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?

Subjected to Futility…in Hope

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope – Romans.8:20

I’m sorry this corner is not about one of the lessons of the day. I commend Amos to your personal piety this week. But this is something that has been in the bones for a while and I have to get it out.

If you’ve ever played team sports or especially ever coached them you will recognize this kid immediately. He’s not the fastest, or the strongest, or the meanest, or the absolute best in any category. But he will run through brick walls. He’s the first in the gym, the last guy out, and he probably goes home and does some practice there too. Absolute coach’s dream. And if you are chasing a glory story, you need that kid. When you need the ball, he will get you the ball. When you need someone to lean into the fastball, or put down the bunt, he’ll do it. And he’ll play hurt. You can’t get him off the field. You love that kid, or you think you do.

As much as I like sports movies or TV shows, sometimes they tell the truth, but more often they lie. The greatest liar in these regards was maybe the most heartfelt dream – Coach Taylor played by everybody’s all American Kyle Chandler in Friday Night Lights. He had a phrase “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose.” Absolute catnip to that kid. And it’s a great phrase. Because 95% of the time, it’s true. Maybe even 99% of the time. The Law of God is good and wise. Aristotle wasn’t an idiot. If you do this, you will become this. This being courageous, strong, whatever virtue you seek. And that kid who will run through brick walls? He’s amped up. He’s doing it. Full heart, clear eyes. Can’t lose, right?

There is another football movie that cuts closer to the truth. Keanu Reeves’ The Replacements. Gene Hackman is all his glory playing exactly that coach who assembles a team full of that kid. From the police sergeant linebacker who will get him that ball. To the former Heisman Trophy winner who is all heart. To the deaf kid who can catch anything close and will take all the pain of the hits. They are coached to run through brick walls. The Replacements is not completely honest, it’s Hollywood, so they win the game, but not before they hit the wall. Not before they have to realize it isn’t a glory story. The regulars are better. The sergeant will get bloodied and run over. The deaf kid will get separated from the ball. And all the heart in the world won’t keep you on the field. That takes grace. That takes some intervention.

If you’ve coached that kid, and you think you love him by sending him at bigger and bigger walls, eventually he is going to hit the wall. The one he can’t blow through. Because the creation was subjected to futility. God, I wish I could just preach the law. Do this and you will live. It would be so easy. And if things didn’t work out, even easier. You didn’t follow the rules. Your eyes were not clear enough. Your heart not full enough. You lose, sorry. Do better. The law makes so much sense. But it only works 95% of the time. And it usually fails at the most important moment. Because creation was subjected to futility. And if you really love that kid, you’ve got to be there to pick up the pieces. To tell him Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can lose. But this is just a finite game. And you are playing an infinite one.

Because life is not a glory story, it’s a grace story. The Replacements got to play one more game. Something every former player dreams about. Gene Hackman playing another coach in Hoosiers realizes that you can’t just “patch him up” and put your only big guy back on the court bleeding from glass cuts. And most importantly that all your plans are dust. Sometimes you have to rely on the living miracle that is Jimmy Chitwood and give him the ball. He’ll make it. Life is a grace story. We’ve already died to the law. We’ve hit that wall, hard. We’ve tasted the futility. But we’ve done that in hope. Because we have our own Jimmy Chitwood – Jesus Christ. And he’s already made it. We are already playing that one gifted game. And don’t worry, there will be more. It’s an infinite game. The creation was subjected to futility that we might see it’s not about the brick walls to run through. It’s about playing the game. You’ve already been given the victory. Enjoy the play.

Law Used Correctly

We know that the law is good when used correctly. ⁹ For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders. ¹⁰ The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching ¹¹ that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God. (1 Tim. 1:8-11 NLT)

The biblical books of 1&2 Timothy and Titus are called the pastoral epistles. They are called that because they are a basic church order book. What is the purpose of the pastoral office? Who should be placed in it? How does it carry out its purpose? How should the members of the body of Christ understand if the call is being done? (Cross reference God’s complaints in Ezekiel 34, the Old Testament lesson of the day.) The Apostle Paul makes an assertion right up front, “Certain persons, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions, have wondered into vain discussions, by swerving from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith.” I’ve rearranged the clauses there for a purpose.

There are those who simply want to be known as teachers of law. Jesus points these people out as those who “who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts (Lk. 20:46 ESV).” They like the trapping of the office, the job of the office less so. Liking the trappings of the office but not the job, they never really learn what they are saying. They don’t put in the work. They will say it very confidently, but they don’t understand what they are saying. And the inevitable path when you put such people in leadership positions is “vain discussions.”

What are “vain discussions?” They can come in a variety of shapes. We probably jump immediately to the caricature of “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” Of course the answer is as many as God wants. The deeper answers are simply “I don’t know” and “how does this effect how we are live?” But there are other vain discussions. When someone is arguing in bad faith that is a vain discussion. When they refuse to use words as commonly defined that is a vain discussion. You think you agree, but later on find out that yes means no to them. When you don’t care about the person you are talking to as an end, but only as a means to getting something else, maybe the good seats at the table. I’m sure you have had many vain discussions in your days.

How does the called and ordained servant of the word wind up there? By swerving from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. The holders of the office can probably often come off overly earnest. But at the root of the entire office is being willing to look personally stupid because you are preaching one thing: Christ crucified and risen. And that is not a vain discussion where resurrection means some metaphor. If it’s a metaphor, to hell with it all. I want to know the power of His resurrection (Phil 3:10).

And what do those things allow one to do? To use the law correctly. The law isn’t for a people who do what is right. If you are doing what is right, you don’t need a law. The law is for us sinners. It is a curb. Those who are in temporal offices need to arrest and punish murderers. Their job is to protect sinners from the worst of each other. The law tells us that we need a savior. It is a mirror we can look in and see our rebellious and ungodly heart. And the law is a lamp to our feet. This is the way our savior trod. This is the glorious Good News. You have a savior, Jesus Christ. And these are the good works he has laid out in advance for us to walk in following his steps.

If the office is justifying jumping the curb or those who might level it. If it is refusing to hold up the mirror. If it puts the lamp under a bushel. You might be in vain discussion. The good shepherd is honest.

Temporal Blessing of the Land

“The distinction between law and gospel is the highest art in Christendom.” – Martin Luther

When modern Lutherans have thought about Law and Gospel they have tended to do so in two ways. The first is as an individual. The law condemns me; the gospel proclaims my salvation. And that is fine…as far as it goes. The second way is more troubling. We have tended to put law and gospel in contradiction to each other. Because the law condemns me we label it “bad,” while the gospel is “good” because it saves me. And anytime someone brings up the law we dismiss it because we are free in the gospel. Those two ways of pondering the distinction of law and gospel have at least been debated. There are minority reports on the 20^th and 21^st century handling of this highest art which take them to task. There is a third part that just floats under the surface like an iceberg. Everything in law and gospel has been focused upon salvation. And don’t get me wrong, salvation is important. You might even say ultimate. But we are not taken immediately out of this world (John 17:15, 1 Cor 5:10). “How then shall we live” is important. And how we shall live together is also important.

The Old Testament lesson for this week (Deuteronomy 30:15-20) comes from Moses’ final words to Israel after 40 years in the wilderness before they take the promised land. Moses’ worlds are clear law. “If you obey the commandments of the LORD you God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules…”. There are some interesting distinctions made like the gradations in the law – commandments, statutes and rules – which we might think of as the moral law, the civil law and the kosher laws of religious cleanliness. But it is the law which demands that our hearts follow it, but that law has no ability within itself to compel hearts. Israel was always a stubborn and stiff-necked people, like all sinners. But the promise that is attached to this law is neither an individual promise nor a salvation promise. If you keep it…“you shall live and multiply, and the LORD will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.” The promise, at least this one of the law, is about the here and now, and it is more about the collective.

God in his grace is giving Isreal the land. That is the gospel. God promised that to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and God keeps his promises. Ultimately that gospel promise of the land is fulfilled in the New Jerusalem and the life of the world to come. But the law of God is good and wise. If the society one lives in is one that respects the 10 commandments (commandments), and if that society has civil laws that are both upheld and respected (statutes), and if that society has folk ways that are shared (rules), things will go better. That is not a promise of a rose garden for every individual, but collectively, that is a place where people can live. They are not worried every day about murder and theft and calumny. That is a place where people would desire to have children (multiply). That is a place where “the mandate of heaven” has fallenjoyfully – “the LORD will bless you.” These are not the blessings of the gospel which come to us by grace. No amount of doing these things earns us heaven. But the way the LORD has created this world, these things are part of that natural law.

Sin of course runs in us and we are always looking for ways to take advantage. If everyone else walks in those ways, but I defect from them, I can get all kinds of private benefits. But as everyone defects, it all falls apart. “If your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land.”

The law has no ability to enforce itself. But by grace God has given us the land. God has given us the world to come, and God has also given to us this place. He has both given us salvation and everything we need to support this body and life. And our lot has fallen in a blessed place. As Moses said to Israel, “choose life, that you and your offspring may live.” That you may live in eternity, but also that God might bless our native land and firm may she ever stand.

Wisdom Lit

One thing Lutheranism has always struggled with is the life of the Christian after their justification. Luther opens this bottle of 100% grace. A proof that strong had not been tasted since Paul wrote to the Galatians. And it was a necessary slug. Christians were wandering around thinking that buying an indulgence would get them into heaven faster. They were praying to relics and saints when prayer is only for God. They were doing what they could and then trusting God for the rest. Never stopping to realize that what we could do without God was nothing. If I have to do it, the work is never done. But justification is God’s works. It is already done. I just need to believe it – faith alone.

The trouble soon manifests itself though. How then do I live? And Lutherans have tended to have two answers to this. The first answer is always a bit like the hippie-commie Acts 4 commune. They all sold everything and held everything in common (Acts 4:32). Live out of the freedom of the Gospel. And like hippies everywhere, they aren’t wrong, if we were living in the fullness of the Kingdom. Unfortunately the story of Ananias and Sapphira comes next which makes plain both our sinful natures and the grace with which we trifle when we give such answers.. Most Lutherans reintroduce the law, something called the third use, as the way that God intends us to live. And this is not wrong. The law is good and wise. The problem tends to be two-fold.

Reintroducing the law after having the 200 proof grace feels like the morning after 200 proof slugs. But the greater danger is that we end up as lawyers back arguing points of the law and looking for ways we contribute. And we lose the grace again. 200 proof watered down to traces.

Our epistle lesson for the day (Hebrews 12:4-24) – focusing on Hebrews 12:12-17 – addresses this problem as Wisdom Literature. Wisdom Literature has always been trouble for the strict Lutheran Law-Gospel thinking. Because wisdom does make demands. Live this way. “Lift up drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees (Hebrews 12:12).” It feels like the law. But unlike the 10 commandments which are equally applicable to everyone, Wisdom Literature is more guideposts. You are living in the freedom of the Gospel, but watch out for this. As this it is less law, but more gospel encouragement.

“Make straight paths for your feet.” That is biblical talk that if you are feeling tired of carrying the cross, if the discipline of the Father feels heavy, walk in clear ways. Simplify. Do that “so that what is lame many not be put out of joint but rather be healed (Hebrews 12:13).” As one who has been limping around for a few weeks because I refused straight paths and things in my feet were put out of joint, I get it. Not every day is spiritual training day. Learn to recognize your pains.

The wisdom from Hebrews 12:14-17 is a bit more complex. The tension in the communal Christian life is established between “strive for peace with everyone” and “and for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” Striving for peace is easy if you forget about holiness. Just accept everything. But what that ends up doing is denying grace. Because the Christian walk is not about acceptance, but absolution. We all sinned and all have been forgiven. And that grace puts us on the path of holiness. If we are all walking that path together, but there is one who is walking not through grace, but because their sin has just been accepted, that is the “root of bitterness.” And I’ve seen this many times. The one denied grace realizes they are not walking the same path. And often calls attention to it. Those walking under grace will often turn and ask “what about that one?” The examples given are “the sexually immoral” and “Esau who sold his birthright for a single meal”. That root of bitterness in other places might be called a scandal or a stumbling block. There is a great difference between welcoming the repentant sinner, and accepting those who despise and ignore the gathering like Esau or live proud public immoral lives.

200 proof grace is strong enough to absolve any sin. The wisdom is in how to drink it.

What’s a Prophet?

Prophet has always been this strange class to me. So many people line up to claim the mantel prophet. Cultural prophet, moral prophet, financial prophet, they line up in almost every sphere of human activity. And they line up with a complete misunderstanding of the call. I suppose the biggest thing that gets attached to the idea of a prophet is some kind of future predictor. There is also some romantic ideal of standing athwart some all powerful leviathan long locks blowing in the breeze. But that is a huge misunderstanding of the gig. The definition of the prophet is the one who speaks the Word of the Lord.

Our Old Testament Lesson of the day (Jeremiah 23:16-29) wants to draw some clear lines. And they are lines that resonate down to us. On the one side of the line are the false prophets. And those false prophets have two modes of speech. The first is to substitute their own plans for the Word of God. ‘They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:16).” The second is to dull the conscience of those who are listening. “They say continually to those who despise the Word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you (Jeremiah 23:17).’”

What is the purpose of each of those modes of speech? The second is that each of us has had the law written on our hearts. Over time we can callous our hearts and make them hard, but we have a natural reaction to sin and evil – to jumping the curb of the law. We know that sin stores up wrath. But because we want to go on sinning, we collect people who will tell us “No disaster shall come upon you (Jeremiah 23:17).” We want to find those voices who will affirm us. The first mode is more complicated. What is the point of listening to someone else’s dream? Yes, we might buy into it. But I think the point God reveals a bit later, “who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another (Jeremiah 23:27).” Mankind lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God. And if you turn away from that meat, you replace it with junk food. Even the absence would remind us of the Word. So to forget it, we find other dreams.

The false prophet’s gig is to run out your clock and make you forget the Word. Contrary to this the prophet speaks the Word. “If they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds (Jeremiah 23:22).” The Word of the LORD does not return empty. It carries out what it intends. And the results of the false prophet and the authentic prophet are compared to straw and wheat (probably better translated chaff and grain.) The Word of the prophet is true spiritual food. That of the false prophet only fit for the fire. “And is not my word like fire, declares the LORD (Jeremiah 23:29).” The works of all will be revealed in due time. Don’t get caught on the wrong side of that line.

Jesus the prophet – heard in the Gospel lesson (Luke 12:49-56) – picks up on that. “I came to cast fire on the earth.” The very WORD has come. And that WORD causes the division. Do we yearn for affirmation of our ways? Which will never come. Or do we hear the absolution and turn from our ways toward the ways of the Lord? The prophet is more Firestarter than romantic hero. Be careful if you see a lineup of people wanting the gig.

Interesting Lines

There are some biblical lines that stick out. They seem like throwaway lines. Extra epitaphs added at the end of the story. Like at the end of Moses’ life. “His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. (Deut. 34:7).” Or when Isaac finally finds a place to pitch his tents, “And there Isaac’s servants dug a well (Genesis 26:25).” Or the introduction to Isaiah’s call, “In the year King Uzziah died (Isaiah 6:1).” They seem innocuous enough, until you stop to think about them and realize how deep they can actually be. Moses’ sight might be his physical sight, but it is also what allows him to see the Promised land from afar. He will not enter it, but God allowed him to see it. Moses was always clearsighted in the ways of God. But what exactly did he see up on that mountain? Isaac was a digger of wells. Maybe if as a kid you had been strapped down to an altar, you would find something else with which to praise God. And the water, the living water which bubbles up to eternal life, which is not simple water only, is a deep and eternal well. I’ll leave the puzzling over Uzziah to you.

Our Epistle lesson for the day has a bunch of those phrases, but the one I want to call out is applied to Abraham. “And he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8).” Normally taking off on a journey not knowing where you are going would be frowned upon. Failure to plan is planning to fail and all that. But then Abraham is the man and model of faith. And a journey is a metaphor for life. When we “go out” do any of us know where we are going? Oh, we might have an idea, a goal, an aim. But knowledge? The younger we are – like elementary kids – we just go out the door each day and whatever we meet that day, there we are. Only a few 8 year olds have plans for the day. Yet most seem to be right where they belong. Trusting that those around them have arranged things just so. Abraham would occasionally try and help God out, but largely he wandered around like an 8 year old. Whatever the day brought, the day brought.

He may have not known where he was going when he set out, but by the end he seemed to have a better idea. “For He was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder was God (Hebrews 11:10).” Abraham’s journey of not knowing took him out of Ur, the original Babylon. It took him all the way down to Egypt. He dealt with Sodom and Gomorrah and the Philistines. In all his journeys in life Abraham had seen every city that man might build. And he knew that none of them were where he was going. He didn’t know where he was going, but he had faith that God would build the city. I imagine Moses’ keen eyes were seeing the same city as Abraham.

At the core of any man of faith is an interesting tension. There is a contentment with where one is for God has blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love and still is ours today. He has provided me everything I need to support this body and life. And yet…and yet there is a longing for a better country. One that we know we cannot see perfectly. One that is not possible in the land we have set out from. And if we want to settle into contentment here in this land, we probably could. But the faith keeps our eyes looking at the horizon, our ears desiring a clear trumpet. For any sign of The City, a heavenly one.

Hidden Impressions

There are some weeks or fortnights that get indelibly marked in your mind. And I’ve usually found that there is some piece of media – music, movie, TV show – that you just happen to have been listening to that becomes the shorthand for that time period. The week my brother died it was this CD by a group called Butterflyfish. I was attempting at the time to build a VBS around the songs. Anyone who has done a GROUP VBS knows the format. There is a song of the day for 5 days. There is an overall theme song. There are one or two reworked hymns which are usually the best songs. This disc included a Doxology in that category. Day 4 – the highest attendance day, kids disappear on Friday – is resurrection day. That Butterflyfish CD had this incredible Day 4 song, “All Sad Songs”. “I know all sad songs have another verse/It’s the one the heavenly choirs rehearse/For that day when the broken will mend/And the sad songs will end.” It is not Evening and Morning or O God, Our Help in Ages Past, but it was what I was listening to at the time. And it stuck. Putting that record in takes me right to that week or right to my brother.

When in the idiocy of the world we all decided to larp the black death, and all of a sudden my kids were home all the time. And the job of keeping a struggling church afloat became even tougher. Having sheriff’s cars drive through your lot most Sunday’s because you complied with the “no more than 10” rule by having 4 services instead of one, was memorable. Especially when you got more visitors than you expected because yours was one of the few doors open. The TV show that marks that time for me is Stargate SG1. COMET was showing three episodes an evening. I could DVR them and in 90 mins at the end of the day escape into the fantasy of stepping through the Stargate to a world that hadn’t lost its mind. It’s not that there weren’t some theological works that also kept one sane, but echoing the Apostle Paul sanity isn’t always about “prophetic powers and understanding mysteries and all knowledge (1 Cor 13:2).” Those things aren’t nothing, but absent love, I’m still empty. And the can-do attitude of Col. O’Neill was honestly more important that any deep understanding. Which five years later we might just be entering into some reflection. I’m told I have to go see the movie Eddington in these matters. We’ll see. Might still be too early. I can feel the anger still.

I suppose I should be getting around to a point. The past fortnight has been one of those. Having a major surgery at 86 years old focuses the mind, or at least it focused my dad’s. He’s been gathering all his “in case this all goes wrong” files and having “last suppers.” This has included many extra evening trips to correct or rescue from disaster various computer files and passwords. It has also included wrangling the entire family together on some type of decent behavior. This fortnight also has graced me with the gout flareup such that walking is difficult. Preparation for a Congregational meeting. Annessa, who keeps me sane in the office, telling me she’s getting a real job. And a few other sidebars. Somehow I stumbled upon Detective Bosch in this fortnight. A salty LA detective that never lets go of a bone. The note he hangs on his desk reads, “get off your a** and go knock on doors.” He’s got a sharp eye and plenty of courage, but Bosch’s greatest attribute? Nothing life throws at him is too much if you just do the work. The truth reveals itself in the end.

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossian 3:3-4)” That’s the apostle Paul in this week’s Epistle lesson sounding very Bosch like. “Put to death what is earthly in you…put on the new self, which is being renewed.” What exactly we will be, we do not know. But we press on. We do the work. Because the way, the truth, and the life are hidden in that work. And one day all will be revealed.

High Sounding Non-Sense

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. – Colossians. 2:8 NLT

I love the zest of the New Living Translation. We live in an age of empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense. Around every corner there is someone attempting to lure you into a way of life. And all of it being sold as if it would make you into the most noble human ever. Whether that is such things as “manifesting” – putting the good vibes out into the universe such that the universe will repay you seven-fold, or believing “the science” – which was always contrary to actual science. Science isn’t believed because it is proven or disproven and invites challenge as its only way forward. The world is a smorgasbord of ways to live your life. All often reduced for easy consumption down to bumper stickers and focus grouped phrases. Love is Love. And don’t you ask anyone to define their terms. They are empty and high-sounding, and they have no solid ground.

The Apostle Paul tells us these things come from a couple of places. They can “come from human thinking.” It is not that the Apostle Paul is condemning all human thinking, but he is warning us of that specific type that thinks itself “the smartest man in the room.” Floating around recently was a syllabus of the last semester of Columbia University’s Core Curriculum. Marx, Freud, Fanon, Foucault and Saito. Now I don’t expect you to know all those names, nor even necessarily to look them up. But all of them could easily qualify as empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking. The workers/psychological/colonial/sexual/ecological utopia is right around the corner. If you just implement my ideas and kill 100 million people. It’s for their good. (And yes, there would be a solid academic reason to read them, if the reason was to be aware and warn of such foolishness, but that is not why they are on the Ivy Syllabus.) Such is our sinful nature.

The other place the Apostle Paul tells us these things come from is “the spiritual powers of this world.” It is funny (at least to me) that I saw reported just this week that some start-up was reporting a way to turn mercury into gold in a fusion reactor. (https://gizmodo.com/startup-claims-its-fusion-reactor-can-turn-cheap-mercury-into-gold-2000633862). The alchemical dream has not died. Although it is an open question which is further away, stable fusion or mercury to gold. Joseph Smith’s tribe continues to proclaim their spiritual powers to get you your own universe. Maybe you can make it easier to transmute lead into gold. And of course the largest cult of the day holds that men can become women and vice versa. And they do so with high-sounding nonsense leading untold numbers into stunted lives and ruined bodies. Such is the world and Satan’s schemes.

Against these the Apostle tells us is the Word of Christ. For He “is the head of all rule and authority (Colossians 2:10).” And through your baptism, “you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh (Colossians 2:13),” God has made you alive together with Christ “by cancelling the record of the debt.” In the Incarnation of Christ, in His flesh, He has defeated our sinful nature and given us His nature. Likewise by the power of the cross, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them.” The World – Pontius Pilate – and Satan thought they had won. They killed The Son and heir, and the world would forever be theirs. But death could not hold Him. And “you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God.” Christ has defeated the World, and Satan’s time is short.

So don’t let anyone capture you. You have the solid philosophy of the risen Christ, not some made up myth. Christ is risen indeed. You have the plain Word of God. Your sins are forgiven. Hold fast and grow into the fullness of Christ.

All the Suffering in the World

Some internet wit posted an aphorism the other day. Something like, Protestants find sin in pleasure, Catholics find goodness in suffering. It is something of a perennial observation that comes back in multiple places and styles: Northern Europe vs. Mediterranean, Prussian vs. Bavarian, Yankee vs. Reb. I don’t know about you, but I always hated it everywhere it shows up. It superficially might fit, but the second you scratch the surface it doesn’t. The real point is to elevate some third group that is neither Protestant or Catholic above such trivial concerns as sin and suffering. As if all the sin and suffering in the world would just disappear if we all were as flippant as the enlightened wit.

The Apostle Paul in our Epistle lesson for the day (Colossians 1:21-29) makes one of his deepest statements. “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” The world might have ever shifting ideas of what is sin but there is always something that the world thinks is sinful. The natural law is too powerful, written on our hearts, for the world to get away from sin for that long. With sin what the world tries to do is get the individual to justify themselves and the larger community to act like Pharisees about ceremonial laws instead of moral laws – stop self-reflecting and start cancel culture. We might lose the word sin, but we never lose the concept. Suffering is different. The World, that third enlightened group, doesn’t know what to do about suffering. The Apostle Paul does.

Now, not all suffering is the same. If one suffers because they have trespassed, that is earned. “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? (1 Pet. 2:20)” The rhetorical answer is none. Suffering in itself can just be the due natural punishment of sin. If we avoid it, it is by the mercy of God. Because we are all sinners. St. Peter in his contemplation would say, “but rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:13).” To Peter there is a suffering that shares in Christ. It is more a reflection of what Jesus had instructed them: “It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. (Matt. 10:25 ESV).” But Paul takes it beyond emulation. ‘I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” Ponder for a second how remarkable that is. The bearing of the cross is not an emulation, but participation.

To Paul the church is the body of Christ. And “whatever you do to one of the least of these, you have done unto me (Matthew 25:40).” Suffering that is endured for the sake of Christ or his church, suffering that is taken on for goodness, is a participation in Christ. If we endure such suffering, we are being conformed to Christ. It is not as the wit thinks that the Christian finds goodness in suffering. Because all suffering is ultimately because of a sinful and broken world. But innocent suffering is a participation in the cross. And the cross has been redeemed. The cross is where all those sins have been collected and paid. The cross is the beginning of the glory. The Christian might rejoice in these sufferings, because the mystery of God is being revealed.

The World has no place for suffering because it is passing away. Every day the glory of the World diminishes a bit more. And suffering reminds the World of its temporality. But Christ is eternal and through sufferings, made full in his body the church, has overcome the world.