Beauty for Ashes

Don't you love happy endings? Do you believe in a happy ending for yourself? I am sure that Job never thought the day would come … perhaps you are in a similar situation. I have seen many of my trials turn into blessings. I am reminded of the messianic prophecy that tells us that the Messiah will "comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve". He will "bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair". It says "They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor".

In the months following my wife Ellen's death God spoke to me often. One day as I was praying God said to me "I am sending you a Ruth". You know I really can't describe the emotions that went through my mind … a kind of disbelief that anything so wonderful could happen to me … Ruth was the epitome of a woman.

Well, later that year, God brought Ann into my life. In many ways she was nothing like what I expected in a woman but in every way she was a Ruth. Our courtship was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I experienced levels of joy that had escaped me for so long … Ann made me feel so young and alive. I had such little understanding of how much of a blessing she would be to me. We were married in the following year. For the last ten years I can say, with Job, that the Lord has blessed the latter part of my life … with a wife that is a servant in the best sense of serving … a woman who's inner beauty and integrity are matchless … and a sister who loves God.

You know it was funny how Ann and I met all over again. We had been acquainted for almost 20 years but had not seen each other for about five years. One day we, by chance, ran into each other in front of The Dime Store in Kansas City where she was shopping and I was just happening by. I wrote this poem at the onset of our courtship.

Love at Second Sight

What drew me to her I do not know.

Spirit? Soul? Flesh? A mystery to me still.

On that day I saw her again ... for the very first time.

Could this be love ... at second sight?

That day was bright ... my heart was dark.

Her skin was fair ... my soul was heavy.

A spark ignited and my spirit soared.

Could this be love ... at second sight?

The summer passed and fall had come.

My mind wandered still to that that day in June,

When my heart was touched by her lovely smile.

Could this be love ... at second sight?

As grief passed and courage grew,

I saw her again and then I knew ...

That my heart longed to know her heart.

Could this be love ... at second sight?

Mourning exchanged for joy.

Loneliness turned into happiness.

Feelings I can neither explain nor express.

Could this be love ... at second sight?

Time goes on and passion grows.

Where we'll go ... who really knows.

My heart and my mind yet question still ...

Could this be love ... at second sight?

You know when you are experiencing hardship, and wonder if your trial will ever end, it is good to remember Job. How God was faithful to him. How God blessed the latter part of his life more than the first. Do not lose heart. God does care and He has a purpose and a plan for your life. Open your eyes and begin to see your situation with eyes of redemption. Know that He can and He will redeem your darkest times and most difficult situations to give you beauty for ashes.

Identity

The older I get the more I am convinced that life is an intense struggle of identity. Listen to what the Apostle Paul pens in his letter to the Galatians:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:16-21)

The big news of the last few weeks has been of the capture of the alleged BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) killer in Wichita, Kansas. The man captured was a church-going one ... even a leader in his church. When the story broke many in his community were in a state of shock. How could this be? Over the years I have bumped into a few people who, in retrospect, seemed to have lived two different lives. There was the outward, church-going, side and an inward, perverse, side. The outer life looked good but no one knew the sickness they battled on the inside.

The scripture above seems to speak of this duality. In some sense we all have this inner battle of identity ... we are all tempted in some way ... and sometimes we give in to temptation. So what is the difference between us and those, like the alleged BTK killer, who seem to have gone off the deep-end. I suggest that it is one of identity. In the last few years I have noticed that often when I am tempted to sin I find myself thinking "that is not who I am' ... "I am not a lust-er" ... "I am not a worrier" ... you get the idea ... fill in the blanks for yourself. I don't think that it is a matter of psyching myself up or convincing myself I am something I am not. I think that, somehow, I have built an identity with Christ through the Holy Spirit. Here what Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians:

Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (I Corinthians 6:9-11)

When we think of ourselves we can either identify ourselves as sinners or as ones that were cleansed of our sins and set apart for God's work. It is a matter of identity. Many in the church today refer to themselves as 'just a sinner saved by grace'. I wonder if by saying these things we have trained ourselves to identify as sinners and not new spiritual creations. Possibly by doing this we have quenched the Holy Spirit's influence in our lives. Hear now what God says of you through the Apostle Peter:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)

As believers our identity is a noble and holy one. I think that if we live in that reality we will struggle less when we are tempted.

The Antidote for a Hard Heart

The writer of Hebrews speaks to us of the importance of encouragement:

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. -- Hebrews 3:12-13

In this passage the writer tells us that the antidote for a hard heart is encouragement. The Greek word, translated encourage, is 'parakaleo' - it is one of my favorite Greek words. In John's gospel Jesus calls the Holy Spirit "Comforter" which is a translation for 'paracletos' - a similar Greek word . Both of these words communicate a deep sense of coming along side someone to comfort them, strengthen them, rebuke them and teach them. These words encapsulate encouragement.

I find it interesting that these verses seems to define leadership differently than the way I once thought of leading ... leading from the side and not the front or back. I guess that is really what encouragement is all about ... walking with someone ... holding their hand as they go through some difficult stuff. My wife has been such a person for me ... believing in me ... hanging in there with me ... helping me see that the glass is more full than empty. I believe that the Holy Spirit not only encourages us directly but at times He becomes an encourager through other people.

The verse warns us that our hearts can be hardened, sinful and unbelieving if we are left to ourselves. Being in close relationships with caring brothers and sisters sets our hearts free to be soft. When we share our pain, our disappointments and our fears with them we make ourselves available to be encouraged. Another verse in Hebrews speaks also of encouragement. It reads:

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching. -- Hebrews 10:25

Again we see the writer using "parakaleo" ... urging us to not just see each other on Sundays but walk with each other ... open our hearts to each other ... and to give and receive God's gift of encouragement.

Religious Pollution

Do 'religious people' make you angry? You know those people who seem to love the rules but don't seem to love people. I must confess that they do make me angry. They made Jesus angry too. Listen to what Mark records in his gospel:

Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, 'Stand up in front of everyone.' Then Jesus asked them, 'Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

Deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts? Stubborn hearts? Could that be the definition of a 'religious person'? Someone with a stubborn heart? That is way to personal for me. I want to look at this story and interpret 'religious people' as those who do not have compassion ... probably because I think of myself as a somewhat compassionate person ... but stubborn? This is not going at all the way I wanted it to - this was supposed to be a commentary on those religious self-righteous people who lacked compassion - not about 'stubborn people'.

When you come down to it we are all stubborn in one way or another. We get locked into our positions or thinkings and have a difficult time when Jesus shows up and wants to do something that doesn't fit into our theological paradigm. We can, like those religious people of Christ's day, cause distress and anger to our God when we refuse to work with Him and bring healing to the hurting. May He redeem our stubbornness and bring us to a place of humility, brokenness and compassion and make us religious people in the best sense of religion:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. -- James 1:27

and also keep oneself from being polluted by stubbornness :)

Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?

The Old Testament book of Job is an awesome commentary on who God is and who we are. Towards the end of the book God shows up and speaks to Job. Here is the dialog:

"The Lord said to Job: 'Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let him who accuses God answer Him!' Then Job answered the Lord: 'I am unworthy - how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once but I have no answer - twice but I will say no more.' The Lord spoke to Job out of the storm: 'Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?'"

Well when it all is said and done one thing remains. God is God and man is man. Here the Almighty shows up. He has patiently listened to Job's discourse with his friends and He now makes an appearance to put it all in perspective. At the heart of God's lengthy questioning of Job is Job's heart itself. God counsels Job regarding the things that make God God. He helps him to put the events of his recent life in relationship to God's attributes and character.

As God speaks, Job begins to understand some thing about God. God begins to reveal himself as the Omni-God. By that I mean the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent Almighty God. You see, Job suffered, as many of us do, from a small view of God. When he waited and God didn't act and react the way Job expected him to, he became discouraged because he didn't really understand who God is. In the following few sentences I will attempt to put a few words together to describe what makes God God. Knowing that what I write will be inadequate to the task doesn't discourage me … I don't think that anyone could do a truly sufficient job.

To begin let me address three broad categories of God's attributes. I call them is-isms. "God is Almighty". "God is Holy". "God is Sovereign". Each is-ism speaks of a different aspect of God. First "God is Almighty". As we discussed previously God is an Omni-God. Omnipotence speaks of His power to act … this is expressed in creation, in healing and in miracles. Omniscience tells us that God knows everything … every thought and motive … He cannot be surprised. Omnipresence is the ability that God has to be everywhere at one time and at all times … He is not bound by space or time … He sees the future in the same way he sees the past. Doesn't that seem to be enough of a definition for God … surely enough to make most fall prostrate in worship? This, in a small way, encapsulates the idea that "God is Almighty".

The next is-ism is "God is Holy". Here we unwrap the notion of God a step further. For He is more than an Omni-God. "God is Holy" speaks of separateness. Because "God is Holy" He is separate … separate from created beings and things. This is essential to a clear understanding of God. Because He is separate, it is somewhat impossible to understand Him and His ways. Nevertheless, understanding this causes us to see him as unique. This separateness manifests itself in three qualities … goodness, justice and love. Without these the character of God comes into question and He is reduced to a divine despot. The first quality of goodness tells us that at His core God is good … His thoughts, ways and actions are all good … He is a good God. Secondly, God is just. Because he is separate He can judge as no earthly judge can judge. He is the ultimate in fairness and is able to judge because His is separate. Lastly, God is love. In this aspect we see a divine care for creation that is matchless in extent and quality … His love is perfect and unfailing because He is separate. Each of these qualities is important to embrace when we speak of "God is Holy" … each balances the other out somewhat and gives us a picture of a God who is pure in nature … One in whom we can place our trust.

The last is-ism is "God is Sovereign". While the first two is-isms speak of His power and nature this is-ism speaks of God's involvement with creation. It also breaks into three parts … volition, involvement and kingship. Volition firstly speaks of God as one who has a will … not only a will in the most general and universal sense but in the smallest and most personal sense. God has a will for nations and for individuals as well. This concept progresses as we understand that God is involved. He becomes involved in every aspect of creation. He brings the full extent of "God is Almighty" and "God is Holy" to bear on all of creation. He uses His power to accomplish His holiness in our lives. This is where kingship enters in. Job said, "I know that no plan of yours can be thwarted" … this is the essence of kingship. God will have His way … would you want it any other way. But though he rules in the events of our lives … permitting trial and suffering to enter … he allows us to accept or reject His rule in our lives … He gives us free will to curse Him or submit to Him.

So, how does this tie into Job? Would he have acted differently if he really understood who God is? His answer to God's questioning seems to indicate that he would have. For when God appeared to Job, He didn't answer all of His questions … He simply reminded Job of who He is. He said that for Job to justify himself was tantamount to condemning God. Kind of puts it in perspective.

How about you? Does understanding that God's will for you is perfect help you? Does knowing that He brings all of "God is Almighty", all of "God is Holy" and all of "God is Sovereign" to bear to help you be the best person that you can be … one who reflects His goodness, His justice and His Love? Job learned this lesson … may we benefit as well.

Which is easier?

I am in awe of Jesus. He always goes to the heart of an issue. Listen to what is reported of him in the second chapter of Mark's gospel:

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?' Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, 'Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .' He said to the paralytic, 'I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.' He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, 'We have never seen anything like this!'

Does this just blow you away? He turned things around on the teachers of the law. He took their 'deep' theological whining to a new level ... their whining was something deeper though ... for if Jesus could forgive sins then their perception of who He was was wrong. You know many of us want to acknowledge Jesus as a great teacher and possibly even a prophet. Like the religious people of Christ's day we want to relegate Him to the normal and the natural - but, like those ancient teachers Jesus does not let us get away with it. For if He can forgive sins then He truly is very God of very God - the Ancient of Days visiting mankind. The writer/theologian C. S. Lewis put it this way:

'I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of thing Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.'

Determine for yourself which is easier. As for me, I believe that He has the authority to forgive sins for I believe that he is God.

Dear Rabbi

Last month I had an e-mail dialogue with a Rabbi that had published an article on religious tolerance and unity. With hopes of advancing communication and understanding I have included the conversation below.

Dear Rabbi,

I come at forgiveness from a New Testament perspective and was wondering what your take is on the verses in Hebrews 9 that say ...

When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

... since sacrifices are no longer performed how does a modern day Jew appropriate forgiveness?

Dear Bob,

Indeed, forgiveness in the Hebrew Bible was contingent on the kind of passage you quote which alludes to the sacrifice being the vehicle tp forgiveness. That continued in the ancient tabernacle in the wilderness and then afterwards in the Temple in Jerusalem. Once the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70, however, the means of asking God for forgiveness for the Jew transferred to a. the prayer service- both in the daily morning prayers where there is a passage asking God for forgiveness and then on our Day of Atonement through prayer, fasting - and b. not repeating the offense. c. In addition, a Jew is required to "seal" forgiveness" with some act of genuine kindness with another human being.

Dear Rabbi,

Is there a passage in your scripture that you base your reply on or is it based on tradition alone?

Dear Bob,

both. for example, there is a classic passage in the Talmud where two rabbis are walking near the Temple ruins and lamenting that "the place which atoned for the sins of the people of israel through animal sacrifice lays in ruins! To which the second rabbi responds,''be not grieved, my son, there is another way of gaining forgiveness-through deeds of loving kindness for Hosea 6:6 says "Lovingkindness I desire, not sacrifice." Just one example.

Dear Rabbi,

Thanks so much for the information. I have often wondered about this because of the emphasis in the new testament about forgiveness being appropriated by the shedding of Christ's blood. It sounds like your theology blends in with the thinking that as long as you are a good person, doing good works, you are right with God.