The King’s Order

I don’t know if it has passed Gunsmoke yet for the longest running TV show, but Law and Order has been on forever. And I’ve always had a bit of a bone to pick with that name. In that show the first half is supposed to be “law” which is taken up with the police while the second half is the “order” which is the lawyers in the courtroom. Lawyers may think their operations are the working of order, but already that is at order’s breakdown. True order springs from the place where the law is just and the people desire to live in peace. In a perfectly ordered society the law becomes an afterthought because it is written on hearts and hearts are attuned to follow, and the law is no longer necessary as even a curb. Isaiah’s picture of the Messianic society in our Old Testament lesson is a picture of perfect order.

The nations’ and peoples’ statement is “let us go up to the mountain of the LORD…that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths (Isaiah 2:3).” It is on the mountaintop that the law is given, but what the nations’ desire is the ways of God. The desire to walk in his paths. The law at best defines the boundaries of those things. The law states what is off the path or what is outside of the way of God. But the desire is the fullness of divine order. To live in harmony with the will of God.

The start of that order can be the law. “Out of Zion shall go the law (Isaiah 2:3).” But the law is not the end. For by the law we only know where we have trespassed. The law multiplies the sin. As Paul would say, those under that law are being tutored. They are under the pedagogue. But Isaiah says parallel to the law “the word of the LORD (goes our) from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3).” It is that Word – the order of God that we seek. Because it is only within that order that we find true peace.

As long as we are testing the boundaries of the law – sinning – we find ourselves at war. We find ourselves at war with the King and his law. We find ourselves at war with our neighbor as we attempt to advantage ourselves at their expense. We find ourselves at war with ourselves. For in our hearts we know the law, and the Spirit in us longs for the Order of God, but we continue the war in our members. It is only when we submit ourselves to the King that we shall find peace. “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples (Isaiah 2:4).” As the song says “I fought the law and the law won.” God is sovereign. His law is the only true law. And it ultimately decides between nations and peoples. The only question is if we are brought before it as outlaws or as those who desire true justice.

Those whose hearts are submitted to Christ there will find peace. “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4).” We can put down our war against God and our neighbor and ourselves. We can do that in repentance and seeking God’s order for our lives. Isaiah’s ultimate vision is that “nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore (Isaiah 2:4).” The peace of the Kingdom of Heaven is what stands as the promise. God’s order will be established. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. And that is not some Star Trek Borg like forced compliance – “Resistance is futile.” No, that is the desire of nations. Peoples and Nations tired of war, tired of the disorder, tired of testing laws and finding them wanting at exactly the point they are needed. Tired of sin and its degradation. “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2:3).” We are tired of war. May the LORD grant us his peace, his order. And then the King shall come.

Christ the King

“For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20 NLT)

The Epistle lesson for the Last Sunday of the Church Year, sometimes known as Christ the King Sunday, focuses first on the cosmic and majestic nature of Christ: image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation, by him all things were created, for him all things, head of the body the church, firstborn from the dead. Paul has a long list of sobriquets he applies to Jesus like any king with all his titles and honors spelled out. We had our share of funerals recently. Thinking about this passage and those funerals brought to mind the funeral of Otto von Habsburg, that last of the Archdukes. The Habsburg family used to rule almost all of Europe, everything except England and France. The family crypt is in Vienna, Austria, but Otto would be the last interred. The reason it was brought to mind is that the procession arrives at the crypt and announces who it is with all his titles and honorifics. And the monks deny him entry. They scale it down and he is still denied entry. Eventually they just say “Otto, a child of God” and the monks open the door. Death is no respecter of person. Paul eventually stops with all the honorifics and just scales it down. He scales it all down to three things.

First, “the fullness of God was pleased to live.” That is the mystery of the incarnation. The God whom all those titles apply to became a man. He became a specific man – Jesus of Nazareth. He did not disperse himself as a divine drop living in every man which is roughly the start of every other religion. The eternal God became one man, born of the virgin Mary. And that man was not by human standards a King, although he was descended from King David. And that man was not mired in sin, although he was a descendant of Adam. Neither was he just an avatar of God soon to be discarded, but Jesus is “the assumption of the humanity into God (Athanasian Creed).” He became the second Adam, the second universal man.

And what was the immediate purpose of this incarnation? Why did God go to such great lengths? Paul’s second summary, “God reconciled everything to himself.” The dictionaries will tie the word for reconciliation together with the third summary of word peace. Reconciliation is the process, peace is the state. Reconciliation is how things were put right. And God didn’t just reconcile man. He didn’t just reconcile a part of his creation. God reconciled in Christ everything. By God the King of creation entering into the creation he made a way for all creation to enter eternity. That way – the process – was by means of the blood of the cross. Satan, the King of this old world, attempted to claim that which was not his. And he lost his Kingdom. He lost his claim on all humanity. Because we are reconciled to God by the blood. We can appeal in faith to the blood and all is made right.

Which brings us to the ultimate purpose. Through the incarnation and the reconciliation what it brought about? Peace. The English word peace has basically come to mean “not war.” Which is too limited a view of peace. The old line about the Roman army is that they conquered and salted the land and called it peace. You can call something devoid of life peace, but it is not the peace of God. It is not the peace that passes understanding. The peace talked about here might be better thought of as cosmic wholeness. Everything is at harmony with everything else. The medieval concept of the music of the spheres is a notion of peace. Everything is singing as the appointed rounds are done. Such moments of peace are few and far between in this world. We rarely know what we are to do. We often grumble while doing it. And what gets done is often not in harmony with our neighbor but at odds. Cold Wars abound. But the reconciliation of Jesus – the blood of the cross – was done to bring peace.

It’s my favorite Christmas verse. All idols then shall perish/and Satan’s lying cease/And Christ shall raise his scepter/decreeing endless peace. A worthy work of a King

The Good in Front of Us

I rarely appreciate the last three Sundays of the church year. I understand why their texts are full of the eschatological end of the world. The non-festival half of the church year is laid out from beginning to culmination, from Pentecost to Judgement. So, spending 3 out of 25 Sundays on last things doesn’t seem terribly out of proportion. The problem is honestly two-fold which I think the Apostle Paul gets around to addressing as he closes our Epistle lesson this week (2 Thessalonians 3:1-13). First, the “last things” – death, judgement, heaven and hell – are just too interesting. We know little about them, only what has been revealed by the prophets and Jesus. And even then most of that is in apocalyptic language which is always tough to decipher. But people repeatedly lose sight of what is before them while pondering those last things. And that is the two-fold problem: losing sight of what is before us because of things outside of our control or even understanding.

In both letters to the Thessalonians – letters which are assumed to be the first written parts of the New Testament – Paul has to address concerns about death, judgement, heaven and hell. People who accepted the faith have died. Did they miss something? Why did Christ not come back and take us? Where are they? Will we see them or did they miss out? Lots of tough important questions that had not been answered. And honestly the inherited Jewish tradition just didn’t have elaborate answers. Jesus himself gives an “eschatological sermon.” Our gospel lesson is the start of that from Luke. But unlike our popular fiction – say the Late Great Planet Earth or Left Behind or even Pope Francis’ favorite 19^th century Lord of the World – what Jesus says just doesn’t slake our desire to know. So we tend to collect the equivalent of the National Enquirer. What Paul says at the start of today’s epistle is the foundation of all Biblical apocalypse. “The LORD is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one (2 Thessalonians 3:3).” The promises of God are good. Whatever comes, your life, your eternal life, is safe with Christ. The various tyrants will rage at that, but they can do nothing but speed you on your way to God.

That truth should allow us to turn our attention away from those fascinating and foreboding end things. We know how it ends. Christ wins. We win with Christ. Knowing the end, should allow us to pay attention to what is before us. But we so often don’t. Paul addresses a problem among the Thessalonians. The Christians were the first to create a “community chest”, a food bank to support those down on their luck. But as in all these things people figure out ways to abuse it. In this case some of the Thessalonians, so fascinated by the last things, had given up work to prepare for them. They were relying on the food bank to support their fascination. “For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, nor bust at work, but busybodies (2 Thessalonians 3:11).” And the people of God are remarkably generous. It feels wrong to deny charity to someone in need regardless of the reason. We get this all the time in our political fights. “If you were a real Christian, you’d support this.”

The Apostle doesn’t have much time for such arguments. “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat…now such persons we command and encourage in the LORD Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living (2 Thessalonians 3:10,12).” Don’t lose sight of what is in front of you because of things outside of our control. You can’t control the end, although you know who does – Jesus. And he’s got you. The Christian has no religious debt to support those who won’t work.

At the same time though things are placed before us. “As for you, brothers, do no grow weary in doing good (2 Thessalonian 3:13).” Not everything can be dismissed as idleness. And even if you are supporting the idle, their fault does not steal the intent, the goodness, of the charity. We all have enough to do in one day without worrying about the next. Have faith in Jesus for the next. Do the good placed before you today.

Antichrists?

You may or may not recognize the name Peter Thiel. His short bio is Stanford law, founder of PayPal, first investor in Facebook, founder of Palantir, destroyer of Gawker, high contrarian, disciple of Girard, heterodox Christian and homosexual dabbler in rightwing politics. I don’t know if he’d accept the term, but I’d call Mr. Thiel “the philosopher of the age (1 Corinthians 1:20).” That’s leaning on Paul’s contrast between the wisdom of the world and cross, but it is also leaning on an older definition of a Philosopher. When we think of that term, we jump to academics and eggheads. Socrates would aghast at that. Philosophy used to be a way of life. Socrates did not flee Athens when condemned to death. That is what those in control of Athens wished he would do. For Socrates, his philosophy of the City, the Polis, required that he stay and accept its judgement, as terrible as it might be. Call it Socrates the Christ figure who prefigured Jesus crucified under Pontius Pilate and judged by his own people. Peter Thiel is the Philosopher of the Age in that he has very specific ideas and he lives by them. He always has skin in the game.

Now, Philosopher Peter Thiel has latched onto a very Christian term which Paul discusses in our Epistle lesson today (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17) – the antichrist. He’s got a very specific definition. Per Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians the watchwords at the end of all things will be “peace and security (1 Thessalonians 5:3).” Peter Thiel is an investor is technology. In his original book Zero to One, one of the concepts he discusses is the dichotomy of technology and globalization. Globalization takes already existing technology and as the name implies spreads it across the globe. The ultimate purpose of globalization is to make all things equal. Now that might be an equality of a miserable fight of all against all, but it is an equality. Contrary to globalization, technology makes something new, it goes from zero to one. And everybody gets richer going from zero to one. We’d all like the one of a cure for cancer. But the person or group that makes the one gets outsized gains. Hence why Peter Thiel is a Billionaire. His story of the antichrist is the story of a one world government that kills all new technology – all zero to one – in the name of peace and security. Because technology is disruptive. Of course Philosopher Peter Theil could also just be talking his balance sheet. He has billions riding on technology, not globalization, especially not a global government.

Now Peter Thiel’s concern is not without some very old biblical passages and interpreters. Daniel 7:8 talks about a “little horn” that arises and rules all the others. And Origen and other church fathers would all conclude that the little horn, the final tyrant, was The Antichrist. But Mr. Thiel’s concern also departs from how John would talk of the Antichrist. From 1 John 3:18, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is come, so now many antichrists have come.” Far from a single embodied one world ruler, in John the antichrist is everyone who “denies that Jesus is the Christ, who denies the Father and the Son (1 John 3:22).” Paul in our lesson talks about the antichrist as “the man of lawlessness…the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of god, proclaiming himself to be god (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).” And it is here where Mr. Thiel’s conception runs into trouble. Because it is often those who march under the banner of technology – “move fast and break things” – that would most resemble lawlessness. It is the technologists – from Bacon onward – that often claimed the power of god and the worship of god with signs and wonders. And in Paul’s writing there is something right now that restrains the lawless one so that he might be revealed in his time (2 Thessalonians 2:6). And most interpreters have said that restrainer was the Ur One World Government – the Roman Empire and any of its descendants.

So you have both technologists pointing the finger at globalists, and you could have globalists pointing the finger at technologists as the Antichrist. But neither John’s nor Paul’s point of bringing up the Antichrist is to frighten the Christian or spur them to some heroic stand. In fact something of the opposite. These things have to happen. You are not going to stop them. And if it were possible, they might even lead astray the elect (Matthew 24:24). But it is not possible. Because you are Christ’s. You have been baptized into his name. You have taken his body and his blood. “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:14).” So stand firm. You know God – Father and Son. You know the temple of God – your heart where the Holy Spirit dwells. “Stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught.” Technologists and Globalists will both rage. Antichrists have gone out into all the world. But your life is with Christ.

On the Soul at Halloween

Hallow’een – with the original apostrophe – signals where it came from, All Hallows Eve. Of course you have to have an understanding of what the slightly archaic word Hallow means. We still use it in the Lord’s Prayer, Hallowed be thy name. If a saint is a noun – a person, place, thing or idea – to hallow is the verb that makes a saint. Yes, 3^rd grade grammar, which is also something that isn’t taught anymore, can be useful. To hallow, is to make Holy. Hallow is a good old Anglo-Saxon word. The words that have replaced it – saint and sanctify – come from the Latin. Hemingway liked short sentences and Anglo-Saxon words. He thought those old words were closer to the living core than the more intellectual Latin. You take off your shoes when your gut senses the hallowed; the sanctified is something you ponder with your head. Which cuts to the quick?

And that distinction is something I want to think about here. All Hallows Eve was of course followed by All Saints Day and All Saints was followed by All Souls. The distinction is the medieval one – between those in heaven and those in purgatory. And hence it was something in need of Reform as medieval purgatory is not part of the true teachings of the church. Christ actually did save us. The Holy Spirit actually does hallow us. We do not owe the Pope penance or need to buy indulgences. A Reformed understanding of All Souls might simply be that the judgement as to our final hallowing is not up to us. We can grasp with surety the promise of souls with Christ, which is better by far (Philippians 1:23), for those who evidenced belief. But there are many who might have been baptized but did not evidence belief. Or had not in a long time. We do not know. And judgement is not ours to make. We commend their souls to the grace of Almighty God. All Souls Reformed is the shadow of All Saints. If we hold up the Saints as examples of faith to follow. We should also remember that everyone we meet has a soul with all that implies.

And that brings up the question, what is a soul anyway? Modern philosophers would dismiss the word. Tom Wolfe – the guy who wrote The Right Stuff – also wrote a famous article “Sorry, Your Soul Just Died.” What might be shared between ancient philosophers and modern would be that your Soul is what makes you, you. Plato and most of the ancient world asserted that your soul was eternal. It was a little spark off of the eternal one. And you – your soul – would eternally separate from the one and eventually return to the one. Eastern religion would call it the Wheel of Samsara. Modern philosophers, contrary to the ancient, would say Tom Wolfe’s title. Your soul dies with your body, sorry but nothing of you is immortal.

The Philosophers might bounce between eternal and mortal, but the Psalm writers are the greatest biblical students of the soul. Your soul is not eternal. You are not Christ, begotten of the Father before all world, God from God, Light from Light. You are not a spark off the eternal one. You are a creature. You were created. “You knitted me together in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).” But neither are you reducible to just atoms. The Psalmist knows that he can’t boldly state the immortality of the soul. Lions might tear the soul (Psalm 7:2, 57:4). The soul might melt away (Psalm 119:28). One pleads that the soul might live (Psalm 119:175). Your soul depends upon the grace of God. But it is that gracious God who sustains you. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…He restores my soul (Psalm 23).” It is God who redeems your soul/life from the pit/sheol (psalm 103:4). It is the LORD who is the consolation of the soul (Psalm 94:19) and makes you the apple of his eye (Psalm 17:8). All this is why the Psalmist says many times, “Praise the LORD, O my soul (Psalm 146:1).”

We might think, and when we think we worry, about our souls – what makes us who we are. But our worry is unnecessary and often unhelpful. It leads us to false hopes like an eternal soul. It leads us to despair like a dead soul. Instead we put our trust in the LORD, our strength and tower. For He knows our worth. And he will hallow and keep you – keep your life – in Christ. Know it in your gut. You are being hallowed.

God’s Word is Our Great Heritage (A Reformation Day Reflection)

It’s an internet joke these days that if you identify something you don’t like you can blame it on Luther. The more ridiculous the claim, the better the joke. It’s a little like playing “Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon” that old game of connecting any actor however young, old or foreign to Kevin Bacon with a maximum of seven movies. Which itself was an absurdist take on the sociological observation that we are all within seven degrees of separation from anybody on the planet. Blame it on Luther takes a modern problem and through a Rube Goldberg string of other bad things eventually ends with ‘See Martin Luther started all bad things.” Now the Roman Catholic apologists meant it for evil, but the internet – and maybe God – has turned it into good (Genesis 50:20). As every time someone blames Martin Luther, the Great Reformer’s actual words eventually get quoted. And those Words almost always are firmly established on God’s Word.

Our sending hymn this Sunday is God’s Word is our Great Heritage. It comes from Denmark and was published to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Reformation. It was originally set to the Great Reformation hymn tune of A Mighty Fortress. The tune we sing it to was published in the United states for the 400th anniversary of the Reformation. The text was originally an attempt to extend the work of the Reformation to Danish Pietists. Their heirs in New Ulm, MN thought the text was so important, but in English it would no longer fit A Mighty Fortress, that the choir of St. Paul’s church set it to the current tune. It reflects in itself the idea of a true Heritage. At that 300th anniversary Rationalism – think Thomas Jefferson cutting up his bible to remove the parts that just couldn’t be true – was ravaging the church. Grundtvig the author was originally at odds with his Lutheran pastor father. But in his own studies and work eventually moved closer to Dad. The hymn was a token of that. At the 400th the big question in the US might have been: Can the Gospel withstand the translation from the language of the Old Country to English or would the Heritage be lost? The Choir of St. Paul had an answer. And so we, soon after the 500th anniversary, also have the question that the hymn perfectly presents to us.

The text is worth looking at closer

God’s Word is our great heritage/And shall be ours forever;

To spread its light from age to age/ Shall be our chief endeavor.

Through life it guides our way,/In death it is our stay.

Lord, grant, while worlds endure,/We keep its teachings pure/Throughout all generations.

It starts with a gospel promise. God has given us his word and it will always be ours. Now that is a statement of the objective Gospel. The incarnation of Jesus Christ happened, and Jesus lives, the victory is won. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church with that proclamation. And that proclamation is for you. God has done this for you.

And as with every proclamation of the objective gospel, it subjectively asks us how are we then going to live? Grundtvig’s hymn puts forward three things that are part of our subjective receptance of that gospel. First is the call to evangelism. To Spread its light from age to age. The hymn doesn’t expand on this. But that evangelism can take place in many ways. Something we probably should recover from those pietists, we all need evangelized. The home is a primary location of evangelism. Second, the hymn puts forward the Word of God as our guide in life. The summary of the law is a good place to start. Love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. But lastly the hymn says, “in death it is our stay.” Regardless of your evangelism and walk, the gospel is not ultimately about works. It is about faith. It is about believing that the works of Jesus – God’s Word – are our great heritage. And that nothing shall separate us from the Love of God is Christ. Not even death.

And appropriately it ends with a prayer. Something very like “Thy Will Be Done.” Let us keep its teachings pure, throughout all generations. The will of God is certainly done. Hell will not prevail. The church has been built on the cornerstone of Christ. We pray that this gospel would remain ours. Though 300 years, 400 years, 500 years, throughout all generations. Because this Word is life.

Choices, Choices, Choices…

We could say that life is ultimately about making choices, but that doesn’t really capture it. It is more about living with the choices we have made. In multiple fields of study “path dependence” is a meaningful thing. In math there are things that appear reversable, but really aren’t. For example 2^2 (two squared) is 4. But if you take the square root of 4, theoretically reversing the square, 2 is one answer, but -2 is also possible. -2*-2 is 4. Squaring is technically not reversible. Most of life is not reversible. And if we try to reverse things we often end up on the negative side of the ledger satisfying nobody. Moving forward is the only real path.

I’ve been thinking about choices recently for a couple reasons. I’ve noticed in my kids and not just my kids, a hesitancy, maybe even a fear, about making choices. Something that goes beyond the simple procrastination that affects 99% of us. (Yes, I am writing this on Friday, two days after I wanted it done.) I’ll ask my youngest, “how are college applications going? Where are you applying?” And he will leave the room. I’ll ask the middle child, “So, have you had enough time off? Have any initial thoughts? Anything Dad could help with?” And he will continue playing a video game. Or positively start making dinner for us. Path dependent irreversible decisions. But like Rush (the band, not the radio voice) would say, “if you refuse to decide, you still have made a choice.” Unlike math, life comes with default decisions that the world will press on you. And the world’s defaults are usually pretty poor.

The fear of choice, or the fear of living with them, that can paralyze might be the most common, but it isn’t the only reaction. Two others are nostalgia and recklessness. If the kids are paralyzed, there is plenty of longing for the way things used to be. But decisions have been made. And those decisions landed us here. And because it is life, those decisions are irreversible. The problem of sin is that we have to live with its effects. The ultimate one being death. But it is not just sins. Most things we choose in life are not choices of black or white. We are not that good. We choose between different shades of gray. The materialist might point at the 2nd law of thermodynamics – everything ends in heat death. The Christian understands that we live in a fallen world. Perfectly fine choices can still end up troubling. And we find ourselves longing for some time we didn’t have to live with the results. The flip side is recklessness. Sure, why not become a day trader. Bet it all on Bitcoin at $100,000. I have an acquaintance who recently lost $10M paper dollars in just such a way. Easy come, easy go.

What then are we to do? We can’t go back. Wallowing in nostalgia is like Harry Potter staring at the Mirror of Erised. As Dumbledore tells him, many people have lost their one life staring at it. Yet repeatedly going all in doesn’t seem wise. And pushing it all out might be the worst – getting pushed down a path you never even chose. Three things worth keeping in minds at such times. First, “All things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).” That might sound hopelessly polyanna-ish or trite, but it is really the promise that God loves you. His providence is with you. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. Trust that even if you find yourself leaving Ur for a land you do not know (Abraham) that God is working in you for good. And he has good works laid out in advance for you to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). So Walk in them. Second, you really have eternity. This world may feel highly pressured, but try living into that promise. “We believe in the resurrection of the death and the life of the world to come.” The paths that you will walk will be infinite and better than today. So keep walking. And lastly the teacher, “there is nothing better than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; and to eat and drink and take pleasure in all your toil – that is God’s gift to man (Ecclesiastes 3:12).” Find the joy in what is set before you. Find the joy in the walk. It’s heavenward all the way.

Ruthian Apologetics

You occasionally get asked, “how do you know it is true?” It being the Bible or Christianity in general or maybe even simplistically God. And there are all kinds of apologetic answers. You could start with Anselm’s Ontological argument as one of the oldest and Philosophically speaking still an active form. You could go with Aquinas’ Five Ways. Three of them versions of the Cosmological Argument. The final one an argument from design. All of them fancy ways of saying, “Have you looked out the window? You really think that came from nothing?” I think the Apostle Paul might agree with my tongue in cheek summary, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made (Romans 1:19-20).” Paul saying “look out the window.” The problem with all such arguments is that they are really arguments for a god. And arguments for a god are not the same thing as knowing that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is real. How Luther would qualify it would be that they are all arguments for the hidden god, Paul’s invisible attributes. And while we can observe the attributes, we don’t’ know God.

The Bible taken as a whole is the story of the Revealed God. It is the story of God no longer hiding behind the masks of power and might riding upon the storm. Ultimately we have the full revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. As Jesus replies to Philip’s plea, “Lord, Show us the Father…Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:8-9).” In Christ we see the steadfast love of God for his creation. We see the God who says he is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. And so Luther would say that when the hidden god troubles us, we turn to the revealed god in faith that “yes, we have seen the father. And he is not the god we so much dread, but our savior.”

But when you ask the “how do you know” question I think someone is asking for what makes it work for you. And the final answer has to be the Holy Spirit. “I believe I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. Bu the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” That Luther’s explanation to the third article of the creed. And final answers are true, but that question might be rephrased as something like “How has the Holy Spirit enlightened you?”

And Pentecostals might say something like “I spoke in tongues.” Likewise people might have seen a miracle. Now I might personally be somewhat skeptical of this one. We seem to have an infinite ability to say “that didn’t happen.” But Jesus does say, “even though you do not believe me, believe the works (John 10:38).” Maybe you had your own personal Eunice and Lois and you believe them (2 Timothy 1:5). “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed (John 20:29).” That is probably the most common way. But for my part, it is books like the book of Ruth, our old testament lesson for today (Ruth 1:1-19).

There is no way, absent the power of God, that this story survives history. You can place it alongside the lineage of Jesus is Matthew. Not that Luke’s genealogy is bad, but Luke’s goes back to Jesus as “the son of Adam and the Son of God.” And that is something typical for ancient Kings. They were all the son of God. Like Augustus, the Son of the Divine Julius. The story of Ruth is part of the genealogy of David. And it is the type of story that ancient Kings would have stamped out. Don’t focus on the romance of it. The revealed God parts. Focus on foreigner. Ruth was a Moabite. Focus on the poverty. Naomi leaves Israel because they are poor and returns poorer without a husband. Focus on how the family line is all but dead. Focus on how they are nothing and it is the mercy of Boaz that saves. And then realize that Ruth and Boaz are King David’s great grandparents (at least in Matthew’s genealogy.) No ancient human king is admitting any of that. And even if the King does, his line three generations later would clean it up. “We were always royal.” But this is the genealogy of Jesus. This is a King who is not about his invisible attributes of power and might, but about love and salvation. Which is the story of Ruth and Boaz. And the fact that it survives is an act of the revelation of the Father of Jesus, the Christ.

Scandal, Mercy and Love

In the gospel lesson this week (Luke 17:1-10) there are three distinct groupings. And in a surface reading they might seem to have nothing to do with each other. Random sayings of Jesus collected and roughly situated in the narrative when he might have spoken them, but otherwise not connected. That type of arrangement isn’t unheard of, for that is roughly Proverbs or most wisdom literature. Random sayings collected around some age or event or theme. But I think they might have a better flow than that first glace.

And I think that in the first block, our translations gets us off on a bad foot. They record, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come (Luke 17:1).” And they continue with the condemnation of the millstone around one’s neck. It is not that temptation is a wrong translation, but that it doesn’t really capture the effect of what is being said. The word used is the Greek world that we directly take as our English word scandal. And the meaning is not our contemporary celebrity petty “scandals” which are more a humorous public failing. The better meaning is an action that causes someone to lose faith, or maybe an intentional disheartening of the faithful. Scandals are sure to happen. It is a sinful and fallen world. But woe to the one who scandalizes, who intentionally disheartens these “little ones.” Now any such scandal probably involves a temptation. One thinks immediately of the Roman Church’s priestly sexual abuse scandal. But honestly I think what the Pope said this week is also just such a scandal. To have the highest bishop of the largest tradition actively dishearten the faithful in the very area the church is most prophetic is a scandal. And Jesus is talking to his disciples. If you are a teacher or a leader in the church, it is a warning about “Paying attention (Luke 17:3).” Millstones attach to these things!

But that harsh but good reminder is quickly followed up by something unimaginable. Imagining a god of vengeance and wrath has never been hard. Believing in a god who forgives “seven times in a day (Luke 17:4)” is harder. Yet that is the command of Jesus, “if your brother says…’I repent’ you must forgive him.” God is a god of mercy, and he expects his people to have mercy also. Mercy to the extent of that number of completion – “seven.” Full forgiveness. Because in Christ we have been fully forgiven. The disciples’ response makes sense – “increase our faith (Luke 17:5)!” The request feels nonsensical. Scandalize me once, shame on me. Scandalize me twice, shame on you! It only makes sense in the world of faith. When one has faith that The Father is who Jesus says he is, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. When one has faith that Jesus came for sinners. Then anything can happen. Even a tree being planted on the sea (Luke 17:6). The strangeness of the Kingdom.

The last section might be more for those disciples that have been at this a long time. Maybe you are at the end of your forgiveness. Maybe you are just tired of being taken advantage of. Or maybe you labor under some idea that if I do this – live forgiveness in this world – this world will give some back to me. I don’t think that is an uncommon feeling. “No good deed goes unpunished” as the fractured fairy tale has it. Jesus’ gives the disciples a salutary reminder. The rewards of discipleship are not this worldly. In this world we are servants (those translators again, more pungent slaves.) Christ would have been perfectly fine issuing the commands and “we would have only done our duty (Luke 17:10).” But what Jesus precedes this with is telling. No earthly master would tell his slave to “come at once and recline at table (Luke 17:7).” The slave would do the preparation and might get something after. But Christ has prepared a table. And he has told his servants to come and eat.

The Kingdom of God operates differently. It intends to overcome scandals, not with duty, but with mercy and love. Mercy toward one another for the millstones we all might carry. Who among us has not been the cause of scandal? Love from the Father in the body and blood of His Son which covers us and make us whole.

Why That Guy There?

Why did you send that guy to that place? Of all the questions I’ve got queued up for the hereafter, that one is the most frequent. I think it crosses a lot of theological assumptions we make. We make assumptions like everyone in the prophetic role intends for the good of the Kingdom. We assume that even looking at the history of the office. Just the Medici Popes might dissuade us of that. We assume that ministers correctly discern calls with the specificity of the Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. And we do that even after observing our share of 18 month pastorates. Of course Paul himself didn’t tend to stick around that long. And maybe the toughest one to consider is our assumption that God sends the prophets in order that the people might hear and repent. And we assume that even after reading the Old Testament and seeing these cantankerous guys who seem to have no social filter doing anything but persuading. Even Jesus said the parables were so they might hear and not understand (Matthew 13:13). I’ve asked that question of many a place and privately thought, “that is an act of divine judgement.” Of course the LORD has never answered one of those questions of mine, so I can’t say with surety. It remains private speculation, and yours is just as good as mine until that hereafter.

I bring that up as a reflection upon our Old Testament reading today from Amos 6:1-7. Of all those cantankerous guys, Amos might be the most. And he seems to be specifically chosen to get under the skin of those he is sent to. One of his famous lines is “I was neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet (Amos 7:14).” We tend to translate that line in the past tense “was”, but the Hebrew could also be rendered the present tense – “I am neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet.” As if that office in the Northern Kingdom of Israel has become so polluted Amos would not claim it. I’m sure that went over well with the court prophets. But even more it is followed immediately by what Amos does claim he is “A herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.” And what does that call him out as? Primarily poor. Sycamore figs were not the plump figs that we think about. They are more like crab apples compared to apples. It grows in abundance and it is edible, but you won’t find them on the tables of Kings. And one last thing about Amos, he is from Tekoa, a village near Bethlehem which is the very heart of the Southern Kingdom of Judah loyal to the line of David.

This poor crabby Southerner is sent to the heart of the rich Northern Kingdom. And he is sent at the height of the Northern Kingdom’s influence and extent. He was sent in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II King of Israel. Both long ruling kings of peaceful kingdoms, Uzziah reigned 52 years and Jeroboam II 41 years. Both had extended their borders almost to the extent of Solomon and the United Kingdom. And the Northern Kingdom had become very rich. But “Jeroboam II did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat (2 Kings 14:24).” You couldn’t pick someone less likely to be heard by the court of Jeroboam II than Amos. And that is exactly the response, the priest of Bethel – the Northern counter Temple to Jerusalem – tells Amos, “Seer, go, flee, prophesy there, but not here, for it is the King’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

What does Amos say to them? “Woe to those who feel secure on the mountains of Samaria. (Amos 6:1).” How does he classify them? As those whose every moment and thought is about leisure. “Woe to those who…stretch themselves out on couches (6:4)…who sing idle songs…and invent for themselves instruments.” And of their ways? “Who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves.(6:6).” But what is Amos’ greatest charge? “You are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.” You can imagine the laughter that might cause. What ruin? The GDP is higher than it has ever been. Our plumbers live in ways that would have made the old Kings blush. Maybe even God has blessed us from the Temple at Bethel. Long live Jeroboam the King. But the ruin was not the wealth. The ruin was spiritual. They cared not for their fellow countrymen (Amos 8:4), and their worship was correct in form but absent of meaning (Amos 5:21ff) as it did not change their hearts.

I don’t know why some are sent. But Jesus tells the story with these lines, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” Do we care about the ruin of Joseph?