Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

Home Archives for 2012

Archives for 2012

Thoughts on death prompted by my dog

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SammyI understand that the decline and death of a dog is not a major event in the larger scheme of things. But, our 10 year old golden retriever is having health issues which may lead to his death and it is difficult to watch. Compared to the loss of a spouse, parent, sibling or child, this is a very small hurt, but a real one none-the-less.

There is something in us that balks at death and is rightly angered by it. Yet in our response, we must be careful to understand our part in the root cause of death. We, like our first parents, begin life in rebellion against God. Apart from Christ we are by nature people who choose the behavior that caused death in the first place. In Romans 8:20 Paul tells us that the creation was subjected to futility by our rebellion and that creation groans to be released from that futility.

But God, combining love and justice, opened a way for us to experience life. Jesus took death upon himself so that we might have life. Death was defeated on the Cross. In Christ we are made alive (Ephesians 2:5).

We still must face the temporal consequences of our rebellion. God, in his wisdom, has not removed the consequence of physical death. As C. S. Lewis noted, statistics prove that one out of one of us dies. While I am not anxious for my own death or the death of those I love, I do see physical death as a mercy.

In Romans 7 Paul laments his inability to conquer his sinful tendencies. If Paul could not master himself fully, it is unlikely that I will do better. We know from Scripture that we will not fully expunge sin from our lives. John tells us in 1 John 1:10 that anyone who claims he does not sin is a liar. I ask myself this question in the face of death, would I want to continue forever in this state of partial cleansing? In the absence of fear of the process of dying, the answer would be no, I would prefer to move on and be with Christ. The result of that reunion would be the removal of all trace of sin in my life.

So while we must experience the physical deaths of friends and relatives, in Christ we have the hope of future reunion. While the pain of separation and the suffering leading up to death are very real, the sting is reduced for those who are in Christ.

I find comfort in worship of a God who wept at the grave of a friend, who understands that death and dying did not have to be. We have a God who grieves alongside us in the small hurts and the large. Pain, suffering and death did not have to be and Jesus experienced all these in his Earthly life. As one who has been through the pain, Jesus can connect with my experience and show me hope that I will emerge the better for it.

I will close with Hebrews 4:15–16 from the Amplified Bible:

15 For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.

16 Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

Thank God that we don’t have to go it alone.

The temptation of anger in response to militant atheism

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In Rhode Island, Jessica Ahlquist has been the front for a lawsuit against her school district. The result of the lawsuit is that the school must remove the School Prayer
from their walls. It is also reported that threats have been made against the girl and she has been the target of verbal abuse. A photo of the prayer pulled from the linked article is shown at right.

I understand the anger at and frustration with a court system which is increasingly opposed to Christianity. I understand how difficult it is to see a militant minority run roughshod over what has been the foundation of our culture for over 200 years. So I get the anger and the desire to lash out.

I feel the need to remind myself and others of a few things in response to this.

  • James reminds us that we are to be “slow to anger” because “the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20) Nothing of eternal value will result in responding in anger.
  • Matthew 22:39 tells us that the second great command is to love our neighbor. Jesus used the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate who our neighbor is. This girl in Rhode Island is our neighbor and we are commanded to love her.
  • Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1 that apart from Christ we are spiritually dead. We should not be surprised when spiritually dead people make spiritually dead choices.

Certainly threats and abuse toward Jessica are the wrong response on both a practical and a moral level. They accomplish nothing of temporal or eternal value.

The response of the Apostle Paul when he encountered the paganism of the Athenians is instructive here. Luke records in Acts 17:16 that Paul was provoked by the city full of idols. He was not provoked into anger, but provoked to respond with a defense of Christianity and a presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God changes people from the inside. It is of little use for us to force change from the outside. So to do legal battle over a prayer on the wall seems like a futile effort.

We should, however, take events like this as a wakeup call. Parts of the church have engaged with the culture to the extent that their form of Christianity is almost indistinguishable from the society around it. Other parts of the church have so disengaged from the culture making themselves doctrinally pure, but irrelevant. Neither extreme puts the church in position to be effective in making disciples, the mission given to the church by Jesus.

If we live out the two great commands to love God and our neighbors, if we do this well, then we can trust that God will change us and he will use us to change our culture. Jessica needs God’s love and she needs our love, not our anger. She has plenty of that already.

A lesson learned about puppies and prayer

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Puppy
Marzipan – AKA Marcy

We are blessed to have a 9 week old puppy in the house. Her name is Marzipan and we call her Marcy for short. Part of this blessing is entailed in trips outside in the middle of the night as part of house training.

The really difficult part is to get Marcy to understand that just because she is awake does not mean that 2:00 AM is play time. It takes some time to get her to calm down once she is returned to the crate.

As I was sitting next to the crate working on calming Marcy down, I was impatient to get back to bed. There are many other times when I have been impatient. Waiting for the light to turn green, waiting to see a prospect, waiting in line at the store are all opportunities for impatience to strike.

What if, instead, I looked at these waiting times as opportunities to pray? I certainly cannot make the claim that I spend too much time in prayer. I suppose that there are few who would. Rather than wasting time being impatient, prayer is a better response.

This is one application of Paul’s command in 1 Thessalonians 5:7, to pray without ceasing. I can and should pray at any time, any place and in any circumstance. So when I find myself being impatient, I hope to choose prayer over impatience.

My daughter’s puppy taught me that.

Muddy Waters, Mercy and the Fifth Beatitude

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Sermon on the Mount Series #9

MercyWhile Jesus was dining at a Pharisee’s house, a woman of questionable reputation came in and worshipped Jesus by washing his feet with her tears and anointing them with perfume. A dialog ensued between the Pharisee and Jesus as recorded in Luke 7:36-50. Jesus concludes his discussion with the Pharisee by informing him that those who have been forgiven much, love much. Those who have been forgiven little, love little.

The fifth Beatitude tells us that those who are merciful will receive mercy. At first reading this sounds right to us. If you do good to others they will do good to you. It seem natural, like the popular concept of karma.

Yet reality tells us that on a strictly human level, this beatitude often proves false. Did those who hid the Jews receive mercy from the Nazis? How many missionaries and social workers have been wounded or killed while trying to treat disease and bring comfort to the suffering? How many parents have been torn apart by wayward children that they nurtured? How many children have been wounded by parents while trying to be good boys or girls?

To validate the truth of this Beatitude we must look beyond our physical existence to a larger reality. We can’t make it work in a purely naturalistic understanding of the world. I don’t even know how you arrive at a concept of mercy in a purely naturalistic system.

If nature is indeed red in tooth and claw then why place a value on mercy? Why were Hitler and Stalin wrong if naturalism is the explanation of the world? Naturalism tells us that we are products of random electro-chemical reactions and that the way we are is determined by our DNA. If this is the case, why worry about being merciful or loving? If the world is the product of random reactions and I have the power to give or withhold mercy why should one value one choice over the other?

I am not arguing that atheists cannot be merciful and moral. I’ve known many that have compassion that puts me to shame. I am arguing that you cannot find an intellectual basis or motivation to mercy in naturalism. Ayn Rand would seem to agree since in her novels she portrays mercy as a weakness and selfishness as a virtue.

Circle back to the opening story. The prostitute’s worship is accepted by Jesus. Jesus pronounced her forgiven and on the basis of this forgiveness, she had a greater love for the one who had forgiven her.

Without the work of Jesus on our behalf, we should not expect mercy from God or from anyone else. We cannot earn the mercy from God, it is a gift. But on the basis of the mercy that we have received, we are called to exhibit that mercy to others. Therefore I understand this Beatitude to be saying that display of mercy is evidence of having received mercy. Those who display mercy have gotten and will continue to get mercy both as a cause and a result.

As Muddy Waters said in an old blues song, “you can’t spend what you ain’t got.” It is difficult to show mercy if you’ve never received it. If you’d like to receive God’s mercy, drop me a line and I will tell you how. Then you will indeed be blessed.

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