Pastor Glenn’s Weblog

Psalm 11:1-3.  Verse three of this psalm is an interesting verse, and I have heard it often quoted in the context of our culture.  “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  I have always heard this verse cited as a reason to take up arms in the political fight against the moral decay in our culture.  Certainly the reason for the moral decay we see around us is the attack of wicked people, and that is also the context of this statement.  Note the previous verse that says “the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.”  I appreciate those who take an active political role in fighting the destruction of our moral foundation, and I see more of that destruction today that ever before in my lifetime.  However, this poem is not about taking up arms.  Those who advocate such a fight need to find another verse for a rallying cry.  This passage is about finding our refuge in God.  Read the first verse: “In the LORD I take refuge.  How then can you say to me: ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain?’”  David, who wrote this poem, is not calling men to fight in the battle of the foundations; he is stating the best and first thing to do when the foundations are being destroyed.  We don’t first flee to the mountains, nor do we first take up arms in the political battle; the first thing we must do is take refuge in God.  Verse three is not a call to arms but a call to refuge!  First, take refuge from the battle in God, from that reference point further steps can be determined.

          Two more thoughts on the battle for our moral foundations:  First, as Christian people, we can’t fight the battle of the foundations ourselves; we simply are not strong enough to fight it.  However, when we find our refuge in God, he can fight that battle for us, and we can more clearly see our part in it.  Second, since studying church history, I’m not convinced that God always wants us fighting that battle on the political front.  The church has almost always done better spiritually when an evil regime is in power. Who are we to say that God’s kingdom will move forward better when the government is righteous?  Such thinking denies the pattern of history and can easily confuse our worldly kingdom with God’s kingdom, as though the USA was God’s kingdom on earth.  Let’s commit to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.

          Here are some recent random reflections from my devotions in Mark.  After feeding the five thousand, Jesus walked on the water and calmed the storm.  The disciples shouldn’t have been too surprised at this, because they’d seen him calm storms before, and the multiplying of the loaves proved once and for all who he was.  But still “They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.” (6:52)  I wondered about people I know who don’t understand who Jesus is, in spite of the evidence in front of them.  I prayed for one man who is a part of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and with whom I’ve had some conversations about Jesus; I prayed for a long-time friend who reads the Bible but has yet to see Jesus as the One who completely paid for his sin; I prayed for our congregation, because there are probably many who hang around church but don’t really know who Jesus is.  Even after a second meal of multiplied bread, the disciples still didn’t understand that God would use his resources to meet their needs. (9:21)

          “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”  Jesus had compassion on the lost crowd.  He also had compassion on the individual sinner.  Of the rich young man inquiring about eternal life, we are told that “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” (10:21)  I often see the sinful crowd as hostile to Christianity and in the way of what I should be doing.  I often see the individual sinner as one who should stay lost.  Not Jesus.  He loved the crowd and he loved the individual.  May I have the same compassion for those without Christ!

          Jesus’ attitude about the above is also reflected in this famous statement. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (10:45)  I hope my attitude toward others, both in and out of the body, grows more into one of serving.  I like serving the body with my gifts, but serving those outside is sometimes harder.

            We’ve been out camping and vacationing for the past week, so I’ve done no writing on this blog.  One morning I was reading and pondering Psalm 39 and these words spoke to me about men in midlife crisis. “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you.  Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.  But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” (vv 5-7)  So many men in our culture get to middle age and begin to realize that their life is short – a mere handbreadth.  They also begin to wonder what they are so busy about – why they are heaping up wealth to no purpose.  They question what they have been investing in for most of their lives.  I’ve seen it with some friends of mine.  For many men, that leads to a complete questioning of all life – a reevaluation of purpose and meaning.  I can’t say I will never be there, and so far I have been graciously preserved from that; however, I can make David’s prayer my prayer.  “Lord, show me how fleeting my life is.”  We all need reminders that life as we know it is temporal.  That most of what we pursue will never last.  If a time of complete reevaluation must come into my life, may I do it with an understanding of things eternal.  Help me, God, rather than heaping up temporal wealth, to invest in eternal things, and ultimately to put my hope in you.

I added this picture since my first edition of this post. The bench in the picture is where I sat when I had the thoughts recorded here.

          We were vacationing at Ayres Natural Bridge in Wyoming this week.  It’s been a restful vacation, and I haven’t made any entries because we’ve been without telephone, electricity, and Internet.  This is an amazing spot, one of only three natural bridges in the world with running water under it.  But even more amazing to me is the climate change when we come into this place.  After driving across miles of desert, we quickly dropped into this small narrow canyon and thought we’d changed hemispheres or something.  Suddenly we were in a tropical jungle: tree types I’m not used to seeing in Wyoming; humidity and lush grass; and an absolutely incredible display of bird varieties.  One morning, I was watching the birds and rabbits play and was praising God for his incredible creativity.  The next morning I read in Psalm 18:  “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  I was struck by the number of titles David used for God in this poem:  fortress, deliverer, shield, horn and stronghold are in this verse, and some of them are repeated in the remainder of the chapter.  But the most used description of God is “rock.”  It appears twice in this verse and four times in the chapter.  While reading that it occured to me that I was sitting under a gigantic rock!  This rock has been here for thousands of years; it was a protection for us from yesterday’s rain; it was a stopover for the pioneers on the Oregon and Overland trails who were willing to brave a rough ride a few miles out to the way; though unknown and secluded as it is, it draws visitors from all over.  This place is secure from the desert above us; it is a refuge from the stresses of the world; it is a quiet respite. The only sounds I hear this morning are the roaring river and scores of bird songs.  God is like that, as David tells us with all these descriptions of his Rock.  “The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!  Exalted be God my Savior!”

        Acts 9:40. “Tabitha, get up.”  When I read these words of Peter, it sent me down an interesting chain of thoughts.  I preached through Mark about eight years ago, and I remember being very impressed by the insertion of an Aramaic sentence in the Greek telling of one story.  Since the Gospel of Mark is widely accepted as Peter’s teachings about Jesus, I saw the story as though the actual words of Jesus were so engraved in Peter’s mind that when he told the story over and over, and when Mark heard it, he couldn’t help but use the original Aramaic of Jesus.  So when Mark later recorded the story, he too put that phrase in Aramaic.  The story is of the raising of Jairus’ daughter, and the Aramaic phrase is “Talitha koum,” which means “Child, get up.”  In the Acts story referenced here, the Greek name of this woman was Dorcas and the Aramaic name was Tabitha (v. 36).  If Peter were speaking in Aramaic, the native language of the area, when he raised this woman from the dead, then what he said was, “Tabitha koum!” – a sentence just one letter different than the one Jesus used.  And, just like Jesus, Peter took her by the hand and helped her up.  The parallels are too close to be an accident – Peter had to have been thinking of the first situation when he dealt with this one.  So once again I see how vivid the memory of Jairus’ daughter was to Peter.  May Jesus’ workings in our lives be so vivid, we can never forget them!

            Acts 5:41.  We discussed this surprising verse in my class on Sunday, and it just happened to come up in my devotions this morning.  A little background to what happened will help explain it.  When God healed the lame man in the temple through Peter and John, there was quite a stir among the people.  The religious leaders were “greatly disturbed’ by this and arrested Peter and John (4:2-3).  However, those leaders could do nothing to them, because everyone knew the man had been healed.  So they simply warned Peter and John not to speak in the name of Jesus any longer (4:14-18).  Maybe they thought a threat from the religious leaders would be sufficient to shut them up, but Peter and John gave a fascinating response:  “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.  For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (4:19-20)  The young church gathered together and prayed.  I would have prayed for protection from the authorities; they prayed for boldness in spite of the authorities! (4:29)  O that I could learn such urgency for the gospel!

            In the period that followed, and we don’t know how long that period lasted, the church continued to grow.  In fact there were many healings and miracles happening in Jerusalem (5:12-16).  Because of the church’s growth and influence, the religious leaders were “filled with jealousy.”  So they again arrested the apostles (apparently more than just Peter and John this time – Acts 5:17-18) and put them into prison.  After what I find a comical story about an angel letting them out, they appeared before the Sanhedrin.  The Sanhedrin had a furious discussion and wanted to put the apostles to death for disobeying them, but a greatly respected old teacher named Gamaliel advised against it, and his argument persuaded the council (5:28-40).  Instead, they beat the apostles and let them go with another order not to speak in Jesus’ name (5:40).

            This was probably the first time any these people had been persecuted for what they believed, yet their reaction is not what I would expect.  This is where the surprise of Acts 5:41 comes, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name!”  They rejoiced!  I don’t get it; I’m not there in my own spiritual life.  Not only that, but “they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ!”  Maybe, if and when the time comes, God will grant the grace I need to rejoice over being beaten for him, but right now I don’t feel that at all.  I’m just too comfortable with my easy North-American Christianity.  With all the political changes that have come in recent years, and especially in recent days, persecution of American Christians looks more like a reality than it ever has before.  May God grant me the boldness to speak his word and, if need be, the eternal perspective to rejoice that I would be considered worthy of persecution for Jesus’ name.