something more?

Jackson Pollock, "The Key"
1946 (270 Kb); Oil on canvas, 59 x 84 in; The Art Institute of Chicago

Habbakuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4
For Sunday, October 7, 2007 (Year C, Proper 22)

The book of Habbakuk raises a question most of us ask at one time or another: “God, if you are out there, why do you tolerate so much violence and injustice?” God’s first answer doesn’t seem very helpful: “… Well, one thing I can tell you is that I’m sending some really bad people to punish the moderately bad people you are concerned about.” Habakkuk responds, “God, eh… this really seems out of character for you.” Then he turns to us and says, “Well let’s see what God does with that!”

God responds, “Okay, I’ll tell you more. The real issue is this: will you be someone who lives an arrogant, puffed up life, ‘but the righteous will live by his faith.’”

What does it really mean ‘to live by one’s faith’? The literal sense in the Hebrew of this verse is: “the righteous by his faithfulness (or fidelity, firmness, steadiness) will live.” The emphasis is clearly on the idea of faithfulness. With the hindsight of gospel, the meaning might be well-rendered as “living in fidelity to the grace of Christ”. If you have responded to Christ’s offer of forgiveness of your sins, then your sins have been forgiven, and you are now living a life of grace. Given the profundity of this blessing, are you living in fidelity to it? Am I?

The Apostle Paul thought this verse important enough to make it a key quote in his own letters to the Romans (1:17) and the Galatians (3:11). The author of the letter to the Hebrews thought likewise (Heb. 10:38).

Here then is the ‘so what’: don’t let the violence and injustice which God as yet tolerates distract you from the real question: what are you living for? … For your own insatiable arrogance, or for something more?

hope for distressed property

Anata (Anathoth), Hill Country, Judea.
Original steel engraving drawn by W. H. Bartlett,
engraved by E. Brandard. ca 1850. 19x13cm

Jeremiah 32:1-15
For Sun. Sept. 30, Year C, Proper 21

Things could not have looked worse. The Babylonians were at the city gates besieging Jerusalem, the single remaining bastion of God’s people in the world. Jeremiah had said the Babylonians would come, and that resistance was futile. The king at the time, Zedekiah, being a fan of the power of positive thinking, would have none of this, and threw Jeremiah in prison. But as the Babylonians pressed the attack, a flustered Zedekiah went back to Jeremiah, and with exasperation exclaimed, “Why do you prophesy as you do!”

Jeremiah responds with a story of how he came into possession of a little piece of real estate in Anathoth, just north of Jerusalem. The point of the was also an answer to Zedekiah’s exasperation:

For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land. – Jeremiah 32:15

Do you happen to find yourself in bleak circumstances that leave you feeling exasperated? Maybe you are a President of a world superpower that has just learned of North Korean nuclear s material half-way around the world in Syria. Maybe you are a spouse who sees no hope for a difficult marriage. Maybe you are facing a terminal illness. Maybe you’ve completely lost your way vocationally. To you God says, “Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”

So it came to pass for the Jews, who were allowed to return to their homeland a mere 50 years after the fall of Jerusalem when King Cyrus, the Persian who had conquered the Babylonians, declared their freedom to return in 536 B.C. So it will come to pass for us as we trust and obey our Heavenly Father.

So will it also come to pass for the world itself. Just as Jeremiah himself may have been the one to open the sealed title to the property he purchased fifty years earlier, so will Jesus open the sealed title to the whole world, which is the property he purchased on Calvary:

When I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" . . . Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. (Rev. 5:1-5)

the work of ministry

Rembrandt, "The Apostle Paul in Prison",
1627, oil on panel, 72.8 x 60.3 cm, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart

1 Timothy 2:1-7
For Sunday, Sept. 23 (Proper 20)

At first glance it may seem that Paul's thinking here is, well... off. "I urge that prayers be made for everyone - for kings." Is that everyone Paul? Is that everyone that matters?

Paul's thinking isn't off: he's just busy doing the work of ministry. In Paul's hand, compressed a bit by the urgencies of the moment, here is what the work of ministry entails:

• engaging in prayer
• remembering the stakes
• pursuing one's calling

Engaging in prayer means more than a peremptory "God bless this mess". In verse one Paul actually refers to four different kinds of prayer that might be interpreted like this: 'Requests', referring to individual prayer concerning what is on the immediate forefront of one's heart; 'prayers', referring to planned individual and corporate times of prayer; 'intercession', referring to seeking positive change in one's sphere of influence by talking with God about it; and finally, 'thanksgiving', referring to thanking God for his past, present, and future help as one ministers. If churches began to be as intentional about prayer as they are about what is often considered the real work of ministry - programming - oooh . . . imagine the possibilities.

Remembering the stakes means remembering that that there is truth to be known; that there is only "one mediator" between God and men; that this mediator, Jesus, gave his life to ransom us from our captivity to sin; and that we live in the exciting time in which God's plan for delivering his people is both known and revealed. If Christianity is just one lifestyle option among many, then pardon me, but I have better things to do with my time. But just as Jesus staked his own life on what he claimed, and just as Paul staked his entire ministry on what Jesus claimed, so will I stake everything on the identity and resurrection of Jesus.

Pursuing one's calling means being clear about what one's specific ministry is to be about. For Paul, his ministry was all about being "a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles." What about you, and what about me? What is our ministry to be about? If we aren't sure, then let's go back to point "1" on prayer and work it through, shall we? :-)

Remember finally that this work of ministry is not just for pastors. It's also for priests. "Phew... I thought for a minute there you were going to say for everyone." I did: remember the 'priesthood of all believers'? Thus Paul says to us, "I urge you..."

is there no balm in Gilead?

Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1
For Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007 (Proper 20)

"Is there no balm in Gilead?" Were Jeremiah living here he might have put it this way: "Is there no beer in Milwaukee?" (Milwaukee also has great kringle, brats, and crullers, but that is for another post.)

This is one of those biblical phrases that is vaguely familiar but for reasons unknown. I did some checking. The balm of Gilead can be found in some interesting cultural places: Gilead, Maine; Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven"; and in Mark Twain's _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, in which Aunt Polly fancies herself "the balm of Gilead in disguise". I know people like that!

As indicated on the map above, Gilead was just northwest of Judah. It had become famous for the balm made from the resin of a small tree that grew well there. This balm was thought to have healing properties. Apparently, The Jewish historian Josephus claimed that this tree was first brought to the region from Arabia as a gift of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon.

So, now that we're more familiar with the balm of Gilead, what's Jeremiah's point? Namely, that not even the balm of Gilead could heal the spiritual wounds Jeremiah saw all around him. It's hard to watch people you love suffer.

Yet as bad as things get, God never gives up. Where even the balm of Gilead will fail, there is another balm that will prevail:

"The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel (the kingdom that fell already) and with the house of Judah (the kingdom that was about to fall). . . I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. . . For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jer. 31:31-34)

Are you feeling wounded today? Know that the balm of the gospel is available. There is a physician in the house: his name is Jesus. Today, may his law be in your mind and his law written on your heart. You are now among the people of God, in a place in which you can heal.

don't be fooled

Rembrandt. The Prophet Jeremiah Mourning over the Destruction of Jerusalem.

1630. Oil on panel. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
For Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007 (Proper 19)

There is a stream of thought that thinks a loving God couldn't possibly bring condemnation to anyone and that somehow we'll all pull through. Don't be fooled. Judgment came to the northern kingdom of Israel with the fall of its capitol Samaria to the Assyrians in 721 B.C. Despite this, the people of the southern kingdom refused to repent:

My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good. (Jer. 18:22)

This appears to be a deeply innate human tendency. I found confirming evidence this morning in my garage. I've been very clear with my boys about the importance of putting the garbage lids back on the containers, and keeping any garbage sealed up. Otherwise, one is libel to arrive home discovering that our dog Godfrey (that he is a family namesake makes it all the more painful) has decorated the driveway with various accoutrements of trash. At times they appear to be senseless children that have no understanding!

Judgment did come to the southern kingdom with the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Judgment will also come to the entire earth:

The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.

So what . . . ? Here is the so what:

O Jerusalem (a.k.a. people of God, a.k.a. dear reader) wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?

. . . Don't be fooled. Fortunately for us, there is still time.

don't be evil

Jeremiah 18:1-11
for Sept. 9, 2007 (Proper 18)

Google's corporate motto is "don't be evil". Given the widely shared perception that most corporations are just that, Google's PR Director must be a genius (or recently hired).

"Don't be evil" is the message of Jeremiah 18. "Well, no, (huff huff), of course not!" we reply. Yet might there be evil lurking deep in our hearts - evil that has been there so long that we no longer even take notice?

This chapter provides an easy way for us to make a self-diagnosis: evil manifests itself as stubbornness; stubbornness manifests itself as an independent spirit; an independent spirit manifests itself as a refusal to repent.

Yet note that what is really at the source of all of this is ... 'evil'. Let me now trace this back in my own heart. Am I one that thinks the notion of repentance is either silly or doesn't apply to me? If so, am I one that prefers to set my own course? If so, is my independent spirit due to stubbornness? If so, is my stubbornness in fact due to evil that I'm allowing to reside deep in my heart?

Neither individuals nor nations can afford to harbor such evil, for it leads to inevitable destruction. Yet the individual or nation that repents makes itself malleable once again in the potters' hands. Such clay can be made profoundly useful and beautiful in an instant. Hope then remains: just don't be evil.