Comes with the Territory

Posted on 17 August, 2011 by Jon Gleason

No person or organisation should be forced to be involved in or to approve of same-sex marriages.

That is the wording of a motion in the Scottish Parliament which has been branded “anti-gay”, “bizarre”, and “spurious”.  A homosexual MSP is now calling for “full and dispassionate” debate.

I’d like to propose some additional motions.

No person or organisation should be forced to be involved in or to approve of Christian worship.

I hope no one labels me anti-Christian or bizarre for suggesting such a motion.

No person or organisation should be forced to be involved in or to approve of heterosexual marriages.

I hope no one labels me anti-heterosexual or bizarre.

From the Abortion Act (1967):

4.-(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, no person shall be under any duty, whether by contract or by any statutory objection to or other legal requirement, to participate in any treatment authorised by this Act to which he has a conscientious objection: Provided that in any legal proceedings the burden of proof of conscientious objection shall rest on the person claiming to rely on it.

There is precedent in UK law for provisions exempting those who, as a matter of conscience, are opposed to taking part in actions which they believe to be morally wrong.  It is not “spurious” to suggest that such protections need to be in place, as two Roman Catholic nurses had to go to court recently to be exempted from taking part in abortions.

Why are people opposed to freedom of conscience?  Jesus said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18).  We aren’t surprised, but we do recognise this for what it is.  It really is hateful to try to force someone to take part in something which they believe to be immoral, and it is hateful to call it “anti-gay” or “bizarre” when someone tries to protect against such compulsion.

Yes, the government should protect our freedom of conscience.  We should not be expected to condone or take part in that which the Bible says is wrong.  We have the right and the responsibility to ask our representatives to protect us from compulsive laws against God’s law.  However, the real danger for Christians is not that we will face opposition and even persecution.  That comes with the territory if you are going to truly follow Christ (II Timothy 3:12).  The real danger for us is to forget that Jesus told us to love those who make themselves our enemies, and to forget that He told us to rejoice in the face of persecution.

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Three Overarching Instructions

Posted on 15 August, 2011 by Jon Gleason

In continuing my series of sermons on Romans 12, this week we looked at Romans 12:9.

We’ve seen previously that in verse one Paul exhorts his readers to become living sacrifices, for that is the logical act of worship which flows out of all that Christ has done for them.  Then, verse two tells us to stop being conformed to the world, fitting with the world’s way of doing things, and be transformed, changed in our very essence and nature.  This transformation comes by the renewing of our mind for the purpose of enabling us to know, approve, and act on God’s will for us.

In verses 3-8, Paul dealt with a particular area in which our minds need to be renewed, the area of right thinking in relation to other believers.  We are to put aside pride for service.  In fact, pride is a form of insanity!

This week, we move on to verse nine, where we find three overarching principles or instructions.  Our text:

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

A few years ago, our family had the privilege of visiting the south of France, and we went to Orange and saw the Roman arch, probably built by Caesar Augustus.

An arch, obviously, goes over something.  In this triumphal arch, you can walk underneath it and look up over your head, and see a construction that has stood for two millenia.  The Romans clearly knew how to build things to last, didn’t they?  When you walked under the arch, with inscriptions and reliefs showing Roman military victories, you were beneath the authority of Roman military might.

Whoever might be the local governor, the functionary who carried out Roman law, the principle was the main thing — you are a subject of Rome, and you answer to Rome.  If you are obedient to Rome, you do not need to fear Roman military might, and everything will fall into line.  If you rebel against Rome, you are going to have trouble.

Side note:  in fact, this is true no matter who Caesar might be.  The principle was Roman authority, not any one Caesar’s personal authority.  Caesar changed?  The arch is still there.  We found it interesting, in the Roman theatre at Orange, that the statue of Caesar was headless.  That made it easy and inexpensive when Caesar died (or was replaced, which generally meant the same thing:  he died).  Just carve new heads and send them around the empire, pop a new head on Caesar’s statue, and everything is fine.  Government budget cuts are not a new phenomenon, I guess. 🙂 (We found it ironic that the Roman Empire required Caesar worship.  How ludicrous to worship a statue with a changeable head!)  This side note brought to you at no extra charge….

As I looked at verse nine, I concluded that this verse gives over-arching principles, instructions that stand over all the others that follow.  Just as, if you accepted Roman authority, everything else was likely to fall in place and you’d be fine in Orange in the 1st century A.D., so also, if you get these three overarching principles right, everything else in Romans 12, and indeed in the Christian life, is going to follow along.

Rapid-Fire Instructions

On Saturday, as part of a family birthday celebration, we went up to Fort George for Historic Scotland’s “Celebration of the Centuries” event.  Part of the day included demonstrations of various weapons through the centuries, from swords and spears to slow-loading muskets, which could be fired maybe 2-3 times a minute, to a WW2 machine gun that fired 550 rounds a minute.

To this point, in Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, he’s been unfolding a rigorous logical explanation of the Christian faith, explaining things carefully.  The first half of chapter twelve continues that logical progression, as he explains why we are to be living sacrifices, how this comes about, and how it impacts our relationships and our thoughts towards other believers.

Suddenly, Paul begins dishing out instructions at 550 rounds per minute. 🙂  There’s a sudden shift in style, as if Paul (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) suddenly says, “OK, we’ve talked about a living sacrifice, now here’s what a living sacrifice looks like.  Bang, bang, bang, bang….”

For those interested in grammar, there is no Greek verb in verse nine.  Our translators supplied a verb in the first (central) arch to reflect the obvious imperative content, while the following two instructions are participles, perhaps examples of the Koine Greek use of the participle as imperative.  However one takes the grammar, the context and the content clearly indicate that these are commands or instructions, and the translation reflects that.

Yet, the language here is very abrupt, as if Paul is grabbing the attention of his readers with a sudden series of concisely worded instructions, like a drill sergeant taking his troops through a rapid series of commands to get them to the right place quickly.  A translation that conveys the force of this might be something like this:

The love sincere, detesting the evil, glued to the good.

If every sermon should have three main points, I’m a hopeless preacher, but in this case, even I could manage a three point outline:  Love Without Dissimulation, Abhor Evil, Cleave to Good.

Love Without Dissimulation

“Without dissimulation” is a term rarely used these days.  It means sincere, genuine, not feigned or fake, etc.  The underlying Greek word is derived from the word for hypocrite, and is translated elsewhere in Scripture as “unfeigned”.  We are told here to have genuine love, not fake, insincere, or  hypocritical love.  This is the first, perhaps we might say the central, of the three “arches” in this verse.

We humans don’t do very well at truly sincere love.  We may not be as messed up as Judas was in John 12, when he called for more help for the poor just so he could steal.  But too rarely do we love in complete sincerity.  We are simply too selfish, and our own selfish motives interfere.  The “what I’ll get out of this” too easily comes to the forefront, even if all we are getting out of it is feeling good about ourselves, perhaps a little bit of private pride when we see someone benefit from our actions.

Yet, this expectation of sincere love is a common theme in Scripture.  We see it in II Corinthians 6:6, where Paul, talking of his service and example to the church at Corinth, speaks of “unfeigned love”.  Peter speaks of the same:  “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (I Peter 1:22), as does John:  “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (I John 3:18).

How can we manage this pure, fervent, non-hypocritical love?  Right down at the root of it, at the base of the arch so to speak, we find God’s love for us.  “We love Him, because He first loved us” (I John 4:19).  Our love flows out of His love for us.  The following verses take us a step further:

19 We love him, because he first loved us. 20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

The progression is thus: 1) God loved us.  2) As a result, we love God.  3) As a result, we love our brothers.  At the foundation, we come to that great foundational truth.  God loves us.

You cannot have sincere love until you accept the fact that God loves you.  You won’t have love internalised into your very nature until you internalise God’s love for you.  The greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, but that starts with His love for us.  The second commandment is to love our neighbour, but that starts with God’s love for us, too.  God didn’t wait until we loved Him to start loving us, He loved us when we were sinners, opposed to Him (Romans 5:8).   That’s GRACE, grace by which we have been saved, the grace in which we stand.

The only way we can really be loving with the pure sincere love to which we are called is to really know God’s love.  If you struggle with sincere love, you need to immerse yourself in God’s love.  If He loved you when you were a sinner, going your own way, in rebellion against Him, how much do you think He loves you now?  Sure, we sin against Him.  Of course, we stumble.  We’re weak, and pitiful in our love for Him at times — but His love shines on, even when we stumble, even when we sin.

I’m not making excuses for sin — God certainly doesn’t.  I’m not saying sin doesn’t matter.  We’ll hit that second arch soon enough.  What I am saying is that GOD LOVES US.  If you ever forget that God loves you, you’ve drifted into a very bad place indeed.

If you want to learn to love sincerely, immerse yourself in His love.  Think about it, study it, learn what it means, rejoice in it, remind yourself of all the way He shows it, remind yourself of the Cross over and over again.  God loves you, and loves you, and loves you, and loves you, and true, sincere love flows out of His love.  Ephesians 3:17-19:

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

To comprehend the incomprehensible, the great love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, to be rooted and grounded in love, to really know His great love for us, this is the key to loving Him sincerely, and loving others as well.

If you can really get a grasp, get a handle, on the love of God for you, it will change everything.  You’ll never see the world in the same way again.  Perfect love casts out fear, John wrote, just one verse earlier in I John 4.  Live, breathe, think, meditate, pray, rejoice on God’s love, and by His grace and power, you will live His love as He transforms you.  Then, your love will be “without dissimulation”.

Two more arches to come….

Navigation note:   First in the series:  “Service” in Romans 12:1;  Previous article:  Hyper-Thinking is Insane!  Next article:  Three Overarching Instructions (part two).

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Insert Creative Post Title Here

Posted on 12 August, 2011 by Jon Gleason

Now you know what I’ll call a post when I can’t think of a good name for it. 🙂

I’m short on time, so there probably won’t be a substantive post until Monday or Tuesday.  A couple of things.

First, I’m going to be posting more in the Ambassadors for Christ category, and I’m going to be posting more on the London (and beyond) riots.  I know I’ve got two threads kind of hanging there.

Second, I’ve been at this blog for a month, now, and some of you have been reading along for most of that time.  As my wife Terri says to me, “It’s your blog,” so I’m not going to promise to adopt anyone’s suggestions, but I’ll certainly consider them.  Questions:

  1. Is anyone besides one of my kids bothered that I’m using one of the default WordPress pictures for the top of the blog?  I’m sure I could find something else….
  2. Is there a topic you’d like me to address from a Scriptural perspective?
  3. Is there a Scripture passage you’d like me to tackle?
  4. Is there anything in the way I’m writing that you find distracting or that hinders you from getting my point?

I’m not looking for praise for things people like, but rather constructive criticism of things that could be better.  You could do it in the comments or by using the Contact page at the top.  I’d appreciate any thoughts anyone has.

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Sowing the Wind, Reaping the Whirlwind

Posted on 11 August, 2011 by Jon Gleason

Some years ago, the Glenrothes Gazette ran a weekly column called “Christian Viewpoint”, and I submitted articles for it on an occasional basis.

Eleven years ago this month, the UK was in turmoil.  A young girl had been kidnapped, abused, and murdered by a previously convicted pervert who had been let out of prison and gone back to his evil ways.  The News of the World started a campaign calling for the exposure of “paedophiles” (a horrifying word, for there is no “love” in their evil actions).  People were horrified when “pediatricians” and those who had been falsely accused were forced by rioters to flee their homes.

This week, riots of a different kind have scarred Britain.  I’ll be posting on some of the ways Britain has sowed the wind, and is now reaping the whirlwind.  For today, I’ll just post the article that ran in the Glenrothes Gazette in August 2000.  It isn’t directly applicable to this week’s looting rampages, but the underlying principle is entirely applicable:  rejecting God’s standards eventually brings dire consequences.

Reaping the Whirlwind

Children are kidnapped, abused, and murdered. Convicted and alleged paedophiles commit suicide. Riots in Manchester, Portsmouth, and Plymouth force innocent families, as well as paedophiles, to flee.

God told the children of Israel, “They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” This is what is happening in society today.

The “News of the World” prints pictures of girls intended to arouse sexual desires, and then is outraged when perverts satisfy their desires on girls a little bit younger. They are reaping the whirlwind.

The media pushes sexual gratification as something to be pursued without limits, and then is dismayed when some go beyond what even they consider acceptable. They reap the whirlwind.

Parents and other “responsible” adults buy the tabloids and support the soft pornography that whips up the desires of its readers. They reap the whirlwind of fear that someone will prey on their children.

The government puts perverts into counseling and turns them loose, then is distressed when parents and others no longer trust them for protection and riot in the streets. They, too, reap the whirlwind.

The loving relationship between a husband and wife is one of the most wonderful gifts God has given us. It is not to be paraded in the streets, spread over the tabloids, or displayed on the screen. This cheapens, perverts, and ultimately destroys what God intended.

God’s plan is being ignored. Who needs marriage — you can have a partner (or just pick up someone at the pub for a night)! Why confine yourself — you can be “free”! The whirlwind of AIDS, venereal disease, broken homes, abused children, teenage pregnancy, and perversion sweeps through society. Can anyone honestly deny the connection between sexual “freedom” and the consequences of a sex-crazed society?

God established a standard because He loved us, not because He was cruel. As loving parents limit their children’s behaviour for their own protection, so God’s boundaries protect us. We reject them at our peril, for the whirlwind is growing.

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

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God’s Heart Toward Sinners

Posted on 10 August, 2011 by Jon Gleason

From a comment a couple of days ago:  “…some people make it seem like it’s peaceful and the Christian version of God is all about love and forgiveness while other Christians make it look like being Christian just makes you hateful and arrogant….”

Who is God and who is Jesus Christ?  Or perhaps it is better to ask it this way — who is the God that people will learn about from us?  It has often been said by Christians that “we are the only Christ, we are the only Bible, some people will ever know.”  I’m not enthusiastic about the statement, because Jesus Christ is perfect, and the Bible is perfectly true, and I’m not close to measuring up to that, nor is any other Christian.  But there’s a valid point to the statement.  The Bible says we are “ambassadors for Christ”.  My words, and my very life, should be telling people the truth about Him.

OUR WORDS MUST SHOW JESUS CHRIST TRULY

Jesus said, when He was praying to the Father in John 17, that He was sending His disciples out into the world, and that people would believe in Him through their words:

18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

I preached on this passage on Sunday, and maybe I’ll get a summary of the message posted, but for now I want to focus on the responsibility of our words.  He was talking specifically about the twelve apostles here, but the truth applies just as well to us.  If people are to believe through the words of His followers, then they need to learn about the real Jesus, not a counterfeit Christ, through our words.

OUR ACTIONS MUST SHOW JESUS CHRIST TRULY

Verse 21 emphasises the unity that Christians are to have, and we see that in another place where Jesus is teaching His disciples directly, John 13:34-35:

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

This says that people around us are going to measure whether we are true disciples of Jesus by our actions, and especially by how well Christians love each other.  They will measure Jesus and our faithfulness to Him by our actions.  People need to learn about the real Jesus, not a counterfeit Christ, through our actions.

Ambassadors

II Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

When I read the Lutheran commentator, C.H. Lenski, on this passage, I liked it so much I decided to get his entire New Testament commentary.

Here there is food for thought for all ambassadors today.  How dare we alter, change, reduce the word committed to us? …. An ambassador is absolutely responsible to his king.  Woe to him that forgets that!

So if we are responsible to our King, what is His message?  He is beseeching (a word rarely used today, but the sense is of begging or pleading).  Lenski again:

Here is the God of heaven and of earth and Christ, His Son who by His death reconciled all to God, and here are their high ambassadors representing God in Christ.  On the other hand are transgressors (v. 19).  And lo, these ambassadors are sent by God and Christ to beg these transgressors:  “Be reconciled!”

It is God’s heart for sinners to be reconciled to Him.  II Peter 3:9 says God “is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

This is the message that is directly linked to our role as ambassadors for Christ — that people must be reconciled to God, that they can be reconciled to God, and that He earnestly wants them to be reconciled to Him, so much that He sends His royal ambassadors to beseech or plead with them to do so.

If we claim to represent Christ, our message (whether by word or deed) must be consistent with our ambassadorial role.  We must communicate A) the need for reconciliation with God, B) His provision for that, and C) His great desire for it.  Anything that distracts from His message in its entirety is inappropriate.  If we communicate something that is contrary to His message, it would have been better if we had remained silent.

This is why it is not enough to be right, we need to be right rightly.  (I’ve banged on about this before. ;))  It isn’t just about being right about something that matters, but we need to talk about it in a way that reflects how God sees it, and in the context of our entire ambassadorial message.

Let’s reiterate those again:

  • The need for reconciliation with God
  • His provision for reconciliation
  • His great desire for reconciliation

Sometimes, people will emphasise the first, and neglect the second, and leave out the third entirely.  They can end up sounding like this description:  “other Christians make it look like being Christian just makes you hateful and arrogant.”

Sometimes, people emphasise the third and downplay or ignore the first, with the result that they neglect the importance of the second.  They can end up sounding like this:  “the Christian version of God is all about love and forgiveness.”  That is ok as far as it goes, but too often the “forgiveness” part is watered down because we don’t want to deal with the uncomfortable bit about how much we need to be forgiven, to change.  So Christians who sound like this, far too often, will downplay, again, God’s provision for reconciliation, what God did so we can be reconciled to Him.

We don’t understand forgiveness unless we understand our need to be forgiven.  We don’t really understand either of those until we understand what God did.  His solution to our problem is what helps us see the problem clearly, and also helps us to really understand what His love and forgiveness are all about.

More to come….

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A Proverb for Today — Proverbs 3:27-28 (Part Three)

Posted on 9 August, 2011 by Jon Gleason

“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee ” (Proverbs 3:27-28).

Here it is the ninth of the month, and I’m still posting on something from Proverbs 3.   Running behind, as usual. 🙂

Part one was a side note on utilitarianism/pragmatism, and part two from Saturday dealt with the first of the two parallel instructions in these verses.  As I said in that post, “We have two parallel instructions here.  The first verse speaks of duty, the second appears to speak of charity.”  Today, I’d like to speak briefly about the “charity” half of the instruction.

The concept of charity is implied rather than explicit in this verse.  It does use the word “give”, but I “gave” our milkman a cheque last week to pay for our milk, so we can’t assume that “give” necessarily means charity, nor does the original Hebrew require that.  That said, charity fits both the words and the context, since the concept of what is due is left out of this second verse.  The evidence supports the interpretation that this is talking about giving something which you aren’t obligated to give — in other words, charity in some form or other.

To Give or not to Give — That’s NOT the Question!

This verse doesn’t tell us we are obligated to give every time someone asks.  That isn’t the focus at all, and if we look at the rest of Scripture, we can see that this couldn’t be the case.  We are commanded to provide for our families, and you simply can’t do that if you give to everyone who asks.  Everywhere you turn, someone is asking.

Sometimes it is wrong to give.  The person who is simply being irresponsible or lazy isn’t being helped if we facilitate their laziness.  It is wrong to give an addict money just so they can buy drugs.  That just helps them further along a self-destructive path.  The same is true of the laziness addict — if you know that you are just helping someone “buy more laziness”, you shouldn’t do it.

So why did I say, “That’s NOT the question”?  This proverb isn’t talking about whether or not we should give, or how we make that assessment.  That is a right question to ask, but not the question in this proverb at all.  The case here is clear — it is describing a situation when it is appropriate to give, and you are able and intending to do so.  The “give or not give” question is already decided.

Attitudes to Avoid

Don’t say, “Come again tomorrow and I’ll give,” when you could simply give now.  That’s the instruction.  We could stop right there, and that would be valuable — but as is often the case with proverbs and other poetry, there are some other things to consider packed away in there.  I’ll mention three attitudes which might lie behind the proscribed behaviour, three attitudes to avoid.

Avoid Arrogance About the Future.  As I said in my first post on this, Jewish tradition had added to this the following:  “for you do not know what the morrow will bring forth.”  They were wrong to add it to Scripture, and wrong to suggest that is the reason for right behaviour.  On the other hand, delaying charity when you are fully able and intend to give is acting as if you know the future.  The traditionalist who added these words correctly identified a wrong attitude which might drive this behaviour.

Avoid a “Controlling” Attitude.  If you are going to give, just give.  Why are you making your neighbour come back again tomorrow?  Are you simply asserting your control?  We are naturally proud, so that controlling attitude is a dangerous temptation for us.  It is entirely appropriate for us to decide we only want to give for a specific purpose or cause.  That isn’t necessarily a controlling attitude.  But by requiring someone to come back and ask again later, you are controlling his behaviour, making him jump through hoops to get that which you intend to give anyway.  Why would  you do that?  Check your heart for a prideful attitude of wanting to exert control over others.

Avoid a Self-Centred Attitude.  “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:4).  We must, must, must learn to think on things from the other person’s perspective, to see situations through other people’s eyes.  If someone has to come to you for help, it’s a little bit (or a lot) humbling.  They often feel awkward and embarrassed.  If you were in their shoes, would you want to be told to come back tomorrow and ask again, when there is no reason for it?  The charitable thing to do when giving charity is to make it as easy and comfortable for the other person as you can.

Charitable Charity

“Charity” used to be closely synonymous with “love”.  When the Authorised Version of the Bible was translated, the translators used “charity” in the great love chapter in I Corinthians 13, to reflect the truth that the chapter is defining true love as selfless giving.

Charity has mostly been redefined since then, into an impersonal giving to “good causes”.  Rarely now does charity directly touch a life, connecting the giver with the recipient.  People often give to feel good about themselves, or in some cases, even to get publicity for their great generosity.  The human connection has gone missing.

This proverb calls us back to a simpler and better way, where charity takes place between those who know, respect, and appreciate each other.  It tells the giver to give charitably, in a way that is truly consistent with love and concern for the recipient.  Our manner of giving, when possible, should not leave the recipient exposed to the uncertainties of the future or to immediate needs.  Nor should we give in a way that asserts control over or humiliates another person.  We need to be generous in spirit as well as in deed.

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I Won!

Posted on 8 August, 2011 by Jon Gleason

Yesterday afternoon after dinner, we played Skip-bo.  Due to magnificent skill, superior strategy, and er, um, well, having the right cards turn up, I won.

The response from my youngest?  “You can give advice now!”

One of my other kids, in due appreciation for my accomplishment, said, “You should write a book — Luck for Dummies.”

Thanks to the S&P downgrade of US government debt, work calls, and I may not have time for a serious post today.

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