After the Party

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Monday, March 25, 2019

Again the Lord spoke to me and said, “I have discovered a conspiracy against me among the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  They have returned to the sins of their ancestors.  They have refused to listen to me and are worshiping other gods.  Israel and Judah have both broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.  Therefore, this is what the Lord says:  I am going to bring calamity upon them, and they will not escape.  Though they beg for mercy, I will not listen to their cries.  Then the people of Judah and Jerusalem will pray to their idols and burn incense before them.  But the idols will not save them when disaster strikes!  Look now, people of Judah; you have as many gods as you have towns.  You have as many altars of shame—altars for burning incense to your god Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.  “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah.  Do not weep or pray for them, for I will not listen to them when they cry out to me in distress.  “What right do my beloved people have to come to my Temple, when they have done so many immoral things?  Can their vows and sacrifices prevent their destruction?  They actually rejoice in doing evil!  I, the Lord, once called them a thriving olive tree, beautiful to see and full of good fruit.  But now I have sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken.  “I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed.  For the people of Israel and Judah have done evil, arousing my anger by burning incense to Baal.”  Jeremiah 11:9-17

While we’re deeply-immersed in the Season of Lent, the Scriptures abound in darkness.  There is little joy in Jeremiah’s weeping over God declaring imminent judgment coming against Israel and Judah for their sins.  However, the entire theme of Lent is judgment for sins!  Therefore, Lent is a time to recognize when the party is over.  It’s a time for introspection, the evaluation of our lives in light of God’s holiness.  Part of that reflection is a look at what’s left after the party.

Don Meredith was an NFL quarterback, who, after his retirement, became Howard Cosell’s booth partner on Monday Night Football.  In the last few moments of most of those Monday night games, recognizing the losing team’s chances of winning had slipped-away, Meredith would break-into song, crooning in his Texas-best country singer impression:  turn-out the lights, the party’s over.  Anyone who has ever partied a little too hard the night before knows the price of that indulgence, groggy headache, queasiness and general despising living at all.  As my late friend Homer Rothrock used to say, there ain’t much romance in it!

There are some alarming parallels between the behavior and attitudes of God’s special people, Israel during Jeremiah’s time, and the current generation in our land.  Both Israel and America were birthed as a knee-jerk to oppression.  Both began as highly moral covenant people, called to live in freedom and respect for their Creator.  Both eventually fell into sin, and had to be called to the judgment bar. 

The parallel most disturbing to me is that of idolatry, giving what belongs to God to anyone or anything else; those things being fidelity in worship, obedience in behavior, and hearts of love, mercy and compassion towards each other.  Israel incorporated worshipping the local gods (including the fertility god Baal) in their religious ceremonies.  They did this for political reasons, making sure to offend no one.  As a covenant people they were bound to the one, true, living God; as sinners they gave away that heritage to cultic worship forms that took away their vows.  Baal is not just the name, it describes the relationship; in the Semitic languages it always means owner.  And that’s what sin is…it owns you.

It’s hard to miss the parallels between Israel and America; we bow at the altar of materialism, pleasing everyone who demands “rights” in the name of tolerance.  We elevate portrayers of violence, sexual perversion, evil behavior, and too many other expressions of the seven deadly sins that would overflow this short devotion.  Worship in America’s churches has become optional, out-of-date, or not relevant.  All the while anger, violence, dissipation, and deceit have replaced kindness, holiness, and self-discipline.

For You Today

Jeremiah was instructed to NOT pray for Israel; they had passed the point of no-return.  I do pray for our nation that we have not joined the parallel completely!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com

[ii] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

When Tolerance Grows Up into Spiritual Maturity

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Friday, December 15, 2017

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection.  But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing:  Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.  Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things.  If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.  But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.  Philippians 3:12-16^(NLT)

Paul takes the humble position of allowing for his own human fragility.  In one of his other letters (to the Corinthian church) Paul stated it clearly that when he let go of having to control everything – letting God do what God does – his weakness became the effective mighty power of God.[2]

Rather than trying to be “strong” in his own abilities, Paul desired to put the past behind and focus on what God was doing.  Henry Blackaby’s Bible study Experiencing God calls that mindset locating where God is working and cooperating with Him.  

The important point is that Paul understood, even in a wonderfully vibrant fellowship like the church at Philippi, there were going to be disagreements; that is inevitable with human beings!  What Paul wanted to stress was that even in the most controversial of differing opinions genuine spiritual maturity will not lose sight of the goal.

Tolerance has been an overly-accepted word in our vernacular the past several decades.  It hangs like a Behavior Storm Trooper over the entire culture.  We are expected to tolerate others’ viewpoints; in fact, we are expected to surpass tolerance to the degree that all people’s ideas and values are considered equally valid.  That may be high-sounding, but it is dangerous.  For instance, the person that holds an idea that thirty-five cents in his pocket is enough to buy a new car is going to have a huge problem when it comes to the Mercedes dealer allowing him to drive a $63,000 E-Class SUV off the lot for that price; not all ideas are equal!  There will be conflict…if not arrests!

Tolerance can also tip the scale toward arrogance.  Check into a discussion between a Christian conservative and a Christian progressive and you will not have to wait long before the accusations and tempers begin to fly.  The same holds true for liberal and conservative political discussions. 

What Paul suggests is spiritual maturity.  Hear it again from the apostle:

If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.  But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. 

Holding on to the progress already made is a matter of not losing your Christian cool!  It means being willing to be weak personally so that God’s Spirit can be strong in the middle of strengthening relationships.  It means in spite of a disagreement you’re willing to wait for God to make things clear.  A dear friend of mine made that point with me after he’d witnessed my prolonging a heated discussion with another believer.  He said:  You know, Russell, you don’t have to have an answer for everything!

This is the essence of spiritual maturity – when you refuse to take personal offense over a disagreement.  When someone wants to get in your face and turn up the volume, you can turn the other cheek and offer graciousness; if not, you disown the opportunity to build-up the person who disagrees with you. 

And if you’re simply (and arrogantly) tolerating someone’s ideas (because in your humble opinion he or she is an idiot) your attitude towards them can only bring deeper separation and fuel the angry fires of misunderstanding.

So, as Paul also said:

…but we are to hold to the truth with love in our hearts.  We are to grow up and be more like Christ.  He is the leader of the church.  Ephesians 4:15^(NLV)

For You Today

Growing-up into the likeness of Christ – keep that in focus!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] 1 Corinthians 12:10

What Were You Thinking?

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Monday, November 13, 2017

But they kept testing and rebelling against God Most High.  They did not obey his laws.  They turned back and were as faithless as their parents.  They were as undependable as a crooked bow.  They angered God by building shrines to other gods; they made him jealous with their idols.  When God heard them, he was very angry, and he completely rejected Israel.  Then he abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh, the Tabernacle where he had lived among the people.  He allowed the Ark of his might to be captured; he surrendered his glory into enemy hands.  He gave his people over to be butchered by the sword, because he was so angry with his own people—his special possession.  Their young men were killed by fire; their young women died before singing their wedding songs.  Their priests were slaughtered, and their widows could not mourn their deaths..  Psalm 78:56-64^(NLT)

The re-telling of Israel’s history is magnificent and painful.  The Psalmist begins with the nation’s beginning, release from Egypt and the Exodus.  From there he traces the roller-coaster pattern of ups and downs as the people of God alternately walk in faith, followed by blind unbelief and blatant disobedience to the God who saved them. 

The people of God constantly made a farce of being God’s chosen, and whenever I read the account of our spiritual ancestors I am always consumed by two thoughts: 

#1. What were you thinking?

And then I’m caught short by the other thought:

#2. Who am I kidding…I’m just like them!

God understands us more than we understand ourselves, which is why He had Moses write ALL of Israel’s history…victories when they obeyed and followed God, as well as the crushing defeats and consequences when they wandered away from Him in unbelief.  We get the heroes and utter failures, warts and all!

And God had Paul the Apostle write down the reason for this full disclosure:

These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.  1 Corinthians 10:11^(NLT)

When you take these facts together you understand that God is not interested in PR, political correctness, or what humans think about the way God acted in history.  Rather, God is interested in how humans respond to Him in obedience and service.

That doesn’t much resonate with today’s emphasis on everybody getting to be soothed with having all their tender feelings stroked, and the ultra-goofiness of having every silly thought or lifestyle more than tolerated…even validated…but God isn’t interested in all that.  God is still interested in how we will honor, respect, and serve the One who created us, and died for the forgiveness of our sins.

If that offends, we can only offer the same condolence we render to the childishness of Israel…what were you thinking?

For You Today

It is better to serve God faithfully, to heed the warning of Scripture’s full-disclosure of the sins of human giants like Moses, David and Peter, than to repeat their mistakes!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

The Trouble With Buffet Faith

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Wednsday, October 11, 2017

“The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build.  The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce.  You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant.  When you have eaten your fill in this land, be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.  You must fear the Lord your God and serve him.  When you take an oath, you must use only his name.  “You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations, for the Lord your God, who lives among you, is a jealous God.  His anger will flare up against you, and he will wipe you from the face of the earth.  You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah.  You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given you.  Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you.  Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors.  You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the Lord said you would.  “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?’  “Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand.  The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people.  He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors.  And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day.  For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.’  

Deuteronomy 6:10-25^(NLT)

It seems buffet faith is quite popular these days.  People claim to be spiritual, but not religious.  In a sense that’s good, not falling back into ritual for the sake of getting religious duties out of the way, so you can get on with what you really want to do.  However, a buffet approach to faith isn’t much better, where you take a little bit of this or that into your belief…whatever scratches the itch, so to speak…mix & match different appealing combinations of faith until you have a plateful.  That may work as a handy source of party chatter, but it will fail you in the middle of the night when life begins to fall apart.

Now, don’t misread this – I am quite comfortable with the idea of “tolerance” – meaning I will not presume to push my faith down anyone else’s throat; but tolerating can never be confused with validating or agreement with another’s belief system. 

In our Scripture today you would notice God took great pains to make sure Israel understood they were to keep their faith razor sharp, not letting other gods creep into their worship.  That wasn’t intolerance; that was making certain their faith didn’t fall apart and leave them as spiritual orphans, having a name of being Godly, and no real connection with the God who had saved them from bondage down in Egypt. 

Buffet-style religion or faith systems don’t come near a vibrant relationship with God, made possible by Jesus’ death on the cross.  Scripture declares that we cannot purchase that relationship – it is offered without any fees, shipping or handling.  But, it IS conditional; we come with the understanding that it is God, Creator, sustainer and sovereign of the universe we serve, and Him only.   

Over and again Scripture tells us to keep every worldly and false influence at bay so you worship God alone.  As one example, after years of leading Israel to conquer the Promised Land, Joshua was about to turn in his retirement papers; he stood and addressed all the people one more time about being clear in their worship of Almighty God:

But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve.  Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates?  Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live?  But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”  

Joshua 24:15^(NLT)

For You Today

If you’ve been worshipping at the faith buffet, it’s time to go on a diet!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com