are neither Christian nor disciples simply because we give lip service to the Gospel, go to church, or do or say other spiritual things. Like Israel, we are who God says we are. Otherwise, we are lost. Period. We may fool ourselves into believing we are on the right track, but our self-identification without the Holy Spirit’s input is the rough spiritual equivalent of trying to smash a square peg into a round hole. We don’t really fit. Our highest and best use is never discovered. We go through life with a vague sense of discontent, not always sure of what it is we are supposed to be doing. We talk of “finding ourselves” but wonder on the inside what we are looking for. Here’s a flash. The Lord gives us our identity. God knew us before we were even born, and He knew the plans He has for us before we exited the womb. Denying such things does not make them any less true. It just makes us far more likely to exhaust ourselves swimming upstream against the current of our Creator’s intent. My personal suspicion is we would all avoid a lot of conflict and personality problems if we stopped trying to be what we are not and were never created to be.

It’s an interesting thing to ask oneself who we think we are. As I ponder that personally, a number of answers come to mind (in no particular order): father; attorney; teacher; Christian; spouse; friend; and so forth. These are all ways I identify myself, and I admit they are driven, in large measure, by context. I am not likely to claim Christ before a jury in the middle of making a closing argument, for instance. (In that situation, I’m all lawyer.) If that is the case, though, do I have the right to claim Christ at all? Do I lose my identity as a Christian when I leave it unclaimed at the door to the courthouse, or in any other circumstance? One thing does seem certain: if my words and actions are not consistent with who I believe myself to be, I clearly give others no reason to accept or even understand my self-image. They cannot know me as I think I know myself. They may, however, know me better than I know myself. Conversely, though, just because I am vocal about my character does not prove it, any more than calling myself a moon pie will make me one.

I’m left with this. Instead of worrying about who I am, or who I think I may be, it’s time to change the question. I need to be a lot more intentional about asking God who He made me to be. Life is confusing enough without adding my opinions to the mix. We can make all the judgment calls we want about our lives’ ambitions and goals, but if they are not what we were created to do, we will never be fulfilled. If we do not know who we are in the Creator’s eyes, we will never reach our potential. I have no clear recipe for discerning either identity or purpose. That’s not the point of today’s blog. The point today is that I think I’ve been asking the wrong person who and what I am. I need to go to my Source. I need to ask my heavenly Father who He made me to be. And I have to get over my fear of the answer, and just make sure I’m doing my best, in His power, to live as He intended.

ALL WE NEED TO KNOW

Nehemiah 5:14-7:60; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Psalm 33:1-11; Proverbs 21:8-10

“So on October 2, the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God…. They kept telling me about Tobiah’s good deeds, and then they told him everything I said. And Tobiah kept sending threatening letters to intimidate me.”

“…We know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.”

“For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does.
He loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.”

What do we know about what just happened, really? Easter can be overwhelming. Separate and apart from family gatherings and other diversions of the “holiday weekend,” in thinking honestly about the causes and effects of Easter, one can get lost in the theology pretty quickly. Add to that, for this Monday, the inevitable post-Easter emotional letdown, and many may well be wondering in retrospect what all the fuss was about. Sadly, everything still feels and looks pretty much the same as it did on last Monday. The Lord has not come down from the sky riding on a cloud to clean up all the mess. Evil has not been smitten. So it is today, in the cold rationality of another Monday, that we face the ultimate question. It is today, not Easter Sunday, that we will truly decide what we believe, who we are, and who we will follow in the trenches of our day-to-day lives and work. Oh, and just to make things interesting, we should perpare ourselves for some opposition along the way. Nothing like a little religion mixed in with the world to get folks stirred up.

Nehemiah may be God’s ultimate example of taking religion to work. As the king’s cupbearer, it is difficult to see what Nehemiah knew about rebuilding cities or, specifically, reconstructing Jerusalem’s border walls and defenses. However, God chose him and Artaxerxes sent him, so there you go: yet another example of God equipping those He calls. But let us not rush by the obvious question quite so glibly. What did Nehemiah know about rebuilding or fortifying cities? What schooling did he have in architecture or, more importantly, military strategy that would insure he would be able to preserve and protect the work of his hands as and after it was constructed? For that matter, what did he know of theology, with which to defend his God against all the pagan influences to be faced in his homeland? I’ve read no biographies on Nehemiah but am intrigued by the answer Scripture provides: “nothing.” Apparently, he did know enough to get the job done. He knew two things: 1) love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and 2) love your neighbor as yourself. Humankind did not need a book in the Bible about the construction of fortified walls. It never hurts, tough, to have another lesson on what it looks like to live out the Great Commandment.

Specifically, Nehemiah rejected any temptation to treat himself any better than one of his workers. Consider Nehemiah 5:18: “The provisions I paid for each day included one ox, six choice sheep or goats, and a large number of poultry. And every ten days we needed a large supply of all kinds of wine. Yet I refused to claim the governor’s food allowance because the people already carried a heavy burden.”  (It is impossible not to comment on modern application of this verse. What if the leaders and CEOs of today had a similar perspective? Alas….) Not once in the twelve years of governance did Nehemiah claim the extraordinary benefits of leadership to which he was entitled. Instead, as governor of Judah, Nehemiah fed his people out of his own pocket. Impressive.

Amazing happens when one looks at Nehemiah’s response to political challenges. Mainly, he ignored them. When things got too intense, he prayed. That’s pretty much it. Yet the wall got built. However idyllic and unrealistic the story sounds, there’s no arguing with the facts. Jerusalem was rebuilt by a man with no obvious talents or qualifications for the job, and in spite of significant opposition. I guess, in a phrase, the message is that Nehemiah knew all he needed to know, and he lived a fulfilled life just based on those two principles. Distilling things even further, one could also say Nehemiah simply acted out of love, and it was enough to get the job done.

I will freely admit that I do not trust love that much. I don’t trust love to take me where I want or need to go professionally. I do not trust love to put food on the table or a roof over my head. Nor do I trust love to overcome all the obstacles in my life. I’m just not there yet. Worse, I have a hard time even really wanting to get there. “Love Is All You Need” sounds as impractically utopian today as it did decades ago when the Beatles coined the phrase. And yet….

Paul is pretty specific. Love, not knowledge, should be our first goal. Love gives knowledge flesh and blood. More to the point, love gives knowledge a heart and a greater power than mere intelligence. Love opens the door to everything that is the Holy Spirit. Anyone can learn, but not everyone can love. Yet it is Love – and only Love - that raised Christ, and it is Love that overcomes the world. What do any of us really know about the world or how to make it work? Precious little, obviously, or it would work better than it does. But Scripture says we know what we need to know. Put the theology and religion away. Philosophical musings and economic theories won’t get us any closer to where we need to be than we are now. We know what we need to know. We just need to accept it and put it into practice.

LOVE REDEEMS

Nehemiah 3:15-5:13; 1 Corinthians 7:25-40; Psalm 32:1-11; Proverbs 21:5-7

“‘At the meeting I said to them, ‘We are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?’ And they had nothing to say in their defense. Then I pressed further, ‘What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of charging interest. You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.’ They replied, ‘We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say.’”

“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
 For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.”

The tomb is open. The Body is gone. The anguish and pain of Friday’s loss and Saturday’s mourning have been magnificently transformed into joyous celebration! He lives! Christ is alive! The price for our sins has been paid, and our Lord has redeemed us. By His blood, He has brought us back into the family of God. With His stripes, we have been healed. We can be sure of our eternal redemption because Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!

Of the many things love does and is capable of doing, none can hold a candle to love’s work of redemption. Nothing, save love, would or even could take a wretched sinner bound up in frustration and failure and transform her into a new, spotlessly clean saint free to live in victory. Nothing, besides love, can get past the pain to forgive the injury. Nothing, other than love, is capable of seeing beyond the twisted emptiness of a tortured heart and mind, and only love can free the enslaved soul that cries for release within. Love redeems because love forgives; love redeems because love does not judge; and love redeems because love protects and surrounds others with victory. But mainly, love redeems because there is no debt or obligation associated with it. Everything love does is freely given without cost to us, because the price of our redemption has already been paid by the Great Redeemer Himself, Jesus Christ.

Love also redeems because it changes people. We are given new hearts and, sometimes, new visions, missions and/or goals to go with them. It is just not possible to truly experience love and not be transformed in some way. When we are loved, we cannot remain the same individuals we were before love entered our lives. Consider, for example, how “the two shall become one” as a result of marriage the way God intended it. Remember this: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, the new has come.” What love touches, love changes and so redeems. Love does not change by way of guilt, but because of opportunity. Love searches tirelessly for ways to build up and fulfill lives, and when the chance comes, love never hesitates. It transforms. Sometimes, the change love works is as dramatic as re-creation. Sometimes, it’s the equivalent of a minor adjustment. However it happens, nothing touched by love is ever quite the same. We are all at least left with at least a bit of those who love us to carry around. Those bits become a part of who we are. If a wife can so change a husband or a child a parent – and believe me, they can! – then the change to be wrought by the Holy Spirit’s touch on our lives really is awesome.

Most of us can only imagine what it might be like to live a guilt-free life. We do not appreciate our need to be redeemed, or to be set free from guilt’s prison. Probably, we do not recognize how thoroughly guilt has riddled our lives and undermined our self-image. We have become accustomed to living with guilt as an unavoidable burden, so we try manfully to just grin and bear it.

Oh, brothers and sisters, Christ desires so much more for us! There is a more excellent way to live, and today it is offered without condition or price. All we need do is accept the invitation of our Lord to literally live in love with Him, now and for eternity. He will graciously do to us and through us things we could never do on our own. He will redeem us from our very selves! No more need self-interest define the limits of our relationships. We have something far greater to share, something that actually allows us to grow outside ourselves! Because Christ lives, we have love. Because we have love, we can share ourselves and our Savior with others. We, too, have the ability and opportunity to redeem our brothers and sisters through the Holy Spirit’s power, Christ’s sacrifice and God’s grace.

Why is anyone still sitting around reading this? Go into the world and make all persons His disciples! We have been transformed by the power of His redeeming love and grace. And we, the redeemed ones, are God’s Plan A for bringing all His children Home. There’s a world of Good News today. The world could use it! Let us be quick to share.

LOVE ENDURES

Nehemiah 1:1-3:14; 1 Corinthians 7:1-24; Psalm 31:19-24; Proverbs 21:4

“‘Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.’ When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said, ‘O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel.’”

“And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ. God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world. Each of you, dear brothers and sisters, should remain as you were when God first called you.”

“In panic I cried out, ‘I am cut off from the Lord!’ But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help.”

The sun rises on a desolate scene. Against the dawn’s backdrop, Calgary’s silhouette is marred by three naked spires. Arms down, these remnants of Roman crosses point upward in seeming mockery of Heaven itself. The sky is a heavy, damp gray. A few feeble rays of sunlight pierce the clouds, but their presence only adds to the sense of overwhelming futility engulfing the land. An occasional priest can be seen from just outside the Temple quietly sweeping up debris from yesterday’s earthquake. Most inhabitants of Jerusalem have retreated into the dankness of homes which this day seem more like cells than houses. Numbness and bewilderment permeate every wall. Eye contact is seldom made; each man and woman fears the despair and desolation their neighbors’ faces convey. All the hysteria and emotion of the day before has drained the earth. Roman guards shiver in the early morning hours from a chill they do not fully understand as they maintain a senseless watch over a sealed tomb. Everyone knows dead is dead. It is finished, truly. Hope has died a bloody, violent death.

What does love do with a scene like this Saturday morning? No words of consolation are sufficient. No magic wand can make the situation any better. No compass points in a meaningful direction. No meaning can be drawn this day from the tragedy of Good Friday. Everything is just too close. There are times when loss and devastation threaten to overwhelm us, no matter who or Whose we are. After the funeral, the donated meals will, at some point, have been eaten and the dishes returned. The phone will no longer ring, and the mailman will go back to delivering just the usual bills and ads. We may find ourselves alone, and feelings of abandonment and betrayal can become very, dangerously real. What does love do when “It is finished?”

When life comes to a dead end and joy to a dead stop, what can love do? In times of tragedy and despair, even love may have limited options. Certainly, neither feelings nor emotions can masquerade any longer as the real thing. All the dross of life is burned away. We are either left desolate or…. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves today, even though the temptation to rush past Saturday is strong. We need to consider our situation. We need to take a day to examine what faith means. Most of all, we need to consider love’s options.

In the darkest hour of the night, even faith and hope may pass away. Love endures. When we are down to our final option, love endures. The crucible of flame through which it passes may change love (more accurately, it may change our perception of love), but love nevertheless endures. It cannot be extinguished. Our pain may be great, yet love’s power to weather the storm is greater. Love endures because, in times of trial, true love will mature and return to its Essence, transforming from a sentiment to a state of being. In other words, the Holy Spirit (God) really is Love, and His love abides and endures all things. It sticks around, living inside us. Our part is just to cling to it. Reach inside and grab hold, particularly when there is nothing else to hold onto. Learn to really rely on Christ’s transforming power, even when it can’t be seen or felt.

Comfort ye, people. Love endures. Love cannot be destroyed, even by crosses and whips and chains. Nor can we, with the Spirit at our center. Today is a day for retreat and reflection. Even Jesus spent one full day in the tomb. We should not feel we are immune from tragedy or disappointment, nor should we rush to escape, however uncomfortable our situation may be. For today, let’s just stay put, and endure, experiencing the love of our Father in a different, somewhat counterintuitive way. Strange and wonderful things sometimes happen inside a tomb. Let’s not be in such a hurry to leave that we miss the blessings of a Love that endures all things. Let’s give Love the time it needs to transform for us from a mere feeling into the Constant Companion that is the Holy Spirit.