Enemies

Love your enemies . . . 

 - From Matthew 5

The greatest of these is love. 

Jesus wrapped up the Law and the Prophets, and the culmination of the Scriptural Era of history (and the launch of the long prelude to His Second Coming), with these words. 

What the Lord names as "the greatest" of anything must be noteworthy. Pay attention. It's important. 

There are long lists of virtues scattered throughout both testaments. The Old Testament puts it all in very plain terms: 

• Care for widows and orphans
• Welcome strangers to your community
• Live in purity

That's pretty much all of it. Some people emphasize one of the three points. Some manage two of them. Most people talk a lot about one or two of them, particularly in the context of heated political rhetoric. But few people actually attempt to practice any of them. And it's nearly impossible for find a person that has mastered all three. 

The rest of the Bible is full of anecdotes and lessons, that portray the practice of these virtuous attitudes and lifestyles. But it can get tedious trying to understand all of the nuances and exceptions. How do you practice purity while also accepting strangers unconditionally? 

Enter Christ, with His summation: The Greatest is Love. 

Love means putting others first. It means listening to them. 

Of course, the person that loves fully places him or herself in a vulnerable position. Love is patient and long-suffering. It means putting up with some mistreatment. It means denying even some of your own self, in order to have peace and stability (making others safe is an act of love). 

Of course, you wish the others would reciprocate. But don't count on it. 

The Jackie DeShannon song said "What the World Needs Now is Love. It's the only thing, that there's just too little of."

Yesterday, I was discussing this topic on-line, with a stranger. I said that we need to build bridges to everybody. She was countering with the refrain, that you can't build bridges to racists. My reply was that we have to try, and keep trying. What do we think made them racist in the first place?

If it weren't racism, it would be something else. Love is hard. It's brutal. And we try to find ways out of it. But if it were easy it wouldn't be so precious. 

The person that loves fully does not have to worry about judging others. You just treat them all the same. And you notice the person right there before you. Love isn't screaming F-bombs in someone's face. 

It's so rare, it might be hard to recognize, if it weren't exactly what we all need more of. 

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To Us

. . . to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

 - From Acts 13

The Bible is one big build-up to a simple finale. There is so much complexity, intrigue, drama, tragedy, fear, dread, sorrow, destruction, death . . . 

 . . . on the way to the Big Finish. 

I'm a long distance runner. It goes back forty years to my high school days, as a Cross Country athlete. I earned three varsity letters, and my senior year was awarded the "Senior Trophy" for being a steady leader, with character. I was not the fastest runner. I wasn't even in the top three. But over my three years I had been consistent, and had a great attitude. The running experience has stayed with me. It's hard for me to walk a trail, or street, for very long, before I want to begin running. I'm going to run 5K today, in fact, some time this afternoon. 

Every step of a 5K is hard. I don't even know how many total steps you take, in that distance. But every single stride is something that I am aware of. You look off ahead . . . at a hundred yards, maybe a quarter mile. You may be running into the sun, or the wind. It may be 90 degrees and humid, or thirty-five degrees and rainy. Your destination seems so far away. But you take each step, one at a time. The last fifty yards seem so long . . . but in time you're finished, and you feel so good at what you just accomplished. 

This is God's plan for the earth. It is a long, long, marathon. Humanity must learn so many lessons. It seems like, on the balance, it is such a long, hard road. You feel like the downs outnumber the ups. Worry, fretting, heartache. We endure all of it, for the sake of an afternoon of sheer joy. We live for the good moment . . . the Big Finish. 

Some time after the ascension of Christ, maybe months, or years, we see the Apostle Paul in the synagogue. He reviews the experience of Israel, through the years. He stresses the thread of salvation running through history. We want to understand why there is so much hardship and sorrow. But Paul reminds them of God's promise, and brings his comments to a Big Finish:

We've got the message for you. It's reliable, and it's from God. Here it is . . . 

2020 is even closer to Paul's Big Finish. We're two millennia closer. As bad as we always thought things would get . . . we can see how they easily could become worse yet; if they aren't already. But like the finish to a race, the culmination of a betrothal by way of vows, or a moment of recline at the end of a day of hard work . . . we have the message. We've got the ending. The end is in sight.

The message is the Way. It is the way out. It is our way through. Keep it right there, just ahead of you, and follow it. 

Pathway

. . . peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

 - From Psalm 85

God uses the least among us, to accomplish great things. When it comes to nations, and the correcting of their errant ways, He frequently uses the worst among us, to get our attention. We make an important error, in assuming that good and right adorn the intentions and outcomes of mobs of people. There is strength in numbers. There is not necessarily truth in numbers. Probably, quite the opposite. 

Chaos seems to reign more dominantly in the human heart, than order. We're just intelligent enough to do great damage, when we want to. And we usually want to, because our egos are so prevalent. We can't see beyond our own fields of vision. We get hungry and frustrated. We give in to our appetites. We have terrible attention spans. We want things now. And we're not very good at putting things off. 

If we were more in touch with Eternity, our outlook would change, considerably. 

America in 2020 is looking more and more like an Old Testament judgment scene. We resemble the decline of the Roman Empire, as it strained to contain the pressures upon its outer seams. 

Freedom and prosperity is what we all want for ourselves and our families. But it seems, any time a human civilization attains it, it cannot hold it for long. Someone always wants to take it down, and return society to the random and desperate existence that came before. Why is destruction ever desired over the promise of selfish advancement?

God provides a pathway of peace. There is a way out. And the way is good. A pathway is a secure means to safety. A good path is narrow. You can only file through two or three abreast (which limits the chance for crowds to form). Behind you is turmoil. The further along you walk, the further back is the trouble. You begin to see a light ahead . . . the way out! On each side, you may see dense forest, or waterways, or a chasm. You can not be easily attacked from the flank. 

Paths like this take time, materials, resources, and hard work, to build. The Psalmist lists some of the raw materials that go into building such a peaceful pathway:

• Righteousness
• Prosperity
• Increase
• Truth
• Mercy

In evaluating current events . . . and assessing the rightness of this cause, or that . . . see if such qualities are present. If not, resist the urge to join with the throng. Find a way out. Move in the direction of righteousmess, prosperity, increase of wealth, truth, and mercy. 

Stumble

All my close friends are watching for me to stumble.

 - From Jeremiah 20

It's a wonder Jeremiah had any friends at all. He even calls them "close" friends. They are not helping him. They do not appear to be defending him. They are not protecting or standing up for him. They are not encouraging him.

They're just watching him. 

It occurred to me, to think about the entire narrative of Scripture, from Genesis 1:1 to "Even so, come Lord Jesus." Is there an example of a massing crowd, circling and ganging up one a single person, that is in the process of doing God's will? 

Does God ever command a crowd to form, so that it can mock and ridicule one person that is harming nobody? Is the paradigm of life in Christ ever to join up with an angry throng? Or is it more likely that we must prepare to stand up, as one against many?

Sure . . . you have the people of Israel taking over Canaan . . . but that was part of a military campaign. God's people are never required to build up a mob in unity and overwhelming numbers, in order to humble and humiliate others. Terrorism, violence, intimidation . . . these are never God's way. 

As my Great Aunt Mae Turnbow would say "For the truth, I'll stand one to a hill."

We glamorize the idea of the lonely warrior - the majority of One - the courageous David standing up to Goliath. But in reality, our culture prefers massive groups of people, crowding downtown areas, tempting themselves with the violence they may do, and get away with it. 

I'd rather face a bully than a crowd. 

Jeremiah's friends are like all of us . . . even when our friend is being mocked, handled, shoved around, bullied, brutalized, tortured . . . we keep our distance and watch.

Maybe if Jeremiah (or, fill in your name here) folds and relents, it will be okay for me to do the same. I'll just watch. 

Massive crowds. Intimidation. Groupthink. Mob behavior. Even when peaceful, massive crowds of people are frightening. On the face of it, we have every reason to fear them. 

Jeremiah has been called "the weeping prophet." He cried as he saw his country brought low by scoffers and criminals. In June, 2020, I have seen more and more of our elders crying, as well, as they witness the destruction being visited upon the world's last great defender of free thought and free speech. We're not perfect . . . but at least we have those two precious principles as core values. 

To the reader . . . . take a moment now, and begin to bolster yourself, to stand up to the crowd, or at least, to defend others being mistreated by a mob. 

Sign

Show me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed

 - From Psalm 86

Christ said that a faithless and perverse generation seeks a sign. He was referring to those that taunted Him: "Do a miracle for us, and we'll believe." However, for years I have taken the Lord's assertion quite seriously, and literally. I would make a point not to expect signs from the Lord. I would try not to even think about it. The desire for a sign is akin to a works-based religion. It is not operating fully on faith.

But then there's the case of Thomas, the Apostle. He said, "Unless I see the scars on His hands, and put my hand into the wound on His side, I will not believe." He was looking for an ultimate sign, and was basing his faith on hard, scientific proof. Jesus said that people that did not need such proof were blessed. Thomas was not cast out, on account of his need for evidence.

And of course, the Psalms seem to be full of pleadings for proof, for signs. But this is because the Psalmist is so often in fear of mortal danger. We are as children . . . it is not normal or healthy for us to live in fear. Fear begets resentment and hate. It is the goal of a parent, to shield his or her child from fear. Or at least, it is the goal of conscientious parents.

It is okay to ask for signs, to need signs.

Sometimes, signs in our lives help our witness. The Psalmist writes here, that a sign might show God's favor towards him or her. What might this look like? Being saved, miraculously, from an accidental death? A complete recovery from a fatal illness? Winning the lottery? Whatever the case . . . the sign of favor takes such a form, that the people that hate the Psalmist clearly see it. They get it, they understand it. They conclude that they were wrong to hate the Psalmist, to the point where they feel shame.

Nobody wants to be hated, especially someone with a clear conscience, and charitable attitude. People adopt a nice disposition, because it is better to be liked, than hated. In order for a nice person to be hated, a culture must emerge, that countenances hate towards people, on the basis of externalities and superficialities. You can only hate a nice person, if you are a bigot.

When you have done everything right - you have cultivated a charitable and selfless lifestyle and career - and yet people still hate you, in desperation you go to God. You may then ask for a sign.

God - I have done everything I know how to do. Yet, I am still hated. Give me a sign.

June 17, 2020. The world needs a sign. Now.

Water

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. 

 - From Genesis 21

The story of Hagar and her son Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn, is distressing, particularly when filtered through an early 21st Century lens. Hagar, the slave, and her son were cast out of Abraham's household, to fend for themselves in the wilderness. They nearly died of thirst. 

There are a number of themes here, that are problematic for us. The abandonment of a woman, and of a child. Their exile into the wild. The favor given to Sarah and her son, after her horrible treatment of Hagar and Ishmael. Given contemporary sensibilities, it is a wonder there is no movement to rip the narrative from the pages of the most popular book on the planet. 

But in considering the lives, and biographies of people in the Bible, so little is recorded of them, that what is left must be important. We must put on a different lens, to understand the application of these accounts, to our lives and the world today. 

1. Slavery has a different meaning today, to what it meant in the time of Abraham. It was a common practice and may be describing all of the non-family members of a household, that were there to work or do some particular job for the community. In return for their labor, they were provided food and lodging, and maybe some pay. But legally they were still considered property, and as such were subject to the whims of the master. 
2. Slavery, as a concept, provides context for much of the plan of redemption. Nobody wants to be a slave. And really, when we're looking at it honestly, none of us really would want to "own" a slave. Our Christian and Western ethic has ingrained it upon our DNA, that slavery is bad - a great evil, actually. We hate slavery so much that it informs our response to almost everything in society - employment, health care, education . . . we want to get ourselves out of dependence on others. We don't want to be under the thumb of anyone else. 
3. Abraham's treatment of Hagar and Ishmael is nothing short of abusive. How is it that the father of nations, and the paragon of Faith, was guilty of crimes considered most abhorrent in 2020? Well, the scriptural narrative has several threads running through it, that are nakedly candid about humanity, our virtues as well as our failings - the beauty and the ugliness. Humanity is presented at its very best and very worst - - - that's the point, and it makes the plan of redemption crystal clear. God uses the worst of us, to do great things for Him.

I want to focus, though, on this image of water . . . when Hagar had given up hope, certain that her son was going to die, a messenger of God appears and shows her a well of clear, flowing water. Water is such an important symbol throughout Scripture. In the movie Ben Hur, water is twice presented as a simple, but powerful life-giving force. "Water" has a poetic sound that has made for some memorable lyrics and themes in popular music down through the ages. 

Last week . . . I was watching our lawn-mowing crew at work, on a hot sunny day. I went out and grabbed two bottles of water and offered it to them. They eagerly accepted, shut down their engines, and took a little break. It felt great to share with them something so simple, yet so effective. 

The thought of water takes me to the present world's crisis. People are driven, in pursuit of justice. There is great dread, on the part of many, that the unrest will not end any time soon. But I wonder if tempers would settle down, if we had in mind . . . give them some water.

A cup of water is all it takes to convey an important message: I see you. I hear you. And it's going to be okay.

Crowds

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 

 - From Matthew 9

A crowd may seem to be organized. It moves in one direction. It sweeps down a lane, and leaves a mark of some sort upon every inch of land it covers.

Crowds, or mobs, are comprised of people coming together because of a single impulse. An event. A spark. An unexpected turn of events that frightens or angers people. The murder of George Floyd did that in the US, in 2020. Samuel Adams was skilled in getting things to happen, to make a mob form, and then move. When mobs move, things can get random. From a distance, the mob looks organized, like a shoal of piranhas cleaning the flesh off its prey. But up close, it is violent, terrifying.

Mobs, or crowds, begin to bend according to the random (or planned) acts of a few. Once the numbers are in place . . . hundreds, thousands of people at a fever pitch, all it takes is one or two solitary people, to come in, break some windows, remove or destroy property. The mob turns towards this alluring prize. We can take, without consequence! Soon, multitudes of people that normally would respect the property of others, swarm in and clean the shelves of goods lying unprotected.

Mobs progress towards their maximum capability to destroy, if that has been the direction sparked along the way. It is hard to keep a mob peaceful. It is not in human nature to keep things orderly, when so many independently-minded people come together.

I grew up fearing gangs. I have written about this many times before. In my neighborhood, the group of friends would get together, and often, if one wasn't present, they would talk behind his or her back. "Mobthink" might take over, and they begin heaping complaints and criticisms of the absent friend. They would decide to "gang up" on him or her. This meant that the friend would be ignored, avoided, taunted, teased . . . and maybe worse. I have been ganged up on, and I have participated in it. We were just kids . . . but adults are notorious for never outgrowing every bad tendency of youth!

Mobs affect me at a cellular level. I seem hardwired not to trust them, not to see much good in them.

But Jesus . . . .

Our Lord only saw frustrated and desperate people when he saw crowds (He called them "crowds"). He knew that hurt people hurt people. And there is strength in numbers. Get enough people together, with a gripe against some person with resources or power, and soon they can create their own rules, and enforce them on their bullies, bosses, teachers, parents, local law enforcement, government. Jesus didn't worry about that.

He only saw people that were hurting, and that had nowhere else to turn, but to the crowd. They'd rather not rely on a random crowd of desperate people; but they had no recourse. Jesus went among them. He loved them, befriended them, listened to them, and took care of their real needs.

We rarely know what really troubles people. They will come up with an altruistic goal, something heroic, to drive them, when in reality, if they only had some good friends, loving parents, food on the table, healthcare, a job they love. . . or funds for an oppressively high student loan bill - - - they would much rather not get mixed up in the tension and possible danger of a mob.

Crowds form when people have nowhere else to go. And Christ finds people in the crowd.

Scattered, Again

Those who were scattered because of the persecution that took place . . . 

- From Acts 11

Could you uproot in an instant, leave your home, taking only your most precious and essential belongings? Would you be able to? Should a person always have a full tank of gas, just in case? Should you have an emergency kit with food for three or four days, some personal hygiene supplies, and a couple days' worth of clothing? Are there things you would put in order, if you knew that, in two weeks, you would have to do this?

Or are these considerations only for ancient times?

The human experience has normalized the uprooting process over the course of millennia. It is more familiar to the typical person, than not. It still goes on today. Most of the world's population lives with the expectation that they may very well have to move, suddenly.

In the TV show M*A*S*H, they call it a "Bug Out." This is when the battle line gets too close to the mobile hospital, and they must take everything down, load it up, and move it to a new, safer place. This process is part of their job, every bit as much as performing delicate surgery.

The theme of Scripture is that God's people are always on the move. Every now and then, you come across a society of believers that are settled. As in the glory days of Ancient Israel - - - there's nothing like it. They live in peace and wealth. They have access to the arts and other forms of leisure. They are safe in their homes, and respected throughout the world. But this seems only to last three, or four generations.

It is not good to get too comfortable. 1) It means you may forget about the suffering people just outside the walls of your cities . . . and God does not like that; and 2) The world is an erratic, frequently violent place, and you never want to be caught by surprise.

We can protect ourselves by being prepared for the worst. But we can protect ourselves better, by preventing the root causes of the worst.

When Barack Obama was elected President, and began to implement "Obamacare," Conservatives in the US began wringing their hands. President Obama had the votes, and the popularity, in early 2009, to have his way with the Republicans, and with the country. I would say to people "What did you expect? People have been getting more and more alarmed about health care for twenty years, and you have done nothing about it."

The preventing of root causes means you take seriously the themes of the Old Testament, which lay out God's basic objectives for us: 1) Live in purity; 2) Take care of widows and orphans; and 3) Be welcoming to aliens in your midst (yes, it really is a priority in Scripture). It's easy to find people focused on one of the three. You might find someone talking about two of the three. You will rarely find someone talking about all three . . . and rarer still, to find people actually doing anything about any of them.

God's judgment comes upon his people when they fail to act. But it's not punitive . . . it's not really punishment as we think of the word. It's to get our attention, and to remind us.

Be prepared, yes. But emphasize those things you should do, so that you never have to worry about being prepared.

Desires Perish

 . . . the desires of the wicked will perish.

 - From Psalm 112

The entire 112th Psalm is an allegory of the world, and America in particular, in 2020.

It describes, in some detail, the status of the righteous: the people of God - those that have put their trust in Him. Paraphrasing, it states that:

They fear God. They have put Him first. They bow to no other before Him.

The do quite well in life. They are successful and prosperous. They live in safety. They've got money, or other resources. They are very happy, and they do not worry about trouble coming to them.

They do not listen to rumors of bad things that might happen to them (rumors of evil).

They are fair in their dealings. Fair and honest.

They are charitable. They give freely and generously, to help the poor.

Their good station in life will extend past their own lives, for many generations. They prepare their children, and grandchildren to manage their business in much the same way. They care about future generations.

They care about their family, their extended family, their neighborhood, their community, their country. They make others' business their own. They are their brothers' and sisters' keepers, which is to say, they make it their responsibility to ensure that those worse off than they, are okay.

Now here's the really critical part . . .

Evil people hate this about them. Strange, but true. For whatever reason, a person doing well in life, and that is charitable to others, seems always to end up with a horde of other people that hate them.

A Liberal friend of mine once told me his theory of why the US is so controversial. He said "People hate us because people will always hate Number One. That's why they hate the Yankees. And why they hate Notre Dame." (It was a long time ago).

Hate does not pause to reflect. It does not automatically self-monitor. Hate feeds on itself and quite naturally becomes an obsession. Think about a married couple, good friends of yours, where both partners are good, honest, and honorable people. If they were to go through a divorce, they might suddenly turn on the other, expressing hate towards him or her. They call each other vile names - liar being perhaps the chief most popular pejorative in the divorce playbook.

Wealthy people do their charity in anonymity at their own risk. Hate will assume they are hoarding money, and keeping it from those that need it . . . or they that did all the work for it.

Most people in privileged situations long to have others get to the same point. When you arrive at the top of the heap in terms of power, money, or fame, it is natural for most people to want to elevate others to the same spot. The wealthy person that wants to keep others down is a rarity. I have no research to support this assertion, but I would make it a very confident hypothesis.

It doesn't matter. "Wealthy" is a very perilous status to attain. It puts a target on your back. The wealthy person must double down on having all the other good attributes listed in the Psalm. And then to remember that the desires of the wicked - - - the violence, the anger, the intrigue, the manipulations - - - all of the telltale evidence that someone is down the wrong path, will go away. A "desire" is, after all, an emotional longing for something that feels good. Hate can trigger a chemical reaction that feels good. But emotions are temporary. They drive some strategies, or even ideologies, that come and go. People get tired of it.

The forward path of success for all . . . of good and generous people of means . . . of the eventual Kingdom of God where all injustice will finally be eradicated . . . cannot be stopped.