With each passing wave of stimulus checks we get closer and closer to the notion that the state should simply send everyone a check every month, or at least, send a check to everyone who doesn’t earn one in the marketplace. If the government can make money out of the blue, (they can’t), if such stimulates the economy, (it doesn’t), if education, health care, food, housing are human rights in the sense that they are owed to us (they aren’t) what’s wrong with the idea?
The Issue is Us
There are a trillion economic reasons why such an idea is a truckload of trains looking for a collision. They are not, however, my concern. The reason Paul says that if a man will not work he should not eat (II Thessalonians 3:10) isn’t because he’s concerned about what such would do to the stock market. It’s because of what it does to the man. What is that? It dehumanizes him. That is, giving stuff, even food, to those unwilling to work isn’t honoring but dishonoring the man’s humanity.
Made for Work
Though we have lost sight of it, the truth is that according to God’s Word, we were made for work. God commanded of our first parents that they be fruitful and multiply, that they fill the earth and subdue it. That doesn’t merely take work, but defines it. That’s what work is. As God’s image bearers we reflect His glory by reflecting the glory of His work in creation by recreating. He took nothing and made from it everything. We take everything He made and reshape it, mold it, form it into violins, steam engines and smart phones.
Curse ON Work
Our first parents ate what wasn’t theirs to eat. And it didn’t go well after that. God, in fact, pronounced a curse upon our work. Eve would bring forth children in great pain. Adam would find the ground infested with thorns and thistles, getting his bread by the sweat of his brow. Work would have intermingled with all its blessings, hardship and difficulty. The crafty serpent has, too often, persuaded us that because our work is cursed that work is a curse.
Blessing of Weariness
Removing work from a man removes the man from the man. It denies his purpose which in turn denies his person. It is distortion, perversion, a twisting. One need not, however, be on the dole to fall for this. The truth is we all need to embrace more fully the blessing of work. We need to stop seeing it as merely something we have to do so we can afford to do what we want to do and start seeing it as something we get to do because of the grace of God. We need to embrace our work, take joy in it, and when we crawl into bed weary, to give thanks. Weary is the exact right way to go to bed.
Our Faithful Father
It can be tough to find work sufficient to support a family. My point certainly isn’t the shame anyone. Some times are harder than others. I get that. But those truths in no way undo this truth- work is who we are. He has not left us orphans. Ask Him for a fish, and He will give you a job to do. Let us work on our work, with fear and trembling, knowing it is He who is working in us, both to do and to will His good pleasure.
Most all of us, at one time or another, have found ourselves embarrassed by God. He Who has all perfections perfectly doesn’t always fit into our scheme of things. He doesn’t always do things the way we who are altogether imperfect think they should be done. We weep with Aaron as God destroys his two sons for merely toying with strange fire. Many of us even shed a tear for the soldiers of Pharaoh as we watch the Red Sea crash down upon them. We nurse a secret grudge as we watch God destroy Uzzah, for touching the Ark of the Covenant.
Nothing, however, assaults our sensibilities more than the execution of God’s holy war against the people of Canaan. We tell our children about Joshua’s march around Jericho. We don’t tell them that every person in the city, men, women, and children, with the exception of Rahab’s family, was put to death. That is the pattern for the taking of the Promised Land, to kill every person there. Joshua made Sherman’s march look like a walk on the beach.
Our temptation is to focus our attention on the New Testament. There we see no mass executions. There we see He who would not harm a bruised reed. We find a kinder, gentler vision of the Almighty in the tender grace of Jesus. We find not a list of rules a mile long covering how we are to wash, what we may and may not eat, nor a detailed exposition of just how the stoning of the unfaithful is supposed to look. Instead we find Jesus preaching to the multitudes, casting aside the “You have heard it saids…” and giving in its place an ethic of love. There we see His call that we be not mighty warriors like Joshua or Samson, but those who are poor in spirit. We are to be merciful, peacemakers. We are to be pure in heart. We summarize the message of Joshua as this, that we are to be warmongers, mean spirited and bloodthirsty. Now Jesus tells us we not only may, but must be nice.
If we succeed, He tells us that we shall have the kingdom of heaven. If we stop beating our chests like crazed warriors, and instead mourn, we will be comforted. If we hunger and thirst after righteousness, we will have our desires met. We will be satisfied. If we will stop destroying the wicked, and would instead show them mercy, then we will receive mercy. If we would keep a pure heart, then we will see God. If we become peacemakers we will be called the Sons of God. And if our unconditional love is rejected by men, and we are instead persecuted, again, we inherit the kingdom of heaven.
I skipped one. Jesus also calls us to be meek, hardly the picture we have of Joshua as he leads his troops into battle. But if we are meek, what do we receive? The meek shall inherit the earth. Here is perhaps the biggest change, and the greatest similarity. The similarity is that like the children of Israel, we too have a promise of a promised land. The difference is that our promise is not limited to a small strip of land in the Middle East. We’re going to inherit that entire world. All of it has been promised to us.
Of course this too has changed, that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. The only sword we carry into battle is the sword of the Word, the gospel of the kingdom. But this too is the more shocking. We are not merely cutting down the bodies of pagans; we are, in the Holy Spirit, ripping their hearts of stone out of their chests, and replacing them with hearts of flesh. We are not merely removing the pagans; we are remaking them, just as we have been remade.
What hasn’t changed is that we are at war. It is a constant. The war did not begin with the conquest of Canaan. Nor did it end in 1967. It began in Genesis 3, when God promised that He would put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. That was the declaration of war, and the institution of God’s regenerative draft- He put the enmity there, moving the woman, and her seed from the forces of darkness to the forces of light, enlisting them with His effectual call. And the war will continue until our Captain, the true Joshua, has put all things under His feet.
That is the greatest change. We are no longer fighting in ourselves. If we were, there would be nothing but defeat. But in Christ we are poor in spirit. In Christ we are rich in the Spirit, who indwells us. In Christ we do mourn. In Christ we rejoice, for He has overcome the world. In Christ we are meek, and in His meekness we inherit His reward, the entire world. In Christ we are bold and strong, for He is with us wherever we go. And when that great and final day comes, in Christ we will be pure in heart, and so we shall see God.
Today He sees us. We live our lives in this context of warfare, coram Deo, before the face of God. He is watching us, guiding us, directing us. And so we are called to be more than conquerors, greater than Joshua. We are not looking for a place at the world’s table. We are not looking for recognition of our value in the grand scheme of things. We are not looking to merely keep the world from crashing down around us. We are fighting for our God-given right to the world. We are called to total world conquest, beneath His gaze, under His authority, and unto His glory. And we, in Him, shall have it, for the King has come, and He will come again.
The Sour Reign of Pope Lemon
Sometimes it’s tough to learn our lessons. Don Lemon last summer said this on national TV (if you count CNN as national TV)- “Jesus Christ– if that’s who you believe in—Jesus Christ admittedly was not perfect when he was here on earth.” Embarrassment ensued, but apparently didn’t stick for long. Almost two weeks ago the Pope, who is Catholic, let it be known that the Roman Catholic church would not be blessing same-sex unions. Rome, of course, believes that the Pope is the vicar of Christ on earth. Being said vicar, I suspect the Pope believes the same about himself. As such it should not surprise us when he seeks to let those under his authority know what he thinks Jesus thinks about this and that. Jesus told us this when certain snakes, seeking to avoid the plain teaching of the Bible asked Him about divorce,
“And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” Matthew 19:4,5).
The Pope is no dummy. Yes, there is great social pressure on him. But it can get embarrassing when Jesus’ vicar clearly and obviously disagrees with Jesus. Don Lemon has none of the concerns of the Pope and all of the hutzpah. He, apparently believing he is the vicar of Christ on earth, explained to the Pope, his minions, and all evangelicals who happen to agree, this time, with the Pope, that
“I think that the Catholic Church and many other churches really need to re-examine themselves and their teachings. That’s not what God is about. God is not about hindering people or even judging people.”
Some claim he was also heard to say, “So let it be written. So let it be done.” The truth of the matter is that Mr. Lemon made one small mistake. He confused the true and living God, the God of the Bible, with his own idol, that god called “god-to-me.” Don Lemon is in fact the vicar of that god on earth. He is, in his own religion, infallible. He speaks perfectly for god-to-me because he is god-to-me. They are co-terminus. It’s like I’ve always said, scratch and idol and you find a mirror.
We who belong to Jesus must not find ourselves intimidated by such silliness. We must not fear such a paper god nor his vicar. Nor a culture plunging headlong into the same foolishness. Don Lemon, like the rest of us, is a mirror cracked. In embracing a perverse sexuality he shakes his tiny fist at God. Then he turns around and scolds us about our theology. This is what a mind turned over to its own depravity looks like. Our calling is less to scoff, more to weep. The true and living God has the power to rescue, redeem, remake, even the most vile sinner. He’s done it for me. May God have mercy on Don Lemon’s soul, lest Don find himself face to face with the judge of all the universe, who is, yes, all about judging.
Responding to a message. No doubt about it. A person I had never met came to me online for counsel during a difficult time. I offered what counsel I could over the course of a few years. Then I brought scandal crashing down around me. That scandal prompted me to take a hiatus from all communication, private or public, on the internet. I explained to the person I had given counsel to that I would no longer respond. I was going radio silent, and I was sorry.
Over the course of the next months this person continued to send messages, updating me on everything from legal proceedings to the weather. I did not respond. I did, however, slowly creep back on to the inter-webs, ending my exile. Still, I did not respond. Then, this person sent me a message reading, “RC, have I done something to offend you, that you don’t reply to my messages?” And there I found myself at a crossroads.
If I don’t respond this person might carry an unnecessary burden, perhaps even some unwarranted guilt. If, on the other hand, I did reply, well, then she might come to know how much her messages had meant to me. I might begin to open up. I might end up risking actually getting to know her, and be known by her. Terror. Yet, I responded. And I began to open up. Still only typing, never talking, trying to keep what defenses I had in place, I responded. By His grace, and to His glory and for my good, I responded.
It was a difficult decision. What makes it the best decision, however, wasn’t that I chose rightly while tempted to choose wrongly. What makes it the best decision is the fruit that was born out of that decision. That person to whom I responded is now my wife, my best friend, my strength, my deepest blessing, my joy, my comfort, my one safe place, my partner, the love of my life, my soul-mate. She was used of God to lift me out of the grave I had dug for myself. She is used of God to inspire me.
Everything changed that day, five years ago today. We’ve faced plenty of hardships, and losses but we have faced them together. We have shared laughter and joy. And we look forward with confidence in the abiding grace of God.
I shudder to think where I would be, or even if I would be, had I chosen differently that day. I know this- I’d be without my beloved bride. Coming to saving faith creates the greatest eternal swing imaginable, moving from eternal torment to eternal bless. Short of that, no decision in the last five years, or the last fifty-five years has been a deeper blessing and created a greater change than this one. I, by His grace, answered. I, by His grace, opened up. And she, as His grace, has welcomed me, embraced me, loved me. I cherish her.
Jesus, just as His Father did before on Mount Sinai, is not, in pronouncing law in His Sermon on the Mount, laying burdens on us. He is instead instructing us in how we can lead a good life. He is telling us the pathway to blessing. Who, though, would ever think of suggesting that the way to have a good life is to mourn? Jesus would, and did.
We are a woefully woe-less people. That is, we are set on walking not the via dolorosa, the way of sorrow but the via media, the middle way, on staying steady, on avoiding looking too deeply into that which causes sorrow. This, however, will not lead us to the good life. It will instead lead us to a banal life, a useless life, a life that suffers from the unbearable lightness of being. Instead we are called to enter into mourning.
For what should we mourn? Not that our March Madness bracket has turned to rubble. Not that our name is being dragged through the mud. Not that our outgo is outpacing our income. Instead we ought to mourn over two hard truths. First, we ought to mourn over our own sin. We ought to enter into our sin, facing it squarely. When Jesus told us that a man loves more who has been forgiven more He wasn’t giving an invitation to sin more. Instead He gave an invitation to see our sin more. We need to know our sin. We can rest assured that however far we chase it, we will never catch up. No matter how deeply we enter into our repentance, we will never hit bottom. Nor will we ever outrun His grace.
The second thing we ought to mourn over is the collective power of our sin. That is, not only am I a sinner, but I live in a planet full of sinners. Not only am I destructive to the Eden God created for us, but so is everyone else. Here is my proof that we do not mourn as we ought. Today, in strip malls and offices on tree-lined streets across this land, more than 2500 mothers and fathers will hire doctors to murder their babies. Today more than 2500 hundred babies will be intentionally burned, vacuumed or torn to pieces. Each of us will go about our business, measuring our happiness for the day on the basis of whether we like the weather, whether our work is rewarding, whether our spouse speaks kindly to us, whether our side plays well in some twitter war, whether the traffic is light. All is not right with the world.
The end result of entering into this woe, Jesus promises, isn’t a life of misery. Instead He promises that we will be comforted. It is fair to suggest that a corollary to this promise is this- cursed are the blasé, for they shall be afflicted. Ignoring the evil, whether it be in the world, or in our own hearts, won’t make it go away. It won’t allow us to live in a fool’s paradise. Instead it drives us into a fool’s hell. Only entering into the mourning will bring us toward dancing. God forgives the contrite. God humbles the proud. Look away, and be scourged. Enter in, and be comforted.
