Quiet and Peaceable Life

We received in our mailboxes this week our mail-in primary ballot. That is still a bit strange. In NY voting by mail was not really a thing. Everyone trudged to the polls on a Tuesday if they wanted to vote. But that brought to mind one of the petitions that is consistently in the Prayers of the Church. The picture above is the generic form from the Bidding Prayer. The Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2 bids us to pray for a variety of people. That is the scriptural format of the bidding prayer or the prayers of the church. And one of his bids is “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way (1 Tim. 2:2).” In our Sunday morning prayers this generic form takes on different specific forms at different times. There are many parts of that generic prayer that can get emphasized. But there is a specific path of meditation I want to follow here.

The prayer is for a quiet and peaceable life. Such a life depends upon those in authority. We might ask why that is. Why doesn’t God just do it? The primary answer in all things in the temporal kingdom is that God works through means. He has revealed his law. And he has ordained those whose job it is to carry it out. As the prayer above puts it, “You have ordained for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do well all the powers that exist.” The first use of the law, the civil use or the curb, is to punish evildoers and to praise the good (Romans 13:3-4). The establishment of good order is so that we are able to live quiet and peaceable lives. And our consistent prayer is that this would be granted to us.

But there are times it is not granted. The worst of those times are when “I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. (Isaiah 3:4).” The longer passage – Isa 3:1-4 (5-8 ff) – is worth pondering. How is this done? The LORD takes away the support and supply of the following in order: mighty man and soldier, judge and prophet, diviner and elder, captain of 50 and man of rank, skillful magician and expert in charms. That list I believe has an intentional order.

The mighty man and soldier are those who can both establish and keep order. They have both natural ability and official office. The judge and the prophet are those who can keep order already established and who can point in the way to keep it. They also have a learned ability and an office. The next step down is the diviner and elder. These are those with natural ability, but no office. They are the judge and prophet in the wild. Following those are their opposites, those who have an office, but probably lack ability – the captain of 50 and man of rank. In our world they have the credentials, but lack true aptitude. And last on the list are the Wizards of Oz. Those who can fake it for a while. They have neither office nor aptitude, but by some dark art can keep the machine working for a bit. Or at least give the appearance of order.

How do you get Children? The supply and support for these are removed. What does it mean to be ruled by children? It means those who lack the ability to create and maintain order. They praise the evildoer and punish the one who does good. They refuse to maintain proper curbs. They tear down fences without wisdom as to why they were there. They point people away from God and toward themselves.

The prayer is that “those who make, administer and judge our laws, bear it according to the Word.” That the curbs are put up in proper places. That within them we might lead quiet and peaceable lives in godliness and honesty. God ultimately controls the supply, but we are the support. When you get that ballot I hope these are thoughts and prayers before checking your support.

Fathers, Sons, Reconciliation and Peace

There are so few stories of universal resonance. I’ll save my “what’s in a name” Romeo and Juliet soliloquy for bible study. Our Old Testament reading this week (Genesis 17:1-17,15-16) backs up last week’s Sacrifice of Isaac which we looked at in detail in Bible Study. God changes the names of Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah. The meaning of the new names makes all the stranger the request of the sacrifice. When I say universal resonance I’m not downgrading any of our personal experiences. Those are all very meaningful to us, but most of us don’t live universal lives.

Shakespeare runs through my mind all the time because he had an uncanny gift for tapping into the emotion of those universal stories. Romeo and Juliet is of course about that impossibly deep teenage swooning, but also about terrible adult reactions. The vampire nostalgia of those like the nurse and the friar living off the emotion and enabling it, but also the hardened hearts of the family heads who demand the undemandable. Telling teens to choose more carefully, by last name, who they love. Rewatching HBO’s Rome, dodging the no longer softcore porn involved, for a story about Fathers and Sons, I was amazed at how much they missed it all. The real story wouldn’t have needed the porn to keep attention. Billy Shakes captures it all in “Et Tu, Brute?” Julius Caesar had a bunch of “sons”. His miliary son, Mark Antony. His foreign son by Cleopatra, Caesarion. His adopted relative Roman son, Octavian nee Augustus. But it was the illegitimate son, Brutus, from his real love, Servillia, who had been sacrificed to his ambition. “You also Son want me dead?” And all of those “sons” would tear the Republic apart after fighting for what the Father could never give them. It’s a reminder of how blessed Americans are to have a world unique man, George Washington, as the Father of our country.

But of all of those universal lives and their stories, even George Washington’s, there is nothing quite like Jesus Christ. “For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).” It is the story of a Father and a Son. But not one of a Father who only gave love through usefulness, which is not love at all. It is also the story of an impossibly deep love. “God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8).” It is ultimately the story that contains all of them. As Pilate would say, “Behold, The Man (John 19:5).” Here is the true man. Not the man gone wrong like Adam and all us sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. But the true man who has come into the world to redeem the world. Who has reconciled us to Our Father by his blood. Who willingly put down his life out of love for the Father and His creation. We are included in that story as the recipients of such a love.

Which is the only explanation for why Paul can make such an audacious boast, “we rejoice in our sufferings (Romans 5:3).” Absolute foolishness, even to stoics. The stoic might endure, but they do not rejoice. We rejoice in our sufferings because they are an inclusion in the story. They are as Paul would say elsewhere a fulling up of the afflictions of Christ (1 Colossians 1:24). But the afflictions are not the thing itself. The sufferings produce endurance. But unlike the stoics, endurance is not the point. Endurance produces character. But unlike the virtue ethicists of every age, even character is not the point. Character produces hope. Hope that does not put us to shame. Hope that we are included in this greatest story ever told. Hope that the love of God has been poured into our hearts. Hope that all sad stories have once more verse. That we are reconciled to God and have peace.

Concupiscence

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. – James 1:14-15

Also they teach that since the fall of Adam all men begotten in the natural way are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with concupiscence; and that this disease, or vice of origin, is truly sin, even now condemning and bringing eternal death upon those not born again through Baptism and the Holy Ghost. – Augsburg Confession 2

Most of Christianity up until the 20^th century has a focus on sin as a personal thing. The biggest change in vocabulary which picked up velocity in the late 20^th century was the movement of sin away from the individual heart and toward systemic things. The Augsburg Confession article 2 uses a big but useful word – concupiscence – which is the tendency to sin. This is what James is talking about when he says each person is tempted by his own desire. Sin lives in our members (Romans 7:5, 23). They are constantly proposing things for us to think and then do. And the Reformers considered this concupiscence itself to be sin. We are bound to sin. It is the intervention of God through Baptism and the Holy Ghost that can free us or give us some control over that desire. For the first time we can mortify it (Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5).

Contrary to that individual story of sin, the modern story tells us something much different. I think the modern story tells us that we ourselves are neutral, maybe even good. It is evil systems that ensnare us. Sin is not the result of us giving in to our own desires but participating in evil structures. It is not that the bible denies such systemic evil. It would call that the devil and the world, the powers and principalities of this dark realm (Ephesians 6:12). The big difference being that Christ is victorious over the powers and on the last day will condemn them to the pit. Until that day, we walk in danger all the way. We might be complicit with these powers, but they are not responsible for our sin. If you took natural us and placed us in the New Jerusalem with perfect systems, we would still desire to sin. Adam and Eve did, and they were not fallen. They just had the potential to fall. Our natural selves are bound. And ultimately, when we have learned to remain steadfast under trial, those systemic structures would fall themselves. When Satan and the World can no longer sway me, their structures blow away and are nothing.

I rehearse that for this reason. If our sins are due to what is outside of us, the problem abides with God who placed us in bad places. Yet James is explicit that “God tempts no one.” God desires to lead in green pastures and still waters. It is we who desire to push and shove the other sheep and make the green grass a mud hole. And God never changes in this desire. “Every good and perfect gift comes from above. (James 1:17).” And the real problem of a lifetime of sin is that we become defined by our pet sins. We are our sins. So when Christ offers his salvation, which is the exchange of our sin for his righteousness, it can literally feel like we are giving up ourselves. Lewis’ The Great Divorce is magical at this depiction. The various souls on vacation from hell are all bound in some way to a representation of their sin. And almost all of them refuse to give them up. Their sin is ultimately too precious to themselves. And Pharaoh hardened his heart.

The one who will receive the crown of life recognizes that the concupiscence might be from within me, but it is not me. Not in the good way God desired to make us. And we must hand it over to Christ at the foot of the cross. My sin is no longer mine, but it is held for all of us by the crucified, where all sin dies. That work of handing over what feels like our very life is the daily gritty struggle of faith.

Epiphany to Lent; Head to Heart

The season of Epiphany, of which today is the final Sunday, takes you on a journey from the Magi at the cradle to the top of mountain shimmering in light. It is supposed to be a season of growing understanding and awareness. Or from the divine perspective a season of greater and greater self-revelation. What was first revealed through nature, a star rising in the east, and then by messengers, the angels, and then prophets like Simeon and Anna and The Baptist, and then by the Son in private like at Cana, is at last revealed in public. Jesus performs the works of the messiah, proclaiming the Kingdom in every town healing their sick and casting out demons. What was whispered, and dreamed about, and promised, is now proclaimed, and in the flesh, and fulfilled. And we have seen it.

I don’t exactly know why, but I’ve been in a stewing mood recently. And I wish I was talking about it being cooler and looking forward to a nice beef broth. No, just lots of things worming around. Things you know about. Things you can see coming around the corner. Things you can’t do anything about but walk through them. We always walk through the valley of the shadow. Something that is tough to remember in the Valley of the Sun. As I said to my mother before moving here, “how could anyone remain down for long living in this” while sitting poolside soaking in the strong rays. Maybe the Lenten journey will bring some insights that Epiphany doesn’t. You can know something in your head, but while in the head it remains something of a theory. Ideas and thoughts are a bit like ghosts in that way. They only have as much reality as you let them. It takes something like a Lent to move head knowledge into flesh knowledge.

Our Epistle lesson for today (2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6) feels a little like Paul stewing on some things. Things he has stewed on before (Romans 9). His fellow Jews have not heard him. Paul has seen the glory, that dazzling light on the Damascus road. He knows. It is interesting to me that the Lord when telling Ananias to receive Paul also tells him, “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name (Acts 9:16).” Paul has seen the vision, and knows in the head, but he’s got a long lent in front of him. And we might say that this Lent is the recitation of the sufferings that Paul gives elsewhere. “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. (2 Cor. 11:25-27).” But none of that is what Paul stews over. It’s the veil that is over the heart of his people. And the one thing that can remove that veil, the thing Paul knows, is the one thing they won’t accept – Christ.

Our Epistle lesson cuts off before what is to me the greatest statement of a post Lenten faith in the bible, a faith that has moved from the head to the heart. “We hold this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Paul is always throwing himself at that wall hoping “for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh (Romans 9:3).” A head only knowledge might trick us into believing that almost anything is within our power. That we can remold this clay as easily as we refashion ideas. That we can make our ghosts real. But it is the mature faith that will still do all those acts – that will walk through the valley, but understands that they are not testimonies to our strength. That we cannot remold the clay. That we ourselves are but weak vessels. But in our weakness, the light might shine. “Let the light shine out of darkness (2 Corinthians 4:6).” It is on the far side of the stewing, after the valley, that we know the glory.

Over/Under

So I hear the Superbowl is next week. It is also becoming inescapable that the line on the game is Chiefs +2 (spread) or +110 (moneyline). And if you don’t know what those mean, you can probably disregard the rest of this. Because I want to talk about gambling.

Old school Baptists would rail against drink, dancing and gambling. Old school Lutherans would make fun of this because none of those things are directly forbidden in the bible. “Those Baptists, getting all legalistic again.” Of course that stale argument was missing the ministerial context. Why were the Baptist’s railing against these things? Usually because their congregations were having families and lives torn up by people abusing them. Why were the Lutherans so nonchalant about these things? These were not the preferred abuses of the Northern European immigrants who made up Lutheran congregations of the time.

But you might be shocked at what I wrote that gambling is not directly forbidden in the bible. Go ahead, take a minute and look up gambling or betting in your bible index. Look up wager for good measure. You won’t find the first two. The single mention of wager is the same incident recorded in two places (2 Kings 18:23, Isaiah 36:8) of an Assyrian ambassador making fun of the Judean king. “C’mon, bet me” as a taunt. The bible does not directly forbid gambling. That doesn’t mean the bible has nothing to say about it.

It is useful first turning the law. Why might one be betting? The lottery probably offers the simple reason, I’d like to be rich, really really rich. Why is that? Because at a base level I am coveting my neighbor’s business (9^th commandment) or just his stuff (10th commandment). And why does it cross from a wholesome desire into coveting? Why is gambling particularly troublesome here? Because I don’t want to work for them. I want to get rich quick at the expense of my neighbor. So the first question about any betting might be, am I doing this because I am coveting a life that is not my own? The paradox here might be that the lottery is more harmful in this than putting $20 on the Chiefs (because let’s be honest, you get Mahomes and points, c’mon?) A $20 on the Chiefs is not changing your life. The reason you buy a lottery ticket is that is most definitely will change it, overnight.

What else might the bible have to say about gambling? It is inarguable that gambling is something that people can get hooked on. There is the simple adrenaline rush of luck. There is the desire to feel like you are part of “the smart money.” It can come with bragging rights. And maybe you are able to manage those things, but maybe your brother can’t. Last week’s lesson on the weaker brother (1 Corinthians 8) might be meaningful. Do you want to be the one who introduces destruction to your brother without even thinking? Yes, you have the right to place a bet, but is it loving in your context?

The last consideration I’d like to mention here is that somehow our governments have become partners in the rapid proliferation of gambling. What started out long ago as state lotteries partly to provide legal outlet to run numbers racket mobsters out of business, has turned into the regulation and promotion of online casinos that are never more than a click away on your phones. The purpose of the government is to provide order and promote the public good (Romans 13). Today, I’d argue that gambling has become the stupid tax. The number of people who slot machine away Social Security checks, or who are encouraged by the state toward greed and destitution is disturbing.

The one biblical mention that gets close is “cast or casting lots”. The Apostle’s themselves cast lots to fill the place of Judas. Aaron is commanded to cast lots over two goats on the day of Atonement. In each case the casting of lots is a seeking after the will of God. The other example comes from the foot of the cross. The soldiers, oblivious to the man dying for their sins, cast lots for his clothes. Most other uses fall in this second category. Like Job chastising his friends that they would “cast lots over the fatherless and bargain over your friend (Job 6:27).” Or the LORD lamenting people standing aloof while enemies “cast lots over my people. (Joel 3:3, Obadiah 1:11)” Is the gambling, which necessarily ties us into the vanity of this world, making us blind to the things of God?

So, sure, place $20 on the Chiefs this weekend. Or on the 49ers if for some reason you want to bet against Mahomes. It isn’t forbidden. Neither is the NCAA tourney pool or any of the other minor pastimes. But, also stop to ask, am I missing something other than the over/under.

Two Ditches

Luther in his commentary on Galatians used the image of a narrow path between two ditches for the Christian life. The narrow path is justification by faith through the grace of Jesus. The left ditch is legalism which is believing that my salvation depends to some extent upon my keeping of the law. That law could be the divine law like the 10 commandments. That law could be human laws, like the laws of the Papacy at the time of the Reformation around indulgences, pilgrimages, relics and other “religious works”. To the extent that you think any of these merit anything before God, we have fallen into the left ditch. The right ditch is antinomianism. Big word which is probably best understood as lawlessness. Captured in the ditty, “state of grace, oh happy condition, sin as I please, and still have remission.” We are in the right hand ditch if we think Christ freed us from sin to go sin more or to deny that sin exists.

It is my anecdotal feeling that people within the church have more trouble with that left ditch. We tend to be “older brothers” in the prodigal parable. But people who are lightly connected to the church today get themselves in the right ditch. As a fellow pastor friend said, “you can directly read a very simple passage of scripture, and they will reply ‘it doesn’t say that.’” But there is a flip side of this. There are things that are neither commanded nor forbidden. For example, the number of candles in the sanctuary. It is rather easy to find someone within the church who will give you an exact answer. (A common one would be “two, one representing the law and the other the gospel.”) And if that exact answer is not followed, well, the place is going to hell. Someone lightly connected might simply say, “however many look pretty.”

In the back part of 1 Corinthians – our Epistle reading for this week is 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 – Paul is responding to questions relayed to him from the Corinthians in a letter we don’t have. And I take most of his answers as sanctified wisdom. There may be times it doesn’t apply, but the principles are solid and can be applied in a variety of situations. A big problem in Corinth was that the butcher shop was the local pagan temple. If you wanted meat, it had most likely been sacrificed to idols. Can a Christian eat such meat? Paul’s answer might be a little surprising. Basically, “Yes, you are buying meat, you are not supporting the sacrifice.” “We know that an idol has no real existence.” Hence buying meat that was offered to “nothing” is not tainted. There is no lingering voodoo magic or anything else associated with that meat.

However. Paul continues that “not all possess this knowledge.” We all know people that would fear lingering magic. We all know people who have very settled ideas on things that in truth are neither commanded nor forbidden. And if my eating that meat, or putting in another candle, or some other such thing is going to cause my fellow believer to question their faith, out of love I will refrain from doing this. Yes, I might have superior knowledge, but love trumps knowledge. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”

But there is an immediate problem with this which is rampant in our day. Call it the Tyranny of the Weaker Brother. Weaker brother is how Paul refers to the one whose conscience would be wracked over something that in truth is neither commanded nor forbidden. When people realize that they can get their way by such a claim, these claims multiply. Because in Christian love the stronger brother has given in. But within Paul’s saying – “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” – is an answer. The love of the stronger brother is not to leave the weaker in ignorance. Such love would not build up. Love would seek to free the weaker brother from unnecessary stumbling blocks. There are enough things that are commanded and forbidden that we do not need to create greater burdens.

Christian love is the path between the ditches. It is a life together keeping each other on the narrow way.

Time Grown Short

The problem with having three readings in church is that two of them usually get neglected. You can always stay for Bible Study on Sunday! We usually pick up at least one of them in its larger context. But not everyone does that. The Old Testament Reading usually supports the Gospel reading, but that support is often not exactly obvious or only a word or two. Like this week, how does Jonah support the Gospel? The implied answer is in the preaching. Jonah proclaimed to Nineveh, “You guys are toast.” And they surprisingly repented to Jonah chagrin. Jesus starts his ministry with “The time is fulfilled…repent and believe the gospel.” But the real problem to me of three readings is the “hard reading.” Like this week’s Epistle reading (1 Corinthians 7: 2-35) where Paul says, “It’s time to forget you have a wife.” Nobody wants to preach on that. The only thing further down the list would be “wives obey your husbands” or last week’s “do not be deceived” passage calling out the sins of the age.

But there it is in Holy Scripture. And as much as I complain about the lectionary makers leaving out the good parts, they are not completely spineless. You are the watchman and Israel preacher. If you don’t tell them, their sin is upon you. So, what they heck does Paul mean by, “let those who have wives live as though they had none?”

First, he absolutely doesn’t mean this is a free pass for a Vegas weekend. Nor is it an invite to an open marriage, a polycule or any such nonsense as our age would throw out. Second, recognize that large sections of Paul’s letters are responses to questions or problems brought up to him by the various congregations. In this case the context of our epistle reading is the larger idea of marriage. Paul pronounces some basic principles for marriage earlier in the chapter. And one of the things that every reader of scripture has to realize eventually is that the Apostle Paul in manners pertaining to marriage and sex is the progressive. What he proclaims is how to live in actual freedom, compared to our popular culture’s disdain for Paul. For example, “likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does (1 Cor 7:4).” Try telling that to any Roman paterfamilias. Paul’s advice boils down to “you are one flesh, act like it.” And it is in the submission of the self to that truth – the one flesh union – that you find your freedom. Freedom is always found in some form of submission.

But how do we find that freedom? Because it certainly doesn’t always feel free. It is in recognizing the parallel truth that we are first slaves to Christ. We submit to Christ. We have a ton of vocations: Husband/wife, father/mother, child, brother/sister, employee, citizen, elder, office holder. And they all overlap. And there are not enough hours in the day to fulfill the claims of everything. And that causes anxiety. “The married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wide, and his interests are divided. (1 Cor 7:33-34).” Paul almost always makes the parallel female point as he does here. The freedom comes from this: “the present form of this world is passing away.” When the anxieties of the age stack up, take a breath and realize that they are all temporal. They are all passing away. The only person who we are eternally bound to is Christ. Serve Him.

And what is the way that Christ wishes to deal with us? It is not by the law that causes all of our anxiety, because we can never keep it. Christ wishes to deal with us by his grace. “Believe the gospel.” And in that grace, “all things work together for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28).” We are given the freedom in the gospel to live for Christ. And when living for Christ it is amazing how many other vocational decisions become easy. When we live in the light of eternity, our temporal struggles become “light passing things.” Because brothers, “the appointed time has grown short.” And it is always comparatively short to eternity. Be free from anxieties, do what is necessary by the light of the Lord, and he will prosper your steps.

In the House or Out?

The pictures somewhere nearby, which in black and white are probably just blobs (sorry), are moral value heat maps. (Here is the link to the originals and the article in the journal Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12227-0/figures/5 ). What they represent is the moral worth assigned from inner circle being your immediate family to the far outer circle being all things in existence, separated by self-reported political ideology. There are two somewhat surprising results. The self-reported conservatives assigned lower overall scores everywhere. The darkest red which stretches from immediate family to personal acquaintances is only 12 units. (Explaining the units would take all my space, I’ll point you to the article.) That is verses the darkest red on the liberal chart being 20 units. So the self-reported liberal in the survey’s measurement places almost the same absolute value on those inner rings. That leads to the 2^nd surprising thing. The liberal darkest red – highest assigned moral worth – centers not on those closest, but stretches from “all people” to “all things”.

Essentially those maps and that paper are trying to answer the lawyer’s question to Jesus, “who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:29).” And the self-reported liberal’s response is consistent with the parable that Jesus answered with – The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Who was a neighbor to the man who had been beaten? Someone who would have been in the “all people” ring. And stretching that response to “all things” is not foreign either, in that the original divine assignment for man (Gen 1:26) was to have dominion – benevolent care – over all things. You might even say Jesus addresses this directly (Matthew 5:43-48) when he says, “love your enemies.” Given all that maybe we just condemn the conservative moral assignment as benighted.

But that would ignore a few other biblical passages. In Mark 7:10-13 Jesus addresses those who would swear off responsibility to mother and father – clearly part of the innermost ring – for a much more nebulous “god”. And he does this in the context of the 4^th commandment – “honor your father and mother.” Also hear the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 5:8, “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Hearing those passages we might turn on the liberal and say “you are just dodging what has actually been placed before you.”

And in the context of a political polarity, what we are attempting to do is justify ourselves. I’m righteous and you are evil. That is what passes for much of our political discussion these days. But I’m not counseling quietness or any such dodge. We have a life together and politics is how these things are sorted out. And being sinful humans, we will probably do it terribly. But I believe the Lutheran specifically has a good word here. Anytime you are talking morality or moral worth, we are probably in the realm of the law. And Jesus’ other summary of the law is in the conclusion to that “love your enemies” passage. Matthew 5:48, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Good luck with that. And anytime we find ourselves involved in a self-justification game, recognize that we have no ability to do that. We can argue our own righteousness right into hell. The biblical picture of that moral worth chart would just be all red. And the Father in his providence does provide for all.

But we are limited creatures. Limited in power, in abilities, in time. Instead of self-justifying, we really need to look to the one who justifies. Instead of attempting to judge everyone by true, yet impossible, standards, we need a little grace to allow each other “to work out our own salvation in fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).” Because we are not the judges of someone else’s work in these regards. We will all stand before Christ one day for ourselves.

That sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7 has a lot about the law in it. But it also has the most amazing reminder of grace. “Consider the lilies of the field…”. That passage ends with the phrase I think should guide so much of our lives. “Do no be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Maybe tomorrow places all people and all things before you. When it does and if that is your calling, the providence of God is working through you. And it will be enough. Most of us will probably spend tomorrow in front a variety of people from family to acquaintances – the troubles of the day. The providence of God is likewise working through you. And it is no less for being local. What we need is not another judge, but reminders of the amazing grace of the true judge of all things. And to grant each other a bit of that grace to work out the day.

Theological Ghosts

I’m sorry, don’t know why I’ve had ghost stories on my mind. But, I ran across an essay that talked about the differences between US or Western ghost stories and Japanese. (Here is the link, although it is really geeky. http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/the-ghost-did-what-translation-exposing-providentialist-thinking/) The summary is to say that US ghost stories tend to reward the virtuous and punish the evil. That essay calls this providential, although that is a terrible definition of providence, which biblically is “the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.” The providence of God is not that he’s the galactic scorekeeper, but that he is gracious and merciful, not visiting upon sinners their due rewards. Japanese ghost stories have a different morality that can be shocking to Westerners. In the Western sense, complete innocents can die. People who do nothing to help but heed warnings can live. Victory, if you want to call it that, can simply be diverting the ghost out of your house somewhere else.

I find ghost stories and maybe horror stories in general interesting because they are almost always theological. They reveal more clearly than almost anything else what we actually believe about “God, the universe and everything.” I also think that is why the horror genre is a niche. Most people don’t actually want to think about theology. Which makes the pastoral job interesting. Because part of the job is not just getting people to think about such things, but to maybe make corrections to their thinking. And maybe even make changes in their lives to bring them into closer alignment with good theology. And it is part of the job not because any pastors really want to be the morality police. We don’t. It is part of the job because it is part of equipping the saints. We all enter the crucible. You don’t want to be putting on the armor while you are already being tested. You want to have it girded prior. So part of the job is Pastor as haunting ghost to get you to think about these things.

The Western ghost story, with its embedded works righteousness, is a fable of the law. And that law has three purposes: 1) The Curb, 2) The Mirror and 3) The rule. Watching a US ghost story where the evil and promiscuous die functions as a curb in that the innocent viewer might see where punishment is given and not follow that path. It functions as a mirror in that we might see what is due to us in certain characters. It functions as a rule in that it holds up – via the hero and heroine – a still more excellent way. The biggest problem with that fable is that it also lies. It holds out hope that by following the hero’s path we might live. By the law, we all die.

This is where I think the Japanese ghost story is a nice correction. It is a world of at best disinterested spirits, and at worst malevolent spirits. The disinterested do their jobs with varying levels of competence. It is interesting to me pondering a hurricane as the result of the weather power taking a day off. And I don’t think that is far off the biblical picture of “the powers that be.” (Luke 21:26, Romans 8:38, Eph 6:12, 1 Pet 3:22). And of course “Satan prowls like a roaring lion.” Stealing from Sci Fi/Fantasy, we live in a dark forest. Oh, we think we know everything because of our recent mastery of matter. But maybe we don’t have the mastery we think we do. We think we have clear cut the forest, but have we?

The secret to many Japanese ghost stories is “the wise old man or woman.” This character is usually a minor one, but they haunt the story. They show up usually after some deaths when the main characters are desperate. They tell the characters what is happening. And they tell the characters how to avoid it. And then they leave. What happens in the Japanese film is not about personal holiness. Did you follow the law? What happens is did you hear and take heed? The characters that are open to wisdom’s word are saved. Those who have ears to hear are not always those we think deserve it.

This is the advent of the gospel. The star has appeared. The light shines in the darkness. Are we willing to set aside worldly wisdom and follow the star? Or do we insist upon our own knowledge unto salvation? At least in the Japanese ghost story, the one who listens to the Word makes it out of the dark forest and lives.

Made to Grow

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations. – Isaiah 61:11

My parents had a minor garden emergency the other day. The roots of one of their shrubs had grown under the PVC water line, lifted it and caused a restriction. All the water was squirting out onto the neighbor’s house. Dad was out splicing in a new section of pipe and removing the root. I commented how different it was in late December dealing with growing things. The oranges and grapefruit were far along and looking good. The flower bush that mom had cut down to nothing because it was covering the window was back to the bottom of the window. In Illinois and New York, this is fallow time, everything under a blanket of snow. Things never really stop growing here as long as they get water. I even had to send Ethan out to spray the yard for weeds.

This is something of mystery to me. I have no idea how anything grows in this clay almost rock. But it does. I suppose that is akin to looking at the fallow snow cover and thinking about the Spring. It is that sense of mystery that the prophet is evoking. “As the earth brings for its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up.” How does it do that? Yes, we can go back to High School biology class and give some type of explanation. But really, how does it know when to start? That line of questioning always ends in invoking something like “the seed senses the change in temperature” or “the change in light.” Really, the seed senses? I suppose we should be talking about the mind of the plant? I think Jesus is a little more honest, “He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. (Mk. 4:27 ESV)” When you put seeds in the earth, they grow. That is what they were made to do.

Now all Hebrew poetry is parallel; what comes before is meant to illuminate what comes after. Seeds are placed in the soil and they do what they are made to do. All nations and peoples and individuals are found within God. In Him we live and move and have our being. And like the seeds in the earth, people produce what they were made to do. “The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise.” The sanctified life is the life we were meant to lead. That is what it means to be fruitful. And we were meant to return that fruit to the LORD in praise. Not every seed grows. Not every person is fruitful. Sometimes wild grapes come up. But we were made for righteousness and praise.

And that fruitfulness is not only a private thing, nor is it only for one people. It will “sprout up before all the nations.” Just as this Arizona rock produces plants appropriate to it and the Iowa loam likewise, peoples of various times and places produce the righteousness and praise appropriate. No nation is left without a witness. And those witnesses do not grow in hothouses or under specialized grow lights. They sprout up before all the nations.

In its larger context the one who grew before all the nations is Jesus Christ. Isaiah 61:1ff is what Jesus cites to Nazareth at the start of his ministry. The LORD has caused righteousness in the form of his son to sprout up before all the nations. As long as we are connected to that vine we also bear fruit. How does this happen? This is the purpose of Christ, that we might have life and have it abundantly. That is what the incarnation was made to do.