Reflecting on the Law of Christ

It amuses me that some Evangelical Christians get so upset over the removal of the Ten Commandments from public spaces such as courthouses, government buildings, or public schools. 

 

According to the Apostle Paul, a respected authority on the relationship between Jewish law and the Christian faith: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17)! 

 

“The old has gone!” “The new is here!” Pretty straightforward, right? Well, apparently it isn’t for many Christians.

 

Truth is, we Christians are not obliged, nor are we required to live under the old covenant of Jewish Law. Christ ushered in a brand-new covenant far superior to the old one. Fact is, the Jewish Law is not for us, it was for the Jews! Was then and is now!

 

In fact, Mark tells us that a teacher of Jewish Law asked Jesus straight up: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important” (Mark 12:28). You will notice that Jesus did not say: “Well, the newest revision of the Old Law!” Nor did he say: “The latest updated version of the Law of Moses!”

 

Nope! He said that the most important commandment of all is brand new! Not revised nor updated, but brand spanking new! He replied to the teacher’s question by saying: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

 

Most New Testament scholars believe this to be what Paul called the “Law of Christ!” A brand-new commandment that replaces the Ten Commandments and all the other Old Testament laws that were so many and so burdensome. Just two commandments: Love God with all you have and love one another as you love yourself. 

 

Perhaps we need reminding that Christians are not obligated to live under the Old Testament Law (laws) that clearly were intended for the Jews and not Christians. The Ten Commandments were not intended for the followers of Jesus. They are good laws and served a good purpose for a particular people at a specific time. But Jesus ushered in a New Law and a New Age.

Should we get upset over the removal of the Ten Commandments from public spaces as mentioned above? 

 

Absolutely not, because we Christians are obliged to follow the Law of Christ and not the Law of Moses. I would ask: “Why isn’t the Law of Christ on display in our public spaces?”

Reflecting on God-Inspired Politics

Mention the word “politics” today and immediately folks begin thinking in terms of partisan loyalties and party policies and platforms. The word “politics” evokes a great deal of emotion and of late seems to bring the worst out of us (I’m not immune to blood pressure increases when the topic of politics is raised within my hearing). 

 

The hard truth is we can’t avoid thinking about politics today given the constant bombardment of the 24-hour cable news networks, numerous political blogs and publications, and exposure to social media platforms on which folks love to air their political views. But, for Christians I think it is important that we think and talk about politics in much a healthier and different way.

 

I have been told more times than I can count that there is no place in the pulpit for politics and that I should be silent on the subject in my sermons. Agreed! If we are talking “partisan” politics. 

 

According to Mark’s Gospel Jesus first preached the emergence of the “Kingdom of God”  (1:15). Now, unless I’m wrong, the kingdom of God (rule of God) is what the  world would look like if God was in charge. So, from the outset Jesus preached a form of politics that wasn’t partisan (as we would think of it today) but rather was a God-inspired form of politics.

 

In a recent Facebook post (there are some good ones now and again) pastor Josh Scott reminded us that the resurrection indeed had political implications. Scott points out that the word “resurrection” actually means “to be raised up” rather than just being resuscitated back into a flesh and blood existence. In other words, Easter represents a God-instigated “uprising” in order to push Jesus’ vision of God’s reign on earth forward (“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”). 

 

Easter represents an uprising of significant importance for the whole world. It far exceeds and transcends all worldly politics that is so power-driven, partisan-based, and so divisive. God raised up Jesus following the world’s rejection (crucifixion) of His kingdom here on earth and His vision of a peaceful, just, and egalitarian world order.

 

The dye has been cast and it began on that first Easter Morning! So when I hear the word “politics” this is what is triggered in my faith-driven imagination. This is why I believe the topic of a God-inspired politics cannot be totally eliminated in my writing nor in my preaching.  

 

When I hear the word “politics” today I hear “the empire of God” in a world that is so divided, so torn apart by conflict and war, so unjust both socially and economically, and so short-sighted by worldly partisan politics and imperfect political ideologies. When I hear the word “politics” I envision a new Empire, the Empire of God rather than an imperialistic empire driven by economic greed, militaristic chest-thumping, and unjust social structures, all powered ironically by the thirst for power itself. 

 

When I hear the word “politics” I am reminded that God operates from a platform of abundance as opposed to one of scarcity (which characterizes much of partisan politics today).

 

Peace be with you!

Reflecting on Pearls, Pigs and Dogs

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them underfoot and turn and maul you” (Matthew 7:6).

The metaphor of throwing pearls before swine or holy things before dogs was Jesus’s way of warning his disciples against imposing certain Gospel values upon the world at large. You see, some of Jesus’ teachings that Christians honor and hold dear make absolutely no sense to the general public. They may be good people and many of them are in fact, but the pearls of wisdom that animate the Christian life are not so widely accepted or believed by society-at-large. 

 

When Jesus told his followers to “turn the other cheek” or to “pray for those who offend you” or to “Love your enemy” he was providing a kind of wisdom understood only by those who follow and are committed to the Way (the designator for those who followed Jesus before they became known as “Christians”). Can you imagine Jesus offering these pearls of wisdom at a Pentagon war briefing?

 

So here is what I think Jesus is saying by using this metaphor: There are those teachings of Jesus that contain pearls of wisdom intended specifically for his followers rather than for the world-at-large. It would be awesome if the world at large accepted these pearls of wisdom, but the hard truth is, it most often does not. 

 

There are certain values of the Gospel that are intended to be life strategies for his followers. Casting such pearls of wisdom before those who do not share the same Gospel values would be a foolish exercise in futility. 

 

For What It's Worth : Reflecting on Lost Love

For What It's Worth : Reflecting on Lost Love:   Reflection on Our First Love   “ You have forsaken the love you had at first.”                                                            ...

Reflections on War and Peace

 A headline in a USA Today article caught my attention this past week. It read: “Hiroshima Bombing Turns 75.” 

Two bombs totaling 240,000 fatalities, 110,000 of which were killed instantly, and another 130,000 deaths due to radiation exposure illnesses over the next few years. Let that sink in for a moment. Even after the war ended humans suffered then died from radiation-related illnesses. It’s really difficult for me to get my brain wrapped around such death and destruction. 

Thank God these were the last two nuclear bombs used in wartime.

One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes features Elaine (Julia Dreyfus) making the claim that Tolstoy’s classic novel, War and Peace was originally entitled War, What’s It Good For? In fact, Elaine claims that Tolstoy’s girlfriend suggested the original title.

Well, as silly as this episode was there is truth in the question, War, What’s it Good for? Especially when we consider the death statistics attributed to the dropping of the only two atomic bombs in history. Then when you consider the total death toll of World War II (est. 70-85 million humans), not to mention all other wars in history, one gets the sense that war is not the best way for humans to behave.

War is a human problem. It’s caused by human agency alone. I believe it is a sad mistake to attribute the practice of war to God, or to God’s will. Doing so creates an unsolvable theological dilemma for those who remain faithful to the Prince of Peace. The dilemma is this: “Whose side is God on in any war?” Worse yet, when we believe that “God is on our side” the violence of war often intensifies as a result. 

Consider the American Civil War. Was God on the side of the Confederacy or the Union? Who did God want to win that bloody war, which claimed over 618,222 lives? 

When we co-op God, or his will, into our wars, believing that we are acting on his behalf, it then becomes easier to justify how far we will go to win (because we are winning on God’s behalf). I have come to believe that this is wrong-headed thinking and surely does not represent the best Christian witness as followers of the Prince of Peace.

Remember, it was Jesus himself who said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). So, what should the Christian attitude be toward war? 

I think we should approach the reality of war with deep humility and a sense of confession and repentance. War should cause us tremendous grief and sorrow over the lives it claims, as well as the long-term effects of war once it is over (for the time being). We should never glorify war, let alone claim that God has chosen sides in our favor.  

I leave you with the stunning words of the Hebrew prophet Isaiah who sheds light on God’s attitude towards war:

He shall judge between the nations,

   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

    and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

    neither shall they learn war anymore (2:4).

A Sickness Unto Death

Americans will file into their places of worship this morning to worship the god of their chosen tradition. American Christians will worship their God and pay homage to the Prince of Peace (a.k.a. Jesus Christ).

They will sing hymns, offer prayers, and listen to sermons, all the while hoping that things will change for the better or that the next mass shooting will not occur in their town or village or city or community.

But it just may, and this is the reality in which we all live.

Our country is becoming more and more dangerous in which to live and work. Fathers go to work each day not really knowing if it’s the day they will be shot and killed. 

Mothers will take their little children to schools or to the bus stop not knowing if this is the day another Sandy Hook will occur.

Americans will go to malls or shopping centers or even Walmart not knowing if this will be their last shopping trip. 

All the while unstable and angry shooters are plotting and planning their next attack. It’s frightening. It’s alarming to be sure.

America is undergoing a spiritual crisis not seen in many years. 

It is indeed a "sickness unto death."

America is devolving into a moral and spiritual sickness devoid of any serious Gospel influence. The values so clearly taught by Jesus are either ignored or reinterpreted to fit into a particular political platform or an ideological point of view.

My prayer this morning is that as Americans file into their places of worship they will encounter the God of grace and the Lord of peace, joy, and love. They will encounter the life-changing values of the Gospel contained, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount and make them their standard-bearing platform upon which to live their lives.

Maybe, in the words of author Gregory Boyd, it's time to "crucify the Warrior God" image of popular imagination.

Otherwise, I am afraid, we are all doomed!

Choose to be Kind!

Okay, I get it!

I get it that you believe that homosexuality is a sin. I get it that you base your belief on your interpretation of a few passages of Scripture known as the “clobber texts” (there are six of them in both the Old and New Testaments).

Especially the text in Romans 1:26-27 that seems to give you the greatest sense of certainty in your stand against LGBT people. Believe it or not, I understand how you can read this text, out of context, as an indictment of all homosexual people. 

I get it that you are a product of a brand of Christianity that vilifies homosexuals and brands them as “unrepentant sinners."

I don’t agree with you, but I get it.

But what I don’t get is why you stopped reading Paul’s words concluding Romans 1 and why you didn’t at least read all the way through 2:1. His words shout out to us:

“Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.”

A pastor in Saint Augustine, Florida recently refused to leave his restaurant server a tip the guy was gay just might be a good candidate for reading Romans 2:1. Okay, the pastor can read and interpret the Bible as he sees fit but this does not give him the liberty to treat someone unkindly or disrespectfully just because of the person’s sexual orientation. 

Look, your view on homosexuality is yours to own. I may not agree with it but can we agree to be kind to LGBT folks, simply because it is the fitting thing to do. 

The most effective witness we Christians have at our disposal is the way we treat others who are unlike us (even our enemies). Otherwise, our verbal testimony to what we believe becomes nothing more than “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Hollow words that impress no one.

Treat all people kindly and you will discover a change in the texture of your heart. You may even come to love homosexuals regardless of how you read the Bible. 

Be kind!

Lamenting the Victims of War!

Just the other day a man said to me as he was leaving my home: “Have a happy Memorial Day!”

I responded by asking him: “How can I be happy over the loss of so much life to wars?” My question startled him. It made him think. Memorial Day is not the time for the celebration of death caused by war. It is not a time for celebrating the virtues of nationalism!

Memorial Day is not a time for celebrating the horrific results of war; but rather, it is the time for lamenting our continued addiction to violence and war in the hopes that we can (on our own) create lasting peace. 

Memorial Day is for mourning. It is for grieving. It is for lamenting the loss of all human life caused by war. It is a time for soul-searching and repentance—repentance from our own love of violence and war. It is a time for us to challenge the belief that war is the only and most noble way to resolve human conflicts. It is time for us to consider the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war any more."

Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "The Man Upstairs!"

Christians sometimes say things about God that really makes little sense, given what we know about our world and the universe today. How many times have you heard a Christian refer to God as:

“The Man upstairs!”

Really, God is a man? Okay, I get the anthropomorphism: Ascribing human characteristics to God. 

The Bible does it all the time, but these anthropomorphisms are metaphors that people used to help explain who God is or how they understand him.

For example, in the Bible God is pictured as a “rock” or as a “Shepherd” or as “Mighty Warrior” or as a “Father.” All metaphors not to be understood literally of course.

But this isn’t what irks me about the statement describing God as the “Man upstairs!” It’s the “upstairs” part that needs some qualifying. At least when I hear folks say this I no longer correct them by saying: “You shouldn’t refer to God as a man!” 

Instead, I say: “Where is upstairs?” 

Do Christians (non-Christians say it too) who say such things really believe God is up there, somewhere above our heads? How can anyone conceive of such an idea given what we know today about how the world and the universe are designed?

And if God is believed to be “up there” is this where heaven is? Of course, the opposite would be true of hell as being located  "down there” somewhere below us.

Okay, this is why I prefer the updated software version of how we talk about God, for example, Paul Tillich’s description of God as the “Ground of all being.” This metaphor makes so much more sense to those of us living on a round planet (where is upstairs located on such a planet?) in a cosmos so vast that the human mind can hardly comprehend it. 

Perhaps the Christian mystics had a better comprehension of where God exists: Deep within us at our deepest core. 

Sort of in compliance with the Apostle Paul’s version of God: 

“For ‘In him, we live and move and have our being’ (Acts  17:28).”

For What It's Worth : Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "It wa...

For What It's Worth : Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "It wa...: Christians sometimes say things that are quite frankly based on bad theology.  For example, I have often heard Christians respond t...

Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "It was just his (her) time to go!"

Christians sometimes say things that are quite frankly based on bad theology. 

For example, I have often heard Christians respond to the death of someone by saying: “Well, it was his or her time to go!” Really? And how does anyone know the mind of God well enough to make such a bold comment? At the very least, such a view smacks of one thing: Determinism! 

It does not matter that Joe died of lung cancer because he smoked two packs of cigarettes forty years as if he didn’t have a choice not to smoke. Or, it doesn’t matter that Alice died of cirrhosis of the liver after a lifetime of alcohol abuse when she could have chosen to get help with her addiction and stopped her drinking before it destroyed her liver. I could go on but you get my point!

The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians that we “reap what we sow”  (6:7). So what does Paul mean by this? Well, our actions have consequences. Everything we do has repercussions. Our behaviors somehow come home to sit on our own doorstep. Stated as a figure of speech it means: 

“What goes around comes around.”

Now I understand why some people think this way. They view God as all-knowing and all-powerful. Okay, I can live with that,. but it is a huge leap from believing in God’s all-knowing, all-powerful nature to God deterministically causing all things to happen, including someone's death. 

So when I hear a Christian say that Joe or Mary died simply because it was his or her time to go it implies a deterministic understanding of God’s relationship with his creation. It’s a concession to the belief that nothing we do or don’t do can alter the timing of our own death. 

Life happens and some lives are cut really short (possibly because of bad choices or someone else's mistake) where some (because of good genes or better choices) enjoy longevity. So please stop saying that anyone’s death was a person's time to go! 

Neither of us has the authority to make such claims on God's behalf!

Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "The Lord Told Me!"

I really do wish Christians, especially preachers, would stop saying:

“The Lord told me!”

How many times have I heard T.V. preachers, for example, make this bold claim? I’ve heard one of my former pastors use it as a matter of fact. He probably said, “the Lord told me” at least twice in every sermon. I never gave it much thought back then but it did give me the impression that this man was certainly well connected!

But when Christians use this phrase, do they realize what they are saying? It raises some interesting questions for me:

Does God speak audibly to preachers or anyone else making such a claim? I’m not one to criticize another’s faith experience, but I must say that I have never heard God speak audibly to me! I also am delighted that I have never used this claim to give weight to anything I might say in a sermon.

Why would God speak to my pastor years ago and has said nothing to me all these years? Is it because I am not as well connected as my former pastor? Am I not as spiritual? Or, worse yet, am I not listening for God’s audible voice carefully enough? It would be so easy for me to feel a bit slighted or even depressed because I don’t have the inside track to God’s will. Guess I’m not in the inner circle it seems.

Why would a Christian make such a claim, to begin with? Well, I think saying something like this is intended to shut down any and all opposition. In other words, if my goal is to suppress opposition to or disagreement with my sermon thesis then I must evoke an authority larger than myself: “The Lord told me to say this today!” 

Saying “the Lord told me” shuts down further debate over controversial and difficult issues. How many preachers have told their congregation that the Lord told them to preach against some sin du jour or even worse who to vote for in an upcoming election? Claiming such direct authority is misleading in my opinion.

How can a layperson argue with a preacher who comes across as being so well connected to God? 

Sure God speaks to us through a variety of means, such as through the Scriptures or through another person. But make that clear the next time you claim “the Lord told me!” It would be more honest it seems to me.

Do you get my point?

Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "I want a celebration of life!"

Christians sometimes say things that put their pastors in a spot. For example, I cannot tell you how many times a family member of a deceased parent has said to me: “Pastor I want daddy’s funeral to be a celebration of life!” Or, “Pastor, please make momma’s funeral a happy occasion!”

Christian friend, you have no idea what kind of conundrum you have created for your pastor. Allow me to explain:

First, you are asking your pastor to turn your relative’s funeral or memorial service into a nothing more than a “feel good” happy event. Let’s have friends and family come to the podium and tell funny stories about your dad or mother. I mean, aren’t funerals supposed to be about a celebration of life! No, not altogether.

Second, you are asking your pastor to ignore the main reason why we have funerals or memorial services in the first place: Someone died! An untimely or unexpected death has occurred. Of course, we read in Hebrews 9:27 the following:

“And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.” 

Death is a natural part of life. In fact, life and death are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other, so why do folks think a pastor should conduct a funeral without talking about death within the context of the Gospel?

But in the very next verse the author of Hebrews declares:

“So also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.”

It would be nigh impossible to talk about the Christian hope of resurrection without also talking about the reality of death. Does the topic of death frighten us? Perhaps! Does it cause us to be sad? For sure it does! 

But ask yourself: “Can I possibly talk about salvation and hope in Christ, who also died, without confronting the reality of death?” In other words, how do we get to Easter without going through Good Friday?

Your pastor should not only talk about death as being a fact of life, but he or she should also remind the congregation that resurrection awaits those whom God loves. 

This is the paradox of life and death. Death for sure makes us sad, it reminds us of our own mortality and encourages us to take our relationship with God seriously. But it also reminds us that death is the doorway into the life God has in store for us. It's the prelude to resurrection. 

So please dear Christian friend, please stop saying you want your relative’s funeral to be a celebration of life. Let’s celebrate both life and death as an opportunity to highlight our salvation in Jesus Christ and our hope of resurrection!

Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "Loving enemies is impossible!"

There are things Christians say that I wish they would stop saying! For example, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard them say: “Pastor, loving my enemies is impossible!” Or they will say, “I believe Jesus when he told us to love our enemies, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.” 

There was a time when I would respond to such statements by saying something like: “I know, it’s really hard.” Actually, I was letting us both off the hook. 

Sure it’s hard, but is it doable? 

The short answer is “yes!”

Learning to love one’s enemies depends on how one understands the meaning of love when used in this context. Allow me to explain:

If you are using “love” as a noun then love becomes a “feeling” you have towards another person. So when Jesus told us to love our enemies was he implying that we have warm fuzzy feelings towards them? 

Now if this represents your only understanding of what love means (a loving feeling towards another person) then I would agree that loving your enemies would be nearly impossible. We are not naturally inclined to love those who harm us or treat us with contempt. We are not made to feel warmhearted towards our enemies.

But understanding “love” as a verb changes the whole dynamic. In his book, Love Your Enemies, Arthur C. Brooks tells the story of a renowned therapist meeting with a distraught husband. The husband tells the therapist that he no longer loves his wife. He doesn’t have the same feelings towards her as he did during the early years of their marriage (how many times have I heard this).

The wise therapist told the young man that he could learn to love (noun) his wife again by practicing love (verb) towards her. The therapist told the young man to start waiting on her more, performing acts of love toward her, treating her like he really did love her. The young man agreed to give it a try and as far as I know, the couple remain married today because the young man loved as a verb (loving acts) rather than as a noun (loving feelings). He actually fell in love with his wife all over again.

I do believe Jesus was using the word “love” as a verb when he told us to love our enemies. Performing loving acts towards our perceived enemies changes the way we naturally feel about them. 

In other words, our feelings are controlled by our actions.

 It works! Try it! Treat that person who disagrees with you politically for example with an act of love. Then see what happens to your own attitude. You will be surprised. Jesus was not blowing smoke at us. He was serious as a heart attack.

So please stop saying you can’t love your enemies because truthfully you can!

Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "Everything happens for a reason!"

I am convinced that Christians sometimes say things without much forethought. We all do this. For example, I often hear Christians say:

“Everything happens for a reason.”

Now, I understand this kind of reasoning for I have said the same thing myself. But the question is whether it is true or not. I realize that folks facing hardships in life want to believe that there is a hidden reason for the tragedy. They want desperately to find some meaning in their suffering. 

As a pastor, I have often relied on this oft-repeated cliché to comfort grieving parishioners whose hearts had been ripped out by the loss of a loved one or had been victimized by a sudden and unexplained tragedy. I would then quote Paul’s famous statement from Romans 8:28 just to be sure I was in alignment with the Bible. 

Truthfully, the cliché is helpful, but again is it always true?

But here’s the deal: Is there really some benevolent reason behind every single event or experience in our lives? If I get a really bad cold that knocks me down for a week, what’s the reason for that? More importantly, what divine reason might there be?

If my spouse cheats on me, where is the benevolent reason in that infidelity? Is her infidelity God’s way of making me stronger, or ironically, a better husband? Would that be the reason for her infidelity? Well, tell this to a wife or husband who is devastated by betrayal.

If a man unmercifully beats his wife in a drunken rage what would be the reason for such violence? Telling the battered wife that there is a divine reason for her black eyes and broken jaw doesn’t quite seem quite right, does it?

Try telling a woman whose child dies that there is a good reason for the child’s death. My suspicion is you won’t gain any points with her (or the child’s father). In fact, it is often the case that such a well-meaning platitude only confuses and deepens the person’s grief.

Truth is, not everything that happens to us in life is for a reason; or if it is we may never know it. Not every human tragedy needs explaining. Sometimes we are left with no rationale for the events that occur in our lives.

Sometimes life throws us some pretty hard punches and ours is not the reason to know. This is why faith or trust in God is so important. When the reason for the hard punch evades us faith should become our default position. That should be good enough for now. 

Don’t you think?

A Sermon: "Things I Thought Were True"

Luke 13:1-9

One of the most important discoveries I’ve made in my life is that not all of my assumptions in life are true. These assumptions are called “presuppositions.”

Please forgive me, I know this is not a word that we use in normal everyday conversation, but this is precisely what Jesus is addressing in this text. These presuppositions are often the engine that drives much of how we look at our world. 

 So what is a presupposition?

The short answer is simple: 

A presupposition is basically an unsubstantiated assumption. 

Now as we grow in our Christian faith and into adult maturity we should consider examining and exposing some of our long-held assumptions. 

So allow me to share with you a few of my early assumptions that seriously needed examination and exposure in order to help me grow as a Christian and a human being:

I once believed—based on an assumption of course—that people of color were somehow inferior to white folks. I entered adulthood just assuming that this was a biological fact even though I had no verifiable evidence to support such an assumption. I never questioned its veracity. It took years of examining that presupposition and naming it for what it was: White privilege.

I wasn’t able to let go of that presupposition until I was brave enough to name it in order to expose it for what it is.

One of the most ludicrous assumptions I held for years was that poor people are poor simply because they are lazy! I heard this growing up and grew into adulthood believing this was the case for all poor people. But my seeing real backbreaking poverty in developing countries, such as Mexico, Central, and South America, exposed that presupposition to be utterly false, not to mention my awareness that poverty may be traced in many cases to human greed.

Welfare fraud aside, and that’s an issue to be sure, poverty is not the result of people being lazy. People simply don’t choose to be poor. They don’t want to be poor any more than you or I do. There are complex reasons for poverty in our world (greed being one). We need to expose this presupposition for what it is, a lie intended to absolve us from taking some responsibility to care for the poor, as Jesus instructed us to do.

For most of my Christian ministry, I believed (and taught) that Capitalism was a Biblically based economic system. I have later come to see the fallacy of this presupposition since the Bible itself does not support it as a Divinely sanctioned system. In fact, the term Capitalism is nowhere to be found in the Bible or in early Christian writings. Additionally, the book of Acts suggests an economy of an entirely different stripe (Acts 4:32ff).

Now, this doesn’t mean that Capitalism is bad. It isn’t! Most of us here this morning have benefitted from living in a Capitalistic country. It has its downside for sure, just like any other economic system, but overall we are fortunate to live under such a system. 

But just be aware that God did not create Capitalism—humans did!

So in our text this morning we find Jesus addressing an age-old presupposition or assumption about Sin and Suffering. It was commonly assumed back then “that folks get what they deserve, that bad things happen to bad people.” 

Look, we aren’t much different, are we? I know I’m not. When something awful or tragic happens in my life I immediately go to my default position:

“Well, God must be angry with me” or “I must have done something terrible to deserve this.”

Come on, admit it, you’ve made similar assumptions too, right? Haven’t we all? But, are they legitimate assumptions about how God reacts to our sin? If something happens to me is it because I sinned? Do bad things happen to bad people? Is this a valid assumption?

No! It is not!

I tell you, this is a horrible way to live, what with the fear of Divine retribution hanging over one’s head 24/7. It causes one to look for an angry God lurking behind every bush waiting to catch us in some misdeed and then zing us with a punishing lightning bolt.

Well, Jesus responds to this kind of thinking in our text this morning:

“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans . . . Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?” 

Folks were responding to these two tragic incidents by asking a familiar question: 

“Was this the result of sinning against God?”

Actually, they already knew the answer to their question. They were looking for Jesus to confirm their assumptions about the relationship between their Sin and Suffering. Well, Jesus exposes that dreadful presupposition with one word:

 “No!”

Then Jesus tells a really strange story about a withering fig tree. Jesus loved telling stories in situations like this, when folks were struggling with mysteries that are nearly impossible to understand, like the relationship between Sin and Suffering. 

He preferred stories to clichés.

An owner of a vineyard sees that a fig tree in his garden is withering away, offering no good fruit to eat for the past three years. So he decides to chop down the tree since it is barren. But the gardener asks the owner to give the fig tree one more year so he could spread manure around it to help it regain its vitality. If the tree still fails to produce after one year then the owner can chop down the tree.

Such a strange story, right?

Well, what I hear Jesus saying in this story represents two versions of God when it comes to the issue of Sin and Suffering. The vineyard owner represents one version of God who wants to chop down the tree without a second chance. This version is the one the people assumed best explains the two incidences Jesus addresses in our text: Punishment by death (or suffering).

The gardener in the story represents the version of God that Jesus would promote: A loving God who is willing to give second chances (and third, and fourth if necessary) to those who fall into the grip of Sin. This is the version of God who is willing to get his hands dirty with manure (Incarnation)) to help us grow beyond our sinful lapses. 

Yes, this version reflects God as willing to get his hands dirty redeeming us from our sin, not punishing us.

So when we look at this barren fig tree what do we see? 

I would suggest that we see ourselves: Barren, fruitless, prone to lapses into Sin, and fumbling through life making missteps and mistakes. We’ve all been in such places in life, haven’t we? Sometimes those barren places last for years and God seems to have vanished from our lives. We don’t even pray anymore. We may even interpret his apparent absence of God as judgment for our sin. 

But Jesus assures us that God is the God of second chances throughout life. He assures us that even in our most barren periods in life God is planting good soil (manure) all around us, prodding us to grow beyond our barrenness. God is with us, in us helping move us to more fertile ground.

So this strange story exposes any assumptions we might have that God is an unrelenting punishing God who offers us no second chances in life. Rather, God is the Gardener in our lives toiling the soil within us in order to move us out of our barren places into a fruit-bearing life. 

More importantly, we learn from this interpretation that bad things don’t just happen to bad people but good people as well—but God remains forever faithful.

Yes, some of our presuppositions are totally worth exposing. The sooner we recognize the folly of living by all our unexamined assumptions the better life becomes for us. The happier we will be and I believe healthier too.

Stephen A. Hulsey
March 24, 2019
Lake Shore Presbyterian Church

Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "God Needed Another Angel Today!"

One of the craziest cliches I often hear Christians say in response to the death of a friend or loved one is:

“God needed another angel today!”

Does God really need more angels? I know this is mere sentiment talking but where does this idea come from? It sounds more like pagan mythology to me than good Christian theology. 

Look, I am fully aware of how devastating and painful death is for most of us. The death of a loved one or a good friend can be a tragic and traumatic experience. It is only natural for us to look for the meaning of death as a means to help our grief. I would never intentionally disrespect anyone’s grief experience.

I’ve personally experienced grief in my own life so I personally know how difficult it can be. 

But please, stop saying that dead people become angels in heaven because God needs them. It’s simply not true even if one wishes it were. There is absolutely no Biblical support for such a claim.

Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say: “My mother just passed into eternity!” Or, “My father just entered the resurrection life!” Or, "My best friend died.” Or simply: “My grandmother is now with God!” Doesn’t this make more sense than saying someone became an angle because God needs that to happen? 

Perhaps it would be wise to rethink our view of death as being a part of life. That’s right, life and death are two sides of the same coin. One cannot occur without the other. 

So we don’t die because God needs to populate heaven with more angels. No, we die because we are human; it’s a part of life, in spite of it making us uncomfortable or uneasy.

Resurrection in the manner of Christ is our real hope, not to become disembodied angels with golden wings because this is what God needs.

Things I Wish Christians Would Stop Saying: "Love the sinner, hate the sin!"

It never ceases to amaze me what comes out of the mouths of some Christians. Some of the clichés I hear them say makes me want to pull my hair out (well, if I had any hair). Whenever I hear folks spouting off one of these dreadful cliches I want to scream: 

“Please stop saying that!”

For example, how many times have you heard a Christian friend say: 

"Love the Sinner, hate the sin."

I've never quite understood what I am supposed to do with such a comment. What exactly is being said by this well-worn cliché? What’s the meaning behind this oft-repeated saying? Where did it come from, certainly not the Scriptures?

Well, here are my thoughts on why Christians need to stop saying such things:

My big problem with this cliché is the comma (,). That's right, the comma. Now if there was a period after the first clause then I would be okay with it:

"Love the sinner."

That's it! That all that needs to be said, right? No qualifier, just love the sinner. Period (.) Finis. Full stop.

You see when a comma (,) is used the subject (sinner) remains suspect. The love you claim to have for the sinner remains guarded. For example, this cliché was often used in my own denomination when we were debating the place of LGBT folks in our churches; when we were debating whether to practice full inclusion of partial inclusion of LGBT folks. 

The use of the comma I might add implies partial inclusion.

Partial exclusion means that we may love homosexuals, even welcome them to worship with us, but not participate in the full life of the congregation. They couldn't even be married by our clergy within our churches.  The comma implies that there is a qualifier in the way we accept them as members of our congregation. 

In reality, the comma suggests to them: Stay below the horizon so as not to be noticed.

Please stop using this hypocritical cliché. It's not Biblical and certainly, it’s not used in good taste. 

Get rid of the comma. Just say:

"Love the sinner!" 

That's all Jesus ever did!

Loving The Immigrant As We Love Ourselves!

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

Jesus once told a compelling story about a man headed down to Jericho from Jerusalem. The man was accosted by robbers. They stripped him and beat him within an inch of his life, leaving him for dead alongside the road. 

Have you ever wondered why Jesus thought it important to mention that the robbers had “stripped” the man? Isn’t being beaten, robbed, and left for dead enough? Why stripped? What’s his point?

Perhaps he knew that the best way to dehumanize a person or a particular group of people for that matter is to strip that person of his or her identity. Perhaps this is why black slaves were thought to be less than human (four-fifths human); if they are a little less than human that makes it easier to keep them chained in slavery. If you believe that a woman’s identity is tethered to her male counterpart, then it would be easier to claim male dominance over her.

Stripping a person of his or her identity dehumanizes that person. Just maybe this was Jesus’ point all along and we simply missed it.

So, as the story goes, a priest and a Levite pass by the naked beaten man and they ignore him. They perhaps glanced his way but his nakedness blinded them. He was just too anonymous to offer compassion and aid. Chances are, seeing this naked man, neither one considered that he just might be a father, or a son, or a husband, or a brother to another human.

But then a Samaritan appears (an outsider). He cares for the man even though he has no idea who he is, or where he came from (remember he’s naked). 

So what differentiates the Samaritan from the two religious guys who passed by earlier? Well, the Samaritan sees this beaten man as a fellow human being, in spite of his nakedness. The man’s identity is not lost to the Samaritan.

He is a neighbor worthy of assistance and compassion.

Jesus tells this famous story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate what love of God and love of neighbor looks like on the ground, in real time! The verse cited at the top provides the basis for the Samaritan’s actions. The love ethic of Jesus proves the fuel for such courageous actions towards anyone whose identity has been diminished or defaced or devalued.

Our government’s current immigration policy is unfolding on our southern border. It is just too tempting to scapegoat these immigrants as murderers, rapists, drug pushers, or even terrorists. It’s an effective way to stoke fear in the hearts of people. But it does something far worse: It dehumanizes them. It paints them as being something less than human . . . it strips them of their God-given identity!

Does it not make it easier to separate children from their parents when neither is considered human enough to deserve compassion and aid? 

I understand the fear that has gripped so many Americans who support this Administration’s immigration policies and practices. I also recognize the dangers implicit in allowing everyone to cross over our borders. Yet I also understand the need for vulnerable people to be scapegoated in order to settle down the populace and to assuage their fears. It’s an age-old game that we humans have been playing forever.

Yes, I am in favor of improved immigration policies, but I also know that for every child and parent that is separated a piece of America’s soul dies. We need a serious immigration policy upgrade to be sure.

But any policy or future upgrade that is based on fear-mongering and the dehumanization of strangers and immigrants would be unacceptable in my view. As Christ-followers we are called to live by the Great Commandment: Love God with all we have and love our neighbors as ourselves. 

Do we have to ask who our neighbor is?

The Rapture Trap

I became a serious Christian at the age of twenty-two. I had been baptized at the age of ten and always considered myself a Christian, even if in name only. But once I was married and started a family the importance of my own personal faith became critically important to me.

My pastor, during these early formative years of my adult Christian experience, had a significant impact and influence on my life. I still hold a warm spot in my heart for this man (now deceased) and for all the support he provided for me when I first entered the pastoral ministry. 

The congregation that also supported, nurtured, and ordained me during this time in my life was steeped in ultra-conservative Evangelical theology that bordered along the lines of a soft Fundamentalism. 

More importantly, both the pastor and the congregation were deeply committed to a theological system known as Dispensationalism. Dispensationalism focuses on the so-called “End Times” with the Rapture being the next anticipated event in eschatological history. The Rapture is believed to be a secret snatching away from this world of all true believers, leaving all others to fend for themselves (especially those who are Christian in name only). 

Following the Rapture, there will be a dark and destructive period of time lasting for seven years, known as the Tribulation. During this awful time, the world will be brought to the very brink of total destruction (nuclear holocaust?) at which time  Jesus will return visibly and bring a halt to all this madness. He will then usher in a literal one thousand year kingdom here on earth, a kingdom in which God’s people will live in perfect harmony with nature and with one another (known as millennialism).

Following this literal one thousand year kingdom Christ will deliver the world up to the Father in heaven, at which time eternity will begin in earnest (e.g., eternal life in heaven).

What I have just described is a brief and inadequate summary of eschatology (the study of the end times) that seems to be contributing to much of the Evangelical fear today. I have long since abandoned Dispensationalism and its variations and am now able to see some of the inherent traps well-meaning Christians can fall into with this particular view of the world. 

It’s a system of belief that is very difficult to walk away from without feeling one is betraying one’s Christian faith altogether. I know, I’ve walked that path and struggled with the crisis of faith that accompanies such a journey.

So allow me to share with you three of the most common traps and why it is important to recognize them, especially if you favor such a Christian worldview as Dispensationalism.

First, it is tempting to view the world as a dark and gloomy place from which Jesus will someday secretly and personally rescue you. In other words, I have observed that Christians who hold to a Dispensational view of the Bible often exhibit a dark and dystopian view of life in general. Not all mind you, but enough to cause some concern. When one’s focus is on the End Times (eschatology), then what transpires in this life (present time) is of minimal importance. For example, concern for the health and well-being of the earth and the environment takes a backseat to one’s anticipation of the so-called Rapture into heaven. 

This form of escapism is perhaps why so many Evangelicals today have accepted the political Far Right’s disavowal of climate and environmental concerns. Dispensationalism, because of it focus on the End Times, seems to have a very weak theology of Creation and forgets that God declared his creation “good” in spite of all its inherent problems.

Second, the modern State of Israel plays a critical role in the Dispensational scheme of the End Times. In fact, it has been my observation (and personal past experience as well) that as one embraces the Dispensational worldview one also embraces uncritical support of modern-day Israel (which is not the same as Biblical Israel). It’s one thing to be an ally of another nation and quite another to lend that ally uncritical and unquestioning support, especially a support based on a theological view of the End Times—a view, mind you, that is not shared by all Christian, myself included. 

This is a dangerous position to take, regardless of one’s theology, considering the powder keg the Middle East seems to be today. To give Israel a free pass when she acts badly based on one’s theological worldview is highly inadvisable. To privilege Israel over all other nations in that region, based on one’s eschatology, can be very dangerous in the long term.  This is indeed a dangerous trap.

Additionally, being a friend to Israel does not necessarily correlate to being an enemy to the Palestinians or to the rest of the Muslim world. The treatment of the Palestinians by the modern State of Israel is atrocious at best and Christians must call out such unjust treatment.

Third, such a theological worldview of the End Times may lead one into the trap of fear and paranoia. Look, I am well aware of the dangers of making unfounded correlations between certain causes and effects. But when a Christian embraces such a dystopian view of the world based on one’s eschatology, then the lens through which they look at the world is already tinted with a dark hue.

Therefore, when a politician paints a dark and threatening picture of our world it becomes too easy to fall into the trap of fear and paranoia. I don’t believe this assumption is too farfetched if one is predisposed to fear and paranoia created by a particular theological worldview, such as Dispensationalism. In other words, it is quite possible that such a theological system as Dispensationalism conditions its proponents to be more susceptible to threats, both imagined and real. This is indeed a dangerous trap.

It would be unwise for me to lump all Evangelical Dispensationalists into one camp. There are some who embrace such an End Times theology while avoiding the inherent traps we have been discussing. But the traps are real and recognizing them is becoming more and more important for Christians of all stripes today. 

Perhaps the Christianity of the 21st Century will learn to hold in tension the already with the not yet! This present life indeed matters. God’s ultimate purpose matters as well. We can live without fear and paranoia because we know to Whom we belong. We can honor this present life as if we were honoring God’s good creation even as we strain forward towards God’s ultimate purpose for his creation.