Appearances Matter: Second John-b thru Jude-a

Consider the person around you, living a lifestyle that you know is not right. Almost certainly, this person's choices reflect behaviors that once would be almost universally understood as immoral.

But I had rather not go there in detail! Any discussion of morality, in today's society, is muzzled by the pressure of political correctness. What once was thought of as immoral is considered admirable in today's society. And many virtues from former times, are now vices.

So let me not belabor those points.

But what if we challenged people - all kinds of people, living a variety of lifestyles - to observe others, and copy behaviors and lifestyles that were considered "good", while avoiding those that are "bad"?

Dear friend, don't imitate the evil you see, imitate the goodness you see, because someone who does good comes from God.

Okay, so now we've got something. If I urge you to find a good person - and imitate the good things that person does - then in one sweep I may have caused you to examine yourself.

You will not see a person smoking, and think to yourself "That's good. I'll do that." You might take up smoking, but you will know that you are willfully making a wrong choice.

If someone encourages you to shoplift, and you take the advice, you are not going to be thinking "I must lift some merchandise because it is a good and right thing to do!" In your heart you know that you have done wrong.

The same would hold true of any moral issue. We do not engage in any type of immoral behavior (please use a broad definition of what is moral) as a result of convincing ourselves that to do so is morally right.

But those giving advice always fall down, when attempting to correct the wayfaring ones. "Who are you to judge me?" Now I believe that the person making such a statement has already pronounced judgment on him or herself.

You do not criticize a person that is engaged in true, selfless acts of kindness toward others (unless you have some unchecked mean streak in your heart). And if I did criticize someone for doing good, that other person is extremely unlikely to say "Who gave you the right to judge me?"

Acts of kindness are not the same as willful disobedience to God. The person so engaged has no reason to become defensive.

So let's get away from comments that can be held as being judgmental. Do not give others the opportunity to indulge the flesh, first by choosing wrong, and later by striking back defensively against those that have questioned their choices.

Just urge them to copy goodness, and avoid badness. Deep down, they know the difference!

Belief is Everything: 1 John 3c thru 2 Johna

Everywhere in Scripture, the main thing always comes down to belief; simple, childlike belief, that what has been written in the Word is true.

Our belief is a testimony that God has gotten through to us. Absent the Spirit of God, we would not believe. Others have seen greater miracles than we. Pharaoh, and the Scribes and Pharisees, saw everything. They saw the Nile River turned to blood. They saw Lazarus walking again. And if seeing is believing, they must have believed something.

But they did not believe that Jesus was God's son. We are asked to believe it, without ever seeing it with our fleshly eyes. It would seem like a herculean task for us. Yet it is what me must do. And we would not believe, if there were no Spirit of God; if there were no truth in which to trust.

And if we did not believe; if we chose to turn from the belief . . . where would we go? People will still die - that we know quite empirically. The biblical record is adamant and inescapable on this point: we die. I will die and you will die. God's Word is validated.

So I ask you, where will you turn? Can you find something, or someone, that can reverse that which you have seen with your own eyes . . . the death of a loved one? Or will you really stretch your imagination and put your trust in some belief system that says that what you see with your own eyes, death, is not the truth.

Trust your senses! Death is real! And only one person in history has ever done anything to reverse it's horror! Only Jesus of Nazareth has ever claimed to have conquered death! If you can see death with your own eyes; test for no pulse, detect an absence of breathing . . . if you can testify that the dead rot after so many days - then why, dear friend, do you find it such a stretch to believe that the same process can be reversed?

Only one man in history has ever done anything to defeat, or to cheat, death! Why do you not make that your starting point in your journey to eternal truth?

Who is the conqueror of the world if not for the person who believes that Jesus is the son of God?

Of course there is a Creator, someone greater than us! Of course there is One Who knows it all (since we clearly do not!)

And if there is a Creator that has let us endure this long . . . does it not make sense that He would want to build us into people with whom He could fellowship? Is it really such a stretch to say that He would want us to live forever? And would there not be some plan that would make such human eternals worthy to live forever?

If you seek a solution to death, look to the one with the solution. If you have conquered death, you have conquered the world.

Believe.

Show, Don't Tell: First John 3b

Just last night, commentators on cable news were saying that President Obama can't just talk about fighting terrorism. He has to actually do something. It is a mark of immaturity to make grand statements that are not backed up with action. The pre-teen that says "I will clean up my room later today," truly means to do so. There is even a psychological concept I read about once, that explains the tendency of politicians to speak blatant, impudent lies. The theory, they say, is based upon a self-view we all have, that we cannot do wrong.

"I am honest," says the politician (or salesman, or attorney, or teacher, or minister), "therefore, if I say one thing but do another; or if I break a promise or agreement; then it is acceptable. I have found an exception that covers my own behavior, since I am basically an honest person. I have done no wrong."

Richard Nixon honestly believed there was nothing wrong with Watergate. Ted Kennedy certainly excepted himself in the Chappaquiddick affair. Bill Clinton has probably a volume of fine print that covers all of his behavior and actions, so that he remains basically a good man.

People do not do wrong because they consider themselves evil. Hitler did not go around (like evil people in novels) devising "wicked schemes" to visit upon mankind! Even he thought his actions prudent, wise, and even "good," as ghastly as that may sound!

So it is that President Obama can campaign for full transparency, and to have C-Span cover every negotiation and debate on health care reform; only to do everything in secrecy after becoming President. He has found an exception to the rule of basic integrity. Even his supporters will back him up. Believing themselves right to vote for him, they will allow an exception that covers their hero.

It all seems quite complicated when you get right down to it.

Dear children, we mustn't love with words or with our tongue, but in truth and action.

Our generation is not unique in its desire for authenticity, honesty, integrity, and loyalty! Humanity has yearned for such qualities since the very beginning.

The follower of Christ can shine his or her light quite effectively, by just being a little honest!

One of the objectives in teaching upper elementary-aged students to become better writers, is to have them "show, don't tell." If a person is a sloppy dresser, don't just write: "He was a sloppy dresser." This would be telling.

Show the sloppy dresser to the reader:

He entered the room with halting steps. When I looked up, the first thing I noticed was the shirt untucked and hanging out on his left side. One pant leg was pulled up a little higher than the other, which displayed a discolored and frayed fabric. His ball cap was stained along the brim that goes closest to his forehead. With his rolled-up sleeves, I couldn't help but observe his chewed and be-jammed nails. I could tell that he had not shaved yet, today, and wondered whether he could not afford some new clothes, or didn't care.

So it is with our Christian walk. We need to just do, and not go around telling people about it.

The "Doing" Part: John 2b thru 3a

So here we are - the final year of my decade-long personal Bible journal. The first several years are saved in a hard drive somewhere. In fact, I believe the hard drive that stores them, has been removed and is put away somewhere.

In September of 2001, I ended up missing several weeks of journaling. The 911 attack changed a lot of routines.

When I went through divorce, and entered grad school, I got behind, many times. But in the summer of 2006 I used my spare time to get caught up.

In today's passage, we read a lot about behaving as Christ followers. John says that if we claim to be Christians, we must act like it. If you have faith, it will show! And yet we are not saved by works! No, this is not talking about that!

A works-based religion deals in ritual, brick-and-mortar buildings, observing seasons, festivals, and holy days.

But if you love others as Christ does, you are not building your salvation on works! If you are in the light, you will show forth the light. You will love others! You will have the right attitude, and it will be evident to others!

Everyone born of God keeps from doing wrong.

Notice that John does not mention our thoughts! I believe that the Christian always struggles with temptation, evil thoughts, hateful musings . . .

But we master our minds by doing what's right, anyway! We train our thoughts, and hearts, by insisting that we love others, by practicing love and showing it forth; by being loving and being a light to the world, no matter how we feel about it!

So, the "doing" that John mentions; the avoiding wrong that is mandatory for Christians, has nothing to do with "works."

If you are in Christ, you will love others. And if you love others, it will totally be manifest in behaviors that are not wrong, at all!

Another Eye-Witness: 2 Peter 3b thru 1 John 1a

The minor epistles are precious to us. These are letters written by men who had first-hand knowledge of Jesus Christ. They saw the miracles, heard the teaching, and finally, saw the risen Lord.

John is a special case in point. He is the only epistle-writer that also wrote a Gospel. He and Matthew were the only Gospel-writers that were Apostles.

He also died of natural causes. What is it about this man, that compelled the Romans to keep him alive? He had the most dangerous information of all! He was at the Transfiguration! With Paul and James, he was one of the "Inner Circle" of disciples, with whom Jesus shared the deepest secrets!

Is this why John had his particular view of Christ. Is this why his understanding of Jesus went beyond great teacher and redeemer, to Son of God, Word-made-flesh, Living Word? John understood the deepest and most powerful aspects of God's plan. Why did the Romans keep him alive so that he could write it down, for the ages?

What was there from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and felt with our hands concerning the word of Life . . .

If John were crazy, why did they not put him away for good? If he was not reputable at all, then why was he spared? The man was a close friend of Christ! He may have been the one at the cross, who Jesus charged with caring for his mother! He was like family to Jesus! He had seen more than perhaps anybody!

And then, on Patmos, he received visions never matched before or since! The entire plan of the ages unfolded before his eyes, and he wrote it down in the Book of Revelation!

Why did he live? He was an eye-witness to it all!

Why was John spared?

Praise God, that he was!

Peter's Witness: 1 Peter 5b thru 2 Peter 3a

The Apostle Peter gave us a great gift, that touches us on this Christmas week.

He was a first-hand witness to one of history's most profound events. We know about the birth of Jesus, born to a young woman, who had conceived while she was yet unmarried. (The original word translated "virgin" in modern texts, describing Mary, most accurately meant "a young maiden", or someone that was not married. But to the Hebrew mind, a young maiden was assumed to mean that the woman had not had sexual relations. Thus is the true meaning made even more profound to our modern understanding of "maidenhood" and "virginity.")

True though the Gospels are, about the circumstances and history surrounding Jesus' birth, yet we are left with second-hand accounts only.

But here, in Peter, the facts about the birth, and genealogy, and divine origins of Jesus, are reinforced with resounding and gentle force:

"My son, My beloved son, this is the one with whom I am delighted." And we heard that voice borne from the sky as we were with him on the holy mountain.

Peter, you see, was there. The man witnessed the transfiguration of Christ, and heard the voice of God declaring the man Jesus to be His son. God Himself gave witness that Jesus is His son, and Peter was there to see it.

It isn't so much that Peter witnessed it, and reported it years later, in this letter. The account is substantiated by other eye-witnesses to the events of Jesus' life.

But let's go back to the main point. At Christmastime, we celebrate the birth of Jesus. This birth is significant for a number of reasons. We can dissect the word of God, harmonize it, integrate it, collaborate it - and take an entire year doing so.

But let the simple message of today's reading be this. Jesus' birth was nothing less than the birth of God's son, here on earth. It signified the coming of the Son of God. The Second Adam was here. The Redeemer of humanity. The Lion of Judah. The Son of David and heir to his throne.

God Himself said of Jesus: "This is my son."

Amen.

Listen, and Lose the But: II Peter 3c thru 5a

If people spoke less, there would be fewer troubles in the world.

We get into so much trouble, because of what we say. And it isn't so much that we say the wrong things, as it is that we are not interpreted accurately, by our hearers. We all listen through our own biased prisms. A single word may be completely innocent to one person, but hateful to another.

Consider the word "but". I have conditioned myself to cringe a little, when someone says but.

"Oh, those are some good ideas, but . . . "

But is usually followed by something negative, or disagreeable. I read about research that was done on the frequency of use of the word but. It showed that scholarly journals tend to use the word a lot, as do speeches by politicians, and legal arguments made by attorneys. These are professions, you see, that highly value argument. They are always out to win adherents to their own viewpoints. They have to take others down a few notches, therefore they employ the but, to great effect.

Now - an exception can be made when we consider places in which God says but.

"And you were once dead, . . . children born to God's wrath, . . . . But God, rich in mercy . . . " (Ephesians 2).

The word but is used to contradict what came before. We would do well to limit its use in our own conversation.

I hate it when you try to make a comment based on Scripture, and the other person gets mad (because it does not fit their beliefs). How ridiculous! How can we ever learn, or grow, without a willingness to hear some new angle, or insight, from someone else? Can it be that God has placed other people in our lives, to show us these new things? If a person is discussing Scripture, appealing to it as God's inspired word, and they have something to share with you, then listen! Get the word out together, and learn together!

When someone speaks, let it be like God's conversations.

What does Peter mean? What if, in conversation, we treated the other person as though we were speaking to God? What if there are sharp disagreements? Can this be done?

Well, it's going to have to be done!

Peter says we should listen to others, as though it were God Himself speaking. "As you have done it to the least of these . . . "

What wonderful new insights are there for the taking, if we would but listen!!