Sorrow

You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. (John 16:20 ESV)

Sorrow

We find so many offers of comfort in sorrow.  The entertainment industry beckons us to rest in her delightful arms, and avoid our sorrows.  The medical world prescribes nutrition, balance, and longer life to outlast our sorrows.  Our government offers bread and circuses to distract us from our sorrows.  Our education systems offer us relief from thinking about our sorrows, direction on redefining our sorrows, or a chance to stand back and evaluate sorrows till we do not see them anymore.

How are those things working out  for us?

We still have sorrows.

Jesus is pointing out that His presence in our lives is the only solution to sorrow.  Our sorrows will turn into actual joy in the context of Jesus’ actions, Jesus words, and Jesus’ love.

The reasons for sorrow do not easily go away.  The solution to those sorrows is as easy as saying, “yes,” to Jesus.

We are peculiar, our sorrows can turn to joy.

Silence

If God is silent, what’s that to you? If he turns his face away, what can you do about it? But whether silent or hidden, he’s there, ruling, (Job 34:29 The Message)

Silent Cal

Calvin Coolidge was one of the United States’ Presidents.  I did not claim he was a good President.  I did not claim he was a bad President.  Most folk do not really have an opinion of him.

Because he was very quiet.  The nickname given to Coolidge by the press was, “Silent Cal.”  He made few speeches, he gave few press releases, he did not call many meetings, he did not sing or shout or tweet or declare or announce.

He felt he did not need to.

It was enough that he was President.

God is quiet, too.  We sometimes wish that He would tell us what He is up to, without us having to exegete Scripture.  We sometimes wish that He would make a few announcements about current events, current concerns, and current tragedies.

But Elihu reminds is in the book of Job that He does not have to do that.

God is God, and that is enough.

For the world, that should be scary.  But for us, it is comforting.  Whatever He is doing, whether He has explained it to us or not, is His choice, His wisdom, His right because He is God.  And remember, that He also loves His people.

Believe Him.

We are peculiar, we know God rules.

Encyclopedias

If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. (I Corinthians 8:2,3 ESV)

Encyclopedias

Just outside my office we used to have four encyclopedia sets.  Perhaps we’d think that just about everything we needed to know could be found in those volumes.  We got rid of three of them, though.  Because we realized that even four complete sets are not enough.

Even the internet is not enough.

Even the internet when it becomes a part of Quantum Mechanics will not be enough.

So many articles in our encyclopedias had been proven wrong.  So many articles had been proven right again.  So many topics were obsolete.  So many topics were incomplete.  So many topics were absent.

There is one thing, though, that we Christians can particularly know.  Even though He is more mysterious even than quarks and black holes, we know Him.  That is not arrogance, it is amazing.

In fact, Paul hints that knowing God (loving God) is the thing that gives all the rest of the encyclopedic knowledge context, focus, and purpose.

Maybe we should not have gotten rid of them.

We are peculiar, we love God, and are known by Him.

Truth About Sin

Your prophets courted you with sweet talk.   They didn’t face you with your sin so that you could repent.  Their sermons were all wishful thinking, deceptive illusions. (Lamentations 2:14 The Message)

Truth About Sin

What would you think if I chose my automobile mechanic based on how often he told me good news, whether it was true or not?  What would you think if I chose a doctor based on whether he only told me how healthy I am, whether it was true or not?  What would you think if I only read books that agreed with me, entered discussions with those who only said nice things, or hired employees who only told me what I wanted to hear?

I expect, rightly so, that you would frown at me.

Our God, in love, does not speak like that to us.  He tells us the truth, particularly about our sin.

He calls our sin, sin.

The people of Judah rejected that kind of message.  They only wanted to hear from prophets who told them how good they were, how faithful they were, how valuable they were, how cool they were.

But God, in love, does not speak like that to us. 

The words of the prophets that Jeremiah mentions here, those words that tickled ears, those words that were easy and pleasant… those words were not from God.  And those words were left behind in the rubble of Jerusalem.

But the words of the prophets that spoke God’s truth, they were Scripture and we still have them today.

We do not have to listen to the false prophets.  We have the true prophets sifted out from the others.

Written in the Bible.

We are peculiar, we can hear God’s Words about the nature of our sin.

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Safety When Jumping to Conclusions

Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling… Your throne shall be established forever.’ ” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. (II Samuel 7:1-6; 16,17 ESV)

Landing Safely When Jumping to Conclusions

King David approached the prophet Nathan to suggest David’s brilliant idea.  God has been so good to King David.  Let’s build God a temple!  The idea was so obviously good to Nathan that he immediately agreed.  Logically, righteously, perhaps even exegetically, Nathan concludes that King David should start building that temple.

But that night, God approaches Nathan with a different answer.  God tells Nathan that King David should not be building a temple for God, but instead God would be building a royal house, a dynasty, a family forever.  A family, in fact, that culminates in King Jesus, the Messiah.

We might find reason to shake our heads and wag our fingers at Nathan.  He jumped to conclusions.  He probably did not approach God in prayer before answering King David.  He was far too much Nathan and not enough God’s prophet.

But God was gracious.  He did not even mention Nathan’s error.  God simply used Nathan’s conclusion-jumping to springboard to one of the greatest promises in the Bible.  The promise that a King was coming. 

We cannot sidestep God’s path by jumping to conclusions.  We can be wrong in our assumptions, conclusions, and declarations.  But God is patient with His people.  He keeps on going despite us, in spite of us, and then even through us.

He is faithful to His people even when in haste, we are unfaithful to Him, like Nathan.

We are peculiar, we always land safely.

Possession

 “If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag.  If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain. (Deuteronomy 23:24-25 ESV)

Possession

We might think this commandment is intended to give us permission to wander around taking fruit from our neighbor’s tree.  But it is not.  It is aimed instead at how we think of the fruit of OUR trees. 

It is considered good sense to hold tightly onto the fruit of our labor.  In this Land of the Individual, we cling tightly to what is ours, believing that our money, our food, our land, our cars, our clothes, our everything are best utilized in ways that benefit us.

But in Deuteronomy God is making the point that the fruit of the Israelites’ trees was meant for the community.  Yes, owned privately; yes, managed personally; yes, under our immediate control, but for the purpose of the needs of all.

Our hearts pull back at this concept, don’t they?  It sounds like socialism, communism, fascism, or anarchy.  But it is not.

It is growing crops for the purpose of love.  It is earning money for the purpose of love.  It is managing our resources for the purpose of love.  It is realizing that God has placed our land, our income, our possessions in our hands for the chance to love someone.

I yearn for a society that enables us to do just that.  Where we are free to use our resources as the Lord leads us to love.  Where we are free to manage our possessions as the Lord leads us in love.  Where we are free to have, so we can give.

Without Christ in society, it would not work.  Without the Spirit in society, it would not work.  Without the love of the Father in society, it would not work.

But with Son, and Spirit, and Father?  Wow…

We are peculiar, we have the potential to understand the purpose of our possessions.

We's Dumb

And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’   (Job 28:28 ESV)

We’s-dumb

Another word Christians should re-claim from the world is ‘wisdom.’  Today wisdom is taught to be ‘applied knowledge,’ or the result of experience, or being clever politically, economically, or relationally. 

But that is not wisdom.  Wisdom, in fact, is nearly the opposite of those things.  We find wisdom only in acknowledging how much more God is than us.  He knows all, understands all, and declares what all truth is. 

Wisdom is found in humbly clinging to Him for knowledge, Him for understanding, and Him for truth.

The world calls this naïve.

But we know it is dumb to do anything else.

Wisdom says cling to the cross, not your win-loss record for salvation.  Wisdom says love like Jesus loves us, not only when it benefits us.  Wisdom says be amazed at God’s power, glory, and goodness, instead of being impressed with our attempts to be like Him.

We are peculiar, we know wisdom.

Listen

When God sent the prophet Haggai to them, they paid attention to him. In listening to Haggai, they honored God. (Haggai 1:12 The Message)

Listen

God had been troubling His people in response to their ignoring Him.  In the time of Haggai (around 520 BC) the Jews had returned from the Babylonian captivity, but had neglected to start work on rebuilding the temple.  The task was too hard.  They were broke.  They had so many more urgent tasks.

So what did God do?  God sent His word, in the voice of the prophet Haggai.  And they listened.  And they did what God had directed them to do.  Because they were God’s people, they were able to listen, hear, be challenged, and do.

We can listen, too.  The entire Bible is God’s word to His people.  We, too, might find the task of love too hard.  We, too, might find our resources are not enough to fund kingdom work.  We, too, might be overwhelmed with today’s urgent tasks.

But we can listen.

And when we do, we can rebuild His temple, His kingdom, His people.

We are peculiar, we can listen.

Trophies

They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,  “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. ‘ (Revelation 4:10, 11 ESV)

Trophies

Ronald Reagan played Notre Dame footballer George Gipp in a film about Notre Dame’s greatest coach, Knute Rockne.  While Rockne was Notre Dame’s first football star, later invented the forward pass, and is credited with starting Notre Dame’s football Dynasty, in American culture he is best known for the inspiring speech to “win this one for the Gipper.”  The  team, facing their toughest opponent yet, but without the great George Gipp, who had been suddenly taken out of the football picture, heard Rockne’s words and of course, won the unwinnable game.

Rockne knew that having something outside of ourselves to fight for can make all the difference.

John saw Christians not only placing our burdens at the foot of the cross, but also our crowns!  Like Rockne’s Fighting Irish, it can inspire us to know that we are not striving for ourselves, but to give God glory and honor, and display HIS power.

We are peculiar, when we win, we win for Jesus.

Enmity

…the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. (2 Samuel 2:1 ESV)

‘

Enmity

David is astonishing in his praise of Saul, the man who had kept David from his crown, attempted murder, blamed David for everything, and hated David.

When Saul died, David avenged his death, grieved, and wrote a song praising the person we whose death we would expect David to gloat over.

David seems to have every righteous right to rejoice over his enemy’s defeat, to gloat over his victory, to dance on his grave. But…

Perhaps David understood that hating is draining.  Revenge is costly.  Death is always a loss for humanity.

Perhaps David, whose heart was in tune with the Lord, knew that life with the Lord changes everything. 

Perhaps David had even been able to surrender his enmity, his hatred, his revenge to His God.

Our hatred is draining.  Our revenge is costly.  Death stings.  But we can unload our enmity, vengeance, gloating, bitterness, and hatred unto the Lord, too. 

Like David, we can let God handle it.  Like David, we can trust God will declare His victory, which is so much better than ours.  Like David, we can have a heart towards the Lord.

We are peculiar, we do not need to have enemies.

Compassion

You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. (Exodus 23:19b ESV)

Compassion

I admit this is a peculiar verse.  I have wondered if God’s prohibition of boiling a young goat in this way had some medical value.  But it does not appear to be the case.  I have wondered if God was giving this command as a way to set His people apart, like Sabbath-keeping, as in, ‘ONLY my people do not boil their baby goats like that.’  But this does not really appear to be a distinctive of God’s people, ancient or modern.  I have wondered if God spoke those words as an indication that every bit of our lives are subject to God’s laws.  While we are subject to His laws, this command does not seem to be a part of that.

In fact, I have come to believe that God gave this command as a display of His compassion, and to inspire us to compassion, too.

This verse does not speak against eating the meat of young goats.  As cute as they are, they are also nutritious food.  But to cook that young goat in the very milk provided by her mother for her sustenance could be seen as cold-hearted. 

And so, God was compassionate.  Not simply to the goat.  But to us, watching.  To the children who love that goat.  To all of us who need a reminder to be both practical and kind.  To be both pragmatic and understanding.  To be both realistic and compassionate.

And also because God is so very compassionate to us, in Christ Jesus..

Your Gospel

Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—  to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:25-27 ESV)

Your Gospel

As Paul concludes his letter to the Romans, he writes some amazing things about God’s gospel.  He calls it a mystery FINALLY revealed.  He calls it something under the direct control of the almighty God Himself.  He calls it attached to God eternal, making God’s gospel a reflection of God’s wisdom, power, and infinity.

But surprisingly, we read one tiny English word in all that articulation that takes my breath away. 

Paul calls that gospel his own.

Not because Paul had just written this book.

But because gospel, the good news of salvation, the mystery and power revealed was personal.

The gospel is not a distant philosophy to be pondered.  The gospel is not a metaphysical truth to be contemplated.  The gospel is not an ungraspable Spirit entwined cloudy concept to be observed.

It is salvation to be experienced.

We are peculiar, it is our gospel, too.

Silence

Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near; (Zephaniah 1:7 ESV)

Silence

I have been known to talk too much.  When I am nervous, sometimes I chatter.  When I am insecure, sometimes I babble.  When I am afraid, sometimes I blather.

But I do not need to do those things when approaching God.

When troubles arise, when pains provoke, when fears loom, when worries overwhelm, I do not need to chatter to God, babble to God, or blather to God.

He hears my silent prayers, too.

In fact, a humble silence might be the right stance.  An awe-filled listening might be the right attitude.  A broken bowing might be the right thing.

We do not need to shout, dance about, wave our arms, yell, or yodel to be with God.

We are peculiar, we can be silent.  He already knows.

Safe

Things are going to get worse before they get better. But don’t worry. I’ll keep you alive through the whole business.  (Jeremiah 45:5 The Message)

Safe

A few years ago, I had a great pair of boots.  They had steel toes, they were waterproofed, they had snug laces, and the treads were fantastic.

I wore them during some work outside while in a storm.  Water was raging around my knees, sharp and blunt objects were buffeting my feet, and I could not see where I was standing.  But I was not afraid.  Because of my boots.

Baruch, a noble scribe for God during Jerusalem’s fall (around 600 bc) lived in terrifying times.  Enemy soldiers had captured Jerusalem, and Baruch was afraid. 

But God promised he would be safe.

God’s promises are even better than my old boots.

And God has told us the same thing God told Baruch.  He says, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”  (Hebrews 13:5 ESV)

We are peculiar, we are safer than boots.

Real Love

And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments.  (II John 6)

Real Love

If we believe Romcoms, Hallmark, or modern music, love is a confusing, slippery, and impossible thing.  It would seem that love is an uncontrollable emotion, something that hurts, or a cosmic joke with a sad punchline.

But John describes love as something graspable, doable, and obtainable.  We love, he says, not by cultivating a mushy feeling, finding just the right person, or persistence.  We love by obeying God.

God’s commandments instruct us to put ‘someone else’ ahead of ourselves.  God’s commandments ask that we choose the rights and needs of ‘someone else’ above our own.  God’s commandments direct us use the pronouns you, he, she, them, and y’all more than we use I and me.

As hard as those things are to do… it is understandable and graspable.

And the only way to know that kind of love is through Christ.  He fixes our disobedience and enables our obedience.

In other words, He lets us love and be loved.

We are peculiar, we have real love.

Avenger

Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard. (Nahum 2:13 ESV)

Avenger

God saying, “I am against you” has to be among the worst things human ears could hear.  These words are not spoken to Christians, though.

They were spoken to the God-opposing Empire based in Ninevah.  The people and government of Ninevah had historically, regularly, and pragmatically worked against God’s decrees, God’s nation, and God’s people.  Even more, for a time after Jonah’s preaching, they claimed to follow God, but had turned against Him again.

And no one can stand against God.

This is the message of God against His enemies.  He’s going to burn your best weapons, mock your symbols, and remove your sources of income.  Your very voice will be silenced.

Wow.  Do not be in that group.

Today, while we might be tempted to apply this type of declaration to nations that appear to wear Ninevah’s robes, these words and God’s wrath are not aimed there.

While closely associated, today it is more philosophies, religions, worldviews, and principles that God will destroy… soon and constantly.

Philosophies lifting up false gods like statism, humanism, and materialism.  Religions denying the Christ and His gospel of Christ Alone.  Worldviews that mock the One True Living God.  And principles that are not based on Scripture and Scripture alone.  These things, and folk attached to them (whether individually or as a nation) are doomed.

But Christians are not.  God is not against us, in fact, Immanuel!  God is WITH us. 

When God declares His wrath we might think WE should be afraid.  Because we might actually deserve God’s anger for attitudes, thoughts, and actions worked against God.  But Christ bears God’s wrath on our behalf. And we are not in the wrong group.  We are in God’s kingdom, the church.

We are peculiar, God’s threats are not against us.

Condemnation

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1 ESV)

Condemnation

Paul does not say there is no sin, or unrighteousness, or guilt.

The difference between guilt and condemnation is vast.

Guilt arises, in the judge’s eyes, because the guilty party did something wrong.  Our feelings of guilt do not matter.  We might feel guilty, but not be guilty.  We might not feel guilty, but still be guilty. 

But condemnation occurs when authority passes sentence on someone’s guilt.  Because of guilt, authority imposes and declares serious consequences.

For Christians, while we are guilty, God condemned Christ instead of us.

Note that Paul is not saying that no condemnation took place.  He is not saying that God is nicey-nice, and is no longer holy or just.  Paul is saying that our condemnation already took place. So now there is no more condemnation for us.

We are peculiar, Christ was condemned instead of us.

Home

Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land. (Jeremiah 40:6 ESV)

Home

Jeremiah had been unjustly imprisoned, scoffed at for preaching God’s truth, and stripped of authority, position, and possessions.  When finally released by a kind guard after Judea had been defeated and carried off to captivity, Jeremiah would have been justified in giving up and finding a safe cave to live in.  He could have chosen discouragement, thrown up his hands, and given up.

But he knew his job.  He found some remaining Judeans, made his new home, and got back to work.

Jesus did the same thing.  Jesus was more ill-treated than Jeremiah, but never stopped His work.  Jesus, more than merely bringing God’s Word, He WAS God’s Word, was laughed at, derided, and ultimately ignored.  But Jesus never gave up.   Jesus suffered for His message, suffered as God’s message, and suffered through God’s message.  But Jesus endured to the end, through the end, and after the end.

Jesus, killed at the back door of what legitimately could be called His home, finds His people, makes us His home, and never stopped working.

And we can do that, too.  When rejected, scoffed at for our faith, hated for Jesus’ sake, or ignored when speaking the truth, remember Jeremiah and Jesus.

Home is not a building.  It is not even sentimentally, ‘where the heart is.’ Home is where God’s people need us.  And where our work of the gospel continues.  Go home, stay home, find home, and do your job… point people to Jesus.

We are peculiar, we have a permanent home.

Perspective

 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.  So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard (I Samuel 21:12,13 ESV)

Perspective

David had been named King of Israel by Samuel.  David was a military hero of great renown.  David was a young, popular, attractive celebrity of his day.

But he let all those things go in service to David’s God.

He knew that staying alive until God finished establishing his kingship was more important than David’s popularity.  He knew that being laughed at was better than being drawn-and-quartered.  He knew that having his spotlight change from praise to ridicule was better than being captured and killed.

He was willing to give up everything in service to God.

And we can have that same perspective.  Nothing in our lives is more important than pointing people to Jesus.  We have nothing, whether money, vehicles, land, collectables, friends, or our reputation, that is more important than pointing people to Jesus.  Like David, our reputation in God’s eyes is more important than our reputation in anyone else’s eyes.

Let that take the pressure off you.

We are peculiar, we can have God’s perspective.

Subjects

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (I Peter 2:13-15 ESV)

Subject

Yes, the Romans had great roads, but the civil government was corrupt, violent, and selfish.  Yes, the Romans unified Europe for a time, but the empire oppressed minorities, silenced disagreement with a sword, and never let anyone leave.  Yes, the Romans provided a peace of sorts, but the Emperors and their minions tortured and executed legions of Christians.

I would not have enjoyed living in the Roman Empire.  Unless I had been the Emperor…

But Peter reminds those living under Rome, that they are subject to Roman authority.  Unlike Paul, Peter does not point out that God is the puppet-master of nations, but instead Peter tells us that obedience to our government, even oppressive governments, is an opportunity for witness by submission.

Sometimes we Americans think our government is oppressive (compared to Rome it was not.)  Sometimes we Americans think we live in danger (compared to Roman Christians, we do not.)  Sometimes we Americans think our government hates Christians (compared to most of the emperors, they do not.)

But whether Rome was worse than Washington, or vice versa, does not really matter. We have a chance to display Christ favorably to our co-citizens.  Peter does not require us to be doormats, to blithely watch our fought-for rights disappear, or to obey unrighteous commands.  But he does tell us to remember that we are subject… for evangelistic reasons.

Peter did not have the opportunities we do for peaceful, constitutional, legal overthrow of any present government.  We can vote, he could not. And Peter’s words do not prohibit that.

But he puts things in a different light.  Even living under oppressive governments provides opportunity to display a righteousness of obedience.  Even living with a threat of persecution provides an opportunity to point people to the provider of freedom.  Even living with a million reasons to fear provides an opportunity to embrace and be embraced by the solution to all fear:  Jesus, the real king.

We are peculiar, we can suffer as subjects for Jesus’ sake.