Advent Week 4 - Magic

 

December always seems to fly by. All of the work and effort to make the holidays special and it’s here and over. No wonder we get so stressed, especially those of us who are working and then adding all the Christmas preparations. I always say it is like having two jobs, maybe more, in December. Add to all the preparations, there is a general anxiety that can set in (can I get it all done in time, have I forgotten anything, will they like it?) And for many of us, depression becomes part of the picture as well. In our case another empty chair at the table this year. 

Is it any wonder we lose sight of what all this bustle is about?  How did it become so busy, so full of stuff that probably doesn’t really matter? 

I have always loved the magic that surrounds Christmas. As a child it was Santa and presents suddenly appearing. As I grew older the magic came from Mom and Dad’s secrets, and the beauty of decorations and warmth on the inside, snow on the outside. As an adult I loved the romance of it all, carols, lights, anticipated gifts. When I was single I’d decorate my place even though I wasn’t there for the actual holiday. I had cast off ornaments from grandparents and parents, and began to collect ornaments when I traveled. The magic intensified when I became engaged during the holiday season, perfectly romantic.

I began entertaining at Christmas when I worked in a church. I’d invite my co-workers over and we’d celebrate together, a time for me to thank and honor them. This turned into an open house, an opportunity to get together with friends and family, some for just this one time in the year.

Sometimes I’d find the magic waning, just wanting to stay home and get some presents wrapped or cookies baked. The busyness could sap the joy right out of me. Over time, I’ve learned to focus on people, not the things, but it’s been a hard earned lesson. “These are not interruptions, they are opportunities.”

Centuries before the first Advent, prophets foretold the coming of Jesus, to be born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem, named “Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ There is magic in shepherds alone in the dark suddenly being interrupted by a choir of angels. Imagine that. “For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.” And the shepherds believed and left their flocks to go and see this baby, in a manger, in a stable, in Bethlehem. The Magi saw a star and connected it with the long awaited Jewish Messiah in those ancient prophecies. They followed the star to find that baby, offering him gifts fit for a king.

That magic still exists today whenever we open our heats to let the Christ-child in. He came to dwell among us for a little while, walk and talk and eat – God with us, Emmanuel. He came to offer himself up as a sacrifice in our place so we could have a relationship with the Creator of the Universe.

Of course, it isn’t traditional magic. It isn’t even metaphorical magic. It’s all miraculous truth. And all we need do is open our hearts to accept the truth. To discover what the shepherds and the magi found that first Christmas – God so loved He gave.  So much of the magic of Christmas for children are the mysterious packages under the tree. And for adults, it’s watching others open treasures specially curated for the ones we love. And the greatest gift ever given is this child in a manger we honor on Christmas day. A gift of unconditional love and acceptance. A gift of life and joy and peace.  A far cry from the gift most people expected, but so much more than we deserve or even knew we needed.

Christmas carols are full of repeated themes, one of which is “coming”. Jesus came. Shepherds came. Wise men came. We are invited to come – “O Come O Come Emmanuel”, “O Come Let Us Adore Him”, “Come into my heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for Thee.”

Is there room in your heart? Among all the craziness of Christmas, have you made room for Jesus? Is it easier for you to believe the Santa story than it is to believe that the baby in a manger is God, come to save us? Is it easier to believe nothing at all, to put Christ and Santa and the Easter Bunny all in one box, magical, fanciful, stories? How can we know if this Jesus’ story is true?

We just need to open our heart and mind to the possibility. Perhaps the baby in the manger really did come to save us from ourselves, to offer a way back to God – a way of love and hope and peace. Just like any present, we’ll never know if we don’t open up and see. Is there room in your heart for Him?

May you have a blessed Christmas, finding amidst all the hoopla the peace and joy the Christ-child came to bring us.

Third Week of Advent - Celebrating the God-Man

 

Christmas celebrates the “first Advent”, the first coming of the Christ, Jesus. He came as the helpless, human baby we see in the manger scenes. I have a friend who doesn’t believe Jesus is God because she thinks any God who becomes human is a weaker God, and why would the Creator of the Universe, the One True God, ever seek to diminish his power?

Why indeed? But what if the Creator of the Universe had enough greatness to be both all-powerful and become human? I mean, if He’s big enough to be the Creator of all things, surely nothing is impossible. So becoming human needn’t be an issue of diminishing his power.

The bigger question is why do it at all? Why would God decide to walk among us as a human? Surely he could see all he wanted of us without becoming one of us.  The reason isn’t a secret. From the Old Testament through the New, the reason why God became man is clearly stated. He came to save us from ourselves.

We need saving? Apparently so. Even if you are a stranger to Christian theology, it’s pretty clear we are a mess. Humankind is broken – from bigotry, racism, bullying, and greed (to name a few things) to all-out war, we are broken. We can’t get along. We are at any given time jealous of, frightened of, or angry at our neighbors, friends and family. You can just start with the 10 Commandments – ever broken one? I haven’t murdered anyone, but I have certainly been jealous, and I was often disobedient and disrespectful of my parents. God’s standard is the 10 Commandments. Jesus summarized the ten as “Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” I’ve messed up on both sides of that. We all have. Even the best of us. 

The Bible teaches that all of us fall short of what God demands. We cannot possibly live up to His standard (which, as standards go, isn’t that unreasonable).  The Bible also teaches God demands perfect obedience to his standard in order to have a relationship with him. And we all fail, so relationship with God seems unreachable. Even my best is not good enough.

How could a loving God (and we are told God is Love) set up such an impossible standard and hold it against us?  For one thing, because he is God, our Creator. As Creator, he made the rules. He has absolute right to set the standard. His rightness demands our meeting his standard, with justice to follow if we fail. Yet, God is at the same time love, so he set about a plan to save us from ourselves. That plan entailed coming as a human to live among us, and eventually to take our place in answering God’s righteous demands. Only another human could do so for us.

And why bother at all? Why not create us to love him unconditionally and not mess up? He desired us to love him freely, to choose or not choose him, rather than be his puppets. And when our first parents chose themselves over him, why didn’t he just end it all? Because he wanted relationship with us, he loves humans, for some reason, enough to create a plan to save us from our selves.

The baby in the manger was God become flesh, human. Most unexpected, most difficult to believe. That baby grew into a man, who few doubt actually lived, Jesus the carpenter’s son. Jesus the good teacher. But few accept Jesus the God-man. But that’s the Christmas story. God became human to live among us. He did so to ultimately take God’s consequence for our brokenness. He was born to die. For us.

The Bible also tells us that Jesus chose to live just like us, setting aside his prerogatives and powers to walk among us. He had the great advantage of being sinless, however. A perfect sacrifice can’t have the same broken issues we have. That is the entire point of the virgin birth – not just to be a cutesy miracle, but to create a sinless human, since our sin-nature, our brokenness, is inherited from our fathers, beginning with Adam and Eve. It was part of the penalty for choosing to disobey God, and live life their own way. Our history of brokenness began, and we continue today to go our own way, and that continues to get us nowhere. We need someone to break the chain, and that was Jesus, coming as the God-man, sinless, to take our place before God’s justice.

It is so easy to forget all of this (or never learn it at all) among the beautiful decorations and music, not to mention the added lore of Santa and his elves.  The magic of Christmas seems to have very little to do with sacrifice or punishment. Besides, who wants to think of that? But we should. We need a savior. This world needs saving. Jesus came to save us. That is the good news the Angels sang, and we continue to sing in Christmas carols today. We give gifts because the Greatest Gift came on that first Christmas day.

I love the song, “Welcome to our World” by Chris Rice. The lyrics are set to remind us what Christmas truly is about.

 

“Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that You don't mind our manger
How I wish we could have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sins and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world”

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Chris Rice / Christopher M. Rice

Welcome to Our World lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc

 

Second Week of Advent - Expectant Christmas

 

I spent over 40 years of Christmas celebrating at my parent’s home. Even with three moves, my mom still made it the place of magic for the holidays. She loved Christmas. She loved to entertain, and opened her decorated home up for guests every year. She also filled the house with music. We sang carols and listened to records and played the chimes at midnight on Christmas Eve. Until I was 15 I lived up on Mt. Hood, and always had a white Christmas. As kids you don’t think how that cost the adults. My grandparents traveled to us from Portland every year. I was more bothered by the wait for them to arrive.

So many of the traditions I’ve incorporated into Christmas began in my early years, breakfast first, then stockings (occasionally the other way around, if there was a hold up somewhere), devotions before presents, best china and crystal. One treasured memory as a married adult, mom serving us coffee and hot chocolate while we were still in bed and saying, “I always wanted to do that.” No explanation why, just because she could. I’ve never tried that on overnight guests, but love having warm, delicious liquids available for my family and friends, hugs in a mug.

The Christmas after my mother died was a hard one. In addition to losing mom, my husband lost both his parents, and my last grandparent also died, all by early November of that year. I volunteered to host Christmas, and I was terrified. We were emotional basket cases. I felt the weight of every tradition on my shoulders, the need to make Christmas perfect, for everyone to feel loved and comforted.  There were a lot of tears. But we also laughed and ate and shared gifts. Everyone came for breakfast and we opened stockings after. We had devotions. Dad gave a prayer. We opened presents and ate a traditional dinner. We somehow made it through the day, and my husband and I sat on the stairs after everyone had left and cried, not out of sadness, but out of gratefulness and relief that we could still celebrate after so difficult a year. It wasn’t perfect. I was nervous and grumpy and probably snapped at someone. But it was still Christmas, and that first began many years of new and old traditions as I continued to host the family.

We’ve had other gains and losses through the years. My dad remarried and we gained my stepmother and her mother. My brother married and we gained his wife and her brother. Our nephew was the best gift one year. One sister married. We’ve lost our step-mother and grandmother, my dad, my sister-in-law’s brother, and my youngest sister. Our chosen son moved to Australia to start his family. The numbers around the table diminished. This year we lost my other sister. She was my biggest cheerleader for Christmas, and helped create new traditions to make Christmas at my house its own experience. Now she has joined the others, and we have gone from 12 around the table to 6.

Again we face a Christmas with a major change. My sister’s absence is huge, and fairly new. I’ve wondered again how we can celebrate. But that first Christmas hosting taught me a lot, lessons I’ve continued to learn through the years since. The biggest lesson is that expectations can really sap the joy.

For years I’ve hosted an open house at in December. I invite friends and family, have lots of food and decorations to the max. I thought people returned each year for the food and decorations I had so carefully stressed over. Then I began hearing what our guests said about why they come – the people. Somehow we stumbled on the right mix of people who actually enjoy one another, if only once a year. Our house is full of conversations, laughter. My kitchen is always full of people. Sure, they eat and drink and occasionally mention a decoration – but they are really here for each other. And, that is how it should be. I have imperfectly learned how to simplify (a bit) the preparations and just enjoy the crowd. Again, expectations of a perfect experience saps the joy.

I just read an essay on the difference between expectations and being expectant. The holidays are full of expectations, from receiving (or giving) the long sought gift, making the best meals to satisfy everyone, making sure everyone leaves happy. Year after year we see how we fall short of the expectations. We keep trying to make the season magical with the right stuff. We want things to be perfect. We forget we don’t have that much control over ourselves, let alone others. We can’t be responsible for their happiness or contentment. My mother made Christmas magical because she was magical. It was the gift of coffee in bed, a warm hug, the promise of surprise. She had no control how we’d react, but she gave. I’m sure many of her expectations were crushed.

To be expectant, to look for the magical, the surprise (rather than trying to create it), that’s a whole other experience. To come to a party for the people, open for the serendipity a diverse group of people can bring. To set the table and decorate the tree looking forward to serving that cup of coffee, looking for the unexpected.

With expectations we have a plan, a goal. On its own, that’s not bad. We need to plan. But when we expect things to go as we planned, and when we hitch our happiness and contentment on those expectations, that’s when things go wrong. It’s normal to have expectations, and, unfortunately, normal to let them take control. It’s when we expect our all our expectations to become our reality, exactly as we expected – well that just isn’t realistic. But to be expectant, looking forward to what’s around the corner, open to the unexpected, maybe even embracing the challenge when a plan falls apart – that’s a whole different way of living.

Most of Israel had expectations regarding their promised Messiah. He would be the king to save them from oppressors, and kings are born in palaces, not stables. Kings don’t come from a carpenter’s shop. Kings have money and power. But Jesus didn’t fit their expectations, so they missed Him at every point. The shepherds, the Magi, they were more open, expectant, and as a result they were able to see the miracle. Luke, in Chapter 2, shares the story of Simeon and Anna, two elderly people who regularly visited the temple in expectation of meeting the Messiah. They expected the promised Messiah, but obviously had no expectations about how that Messiah would appear. Or at very least didn’t let their expectations rule over them. Their expectant waiting was rewarded by getting to meet the Christ – a baby brought by poor parents to the temple for dedication. Because they didn’t have expectations, but instead were expectant to what God would bring, Simeon and Anna were blessed by recognizing this baby as their long expected Messiah.

We too can have expectations that keep us from seeing what God really has in store for us. I expected my sister to be with me this Christmas. I expected her to be with me for many more years. But God had other plans for my sister and for me. I need to seek those plans expectantly rather than setting up my own. 

My hope is to be more expectant this season, and curb my expectations. I’m excited to see what surprises are in store.

First Week of Advent - Light in the Darkness

 

The Advent season is upon us, and just in time. One of my favorite preparations for celebrating Christmas is the hanging of the lights. Christmas lights are the perfect anecdote for the penetrating darkness of the season.

My need for light has been heightened this year by recently experiencing a powerful windstorm, a “cyclone bomb” event. We lost power for 15 hours. Many people lost power for days. I have a friend in her 5^th day without power. It’s one thing to lose power in the lighter months. But a power outage in November in the Pacific Northwest is psychologically devastating for many of us. 

I am a bit of a hypocrite regarding darkness.  When power is available, I have been known to walk upstairs and wait until I am across a room before turning on a light.  I’m often the last one to turn on lights as the sunlight fades. But take away my option for turning on lights and I become an anxious mess.

My fear of power outages goes back to a multi-day outage several years ago. We knew a storm was coming, and so I left school and ran to the store to grab some last minute items. When I left the store the rain was flooding the parking lot. I made it home just before the power went out. This was right as school was letting out for the Christmas break. My home was decorated, and all the houses around us were lit up, only to go black and stay that way for 9 days. The power came back on Christmas Eve, after I’d roasted a turkey at a friend’s apartment who had regained her power.

Mind you, we have a gas stove top and hot water heater, as well as a wood stove. We could cook on the wood stove and the gas top. We could take hot, though dark, showers. But the darkness wore on me day after day. And it was amplified by the season, and the loss of all the Christmas lights. It didn’t help that our neighbor had a generator and was all lit up (plus the droning engine noise only reprieved when he ran out of gas).

So in a very real sense, I am afraid of the dark, even though when power is available, I might not even turn it on.  There is something about just the availability of light that makes my world safer. Take away the power and darkness is no longer my friend.

The Apostle John writing about the First Advent said that The Light came into the world. The Light – Jesus.  Light and Jesus are synonymous, as are the world and darkness. Without Jesus, there is no light. Problem is, we are used to darkness. Our “eyes” have adjusted so we hardly notice, until something goes terribly wrong and we find ourselves looking for a light switch that works.

Jesus called his followers “light”, and encouraged us to be lights in this world. The light we have comes from his light in us, and it can make a powerful difference. Like lighting a candle in a dark room.

As I enter into this Advent season I am thankful for my brief power outage. It made me reflect on the importance of light in the world. It made the extra Christmas sparkle and light all the more beautiful. It reminded me that, as a Believer, I am to be light in this dark world.

John, speaking of Jesus, said “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world, and though the world was made through him, it did not receive him…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:4-5 9-10, 14.

Foreigners Among Us

 

I read an interesting passage in Deuteronomy today. I know, who reads Deuteronomy? I recommend it. The book gives Moses’ first person recap of the wilderness years. They are at the borders of Palestine and Moses is readying them to enter and take the land.

That in itself is an interesting point. By “taking the land”, the Bible is clear God meant that literally. He’d promised this land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and now, some 400 years later, he’s about to make good on that promise.  In Genesis he made his promise to Abraham, but told him it would be years in the future. During that time Israel would go to, and grow in, Egypt. At first they would be privileged people, family of the beloved Joseph, but by the time of Moses they were ill-treated slaves.

The question is, why the wait – 400 years? Why not skip those hideous years of slavery? According to Genesis because “the sin of the Amorites has not reached its full measure”. (Genesis 15:16) God goes on to give Abraham a list of the people’s they will take the land from (Genesis 15:18-21). Apparently, the Sovereign God gave the people living in Palestine, specifically the Amorites, 400 years to get their act together. The people living in Palestine were great worshippers of multiple gods, represented in multiple idols. The Sovereign God of the Bible wanted everyone to worship Him, and Him alone. He is, after all, the Creator of the Universe, the only one worthy of worship. We can assume they had 400 years to turn to this God.  They did not.

We do know the people in Palestine knew what God had done for Israel up to this point. We know they were very afraid as Israel neared Palestine. But only a handful actually turned to Israel’s God, the rest decided to run or fight Him. But that’s another story.

So In Deuteronomy 7, this same list of people groups God gave to Abraham, are the people Israel will come up against in “taking the land.” The plan was not on a whim. It was not out of bloodthirst on behalf of the Israelis or God. It was the end of a 400 year sentence on those people for their evil ways. 400 years is a lot of grace. Furthermore, it’s all on God, who “delivered them over” for defeat. The talking of the land wasn’t from Israel’s great warrior might, it was all on God. He tipped the scale.

What interested me today was a seeming contradiction to all of this. Israel was to go into the land and completely destroy the peoples inhabiting it as part of God’s discipline of those people. God seems pretty anti anything not Israel. Yet, in Deuteronomy 10:17-19 Moses describes God as “God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”

So through Moses, God is saying “You were foreigners once, and horribly mistreated. You are not to treat foreigners as you were treated, but with kindness and generosity as I want them to be treated, because I love the foreigner residing among you”.

How can God say he “loves foreigners” when he’s about to blow away several tribes of them? Because He is God. He is both love and justice, grace and righteousness.  He loved the Amorites, and the rest, and gave them 400 years to get their acts together. They had, after all, given Abraham and his family space to live and die in Palestine. Abraham and his family had lived among foreigners, peacefully. God is not capricious. He doesn’t just summarily wipe out people because it’s fun. God first and foremost loves all, and He gives all of us time to come to know Him. But there is a limit to His time. Peter writes “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  (verses 8,9)

In Ephesians, Paul wrote “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands) – remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope, and without God in the world.” (verses 11,12)

Christians, before Christ, were foreigners to God. People without belief are foreigners in God’s world. That’s a lot of foreigners. And Paul wants these new Ephesian believers to remember this, their former state. Just prior to this he has reminded them that they have been saved by faith, through grace, not from anything of their own doing. Like the Israelites about to take the land – they were to step out in faith and God’s grace would do the work.

Paul goes on to write “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility….Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of his household.”  (verses 14, 19-20)

Moses tells us in Deuteronomy that God loves foreigners. God commands the Israelites to love foreigners because He does. Galatians says that we who believe in Jesus Christ were once foreigners. God obviously loved us enough to die in our place, making those who accept that gift of grace family members, citizens with God’s people.

What does that then tell us about how we should respond to “foreigners living among us” – those who do not yet know God or Christ Jesus? In the time we still have of our “2000+ years”, what is our response to the foreigner? Do we love him/her/them as Christ does? Do we treat them with patience and respect? Can they see Jesus in us and, rather than run or fight us, want to join our family?

Today Israel/Palestine is on the forefront of a lot of us. The ongoing war Israel is waging against Hamas in retaliation of Hamas’ attack on Israeli people has struck a deep divide in our country. There is a lot of confusion about Jews and their “right’ to Israel. Most believe it all began after World War 2, with the West (primarily Great Britain) giving Palestine to the surviving Jews. Though part of the picture, the story goes back to ancient times, back to Genesis and Deuteronomy in the Bible. Even if you don’t believe in the Bible, the Jewish people hold the Old Testament as their history, their truth, and have done so for centuries. This isn’t a new fight.

In reality, the land is both/and, Jewish and Palestinian. But the Jews believe God gave it to them, and that is what the Bible teaches. The Bible does not, however, give Israel the right to be unethical in their dealings with “foreigners.” Believing Israel is their land is not a blanket approval of all they do there. In fact, the Old Testament is full of stories of Israeli leaders leading military campaigns against God’s wishes and ways. They were dealt with, sometimes even more harshly than what they’d dealt out. In fact the history of the Jews and the loss of their land stems directly from their disobedience and distrust of God. For centuries they have lived under the domination of other countries, feeling a disproportionate discrimination that continues today. Up until the late 1940’s they were spread around the world, living without a land of their own.

And as we are quick to judge the Israeli treatment of “foreigners” we should look at our own country. I find it amazing that so many people are ready to thrown American Jews under the bus. Anti-sematic actions have grown exponentially in our country since this war began. Yet, the American Jews were not part of that – so why are their synagogues being attacked, as well as their lives being disrupted by such hate? Neither the Jews nor the Palestinians living in America are foreigners, they are citizens.  We may not agree with their politics, but they are us! So if we cannot even treat each other with love and respect, it’s no wonder there is such animosity against true foreigners in our country. I cannot imagine the fear so many of us must be feeling over threat of deportation, especially when they have been living here, working, being good neighbors and perhaps hoping one day to be a citizen. And how many of us, as citizens, have our “papers” on us at all times? To have to “prove” you are a citizen upon request, seems anything but American.

So maybe we need to take another look – if not at God, at each other.  How should I treat the "foreigners" around me?

Who Is The Sinner?

 

When a group of Jewish leaders brought a woman before Jesus, claiming they had caught her in the act of adultery, they were testing him. (John 8:3-11) The Jewish law allowed for adulterers to be stoned. The man, who was obviously required to participate with this woman for it to be adultery, was not in attendance. The Jewish leaders cited the Jewish Law and then asked Jesus what he thought – to see if he’d oppose the law.  Jesus says nothing, just begins to write on the ground with his finger. Interestingly, we never know what he wrote. After the men persist, Jesus says “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” He continues then to write on the ground. The Jewish leaders leave, so only Jesus and the woman remain. Jesus asks “did no one condemn you?” Wasn’t there anyone there who was sinless?  Rhetorical question because Jesus was without sin. And the only sinless person there says, “Neither do I condemn you.”

It may seem I am a bit obsessed with sin. It figures a lot into my thoughts, conversations and writing. I think about it because it seems many Christians have forgotten their relationship with sin. That, and how quickly some of those same Christians are in pointing out the sins in others, much the same as the leaders who brought that woman to Jesus.

The word sin has lost a lot of its punch in today’s culture. For many it’s a word Christians use to brand actions they disprove of – homosexuality, abortion, sex outside of marriage. Similar to those Jewish leaders who saw sin in the woman labeled “adultery”. Sin and judgment have almost become one word. “Sin” seems to mean particular acts of behavior. Beyond that, most people don’t give sin much thought. We do what is right in our own eyes. As long as we don’t hurt anyone else, what we do is what we do, no judgment or harm attached.

Yet the Bible is pretty free in talking about sin from Genesis, with Adam and Eve disobeying God’s single command, to Revelation where it’s predicted the whole world will answer to God for their sin. We are taught in the Bible that we have a sin nature, resulting from Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey. That act rewired us, so sin becomes just part of who we are. Every human being is a sinner by biblical definition. And because it is part of our nature, it’s really easy to forget about it, or take it for granted – that’s just who I am.

The word we translate as sin means “missing the mark”, failing to meet a standard, God’s standard.  The people of Israel were given a pretty clear description of God’s standard in the 10 Commandments. If we can follow all 10, consistently, we “hit the mark.”  Problem is, beginning with the Israelites, no one has been able to.  Think about it. You might never kill anyone (although Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says just hating someone in your head is as bad), or steal something. But most of us have been envious. Most of us have dishonored our parents in some way. All of us put things before God, making those things our god. If we take a good long look, we’d see that we’ve not passed the 10 Commandment test with a glowing 100%. James 3:10 reminds us that the Commandments as a whole are God’s standard, and failure to keep 10/10 leaves us guilty of all. We’ve all missed the mark.

This is why the New Testament teaches that all have sin and are all guilty. Jesus made the point even simpler when he said the Law of God could be summed up in “love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Those few words really do sum up the particulars in the 10 Commandments. And it’s easier to see how far short of God’s standard we fall. Even the part about “loving ourselves” can prove problematic.

So, there stood Jesus, the only sinless person in that small group surrounding the woman, and though perfectly in his right to do so, he did not condemn the woman. He, in essence, forgave her her sin. 

We are unable to uproot our own sin nature. It is so much a part of who we are, we hardly even notice when it shows itself. The Jewish leaders couldn’t see their own sin. And even if we try to be better, we fail, usually sooner rather than later. This is why we need a Savior. We need someone to clean out our nature, and only God can do that. So, he died in our place, taking the weight of all mankind’s sin nature. The debt was paid by his sacrifice, so that now the issue isn’t what bad things we’ve done, or what good things we’ve forgotten to do. It’s what we choose to do with Jesus’ sacrifice – accept or reject. If we accept then we can hear his words, “neither do I condemn you.”

I’ve mentioned before the Pharisee Simon who, in his mind, judged Jesus for allowing an unsuitable woman to anoint him with her tears. Jesus knew Simon’s thoughts and told him a story about a rich man forgiving debt. He asked Simon who would love the man more, and Simon said, “the one who had the most debt forgiven.” Jesus returns their gaze to the woman, and points out how much she loves, and has shown that love to, Jesus. He isn’t saying she sinned more than Simon (as Simon believed), but that she recognized her sin, her debt, and has come to seek forgiveness at Jesus’ feet. Simon feels he’s beyond all that and not in need of forgiveness. He has no debt. The result is Simon’s not really loving Jesus at all.

Those men who brought the woman to Jesus were confronted with their humanity, their sin nature. In that moment, they were convicted and walked away. I wonder if Simon would have heard the point then if he’d been there? The only one who can throw the stones (punish) is one who is sinless. And the only one who can forgive is also the sinless one. The rest of us are just sinners. That’s true of those who have sought forgiveness in our belief in Jesus and His sacrifice for our sin. We are now just sinners, saved by grace, the same grace that saved that woman.

So why do we make such an issue out of sin, particularly specific things like homosexuality? I believe it stems from a failure in Christian education. We fail to continually teach that we are still all sinners. We still all sin. The things we pick at and label are merely symptoms of living in a world broken by all of us having sin natures – a natural bent to miss God’s mark, in fact, to miss God, period.  If we are not continually reminded about our sin nature, we begin to believe we’ve lost it – or have somehow managed to improve on it – or at the very least don’t express it in ways others do.  We forget that Jesus died for sin, all sin, once for all of us. Again, the issue isn’t about what we do or don’t do wrong. That was taken care of by Jesus. The issue is what we do with Jesus.

The sad thing is that though almost every Christian you meet would agree with that statement, they aren’t convinced of it. Maybe, like the Jewish leaders, they believe their sins have been forgiven and they are beyond sinning, but they don’t believe that about others. They hang people out to dry in their sins every day, just as the leaders brought that woman (without the participating man) to Jesus. “Look at her! See what an awful sinner she is. We caught her in the act!” And Jesus just kneels down and begins writing in the sand. Maybe he was making a list of all their sins, or all of our sins. Maybe he was thinking about where his steps were ultimately taking him, to die in our place – yours, mine, that woman, those leaders. What have we done with His gift?

New Beginnings

 

November 2024

I have taken quite some time off blogging. My apologies. I’m not sure why. I wrote several pieces, but never posted them.

A lot has happened to all of us over these years. For me, my youngest sister passed away in 2016, and then Covid really kicked us all in 2020. Teaching school from home for a year and a half, and then under Covid restrictions the next year (masked and spread apart) played into that “kicking”. I was exhausted all the time. Then there was the 2020 Presidential campaign, which had, in my opinion, a positive ending, but it was touch and go for a while, and that too was exhausting. The next few years after the Covid exile were some of my best for teaching. I think we all came back to “real” school more appreciative. I planned for my retirement to begin at the end of the 2024 school year. I was looking forward to that experience (I told my seniors I would be graduating with them). Then at the beginning of this year my other sister was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Retirement took a back seat. She passed away in June, almost exactly 6 months after her diagnosis and a week after her 66 birthday. Her death devastated me, as she was my person, my closest friend. But she was at peace dying, celebrating her relationship with Christ. She humbled us all.

I realize that all of the above are only excuses for not putting my writing back on the blog, or for not writing at all. But I think I am ready now.  Through all of this I’ve been reading and growing and thinking about my faith. And I know my experiences are not unique to me. We have all experienced loss and frustration, anxiety and dread, along with what I hope has been some joy and amazement. I’d like to begin sharing again. The post- election piece was my start, and more will follow.

Thank you, to whoever is reading these. I’d love any feedback you’d like to give. Dialogue is more fun than monologue – although I do ok with that too J.  I will try to keep up my end of the bargain.

The Day After The Election

 

Yesterday we voted for new government officials. I awoke this morning to beautiful blue sky and sun. Depending on what side of the political chasm you stand, the sun’s rising may or may not have come as a surprise. But sunrise stands as a reminder, God still reigns.

We can easily lose that truth. Sin blinds us, makes us doubt God’s everlasting omnipotence. We can feel alone, on our own, needing to take things into our own hands. If not literally into our own hands, we bestow control on others believing they can empower us.

The overturn of Roe V Wade is an example of this. Many Christians believed it was their duty to end an act they deemed immoral, beyond sinful. They celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling making abortion the arena of each state. They have voted and supported efforts in their total bans or harsh narrowing of state abortion law. They have, in their view, upheld God’s moral law.

Meanwhile, women in those states have also lost medical help during miscarriages, or any other condition requiring some medical procedure like a D and C, which is also used in abortions. Many women have lost supportive medical help, as clinics supporting women’s health have closed. Decisions were made that even in cases of the woman’s life, or incest or rape, abortion was not an option.

So on the one hand, Christians could feel they had been God’s proxies and banished this horrific sin from their states. God’s work was done. But, on the other hand, women all over the country are feeling disenfranchised and blaming that on God and his followers. Though God’s moral law may have been upheld, God’s law of love has not.

By believing that we Christians hold the moral fabric of the universe in our hands, we have driven many away from God. We used our elected officials to pass these laws, believing we have the godly command to do so. But what about God?

Do we hold the moral fabric in our hands, or is that God’s realm? Can we even begin to hold the moral fabric, being sinners? Whatever makes us believe we can, that it’s our job?  Certainly, in America, we have a vote, and we are to vote our conscience. But can we see clearly enough, through our own brokenness, see God’s way? And how much of this is borne by our need to feel and be in control, even if control is really impossible?

Peter Kreeft, in his book God’s Love, points out that God is both truth and love, all the time in full measure. And only God can purely and wholly be both. God doesn’t put truth before love or love before truth. So in dealing with abortion, or any other issue of that magnitude, only God can approach us with truth and love. Sadly, Kreeft points out, Christians tend to land on truth or love, as if they are black and white, right and left, two sided characteristics.

With regards to abortion, we have taken the side of “truth”, but because it wasn’t done in love, we have failed the women we claimed to help. We believed it was our duty to help them away from abortion, whether they wanted the help or not. God’s truth and love allows us to make our own decisions. We also, then, are able to face our own consequences for our choices. God doesn’t force us to choose Him. He allows us to refuse his gift of salvation. And for those of us who have accepted his gift, He gives us the choice to live our new life by his power or our own. It’s a daily, moment by moment choice. If we choose his power, then we will be living lives of truth and love. The fruit of the Spirit will reign in us. And we will realize that without Him, we are nothing, incapable of holding our own moral core, let alone the moral fabric of the universe. We are not God, not even his proxies.

I believe God reigns, sovereign in our universe, our country. God is in control, not politicians or electors, not even those of us who vote for our leaders. Our power is a mirage. God’s will is bigger than any elected official. And each official has the same choice we all have, to allow God’s control in their life, or live their life and do their jobs without Him.  But God isn’t hindered by our puny choices. He isn’t impressed by our egos. He seeks humble, servant hearts who realize they are sinners saved by grace, in need of something Greater than their own strength.

So whether I agree with the results of this recent election or not, I will seek to live my days under God’s control and leadership, not my own. I can hold nothing. I can control nothing, let alone the moral fabric of the universe. But “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Through His strength and control I will seek to marry truth and love in my life. I will seek to present God’s love to those He brings into my life, even if we are on different sides of the chasm. Because only through God’s love and truth will we ever be able to see the chasm shrink.

Kreeft, Peter. Knowing The Truth About God's Love, The One Thing We Can't Live Without. Chapter 10, page 193. Servant Books. 1988.