At this time of year, my local radio station transforms completely, playing only Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving until December 26. I’m torn in my opinion of this change. I miss my usual soundtrack for driving, but the selections on the station have gotten better. After all, where else can I get a mix of traditional carols and more modern favorites of mine like “Joseph’s Lullaby” or “What a Strange Way to Save the World”? And I’m always delighted to hear holiday selections from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

My favorite thing about my particular radio station during Christmas time is the opportunity to hear newer Christmas songs from Christian artists, some of them quite thought-provoking.  One song that has recently joined my list of modern Christmas favorites is “2000 Decembers Ago” sung by Joy Williams. While the title bugs me a bit since we know Jesus was probably not born in December, I think the song does a great job of capturing the wonder of the nativity. As I was listening to the song again recently, part of the chorus really captured my attention: “Was anyone able to look at the stable and not see a child but a King?” 

I think the answer to that question at the time in Bethlehem was yes, at least in part. While Mary and Joseph probably saw a baby more than a Son of God at that moment, their experiences with the angels surely influenced their vision. And I believe the same is true of the shepherds. Certainly, when the wise men arrived (probably much later and not in the stable), they understood that they brought gifts to a king.

However, I think the important question for us is not about what people saw over 2000 years ago, but what we see today as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Who do we see in the manger, and who are we celebrating?

We should, in part, see that infant. Think about who Jesus is and what his existence was like prior to his birth.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 ESV)

Jesus was, and is, God. The Bible says creation occurred through him. That means he was able to simply speak things into existence. He gave that up to become a human baby. He not only suddenly had physical needs for food and warmth, but he was also entirely dependent on the humans around him to fulfill those needs with no means of communication about them besides crying. In choosing to become a fully human baby, Jesus went from being all powerful to being helpless.

Paul describes it this way: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:5-7). How awe-inspiring that Jesus would choose such a dramatic loss for our benefit!

Yet, even if we see the baby Jesus in this light, we still miss the point if the sweet little baby is all that we see. We have to remember that Jesus had a purpose in coming to earth, and it wasn’t about being an infant to have lullabies song. His purpose was to show us sinless human life and ultimately to be our perfect sacrifice and then our Lord and King.

We have an advantage over those who were at the stable. We’re not dependent on hints from the angels about where the story is going. We get to read how it ends. As those who have a relationship with the resurrected Jesus, we have no excuse for failing to see the king in the manger or for forgetting that the whole point of Christmas is that Easter is coming.

 

Image by Jeff Jacobs  from Pixabay 

I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction. I enjoy the genres for a number of reasons, but one of those reasons is that speculative fiction allows the author and readers to explore relationships and culture in interesting ways, because the story takes place in a different world with its own rules. One of the things that makes me both thoughtful and sad in this exploration is the treatment of religion. With a few exceptions (can you say C. S. Lewis?), those who explore religion in any serious way usually don’t have a pre-eminent supernatural creator at all, or they have one who doesn’t care about the creation.

That is heart-breaking to me, especially since I know that many people believe that one of those two things is the case in the real world.

Of course, it’s not only those who are outside of Christianity who seem to believe that we have a God who doesn’t care. Even some Christian depictions of God emphasize judgment to the exclusion of all else.

Any of these beliefs about God lead to lives that are less than they could be. If we believe that God doesn’t exist or just doesn’t care, then we struggle on alone and believe there are no answers and no relief for the issues in the world beyond human action. If we believe that God is only a judge looking to condemn, then we live in fear and constant concern over how we might offend. Alternately, we might simply give up and decide that there is nothing we can do to appease him, so we might as well live selfishly.

The good news is that these are not accurate pictures of the God of the Bible. Scripture depicts not a distant God who ignores his creation, but rather a God who is active in history and has relationships with his people. He walks with Enoch. He instructs Noah. He calls Abraham and speaks to him a number of times, even allowing him to bargain. He calls Moses and leads the people of Israel, repeatedly interfering with natural processes as they leave Egypt, wander about, and ultimately conquer and settle the land of Canaan. He speaks to judge after judge after judge, ending with Samuel. He calls David to be king and protects him repeatedly. He speaks to many prophets. He protects Daniel from the lions and Daniel’s friends from fire. Over and over we see him speaking and acting to work out his purposes.

All that action could still be the work of a demanding and vengeful God, but as we look at his relationships with his people, we can see that it is not. We see him using those others condemn. Rahab, a prostitute, helps the Israelite spies escape, and so is spared along with her family, and becomes an example of faith. That could only happen with a God loves people and values mercy as well as judgment. That only happens with a God whose word proclaims that “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13b ESV).

God sends Jonah to warn the Ninevites of coming judgment. Jonah is furious when the Ninevites repent and God relents in his judgment failing to understand that God sent him exactly so that the people would repent. God’s caring and kindness consistently confound even his own prophets.

We have a God who comforts his followers. When Elijah is alone and despairing, ready to lie down and die, quite literally, God sends an angel with food and water who encourages Elijah to eat and drink and rest. Only after that recovery does God reassure Elijah that he is not alone and send him on a new mission (1 Kings 19).

In Jesus, we see the ultimate expression of God’s caring. We see it in his ministry. People flock to him, and we see him repeatedly responding to their needs–healing, blessing children, even raising the dead on a few occasions. His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well could have gone very differently. She is shocked that he even speaks to her because of the enmity between Samaritans and Jews. He could have ignored her. He could have looked down on her. He could have condemned her for her sinful behavior. Instead, he gently points out the truth and offers her hope and a better life (John 4).

There are many such examples of caring in as we look at the gospels, but the biggest example is, of course, his purpose in coming to earth at all. 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:16-18 ESV)

God is a holy and righteous God who cannot tolerate wrongdoing, but his solution for that was to sacrifice himself so that we could have a relationship with him despite the wrong we have done. As Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 ESV).

And still more good news is that God’s caring doesn’t stop with the cross. We have the Holy Spirit and a number of promises that God will always be with us, if we have chosen to turn our lives over to him. 

It can be hard, at times, to remember that we serve a loving God. This is a broken and sin-filled world with a lot of problems and a lot of pain, and we have a God who chose to give us free will and the freedom to make our own choices whether good or bad. But we serve a God of peace and love who will bring us through this world with hope and joy if we hold tight to him and allow ourselves to remember that he does care.

 

Photo by O12 on Unsplash

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend a concert that I thought sounded interesting but would have conflicted with other plans. On the other hand, I completely changed my initial plans for a week of travel, spent a few hundred dollars, and took my first trip on a Greyhound bus in a few decades in order to spend time with a dear friend whom I had not seen in far too long.

Those two choices got me thinking about priorities and how we make decisions about how to spend our time and money. There are a lot of things that I want to do, or at least say that I want to do. However, some I will only do if they require little time and effort and don’t really disrupt my life. For others, I will go to great effort and completely rearrange my life. 

God knows this about us, and he expects us to desire him in such a way that we will rearrange our lives as a result of knowing him.

Some may say, “Wait a minute! Salvation is a free gift of God. What are you talking about?”

It is true that salvation is a gift that we cannot earn. Paul clearly states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV). However, focusing too much on those two verses may lead us to ignore the next one: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV).

The reality is that when Jesus called people to follow him, he asked a great deal of them. “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’” (Luke 9:23 ESV).

In another passage, Jesus makes an even stronger statement, and calls upon those following him to count the cost of a commitment to him.

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-33 ESV)

So, that leaves us needing to ask how: much we want Jesus and salvation? Are we willing to offer all that we are and all that we have to follow Christ? This passage calls for the sacrifice of our closest relationships, our own lives, and all that we have. 

I think most who claim to follow Jesus would say that they are willing to sacrifice everything, but I also think most of us still struggle to live this out in practice. Are we willing to spend time in prayer? What about Bible reading or study? What about Christian fellowship? Are we willing to spend our money? Do we tithe? Do we do more than tithe if called by God to do so? Are we willing to give sacrificially to others in need? Are we willing to cultivate relationships that will allow us to share Christ with others? Have we been called out of our current homes and jobs into some other place of service, and are we willing to go?

The only meaningful answer to these questions is to look at our lives and how we actually spend our lives. Do we really want Christ? Do we really want to follow God and become Christlike so much that our desire for God is rearranging our lives?

 

 

As some of you know, my day job involves teaching computer programming. My courses range from the first introduction to programming to advanced topics including artificial intelligence. One of the challenges I constantly face is balancing between individual and group work. No matter how I mix the two, I face complaints. Some students think they should be allowed to do everything with the help of classmates, the internet, and anyone they can get to help them, because “that’s how you do it in the real world.” Other students avoid working with their classmates at every turn and complain vociferously when I force them to team up.

I’m never going to give in to the first group, because a large part of the purpose of my courses is to provide students with the individual skills that will make them effective members of a team later on. However, I do have a lot of sympathy for their point of view and very little for the second group. The reality is that very little software is developed by one individual working alone, because one individual, no matter how talented and knowledgeable, has limited time and only so many areas of expertise. Teamwork is an important skill in the software development world.

Just like that second group of students, we as Christians can fall into the trap of the “I can do it myself” attitude. Really, there are two such traps.

The first is trying to live the Christian life on our power: doing things for God instead of allowing God to do things through us. It’s never God’s intent for us to act on our own power. Paul put it most clearly: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 ESV).

This trap presents multiple dangers. An obvious one is burn-out. Trying to live a Christ-like life on merely human power will exhaust anyone. We may also spend our energy on the wrong things. As humans, we can easily choose the urgent over the important and the merely good over the very best. We are also likely to struggle with keeping our attitude positive on our own. Paul talks about being content in all circumstances “through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13b ESV). God is supposed to be our source of peace, joy, comfort. If we’re trying to do the Christian thing without Christ, those benefits will be hard to come by.

Even when we accept that we need Christ to function as Christians, we may fall into the second trap of believing that we don’t need other Christians. That’s especially easy to do when we’ve been hurt or disappointed by fellow church members. Not one of the Christians still on earth is perfect yet. This means that hurts and disappointments are going to happen, tempting us to reduce the pain by avoiding others.

The problem is that God didn’t make us that way. He made us with a need for other people. Back in Genesis, before people ever sinned, we see this: “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone;’” (Genesis 2:18 ESV). Proverbs has a number of comments about the value of friends and the importance of the quality of one’s friends (17:17; 18:24; 27:6, 9-10 among others).  Ecclesiastes 4 reminds us of the value of working with other people. Paul talks several times about the church as the body of Christ. He points out that the purpose of our differing gifts is to build one another up. We even have explicit instructions about this: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV).

Clearly, we ought to be interacting with our fellow Christians and supporting one another, but I think we should consider what this looks like. I don’t think it looks like showing up for a worship service, singing, listening to a sermon, and heading home. Those are good things to do. Corporate worship can inspire and comfort. It can help us get our hearts and minds focused on God. A good sermon will have something to teach us. But the fellowship that Paul and the author of Hebrews are talking about doesn’t happen as we sit in a congregation or watch a service online. It requires meaningful interaction with people who come to really know one another.

This meaningful interaction is the goal of the small group, and it often happens there. It can also happen in Sunday School classes, Bible study groups, even coffee or lunch with friends as long as some of the conversation is meaningful and Christ-centered. I have sometimes had the privilege of being in highly functional groups where we had the kind of fellowship that Paul and the author of Hebrews were talking about. I also have a few friends with whom conversations are almost always valuable to my walk with Christ.

Not every group or friendship results in meaningful fellowship, and I have no special answers for developing fellowship that works, but I will say that it is well worth the effort when you find it. We’re commanded to do it for our benefit, so don’t give up on people. If you don’t have effective fellowship now, keep looking.

After all, Jesus told us: “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:19-20 ESV)

 

Photo by Duy Pham on Unsplash

Over the years I have come to realize that my conviction that I usually know best is not necessarily a good thing. For example, as someone who is generally accounted a good teacher, I tend to think that people should teach the way I do. One of my responsibilities as an academic department chair was to observe professors in my department in the classroom and to provide feedback. I had a lot of suggestions for improvement for some of my faculty, especially some of the newer ones, but I had to be careful. Sometimes, they really were not doing it well and needed to do things more like I would. At other times, though, they were doing things differently, but in ways that were also effective. I had to remind myself that what matters is student learning, not whether the teacher does what I would. Besides, my way won’t work for everyone. Talking to a group of computer science students about gaming is a great way for me to establish rapport, but it only works because I actually do know the computer gaming world and play some of the same games. My approach would fail miserably for many of my colleagues.

As a department chair, it was my job to try to ensure that classes were taught well. However, I also find myself wanting to give advice when it really isn’t my business at all, whether it’s encouraging my successor to do things the way I did them or getting someone to fold the towels correctly. I know I’m not alone. Why do people care how other people hang their toilet paper? It’s their toilet paper in their house: let them hang it the way they want. But most of us are firmly convinced that we know which way is right, and we believe that everyone else should do it our way.

This tendency to want other people to do things our way shows up in our religion as well. When some event or Bible study or worship song has been especially meaningful to us, we think everyone should experience that in exactly the same way. In college, I had a Sunday School class that did a verse-by-verse study of James that was very meaningful to me, and I still feel like everyone should have that kind of experience with the book of James. But I’m wrong about that, because God made other people who respond differently and need different means to learn those lessons.

Of course, we don’t just want people to do things our way. Too often we want God to do it our way. We want him to treat us fairly, by which we often mean all the same. We want everyone’s uncle with cancer to be healed. We don’t understand why that woman is well-off while her sister struggles to make ends meet.

But Christianity is not supposed to be a cookie cutter religion where everyone has the exact same experience.

Jesus addresses this issue a couple of times. In Matthew 20, he tells a story about the vintner who needs workers and hires some people in the morning, agreeing to pay them each a denarius, which was a standard day’s wage at the time. Those people work, but more are wanted and the owner hires additional workers at various points throughout the day, including some who work just one hour. There is no agreement made with all of these additional laborers. When the end of the day comes, the workers are paid starting with those who worked the least, and everyone receives a full denarius. This is not okay with the ones who had actually made an agreement to work all day for the denarius.

Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ (Matthew 20:10-15 ESV)

I think Jesus is trying to make it clear that what God chooses to do with and for someone else is really none of my concern.

He makes a similar point after foretelling the manner of Peter’s death. 

When Peter saw [John], he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:21-22 ESV)

Jesus is not interested in explaining his work in someone else’s life to me. He is interested in my obedience and in giving me all the experiences I need for growth. I should share my experiences with others, so that God can use them in their lives, but I should not be surprised or disappointed when God works differently in their lives than he does in mine.

 

Image by  Kevin Phillips from Pixabay

A former pastor of my church used to frequently say that people should quit spending their time studying the Bible and instead start doing what they already know that it says. Now, he was making a valid point—there’s little use in Bible knowledge that does not result in action. It’s the same point James makes: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22 ESV).

However, I take issue with my former pastor’s advice, because he was setting up a false dichotomy between studying the word of God and acting out the word of God. Even worse, when we say that we should do what the Bible says instead of spending time in the Bible, we ignore the power of Biblical truth to change our behavior if we cooperate with it.

The Bible describes itself this way: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 ESV). This means that the Bible not just a passive bank of knowledge that we can look into and learn as we choose. It has power and the ability to change us.

This theme of scripture as able to influence action appears in several places. As Joshua begins his leadership of Israel, God tells him, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it” (Joshua 1:8a ESV). The psalmist declares, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you,” (Psalm 119:11 ESV). Just before his statement that we need to be doers of the word and not just hearers, James instructs his readers to “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21b ESV).

Scripture is powerful. It can guard us from sin. It can help us to do the right thing. Its truth saves us. But, for that to actually happen, two things are required of us.

First, we really do have to act on what we know. We need to do the things that are clearly laid out for us in scripture. We need to be prepared for God to use our Bible study to prompt us to action, and we need to take those actions when that happens. We must be doers.

The good news is that acting out what we read gets easier if we do the second thing and, as intended by the author, meditate on it. Joshua wasn’t told to read through the law once; he was told to meditate on it constantly. The psalmist doesn’t talk about casual reading but about a much deeper knowledge. James refers to the implanted word.

For many years, Bible reading and study have been a part of my life. However, I have been less faithful in the area of scripture memory and meditation. I memorized a number of Bible verses as a child, as would be expected for the daughter of pastor and then a missionary, who also wanted to win the Bible sword drills at summer camp. As an adult, I’ve always had good intentions regarding memorization, but I have only intermittently followed through.

In the last several months, I’ve discovered a website for Bible memorization that actually works for me (at least so far). I’ve been working on memorizing both verses I’ve chosen and collections that others have put together on the site.

Here’s what’s great about that: as I dwell on a verse and spend time not only getting the words in my head, but also meditating on the words and their meaning, I see things that I would never see in my typical morning Bible reading. I say this with some confidence, since I hadn’t seen them the last thirty times I read the chapter. Some of that is God bringing certain things to my attention because of where I am in life and what he’s teaching me right now, but this is also a result of my spending the time and allowing the meaning to seep into the dark crevices of my heart. I am inspired to act in accordance with the truth in that scripture.  It’s no longer a matter of making myself do what I should, but rather allowing the living and active word of God to change my heart and help me do what I ought.

Let’s do what we know already, but let’s do it out of the inspiration gained through serious meditation on the word of God.

 

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

When I was about 10, my sister and I got a small rock collecting kit. We thought it was pretty cool. It had a bunch of information about various rocks and minerals, tools to test the hardness, and, of course, several sample rocks and minerals. One of the items in the kit was pyrite, better known as fool’s gold.

Always an avid reader, I had heard of fool’s gold before, but I’d never actually seen it. I’d always wondered how people could possibly be fooled by a cheap substitute, until I saw its glittering reality.

Just as some hopeful prospectors are fooled by the glitter of pyrite, people looking for truth sometimes get fooled by pretty words that lack the substance of truth. The Bible has a number of warnings about false prophets and the danger of being led away from truth by false teaching.

We see one such incident in chapter 22 of 1 Kings. King Ahab of Israel proposes to King Jehoshaphat of Judah that they go to war against Syria in order to seize territory that had previously belonged to Israel. Jehoshaphat agrees, but he insists they first check with the prophets to see what God has to say about the battle. So Ahab does that:

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” (1 Kings 22:6 ESV)

Sounds pretty good. For some reason, Jehoshaphat asks if there are any other prophets to consult.  Ahab brings in Micaiah, who initially promises success as well, but eventually explains that God wants Ahab to attack Syria and to die in the attack. It’s good to remember here that Ahab has spent a lifetime opposing and displeasing God.

Now here’s the really interesting part to me: Ahab has brought in Micaiah and insisted that he tell the truth. But after Micaiah does exactly that, prophesying Ahab’s death, Ahab throws him in prison and goes out to fight—and dies as his army flees.

We can learn a couple of things from Ahab’s bad example.First, the majority isn’t necessarily right. We have some 400 prophets promising success and just one warning of destruction. Ahab goes with the majority, which feels right from our democratic point of view, but the majority in this case is very wrong.

That’s a truth that should be familiar to us. Jesus warns us, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14 ESV)

Perhaps it’s worth noting that the following verse is a warning about false prophets, wolves in sheep’s clothing. The point is that important matters of faith can’t be decided by looking at the majority. They can only be decided by those in a close relationship with God who are examining the Scriptures and praying.

The second thing to learn from Ahab is that the truth may be unpalatable. As I read the passage, I think Ahab knows Micaiah is the one who is right, the one who has actually heard the truth. So why does he reject it? I think it can only be because that truth is unappealing.

False teachers who tell us what we don’t want to hear aren’t much of a danger. It’s the ones who tell us exactly what we want to hear that we must watch out for. Lessons from teachers who tell us that the Christian life is easy and that we will be richly blessed with material things are attractive, but they don’t line up with the many warnings about suffering and persecution. Those who say we have no obligation to God once we accept salvation sound really good, but that message doesn’t match what Paul and James have to say. Paul tells us to work out our salvation, walking in the good works God created us to do. James points out the uselessness of a faith that does not have an active response in good deeds. 

I could go on, but I could never catalog all of the false teaching out there. Instead, we must compare each teaching with the Biblical message.

There is one other way to recognize false teachers, one given to us by Jesus himself in that passage in Matthew 7 about false prophets in sheep’s clothing. He tells us to look at their fruits. The false ones will bear bad fruit. The prophets and teachers who should be trusted live lives that demonstrate their close relationship with Christ. 

We should all work to avoid being fooled by those who offer us pyrite in place of true gold.

Image by Florian Pircher from Pixabay

 

Last week, I got the news again: one of my missionary uncles had passed away. One of the sad realities of getting older is that the people I care about are also getting older. Although death can come at any age, it seems to come more frequently to those around me lately.

As Christians, I think it can be difficult to maintain the right perspective on death. Sometimes we make too little of it with cavalier words of “comfort” about heaven to those suffering loss. Heaven is real, but so are the loss and the grief. I think the Bible acknowledges that. Look at Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus: he first meets with Martha, listens to her words of blame, and reassures her that Lazarus will rise again. After that, he goes on to Mary and listens to her blaming him, but then he is so moved to compassion by her grief and that of the others with her that we get that famous shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Jesus knows what he’s about to do. He has already talked to Martha about resurrection, though she certainly didn’t think he meant it would happen that day. But the reality of their grief is such that observing it moves Christ to tears.

I think it is important for us to acknowledge the reality of grief and not expect those closest to a death to jump straight to the joy of heaven. They are still on earth, and the loss of the person on earth is real. On the other hand, the grief upon the death of a Christian is not without hope.

A few months ago, I attended a memorial service that was unusual for me in that it was one of very few I have attended for someone who was not a Christian. It was by far the saddest memorial service I can remember, and not because of the level of grief or my own personal loss. This particular death will have little impact on my daily life, and, for at least some of those present, the biggest struggle was with ambivalent feelings toward the deceased. Rather, it was sad because there was nowhere to look but in the past.

I found myself contrasting this experience with other funerals I have attended. In some, the grief was very great and very deep, such as when my cousin died very suddenly, leaving behind two children and her mother. Yet, in all of them, there was an element that was missing from the one this summer.

Paul tells the Thessalonians, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 ESV).

Even in deep grief, we know that there is a future; we can–and should–have hope. And it is this hope that should (and typically does) set a Christian funeral apart. While we acknowledge the loss and grieve the departed, we celebrate the hope that was in them and is in us.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25 ESV)

 

 

Photo by Mike Labrum on Unsplash

I seldom find myself in agreement with Ellen DeGeneres, but her words in response to the apparent furor over the picture of her laughing with former President George W. Bush are words that many of us should take to heart, especially those of us who call ourselves Christians, as she suggested that we should be kind to everyone, not just those who think like us.

It becomes more and more clear that we live in a society with deep divisions and that social media interaction often fans the flames of hatred between various groups. I can easily see that on my own Facebook news feed. My friends range from teenagers to people in their 90s, from committed Christ-followers to nominal Christians to agnostics to atheists, with a variety of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others added in, and from the far left to the far right on the political spectrum.  Relationships accumulate after 55 years, especially when you’ve lived in a lot of different places.

Because of that variety, I’ve witnessed a wide range of discussions on controversial topics, some polite, some—shall we say—less so. Some have been downright vitriolic. But the ones that break my heart are those in which rudeness and hatred are spewed in the name of Christianity. Those break my heart because I believe that they break the heart of God.

As Christians, we are supposed to be salt and light; we are supposed to share our faith. But sometimes we forget how we’re supposed to do it. Simon Peter was the brashest of the disciples, regularly speaking up when perhaps he shouldn’t have while Jesus was still on earth. He remained bold and outspoken after the ascension. These are his words about speaking up about our faith:

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:14-16 ESV)

The emphasis is mine, but this is not an isolated concept in the New Testament. Yes, Jesus did show anger and called people out, but those words and actions were directed at religious hypocrites. When he dealt with adulterers, dishonest tax-collectors, and all of the other sinners that the Pharisees criticized him for spending time with, he spoke truth with compassion and kindness.

We see the same thing in Paul’s sermon in Athens in Acts 17. Here he is, standing in a center of idolatry, but he doesn’t spend his words calling out the sin. Instead, he finds common ground and takes the opportunity to tell them about the true God, the creator of the universe. Yes, he calls the people to repentance and new life, but not by dwelling on their wrongdoing.

Here’s a reality: if you believe in the Bible and follow Christ in good conscience in this world, you will have trouble at some point. Peter, Paul, and James all echo the words of Jesus on this subject. Part of our calling is a calling to suffer for Christ’s sake.

When the trouble comes, when people ridicule us for our beliefs, it is tempting to get defensive and respond with hurtful words. But that’s not of the Spirit, ever. And, really, these attacks cannot hurt us in any meaningful way. We are sojourners. This is not our home. Those attacking us cannot take away anything that truly matters unless we let them.

It is not our job to force people to agree with our beliefs or to convict people of their sin. It is our job to love all people, to hold fast to Christ and biblical truth, and to respond always in truth and compassion.

Sometimes (too rarely) on Facebook, I see Christians responding gently with truth and sometimes (even more rarely) see people begin to engage with the substance of scripture. I never see this kind of engagement when a Christian speaks rudely or with hatred.

These social media interactions remind me of the two kinds of campus evangelists I have observed over the years. The first kind comes and stands somewhere and shouts at the students about their sin, usually focusing on presumed sexual sin, calling them out for the clothing, and generally castigating everyone in the crowd at length. That type gathers large crowds of hecklers, but I’ve never seen a real conversation some out of those interactions, and I’ve never met anyone who was won to Christ by such tactics. The second kind waits for opportunities to talk with students, engaging them individually or in very small groups. This type has quiet conversations, sometimes quite lengthy ones. They never gather a crowd. They’re often completely unnoticed by many. But I have met people who found Christ as a result of such conversations.

Of course, it’s much easier to be the first kind of evangelist on social media, because the people we are talking to seem less real. Even when they are people we know, we may not have seen them for years, and they’re certainly not standing right in front of us. But the person behind the other keyboard is real: they are someone God created and loves deeply. 

Which kind of evangelist do we really want to be?

 

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There’s a Casting Crowns song playing on the radio these days with a line that always bothers me a bit. The song is “Only Jesus,” and the message of the song is good. It talks about focusing on helping people see and remember Jesus rather than focusing on our own fame and fortune. However, the chorus begins with “And I, I don’t want to leave a legacy.” That line I’m not quite sure I agree with.

You see, while followers of Christ should not be focused on their own fame or aggrandizement, I think we are generally meant to leave a legacy. A legacy not motivated by our own vanity, but motivated by and naturally flowing out of our relationship with God.

I was reminded of this in my recent reading of Nehemiah. Chapter 3 lists the people who rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem, naming the person in charge of each section.  As I slogged through the chapter full of unfamiliar names, I once again found myself wondering why on earth God had the biblical writers include both this list in particular and the various lists we find scattered throughout the Bible. After all, I don’t think I’m unusual in kind of dreading getting to one of those chapters in my Bible reading plan.

I’m not going to claim to have a full explanation, but I think the point of the list in Nehemiah 3 is that this wall was the legacy of the people who worked on it. This list of people associated with the wall building, this explanation of their legacy, provides us with some valuable reminders.

First, it reminds us that God calls us to be involved in what he’s doing. God could have built that wall without the people, but he doesn’t usually work that way. He wants us to be a part of the plan. 

Second, while he sometimes takes us far from home to serve him, he wants us to get involved in his work where we are. The people working on the wall were mostly working on the section that was closest to what they cared about: their home or their work or both. 

Third, this list, along with all of the others, demonstrates that God cares enough about people to want them listed by name. He encourages us to see what the people did. 

We talk about looking to Jesus alone, and he is our only model, but I think God understands that we are human. We don’t always do well without flesh and blood examples, even though all of them but Jesus are imperfect. Thus, we have Paul encouraging the recipients of his letters to look at his example (and through it to Christ). We have the faith chapter of Hebrews 11, where the author takes us through the Old Testament story, pointing out examples of humans who lived out their faith in God.

Over the summer, two different older Christ-followers that I knew fairly well at different times of my life died. I was not able to attend either memorial service, but I saw all of the posts that came across Facebook, and I watched portions of one of the services that was posted online. In both cases, the defining characteristic of all that I read and saw was the legacy of faith that these people left to their family and friends.

Of course, Casting Crowns isn’t the only group that has weighed in on this subject of legacies, and I think I have to stand with a couple of others: Nicole Nordeman’s “Legacy” and Jon Mohr’s “Find Us Faithful.” I want to live a life of faith that leaves a legacy that allows others to see Jesus through me. Those are older songs (one quite a bit older), but worth checking out if you’re not familiar with them.

In the final chapter of Nehemiah, he lists a bunch of accomplishments: his legacy. The final words of the book read: “Remember me, O my God, for good” (Nehemiah 13:31b ESV)

May we choose to live such lives.

 

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