Things I Used to Do

There are some things I used to do that I don’t do anymore. Is that a bad thing? Let’s see.

My dad hunted each year with a bow. So I got a bow as well, and we would set up bales of straw in the back yard and target practice, and visit dad’s hunting partner’s family on Sunday afternoons and shoot some more. It was fun. I thought I was getting better at it, though I remember losing a lot of arrows. I still have that bow, but haven’t drawn the bow in the last twenty years. 

My father also introduced me to tennis when I was in Jr. High. I think he wanted to get me involved in a pursuit that would take away the dangers of too much idle time. I took lessons and played in high school and college. I won one trophy - just one - and actually got to play in the NAIA nationals in Kansas City, only to lose in the first round of both singles and doubles. And, I haven’t played tennis in a couple of years.

I was awarded a college scholarship in music for winning a solo brass competition. I actually got to perform in the Seattle Opera House, and then played at Brian and Inna White’s wedding in Moody Church in Chicago. My Bach trombone sits in the corner of my office, available to play at any time, though it hasn’t been touched in months. Things I used to do.

But what if someone were to say, “I used to gather with other believers on a regular basis for worship.” We commonly call this “going to church,” but since it can take so many forms, I think “gathering for worship” is better. But if it’s a “used to,” does it matter? Has anything been lost. I think so. We all worship something, and the gathering with other people who love Jesus helps steer our worship in the right paths.

Or what if someone were to say, “I used to talk to God about everything.” Prayer was counted as a privilege and a blessing that was integrated into the fabric of life. Does it matter if prayer joins the list of our “used to’s?” I think so, because if prayer is the breath of the soul, then prayerlessness in the soul of someone who claims to love Jesus indicates something akin to emphysema. 

What did you “used to do” that has been laid aside, but you would like to take up again? Would you consider the role of worship and prayer in your life? It’s September. I think it would be really interesting to see if I can pull that bow again.

Cats that Don’t Catch Mice

It seems to me that the value of a cat is greatly reduced if it doesn’t catch mice. And if it would then dispose of the carcass instead of leaving it on the doorstep, that would be even better. Perhaps a cat could be forgiven for carrying fleas if it got rid of mice. But apart from that benefit, I’m not sure it should be forgiven much.

I got to thinking about this because of a phrase in Isaiah 56:10: 

“His watchmen are blind, All of them know nothing. 

All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, 

Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;”

The verse does not mention cats, and I don’t remember a single reference to cats in the Bible. But “dogs unable to bark” got my attention. We could only wish for such a thing, since it seems that neighborhood dogs bark incessantly at everything, or nothing. But the value of a watch-dog is in its bark, alerting to a danger or an intruder. The value of a cat is, in my mind, in catching mice.

The point of the passage has more to do with humans: watchmen who don’t watch. If they are not attuned to the approach of an enemy, then they can hardly be called watchmen, can they? This is followed by a reference to shepherds who don’t “shep.” They don’t care for the sheep, since they are too busy caring for themselves.

I think the application could be much wider. Close to the role of (spiritual) shepherds, think of preachers who don’t preach. It’s not that they can’t talk, but that they fail to broadcast God’s Word in their talking, called preaching.

But couldn’t this be applied much further? What about listeners who don’t listen? Givers who fail to give? Servers who don’t serve? Encouragers who forget to encourage? And why would this be the case? Probably for the same reason as above: they are too busy caring for themselves.

We are (rightly) offended by fathers who don’t father, and mothers who don’t mother. It’s not the way this world is supposed to work. Family structure is essential, and while problems exist in all families, the key roles still need to be fulfilled, as difficult as they may be in particular circumstances. And if this is important in the family, then it is also important, perhaps doubly important, in God’s family. Let’s make sure that we actually do what we have been called to do. Let’s go catch some mice.

Proud, Stubborn Frugality

Frugality and responsibility are traits that are admired by a certain class of people: namely, the frugal and responsible. What do all the rest of us think? Well, probably a whole range of things. But frugality and responsibility mean the most to those who are embracing those things, and who are practicing them. 

Maybe these disciplined misers have taken a Dave Ramsey course. Maybe they grew up poor. Maybe they made a mess of things through undisciplined living and are now living in reaction to their former life. But there are no sweeter words to them than “frugality” and “responsibility.”

I think, as an aside, this could apply to other words. There are some who read their Bibles and pray for holiness who aspire to be “blameless” and “upright.” Those words mean a lot to them. To others, not so much.

These are not just options. They are options with consequences. Both responsibility and righteousness can bear pleasant fruit;  and their absence will eventually wreak havoc.

But frugality with God, and frugality in asking things from God, is wrong. That’s right, even for you Ramsey disciples: such frugality is wrong. Why? Because God delights to give. In fact, because of our inability to produce any good thing ourselves, we are absolutely dependent upon His giving, and a distorted (un)spiritual frugality as applied to our prayer lives will have its own negative consequence.

Think of it like this: you have a trust fund that has been set up for you, not to take care of your future, but to take care of your present. But you, being frugal and responsible, want to take care of things yourself. You want to stand on your own two feet. You can solve your own problems. So you refuse to withdraw from the trust fund.

And what happens? Well, you live for a winter without a furnace because you don’t have the money. And your car gets towed, and you are late on payments. You begin to get phone calls from debt collectors. And all the time, there is Someone who wants to give - in fact, has already given - and you stubbornly refuse. Why? Because you want to do things yourself. Because you refuse to simply request. And as applied to the stubborn, foolish Christian, you refuse to “let your requests be made known to God.”

What’s so Mighty about “the Almighty”?

These words come from the mouth of the young inquisitor, Elihu, speaking against his older friends and the suffering patriarch, Job. 

“What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’” Job 21:15

The inquisitors eventually are critiqued by the Lord for saying more than they know. Our brains are not big enough, and our hearts not clean enough to answer all the problems related to evil. And yet their words are not completely without value. I think it would be hard to miss the truth here, conveyed through irony.

“What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?” Who does He think He is, anyway? The Almighty? Or to put it differently, what other response could a person suppose than to “serve” the Almighty? What? Are you going to lord it over Him? Are you going to tell Him what to do? Are you going to accuse Him of being unfair, or unjust, when all standards of fairness and justice originate within His own being? We are but His creatures. What more could we do, but serve Him?

What does that mean? Well, to do His bidding; to come at His call; to be submissive and obedient; to put His agenda above your own. Unless, of course, we don’t really consider Him to be Almighty.

“And what profit do we get if we pray to him?” Get? Do we dare say or think, what do I get? When every good thing that we have to enjoy is from Him, do we say of prayer, “It’s not worth my time?”, or, “What’s in it for me?”

The statement is simple. The irony does not conceal, but rather, reveals the truth. The Almighty must be served, and we would do well to pray to Him, humbly. But that is not all.

Because the Almighty has actually done for us what we are bound to do for Him. God sent His Son as a servant, to walk in our shoes and die in our place. He served us in ways that go way beyond how we might ever serve Him. And having died for us, He rose again from the dead, and is at the right hand of the Father today as our great High Priest, our Intercessor. One of his pledges in that role - one of His promises to us, is that He will ever be praying for us. Yes, that’s right, the Almighty prays for you. 

Now, does it seem unreasonable for us to serve Him, and to pray to Him?