"Nobody has time for anybody anymore"

• The duality of human nature: otherness and selfishness

Mobility of peoples and cultures is a fact of our modern world and yet in this freedom of movement there is a problem. “People living in ethnically diverse settings appear to ‘hunker down’ – that is, to pull in like a turtle,” an eminent political scientist has found. Robert D. Putnam, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, conducted a massive new study based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across the United States of America.

He found that those in more diverse communities tend to “distrust their neighbors, regardless of the color of their skin, to withdraw even from close friends, to expect the worst from their community and its leaders, to volunteer less, give less to charity and work on community projects less often, to register to vote less, to agitate for social reform more but have less faith that they can actually make a difference, and to huddle unhappily in front of the television.” [1]

As my nephew, studying at a university in Norway, recently observed (but in a different context), “Nobody has time for anybody anymore.” [2] Is that the way modern life is? U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Max Voelz and his wife, Staff Sgt. Kim Voelz both served in Iraq in explosive ordinance disposal, the Army’s elite bomb squad. Husband Max said of his wife:

“We deployed in 2003. We were in the same unit. And she ripped bombs apart by hand in Iraq just like I did. But she died on an incident that I sent her on. . . . And when I receive a condolence letter from a high-ranking government official that says Mrs. Voelz, we’re sorry for the loss of your husband, it just makes it seem like nobody knows we exist.” [3]

Then Max turned to another bomb tech, Sgt. Mary Dague, for support. She had lost both her arms in Iraq. During his low points they talked a lot over the internet. StoryCorps had them meet face-to-face for the first time and to talk about what happened:

DAGUE: Why did you first contact me?

VOELZ: I was in a pretty dark spot at the time. And another bomb tech thought that talking to you would help. And it did.

DAGUE: I remember it took a while to get you to talk.

VOELZ: Yeah, then I wouldn’t shut up.

DAGUE: I’m OK with that. I really just wanted to reach through the computer and hug you. Like it’s OK – well, it’s not OK, but it’ll get better.

VOELZ: Yeah.

DAGUE: You do seem a lot happier.

VOELZ: I’m glad. (Laughter) I am. I mean, I’m always going to have the can’t sleep and the nightmares. But basically, you have a gift of helping people who are depressed. [4]

• The dual nature of humanness

According to the Bible, humanness has a two fold nature: God created us to be other-centered, and yet we inherit a selfish nature from our first human parents, who rebelled against God. Genesis 1:26-27 teaches:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . . .”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

“God” (Elohim) is a plural noun and yet “said” is a singular verb. Here God said, “Let us … in our . . . after our . . .” In the fullness of God there is singularity and yet there is also fullness of relationship. When Jesus Christ came to earth, this seed of truth became understood. There is one God and in his fullness there are three persons – God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God.

In addition, the original man and woman (who were husband and wife) rebelled against the Lord God (Genesis chapter 3) and, as a result, gave birth to children in their selfish image who lived selfish lives (Genesis chapter 4). But God in mercy began a rescue mission that culminated in sending his Son to be the Savior of the world.

• A new society

In 1 Thessalonians chapter one, certain people out of the 200,000 inhabitants of ancient Thessalonica have turned from idols (false gods and philosophies) to the true and living God. Although consisting of various minorities, they were mostly Greeks. The people who have “turned” now have an other-centered relationship with our God and Father, our Lord Jesus Christ (who died for our sins and rose again) and with the Holy Spirit (whose power and joy accompany the Word of God being proclaimed). The action of God has created a body of people who are united to Christ and endowed with the Holy Spirit. In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 these people are enjoined to be have regard for their leaders (5:12-13), act responsibly to others (5:14-15), have reverence towards God (5:16-18) and receive the prophetic word of God (5:19-22).

If we have joined this company of people and become part of the body of Christ, how do we live other-centered lives? How can we lay aside self-centered living and care about others? 1 Thessalonians 5:13b-15 gives us guidelines:

^13bBe at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. ¹⁵See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

“Among yourselves” (5:13b). This is not a utopian society ruled by elites, governed by stability and austerity, and enforced by totalitarian rule. This is a spiritual reality of people whose lives have been changed by the action of the triune God. They have been joined to a mystical body and are bound by voluntary selflessness. St. Paul the apostle wrote 1 Thessalonians from Corinth about AD 50. Later he explained this truth more fully in 1 Corinthians, written from the neighborhood of Ephesus in early AD 55:

¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Cor 12:12-26 ESV)

Thus, biblical peace in the new society is not simply harmony among disparate peoples (nationalities and cultures) and the absence of hostility (1 Cor 12:13). But it incorporates the ideas of living out one’s vocation as a member of the body, human flourishing, wholeness, contentment and delight as we live in fellowship with our Creator and Savior and with each other. [5]

“Be” (5:13b, “be at peace” is one word in the original Greek). As those living in community, Christ the Lord through his apostle commands us (through a series of imperatives) to adopt an other-centered outlook. This is a duty and must be a conscious decision. “You have turned from false gods and philosophies to the true God and the true doctrine and philosophy of life. You have been united by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. Now live that way.” The appropriate responses include: “This I will do.” “This is my prayer.” “This is my aim, objective, and goal.” “This I will do today and each day by the Lord’s strength.” To sweep in the thought of verses 14-15, the Scripture is saying: Don’t slip into a shell of indifference, isolation, and idleness. Don’t allow yourself to become passive and complacent. Pray for strength. Be courageous. Take action. Look around. Let your light shine. Live out the truth of community. Let there be brotherly love. Reach out. Love your neighbor as yourself.

• Other-centered living

There are seven areas of focus.

(1) “Be at peace among yourselves” (5:13b). The Gospel is the gospel of peace – peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1). It makes no sense for the Gospel of peace to be laced with the toxins of strife and ill-will, for the Gospel of reconciliation to be diluted with the vitriol of enmity and hostility, and for the Gospel of love to be poisoned with the venom of hate and bitterness. There can be strong disagreements among brothers and sisters in the Lord. But there are amiable ways to disagree and go on. Paul and Barnabas proclaimed the Gospel together throughout Syria, Cyprus and Asia Minor and then reported back to the Church of Antioch, which had sent them. They disagreed sharply on whether to take John Mark (who had abandoned the work on the first journey) with them on the return visit. So Barnabas took John Mark and Paul took Silas, and they took separate routes at different times. Yes, the teams worked separately, but both stayed friends and both were a blessing to the newly founded churches (Acts 15:36-41).

(2) “Admonish the idle” (5:14). “Admonish” (Greek noutheteo) can convey various ideas: warn, counsel, reprimand, verbally confront. It is tempered by the earlier command of “be at peace” and therefore may stated as “peacefully, lovingly confront” someone. It emphatically does not mean, “get in the face of someone and start screaming.” The term “idle people” originally described a soldier who had left (quit) the ranks or who had been guilty of unruly conduct (had quit acting by the rules required of soldiers). In the papyri found in Egypt contemporary with the New Testament, the word had the meaning of “idlers” (people who had quit working, that is, were being lazy). Thus, the phrase means “warn the quitters” and could apply to a variety of circumstances.

(3) “Encourage the fainthearted” (5:14). “Encourage” (Greek paramutheomai) conveys the ideas of “console, comfort; encourage, cheer up.” “Fainthearted” (Greek oligopsukos, literally “little souled") refers to being “fainthearted, timid, apprehensive, discouraged.” A gloomy disposition or jarring circumstances may cause someone to feel timid, apprehensive, or down in the dumps. It is our job to encourage the discouraged.

Worldly wisdom paints a different picture from 1Thessalonians. Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), the British philosopher who in 1950 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote:

Man is the product of causes which had no pre-vision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms. There is no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling which can preserve an individual life beyond the grave. . . . Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built. [6]

To the contrary, spurred by the Letter of 1 Thessalonians, we carry on the work of faith, the labor of love and the steadfastness of hope in union with our Lord Jesus Christ. Endowed with the Word of God and the Spirit of God, we have turned from false gods and false philosophies, we have – at the same time – turned to the living God, and we wait for his Son from heaven (1 Thess 1:3,9-10). On our pilgrim way we encourage the timid, give confidence to the apprehensive, and cheer up the discouraged (1 Thess 5:14).

(4) “Help the weak” (5:14). “Help” (Greek antexomai) means “cling to, hold firmly to, be loyal to, help.” “Weak” can refer to various kinds of weakness: emotionally weak, infirm in body, or not having a fully informed Christian conscience (Rom 14:1 – 15:13). William Barclay, a New Testament scholar of an earlier era, explains the image of clinging to the weak:

Instead of letting the weak brother drift away and finally vanish altogether, the Christian community should make a deliberate attempt to grapple him to the Church in such a way that he cannot escape. It should forge bonds of fellowship and persuasion to hold on to the man who is likely to stray away. [7]

In addition to the primacy of faith, clinging to the weak could involve various kinds of spiritual, emotional and physical support.

(5) “Be patient with them all” (5:14).  Literally, the Greek reads “be patient with all.” It means to be patient with the three previous categories of persons but also with everyone in the body of Christ. “Be patient” (Greek macrothumeo) was wonderfully translated by William Tyndale as “be long suffering.” It is a characteristic of God (Isa 57:15 Septuagint; Rom 2:4; 9:22; 1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 3:9). If God has exercised such great patience and longsuffering with us, how much more ought we to have patience and longsuffering to others. It is our calling.

Former pro football star and coach Tony Dungy told the following story about his father’s Christian character:

My dad was usually a quiet, thoughtful man. A scientist at heart and by training, Wilbur Dungy loved to be outside, enjoying the scenery. Fishing allowed him time to contemplate, to listen, and to marvel at God’s creation. My dad used fishing to teach his children to appreciate the everyday wonders of the world God created—the sandy shoreline, the dark, pine forests, the shimmering water, and the abundant wildlife. The lessons were always memorable, whether we caught a lot of fish or not.

Although we fished countless times together throughout our lives, one particular day stands out in my mind. It was a summer day in 1965. Summers in Michigan are beautiful, with comfortable temperatures and clear, blue skies. I was nine years old, and my brother was five. My dad had taken us fishing at one of the many small lakes around Jackson. On that day, my dad was teaching my brother and me how to cast. We were both working on it, mostly in silence, until my dad’s voice finally broke a period of stillness.

“Hey, Linden, don’t move for a minute, please.” I looked back and watched my dad move his hand toward his face. Calm and deliberate, he continued to speak.

“Now, Linden, always make sure that you know not only where your pole is when you’re starting to cast”—at this point, I realized my dad was working my brother’s hook out of his own ear— “but also make certain that you know where everyone else is around you.”

I learned something about proper casting that day, but I also learned something about patience. Years later, when I got hooked myself, in my hand, I realized how much it hurts. Remembering my dad’s patience that day when Linden’s hook was caught in his ear, I finally understood the importance of staying calm and communicating clearly. [8]

(6) “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil” (5:15). Revenge can be taken in grotesque, horrible ways as well small, subtle ways. An often repeated anecdote from the Korean War illustrates the subtle form:

During the 1950’s Korean Conflict, six American GI’s were assigned to a housing unit. Fighting had calmed down, so they found themselves living in close quarters with extra time on their hands.

Predictably, they soon started playing practical jokes on each other…sneaking up on each other, rubber snake tricks, etc.

Quickly tiring of these games, they started pulling these little pranks on their houseboy Wan. They liked this good natured Korean boy - happy to have the job - and figured they’d include him in their practical jokes.

They would tie his boots together while he was sleeping and make loud clanging noises with their mess kits. Wan would jump up, thinking the enemy was attacking, and fall right on his face. Ha Ha!

They’d hang a bucket of water above his door and place a tripcord in the threshold. Then, they would call Wan into the room, and watch him get drenched.

One day the soldiers were sitting around drinking, and someone commented that Wan seemed a little down. They quickly realized that the cause of Wan’s depression was the practical jokes they had been playing. They had only meant to make him feel included, but obviously he only felt humiliated. The soldiers apologized and promised never to do it again.

Wan’s quick reply was “OK, GI…then I’ll stop spitting in your soup.” [9]

It is not wrong to use the protection of law and the court system. St. Paul the apostle did so (Acts 23:12-35; 25:1-12). But the Lord Jesus strictly forbids personal revenge: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt 5:38-39).

(7) “Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (5:15). Literally, “always pursue the good with-a-view-to one-another and with-a-view-to all.” “Pursue” means to actively seek after, strive for, follow, run after. “Good” is that which is upright, just, kind, generous, useful, beneficial, sound. It is not only our calling to live at peace with one another but also to strive after and seek out the good of all people. The truth of the Gospel (the tremendous goodness and kindness and mercy of God to us sinners through Christ) translates into a life of voluntary selflessness that seeks to show goodness and kindness and mercy to others. A proverb of India says, “You don’t cut off a person’s nose and then give him a rose to smell.” Professing the Gospel and displaying evil words, emotions, and conduct is a contradiction in terms.

Getting good at anything takes long hours of disciplined practice. Through the Gospel, the goodness of God – of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – has been made ours. Our turning away from false gods and philosophies has caused us to turn to the living God and follow the way of Christ the Lord. Each day provides a new opportunity to come out of our shells of indifference, isolation, and idleness and to actively practice the Gospel as members of the New Society, the Body of Christ. Practice peace. Kindly confront quitters. Encourage the fainthearted. Help the weak. Be patient with everyone. Never retaliate. Seek the good of all.

[1] Michael Jonas, “The Downside of Diversity,” The Boston Globe, August 5, 2007.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/the_downside_of_diversity/?page=full

[2] David Lund, Facebook post 11/9/2014. His context is different than this essay. He was discussing the fruits of a high amount of state control in a society.

[3] “Bomb Techs Work Through ‘Dark Spots’ To Brighter Lives,” NPR Morning Edition, November 07, 2014. From the transcript. http://www.npr.org/2014/11/07/362010372/bomb-techs-work-through-dark-spots-to-brighter-lives

[4] Ibid.

[5] See further I’Ching Thomas, “Jesus: The Path to Human Flourishing,” Just Thinking, June 20, 2014. http://www.rzim.org/just-thinking/jesus-the-path-to-human-flourishing/

[6] Bertrand Russell cited in Bruce Narramore and Bill Counts, Freedom from Guilt (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1974), p 42.

[7] William Barclay, 1 Thessalonians (Daily Study Bible), Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1975.

http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/view.cgi?bk=51&ch=5

[8] Wess Stafford, Just a Minute (Chicago: Moody Press, 2012), pp. 73-74.

[9] John Patrick Dolan, “Spitting in Your Soup,” Negotiate like the Pros (blog), n.d. http://negotiatelikethepros.com/spitting-in-your-soup/

Art work: (head with hands) Diana J. Bjel, “Angel and the Pig”; and (face looking at curled object) William Brouillard, “Steam Punk Portrait Tile #5” - both part of the exhibit “CLAY . . . Not the Usual Suspects,” the Gallery, Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, Ohio, September 25 to November 7, 2014.

Sometimes it's hard to keep going

• Giving up is no option.

In Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014 a white male police officer shot to death Michael Brown, a young black man, in the middle of a street there. The fatal shooting sparked mass protests, riots and looting in this St. Louis suburb. For teachers in and around St. Louis, it has provided an opportunity to talk about race in a new, more constructive way. A man who does reporting for National Public Radio (TL) spoke to an African American man who is a teacher (VF). [1]

TL, reporter: It was early September, and VF had just wrapped up his day teaching at Ladue Middle School, in an affluent suburb about 13 miles south of where protests erupted in Ferguson.

VF, teacher: I was really in a good mood.

TL: But VF knew he could be in for a difficult night. Less than four weeks had passed since Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown, sparking countless protests. And VF, who is African-American and in his early 40s, was on his way to an event for teachers at St. Louis University.

VF: To learn more about how to teach Ferguson – how to teach this whole idea of racial understanding and racial healing.

TL: On his way there, he was waiting in traffic.

VF: Car pulls up next to me, driven by this middle-aged, older white man, who then takes his hand – his right hand – and reaches it across his passenger seat in the shape of a gun.

TL: VF says the man then aimed his index finger at him and cocked his thumb like the hammer of a pistol.

VF: Does that, like, seven times to me, and I’m just looking at him, like, in complete disbelief.

TL: Frustration coursed through his body. VF thought about calling it a night, but he didn’t. He went on with the evening as planned, spending his time with teachers who want to untangle complicated issues of race and class.

Sometimes it’s hard to keep going. There is a related Gospel truth that elevates calling it quits to a much higher level. In the last part of Luke chapter 9, Jesus Christ the Lord has completed his ministry in Galilee (Lk 4:14 – 9:50) and has just begun his journey to Jerusalem (Lk 9:51 – 19:48). He was traveling with his twelve apostles (Lk 9:10) and with at least 72 other disciples (Lk 10:1). Holy Scripture tells us:

      And you, child [John the Baptist], will be called the prophet of the Most High;

            for you will go before the Lord [Jesus Christ] to prepare his ways,

      [and the ways of the Lord are] to give knowledge of salvation to his people

            in the forgiveness of their sins…  (Lk 1:76-77)

      . . . .

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  (Lk 2:11)

. . . .

⁵¹When the days drew near for him [Jesus] to be taken up [die on the cross and rise again], he set his face to go to Jerusalem [where the crucifixion and resurrection would happen]. . . .  ⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Lk 9:51, 57-62 ESV)

Along this part of the Lord’s journey, three individuals have a desire to become disciples of the Savior, the only one who can bring them the forgiveness of their sins. All three want to have a part in God’s kingdom – God’s rule over human beings through Christ (the appointed king). This rule will bring us from being rebels with the guilt and pollution of sin to being friends with forgiveness and cleaning from sin. As those who are pardoned and empowered, we will participate in the foretaste of eternal life and peace now and in the fullness of eternal life and blessing after the resurrection of the living and of the dead.

But all three would-be disciples have a deficiency in their commitment to being disciples. Why? Because anything that competes with our loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ is an idol, a false god. And, in the nature of the case, there cannot be two infinite Lords and there cannot be two supreme loyalties. There is only one Supreme Being and there can be only one supreme loyalty. Listen to the words of the Lord. “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3, the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai). “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Luke 6:13, the Lord Jesus at the level place on the mountain).

Let’s make a close examination of the facts and circumstances of these three people one at a time.

• Beware of whimsical, ill-informed commitment.

Jesus had just experienced rejection by the people of a town in the province of Samaria. Racial and religious hostility had flared up and the town folk had refused to allow Jesus to stay there. Now as Jesus walked along the road with his disciples and attracted crowds, one particular passerby perhaps perceived glamour and celebrity and this may have impelled the person to want to join the community of disciples. To this individual, the crowd of followers may even have implied a means to prosperity. In any case, the stranger announced to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Well, the man either got the benefits of discipleship wrong or else made a knee-jerk decision. He didn’t realize that to follow Jesus is to follow a man who was homeless by virtue of Jesus being a continually traveling preacher and to follow a man who had no earthly goods. To become his disciple is to become a stranger and an exile on the earth (Heb. 11:13). Jesus is honest about the Gospel and the commitment needed. So he told this individual, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man [= Jesus] has nowhere to lay his head.” And a follower is not above his master.

In other words, unforeseen circumstances will occur. Plans may fall through. Hardships may beset you. Poverty could be a reality. A debilitating illness may befall. Betrayals may happen. Opposition may arise. There can be persecution, sometimes of the severest sort. There simply is no promise of earthly health and wealth and continual comfort. Thus, the question becomes: “Knowing this, are you still willing to follow the Son of Man?” Many of us follow the lead of St. Peter:

So Jesus said to the twelve [apostles], “You do not want to go away also, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:67-69)

Some thirty or so years later, Peter and other followers of Christ faced horribly severe times in the city of Rome. Tacitus, the Roman historian, in The Annals (c AD 116) 44.2-5 comments on the Great Fire of Rome (AD 64) during the reign of Nero:

44.2. Yet no human effort, no princely largess nor offerings to the gods could make that infamous rumor disappear that Nero had somehow ordered the fire. Therefore, in order to abolish that rumor, Nero falsely accused and executed with the most exquisite punishments those people called Christians, who were infamous for their abominations.

44.3. The originator of the name, Christ, was executed as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius; and though repressed, this destructive superstition erupted again, not only through Judea, which was the origin of this evil, but also through the city of Rome, to which all that is horrible and shameful floods together and is celebrated.

44.4. Therefore, first those were seized who admitted their faith, and then, using the information they provided, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much for the crime of burning the city, but for hatred of the human race. And perishing they were additionally made into sports: they were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime lamps.

44.5. Nero gave his own gardens for this spectacle and performed a Circus game, in the habit of a charioteer mixing with the plebs or driving about the race-course. Even though they were clearly guilty and merited being made the most recent example of the consequences of crime, people began to pity these sufferers, because they were consumed not for the public good but on account of the fierceness of one man. [2]

Christ had declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Peter and the Christians in Rome in AD 64 were firmly convinced that following Christ is well worth the cost. And for them it was not a whimsical, ill-informed commitment. They knew that giving up is no option. So they persevered to the end and received the crown of life. 

My friend, are you prepared to deal with uncertainty and adverse circumstances? Have you given up being driven by glamour, pleasure, or money? Are you ready to walk by faith in the crucified and risen Savior? Whimsical, ill-informed commitment is not an option. Commit now with heart and mind and persevere to the end.

• Beware of substituting higher priorities.

Further along the way, Jesus gave the Gospel call to a particular man and said, “Follow me.” The man really wanted to answer “Yes,” but then he hesitated. He felt he had a something more important. So he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” In Judaism, as in many cultures, burying family members is a priority (Sirach 38:16; Tobit 4:3-4; 12:12). Though the request seems reasonable at first thought, this potential disciple’s premise is that family comes before the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh, very God of very God. Jesus had to inform him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God [that is, proclaim the good news that the rule of God has come to earth through the Messiah, Jesus].”

New Testament scholar William Barclay sees a fatal delay on the part of this potential disciple:

An English official in the East tells of a very brilliant young Arab who was offered a scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge. His answer was, “I will take it after I have buried my father.” At the time his father was not much more than forty years of age. The point Jesus was making is that in everything there is a crucial moment; if that moment is missed the thing most likely will never be done at all. The man in the story had stirrings in his heart to get out of his spiritually dead surroundings; if he missed that moment he would never get out. [3]

My friend, what are your priorities? There can be no higher priority than the living God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Are you living your life with the living God as your highest priority? Or, for someone else reading these words, let me ask: Are you moved to become a committed follower of Jesus Christ? My friend, seek the Lord while he may be found. A higher commitment or a delayed commitment is not an option. Come now with undivided commitment and persevere to the end.

• A half-hearted commitment is no commitment at all.

When the critics of Jesus grumbled, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus replied, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32) Repentance from sin and one’s old lifestyle is essential to the Gospel. Now let’s go forward to Luke chapter 9. A third person came along and said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”

Again, we may be tempted to say that the man has presented a reasonable request. But Jesus sees the spiritual reality behind the seeming politeness. This man has a desire to hang onto to his old lifestyle.[4] So Jesus told him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Back in Roman Palestine, the word picture would make perfect sense. Farmers had crude wooden plows pulled by an animal or animals. The soil is rocky. If you looked back while plowing, you would not furrow a straight row for crops. In other words, discipleship takes focus. Following Jesus requires the whole of one’s being. Half-hearted commitment is not an option. Make a total commitment and persevere to the end.

Author Kent Crockett talks about adverse circumstances and half-hearted spiritual commitments that wear us down and make us want to give up in defeat. Then, in our mind’s eye, he takes us back to April 2, 1801 [5]:

When Lord Horatio Nelson was fighting the Battle of Copenhagen, his senior officer, Sir Hyde Parker, also known as “Old Vinegar,” hoisted the flag signaling retreat. Nelson deliberately put his telescope to his blind eye and said, “I do not see it.”

If he had surrendered when it looked like defeat, he would not have captured twelve Danish ships.

I don’t see defeat. Do you? [asks Crockett]

When you’re fighting the Battle of Perspective, Satan will hoist his flag, trying to discourage you. Remember to put a blind eye to the telescope. Refuse to see the retreat flag. Keep going forward.

Sometimes it’s very hard to keep going. You feel so weary and beaten down. But giving up is not an option. Answer the call of the Gospel with informed, complete, and whole-hearted commitment. Persevere to the end and receive the crown of life evermore.

[1] Tim Lloyd, “Some St. Louis Teachers Address Ferguson with Lessons on Race,” NPR All Things Considered, October 28, 2014. http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/10/28/359323899/some-st-louis-teachers-address-ferguson-with-lessons-on-race

[2] http://www.westmont.edu/~fisk/articles/TacitusAndPlinyOnTheEarlyChristians.html

[3] William Barclay, Luke (Daily Study Bible), Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1975.

http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/view.cgi?bk=lu&ch=9&vs=62

[4] “The Blessing of Decision” Luke 9:51-10:24, IVP New Testament Commentary Series.

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ivp-nt/Blessing-Decision-Privilege

[5] Kent Crockett, I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004), p 139.

Art work: (broken blue tile) Donna Webb, “Embedded”; (figure with wheel) Diana J. Bjel, “Gracie II”; and (head with arms) J. Derek O’Brien “Consumers” - all part of the exhibit “CLAY . . . Not the Usual Suspects,” the Gallery, Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, Ohio, September 25 to November 7, 2014.

Providential moments that catch you by surprise

• Wanting to make a difference.  

A biomedical researcher, Jennifer Doudna, and her colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley were engaged in rather basic science and were just trying to figure out how bacteria fight the flu. Then they made a discovery that caught them by surprise. They observed that bacteria have special enzymes that can cut open the DNA of an invading virus and make a change in the DNA at the site of the cut — essentially killing the virus.

As Doudna was studying a group of these enzymes, it finally dawned on her: the enzymes had what amounted to a short template inside that could attach to a specific string of letters in the viral DNA. What if she could change the template so that it could recognize any DNA sequence, not just the sequences in viruses? She said, “I thought, wow, if this could work in animal or plant cells, this could be a very, very useful and very powerful tool” for human use.

This genetic tool is called CRISPR/Cas9. With it, you not only can recognize a viral sequence, but you can add to it, change it, or take it out. The Human Genome Project gave biomedical researchers what amounts to the genetic book of life. But what do you do with that information? “You’ve got the book,” says Doudna. “And you can see there’s a word that’s incorrect on page 147, but how do I get there and erase that word and fix it?” [1]

This genetic tool holds the prospect of working inside cells and making changes in specific genes far faster and for far less money than ever before. Doudna admitted, “And honestly, more frequently and recently, as I’ve got a bit older, I guess, you know, and you start to – I don’t know if it’s middle-age crisis or what it is – but, you know, you start to think about, what’s been the real impact of our work, right? Are we solving any problems in society? Are we doing work that’s going to make people’s lives better?” [2]

The researchers were looking were looking at one thing (how bacteria fight the flu) and found another (a genetic tool useful for man). In a 1754 letter to a friend, Horace Walpole coined a term for such scientific discoveries: serendipity (a “fortunate happenstance” or “pleasant surprise”). He referenced a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip and explained: the princes were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of.” Serendipity for Jennifer Doudna now also means the prospect of making a difference in the world.

• Providential serendipity in days of old

The fortunate occurrence and pleasant surprise has long been true in the kind providence of God with his people. Proverbs 16:9 NLT reminds us, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” And Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV holds forth of prospect of providential serendipity with this peon of praise:

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

In 2 Kings Chapter 7, four quarantined men (and, therefore, outcasts from society) enjoyed an occurrence of providential serendipity. And the four didn’t know it, but they had the opportunity to make a difference for society at just the right time.

An enemy regional power, Syria (also called Aram), had placed a land blockade around Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel. The Israelites had two choices: starve to death or surrender to a cruel enemy. At that time the average wage of a working man was about a silver shekel a month. Things got so bad in the city of Samaria that a donkey’s head (hardly nutritious) sold for 80 silver shekels and for 5 silver shekels you could buy a quart of dove’s dung (either pigeon’s manure or, based on Akkadian evidence, perhaps a nickname for carob pods). (2 Kings 6:25) [3]

It got worse. The king of Israel was walking along on the city’s protective wall when a woman cried out, “Help (literally “save me”), my lord, O king!” He replied, “If God won’t help (save) you, how can I? Can I allocate grain for you from the empty threshing floor or wine for you from the empty winepress? But, let me ask, what’s your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” In revolting horror, the king ripped his clothes. Everybody around him could see that, underneath, he was wearing sackcloth (2 Ki 6:26-30). This was a crucial moment for the king: as he tore his clothes, would he engage in contrition and repentance from sin – emblematic of the sackcloth? Or would be the ripping be a form of bitterness and rage?

Sackcloth was coarse, rough, thick cloth made from black goats’ hair and used for sacks as well as worn by people in mourning (Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 3:31; Psalm 30:11; 35:13). Even the king felt deep anguish over these desperate conditions and secretly wore the uncomfortable cloth next to his skin. Upon hearing this story of cannibalism (I believe), a thought something like this must have flashed into the king’s mind, “A mother has committed almost an unspeakable crime. And now she wants justice – justice by enforcing this contract to commit further cannibalism. It’s all God’s fault. I know his law threatened punishments like famine if we Israelites engaged in prolonged sin [Lev 26:27-29; Deut 28:52-57]. But with the proper prayers, his prophet Elisha could have gotten us out of these intolerable, wretched conditions.” In any case, the king then ejaculated a curse, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today” (2 Ki 6:31).

The king dispatched an assassin to the house of Elisha, and it so happened that the elders of Israel were sitting inside with him. Elisha receives a vision and warns them, “An executioner is coming. Don’t let him in. The king has to be right behind him.” The assassin does indeed come. In the biblical text, who says what and where is not precisely told. Apparently, the king himself blurted out, “All this misery is from the Lord! Why should I wait any longer for help from the Lord?” (2 Ki 6:32-33).

Elisha replied, “Listen to this message from the Lord! By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, both six quarts of choice flour and twelve quarts of barley grain will cost only one silver shekel.” The officer assisting the king retorted, “That couldn’t happen even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven!” But Elisha the prophet replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!” (2 Ki 7:1-2).

The king and his entourage break off the murderous attack and return to their quarters. Silently, night starts to fall silently over the city. Four Israelite men with a horrible and contagious skin disease (generically called leprosy) were outside the city gate, living apart from the general population. They were so hungry that sleep was difficult. They finally asked themselves, “We’re at the point of starvation. What can we do? Shall we try to go into the city? There’s no food in there and they just might kill us. Shall we stay where we are? We’ll die for sure. Shall we go over to the camp of the Syrians? Maybe they’ll kill us or just maybe they’ll give us some food. Let’s go over there. That’s our one and only chance.” So at twilight they start walking (2 Ki 7:3-5 NLT).

This little section (2 Ki 7:3-11) has a stair-step structure [4]. We climb up, see what’s really happening, and then climb down:

      Lepers outside the gate, v 3a

            Decision, vv 3b-4

                  Action, v 5

                        Explanation, vv 6-7

                  Action, v 8

            Decision, v 9

      Lepers back to the gate, vv 10-11

The “explanation” allows us to see and hear what the king and his minions are blind to:

For the Lord had caused the Syrian army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. “The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us!” they cried to one another. So they panicked and ran into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled for their lives.

Both the king and the prophet acknowledge the infinite, absolute, personal unseen Presence. But the king takes note only of harsh reality and asks, “Where is God?” He doubts or ignores God’s Word. On the other hand, the prophet as the man of faith remembers what God was for his people yesterday. And the prophet also affirms that God is not only the God of the past and of the dead, but God is also the God of the present and of the living. The Lord cannot be manipulated, but he has the freedom to act both in ways that uphold the order of the universe and in ways that surprise his people with blessings. The prophet both proclaims and believes God’s Word.

After pausing at the top of the literary stairs to take in a glimpse of who God really is, we start back down. The lepers arrive at the Syrian army’s camp and no one is there. They go in tent after tent and eat and drink. The hungry and thirsty are satisfied. At the same time they carry off the spoils of war abandoned by the soldiers – silver, gold, and clothing – and hide it as newfound wealth for themselves. Then a fear of God comes over them and they say to each other, “This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the people at the palace.” (2 Ki 7:8-9)

The lepers tell the gate keepers, the gate keepers tell the palace officials, and the king is awakened in the middle of the night for an emergency meeting with his military officers. Fearing the worst, the king urges inaction, “I know what has happened. The Syrians know we are starving, so they have left their camp and have hidden in the fields. They are expecting us to leave the city, and then they will take us alive and capture the city.” Fortunately, one officer either has faith in the word of the prophet or at least is less risk-adverse. He says, "We had better send out scouts to check into this. Let them take five of the remaining horses. If something happens to them, it will be no worse than if they stay here and die with the rest of us.” (2 Ki 7:12-13)

The scouts find solid evidence that the Syrian soldiers have fled in a mad rush somewhere beyond the Jordan River. The scouts return and tell the king, and word spreads. The four men who had long been quarantined with a dreaded skin disease got a welcome surprise after twilight and were privileged to tell some good news which was badly needed. As a result, they were privileged to make a difference in the world. What happened next? The Word of the Lord came true. “Then the people of Samaria rushed out and plundered the Syrian camp. So it was true that six quarts of choice flour were sold that day for one piece of silver, and twelve quarts of barley grain were sold for one piece of silver, just as the Lord had promised. The king appointed his officer to control the traffic at the gate, but he was knocked down and trampled to death as the people rushed out.” (2 Ki 7:14-17).

• Providential serendipity today

What about today? Is there still divine serendipity at work?

In the summer of 1997 a six-person team from the U.S planned a short-term mission to work with a veteran missionary couple (Rick and Melissa) in Russia. [5] The team planned to fly 5000 miles to Moscow, spend the night, then fly south another 1000 miles to the city of Elista, where they were to teach Bible classes at a day camp for local children. A few days before they left the States, the city officials forbad their teaching at the camp. So Rick – the local missionary – came up with the idea of them doing street preaching in Moscow. As the team arrived at the airport in Moscow, Moscow authorities informed Rick that the Americans would only be allowed to spend 24 hours in Moscow.

Trying to come up with an alternative, Rick contacted Vera (a young Christian woman) who lived in a village 50 miles north of Elista. Her village was predominately Buddhist, and these Buddhist villagers were openly hostile to Christians — so hostile that they had tried to murder Vera on two separate occasions. However, when Vera contacted the local school principal, he agreed to allow the team to teach English as a Second Language as long as there was no talk about Jesus while the group was at the school.

One of the women on the team, Diane, reported:

After more than 30 hours traveling, we finally arrived in Elista and learned about Plan C. After a short and restless night’s sleep, we piled into a rusted van for the 50 mile trek along a muddy, rut-filled road to a village that fit the cliché “in the middle of nowhere” to a tee. It’s hard to describe how disoriented and discouraged the team felt during that ride north as we were being jostled from side to side while breathing exhaust fumes coming up through a hole in the van’s floor. Other than myself, no one on the team had any experience teaching English (let alone English as a Second Language), plus we didn’t have any materials written in English with us other than our Bibles, which we were forbidden to us. In our minds, the mission trip was shaping up as a huge disaster.

But God is not the God of the past and of the dead only. He is also the God of the present and of the living. Diane and the team leader along with Rick the missionary went to visit that young Christian woman in the village, Vera. When Rick mentioned that Vera had attended Bible school in Moscow for a couple of years, Diane (quoted above) remembered that her pastor from the States had taught there. Diane asked Vera whether she had known her pastor and said his name. Vera immediately yelled out in excitement the pastor’s name, “Jim, Jim, Jim.” It turned out that Pastor Jim had given to his students a picture of his own congregation back in the States. In the center of that photograph were none other than Diane and her husband.

When Christians and Buddhists in the village heard the story of the photograph, they had to admit that it was by more than chance that the six-person team was there. Providential serendipity was at work. The team taught English in the classroom, played soccer with the village kids in the afternoon, and worshipped outdoors with the Christians at night. The Gospel was not shared in the classes, just like the six-person team had agreed to. But an openness to the Gospel was created in the villagers. Old hostilities had been overcome and a new environment of trust had been built. Two weeks later, missionary Rick took another team to that same village who were able to openly share the Gospel. As a result, nearly every villager placed his or her faith in Christ. The first team originally thought that their mission would be a failure. They came back to America understanding providential serendipity and having the privilege of making a difference in the world.

[1] Joe Palca, “In Hopes of Fixing Faulty Genes, One Scientist Starts With the Basics,” NPR Morning Edition, October 13, 2014. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/10/13/354934248/in-hopes-of-fixing-faulty-genes-one-scientist-starts-with-the-basics

[2] Ibid., transcript.

[3] Dale Ralph Davis, 2 Kings (Christian Focus Publications, Ltd.: Fearn, Ross-shire, 2005), p 118.

[4] Ibid. p 123.

[5] Diane Singer, “God’s Serendipity,” Christian Worldview Journal, January 7, 2013.

http://www.colsoncenter.org/the-center/columns/changepoint/19046-gods-serendipity

Art work: (head) Sharon Wagner, “Hang your hat; don’t turn your back” and (animals) Michael W. High, “Fascination” part of the exhibit “CLAY . . . Not the Usual Suspects,” the Gallery, Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, Ohio, September 25 to November 7, 2014.

The danger of drifting away

• Stay alert.

Back on Monday, April 21, off the north Queensland coast, five Australians anchored their 6.1m Haines Hunter boat near an exposed sandbar about 8:00 am. Leaving mobile phones and sun protection on board, the group set off towards an adjacent rocky outcrop (exposed part of bedrock) for a snorkeling expedition.

“Just as we got over to the rocks one of the boat co-owners … turned back and could see that the boat had shifted,” one of the five later told a local newspaper. Two men swam after the vessel but it quickly drifted beyond reach. “The northerly [wind] had really picked up and the boat was moving far more quickly,” the woman added.

The group scrawled a large SOS sign in the highest part of the sand bank and climbed to the highest rocks on the outcrop. “We had reef walkers on thankfully, but we had no food, water, cream, no hats, not much at all. We just looked for the highest ground, we looked for rocks where five of us could huddle together because we didn’t really want to separate, and we wanted to be out of the wind as best as possible.”

When the boat was found floating aimlessly, Queensland Water Police notified local rescue at 2:15 pm. A rescue helicopter was dispatched. The chopter crew spotted the five stranded people about 4:00 pm, hoisted them into the chopter, and brought them back to the base a bit burnt by the sun but safe and sound. [1]

In life, there is also the danger of spiritual drift. You think the boat of your life is securely anchored and, before you realize it, you have drifted. But the outcome will be much more deadly than the possibilities were for those five Australians. Spiritually, the outcome is either everlasting life or everlasting loss. Hebrews chapter 2:1-4 posts this spiritual warning sign:

¹Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. ²For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, ³how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, ⁴while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

• Learn the truth.

One way of looking at the literary structure of Hebrews is to see five major sections, each of which has two parts: “learn the truth / live the truth.” [2]

1:1-4 Introduction

1:5-14 Learn; 2:1-4 Live (danger: drifting from the gospel)

2:5-18 Learn; 3:1-4:16 Live (danger: disbelieving the gospel)

5:1-10 Learn; 5:11-6:20 Live (danger: dullness toward the gospel)

7:1-10:18 Learn; 10:19-39 Live (danger: despising the gospel)

11:1-40 Learn; 12:1-29 Live (danger: defying the gospel)

13:1-25 Conclusion

We can’t live the truth as urged by Hebrews 2:1-4, unless we learn the truth just taught. So let’s summarize Hebrews chapter one.

Human history is called “the days,” and throughout “the days” God has spoken words to the human race. In the first phase of speaking, God spoke by the Hebrew prophets to the Hebrew people at various times and in various ways (1:1). Most notably, God spoke his law through Moses – the covenant at Mount Sinai with its warnings of blessings for obedience and disasters for disobedience. But in “these last days” – the last part of human history – he has spoken by his Son (1:2). His Son has the exact nature of God the Father and is the person through the world was created and who upholds the world by his powerful word (1:2-3). The Son came to earth and made purification for sins and after this accomplishment sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (1:3).

God’s speaking in words (his revelation) through the prophets was accomplished through angels – who are created ministers ready to do God’s bidding (Psalm 104:4). The new revelation in these last days is through the Son. The superiority of the new revelation to the old can be demonstrated in many ways (the whole book of Hebrews), but the first way is to compare the Son to the angels (chapter one).

The Son has the same nature as God; the angels are only created servants (Heb 1:5-7). The first revelation uses two primary names for God: Elohim (God) and YHWH (Lord). The first revelation calls the Son “Elohim/God” in Psalm 45:-6-7 with Isaiah 61:1 and calls the Son “YHWH/Lord” in Isaiah 61:3 with Psalm 102:25-27 (Heb 1:8-12). The angels never have this attribution.

Therefore, the angels are called upon to worship the Son in Deuteronomy 32:43 (Gk) with Ps 97:7 (Hebrews 1:6). Moreover, God says to the Son, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” in Psalm 110:1 (Heb 1:13). God never said this to the angels, who are simply ministering spirits sent out to serve (Heb 1:14).

Let us pause and, along with the angels, worship the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God – who has the very nature of God. Let us appreciate him, honor him, reverence him. For he it is who was the radiance of the glory of God while he lived on this earth. He it is who created everything and who holds all creation together so that it does not devolve into instant chaos. He it is who made purification for our sins – our root problem. And he it is who became human and spoke to us the words of God as God’s final prophet.

• Live the truth.

Having learned the truth (Hebrews chapter 1), we must now continue to believe and live the truth (Hebrews 2:1-4) despite the pressures of life. The original Jewish readers were asked to remember what high value they placed on the law of Moses, the revelation given at Mount Sinai, the revelation in which angels played a part (Deuteronomy 33:2 Greek translation; Psalm 68:17). And they were asked to remember the punishments for every transgression of that law and for every disobedience to that law (Heb 2:2).

And then the original readers were asked to remember the new revelation, the gospel given directly by YHWH, the Lord, that is to say, the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb 2:3). That revelation was passed on from the Lord through those who heard him, that is to say, the apostles supremely but also other disciples. All of these were eye-witnesses of what was actually said and what actually happened. Elohim (God) confirmed the truth of the message of his Son by means of signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. If nobody got away with anything under the old revelation, how can you expect to get away with ignoring and neglecting the new message – given by the Lord himself, proclaimed by eye-witnesses, and authenticated with miracles by God the Father and the Holy Spirit?

We are now face-to-face with the warning of Hebrews 2:1. “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” The two verbs in the original Greek “pay much closer attention” (prosecheo) and “drift away” (pararreo) are used in various contexts in ancient Greek literature:

A dramatic word is employed for “drift away,” pararreo, which means “to flow by” or “slip away from.” It describes that carelessness of mind which, perhaps occupied by other things, is not aware it is losing ground. Plato used it of something slipping away from the memory, and Plutarch of a ring slipping from a finger. Another figure often suggested is that of a ship loose from its moorings. The danger highlighted is that of a great loss occurring unnoticed. The cause is not taking seriously the words spoken to them. Inattention or apathy will rob them of their treasure. [3]

But actually both verbs may have a nautical sense. New Testament scholar William Barclay explains:

Prosecho can mean to moor a ship; and pararreo can be used of a ship which has been carelessly allowed to slip past a harbour or a haven because the mariner has forgotten to allow for the wind or the current or the tide. So, then, this first verse could be very vividly translated: “Therefore, we must the more eagerly anchor our lives to the things that we have been taught lest the ship of life drift past the harbour and be wrecked.” It is a vivid picture of a ship drifting to destruction because the pilot sleeps. [4]

The message of the Hebrew prophets is the Old Testament. The message of the Lord and his hearers is the New Testament. Together they comprise the Bible. Have you anchored your life to the message of the Bible? Your moods will swing, your circumstances will change, only the Word of God will remain constant. In a radio talk during World War II, C.S. Lewis spoke of the importance of training yourself in the virtue of faith. In part he told his listeners:

make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and church going are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away? [5]

The Book of Hebrews urges us, as the years of our life pass, that we “we must pay much closer attention” (Heb 2:1). Have you slacked off? Have you neglected the Old Testament, the fourfold Gospel, the Acts, the Epistles, the Book of Revelation? It’s time for greater attention.

There is also the matter of drift. How you compared the current status of your beliefs and your behavior to the doctrine and morals of the Gospel and its application by the Apostles? Have you shifted off course from the Bible? It’s time to get back on track – today.

A recent news article speaks of the sons of two prominent Christian leaders who have departed from the faith of their parents [6]. Bart Campolo, is the son of Tony Campolo, a prominent progressive evangelical. The blogger for Christianity Today said:

The last I knew, Bart had followed his dad and was preaching and practicing a left-leaning, though evangelical faith.

But after I Googled his name, I found he didn’t seem to be a part of any Christian ministry, despite having helped found several. He has not blogged at Sojourners in over three years. His personal website is gone. Mission Year, which he helped to start, references him as a co-founder, but he is nowhere among those listed as currently serving with the ministry.

While his Wikipedia page only mentions his involvement in Christian causes, I knew I had read about a secular connection. But, just a few clicks down I saw he is the Humanist chaplain at the University of Southern California and a speaker for the Secular Student Alliance (SSA).

The blogger had an immediate reaction, which – upon reflection – he had to change:

I have to confess, the immediate reaction I had was that this is why progressive evangelicalism and particularly mainline Protestantism (Campolo straddled both) can be dead ends, often failing to keep the next generation. And, there is some statistical support for that reaction (at least for mainliners). . . . Then, I started to reconsider.

I remembered Frank Schaeffer, son of the late Francis Schaeffer. If robust evangelicalism guaranteed continuing fidelity, the younger Schaeffer would not be writing odd books about his mother’s sex life [Sex, Mom, and God: How the Bible's Strange Take on Sex Led to Crazy Politics--and How I Learned to Love Women (and Jesus) Anyway, 2011] and describing his own spiritual life as an atheist who believes in God [Why I Am An Atheist Who Believes In God, 2014].

Am I drifting from the Gospel? What kind of influence on others am I? Are those under my care or sphere of influence drifting? What actions do I need to take? Is it high time to “watch and pray”?

[1] Harry Clarke, “Five people rescued after scrawling SOS on sandbar off north Queensland coast,” The Courier-Mail, April 22, 2014. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/five-people-rescued-after-scrawling-sos-on-sandbar-off-north-queensland-coast/story-fnihsrf2-1226891816280?nk=16c0615c5f37d5fc387ffb8cedb85fb1

[2] Here, in my own words, I follow the research article J. C. Fenton, “The Argument in Hebrews,” Studio Evangelica 7 (1982), pp 175-76 and similar studies cited by David J. MacLeod, “The Literary Structure of the Book of Hebrews,” Bibliotheca Sacra 146 (April 1989), p 189.

[3] Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews (IVP New Testament Commentary Series), Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), on Heb 2:1-4. http://www.raystedman.org/hebrews2/heb2comm1.html

[4] William Barclay, Hebrews (Daily Study Bible), Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1975.

http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/view.cgi?bk=57&ch=2

[5] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, New York: HarperCollins, 1952. PDF version p 70 of 108.

[6] Ed Stetzer, “Deconversion: Some Thoughts on Bart Campolo’s Departure from Christianity,” The Exchange; a blog, Christianity Today, September 30, 2014. http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/september/deconversion-some-thoughts-on-bart-campolos-departure-from-.html

Art featured: (head) Ikuko Miklowski, “A as in …” and (yes, no) Judith Salomon, “Tile Series,” in the exhibit Clay … Not the Usual Suspects, September 25 to November 7, 2014, Gallery at Lakeland Community College, Kirkland, Ohio.

The Power of the Book

• Take up and read

On the West Coast in the late 1950s, when she was just 8 years old, a girl named Storm began picking fruit as a full-time farm laborer for less than $1 per hour. Storm and her family moved often, living in Native American migrant worker camps without electricity or running water. She wasn’t allowed to have books because they are too heavy to carry around when you keep moving from place to place. She recalled:

The conditions were pretty terrible. I once told someone that I learned to fight with a knife long before I learned how to ride a bicycle. And when you were grinding day after day after day, there’s no room in you for hope. There just isn’t. You don’t even know it exists. There’s nothing to aspire to, except filling your hungry belly.

When she was 12, something arrived in camp that changed her life: a bookmobile came to the fields. She approached it but hesitated. A staff member waved her in and explained it was completely free to check out books for two weeks – no strings attached. She tells about the books:

And I took them home and I devoured them. I didn’t just read them, I devoured them. And I came back in two weeks and had more questions. And he [the staff member] gave me more books and that started it. That taught me that hope was not just a word, and it gave me the courage to leave the camps. That’s where the books made the difference. By the time I was 15, I knew there was a world outside of the camps. I believed I could find a place in it and I did.

She eventually went to night school and worked in a library for 30 years. [1]

There is a much more powerful book: the Scriptures. And it tells not just of a wider reality beyond the place where we live, but of unseen Reality. And it leads us to a hope not just of improved living conditions but of eternal life. The Gospel explains it in John chapter 5.

• What are the Scriptures?

In John 5, the Lord was in a lengthy discourse with the religious leaders in Jerusalem. During the talk he said he was the Son of God (equal with God, 5:19) and the Son of Man. And he gave three witnesses to the fact of his divine nature (having the same being and powers as God does) and divine authority (his role of judge in the Day of Judgment when he calls the dead out of the graves and some of the dead experience the resurrection for life and the others experience the resurrection for judgment), 5:19-29. These are the three witnesses. Witness one was John the Baptist (5:32-25). Witness two was the miracles Jesus was performing (5:36). And witness three was the Scriptures (5:37-47), the voice of God. Let’s look at number three in depth.

³⁷And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, ³⁸and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. ³⁹You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. ⁴¹I do not receive glory from people. ⁴²But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Behind everything we can see, feel, and touch, there is a personal, absolute, invisible Reality – present with us and yet utterly transcendent from us: God. He can be overlooked, he can be denied, but he cannot be willed away. He is there. In the fullness of God, there is the invisible Father. The invisible Father sent the second Person of the Deity, the Word into the world to be seen, heard, and touched. The Word – the Son of God – became a human being, the Son of Man.

However, the personal, absolute, invisible Reality has always had a voice. He is there and he is not silent. That voice has taken three notable forms. First, there is the creation itself:

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge….

Their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19:1-2,4)

Historically, the third major voice has been the Word who became flesh, known to us as Jesus Christ:

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:17-18)

There has been a critical second way: the Scriptures. Notice the words of the Lord from John 5. God the invisible Father does not have a form that you can see with your eyes, nor does he have a voice that you can hear with your ears (v 37). Nevertheless, he has a word (v 38) and that word is the Scriptures (v 38). You can hear him by reading and listening to this written word.

The Scriptures are the voice of God. Are we listening?

• Which are the Scriptures?

And how can I identify that written word, the Scriptures? In this section of our exploration, the reader becomes a gatherer of evidence. This requires the patience of a scientist in a laboratory.

First, the Scriptures had a contemporary portion, as Jesus was speaking. It consisted of the writings of the Hebrew law-giver, Moses (v 45-47). As passages in the Gospel show, it also consisted of the Hebrew prophets (both history and prophecy) and the Hebrew poetical writings (chiefly the Psalms). To marshal the data from the four-fold Gospel and from contemporary sources would require an article of significant length. We will need to be content with sampling. Here are three examples each from prophets and poets:

At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” (Matt 26:55-56)

And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21 citing the prophet Isaiah 61:1-2)

He [Jesus] said to them [the disciples], “. . . . For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” (Luke 22:36-37 citing the prophet Isaiah 53:12)

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” (Matt 21:42 citing Psalm 118:22, 23)

Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— . . .” (John 10:34-25 citing Psalm 82:6)

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “. . . . I have guarded them [the disciples], and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:1,12 citing Psalm 109:8)

In Alexandria, Egypt, the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament) were translated into Greek (3^rd to 1^st centuries BC) called the Septuagint. In Alexandria the codex (pages sewn together into a book) became popular. In the Septuagint the Old Testament ran from Genesis to Malachi. However, in Jerusalem, where scrolls continued to be used, the scrolls of the Hebrew Scriptures were typically stored in three bins and regarded as three categories: (1) the law, (2) the prophets and (3) “the rest of the books” (Prologue to Sirach 1:1). Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus) dates to about 180 BC with the prologue by his grandson dating to about 132 BC). The broken fragments of 4QMMT (2^nd century BC) from the Dead Sea Scrolls seem to imply an arrangement similar to the threefold arrangement of Sirach (Moses, prophets, David & events):

      [And] we have [also written] to you so that you may have understanding in the book of Moses [and] in the book[s of the Pr]ophets and in Davi[id and in the events] of ages past . . . [2]

Regardless of the precise arrangement of the books among Jewry in the ancient world, the words of Jesus signify the contents of the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament. First:

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (Luke 24:44)

In the standard “scrolls” arrangement for the third division of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Book of Psalms was placed at the beginning and could therefore serve of the name of the whole division.

[Jesus said,] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! . . . . Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. (Matt 23:29,24-25)

Zachariah was not the last martyr. But in the standard “scrolls” arrangement of the Hebrew Scriptures, Abel (the first martyr) was slain in the first book, Genesis (Gen 4:8), and Zacharias (the last martyr) was slain in the last book, Chronicles (2 Chronicles 24:20 -23).

Our brief survey shows that the Scriptures had an existing portion during the ministry of Jesus and that it comprised what Christians call the books of the Old Testament. Questions about precise composition cannot be answered here. (Examples: Were Esther and Ezekiel regarded as canonical by rabbis during the ministry of Jesus? What books did the Dead Sea Scrolls community regard as Scripture? What about the deutero-canonicals recognized at two church councils in North Africa?)

The Scriptures also have a future portion beyond when Jesus was speaking in Jerusalem. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). But he himself did not write any letters or books. Instead “he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach . . .” (Mark 3:14). “Apostle” was a personal envoy, a special and exclusive representative. [3] Jesus told this group, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me” (Matt 10:40; cf. John 13:20).

For this purpose Jesus endowed the apostles with the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of truth—who will

teach them all things and recall to mind what Jesus had said, will guide them into fullness

of truth and will also explain the future (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-15). In Hebrews 2:1-4 the apostles are compared to the angels of the Old Testament as transmitters of God's revelation. Heb 2:3 asks us, “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,” the apostles.

“Last of all, as to one untimely born, he [Christ] appeared also to me [Paul]” (1 Cor 15:8). This apostolic office gave Paul a peculiar authority shared by all the apostles: “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (2 Thess 2:15). The apostles handed down sacred traditions from Jesus Christ explained and enlarged upon by the Holy Spirit. Their authoritative writings are also Scripture. As Peter says of Paul,

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:15-16)

At the time of the Lord’s earthly ministry, the Scriptures had a contemporary portion – the Old Testament – and they had a future portion – the New Testament, the writings directly sponsored by the apostles. But . . .

• So what?

Unfortunately, Jesus had to tell his listeners, as recorded in John chapter 5, “³⁹You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” It is possible to never hear or read the Scriptures. It is possible to read and re-read the Scriptures but allow personal prejudice to miss the point. It is possible to give diligent attention to the Scriptures but miss the message by getting bogged down in the minutiae of detail. Where do you stand?

Journalist Marvin Olasky's grandfather was born in the Ukrainian town of Olyevsk, the Anglicization of which became their American surname. The grandfather, Louis Olasky, originally Lepke ben Yehoshua, escaped the Czarist army in 1912 and ended up in Malden, Massachusetts.

Raised Jewish, as a teenager, grandson Marvin Olasky read H.G. Wells’ History of the World and Sigmund Freud’s Future of an Illusion.” By age 14, he said, “I thought all this belief in God was just childish stuff.” While in college during the Vietnam War, his non-belief in God led to embracing communism.

However, as a doctoral candidate in American Culture at the University of Michigan, he needed to demonstrate foreign language mastery. So he chose Russian "in order to speak to my Soviet big brothers," he recalled. Along the way he picked up a New Testament in Russian and started reading — very slowly “puzzling out the words.”

“I started believing there was really something here. This is not just a book written by man, there’s something inspired by God in this,” he recalled. This is the power of the Book, the Scriptures. The Scriptures have self-authenticating power and life-changing power. But it is not enough to have a vague belief, “Hey, there’s really something here." You must find out what the Scriptures are all about and embrace that.

Then Marvin Olasky got an assignment to teach a course in early American literature — which largely consisted of the sermons of leading Puritan preachers Jonathan Edwards and Increase Mather, as well as authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne (dead men from 300 years ago). Wholesome books have uplifting power — and these books led the young Olasky to come to personal, repentant faith in Jesus Christ. Marvin’s worldview and life were transformed. He received the sure hope of eternal life in the age to come, and he received transforming, spiritual life now. [4]

Are you willing to search the Scriptures and come to Christ that you may have life?

[1] “Once Forbidden, Books Become A Lifeline For A Young Migrant Worker,” StoryCorps, NPR Morning Edition, May 30, 2014. A conversation of Storm Reyes with his son, Jeremy Hagquist. http://www.npr.org/2014/05/30/317035044/once-forbidden-books-become-a-lifeline-for-a-young-migrant-worker

[2] James VanderKam & Peter Flint, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (London: T&T Clark, 2002), pp 169-172.

[3] R. David Rightmire, “Apostle,” Baker’s Dictionary of Biblical Theology, (ed) Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996). http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/apostle.html

[4] Mark A. Kellner, “Marvin Olasky preaches journalism through the lens of scripture, faith,” Desert News, September 18, 2014. http://national.deseretnews.com/article/2371/marvin-olasky-preaches-journalism-through-the-lens-of-scripture-faith.html