Arise

Arise, my love . . . 

 - From Song of Solomon 2

The entire passage, in fact, the entire book of Song of Solomon, is an allegory of Christ's love for the Church. The command "Arise, my love," are the words of Christ at His return. The dead are called forth; the Church is adorned as One, and Christ removes humanity, forever, from out of the grasp of trouble and sadness.

A friend of mine, years ago, believed in "waiting" until getting married. He also was a staunch believer in the Return of Christ and all that it entailed. He told me, jokingly, that he hoped Christ waited until after he got married, to return. He did not want to miss out on his wedding night. 

I think he was partially serious, though.

There are so many things about eternity, holiness, Real Love, purity, etc., that we simple do not realize. Even people with great faith struggle really to understand what it is all about. We can only touch on the very edges of it.

But Christ's Return is compared to a wedding. But, a real wedding. One where the Bride and Groom are a Real Bride and Groom that waited, and deserved to wear white. The expectation is almost unbearable. The waiting goes on, and on, and on. 

If only we thought about the return of Christ like that. If only we wanted to keep ourselves, so that we could experience the full, inexpressible prize, of staying pure both before, and after marriage.

There is a purifying of the Church that's going on right now. Yes, humanity has sinned and widened the gap between itself and God. We are filthy, even though we don't know it. In the spiritual realm, it's easy to see what we have become . . . something like a warm cesspool running over at the edges. 

But the Groom returns, and purifies His bride through a supernatural action of fire. The Church awaits, in white, and will be ready when He returns. 

Generational Remembrance

I will make your name to be remembered from one generation to another ...

 - From Psalm 45

There's a lot of comment in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, about family, generations, having lots and lots of descendants . . . being remembered generations after you have died.

There's an awful lot of comment on it. A whole lot of comment.

It must be important. 

At the very beginning, it was very important to God, that humanity populate the Earth, and that they do so quickly. In the New Testament, the emphasis is on growing the Church, rapidly. But even then, the Church is spoken of as family, and the New Testament is full of references to people and their biological families. The New Testament begins with a genealogy.

It's almost like it was the breakdown of families, and the fracturing of families over time, that made Christ necessary.

No, in fact, that's exactly what it is.

A pastor, mentor, and Christian brother of mine, Al Hutchings, once told me that he would no longer have to be a pastor, when families all did their jobs according to God's plan. Harsh, but true.

The family is a place to practice unconditional love. You are stuck with family. Your parents, kids, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins . . . they are who they are. They are distinct and unchangeable. You either practice loving them, whether or not you want to, or not. But if you choose to love them, you will be experiencing the love of Christ firsthand.

Imagine being remembered and revered, five generations from now. The next generation should remember you well. They knew you. They will cry at your funeral. The generation following - - - your grandchildren and grand-nieces and nephews - - - will probably know you. Those that knew you best will love you desperately. But when you die, they will be sad but they were probably not totally surprised by it. 

The third generation after you: the great-grands; may, if you live long enough, have some memories of you. But the generation after that will not know you at all. By the time you get to your fifth generation - your great-great-great grandchildren, there's no way they remember you. And they probably are no longer handing down stories about you.

It is really something, when you are actually remembered a hundred years from now, all because someone passed down stories, someone that knew you well. 

It's a really big deal. And since it is so highly treasured in Scripture, why is the Church so weak at practicing it?

Connect with family. Connect with generations. You will be fulfilling one important commandment of God, and it's so easy. It's worth it. Show up. Be there. Be present.

Be remembered generations from now. 

Who Is That Over There?

“Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.”

 - From Genesis 24

This is a basic theme that is replayed, over and over again, in Scripture:

1. The Master approaches
2. His bride covers herself up (in modesty)
3. Big things are about to happen

Even in the Garden of Eden . . . God showed up and began walking toward Adam and Eve. They were embarrassed, and covered themselves up. A big thing happens. Judgment comes to Adam and Eve and they are sent out of the Garden. 

God approaches Cain, after he murdered Abel, his brother . . . and Cain feels guilty. He tries to cover up his crime. A big thing happens. God banishes Cain to a far-off land.

The three visitors approach Abraham in his tent. They talk about Sarah bearing him a son. Sarah laughs, but then tries to cover it up, saying "but I didn't laugh." Something big happens - - - she has a son, which becomes a foreshadowing of BOTH comings of Christ.

Rebekah approaches the land of Abraham, and sees someone approaching. It is Isaac, her future husband. She covers herself up in modesty. They get married, and Esau and Jacob join the narrative, with their own allegory of the natural man versus the spiritual man. 

When God approaches, we do not always recognize Him. But once He is identified, we want to cover ourselves up. I wonder if modesty is still in vogue, even when it is the Lord Himself coming?

When Christ returns, for judgment and for good, will there be even a modicum of decency left on earth, for people to feel the slightest twinge of misgiving? Will sinners try to walk back everything they ever did? Will they cover up their pasts and their immodest appearance? Or will they mock Him to His face, as they have done most of their lives?

We should cultivate our sense of expectancy. Never let go of the hope that, when anyone approaches from a distance, it may be The Lord Himself. 

Ask boldly: "Who is that over there, walking in our direction?"

Eat Justice

...but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

 - From Ezekiel 34

I didn't want to make this verse my focus. I think that maybe I make too
much comment of  the judgment stuff, the harsh references to justice,
judgment, and consequences for sin. It's like I must enjoy thinking about
all the bad things that are going to happen to bad people.

I don't.

But I realize that a lot of people today really do love that stuff.
You know, the people that trash public property, the ones that
beat up people that disagree with them, the ones that hate rich people
and want to make them suffer for having things.

The ones that believe they speak for 98% of the population.
Those people.

And so it might get their attention if I can show them a statement
by The LORD that they might enjoy.

Ezekiel 34 is a beautiful passage. It is full of tender promises from
God, that He will gather up His sheep. He will search tirelessly for them.
He will find the lost, the hungry, the homeless. And He will
give them a place to live, in Israel, next to fresh water. And He
Himself will feed them.

The passage goes on and on, and it warms your heart.

But, like an exclamation point, He drives the promise home with
something for the people that had been mistreating God's children for
ages: He will destroy them. And they will be fed, too.

But He is going to feed them justice.

"Justice." What a perfect word to form connections across
political boundaries in our times.

Everybody wants justice. We just define it differently. And it is quite
possible that, in God's eyes, both definitions of justice are sound.
We find them incompatible. God pronounces both extremes to be valid.

And God is going to fill the plates of the comfortable with justice,
and make them eat it.

The promises of God are good. They are wonderful. And they are worth
following the commandments and waiting for. But just in case we get
bored, lose hope, or find ourselves still feeling envy towards just about
everybody else, God reminds us, "Oh don't worry - they'll get theirs."

Maybe not for me, but for a lot of people, that's Good News.

Those Troublesome Incompatibles

Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

 - From Psalm 85

The problem in American Politics today, is that one side emphasizes Mercy, while the other emphasizes Truth. 

One party prefers Righteousness. The other, Peace.

When will we simply accept the fact that our omnipotent God is unrealistic in His expectation that we practice lifestyles and attitudes that do not, cannot, go together? 

That's what makes it so unreachable. That's what makes it such a grand aspiration for Humanity. It's the very essence of why we fall short; why we sin. Because we can sort of muster a pretty good record as merciful people . . . but then we have to speak Truth and it gets awkward.

We have made our electoral system our fall-back action plan to advancing the priority that God has given each of us. If we win, well . . . we win. And winning feels good. It's like, I must be right, if I win.

There was a time people on the Left would say "Well it's a good thing we have Conservatives here, to keep us focused on budgets and economies," while the Right would return "Our Liberal friends keep reminding us about social justice, and that's a good thing."

But not today.

We need mercy. Not judgmentalism. We need acceptance of others; all others. Unconditionally. But somehow we have to do that while articulating a holy, sinless goal and target. We need to love others while defining the godly standard for life: responsibility, hard work, loyalty, purity . . . 

We need righteousness. The human race cannot progress without taming its passions and selfish yearnings. Righteousness is our barometer as to whether or not we are reaching for the Good. Are we becoming more Christlike? But at the same time we can't alienate others. We have to set ourselves apart as people of God, while establishing peace and security for others. 

Those troublesome incompatibles.

A Conclusion That Makes No Sense

The grass withers, the flower fades . . . 

 - From Isaiah 40

The famous passage from Isaiah, that is prominent in the John the Baptist narrative (it has the epic "A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,'") offers much hope. Jerusalem has suffered greatly. It has been judged harshly, and paid an extreme penalty. It says in one spot, that Jerusalem has paid two times the value of its sin.

The entire passage says that all will be made well. God's people will be restored to their position of favor. Good times will return.

But in the midst of all of this positive thinking, comes a curious reminder that we are finite, dust, and severely limited.

The grass withers, and the flower fades. And we are no different.

How is this supposed to make me feel better?

It's all about being realistic. The truth will set you free. When you're being completely honest, you can begin to do good things for yourself and your future. Jerusalem should now understand this - - - "You are dust. Are you ready to do it my way?"

Consider the tragedy of teen suicide. I have personally known kids that took their own lives. Kids I taught, spoke to, laughed with.

I reflected on the horror of teen suicide, with a woman who has teen aged daughters. I mentioned that the talk is always only about mental illness. But what about other factors? Is there anything in the home environment that contributes to the sense of desperation? Do we focus on mental health because that is something that can be "treated," without requiring much change on the part of others?

We probably won't know, because you're not allowed to talk about that. You might hurt the feelings of someone.

But the fact is, we have these terrors, because society is sick. It's a throw-away world where you can jettison anything that does not please you. You are supposed to take care of yourself first. Don't serve others. Don't put up with others. Don't care for them. "Be yourself."

What if "being myself" equates to sadness for someone else?

But we're not allowed to go there. Society is not ready to handle such talk. And society cannot handle the reality that "the grass withers, the flower fades."

But once you understand that, you can begin to put life into the proper focus. You can realize that, since life is short, and since we do have such little control over our lives, we can go ahead and serve others. We can go ahead and deny ourselves, and therefore make it into God's Kingdom . . . eternally . . . where "being yourself" is actually quite easily done.

And the simple truth is, that the Real You actually is someone that is not here long and is actually quite helpless.

Shouldn't this re-direct us back to God? Isn't it the real easy way out, then, to put others first and try to make their paths lighter?

So, once again, the path to Eternity and Happiness ends up being the exact opposite of what you would think.

You Did Laugh

Oh yes, you did laugh.

 - From Genesis 18

The curious encounter of Abraham, with three visitors, is probably well-known to most people. 

When you consider all of the Bible, and how much detail has been left out, we can only conclude that if it is in there, it must be important. And so it is with the meeting of Abraham and the three men, and their conversation.

Many have suggested that the three men represent the Trinity. This would be a neat fit. But then we wonder why the Lord is not represented by three men, everywhere in Scripture. Why only here? And we see that one of them, one only, speaks out - the one that predicts that Sarah will have a son. This is the one called "The Lord" by the narrative. 

One of the three men is singled out, and the other two decrease. This is not in the spirit of the Trinity. But it definitely introduces some interesting points of debate.

I want to focus on the statement by the Lord: "Oh yes, you did laugh."

The Scriptural record has saved this ordinary exchange between Sarah and the Lord (one of the three men). It's small talk. It's like a little snark session between a parent and child, there the child keeps baiting the parent, and the parent keeps taking the bait. You normally would not consider such an exchange to be noteworthy.

But it is here, in the permanent biblical record.

Sarah laughed when she overheard the Lord saying that she would, at the age of 90, bear a child. Had it been laughter, from joy, that would be one thing (the whole thing gets turned around at the end, when reflects how God made her laugh by giving her a son). But at the time, it was the laughter of scorn, of derision. 

"Yeah, right . . . God's going to give ME a son!"

They go back and forth, and Sarah lies: "I didn't laugh." 

From the time of Adam and Eve, people lie to God, because they're afraid of Him. You can't debate Him with logic. He knows your thoughts.

When people struggle with God, and He says something like "Why did you laugh?" the correct response is the truthful response: "I laughed, Lord, because my faith is weak, and I did not believe you. I have been sad for so many years, because of my childless state. And it would cause me great pain for you to say "You will have a son," and then it never happen."

Something like that.

The discussion ends. God has the last word. "Oh yes, you did laugh."

Perhaps we should treat others with the same regard, by letting them have the last word. 

Because, we do the same thing to each other. We make things up when humans have "caught" us in a fib, or doing something we regret. Utter truthfulness. 

It's okay to be wrong. If you laughed, admit it.