No Bad Days

Esther 2

In Esther chapter two we are introduced to the two main characters of this story: Esther and Mordecai. For both of these people circumstances came into their lives over which they had no control. For Esther it was being chosen to become part of King Xerxes' harem. For Mordecai it was overhearing a plot to assassinate the King. These two circumstances were independent of each other, but they intertwine later in the story to form a dramatic conclusion. We will get to that later, for the time being, let's consider their situations. Esther's situation couldn't have seemed good at the time. She was taken (probably not willingly) away from her people to live in the harem of a pagan king. Okay, so she was treated well and lived in the lap of luxury, but it was still not her choice. Mordecai, on the other hand, did the right thing. He heard of this plot, he reported it, the bad guys were executed, and it was all recorded in the kings annals. End of story-for now.

So, here's my take on this, and this is a principle I think we all ought to live by. There are no bad days in the Christian life. Let me qualify this slightly. If you go to a bar and get drunk and drive your car into another car on the way home, that's a bad day. If you stay up late watching a movie and fall asleep in a meeting the next day and get fired, that's a bad day. If you fall asleep in a meeting, get fired, go to a bar and get drunk and drive your car into another car, that's a really bad day. But that kind of bad day was your own fault. What if you were in the other car? In other words, you are on your way home from work and a drunk driver runs a stop sign and t-bones you. Maybe it breaks your leg and you have a limp the rest of your life. Is that bad? Before you answer that, think of this: God could have prevented it, but didn't. He allowed it. That means it's his will. God's will is never bad. Never. Let me give you a real example. A long time ago a friend of ours got cancer. He and his wife were godly people we had a lot of respect for. The cancer drug on and eventually he died. But you know what? He shared his faith with every doctor, nurse, and aid with whom he had contact. No one wants to have cancer. No one wants to die early. But that's not the worst thing that can happen to us. The worst thing would be to be in your nineties, looking back at your life, and realize it amounted to very little, if anything, for God. Paul talked about this in 1Corinthians 3:12-15. You can build on the foundation (of your salvation) with things that will last into eternity, or you can build on it with consumables.

The key to understanding this is to remember that our lives, our days, even our minutes, are ordained by God. This isn't going to change anything but your attitude. Your circumstances will probably remain the same, but your attitude toward those circumstance will be sanctified. As a wise person once told me, it is not circumstances that determine the quality of our lives, but our interpretation of those circumstances. I am including a link to a little chart I made a few years go called: "Responding to Trials" that illustrates what I have just said.

I hope some of this helps you. Have a good day.

The Scene is Grey

Esther 1

Stephen Crane wrote:

When the prophet, a complacent fat man,

Arrived at the mountaintop

He cried, "oh woe to my knowledge!"

"I intended to see good white lands,"

"And bad black lands,"

"But the scene is grey."

I think about that a lot as I look at the world around me, including the church. It isn't so much that the situation is so bad, it's just so grey. I'm going to blog for the next few days from the book of Esther because the situation then was similar to now. Esther lived in exile in Persia (modern Iraq). She was a Jew, but it is clear from reading the book that she had a ways to go in her devotion to God. In fact, one of the unique aspects to the book of Esther is that God is never mentioned. There are a multitude of explanations for this, but suffice it to say that even though God is not mentioned, we see his work all through this story. Here in chapter one Queen Vashti refused the king's request to visit his party and that set up the circumstances necessary for Esther to take her place. I don't know if this relates to anything in the current presidential race, except for this: don't count God out. That may seem trite, but consider that kings (and presidents) come and go, God remains. Jesus said "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). The person you vote for in November may not get elected, but God is still in control. The person who gets elected may be a bad president, but God is still in control. The next president may only serve to increase the "greyness" of our country, but God is still in control. How can that be correct? It is so because even though God gives kings (and presidents) their power (Rom 13:1-4), he doesn't need them to do his work. God's kingdom is spiritual in nature and the work we do for his kingdom should also be spiritual in nature. Paul said in 2Cor 10:4,5 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." Our effort should be directed toward being the best Christians we can be no matter who gets elected. We should engage in the process, that includes voting and dialoging with people, but we do so for the glory of God. We should pray for our leaders (1Tim 2:1,2), and for our country, but the change from grey to white starts with us. Stephen Crane was talking about morality. If we want our country to become moral, we need to be moral. Even better, if we want our country to be more consistent with Christian virtue, then we need to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in all we do. I read all the time about how Christians are being put down and marginalized. I don't know if that surprises you or not (it shouldn't), but it should never fill you with fear. Read the book to the end: Jesus wins. He will return someday and justice will be restored once and for all.

He is Risen Indeed

^{1Corinthians 15:17-22}

¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹ If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

In John 20 Mary Magdalene informs the disciples that someone has taken Jesus' body. Peter and John run to the tomb. What was going through their minds as they made their way through the city streets to the tomb? I love the painting (at right) by Burnand. We see worry, hope and urgency on the faces of these two, faithful disciples. The gospel says that they entered the tomb, saw the burial clothes lying there, and believed. Their belief was confirmed later that evening when they saw Jesus. Jesus had risen from the dead! Those who teach writing say that every writer gets one exclamation point to use in their life. What better way to use it than that last sentence? If it is true, it is the single, most profound truth of all human history. If it is not true, then as Paul says in the passage above, we only have hope for this life. But the empty tomb and the appearances to over 500 people over a course of 40 days confirm that it is true.

Jesus is the firstfruits of all who believe in him. What does that mean? It means that his resurrection made possible our resurrection. We do indeed have more to hope for than just this life. As I have said before, there is more to life than this life. For those who believe in Christ, death is not an end, it is a means to another end, a world without end.

I don't know how it is for you, but I know that once in a while, probably too frequently, I have that worried look John reveals in Burnand's painting. Sometimes we have to stop what we're doing. We have to look up. In the gospel passage I referred to before (John 20) it says that when the disciples finally saw Jesus, they were "overjoyed." That's what joy is about. Joy looks up. Joy knows there is more to life than this life. Joy is never circumstantial. Psalm 46:10 says: "Be still and know that I am God…" If we can force ourselves to stop what we're doing once in a while and look up, we might just see something. We might just see heaven. If that doesn't fill you with joy, nothing will.

The Night Before Easter

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Today is Saturday, the night before Easter. Easter is, of course, the foundation of Christianity. It confirms the Good News of the Crucifixion. But what if you were a disciple of Jesus on the first Easter Eve? What do you think was going through the minds of Peter and John on that day? Even though Jesus had prepared them on more than one occasion, Jesus' death devastated them. Think of it this way: Friday brought devastation and defeat, Sunday brought joy and victory. Saturday is the day between these opposites. It's the day of not knowing. Friday was a period, Sunday an exclamation point, but Saturday is a question mark. We have all three of these kinds of days in our lives. So where might faith play the most important role? Perhaps on Friday or Sunday, but there is something we can know about those days. The Saturdays of our lives are full of unknowns. I think most people would rather know-even if it's bad news-than not know. But faith is built strongest on the Saturdays. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. And in this lies the secret: hope. Without hope devastation turns to despair, and sometimes the despair is so debilitating it blinds us, and we don't recognize Sunday when it comes.

Today is Saturday. Nobody colors eggs for Saturday. Nobody buys a new dress for the unknown. All we are left with is hope. Hope or despair. And here's the thing, we know now that Jesus did rise from the dead. Our hope is based on this great, profound, historical fact. In other words, his resurrection is the down payment on ours. His victory secures our victory.

Certainly it is true that as we look to the future there are still a lot of unknowns, a lot of Saturdays. But we have hope. Hope without knowledge is still hope, but knowledge without hope is nothing. So, today, choose hope. Choose to remember that God is all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving. What better to put your hope in that that?

PS: The picture at the right is a solar eclipse of Saturn. Saturday is named after this planet, and the fact that it's blocking the sun in this picture reminded me of the theme of this blog.

Two Things We Can’t Say

1 Corinthians 12:14-21

¹⁴ Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"

 

This passage comes from a longer section on spiritual gifts and the body of Christ. Basically Paul is saying that the body of Christ is made up of many parts. Those parts are in fact believers using the gifts God gave them. But focus for a moment on two things. In verse 15 it says the foot cannot say "I don't belong." Then in verse 21 it says the eye cannot say "I don't need you." So here are two things we must never find ourselves saying in reference to the body of Christ, church work, the kingdom of God, etc. Another way to put this would be we cannot exclude ourselves and we cannot exclude others. Look at a few other statements in this chapter: "The body is unit" (vs. 12), "God has arranged the parts of the body" (vs. 18), "its parts should have equal concern for each other" (vs. 25).

Here is a simple, but profound truth: God created you with a purpose. He gave you gifts so you can fulfill that purpose. Each of us has a necessary purpose in the body of Christ. "If the whole body were an eye where would the sense of hearing be?" We have a choice. We can fulfill God's purpose for us, or we can try to fulfill our own. It's the Big Choice we have to make in our lives and we need to make it every day (Luke 9:23). If you've seen the first Matrix movie, you'll remember when Morpheus offered Neo a choice. Either he could go back to a false reality that is comfortable and manageable, but full of nagging doubt, or he could choose the true reality and fight for freedom, help others, and be a hero. That's the kind of choice we make: our version of reality or God's. You don't have to be a theologian to see which is better.

But there is another profound truth here. What is true for you is also true for every other believer. God created them with a purpose as well. And here's the thing: we need each other. Just in case you didn't quite get that: we need each other. Spending time along with God is important to my faith, but it's not enough. Worshipping on Sunday morning with other believers is important to my faith, but it's not enough. We need to be engaged in the lives of other Christians, to learn from them, lean on them and let them learn from us and lean on us. We need each other.

Hope

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says "…there is no neutral concept of expectation. An expectation is either good or bad and therefore it is either hope or fear." (Vol. 2, p. 522) This is a powerful thought. What are your expectations of the future? Paul says in this passage that he rejoices in the hope of the glory of God, but he also rejoices in his sufferings. How is that possible? It is so contrary to human nature. We spend a significant amount of our time making sure we don't suffer. But Paul understood something: suffering produces perseverance which produces character which produces hope.

When you get through some kind of trial you look back and realize that you made it, that God has been with you and that the suffering was part of his plan. The Greek word for 'character' here means "tested and approved." When we suffer it produces in us the ability to hang in there and not give up. This in turn produces a life that has been tried and found to be true. It is only after we have passed through the fire and found that, it not only didn't destroy us, but in fact made us stronger, that we can have any confidence about God, ourselves and our faith.

This passage shows that hope is not just wishful thinking. It is produced by a tested life: a life that has withstood suffering and come out the other side. Anything else we call hope is just a wish because it has not experienced the faithfulness of God to empower us and protect us.

So, if you are going through a trial right now, don't give up. God has a plan in this even though you might not be able to see it. God will not test you beyond your ability. Remind yourself that this too will pass. God loves you and is faithful.

Self Control

Titus 2:11-14

¹¹ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹² It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

This passage indicates that God's grace is our instructor. It teaches us to deny ourselves those things which draw us away from God, and to live godly lives. This passage is about power. God's grace enables us to have power over ourselves. How so? The word grace means "gift." The gift referred to here is salvation (v. 11). Salvation means that God in his mercy bought us out of our slavery to sin through the death of his son Jesus (v. 14). After Jesus' resurrection he ascended into heaven, but he promised that he would one day return (v. 13) and bring justice to the world. In the meantime we wait. Imagine now your teacher (grace) sitting down with you. He looks you square in the eyes and says: "In our lesson this morning, I want you to look two directions: backward and forward. Look back: what has the Lord done for you? That's right; he bought your salvation with his life. Now turn and look forward. What do you see? Right again. He will return some day and set things right. Okay now, here is the tricky part. We are caught, so to speak, between these two perspectives. In other words, we live in the now, the present, the moment. We have no choice, it's part of God's grand design for your life and mine. So, if that's true, then these two perspectives, like giant spirals in a whirlpool, converge on this moment in time. Anything-everything!-that matters is going to happen in the now. So, don't waste it. Don't throw away the priceless opportunity that has been given to you as a gift from God. Remember what God has done. Think about what he's going to do."

So, we have this moment. The question is, how are we going to use it? That's always the question. We can live for ourselves, or we can live for God. The first is the way of self-indulgence and the second is the way of self-control. It really is an issue of power. We indulge ourselves because we can. We are reluctant to give everything over to God because we have to give up our power base and do what he wants. Like so many things, our greatest strength is our greatest weakness. We are created in God's image. That means we enjoy things like self-awareness and free will. That's our strength. But we use these gifts for our own selfish ends. That's our weakness. The irony is, our quest for freedom so often leads to slavery. The only viable alternative is to give up our power to God. That is also ironic in that the more of our power we give up, the more power God gives back.

Consider these two perspectives today. Think of the great things God has done for you. Think of why he did all this.