A Very Long Life

There are chapters in the Bible with lots of numbers. Genesis 5 is one of them; it’s the first of them. It records the years and generations of Adam’s life, a very long life.

Adam fathered his third son when he was 130 years old. He had already fathered two other sons, though the first, Cain, put the second, Abel, to death. Seth would be the son who would live on and “call upon the name of the Lord.” Adam went on to live another 800 years after Seth’s birth. He lived 930 years, a very long life. 

Seth was 105 years when he fathered Enosh. Adam would have been 235 years when he became grandfather to Seth’s son. Enosh in turn fathered Kenan when he was 90. Adam became a great-grandfather at the age of 325. Kenan fathered a son at 70. Adam became a great-great grandfather to Mahalalel at the age of 395. Mahalalel fathered Jared as a “young man” at age 65. Adam would have laid eyes on his great-great-great grandson, Jared, at the age of 460. Jared waited 162 years to have his son Enoch. Adam would have been 622 at his birth, 4-greats.

Enoch lived 65 years and fathered Methuselah, the man who lived longest in the Biblical record. Adam would have been 687 at his birth. 300 years later, God would take Enoch to heaven without a physical death. Adam would have preceded him by just 57 years.

Adam became a great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather at age 874 to Methuselah’s son, Lamech. Lamech waited 182 years to have his very famous son, Noah. Adam did not live long enough to meet Noah. But he lived long enough to see the world into which Noah was born, where "the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5), the consequence of his own disobedience against God in the garden. He did not experience the flood, nor see Noah’s families deliverance through the flood in the ark. But he believed the promise of God, and lived a very long life.

Tomorrow I help conduct a funeral for a lady who lived 101 years, born in 1918, a very long life. She met several generations, and saw the world change. And she likewise believed the promise of God, that same God who formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and the God Adam worshipped on this earth for 930 years.

We Are More than Animals

I listened recently to an interview of an unsavory talk show host who has pushed beyond the limits of decency over the years, but who now has had a bit of a change, credited to therapy. He is not at all apologetic about his past transgressions, because, after all, we are all just animals. And, even after his therapeutic enlightenment, still seems to think it is all about him.

He does not accept the Biblical record of creation. I don’t know what he accepts. But man and woman created in the image of God is not part of his framework. Those of us who accept the Bible as giving the framework of reality freely admit that the God who created the heavens and the earth did so according to a certain order, and that both beasts and humans were created on Day 6, and that both are called “living souls” (translated here as “living creatures” (Gen 1:20,24,30; 2:7,19). And yet there are key differences. I’d like to start with the one that the person interviewed missed.

Animals behave in a certain way. They follow their instincts. They can be hardworking, fun-loving, social, and yes, sexual. There is a lot of variety, and we can find it fascinating. But as we study the different animals’ patterns, we find that they actually follow their patterns. Humans, not so much. Animals, unlike us, don’t emphasize one part of their existence to the point of neglecting the other. They don’t get addicted to one pursuit. Animals don’t drink or take drugs to deal with the stress. They don’t join a 12-step group to create a healthier dependency. They don’t do therapy. And they don’t think it is all about them. This man does not act like an animal. Sadly, however, he acts like less.

The soul of man was designed by God so that we could relate to God. Apart from God, we don’t just act like animals. We act like less. We become imbalanced wrecks; miserable messes. But in relation to God – a relationship freely given through faith in Jesus who loved us and died for us – in relation to God, we are so much more than animals. We pray and we forgive; we sing and we create; we worship and we serve. Animals may do a little of a couple of those things, but we are more than animals.

The statement that we are all just animals is a disservice to animals. But worse, it is a slam against God, who created us to be so much more, to reflect something of Him in this world that He Himself designed and made.

The Master Algorithm

“O LORD our God, other masters besides You have ruled us; But through You alone we confess Your name.” (Isaiah 26:13 NAS95)

I recently read The Master Algorithm by Pedro Domingos. He seems very smart about this stuff, and I confess that I didn’t understand many details about learning algorithms that are quickly developing. He details 5 different “tribes” of learning algorithms, and predicts that one day soon, combining the best aspects of each tribe, there will be a Master Algorithm, a mature learner, that will examine data far faster than humans, making far better decisions, and equipped then to learn and decide even more.

Perhaps the main point about this Master Algorithm is that it will know you better than you know yourself. We know ourselves as we would like to be, or as we would want other people to see us. But the Algorithm knows you by your actions, your movements, and your choices. It knows you, not by your good intentions, but by your actual practices. Now that’s a little bit scary.

Further, the Master Algorithm, as a continuous learner, sees what choices work for you, and what doesn’t. It has no trouble admitting mistakes and bad judgments, and corrects accordingly. We are not so good at that. We sometimes make the same mistakes over and over again. We could really use some help.

As I read this book, I realized that, as followers of Jesus, we already have something much better than a master algorithm. We are children of God. We would all agree, wouldn’t we, that our heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves? The author suggests that a real, human person in the future will actually consult his/her Master Algorithm about a key decision that he/she is making, realizing that the bot has more information and insight available. But haven’t Christians been doing that for centuries, consulting God about any number of decisions through the course of a day?

Our God makes no mistakes. But we do. And our God allows us to do so. God is not a continuous learner, because He knows all, but He expertly, wisely, and graciously guides our steps so that we learn, so that we come to know Him better, so that we become more like Him.

Our God works for our good, always. There is nothing sinister. And He is One, not just one competing bot vying against a host of other “competitor” bots.  “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, .. So our eyes look to the LORD our God,” Psalm 123:2

That Old, Nursery Speaker

The speaker in our church nursery needs to be replaced. It has needed to be replaced for several years. In fact, I think maybe it needed to be replaced when I first came to the church.

It reminds me of our church sign. When Jane and I came to Milford Baptist, there were two old, weathered posts with two, parallel planks attached with nail-on letters with the church’s name. Ugly. We talked for a long time about replacing that sign. A long time. Finally, it got replaced. And it has even been updated since.

But not the nursery speaker. When turned up so a person can hear, it is accompanied by so much static, it’s not worth listening to. So people just turn it off. Now I know what you’re thinking. I’m the pastor, and I’m supposing that there are ladies in the nursery who actually want to listen to the message during their nursery duty. One might suspect that even if that old speaker was clear as a bell, they still might turn it off. It’s not so much the static. They might just like the quiet, however much there might be in a church nursery.

But I wonder if our lives might be a little like that old nursery speaker. We have a message to tell; a story to share, of what we have learned of God and about His grace that He has brought to bear in our lives. But as sincere as we may be in wanting to get the message out, if it is accompanied by static or distortion, to most people, you and your story will not be worth listening to.

The distortions that I’m thinking of are the inconsistencies and disconnects in our lives that contradict what we say. I’m thinking of things like self-righteousness - a “look-at-me” attitude that repels people and doesn’t sit well with grace. Or judgmentalism, a sense of disapproval that gets communicated without saying a word. Or a messy, undisciplined life, where the turmoil of disorder in marriage, or kids, or home, or finances, or relationships sends a message that we are in desperate need of redemption, rather than having story of redemption to tell.

As witnesses, we are not perfect, and our message is not that we are perfect. We are sinners saved by grace. But it is a fact that the static of our lives can drown out the message of grace. The point is not that we should cease sharing our story. But we must be diligent in cooperating with the Spirit in bringing order to the distorted areas of our lives, both for our own sake, and for the sake of others.

“For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8 KJV)