I Hate it When He’s Right

We’ve all been wrong. But recently, I was pretty sure I was right and she was wrong. But then, I had to admit, she was right. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last. And I thank the Lord that I married someone so stinkin’ smart.

So it was with some surprise as I was thinking again about Genesis 3 and the dreadful Fall of mankind from holiness to sinfulness, and found that most of what the Serpent said to Eve was actually - can we say it? - right.

In Genesis 3, Eve recounts (with slight revision) what God had forbidden - “don’t eat of the tree in the middle of the garden, or you will die.” Satan replied to her, “You surely will not die!” Well, Adam and Eve ate from that tree, and, they didn’t die, immediately. We would have expected them to drop dead. But they didn’t, though they would. And that’s not to mention the huge problem of eternal death, which was part of this dreadful deal, which they would now experience in place of eternal life. But, in a sense, he was right. Partly right. Deceptively right. I hate that.

The Serpent also said to Eve, “your eyes will be opened,” as if to say, “you will see things in a whole new light.” Who wouldn’t want their eyes opened? Except sometimes when you see something, you can never un-see it. Maybe it ruins the mystery. Maybe it stains the experience. But he was right. Verse 7: “Then the eyes of both of them were opened.” I hate it that he was right.

The Serpent promised that they would “know good and evil,” that is, to have an experience of both. They had already experienced good. Wasn’t that “good” enough? He was right. They “knew” evil, and they were ashamed. How exactly does one wash away the greasy film of stain from one’s soul? But, once again, he was right, and you and I both hate that he was right, and we hate the shame that goes with it.

There is one other thing that the Serpent said: “You will be like God.” On this point, he is not right. Oh, he wanted to be right. He himself wanted to be like God, and tried to usurp that status. And now, he wants us to make the same mistake and suffer the same fate. And, sometimes, in my worst moments, I hate it that he is, wrong. Because sometimes, I want the world to revolve around me. The world revolves only around God. And that’s a good thing to love.

The Strategist and the Servant

Two women, free to go their own way, and yet bound by past relationships. There is a senior and a junior, a strategist and a servant. And they don’t need each other. Or do they?

I suspect that Naomi had something to do with the journey to Moab in the first place. The text doesn’t say so, but she is the strategist, and her husband could see the sense of her concern. “We’ve go to do something drastic to save our family.”

But the best strategists cannot control the future flow of history. How was she to know that her husband and then her two sons would die, leaving her alone with two left-over native daughters-in-law. She purposes to return, alone, but Ruth, the servant - no strategist, but all about relationship - says, “Where you go, I go.”

Ruth could never have moved to Bethlehem alone - no kin; wrong skin; no connection; no plan. Naomi could make no future. Her’s was used up. She was a planner, but without time left for a plan centered on herself to unfold. The events that would transpire needed both of them. Ruth would never have dreamed to go to Boaz’ field and climb under Boaz’ blanket.Naomi could never, on her own, gain the attention and affection of Boaz. It required the humble servant who was winsome and appreciative.

Naomi, the strategist, had thought they should go their separate ways. But she was wrong. They needed one another. And together, the strategist and the servant played their parts, swayed the courts, and won over a heart. They did this together, as different as they were. God puts together some pretty strange combinations.

We know that God needed neither one. Or did He? We know that God is self-sufficient, and that He is complete apart from His creation. But given that He has purposed to do things as He has, He needed a strategist and a servant to produce the great-grandfather of King David, just as, later, he needed a young maiden named Mary to be the vessel through which the Descendant of David would be virgin-born. And somehow, in ways hidden to the minds of men, He needs you, probably in combination with a person unlike yourself, perhaps with someone you don’t understand, maybe even one that frustrates you because they approach life so differently. I don’t know if you are the strategist, or servant, or something else, but we know we don’t accomplish many of God’s purposes alone.

Whatever Prayer; Whatever Plea

Is there someone to whom you can talk about absolutely anything and everything? Is there a relationship in which there are no forbidden subjects? With whom do you have zero secrets?

The truth is that in just about every human relationship, there are “off” subjects. Even husbands and wives have issues that are a bit dangerous to address. Best friends might not stay best friends if one said everything that crossed his mind.

So can you imagine a relationship that is completely open? That is what the people of God have with their God, their heavenly Father, in the covenantal relationship which says, “I will be their God, and they will be my people.” In the Old Testament of the Scriptures, in 2 Chronicles, as Solomon is dedicating the long-awaited temple in Jerusalem, the king prays to God on behalf of the people. He prays with amazing  honesty, confessing their sins and grieving their penalties in advance; and and then, when they return, that God would hear their prayer. In every situation, when the ugly truths are confessed, that God would receive “whatever prayer, whatever plea.” No forbidden subjects. No situation too dangerous to share.

Why can we be so open with God? There are probably several reasons, but the most obvious is contained in the very next verse: “for You, You only, know the hearts of the children of mankind.” If God already knows, then it is the height of foolishness to try to keep Him in the dark. And further, if God wants to help and to heal, it is depth of stupidity to try and handle the offense on our own, since it was our own independence from Him that got us into this situation in the first place.

The old hymn says, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear; What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.” And the chorus: “Oh, what peace we often forfeit; oh, what needless pain we bear; all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” Let’s not be stupid and stubborn. Let’s adopt the little phrase, “whatever prayer, whatever plea.” And what is the motivation for doing so? Another old song starts out, “No one understands like Jesus. He’s a friend beyond com-pare.” Verse 2 says, “No understands like Jesus; Every woe He sees and feels. Tenderly He whispers comfort, And the broken heart He heals.”

Few in Number, of Little Account, and Sojourners

Bigger is generally considered to be better. We pick that which has the best reputation, the 5-star reviews. And we see the value of standing out, by fitting in - unique, just like everyone else. And yet, in this song of praise from Israel’s history, when David had become king, and worship (and the ark) was moved, finally, to Jerusalem - there is a note in the song that at one time, this is who they were; few in number; of little account; and sojourners.

In our corner of this world system, we are accustomed to how things are evaluated, chosen, and valued. In order to make it, you need the high test score, or athletic success. You need to learn the art of being known (gain followers?), and you need to know and be skilled in how things work. But God … (those most important and treasured words in the Bible) - But God doesn’t work that way. He specializes in seeing the overlooked; in noticing the invisible; of including outsiders. Which means? There is hope for people like you and me.

Could it be that God already has his eye on you? Is it possible that He has already been shaping your past and your present, so that you would walk in the knowledge of Him (since, as we’ve hinted, He already knows you)? Has He been invading your thoughts, troubling your conscience, or alerting you to something missing? How would He do such a thing? Perhaps through a casual conversation; a question that begs asking, or begs answering; a line from a song, or a phrase from Scripture; or even a written piece by a fellow, lone soul, of no account, and a sojourner.

Ravi Zacharias writes about God, calling Him “The Grand Weaver.” He shows how God, throughout our lives, - how He threads and weaves experiences and thoughts and conclusions into our mundane lives, into our short attention spans, that we might discover the wonder of the grace of God. We might be tempted to credit ourselves with the discovery, but in honor of God, the Grand Weaver, we must admit that He discovers these things to us. 

We might be tempted to think that God would notice us simply because we are so central to ourselves. But we know better. He who is central to self is necessarily peripheral to everyone else. Or we might think that God  can’t help Himself, given our attraction-quotient. Or, maybe, honestly, God’s grace includes the few, the unnoticed, the outsiders.

False Fronts

In the book White Noise, the author tells about “the most photographed barn in America” (cited in this article). On going to see the barn, one finds that it is a pretty ordinary barn, plainly unremarkable. The reason that it is “the most photographed barn in America” is because of all the road signs pointing to “the most photographed barn in America.”  People flock to photograph this ordinary object primarily because it is advertised as “the most photographed barn in America.” Better barns exist.

Old, Western TV shows acquainted us with false fronts, or facades. The dusty main street of the wild west town was lined with two-story buildings - except that most of them weren’t. They were one-story buildings with a false front, a facade that gave the appearance of something more grand - and provided a great hiding spot for gun-slingers. This hasn’t changed much, since in our own communities we have men who are 5’11” with front doors double the height, as though perhaps a giraffe lived there.

Paul Tournier, in his book “The Meaning of Persons” makes a distinction between persons and personas. The person is the real you - the persona is the front, the stylized you, that you put on for one group or another. We tend to act different with our parents than we do our peers. We have personas, or false fronts.

Do you ever wonder what is real? How do I know if I’m being played? Or, perhaps worse, how do I know I’m not the one playing, putting on a front, pretending to be something other than the real me? Do I even know the real me?

Am I the same person talking one-on-one as I am speaking in front of a thousand? Does it matter if I’m being recorded? Do I talk differently if I’m recording my own Instagram story? Do I talk like every other person who is recording their Instagram story? Are we just imitating one another? Do we know that if a TV camera is pointed at us, we cannot possibly “just be ourselves?” And in this world when we are always being recorded or watched, can we ever “just be ourselves."

This is an instance when God being the God of truth is so important. He does not/cannot mis-represent Himself, and He knows us as we truly are. The world and those who live in it do not have a clue. But we can get to the bottom of things as we come to know Him, and are known by Him.

Unnecessary Equipment

Jesus spoke to 5000 men plus women and children on a Galilean hillside without benefit of a sound system. It makes me think that this particular troublesome technology may not be necessary in the new heavens and new earth. I wonder what else won’t be necessary. 

Let’s start with the obvious: pastors. Why would you need a pastor when you have immediate, face-to-face access to Jesus Himself? Nursing homes and funerals? I don’t think so. Pastors may need to be re-trained. But harder to think about: what about Bibles? Once you got married, did you still sit around reading love letters? Not when you could interact personally with your spouse. And so it seems that our devotion will not be so Book-dependent when in the company of the Person. 

I am not arguing against the present role of pastors or Bibles. These are appointed by God for a particular purpose, during a particular time. Perhaps an illustration would be Israel’s use of manna during those 40 years of wilderness wandering. God was good and faithful to supply this gift to them 6 days a week. But the day they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, the manna ceased, as they were to now live off the land they were inheriting. 

Well, what about faith, hope, and love? Do we still live by faith in that day when faith becomes sight? We will still take God at His word - a definition that I use of faith, - and yet the proper conclusions will be so much more obvious. And when hope is realized, is it still hope? I wouldn’t rule hope out, because each day holds anticipation for tomorrow, and in this glorious future, each tomorrow will hold its own promise. But what about love? Well, here we must insist that love will never be replaced, except that our experience and expression of love in the new heavens and new earth will be so much more glorious, that I wonder if we will even recognize the old in the presence of the new. 

What a release when a child “graduates” from sitting in a car seat and can use a regular seat and belt (perhaps the real release is for parents and grandparents not having to contort themselves trying to get them inserted and latched)! What a relief when the cast is removed once the broken bone has healed! What a reconciliation is enjoyed when sins are confessed and offenses are forgiven! All such things, and more, will be left behind, as followers of Jesus step into a glorious future. 

And, once more, think of it - no need for pastors. Glorious!

Point of No Return

We expect the best from God. For instance, He is infinitely patient. And He is. But He is also much else. He is also infinitely just, and wise, and He knows both the past and the future; the outside and the inside. Some of these can be called “competing qualities,” though never in conflict. We may not know how to resolve apparent conflicts, but He is able to be true in the perfection of all His attributes at all times, in every situation.

It is a bit of shock to us when we read the Lord’s instructions to Jeremiah, the prophet: “As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.” (Jeremiah 7:16 NAS95) You can read other translations if you want. They say the same thing. God is saying, “Don’t bother.” “Don’t waste your energy.” “Don’t waste My time.”

It seems as though Israel at this point had reached a point of no return. They were confirmed in their stubbornness. They weren’t going to change, at least at this point in their story. God would take them into exile, and they would feel the effect of their abandonment of God. “Don’t ask for a different outcome.” “The die is cast.”

This word from God causes us to ask some questions about Him. It also causes us to ask some questions about ourselves, or others for whom we are concerned. Is God really infinitely patient? Yes, in concert with His plan and purpose, which would remember and restore a fragment of this people, through whom Jesus would come. He is patient in more ways, on more levels, than we know. But what about us, and people like us? Could we come to a point where God would say, “Don’t even bother?” “It’s no use even praying for them.”

I do believe that a person can reach that point. But to be clear, I am not good enough or smart enough to ever make that determination myself. Nor are you. Remember, in the Scripture above, God expressly instructed Jeremiah not to go on praying for the people. God has never told that to me, or you. But again, on the other hand, it is a serious thing to go on thumbing one’s nose in God’s face, consistently rejecting His Word, shaming His honor. It is a tribute to God’s patience that we do not immediately receive the punishment that we deserve. And when we receive a second (or, second-hundred) chance, we should glory in His mercy and grace.

With regard to our prayers, we are on much safer ground to say with Samuel, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.” (1 Samuel 12:23 NAS95)

From Water to Wine

Last week Jesus turned water to wine. Evidently, it was really good stuff. Now, I don’t think Jesus sinned when he turned water to wine. Also, I don’t think if was fake wine, or non-alcoholic. I suppose that if someone drank a sufficient amount of Jesus’ wine, they would have been drunk. I don’t think those who drink wine or other alcohol (short of drunkenness) are committing a categorical sin. 

Our current context is very different from Jesus’ day. Alcohol today is not so much part of community life as it is a part of commercial life. What does that mean? It means they want your money. The drink-pushers, whether full of alcohol or sugar, care little about your health or enjoyment. They want your money. And they will spend gross budgets for advertising to convince you and your friends that you just have to imbibe, just like your friends do. It appears that we are suckers for advertising, and for following the crowd.

Last week’s message was about moving from a mere “water” existence to a more rich “wine” existence. There were several points, and you can listen to the message here. All were encouraged to embrace a “wine” existence. I choose to do so without actually drinking wine or other alcohol. 

My choice is based on what is good for others. I am often  involved with those who have struggled with alcohol. So are you. It pains me that there are more people who attend our church building in a given week to attend meetings to help keep alcohol-demons at bay than those who attend to worship God. And also, for the sake of children. I don’t want parents to justify doing what children shouldn’t by appealing to some arbitrary “drinking age.” I don’t want children to have to listen to arguments between parents about drinking too much. And children shouldn’t have to watch adults cross some invisible line that loosens inhibitions so that one acts more foolish than usual in front of them. 

Scripture clearly teaches that, one day, those who follow Christ will enjoy a new society which will be ruled by our Redeemer-King, not by profit- or pleasure-motives; dark passions or demon-addictions. We will join together in a grand banquet. It will be a wonderful gathering of interesting people with fascinating stories, but most importantly, Jesus Himself will be the Head of the table. I don’t know all that will be served at that banquet, though I expect there will be really good wine. He tended to save the best for last. And I will be very happy to raise my glass and enjoy a sip, right after He does. Now, please, tell me: what am I missing?

We Live Like Kings

Kings have not been a part of the American experience. When our nation was formed, our wise leaders worked hard to avoid the role of a totalitarian ruler. They remembered from whence they came. And so, we have a representative republic. No king.

The idea of kingship was also foreign to Israel in its early days. Foreign nations indeed did have kings, but God was Israel’s King, and He ruled initially through Moses, the prophet, God’s spokesman. It came as a shock, then, generations later, when Israel demanded a king from Samuel. It seems as though they were rejecting the Kingship of God! But the seeds of kingship can be found way book in the Law, in those words that Moses wrote under God’s inspiration, in Deuteronomy 17.

It has been said that we in American live like kings. To a degree, this may be true, with regard to our luxury. Not, thank goodness, with respect to our authority. But if it is true that we live (a little) like kings, then it we might consider the warnings and instructions given to future kings in Deuteronomy 17. There are three warnings:

• Do acquire many horses (transportation)

• Do not acquire many wives

• Do not acquire excessive silver or gold

Scripture says to the king, “Just because you can doesn’t mean you must.” It says, “Set limits on your selves.” We should do the same.

With regard to instruction, the text says that the king is to make his own copy of the Law of the Lord in his own hand. Painstaking? Yes. Helpful? Of course. Sometimes we take notes, not so much to review them later, though we may, but because the very act of writing may help us listen better. It helps to internalize the message.

But the king was to do something with that personal copy: “he shall read it all the days of his life.” We might call it “daily devotions.” Call it what you will, make sure that you do it daily, so that we might not just imitate the kings of the world, so often models of really bad behavior, but rather, that we might prove to be humble subjects of the King of Kings, even though he has allowed us, in His providence, to live a little like kings.

Jesus Himself, King of kings, modeled a role that required a new term. He was the Servant-King, and we would do well top follow His lead. 

Love Your Neighbor

The command to “love your neighbor as yourself” is famous. It’s context in Leviticus 19, not so much. But it’s that context that may help us understand what is involved in loving our neighbor.

The command to “love your neighbor as yourself” is in Leviticus 19:18. It concludes a short passage on treatment of those around you. That section is preceded by other regulations, unrelated to neighbors, and is followed by more of that same kind of thing. But there is clearly a “neighbor” paragraph.

“Don’t reap to the corners,” and don’t “gather the gleanings” (vv.9-10). Don’t take it all. Leave some for the needy. Leftovers are God’s gifts to be shared, not gobbled up by the greedy. It’s an aspect of being neighborly, and of being loving.

“You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another” (v.11). This hardly needs comment, except in a world where, in order to get ahead, one is willing to do whatever it takes. But that/this world is not godly. It does not express God’s love. Better to do without than to get ahead at the expense of others.

Do not “oppress” your neighbor, so as to put him in a vice, a tight spot. If you owe him, pay him. Don’t withhold. Don’t make him ask or beg. Further, do not take advantage of the deaf and blind. Take pains to look out for them, anticipating their peculiar hardships. Look at life from the perspective of others, and take measures accordingly (vv.13-14).

“Judge your neighbor fairly” (v.15). Interestingly, the text says that “thou shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great.” Treat people the same, not with differing standards of justice, though, as in the last note, with special levels of consideration. This section goes on to warn against slander, and, curiously, “you are not to stand against the blood of your neighbor” (v.16). Calvin suggests that these are “vagabonds, who too eagerly run about hither and thither, and in their malignant inquisitiveness penetrate into everybody’s secrets, to bring quiet people into trouble.” 

Leading up our key verse, we are told not to hate, but “you may surely reprove” (v.17), as it says in Matthew 18:15 “go and show him his fault in private” - not publicly, to destroy him or his reputation, but alone, so as to “have won your brother.”

Finally, within our key verse (Leviticus 19:18), we hear the double admonition: “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge.” Let it go. Forgive, as we ourselves have been forgiven. There are no old offenses to rehearse; no stories to tell about how bad or dumb someone is. After all: he’s your neighbor, whom you love.

One point then, that must be taken, is that the well-known command to love neighbor, following after the command to love God, is not to be merely a slogan or a banner. It is practical, to the point of being painful, and it is to be put into daily practice in our lives. Indeed, “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Faith's Receiving

You may have thought about the difference between giving and grabbing. Easy to think about. They are exact opposites. It’s not hard to think about which category of person with whom you would rather share a table. You may have heard a discussion on the difference between love and lust. Actions may look alike, but the motivations are very different. Perhaps even more subtle is the difference between receiving and reaching. It is the difference between trusting the promise of God while waiting for the fulfillment of that promise, in God’s timing, in God’s way; or, on the other hand, the very human tendency to reach out and try to make happen what you want to have happen. The difference is illustrated in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the lives of Abraham and his nephew, Lot.

The promise of God had come to Abraham, repeatedly, over a period of time, in which God said, “I will …, I will …, I will … Many times, the “I will …” is followed by the word “give.” Other times, the “I will …” is followed by “make you” into something that you presently are not. One of these things was a “great nation.” But Abraham wasn’t even a father. From the first promise, Abraham would wait 25 years until he received a son by his wife, Sarah. But receive a son, he did, named Isaac. He didn’t reach for him. He received him.

Lot was invited to choose a land to inherit away from Abraham. “If you go this way, I’ll go that way, or the other way around. Lot, you choose.” And so Lot lifted his eyes, and reached for what looked best. His eyes could see the natural prospects of the land, but his eyes were blind to the spiritual peril. And that’s so often what happens when we reach rather than receive. Only God knows what’s best. Our short-sighted vision is incapable of making the best decisions.

Oh, it’s not as though Abraham lived by faith flawlessly. There were times when he reached; when he wearied of ever receiving. He went and had a son, Ishmael, by Sarah’s handmaid, who was not the son of promise, and who brought much discord into the whole story. He twice placed his wife in danger in acts of self-preservation - not good for a future father. He laughed in his heart at the incongruity of God’s insistence that the promise would yet be fulfilled. But however imperfectly, Abraham believed. He waited. He received. He did not have to reach. Neither do you.

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)

Good and Evil in Close Proximity

The author of Hebrews refers to mature believers “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Little children may not know the difference between good and evil. Adults should. But it takes practice, and lack of the practice of discernment will allow one to slide back into immaturity and confusion. 

It would be much more simple if good and evil were not in such close proximity. It would be nice if they were always easily distinguished and had clear edges. But it is not so simple. Because someone can do something seemingly good, but the unintended consequences could be evil. Or, because someone can do something that is seemingly good, but have evil motives for doing the “good” that they do. 

Worse yet, we find in ourselves principles of both good and evil in close proximity, within our hearts or wills. Pauls says in Romans 7, that conflicted chapter: “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (Romans 7:19 NAS95) We have a level of “want” or “will” that desires to do good, but we end up not doing it. Why? It seems that it must be because there is another, deeper “want” or “will” that desires something darker. And so we can we how closely both good and evil lie in our hearts.

James, in his practical epistle expresses the same truth, yet framed differently: “With (our tongues) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.” (James 3:9–10 NAS95) Good and evil, in close proximity in our hearts, inhabits our mouths as well.

And so, we must hold fast our confession, and we must commit to application. To “hold fast our confession” means that we entrust our souls to our Savior, and ask that as He has justified, He will also sanctify, and re-create our hearts and minds and mouths to be the home of good and not evil. Also, we look with hopeful expectation for a future world in which there is only good, and all evil is eradicated. But by way of application, we must sharpen our “senses,” our moral antennae, so that we can sharply discern what some would regard as the foggy outlines of good and evil. Not legalistically. But theologically, for the glory of God, and the good, not evil, of our souls.

Jesus Christ, the Center of History

I’m tired of hearing about being on the wrong side of history. It’s an arrogant phrase, in that it assumes that finally our generation has “progressed” so far and become so enlightened; and further, that everything that came before is ignorant and stupid. Well guess what? Following that pattern, in a few years, another page will turn, and you will be on the wrong side of history, and they will consider you to be the ignorant and stupid one. And they might be right.

In addition to the whole “wrong side of history” thing being arrogant, it is also simply wrong. Fundamental and foundational truths are just that, regardless of the mood of the current age. And God, in His grace, has revealed to us in Word and in Person something about what that fundamental, foundation truth is: Jesus Christ stands at the Center of History.

Think of a book with many pages, yes, even the pages of history. Jesus as the Center means that He is not merely a page of history that has come and gone. Rather, Jesus is the Binding of the Book, the Center of History. And by faith in Jesus, we can see how history fits together, both in the many manifestations of human foolishness, and also, graciously, in the manifestations of divine wisdom. But we must notice and accept that Jesus is directly, personally related to and integral to each and every page of the book, of all history, always and everywhere. 

Without this Binding Truth, this Central Character, our view of life and times is like a loose-leaf notebook let loose in the wind, pages flying every which way, with us grabbing hold of one and proclaiming that we are now on “the right side of history.” Arrogant, ignorant, and foolish.

By faith in Jesus, acknowledging and accepting who He is and what He has done - we come into personal relationship with the very Center of History, as Savior, Lord, and King. He is what holds everything together. So when a person who does not have such faith in Jesus diagnoses you or me as being on the wrong side of history, they are doing so as one who is reading a page from the book with no binding. They have lost sight of the Story, and hold merely a page that they think is the beginning and the end of everything. And they are sorely mistaken, though they speak so confidently. But by faith, we know Him who is “the Author and Perfecter of faith.”

Remain On at Ephesus

This is the time of year that I get a bit more reflective about the number of years serving in one place. Jane and I moved to Milford in 1986, and my first Sunday of ministry as pastor of Milford Baptist was an Easter Sunday. That year, Easter fell on March 30, so by now, I’ve completed 33 years in one place, and by Easter this year, will be a few weeks into the 34th.

When Paul, the elder, wrote to Timothy, the younger, he gave instruction to stay in one place. “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines,” (1 Timothy 1:3). 

We don’t know how long “remain on” meant for Timothy. It certainly didn’t mean that he would never leave. But since Paul was, when not imprisoned, generally on the move, it was remarkable advice to Timothy.

We are not sure if Timothy welcomed the instruction. I can imagine some push-back responses. 

• “But Paul, this isn’t my home, and my family is so far away.”

• “But Paul, I don’t really like big-city life.” 

• “But Paul, I don’t like the culture, or the climate.” 

• “But Paul, I get tired of dealing with the same old people and their same old problems.”

• “But Paul, Ephesus is so wicked; so worldly.” 

• “But Paul, I want to be on the cutting edge, like you, not forgotten in the backwaters of a settled, pastoral ministry.”

But there are, on the other hand, blessings in a “remain on at Ephesus” ministry. You get to know people’s lives in depth. And yes, change is most often slow, but you have a much better chance of seeing change over a score of years rather than a score of months. You get to know people’s families, and extended family connections. Often times, extended family doesn’t get it. “Why does my Dad trust this pastor more than he trusts me?” And yes, there is the problem of one’s own predictability. The church family knows the pastor’s tendencies. But guess what? I also know yours. Some of it is double-edged. I carry the weight of peoples’ secrets that will remain unshared forever. And funerals of people I love are killers. To quote the song, “every time we say good-bye, I die a little.” But then, when one remains on at Milford, there are a lot less good-bye’s

Christ Jesus, who is our hope

Paul begins his letter to Timothy with this little phrase, perhaps innocuous, but certainly not insignificant: “Christ Jesus, who is our hope.” For followers of Jesus, He is our hope. Which means, there are certain things that must not be our hope.

1. My health is not my hope

There is a saying, “If you have your health, you have everything.” In light of our Biblical phrase, “Christ Jesus, who is our hope,” this popular saying is patently untrue. First of all, if you have your health, and not Christ, then in the end, you will have nothing. Secondly, if you don’t have your health, but you have Christ, you do indeed have everything.

2. My spouse is not my hope

A good marriage is a wonderful thing. And I love my wife. But she is not my hope. And actuarily, it would be best if I were not hers, since she will likely live longer, without me, but not without Christ. She will still have her hope.

3. My house is not my hope

Oh, goodness, no. I am thankful for our house, but some days I feel that I’m a prisoner to it. If it’s not maintenance to stay the decay, it’s improvements to keep up with the times. No, my house is not my hope.

4. My retirement is not my hope

I think “retirement” may be a construction of sociologists, similar to “adolescence,” in which at least a few of both classes are excused for living irresponsibly. If retirement is your hope, you will find it short-lived and short-sighted. We must always ask, “And what then?” “Retirement years” are just as much preparation for the enjoyment of our true hope as are any earlier years of our lives.

5. My pleasures are not my hope

We are a pleasure-seeking, pleasure-indulging society. We believe that our happiness is linked to our pleasures. But pleasures, like spouses, are not designed to be the substance of our hope. Know this, that your hope is linked to your worship, and we ought not worship our spouses, or our pleasures, but rather, Christ Jesus, who is our hope.

Moment ≠ Momentum

Epiphanies happen. An epiphany is “an appearance from above.” It can be a life-changing moment. It happened to Saul (later named Paul) on the Damascus road. In that epiphany, he met Jesus, and his life was never the same again. Those kind of moments happen, rarely. 

The problem is when we keep waiting for the next epiphany, what we really need is a strategy and structure that will build incremental insight and strength that will last for the long haul. What I am describing here refers to that second word in the title: momentum. There are people, many of them, that seek to live by epiphanies. They have a dash of inspiration, or a new idea, and they live off the burn of that event, until they don’t. And then they are hard-pressed to wait for the next special moment. But God has not promised a consistent series of “moments” in our lives, even while we admit that they indeed do happen, rarely.

Thankfully, a strategy or structure that will build momentum is not as tough as it sounds. One such strategy and structure would be a regular practice of “daily devotions” or “quiet time with God.” We set aside that time on a regular basis, not that we expect a “mountain-top experience” every morning, but perhaps just some small insight, or a thought for the day. Or, when I was growing up, I could count on my Mom and Dad sitting down and having a cup of coffee together (instant coffee, no less) when Dad got home from work. I doubt that either of them thought of this as a strategy or structure, but it was the kind of practice that helped build a solid marriage relationship, hearing each other’s thoughts, pulling in the same direction (or at least it seemed so to me from a kid’s point of view). I imagine some of those conversations were pretty mundane. And so are a lot of things we do in discipleship. But they build strength over time.

Perhaps a person might have an epiphany-like turning point when they begin a life project, like losing weight. They are inspired, and they work hard, and, they experience success. But do you know what is even harder? Keeping the weight off. Why? Because you can do the first part based on a moment’s decision, and carry that decision through for a period of time. But the momentum required to follow through after the self-congratulatory Facebook post requires strength. The strength of a disciple.