"Who's Got Your Ear" (1 Kings 12:1-11)

July 12, 2015

          Alex, a 23-year-old Sunday school teacher and babysitter, was trembling with excitement the day she told her Twitter followers that she had converted to Islam.[i]

          That is how the New York Times story begins.  It ends with her secretly logging on to Skype to receive this message from Faisal, a man she had never met in person.

          I told [your grandmother] I would never communicate with you again.  But I lied.

          Between that opening and closing we get to know Alex, an isolated young woman in a rural community in the state of Washington.  She lived an isolated, lonely life, sharing a home with her grandparents.  Mabin Shaikh said this is exactly the type of person recruiters seek out online. 

          Mr. Shaikh was himself a member of an extremist Islamic group.  After leaving that group he went on to testify before the United State congress about the mechanics of radicalization.  He said of extremist recruiters, “We look for people who are isolated.”

          They can pick up on someone’s loneliness by following their twitter account, trolling them on Skype, and paying attention to their Facebook “likes,” their posts, and their comments in chatrooms and forums.  Mr. Shaikh identified this method of seeking out those Americans who lived isolated lives.  He said, “If they are not isolated already, then we isolate them.”

          Illustrating this point, Faisal, the man who reached out to Alex, surprised her when she told him she had convert to Islam.  She excitedly told home she had found a Mosque near her home.  His tone went cold.  He told her to stay away from the Mosque.  She did not know any Muslims, not in person anyway.  He warned, Muslims in the United States are persecuted and she would be branded a terrorist.  She should keep her new identity a secret and live a double life.    She complied.

          By the way, he lied.  I recently attended a dinner Muslims have to break the fast during Ramadan.  It was an invitation to Christians to come and see what non-radicalized Islam is about.  It was a lovely time where they offered us generous hospitality.  I do not think Islam and Christianity are compatible, but we can be friends.  We can show generosity to one another.  I was treated with great respect by these Muslims and everything about the evening was transparent.  Faisal did not want Alex to discover this peaceful, open version of Islam that does exist in American and other places.  She listened to Faisal. 

          So, if she could not associate with other Muslims or go to the Mosque, how could she (a) become a Muslim and (b) grow in her faith?  He told her to become Muslim, in the presence of witnesses she needed to repeat the phrase, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.”  So she tweeted the phrase, and Faisal acted as her witness along with another Twitter follower, one of Faisal’s associates, Hallie Sheikh.

          Within hours, her number of followers on Twitter doubled.  That night she tweeted, “I actually have brothers and sisters.  I am crying.”  Of course these ‘brothers and sisters’ were names and twitter accounts, not people Alex ever met or touched or looked in the eye. 

At some point, she suspected Faisal may not be telling her everything.  She looked him up online to discover that he had twice been arrested in England for possession of massive amounts of illegal firearms and explosives.  He was in his 50’s, married, and had children – he had not shared any of this with her. 

          Moreover, her grandmother discovered the secret life she led online.  She, called the FBI who came to the house and downloaded her entire electronic communication history.  Alex handed over control of all her online accounts to her grandparents who shut them all down.  But they forgot to close the Skype account.  On family vacation, while her grandparents were out on the beach, she logged on and Faisal contacted her immediately. 

          Why is this story important?  To whom are we listening?  Fox News?  NPR?  A preacher on TV? What angle is the person to whom you listen closely taking?  What is that person trying to get you to do?

Consider Rehoboam, the king who followed Solomon.  His story is found in Second Kings chapter 12.  Solomon’s reign was Israel’s Golden Age.  Nations around the world admired the greatness of Solomon and Israel under Solomon.  But, he also had his own failings, most specifically, adultery which led him into unfaithfulness to God.  He died and his son Rehoboam took over. 

As soon as his took the throne, he inherited the pressures of leadership and it came in the form of complaints that Solomon had been too tough on the 10 Northern tribes.  Led by Jereboam this is how the exchange went.

Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the older men who had attended his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ They answered him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he disregarded the advice that the older men gave him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and now attended him. ⁹ He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus you should say to this people who spoke to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must lighten it for us’; thus you should say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹ Now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

King Rehoboam listened to the advice of men with no more experience that himself.  If he did what they recommended and ruled with an iron fist, it might make him and his court wealthy, but it would continue to weaken and emasculate the rest of the country.  The people whom he counted on for support would come to hate him.  But those advisors around him told him what he wanted to hear.

To whom are we listening?  Who has my ear or yours?  Are they telling us things we want to hear?  If we follow their advice will it greatly benefit them?  Are they leading us down a path that will needlessly create enmity as we help them and maybe ourselves but hurt others?

Alex, the 23-year-old recruit into radical Islam, was told to hide her new life from the people she had always lived with, her family. 

To whom are we listening?  Are they telling us to keep secrets?  Are they telling us to pretend to be one thing?  Are they turning us against our own family?  Are they secretive about who they are? 

If your family or your circle of friend is into hard core drug use or pornography, separate from them.  Don’t stop loving them but remove yourself from their influence because the things they are into are destructive and deadly.

But if someone from a religious group or a new circle of friends or a new life philosophy is actively paying attention to you in order to get you to follow the path they walk, ask why?  Why do they want you to keep things secret from your parents or your spouse or your friends?  Why do they get uncomfortable when you ask “why?”

I encourage you to question everything I teach.  Hold the words I share up to scripture.  Talk to trusted friends in our church or people you trust outside out community. 

We have no secrets.  We believe Jesus is Lord, salvation is found in Him, and the way to joy and eternal life is through Him, his cross and resurrection. We believe all people need him.  We say this openly and we try to be transparent in our presentation of the Gospel.  We want all people to become passionately devoted followers of Jesus.  Tell everyone you know that this is what we are about. 

And test everyone who tries to influence you. 

That’s the bottom line this morning.  Identify the most powerful influences in your life.  It could be a parent, a TV personality, an author, a friend, a pastor, a spouse, a sibling, or a boss or role model.  Take a moment, step outside yourself, and identify to whom you listen.  Who is it you respect the most?

Now critically assess what that person is sharing with you.  I know you aren’t necessarily like Alex whose feelings of isolation made her vulnerable.  But you and I – we have other vulnerabilities.  We have blind spots and in those blind spots, the enemy, the devil, will draw us away from our devotion and loyalty to Christ.  We will find ourselves led down a path we never imagined we’d travel, a path rife with snares. 

How do we guard against being deceived?  First, look to Solomon.  Early in his reign as king, the Lord spoke to him and offered him anything he might desire.  He said to God,

“⁹ Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”

¹⁰ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. ¹¹ God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, ¹² I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind.” 

Ask God for wisdom, as Solomon did. 

Second, pay attention to advisors who are looking out for your best interests and are pointing you to Christ.  First John chapter 4 begins this way:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus^[a^]is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. ⁴ Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 

Finally, seek God in prayer.  Hebrews 4:16 says we can “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  We are invited to bring all our concerns into God’s presence.  Why would we ever not take advantage of such a generous divine invitation?

I pray God will rescue Alex from the allure of the seductions that have latched onto her.  And I pray you and I can live in wisdom and share the truth of the Gospel as we live our lives.

AMEN

---

[i] R. Callimachi, The New York Times, June 28, 2015, p.A1.

The Global War on Christians - book review

Review of The Global War on Christians by John L. Allen Jr.

            Perhaps the greatest affirmation I could offer an author is his or her work has spurred me to the point that I feel the need to act.  John Allen accomplished that with me in this outstanding work.

            Current through the middle of 2013, Allen tracks the way Christians are under fire around the world.  From my reading of the media, of works by other authors, and reports from other watchdog and faith-based organizations, I found Allen’s presentation to be thoroughly credible and accurate as far as I can tell.  I specifically remember reports of many of the incidents he describes.  In one case, a missionary friend of mine described in detail an incident long before it was reported.  Allen’s account matches what someone in the know, my friend, detailed.

            The situation is dire but not hopeless.  Allen communicated both truths.  His detailed chronicling of what’s happening to Christians on every continent was at times exhausting to read. One after another he told of how Christians have been persecuted because they are Christians, or because as Christians they felt the call of God to remain in dangerous contexts.  It was not an enjoyable read, but the author had no desire to entertain.  He wanted to shock the Christ follower who would dare read a book with his ominous title.  Mission accomplished and in a very good way.

            Throughout I was shocked to the point that I felt I would be unfaithful to Christ if I just set the book aside and did not respond in a tangible way.  I found myself thinking, “What do I do?”  Allen knew any sensitive reader would pose this question.  He dedicates chapter 14 to offering numerous thoughts about how his readers could respond.  Leading up to the section on specific suggestions, I thought, “He better mention prayer.”  It was the first suggestion (p. 280).  The ideas that followed are helpful in setting the believer on the path of the solidarity, participation, and brotherhood with Christians suffering around the world.

            Allen’s presentation is also balanced.  He admitted some of the suffering comes from Christians persecuted by Christians.  Some suffering is not necessarily because the victims follow Jesus.  And Christians are sometimes guilty of inflicting harm on others.  Also, Allen did not give too much attention to any one group, but recognized all who would fall under the definition ‘Christian.’  I did not discern his own affiliation until he identified himself as an American Catholic.

            The book is not perfect as no book is.  As previously mentioned, I found it tiresome to read story after story of persecution.  In some cases, what he describes really might not fall under the category of persecution.  In a few incidents, he could be accused of framing the evidence to fit his argument rather than simply assessing the evidence.  And, he might be guilty of a bit of hyperbole.

            However, I strongly assert that these possible critiques are refutable because he case is so strong.  I already was aware of the issue.  Having read his book, I feel more strongly and more knowledgeable.

            The best endorsement I can give is this – READ THIS BOOK.  I give it 5 stars because that’s highest available ranking.  Even more important, I am personally going to recommend that pastors I know read and respond to this book.  And in 2014, I am going to go back to chapter 14 and hold it up to my own life.  Where can I make changes so that I am active in coming alongside my persecuted Christian family around the globe?  How can I reposition my own life so that I feel the sting of persecution and the joy of being aligned with Jesus?

Disclaimer - I received this book for free from WaterBrookMultnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Gay NBA Player - The Conversation

            This is a follow up to my post from yesterday.  I watched a larger clip of the conversation in which the ESPN NBA writer Chris Broussard declared himself to be a Christian.  In his statement he said he could not see how someone could live in open rebellion to God’s decrees regarding sexuality and still claim to be a Christian.  He cited many forms of sexual sin – adultery, fornication, and homosexuality.  His point was if a person is doing any activity in one of those categories and is in that activity as a life style and seeking legitimation of that life style, then that person is living in unrepentant sin and thus cannot be a Christian.  That is Broussard’s point.

            I felt he articulated it well, but while I agree with much of his statement, I come up short of his final declaration.  In the context in which he wrote, I will not state who is and who is not a Christian.  I define a Christian as one who follows Jesus.  I know people who are trying to follow Jesus as Lord in their lives and are openly gay.  I personally believe that creates an unresolvable tension but I think there are many unresolvable tensions.  The most American of these is living with disproportionate wealth, but that’s another topic for another day.

            In the ESPN dialogue, the other conversation partner with Broussard is a LZ Granderson.  He is also a sportswriter and he is openly gay.  The ESPN host moderating between Granderson and Broussard brings up the issue of athletes who have trouble with the whole concept of homosexuality.  Granderson takes that question as an opening for conversation about the way we in society discuss homosexuality.  Up to this point, the conversation has been about how being openly gay will affect Jason Collins as a basketball player.  Broussard had done what he has always done and talked about the NBA scene from a basketball perspective.  But in responding to the host’s question, Granderson, appropriately, I think, takes the discussion in the direction of societal conversation (“the conversation”).

            To his credit, Granderson does not lash out at the tweets of athletes who simply cannot understand the entire notion of homosexuality.  He invites divergent viewpoints.  He shares that he and Broussard have discussed the issue many times.  They are long-time friends and have multiple times had “the uncomfortable conversation.”  Granderson’s point is that the conversation needs to be had.

            Broussard picks up on this and agrees that he and Granderson have had this conversation and continue in their friendship.  They have been on basketball teams together.  They accept each other’s different points of view.  Broussard actually uses the word “tolerate,” but he uses in a context that implies he and Granderson are friends who have covered this ground thoroughly and have done so in off-camera, unfiltered settings.

            The congenial dialogue however becomes a bit pointed and it makes me wonder exactly what Granderson and Broussard have said directly to one another in unguarded moments.  I think the sticking point that sharpens Granderson’s tone is Broussard’s definite contrast between the homosexual lifestyle and Christianity.  Incidentally, I would guess it is anachronistic to say ‘the homosexual lifestyle.'  When talking about the LGBT community, we are talking about millions of people so there are many lifestyles.  But in his remarks, Broussard definitely sets up two poles – gay and Christian.

            Granderson takes exception to this because he self-defines as a Christian and very clearly says, "Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior."  He expresses extreme frustration saying that on one hand “you,” and here there is double meaning as "you" refers to both Broussard and to enforcers of marriage laws that define marriage as man and woman, call sex outside of marriage a sin.  Then on the other hand, “you” won’t let “us” (and he identifies the LGBT community) get married. Granderson’s finishing flourish is that he doesn’t need Chris Broussard or anyone else to tell him he is a Christian.  This turn to more confrontational rhetoric comes when Granderson invites the conversation and the host points out that the player who has come out, Jason Collins, calls himself a Christian.

            Thus we have three self-identified Christians, Granderson, Broussard, and Collins.  Two, Granderson and Collins, are openly gay.  The third, Broussard, says, you cannot live a gay lifestyle and be a Christian.  Is he right?  Or is Granderson right in calling this an “unfair” position imposed on persons who are gay and Christian?  On this point, I recommend the reader check out Christopher Yuan’s book “Out of a Far Country.”  I have blogged on this book and you can read my comments here http://honesttalkwithgod.blogspot.com/2012/05/christopher-yuans-out-of-far-country.html.

            Yuan, himself gay, concludes there are two options.  Heterosexual marriage and celibacy.  He refers to these options as holy sexuality.  I know LZ Granderson would be upset and cry unfair as this conclusion.  So too would a lot of my gay friends and I can understand why.  Many of my friends who are heterosexual would also call this ridiculously unfair.  But is it?

            Where I live in North Carolina, there are three fairly prominent Baptist Churches that will gladly perform same-sex weddings.  Of course North Carolina as a state does not recognize same-sex unions as marriages.  But I think same-sex couples can get legal paperwork that states they are in a civil union.  And there are other states where they can go and get a marriage license.  At one point, as the temperature rose in the Granderson-Broussard dialogue, a frustrated Granderson said, “You say I can’t get married then you call sex outside of marriage a sin.  Well a brother’s gotta do what a brother’s gotta do.”  Of course the implication is that sex is a necessity and it will happen no matter what.

            That is a mistaken stance for a Christian.  I was celibate until I turned 32 (when I got married).  I was extremely frustrated in my 20’s.  I wanted to say “a brother’s gotta do what a brother’s gotta do.”  But I waited and many times I did not know if my wait was going to end in marriage or not.  For me it did.  And I can hear the retort.  “But Rob, as a heterosexual, you always had the potential for marriage.  You were waiting, not accepting celibacy as a lifestyle.”  I grant that response.  It is a reasonable response to make.  My rejoinder is this.  There are many heterosexual marriages where the sex part of it is either wholly unsatisfying or absent altogether.  Healthy spirituality must take precedence over fulfilling sexuality for the person who wants to follow Jesus.

            Granderson’s phrase “a brother’s gotta do what a brother’s gotta do,” has no bearing for a Christian.  I appreciate his sense of unfairness.  However, he and all Christians must submit every region of life to the Lordship of Jesus.  I do know of Christians who believe this can be done while affirming monogamous, committed homosexual marriages.  When I was in Arlington, VA, I was in a small group of men (we met in DC weekly) who prayed together regularly.  Every member except me affirmed homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle choice if the relationship is for life and is nurturing and beautiful and full of love.  Now in Chapel Hill, I have a friend who is a pastor whom I greatly respect.  She makes the same argument.  My DC friends and my NC friend both make their case from scripture.  I think their reasoning is Biblically weak, but it is Biblical reasoning.

            Granderson needs to revisit his own presentation if he wants to assert the compatibility of Christianity and homosexuality.  While I do not think the two – Christian life and gay life – are necessarily opposite poles, I don’t see them as natural compliments either.  To call Jesus “Lord” is to submit to him in everything.  Listening to Granderson describe his faith, it sounds like it is something he desires rather than something that is true.  It sounds more like Jesus is his than he is Jesus’. 

            I want to be kind about this.  Granderson is a sports columnist, not a trained theologian.  And his comments came in the fluid medium of a live conversation.  My thoughts here are written at my leisure, with the benefit of editing.  Granderson would doubtless be more polished in his articulation if he were writing a piece entitled “the gay Christian.”  Even so, he would need to base his case on something other than his own desires or what is fair.  At some point the advocate of Christianity that allows for gay marriage must make that case from the Bible.  I have not seen that case made with any weight anywhere.

            In conclusion, I reiterate that Christians are called to love.  We must go overboard in extending grace the way Jesus did.  This is true of all Christians, gay and straight.  What matters most is not who one can marry or my right to assert a particular theology. For the one who calls Jesus “Lord,” what matters most is his will which we discern through ardent study of scripture, the teaching of the church, and the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  Everything we do is to be done in obedience to God.  For this conversation to proceed, the outcome cannot be dictated in advance, and all the participants who call themselves Christians must move ahead in submission to God and in a spirit of love.

A Gay NBA Player

            I admire Jason Collins for being true to himself and publically acknowledging his orientation as a gay man.  Violent prejudice against homosexuality had led many young people who feel homosexual attraction to self-loathing.  This terribly is sad and unjust.  I add my own voice to chorus cheering Collins.   I hope it will open the way for others to be honest with themselves and with the world. 

            I am heterosexual.  I cannot understand homosexuality at all.  I don’t understand how a man can look at another man and have the physical and emotional attraction that I have felt all my mature life toward women and in the most intense expression toward my wife.  Nothing could be more foreign and inexplicable to me than homosexual attraction.

            And yet, as I write that, I am aware that people who feel same-sex attraction, probably find heterosexuality as foreign and unappealing and I find homosexuality.  A difference is the world affirms the heterosexual worldview and has trouble with the homosexual orientation.  There are people I love, my friends, who are gay.  Because of their sexual attraction, attractions they did not choose, they have to fit into a world not designed by them.  They have to find their place in a world where they are not always welcomed and often are abused because of who they are. 

            If I am truly a follower of Jesus, I am wounded by that.  It hurts to know someone is fired, denied, bullied, beaten, cussed out, relegated, rejected, and demonized.  Every person is made in God’s image – every one!  God sees every human with the love of a parent for a child.  God’s aches when God’s children are injured and homosexual people have been badly injured.

            I hope that Jason Collins’ statement will make the world safer for gay people.  I hope self-loathing becomes a thing of the past.  No one should hate himself.  When a person drips with disgust at herself, she cannot possibly receive the love of another.  She’s defined by hatred that becomes a filter through which she experiences the world.  I hope this man’s honesty and openness allows a generation freedom from self-hate.

            Equally, I hope people can speak their views honestly, without succumbing to pressure that tries to dictate their reaction when someone like Jason Collins shares what he has shared.  Here I am specifically thinking of ESPN writer Chris Broussard.  He writes about the NBA.  I hear him on the radio all the time.  He does fine work.  I was very interested in his response not to Collins, but to the issue in general.  Remember now, Broussard is voicing what he believes to be the right theology regarding an issue.  He is not speaking for or against Jason Collins.  Here is Broussard’s quote which I saw in the online version the Detroit Free Press (4/30/13).

            ““Personally I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly premarital sex between heterosexuals,” Broussard said.  “If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, the Bible says you know them by their fruits, it says that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, adultery, fornication, premarital sex between heterosexuals, whatever it may be. I think that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the Bible would characterize them as a Christian” (http://www.freep.com/article/20130430/SPORTS03/304300034/).

            It is an impressive theological articulation from someone who makes a living writing about basketball.  The strength of this writer’s statement is that he does not single out homosexuality in a prejudicial way.  He attempts to identify a Biblical sexual ethic and I think he does a fine job of it.  The overwhelming reaction to Collins’ announcement has been support.  Writers, players, executives, and voices from outside the NBA – the NFL, tennis and even the White House – have poured forth affirmation for Collins.  I sincerely hope Broussard is not brandished as an out-of-date bigot.  I hope he does not lose his job and is not himself demonized for stating his views, which he did with eloquence.

            He might.  He might be cast as intolerant or unaccepting.  That is unfair but it is reality.  ESPN, in an effort to stay with societal trends which currently flow toward full affirmation of homosexuality as a lifestyle choice, may fire him to avoid any backlash.  That would be as wrong as evil done to a homosexual but in today’s climate it is OK to silence Biblically-coated expressions of faith like the one Broussard made.

In my own assessment of his comments, I find that Broussard takes it farther than I do.  I agree that sexual encounters like adultery and heterosexual intercourse outside of marriage are outside of the Biblical paradigm.  The only models of sexuality the Bible endorses are heterosexual marriage and celibacy.  Anything outside of that is outside of God’s vision for humanity.  However, Broussard goes somewhere with that view that is beyond my own understanding.  He says he “would not characterize that person as a Christian” because the Bible doesn’t. 

I stop short of trying to identify who is and is not a Christian.  Other sin categories (greed, gluttony, and sloth) go mostly ignored.  People live in perpetual guilt of these, are unrepentant, and are defined as Christians.  Can someone be in a life-long, same sex partnership and be a Christ-follower?  I certainly think someone in that situation can earnestly seek Jesus.  In seeking Jesus, the individual must come to terms with his sexuality as he relates to Jesus as a sexual being. 

There is no area of life where Jesus is not Lord.  He is Lord of everything.  It is hard for me to imagine someone submitting fully to Jesus’ lordship and at the same time living in a relationship that is outside of God’s vision for humanity.  I know people who want Jesus and at the same time are openly gay.  I know their hearts.  Can someone live the gay life and be a Christ follower?  I am forced to leave the question open – for God to answer and not me.

My calling in Christ is to love people.  I hope my gay friends will read this and appreciate where I am coming from.  If you are my friend and you are gay, I love you.  You and are I not going to agree with one another’s views about every aspect of life, but let us have a friendship that is so honest and true we can stay in it even when we don’t agree.  As a pastor, reading scripture as I do, I can’t perform your union with your partner.  I believe to do so would put me in open defiance of God.  But I will love your partner because he is a part of you.  Maybe I am wrong about how God sees it.  I don’t think I am wrong, but I know my theology is not perfect, so I state it with humility.

I pray Jason Collins has made the world safer.  I commend him for his honesty and courage.  I also appreciate Chris Broussard.  He stated his faith clearly and without the intention to pass eternal judgment.  I pray for days in the future when these topics can be discussed in peace and love.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace and the giver of perfect love.  In that I try to emulate him though I fail often.  

3rd Sunday of Lent

 

Sunday, March 3, 2013 - 3^rd Sunday of Lent

 

            This past week an NFL superstar quarterback negotiated a new contract with his team.  He took less money than he was owed so that his team could sign other free agents and overall become a better team.  Commentators lauded him for putting the team first.  But, others pointed out that his fellow players might be angry because him doing that would put pressure on them to also take less money so their teams could sign high quality free agents. 

The NFL has a salary cap.  There is a limit on what they can spend on players.  If a team pays one guy $20 million a year, that reduces what they can pay other players.  So this big-time quarterback enabled his team to get higher quality free agents by giving up some of his money. 

One radio personality pointed out that his sacrifice is not that great.  How much of a sacrifice is it to go from a $20 million salary to $15 million?  On top of that, this quarterback’s super model wife also makes millions in her career.  The commentator went on to say that the ultimate joy in life for a guy, a dude, is to have a good routine, a good job, and a good life. 

This quarterback has played for the same team for over a decade.  He knows his city, his favorite restaurants, his routines.  He plays for a winning team.  He’s got everything anybody would want.  When I heard that, one thing came to my mind.  This radio commentator and I see things differently – so differently in fact, comparison is almost impossible. 

On the same station, ESPN radio, I heard another guy say that he only lives for his own happiness.  As he assesses people around him, he wonders how they can increase his happiness.  That is the driving force in his life.  If you never listen to ESPN radio and you think, “Well, that’s just that guy,” allow me to offer another example.  Years ago I talked to a friend who had just gone through an ugly divorce.  He went from family to a life where he lived alone.  As he described his new life as a single guy, he described the emptiness.  He did not deny it.  But his closing remark on his personal narrative was “At least now I am happy.”  We could both see he was fooling himself.  He stuck to his guns.  “At least now I am happy.”

The same type of statement came up in the debates around legalizing same-sex marriage.  What I heard from advocates is “Let people [in this case same sex couples] do what makes them happy.”  My initial thought was that is a foolish way to bolster an argument no matter what the issue is.  I am a happily married man, but I am not happy all the time.  Sometimes the source of my unhappiness is an unfortunate exchange I have with my dear, sweet, beautiful wife.  I say mean things.  I hurt her feelings.  And that is a two-way street. 

Of course most of the time, we laugh together and enjoy life.  But my point is happiness is unpredictable and fleeting.  One piece of cake makes me happy.  Ten makes me sick.  The quarterback will tell you football makes him happy.  But then he loses the big game and he’s so angry he does destructive things.  Life cannot be built around the pursuit of happiness.  It’s something that cannot be caught and if we catch it, it cannot be held.  I tell you this and I think of myself as a generally happy person.  Happiness is important and valuable, but it cannot be our ultimate end.

The radio guy said the football player has it all – a great job; a stable life; millions of dollars.  He has the ultimate success.  I happen to really like this player, but I could not disagree more.  I don’t think the ultimate is career success and financial stability.  I don’t even think the ultimate is happiness.  What is it then?  What is the ultimate thing to have in life?

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection of the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).  In the verses leading up to this, Paul cited his own resume – a list of accomplishments that would rank him as esteemed and successful in his day and time and place.  He had the ultimate.  He had it all.  He met Jesus and in the light of Christ – his crucifixion and resurrection – Paul looked what he had, what everyone like him would want, and he counted it as rubbish; millions of dollars – blech; Super Bowl rings – who cares; admiration from crowds of people – don’t want it.  Paul looked at all that we might think would bring happiness in life and he threw it all out like stinking garbage that is smelling up the whole house.  All he wanted was Jesus – the power of Jesus resurrection.

In his comment, one thing is clear.  The crucifixion and the resurrection are tied together.  You cannot have one without the other.  Last week we talked about the view from the cross.  When we see life from that angle, we align ourselves with the poor.  We live sacrificially.  And we live life in complete dependence on the Holy Spirit.  We place ourselves at the cross and live from there. 

Another point from Paul’s statement that might catch our attention is Philippians 3:11 where he finished his sentence saying “if somehow I may attain the resurrection of the dead.”  It certainly sounds like he’s suggesting that by commitment and spiritual achievement we earn resurrection.  Some Bible scholars think that is exactly what Paul is saying.  I do not.  In Philippians, Paul talks a lot about the effort in discipleship we make – we humans.  Our efforts are only possible because on the cross Jesus covered our sin and in resurrection, Jesus conquered death.  We receive what Jesus gives. Paul makes this point throughout his letters and especially in Romans and Galatians.  He also acknowledges in Philippians 2:13 that God is at work in us.  I won’t go into depth on this point.  I’ll just say that everything we accomplish spiritually comes because God enables us and comes after Jesus accomplished ultimate victory on the cross. 

Because of the life he’s granted – eternal life with God in God’s kingdom – Paul wants to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.  Paul wants to experience resurrection.  It is almost as if Paul wants to die so he can fully know what resurrection is.  It is not that Paul wants resurrection more than anything else.  He only wants resurrection.  The ultimate is not anything that we might consider would bring happiness.  The stuff of the world is crap as far Paul is concerned.  He wants resurrection. 

According to N.T. Wright, the great significance of this for Paul and for you and me is we are counted among the people of God.  What brings happiness?  $1 million?  $10 million?  Assurance that we will go to heaven?  Maybe for you none of this stuff.  For you it might be a beautiful day on which you can spend hours riding your bike on offroad trails under a glorious blue sky.  For our good friend Jonathan Elwing, it is fishing off the Florida Coast.  Bishop Tom Wright says no, those things may be wonderful, but the great significance of Christianity is that we are promised resurrection, which in turn means we are counted among the people of God. 

These bodies we have will rise at the final judgment.  In resurrection, our bodies will change.  There will be no injury that could hurt us.  The undefeated enemy, death, and his sidekicks disease and old age will be wiped out.  We will be resurrected, our bodies will be incorruptible, and we will live forever.  But the most important thing to note is we will be counted among the people of God.  The primary thing, says Wright, is “belonging to the Messiah” (Justification, p.151).  Christ.  Nothing is as important to us as the reality that we are his.

Because of the resurrection, we now see the world from the vantage point of God’s kingdom.  Last week we stressed seeing from the cross.  Now we stress seeing from the view of one made righteous, from the view of one in the kingdom.  Is this resurrection perspective the same as the crucifixion perspective?  No, but it is not contrary to it either.  As we grow in Christ, we come to realize how multiple realities are absolutely true at the same time.  When we enter Christ, we enter both his crucifixion and his resurrection. 

We can’t know fully what this means until Jesus returns.  Paul’s statement, “I want to know the power of the resurrection,” shows he did not know it fully and we don’t yet either.  But we know that in the Kingdom our joining with others in Christ is a more powerful than marriage; we are closer to our brothers and sisters in Christ than to our relatives.  The union in Christ is more important than our union with our countrymen.  Family bonds and patriotic loyalty dissolve as our connection Christ deepends. 

Our Kingdom perspective also determines the way we see people who do not know Jesus.  Our heart breaks for them because they have not experienced his joy.  We long for them to have the freedom of forgiveness and the happiness of fellowship in Jesus and with others who are in Jesus. Happiness is important, but we don’t get it by going after it.  It comes when we are in Christ.  People will waste their lives chasing happiness.  Because of the resurrection, we are in the Kingdom and we long to draw those who are outside in as well.

Scholar and Pastor Paul Beasley-Murray adds that the resurrection is a sign that Jesus is divine – God in the flesh.  Peter had declared Jesus to be Lord (Luke 5:8).  But he didn’t really know what he was saying and if we had been in his sandals and not yet known the resurrection was coming, we would not have known any more than he did.  After the resurrection, Thomas looked at Jesus and said, “My Lord and My God” (John 20:28).  He knew as did Paul that in Jesus he was relating to the God of the universe.

Beasley-Murray thus writes, “In confessing Jesus as Lord, the early Christian were not saying, ‘Jesus is Lord of my life,’ they were saying, ‘Jesus is Lord of the world’” (The Message of the Resurrection, p.223).  The resurrection is the event that determines reality.  Everything we know must be measured by it.  The only conclusion we can draw is that the risen Jesus is supreme Lord of all.   When Christian apologists debate both Muslims and atheists – two extremely different opponents – the lynchpin of the Christian apologists’ argument is the resurrection.  Everything hangs on it and when the historicity of it is established, the debate is over.  Jesus is Lord. 

Paul writes “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.”  Such a desire eclipses all others – money, fame, success.  It is all as nothing compared to the resurrection.  The resurrection of Jesus is our hope.  Moreover, as the scholars we’ve referenced show, it is our identification.  We are among the people of God.  It is our priority.  Because of the resurrection, Jesus is Lord and our lives are lived at His pleasure.

I remember a talk with my dad.  I saw him go somewhere.  I looked into his eyes as we talked and he was leaving and happy to be going.  It was seven years ago and we had just done my grandfather’s funeral.  My dad buried his dad.  He was sad as one always is in that situation.  He was also pensive.  It got him thinking about what he would want us to do for his funeral when his day came. 

Honestly he wasn’t too concerned about the funeral service.  He told me he wanted to be cremated.  He said wait for a day when the wind is right.  Then hike up to McAfee’s Knob.  It’s a favorite hiking spot in Roanoke with a gorgeous view of the valley.  He said to take his ashes and fling them off into the air.  “It won’t matter,” he said, “I’ll be somewhere else.”

He was and is in the process of knowing Christ and the power of the resurrection.  He doesn’t think about his funeral in terms of what might be said about him.  When he considers his own end on this earth, he thinks of Jesus and he knows he’ll be with Jesus.  He’ll be somewhere else.

When we live in the resurrection, we are from somewhere else – this world in its redeemed state.  Heaven.  God’s presence.  However you might conceptualize it, the key is we don’t fit here and our future is not here, not as this place is right now.  The resurrection grants us a Kingdom perspective where we know Jesus is Lord.  When we look around, we see everything here from there. 

I don’t have a new spiritual practice this week. Rather, I encourage you as you take up the practices we’ve mentioned in previous weeks to seek the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Seek to know it and to live your life from that perspective – the view of the risen one.  He is the Lord.

AMEN

A Story Full of Evil

            When Lehigh beat Duke in the NCAA tournament, commentators said “David beat Goliath.”  The Bible is full of incredible stories and David’s victory, a teenager defeating the giant, is one of the most known and retold and referenced.  A basketball team from a small school beats a perennial powerhouse – David beat Goliath.  An individual wins a court case against a massive corporation with a high priced legal team – David beat Goliath.  We know what this means.  We know this story.

            Do we hear it as God, through the story, reaches into our lives?  Imagine, God of the heavens reaching into you, penetrating your heart, taking personal interest in your life.  The Bible is great drama, but more than that, it is God’s word to us.  What is God saying in this story?

“I know the presumption and the evil of your heart,” Eliab said to his younger brother David.  He was wrong about David.  David’s heart was not full of evil.  In fact, he was the man whose heart was most like God’s.  But evil is in the David and Goliath story – it is a story chock-full of evil; evil in various forms that locates in individuals or groups of people.

            For 40 days, Goliath taunted Israel …

            This giant won the psychological battle over his enemy without unsheathing his sword.  They saw his size and heard his voice and that was all it took.  His power was obvious to him, to his fellow soldiers, and to the enemy.  Because of this Goliath was arrogant and mean.

            This evil, the evil of arrogance arises whenever people exploit a power advantage and keep others under heel.  An older brother pushes his brother around, occasionally punching the younger for no reason other than to let him know who’s boss.  A street gang forces a small storefront business to pay them 30% of their prophets.  If the business owners, an immigrant family, don’t pay, the gang will break the father’s legs and smash the business’s windows out.  Power leads to arrogance – evil arrogance.  This evil distorts the vision of everyone.  The victim senses he or she is worth less than he or she really is.  The power-holder sees himself as being much greater than he really is. 

Neither the victim nor the bully can see that they are both small and weak before the holy God.  In fact, when this evil of power and arrogance is running wild, God is not seen or worshiped at all. 

 

            “When the Israelites saw [Goliath], they fled from him and were very much afraid” … (17:24)

            As arrogance is evil, so too is fear.  FDR was wrong – we much more to fear than just fear itself.  There are things to be afraid of.  I’d be afraid of jumping in pool of hungry great white sharks.  Sometimes when I hear a noise at night, I wonder if someone has broken into my house.  If someone ever did in fact intrude, I’d be afraid.  Fear is not a bad thing.  In scripture we are to have an appropriate fear of God.

            But, giving into fear gives fear power it’s not supposed to have.  The Israelites were the people of God – the God who created the Heavens and the Earth.  Goliath was big and bad and scary and mean.  Rather than turn to their God, the Israelites succumbed to their fear and it became the prevailing force which they could not overcome.

            Our enemy, the devil, will use all means to drag us away from God and to assault our faith.  Fear is an evil that is a great tool to control someone.  The Philistines were on the verge of dominating Israel and fear was an insidious means of achieving that domination.  The evil of fear took the Israelites’ focus off trusting in God.

            Eliab, David’s oldest brother and one of Israel’s terrified soldiers, expresses a third evil, one that is born in his jealousy of his youngest brother.  He thought David was bored with sheep-keeping and came to see some bloodshed on the battlefield.  He though David was insensitive to the sacrifices of real soldiers.  He thought David just wanted a show.  So, he accused David of bearing an evil heart.

            Eliab’s evil was an evil of ignorance.  He didn’t know David’s heart or God’s heart.  In his ignorance, he spouted off, said things, spoke on matters in which he knew nothing. 

I have participated in evil of this type.  As a young man, I got in arguments with people over issues of race and issues of poverty.  My problem was I spoke from the privileged position of being white, being male, and being middle class, which is wealthy by the standards of 99% of the world’s population.  It’s not that white, rich men cannot have opinions.  But, I acted as if it did not matter that I didn’t know the perspective of a minority or underprivileged person.  In my ignorance, I spoke authoritatively and judgmentally, and when that happens, it more than just insensitive.  It is more than just brutish and conversationally clumsy.  Insensitivity that ignores another’s suffering and even ignores another person’s reality leads to evil.  Notice that ignoring as opposed to listening and considering leads to ignorance.  Eliab’s evil, one often overlook but one as damaging as arrogance or fear was ignorance.

The final evil I see in this story comes from King Saul.  He was the king and thus had the responsibility of leadership.  He wasn’t just accountable for his own conduct or even his own household.  The safety, wellbeing and flourishing of his people was on him.  Where was he when Goliath was shouting his taunts?  It says Saul tried to outfit David with his armor.  Why wasn’t Saul out there wearing his own armor, confronting this uncircumcised Philistine?

Saul’s evil is an evil of limitation.  This evil is painfully common among Christians in our day and it grows with each new accomplishment of science.  Each new invention and each new discovery is so wonderfully impressive, we begin to trust in science.  What science declares to be reality becomes what we accept as reality.  We then relegate faith to the sideline, an unimportant issue, and we have smaller and smaller views of God. 

Saul’s view of God was sinfully limited.  He could see swords and spears, helmets and shields.  He could see 500,000 Philistines across the valley from his army. He could see the 9-foot tall Philistine shouting and taunting his nation.  But he couldn’t see God and didn’t bother looking.  Even when David came and expressed bold, irrational faith, Saul kept looking through a small lens.  Though he was in the role of leader of God’s people, he didn’t have God-sized vision, not of himself or his task or anything else. 

Four evils – the arrogance of Goliath, which was a failure of vision and led to abuse in relationship; the fear of the people, which was a failure to focus on God and led to surrendering to fear; the ignorance of Eliab, which was a failure of perspective that led him to miss God at work in his brother; and the limited view of Saul which was a failure to live by faith and led him to reduce his view of God – these evils mark this story.

Perhaps the conclusion should be we all need to have a faith like David so we can avoid failure and defeat evils like these. 

Before we say that though, we need to acknowledge evil.  We must name the evils present in this story and in our lives.  Evil is all around us conspiring with our own sinful natures to drag us away from the eternal life we are promise.  The enemy will use all forms of evil to lead us to a death apart from God.  We need to acknowledge evil.

We also must look a bit a David’s life.  When did he defeat Goliath?  It wasn’t when he fired that stone from his slingshot.  It wasn’t when he ran to face Goliath on the battle line.  David’s moxie didn’t unnerve Goliath.  It simply elicited more insults.  It wasn’t when David spoke of his faith to King Saul. 

David defeated Goliath on those lonely nights when it was him, his flock of sheep, and the unforgiving dangers of the wilderness.  He said to Saul,

“Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; whenever a lion or bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it.  Your servant killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them since he defied the armies of the living God.”

            His experience as a shepherd readied him for this.  He may have been physically too small to wear Saul’s armor, but even as an adolescent, he was a fearless, agile warrior.  More importantly, as the Psalms show, David spent the lonely time out on the pastureland in constant prayer.  He wrote songs – great, artful poetry that expressed every emotion that lives in the human heart.  In those Psalms, David praised God no matter the circumstances.  David did not write all the Psalms, but the one attributed to him reveal a faith that was deep, emotional, real, and unwavering.

            Before we say, “We’ve got to be like David,” we have to live like David lived when no one was watching.  He didn’t pray and fight wild animals so he could be ready to defeat a 9-foot tall Philistine or overcome spiritual evils like arrogance, fear, ignorance, and limited perspective.  He prayed because nothing mattered to him more than God.  He put his life on the line for the sheep because tending them was his duty before God and because it was a duty before God, it matter to David more than his own life.

            I believe he was chosen to be king because God saw his character.  I don’t think God predetermined before his birth that David would be Israel’s greatest king and the Messiah’ ancestor.  I don’t believe the story was written ahead of time.  Did God know how it would go?  I am sure he did.  But I believe many shepherd boys in Israel could have become the king.  I believe David did because God arranged it that way.  I believe God arranged it that way because God saw the hearts of all the shepherd boys and young carpenters and tailors and fishermen – God saw all the hearts in Israel and chose the one most attuned to God’s ways.

            Each one of us can have that heart.  It comes as we are ridiculously honest and open with God in our prayer life.  While we won’t all be poets like David, we can pray with passion and desire and need.  We can pursue that relationship with God relentlessly, deciding we would prefer death over life without God at the center of it.  The way for you and me to overcome the evils of arrogance, fear, ignorance, limited vision, and any other evils we might name is to focus on God, long for God, reach for God.  This was what Jesus meant when he rejected the ultimate evil, Satan, by saying “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4).

            If we want to resist evil and defeat the giant obstacles in life, we will live like faith is everything and to be away from God is to slowly, agonizingly starve to death.  David’s desperate prayer, later in his life, after he had sinned horribly, was “Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11).  He could think of nothing worse.  With God, he wasn’t arrogant; he was confident in God’s power.  He wasn’t afraid; he knew God always wins.  He wasn’t ignorant; he knew God would give him all he needed to know.  His vision wasn’t small; he saw what God showed him. 

            Later in that prayer, he said, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).  Those words are an appropriate for us as we meet together as forgiven sinners who receive God’s grace as we put our trust in Jesus.  The world today is full of evil.  Our story in this fallen world is a tale of evil defeated and faith victorious when we thirst for God and put all our life energy into our relationship with God.

AMEN