Friday, February 26, 2016

Understanding Envy

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.

 - Matthew 21:43


People that act upright, that live morally, that have purity of heart, that serve others, that live according to the highest ideals: they are always going to be hated by the have-nots.  And I say "have-nots," not in the financial sense, but in the favor-of-God sense. These people have peace in their hearts, and that's worth all the gold in the world. 

Those on the outside, hate this. They want to bring other down to their level. Poor people would rather make others poor, than attain to wealth themselves. Yes, these are generalizations.

Joseph was sold into slavery, because of envy. Jesus likewise was seized by authorities and found guilty of a capital crime. Why did good men get punished?

I think it's a type of lesson, having to do with what will happen to us if we don't take things seriously. If we start compromising on sin and purity. Slavery and torture could be meted out to good men like Joseph and Jesus, who had done no wrong, imagine what is in store for America, if we lose our stewardship of being the Light of the World!

We're losing our grip. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Yes we have growing churches. We are planting churches and temples in new places that advance our reach. But here at home, we seem to have given up the fight to advance the cause of Christ, which is: Feed the hungry, house the homeless, visit those in prison, welcome the aliens, and refrain from immorality!

It's not either-or.  It's all-of-the-above.

The part where the kingdom is taken from us is a brutal, violent one . . . it's quite like Joseph's treatment by his brothers. It starts with a mob of envious people, and we won't always have a brother, Reuben, stepping in to spare our lives. 

Cain, Esau, Joseph's brothers, Pharaoh, King Saul, the Scribes and Pharisees. It always starts with envy,

Saturday, February 20, 2016

A Little More About Extended Family

"And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?"

 - Matthew 5

The Lord continues on urging us to get out of our box and serve others. Just acknowledging someone else is perhaps the most fundamental act of kindness available to us. It also creates a constant supply of opportunities to do way more than others: "Greet more than just your brothers or sisters."

I am in the middle of a project to learn the names of every one of the 300 5th and 6th graders in my building. As the word got out that I was doing this, more and more of the kids will walk up to me and say "What's my name?" When I remember, it makes their day. When I forget, it obviously disappoints them a little. But I keep working at it and that shows that I am committed to them. It's a very basic, fundamental way to show kids that I care.

I am reminded of the classic response when it is suggested you should get to know extended family, or to remember departed loved ones:

"Why would I care about people I don't know?

and

"Oh that's just a bunch of dead people."

But the Lord says: "You greet your brothers and sisters. Good for you. Now do the same for people you don't know."

Our family and extended families are automatic training grounds for serving others. Unlike friends, you may not have any automatic shared interests. There is nothing that binds you together in a way that motivates you. But you are bound together more fundamentally than that: by nature, by DNA. The Old Testament shows a God that really cares about the organization of family groups. 

When someone is introduced as your Fourth Cousin: rejoice! You have an excellent opportunity to show instant, unconditional love for them, by being thrilled to meet them! I believe that that is why they are there.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Hate for Kin

"You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin."

 - Leviticus 19

So I'll continue to focus on the topic of family. Yes it's true that Jesus says that He came to divide father from son, brother from brother, etc. But that is only because the righteous use Love as their weapon. You can love your family deeply, and care for them . . . but that doesn't mean that they will reciprocate. It also does not mean you should stop loving them.

The pattern is set in the Old Testament. Families are critical to God's plan. He kept track of genealogies because it is important. There is a logic, and a sense of order, to growing families. You belong, automatically. You can do anything, from the harshest evil to the most benign charity. Your brother is still your brother. Your cousin, your cousin. And you will always be linked to thousands of others, through your great-great-great grandparents.

Imagine families taking this seriously: 

"Do all of us have health insurance?" 

"Can all of us afford college?" 

"How are all the fatherless children in the family doing?" 

"Is there a widow that needs dental work, or a new roof?"

It's inspiring just writing about it. You're looking at the simple solution to every social problem in the US today. And if that can be mastered, we may turn our eyes on other priorities that are not subject to partisan politics: like public safety and international trade.

Your "kin". Who are they? Would you draw the line at your immediate family? Your extended family? Do you love your great-grandparents, if you knew them? Do you love them enough to care about every one of their children, if you can? And what if your great-grandparents died with concern for their cousins that they knew as children, that they loved, but that they knew came into some misfortune? Would you do something about it, knowing it was something your beloved grandmother was concerned about?

The broader we make our definition of "kin," the more people we can help, the more good we can do . . . and the more good that will come back to our own grandchildren and great-grandchildren, if any of them ever need it!!

Turning away from your kin could be devastating to them, and to you. The Lord easily defines this as "hate."

Friday, February 12, 2016

Step to Purity

"Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure;  wash me, and I shall be clean indeed."

 - Isaiah 51:8

I remember the days of my youthful spiritual excitement.

I would long for this, would pray with fervor that God would make me pure, holy, righteous, as Christ is.

I begged for God's cleansing. I wanted to be so pure and faithful that I could move mountains.

But it turns out the purification process is accomplished by way of a thing call "life." And then you don't fully arrive until you wake up from death and do a sort-of debriefing of how it went.

Holiness comes from two steps forward, one step back. My youthful desire and exhilaration was so me-focused, that even though I kept myself sexually pure, even though I made selfless career choices, even though I never swore, and tithed regularly . . . I was still pretty rotten, because it was all about me.

Little kids do not like taking baths. And we don't like having to endure the cradle-to-grave endless nonsense. As George Harrison said "But it takes so long." Indeed it does.

And so perhaps the first step on the road to purity, is patience. And I'm far from mastering that one.


Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Gotta Problem

"So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

 - Matthew 6

All over social media, Christians are attacked for opposing raising taxes to feed the poor and redress other social problems. They are called "hypocrites" for calling it a "Christian nation" while "taking food away from starving children."

Hmmm.

But how does Christ Himself define "hypocrisy"? He doesn't worry about saying one thing and doing another, so much as He hates for us to make a big show of our good works.

Give your alms in secret. DO YOUR CHARITY IN SECRET! Therefore I don't even want the government knowing of my good works! I don't want the government deciding how my charitable dollars are spent, for me!!

We gotta problem. And what is it?

We have no way of defending our low tax position without becoming . . . hypocritical.

We can't say: "Well I give charitably so it's okay to want lower taxes." Because that's saying too much. And if we say of our wealthy neighbor "Yes he's a one-percenter but he annually donates $100,000 to Feed My Children; then we have just violated a sacred trust. We have let our friend down.

So the best approach may very well be . . . say nothing, literally. Or at best: "I use the biblical definition of "hypocrisy," and therefore cannot discuss any details of my giving, or of why I am opposed to raising taxes.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Your Own Kin

"Is not this the fast that I choose . . . not to hide yourself from your own kin?"

     - Isaiah 58

People avoid their own family. When you're finding extended kin: second and third cousins, the problem is even more pronounced. You plan a large family reunion, and the question is: "Will I know any of these people?" You find something interesting about a great-grandparent, or grand-aunt or uncle: "Oh I'm not interested in dead people."

And as a Christian this attitude always bothered me. I couldn't put my finger on just why. To me, Scripture is wrought with references to the need to care for family. I mean, if you are to take care of widows and orphans first, isn't that because something awful happened to them: a relative shunned them? (And what could be worse than that?)

But here is a clear Scripture in support of my position. God puts His finger right on it. Even more important than fasting . . . is not to hide from your own kin! He put them in our lives, so that we would care for them! And we may need them in return, some day!

Friends can bow out. And we know that even spouses certainly can, and do, make an exit. 

There is nothing in nature binding friends together. But the very DNA coursing through your veins ties you to your kin. And even if the fourth and fifth generation has gotten so watered down that the DNA is not that similar . . . well at least they have a common ancestor that they may even have met; or someone that they know met and has memories. Doesn't this tie people together . . . enough? If I have heard stories of my Great-Great Grandfather, and one day I show up at his home with distant cousins I have just met, that heard versions of the same stories . . . doesn't this count?

It's Fat Tuesday. And I shall call on people to take a fast from hiding from your own kin.

Monday, February 8, 2016

Our Part

"Why should it be said among the peoples, `Where is their God?'"

 - Joel 2

Before getting to this concluding question - Why should it be said "Where is their God?", Joel first talks about a horrible judgment coming, in the form of an army larger than any ever seen before. And then it goes on, that the people should repent, and that they should all come together, from the very old to the very young, and petition the Lord for forgiveness.

And then Joel says that God will turn around instantly, and His blessing will be even greater than the people deserve.

And so today: We're nearing a point (if not there already) where people are mocking God's people: "Where is their God?" Or better yet - "Why would a loving God blah blah blah?"

But have we repented? What about our divorces and our adulteries? What about our cheating, our withholding funds that could go to the poor? What about our sick divided denominational priorities?

Have we fasted? Have we spend hours in prayer? Do we put people ahead of money, jobs, games, TV, raunchy music?

Where is God indeed? Where are we?

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Some Political-Biblical Issues

"O mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob."

 - Psalm 99

These concepts: equity, justice, and righteousness are in use in politics today.

The Left loves the word "equity."

Both love the word "justice", but it means different things to different people.

And the right loves the word "righteousness."

And that's the problem. Both sides have a handle on something important.

The problem is that neither side likes the other having the reigns of government, and defining the terms.

The Left does not want the Right defining "righteousness" and enforcing it. The Right is scared to death of what the Left means by "equity."

So the answer, for believers, is to pursue both within the Church, and in the community . . . and to stay out of politics where arguments ensue.

Let's have all three . . . in God's name.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

When Talking to God

"Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God."

 - Exodus 34

A lot happens in the Old Testament, that will never happen since, because of our lack of faith. 

Nobody's face physically shines anymore, from talking with God, because we don't believe anyone can talk to God like that, and we actually don't believe it will make your face shine.

But Science shows that your face actually emits light. So it should be scientifically possible for someone to activate that light capability even more than normal. If your experience is heightened enough, maybe it's possible.

"Let your light so shine." We talk about someone with a sunny disposition. We know that many people are like light in the darkness, when they walk into a room. But no one believes they actually give off true, physical, observable light.

And this is why it doesn't happen today. If we really believed could shine, we would observe it all the time. So at heart of these Old Testament lessons is that our collective faith is so weak.

Nevertheless . . . make that an aspiration. Desire to be light. And then talk to God and see what happens.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

"Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people."    - Hebrews 2

This is a hard one to grasp, unless we take it at face value.

Jesus became just like us.

Just like us.

He would get cold, hungry, and angry. Presumably, He had all the same urges.

And it's essential that we understand that He was able to overcome every temptation. When He was presented at the temple as a boy, two people full of the Holy Spirit approached Mary and Joseph and affirmed that their son was the Promised One. How did they know this? They had great faith, and they stayed in the Temple all day long, praying.

Jesus had those disciplined practices even more. 

It is possible to overcome temptation. You have to pray, fast, get into God's, and fellowship with other believers. But most importantly, you have to want to be holy.

If He did not respond to Nature in just the same way as us, then He could not be our redeemer. He had to be just like us

And this gives us hope that we have a Redeemer that matters, because we matter to Him. And we also know that we are able to master temptation, for He showed us how.

And the main ingredient is desire to be sinless.


Monday, February 1, 2016

"For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap."

 - Malachi 3

One of the most distressing things about the human experience, is our out-of-control thoughts. Our words are bad enough. But the things that go on in our minds; the thoughts that are only known by yourself. Those dark, horrible things that you consider, that you ponder on. The hate, the violence.

I believe that every single person thinks these thoughts. When a person says, in jest "I ought to kill you!" we take it innocently enough. But really, should such a thought ever be entertained, even if there is no chance it will be taken seriously?

I have observed restless people with nothing to do. We pelt our minds with constant images, sounds, and stimuli. We do not like being left alone to our own thoughts. We engage in hate on social media, because we cannot bear the self-reflection that tells us how horrible we are, because our thoughts are horrible. We seek, and find, solace in the affirmation we get from others that also hate.

We don't think, or speak, as people that are comfortable with themselves. We do not like our thoughts, and we so all the wrong things to control them.

In this context, we should come face to face with the Refiner. I can bear myself if I know that one day God Himself will completely incinerate the evil that permeates my psyche. If can just be like Christ: with the purest thoughts, the kindest regard toward others, and the warmest sense of presence, anywhere, then I will be fine.

As eternal beings with unlimited resources and unending life, there is no reason for us to hate. With perfect knowledge of everything, we would know everybody fully, and see that there is really nothing there to resent.

But to make sure we become truly pure, God destroys the evil within us. He burns it away, and boils it off the top.

That alone, puts my thoughts at ease. That promise, and that assurance, are the coals thrown upon the Refiner's fire, that makes the flame hotter yet.