The Touch of Jesus

We've been studying through Matthew lately at church, and last week the theme of touching seemed to come up a number of times.  First off, Jesus healed a leper through touching him:

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  (Matt 8:1-3 ESV)

Since the basic protocol was to not touch someone with a contagious skin disease (for medical, as well as religious, reasons, surely), Jesus touching him showed a striking courage, or else disdain for the fear that others had of touching social outcasts, people who might give you sickness and/or the religiously impure.

Immediately afterward, Matthew recounts the healing of a centurion's servant:

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment. (Matt 8:5-13 ESV)

Here Jesus shows that he has the power to heal, without even touching the sick person (OK, it sounds like he didn't even see him...).  The above two stories juxtaposed are an interesting display that Jesus isn't afraid to touch people we wouldn't touch, and He isn't limited to doing things as we might expect, when we might think they would require physical presence, and at least a touch.  So Jesus is less afraid of physical and/or social disease, and less limited by distance, than we are.
After this, we read:

And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. (Matt 8:14-15 ESV)

There is a potentially different scenario here; I don't want to presume that Jesus knew Peter's mother-in-law very well, but certainly better than the last two people he healed. His touch, therefore, may well have meant something here; he was caring for a loved one who was sick, and removing her sickness.
To top off that section of healings, we have the following summary of what happened after Peter's mother-in-law was healed:

That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.  This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases." (Matt 8:16-17 ESV)

Touching isn't mentioned -- just that the demon oppressed came, and he cast them out ('with a word' -- no touch there?). In any case, it is clearly understood that this was God removing our sorrows, as had been promised.

Then today we looked at the next chapter, and saw, among other things, the resurrection of a ruler's daughter:

While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples.... And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. (Matt 9:18,19,23-25 ESV)

I think that usually I'm so enamored of Jesus in these scenes, to not see the radicalness of his touching this dead body.  The people laugh at Jesus when He says she is sleeping, so certainly they knew better, and he was talking in metaphor -- death being that which remains, and sleep being that from which we awake.  So here Jesus is, doing the act, which above all others, would make someone unclean.  There are rules for the priests about who they can touch and become unclean for -- their family only, and it certainly makes them unclean.  Yet Jesus isn't afraid here, either, like with the leper, though this is a case even more serious.

And it got me thinking about the transmission of holiness and defilement. There was a passage that was tickling at my memory, but I couldn't find it until later:

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: 'If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?'" The priests answered and said, "No." Then Haggai said, "If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?" The priests answered and said, "It does become unclean." Then Haggai answered and said, "So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. (Haggai 2:10-14 ESV)

So, the normal way for holiness to be transmitted is that a holy piece of meat does NOT make something else holy by touching it.  Uncleanness, on the other hand, does get transmitted this way.  That is, something that is holy does not make other things holy by contact, but something that is unclean does make things unclean by contact.  That is to say, touch makes uncleanness transfer, but not holiness.  Which is why holy people don't touch dead bodies.  Rather than them making the dead bodies holy, they would be made unclean.

But not so with Jesus. He, the only Holy One among us all, touches a dead body. And rather than His holiness being defiled, He removes the uncleanliness of the body, bringing her back to life.  So apparently Jesus really is something New, as He said in three ways in vv 14-17 (He is the bridegroom with whom no one can fast, the new cloth, and the new wine). He is the One who can make even the dead clean, not fearing their defilement.

Good thing for us, eh?  Let us bring our rotten, defiled bodies and our dead spirits to Him for cleansing.

Passing on your Skills

 ³⁰Then Moses said to the people of Israel, "See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; ³¹and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, ³²to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, ³³in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. ³⁴And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan.

In reading this morning, I thought it interesting that God didn't just give these guys the skills they needed to do this work, but that He also inspired them to teach others.  It would seem a general principle that those whom God endows with particular skills are obligated, both to use those skills for His glory, and to pass them on.
This is a basic principle underlying the work of Wycliffe, and one of the reasons we are doing this.  Glorifying God in an academically sound manner; doing things right, and helping others to do so, as well. 

The Ikea choir

This morning, on the way to church, both Kim and I thought we should maybe bring the camera, but neither mentioned it, and neither did.  When we got to church, saw someone in a bright yellow Ikea shirt. It isn't unusual to see someone in a brand-name shirt around here, as they make it through Goodwill (or others) to places like this for sale, and people pick a quality shirt with bright colors, and don't know/care what the words on it mean.  Passing the back of the church, I thought I saw another person with the same shirt, but decided I must have mistaken, and that it was just the same person passing from another direction.
So we get into church, and when its time for the choir to stand up and sing, there are TEN people in Ikea shirts, singing praises to Jesus! Anyway, choirs with uniforms aren't new, and sports teams with corporate sponsorship aren't news either, but this seemed like an interesting juxtaposition.
Since I didn't have my camera, for those that might not be sure what shirt I'm talking about, I found a pic online:

What We Want

I've been looking through John 6 a lot lately, as it speaks to a number of issues, such as hard doctrines, non-seeker sensitive evangelism, and the value of eternal life, as opposed to a full stomach today.  The first time this year I looked at it, I was thinking about sustainability, and how to encourage people to seek things that last, as opposed to things that are exciting/fulfilling/satisfying today, but not in the longer term.  Today I realized that at least one uniting theme in the chapter is what people want. (These quotes are all John 6, ESV)
1. Signs

 ¹After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. ²And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

People seek after signs. Someone does something great, and people are impressed -- which we generally like to be.  This morning I noted the number of signs I saw on the way to church.  One coke add said "Open happiness," with a woman in rapture opening a coke.  I also saw beer, a number of cell providers, skin cream, toothpaste, and a Christmas festival -- and these were just the very large ones. The purpose of these signs is to get people to enter a store, and buy a product.  If someone sat on the street and admired the sign (which some might do, especially the one with the skin cream lady on it), without later buying the product, the ad money didn't work.  The point of these signs, as with all signs, is to point to something else, not to be looked at for it's own good.
So what are Jesus' signs pointing to?  Himself.  After attracting them all by healing the sick, he fed them all (5,000) with five loaves of bread and a couple fish. Did they get it?  Kind of...  They did get that this sign meant that He was someone, but then the got tripped up on the second Thing We Want:

2. Power

¹⁴When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!" ¹⁵Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

I think we generally want power for ourselves, but watching someone else in power is a close second, especially if we feel we have some part in it, and perhaps even more so if he might help us throw off our oppressors.  "Wow, this man really is from God!" is immediately followed by "Let's make him King!"  But what is Jesus' response?  Humility.  No thanks, I have other plans.  So He slips away, and walks across the water to his disciples.  The next day, the crowd realize He's given them the slip, and eventually catch up with Him.  When they do, He accuses them of wanting another thing:

3. Food/Today's Requirements

 ²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" ²⁶Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

Here he's saying that it wasn't even wrongly seeking signs that brought them to him, but their stomachs.  In America it doesn't mean so much to feed someone, but in less prosperous places, food is relationship.  We really do need things today, and giving that to me is caring for me.  While we may not be seeking food itself, we certainly chase after the things relevant to today, as opposed to more longterm concerns.  That this is what Jesus meant is clear by His admonition in the next verse:

²⁷Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal."

People come to Him for more free food, and he offers them eternal life.  Given this dichotomy, the people then express another want:
4. Something to do

²⁸Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" ²⁹Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

Having been told to work for eternal food, they ask what to do.  I think we often are looking for a simple roadmap of what we can/should to do be good/right with God.  This desire is what makes works based religion so successful.  We want to do something to earn a reward, or to make things right.  But what does Jesus say?  "Believe in Me." With this, the people go back to wanting

5. Signs, Again

³⁰So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

This may be a request for another sign, or just more bread.  But either way, I think it pretty amazing that one who has just healed the sick, fed them all with a few provisions, and then crossed a stormy lake without a boat, would be asked for proof of His power.

³²Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.³³For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

He corrects their understanding of the scripture, and points back to himself. Which, of course they don't get, so He goes on:

³⁴They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." ³⁵Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Wow.  That is a pretty incredible claim.  With the number of poor Christians I have known, I can see why this would look obsurd on the face of it. But Jesus doesn't stop there; he goes on to Election, Eternal Security, and the Incarnation:

³⁶But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

I've heard a lot about evangelism from different perspectives, but I don't know anyone who would recommend throwing all that into a seekers' class.  And His audience responds by demanding

6. (Human) Reason

 ⁴¹So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." ⁴²They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

In other words, "Where is this kid getting this stuff?" It doesn't make sense; it isn't possible.  A reasonable request, after a sort, but should we really expect God to always make sense to us?  Do we really think we're ask smart as He is, or even in the same ballpark? His response:

⁴³Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ⁴⁶not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

This is an interesting mix of hope and further frustration for them, I imagine. They are claiming that He doesn't make sense, and is therefore wrong.  He is offering them to be taught by God, the One who set this all up, and the only one who could really explain it to us, if that's what we really want.  But He also says that this doesn't happen to everyone, but just the ones the Father draws.  Then He claims to be greater than manna, which did not preserve life longer than a day at a time. They dispute with Him some more, and He dishes back more about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.  When asked to make the Truth fit into a package small and simple enough for us to figure out, Jesus refuses.  We ask to understand for ourselves, but He offers us the Truth.  Which brings them to their final want:

7. Ease

⁶⁰When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"

Wow, Jesus can make life hard some times. And He doesn't seem to make it any easier:

⁶¹But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

Some will not come to Him, and He doesn't seem bothered by it.  When they complain that it is too hard, he accepts that, and continues -- where we would be sorely tempted to make it easier.  Their response?

 ⁶⁶After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

So Jesus starts out with a crowd of some 5,000 people chasing him down, and now many leave, and what does He do?

⁶⁷So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?"

He turns to His inner circle, and challenges them as well, offering them the door.  He doesn't seem bothered by the drop in numbers, because He knows who's in control.  Rather, He continues to drive the point home.  The classic response is very well known, but it bears repeating, and looking at in the relationship to these wants:

⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."

Peter knows that what Jesus offers cannot be found elsewhere, and that this is what he truly needs. When asked for ease, Jesus returns with the Truth, which can be hard at times.  And those that have given up everything else to follow the Truth, stick around.

We want signs, power, daily needs, something to do, a way to understand it, and for it all to be easy.  And Jesus, in return, offers us Himself, in all His glorious complexity, difficulty, eternity, and beauty.  And apparently we can't have it all; it's either chase the other stuff, or stick to Him.  The question now before us, is which one do we want more?

Not by Works, but for them

I've been thinking a lot about Grace and works righteousness lately, having just heard a number of fiery sermons telling us to Do Right in order to Be Right with God.
Then last night I read the last chapter of Timothy, and was surprised by the amount of stuff Paul packed into just a few verses:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (Titus 3:4-8 ESV)

The intro to Titus in my Bible talks about evidence for the divinity of Jesus, which is one of the striking bits here.  In verse 4, "God our Savior appeared...," pouring out the Holy spirit on us "...through Jesus Christ our Savior," in verse 6.  While there isn't a whole lot of direct Biblical evidence for the Trinity, it is nice to see these passages were the three Persons are all related, and in some sense equated -- God gives us the Holy Spirit through Jesus, both God and Jesus being "our Savior."
But what really struck me was the juxtaposition of two things that are said elsewhere regarding Grace and works.  That is,

1. We are not saved by our good works, and
   
2. We are saved in order to produce good works.

The first is stated clearly in verse 5: "he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy..."  then Paul takes some time to describe how that happens.  Salvation is accomplished by this thing called regeneration, which is like washing, and the work of the Holy Spirit, which renews us.  And this Holy Spirit is given to us (and richly) through Jesus.  And the result of this action on us by the Holy Spirit (and through Jesus) is that we now have a different legal status --we wait in hope for eternal life.
This doctrine of our salvation then gets some commentary in verse 8.  This statement (either the whole statement of our salvation by Grace, or our position as heirs of eternal life) is trustworthy.  Not only is it trustworthy, but we should insist on it. But Why? Here's the trick, where the second statement above comes in: we insist "so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works."  And this is both "excellent" and "profitable."

So there is this reality, that God saved us on His own terms, irrespective of good things that we may have done. This salvation that He gave us puts us in a position of Hope, where we await heaven.  But Titus is encouraged to insist on the trustworthiness of this doctrine. We really can trust in God's provision for our salvation, both for now and for the future, as we await the time that all is made right in Heaven.  And this confidence, that God really does have it all under control, is what leaves us free to do real Good, good that might please God, and not be just another misguided attempt to buy His favor.  I guess this is what John Piper calls faith in "Future Grace," that our confidence in God's accomplished provision (for the next five minutes, and to the time of our death) frees us to start living Holy lives.

And this this both excellent and profitable for people, because we waste so much time trying to look good.  If we took the time and energy we wasted trying to look good, and applied it to being satisfied with what God has already done for us, we might actually get some real good done.

The Bible for the Church

I heard a rousing sermon this morning, about how we sell (and cheaply) our Christian identity in times of trouble, and how it is the role and responsibility of the Christian to leave comfort for more difficult places.  He talked about the comfort and safety of the womb, and the death that comes if we don't leave it for the harsher world outside.
Somewhere in there, he mentioned the 2/3 world church, and how the places that have historically had the church, are abandoning Christ for more pleasant pursuits.  And somehow, I made a connection that I never had before.
In preparing to come out here, I did a lot of thinking about missions, and the role of Bible translation in the church.  I read a brochure once on the connection between Bible translation and church planting.  While some may oppose the two works, I believe that it is foundational to the church not only in that a new church needs the Bible in a form that its laypeople can easily understand, but also the process of Bible translation trains up community members in the understanding of the Bible, which provides the church with trained (and hopefully mature) leaders.  In some places where Bible translation is done, there is little or no church at the beginning of the process, and at least some mature leadership by the end -- and this is church planting.
But that is not the way it often works around here. Africa has been evangelized, for the most part, for some time.  But the missionaries that came used trade languages (to reach a broader audience, because it could be learned before moving to an area of work, or for a number of other reasons), in most or all areas of the church life, but certainly including preaching and scripture reading. I think of the story of Adoniram Judson, diligently working away on his Burmese language scripture drafts because they were essential to his church planting work, and God's preservation of it through his time in prison and the war with Britain.  And I realize that I can't think of one such story in Africa. Some people ask us if we're learning/using "African," while the reality is that there are some 2,000 African languages, not including dialects of those languages, some of which can be significant.  Many people know of Swahili, which is spoken in this part of Congo, but it is also spoken in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and at least a bit differently in each place.  Swahili is a mother tongue, but the Swahili people live on the other side of Kenya, two countries and Lake Victoria away from us.  People here who speak Swahili do so to get along with people from other tribes, who therefore speak other languages.  By "get along with,"  mean principally buying and selling, but also relationships with colleagues in most work outside of education and government, and often within them as well.  For education and government, French is often used -- particularly in the presence of a foreigner.  So people here mock their own use of Swahili, and they have a simplified grammar and vocabulary, as would be true, I think, for anyone working in a language that was not their first language (e.g., I get by just fine in French here, but no French person would ever mistake me for one of their own...).  But this is the language of the life of the church.
One of the saddest implications of this fact for me is that people only know reading and writing in other languages, and in general the impression is that reading and writing is hard.  Reading and writing in another language is hard, but it is possible to have an experience of reading and writing in your mother tongue, that moves ideas much more smoothly between your head and paper -- as most native English speakers know.  But for me, the greatest shame of this situation is that most people here have no idea.  They try regular Bible reading (or not), find it hard, and give up. So people get up to sing and dance by the hundreds on Sunday, but the weekly Bible study has maybe 30 people.  Why should they work so hard at it?  Pastors are supposed to work hard at it, but I can't really blame laypeople for not regularly reading the scriptures.  And even for pastors, it is clear at times that they have not understood the text: we had a sermon recently on Ezekiel 14, where the pastor read , e.g., from vv 13-14:

Son of man, when a land sins against me... even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD.

But his sermon clearly betrayed that his understanding of the above was the following:

Son of man, when a land sins against me... if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD.

Perhaps a subtle difference, but missing "even" and "but" turns the scripture on its head.  We got a wonderful sermon on how we had to be as righteous as Noah, Daniel, and Job if we were going to avoid God's wrath.  So the church got once more taught on works righteousness, and missed a chance to see the Grace of God in the face of Christ in the Old Testament (where, for one person to save another's life, he would need to be even more righteous than Noah, Daniel, and Job!)
But my point is, the church here is experiencing a famine for God's word -- not the milk of newborns, but the meat that allows full maturity.  And it may be that anyone who has worked here has heard the metaphor describing the church as topsoil -- miles wide, and a couple inches deep.  I believe this is a direct consequence of not having the Bible in the languages that people understand the best -- the languages it would be easiest for the to read and write in, if there were anything to read, or a system to write with.
So, this morning, when the elder mentioned the 2/3 church, it occurred to me, that the question for missions and Bible translation was not, "is Bible translation the best means of and/or necessary for evangelism of the world?" but, "Given that the center of the Christian church is moving to places where it has not historically been, do we want the people in those places to be able to read the Bible fluently, or not?" Or, we could say that Bible translation is not (only) a question for bringing people into the church, but it is a question for the health and maturity of the church as a whole. Or, as the Westminster Confession of Faith (Ch 1.8b) says:

because these original tongues [i.e., Hebrew and Greek] are not known to all the people of God, who have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope.

Wherever the church goes, we have a responsibility to provide the Scriptures.  Laypeople have a right and responsibility to read (and search!) them, and they can't, if all they have is Hebrew or Greek (which they don't know), and they won't if all they have is a trade language, because of the difficulty.  We want a church where God's word dwells plentifully, not where it exists only for the few who are educated or obstinate enough read it in another language.  This is what will give the church proper worship; this is what will give the church patience, comfort, and hope.
So, in 100 years, when the Christian church in America looks like the Christian church in Europe does today, and when the centers of Christian thought and activity are in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, my hope and prayer is that those centers will be firmly grounded in a clear understanding of the scriptures, and trained by habits of Biblical worship and daily encouragement from those scriptures.
Well, that's what I think, anyway, and why I do what I do.

Repenting of our Service and Obedience

This morning the sermon was on the brother of the prodigal son.  Unfortunately I didn't get much out of it, since my head was a bit foggy, but it did get me to thinking, again, about different things that have come together in that passage for me at different times.

The basic story is well known. One son cashes out on his promised inheritance early, takes off, wastes it all, and becomes dirt poor (this is all Luke 15 ESV):

 ¹¹And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. ¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. ¹⁴And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

Then he decides to go back, and try his luck with his father, hoping to at least get a better job than feeding pigs.  His father is gracious and forgiving far beyond his expectations:

 ¹⁷"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' ²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' ²²But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.

Many people stop here with the story, and talk about how wonderful God is in forgiving us.  And that's right, but Jesus doesn't stop here; he continues with the story of the other brother, the one who didn't go away and spend his inheritance on prostitutes. When he heard the news of his brother's return, and his father's forgiveness and celebration, he was not happy.

 ²⁵"Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' ²⁸But he was angry and refused to go in.

One thing that did come across this morning, was that the Bible does not just give us good examples to follow, but also bad examples to not follow.  This brother is jealous of his brother, and refuses to participate in the celebration.  How do we feel when someone next to us gets something good that they didn't deserve?  Are we happy for them, or are we bitter that they didn't get what they deserved, or that we didn't get something even better?  Why can we not rejoice that God is gracious with our neighbor, without being disgruntled that He wasn't even more gracious with us?  But the wonderful part of the story is that the father doesn't leave this son in his sulk:

^28bHis father came out and entreated him,

This son's response is rather telling of his relationship to the father:

²⁹but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!'

This son looks at his relationship with his father as one of service and obedience.  Long years of service, and no disobedience, should earn a reward.  And what reward was he seeking? "you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends." Clearly he sees his father as someone to serve and obey, and get stuff from, and not as someone to celebrate with.  He wants the good things his father has to offer, to go celebrate with other people, his friends. And when he compares his service and obedience with his brother's sin and dissipation (including prostitutes, no less!), he is irate that his dad is celebrating.

Looking at it another way, when the first son took his father's goods in order to go party elsewhere, he later repented, and recognized that he had sinned against his father (v18).  He knows that he is no longer worthy of an intimate relationship with his father, but goes back to him anyway, and is graciously received.  But the son who never left had the same idea (take dad's stuff and go party elsewhere), and hadn't repented, since he had conformed to his own idea of righteousness: service and obedience.

This is one of the core problems with legalism, or works righteousness. I develop a conception of what is right that is attainable for me personally, then I feel good about myself and complain about anyone else not following it.  I am limiting God's actual righteous requirements (which I have not met) to feel good about myself, and at the same time, I have misapplied my own standards, to become a measure of judgment against my neighbor. 
The irony is that this is not at all what God is looking for.  He doesn't want us to try really hard to live by a certain set of rules, and complain about those who don't. He wants relationship with us.  For the father, this is not a question of sins, service and reward, comparing service and obedience with dissipation and fornication.  This is a question of life and death:

 ³¹And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

The son who stayed home always had relationship with his father, however badly he misconstrued it, and however little joy he drew from it.  But his brother had been dead to their father, cut off from relationship by his open rebellion, and had returned to life and relationship.  When the prodigal returned, he didn't give the father back all the money he spent on prostitutes and wild living; his father bore that cost himself.  But he returned to relationship with the father, and that is cause for celebration.
I think often we look at God as this cosmic vending machine, where we put something good in, and get something good back, and then go eat it somewhere else.  But I think this conception cheats us of both our relatinhsip with God, as well as our true enjoyment of His gifts, which were meant to be enjoyed in relationship with Him.  I think it is good to enjoy the gifts of God, but if that enjoyment leads us away from relationship with God, then it will be short lived, and ultimately hollow.  God has meant for us to enjoy Him first, and through Him we also have temporal pleasures to enjoy.
And this is the great truth that John Piper has been reminding us of: God's greatest glory amounts to our greatest pleasure.  God wants His own glory above all else, and that includes us being happy (in the long term, not necessarily right now).  If we chase our own (right now) happiness, we lose it all. Or, as Jesus said,

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? (Luke 9:24-25 ESV)

and

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matt 6:33 ESV)

So we cannot be righteous by trying hard, and we can't really party (in the long term) with the stuff we can get by working hard.  But if we consider God as our best and only hope, He will make us both righteous and happy.  Not that it won't be hard for us sons who have stayed home, and worked hard to serve and obey.  We think we have it coming to us, and aknowledging that we don't have it all together, and that we really do need God more than He needs us, is hard.  Fortunately God helps with that, too, if we come to him, asking, seeking and knocking for his help.

Post Christmas Blues

It is not often that I feel like sharing what I heard in church two weeks in a row, but such is the case.
I recall a potent Advent sermon some years ago, linking the passage from Isaiah that Jesus read in Luke 4:18-19, with the rest of the context, in Isaiah 61.  It was a rather potent juxtaposition of the message Jesus came to proclaim on his first coming, before his death (i.e., freedom, mercy, and healing), with the whole message in Isaiah, which also includes judgment, which is then apparently reserved for His second coming.  Get your mercy now, before the judgment comes.  A good thing to think about as we anticipate God being "with us."
This morning was on Jeremiah 31, which is quoted in Matt 2:18, just after Herod's killing of the innocents.  There is weeping in Israel, because her children are no more.  But what of Jeremiah's context?  Apparently Jeremiah didn't always write with weeping eyes; this message is happy.
The whole passage read was Jeremiah 31:10-17, of which verse 15 appears in Matthew:

 ¹⁰"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
   and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him,
   and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'
¹¹ For the LORD has ransomed Jacob
   and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
¹²They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
   and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
    and they shall languish no more.
¹³ Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
   and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
   I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴ I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
   and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
         declares the LORD."

 ¹⁵Thus says the LORD: "A voice is heard in Ramah,
   lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
   she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    because they are no more."

 ¹⁶Thus says the LORD:"Keep your voice from weeping,
   and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
         declares the LORD,
   and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷ There is hope for your future,
         declares the LORD,
   and your children shall come back to their own country.

(Jer 31:10-17 ESV)

He who scattered Israel will gather him?  Keep him like a shepherd keeps his flock?   They shall come and sing aloud?  Radiant over the goodness of God in blessing the land? Women dancing, and merry men?  The priests will be feasted, and (because?) the people will be satisfied?  This is not hard times.  This is not exile.  This is the good life.
So what the heck is verse 15 doing there?  And particularly, in light of its accomplishment in the killing of all babies/toddlers in and around Bethlehem?  How can that be a happy thing?
The main point of the sermon, I think, was that life after Christmas has Joy and sorrow, good times and bad times, like any other time.  We may spend all we have to feast well with our families on Christmas day, and come to church in new clothes, but what are we going to eat and wear the day after, if our same basic struggles remain?  We should take care how we celebrate, so we do not cause ourselves unnecessary hardships later (Mom, are you listening?), but we should also acknowledge that in this life God has given us happy and sad times.  They come together.
And in this passage, we see one of the saddest and happiest times placed right smack next to (inside?) each other.  Rachel is weeping, right after "my people shall be satisfied with my goodness," and right before "Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work." There is hope, your children will come back.
So what is Rachel weeping for, and what counters that sadness, giving us hope? Certainly there was not the immediate return to prosperity that some may have expected on the return from exile.  There was a lot of hard work, and a lot of resistance.  Israel was not as populous, nor as powerful, as it was before being sacked. (and again.) The Evangelist Matthew sees this fulfilled in Herod killing all males under 2 years old in and around Bethlehem.  I should probably know how many children we're talking about.  But even if it were a couple, how could that be a happy thing?  Mass infanticide, by the guy you have to submit and pay taxes to.  Glad those taxes are supporting good governance. :-{
But where is the hope?  We see for the second time God preserves a child in the midst of a mass infanticide by a head of government.  Whatever Satan's plans to spread death, pain, and suffering (notice Herod did this because he "became furious," v16 ESV), God preserves His remnant, He moves right ahead with his plan.  Not only would Moses not be killed at birth, he would be used to let God's people go, and to give them the law (and lead them through a long period of disobeying it!).  Not only would Jesus not be killed at birth, but He would be killed at the right time, according to God's plan -- through, of course, the wicked designs of evil men.
A friend says (quotes someone?  I don't know) that God likes taking simple evil, and making a complex good.  The trick is, it has to be pretty good, to justify the evil.  Here we have Jesus' birth, and preservation, placed alongside the senseless, furious slaughter of many innocent children.  And Jeremiah tells us that life is Good.  Which, for Jeremiah, is really saying something.  Jesus really is that Good.  And He really will wipe away all our tears, and give us Joy, and a reward for our work.

shirts

Sometimes you see the weirdest shirts around here.  Like the Curves shirt on a middle aged guy.  And people wear whatever they have to church; though they usually pick something they think looks nice, whatever it happens to say.
So last week I saw, for the second time, a guy wearing the shirt for the 200(2?) women's snowboarding championship in Japan.  I'm guessing he didn't go himself.
And today I saw one of the members of the second choir that sang, wearing a nice, new black shirt with "Suiciders" across the front.  Probably a kind of hard apple cider; sounds like something Rogue Ales would sell.  Anyway, I asked her after church, and she had no idea what it meant.  But it was a nice looking shirt.  Just not what I would normally expect to see while hearing "Jesus is born to save us."  Except maybe here.

Preparing for Christmas

This morning the sermon was on preparing for Christmas, and I was impressed by what I heard.  The preacher compared what people do to prepare for Christmas here (i.e., buy and come to church in new clothes, and feast), and what was described in three passages of the Bible.  It sank in just how important this message was, when I asked James if he was getting ready for Christmas, and he said "yeah, I put a wreath on my door."  So I thought this worth noting down.  I don't recall all the sermon, and it was all in French anyway, so some of this is a translation of what I remember, and some of it is my own thoughts/observations filling in the gaps.
First, let's consider what Joseph did to prepare for Jesus' birth:

 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
   and they shall call his name Immanuel"

   (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. (Matt 1:18-25 ESV)

First, Joseph approached the birth of Jesus with Justice and Compassion.  Any one of us, on finding our fiancée pregnant through no act of our own, would feel perfectly free to let her go to whatever punishment and shame she received.  Perhaps more so here, I don't know.  But Matthew calls Joseph a "just man," who sought to keep her from the public shame, and get rid of her quietly. I see compassion as well as justice here.  The just would want the sinner punished; he has compassion on her, as well.  What would Christmas be like for us if Joseph had insisted on following the law and stoning to death the (presumed) adulteress?
The other thing we see in Joseph is obedience to the angelic message.  The Angel basically tells him to do two things: Take her as wife, and name the child Jesus.  Do not fear, she's not actually an adulteress, like you (and everyone else) thinks.  Its even more bizarre than you can imagine, but not sin.  The call to name the child is something I have never noticed (as important) before, but in some places (like here) that responsibility is taken seriously.  Like Adam, who showed his dominion over creation by naming everything, a man shows his authority and responsibility over a child by naming it (well, in some places, anyway).  On both counts, Joseph obeyed the message of the Angel.  As we approach Christmas, do we pay particular attention to obeying God's word?  When He asks us to do (or not do) something, do we obey Him?
Next, we turn to Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist:

 ⁵In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

 ⁸Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, ⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."

 ¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." ¹⁹And the angel answered him, "I am I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." ²¹And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. ²²And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. (Luke 1:5-23 ESV)

Zechariah and Elizabeth are described as righteous, "walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord." They were both of priestly descent. How did they prepare for the birth of Jesus?  The did so with righteousness, as we saw in Joseph, but they also did so with prayer.  They had no child, and when Zechariah goes into the Holy of Holies to burn incense, the angel says, right off the bat, "your prayer has been heard." This prayer has not yet been introduced, but it is clear by what follows that the angel is talking about the prayer for a Son.  This couple did not simply wait for God's salvation, they prayed for it.  They had no idea, I'm sure, that a child, which would save them from the public shame of barrenness (as well as from a lonely old age with none to care for them) would also turn many from their sins and provide the Lord's salvation in a much broader sense.  But they prayed, and God answered.
Another thing we notice about their preparation for Jesus' birth was the Angelic instruction regarding their own son: "he must not drink wine or strong drink." Sounds a bit like a nazarite oath, but in any case, there is cause for discipline.  In explaining discipline to my son this morning, I came up with discipline as doing what you should do, even (or especially) when you want to do something else.  We discipline our children, because we want them to be disciplined (that is, able/willing to do what is right, though they really want to do something else).  I'm not really sure why they were not allowed wine (I'm presuming this prohibition extended to Elizabeth, so long as she was pregnant, and probably while breastfeeding as well), but some times situations of life call for practicing doing what you don't want, if only to be ready for the time you have to.  (If your response to the above is "I don't drink alcohol; what's the difference?", then pick something else that you like, that you may some day be better off without, and consider disciplining yourself in regard to that.)
Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed, and they approached the birth of their son with discipline.  If we were to combine the two?  How often do we want to pray, but prefer something else? How often do we give in to hunger, fatigue, or busyness, rather than go to the only Source of Good for what we truly need?  What if we approached Christmas with a focus on praying to God for what we need (and want?!) -- that might make a good replacement for the lists to Santa... And what if we practiced doing what we knew was right, particularly when we wanted something else?
The third example of Christmas prep comes from the wise men:

 ¹Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, ²saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." ³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

 ⁶ "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
   who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

⁷Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." ⁹After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:1-11 ESV)

I won't go in to speculations about what these men went through to get to Israel.  Certainly it was a long voyage, and there were many preparations to make.  Certainly there was much study in finding the star, and knowing its significance.  Certainly there was something in them that wanted to worship this new born king, or they would not have gone to such trouble.  But How did they worship him, and what kind of preparation did they make for the time that they did, in fact, find him? They brought him gifts, and not just any gift.  Gifts fit for a King, a priest, and/or one who would die.  Gifts that acknowledged the character and value of the one born, however they could have known that.  When we come to celebrate Christmas, do we come bearing gifts?  Sure we give gifts to each other.  Anyone would do that:

"If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. (Luke 6:32-33 ESV)

But do we prepare for Christmas by readying gifts for Jesus?  He is the one we are here to celebrate, after all.  What would that look like?  What kind of gift would you offer your Lord, who bought you with His own life, and gave you everything of value that you have? David gives us one idea:

¹⁶For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
   you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:16-17 ESV)

So how will we prepare for Christmas, by preparing for Jesus a gift that he will not despise?  How will we search the depths of our sinful hearts, and scorn the evil wicked motives we find there, and run yelling and screaming for Grace to the only One who is willing and able to give it?  It would be nice if God would be happy with us killing a cow (especially if we got the meat!) But He wants us, not a cow. Nor anything else we might try to buy Him off with.  How will we prepare this gift, as we come to worship Jesus in the celebration of his birth this year?
So let us prepare for Christmas in righteousness (including justice and compassion), obedience to God's word, prayer, discipline, and the gift of our own lives, broken and useful for the advancement of Christ's kingdom.

Getting the Chicken Across

When I was in high school, we did lots of brain teasers and logic puzzles. One was about a fox, a chicken, and a bag of corn.  You have to get them all across the river, but your boat can only carry one thing at a time.  If you leave the fox and chicken alone, the fox will eat the chicken.  If you leave the chicken and the corn alone, the chicken will eat the corn.  So how to you get them all across, one at a time?
You get the chicken across first.  Then you bring over either one of the other two, it doesn't matter which.  Then you bring the chicken BACK, then the other item over.  Then you go back and get the chicken again.  That way, the only two things you've ever left alone are the fox and the corn, who don't care about each other.
As fun as these puzzles are, I was thinking about this recently, because this seems like a recurring motif in our lives. In order to get something done, we have to do something else first.  Then to do a third thing, we have to undo the first thing we did, then we have to do it again later.  Put everything from the boxes on the table, so you can see what it all is.  Then put it back in boxes, so it doesn't take up the whole room.  Build a makeshift counter to get some stuff off the floor, so you can see the floor to plan the real cupboards.  Figure out your Email, so you can know what people are writing you, so you can figure out what to write back.  Collect everything that is being asked of you in one place so you can prioritize it, then start on the most important.  When I put boards on stacked bricks (not cinder blocks!) to get some books off the floor, I never imagined they would still be there now.  But the makeshift works for now, and there are other higher priority items to be done today.
Make space to be able to think. Use the space. Clear the space for something else. Get some rest. Get out all that stuff you threw in boxes to make space earlier, and figure out where it should go.  Then put everything back in boxes until you get real furniture. Get more money. Order more furniture. Then go and ask (again) how your furniture is coming.  Get the furniture. Get stuff out of boxes, and put it up.  Now use the space made by those boxes to get out more stuff, and figure out where to put it.
Anyway, there seems to be a lot of chicken-moving to get the foxes and bags of corn in this world where they belong.

Sects and the Bible

I had a conversation with a couple ladies today, on the way home from church, who offered me some of their literature.  They are part of a group that calls themselves Christian, while they deny basic tenants that Christians, in general hold, and which started in the US not long ago (as religions go).  They have a surprisingly strong presence here, and a good chunk of money.
I talked about false prophecy and methods of Biblical interpretation, and they toted some party lines, but also some creative defenses of their materials. One of my goals in the conversation was to find out if there was a chance they would listen to reason, or if they were beyond listening to contrary viewpoints.  Unfortunately for that goal, one of the characteristics of people in this area in Congo, which I have had pointed out to me by several Congolese, is the habit of agreeing to your face, then acting as they please.  So several times I got things like, "yes, that was a false prophecy, I see." followed by a roundabout defense of the the prophecy as just.
In one attempt to cut to the chase, I grabbed some of their material, and skimmed for heretical interpretations.  I have looked through there material several times, and it seems like it doesn't ever take long before I found something wacky. But I didn't find anything immediately (under the pressure of the conversation, probably), so we went back to the Bible, prophecy, and Jesus.
The short version of that conversation is that both women turned out to be strongly convinced that they are in the True church, and nothing I said was allowed to inject the slightest perceptible doubt.
But I had some doubt myself, that perhaps their church had gotten less wacky since I last looked at their materials, since I didn't immediately find something in that booklet.  So tonight I took a more leisurely gander at it, and boy, I was not disappointed.  One short article took you through Ezekiel, Daniel, 2Kings, and a couple other books to prove exactly how, why, and when the Judgment day would begin (when it would end was in another article). There were, of course, the confusions about who exactly Jesus is, but I won't bore you with the details.
The thing that struck me, again, was how reasonable and logical much of the writing is.  Take lots of correctly interpreted scripture, throw in one wacky interpretation, and everything that follows sounds right, but isn't. The above trip through Daniel, etc. started with a statement of Jesus, which is clearly in the future tense.  But for some reason they interpret his comment to refer to a period that started 600 years earlier. hmm... They kind of glossed over that part.
Like one of the last things they said, of 1Tim 2:3-4: "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," in the ESV. Leaving aside the meaning of "all people" here, this verse was quoted to demonstrate that accurate/precise knowledge was necessary for salvation. They are saved because they come to the knowledge of the truth (their French version said "exact knowledge," though that may be their own translation, as the two French versions I have here don't have "exact").  No, actually, salvation and knowledge here are two independent items desired by God. Whether there is any other relationship between them is not mentioned here (not that it couldn't be demonstrated elsewhere, just not here). They sound logical, but their logic is flawed.
As I reflected on this later, I realized that, for a number of these concerns, most people would probably just glaze over them.  These ladies had pretty good French, and probably sound much better in Swahili.  Most people would probably look up to them, and not really question what they say, if it sounds reasonable.  Most people here have a hard enough time reading the Bible for themselves, that they probably welcome an educated person who makes sense, and who will tell them what the Bible means. Most people would not be able to get past the language, much less the logic and content embedded in the language. Which brought me back to the urgency of our task.  People in America who fall prey to these influences are somewhat responsible for their own demise.  They could read the Bible for themselves, if they wanted.  They could go to church and learn from others, fairly easily (without crossing language or cultural barriers, anyway).  But people here generally have to read the Bible in a second or third language, and it isn't easy for them like it is for me (and you?).  When did you last read Shakespeare for fun, much less something in French or Spanish?  We need to get the church here solid defense against heresy.  We need to get her a foundation that she can build on, that will withstand tests in time.  We need to get her the Bible, in languages that her people can easily understand. And we need to do that sooner, rather than later.

The Wrath to Come

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

    "If the righteous is scarcely saved,
   what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"

 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

I don't normally go in for prophecies, and I'm not claiming that this is one.  But Kim and I have independently had similar impressions in the last couple months, so I thought it was worth writing down. My Bible reading program, in September and October, goes through Isaiah and Jeremiah.  Which I have read through many times, of course, but this time, each time I heard of God's judgment and wrath on his own people, it seemed somehow to be more than just a message for Israel.  It was as if God was saying to me "it is going to get harder for you before it gets easier."  Which is a weird thing to hear when you're living in a city with a strong UN military presence, where there has been a recent history of ethnic (and other) violence, and where no one else has dared bring their children to live in the town (there is another missionary family with kids, but they're on furlough now -- we hope to see them again soon!)  Where the house we finally found in our budget needed work.  Lots of it.  And where we have to live in it while we're fixing it up. This last is perhaps the most upsetting of it all -- for us, who crave stability and a home, to be living in an eternal workshop. What do you mean its going to get harder before it gets easier?  How long can we go on as is, much less harder?
But I took that as an encouragement, like the Israelites needing to go through exile before being brought home.  Being told that ahead of time reminds you that God has a plan, and this hard stuff is part of it.  God is in control, and in the end we will all understand that He has done it, so He will get the glory.  Which doesn't make it less hard, but at least we get to see the point.
Then these last couple weeks, Kim has been reading The End of the Spear, by Steve Saint.  She's happily sharing with me throughout her time reading, until she gets to the end, and sees the purpose of God in two early deaths in the same family.  And suddenly she has this strong impression that this was not for them, but for us.  Not a conversation where you say, "that's nice honey," and turn the TV back on.  We prayed through it that night, asking for peace and understanding.
The next day, I realized that it didn't matter (in a sense) if these were from God, telling us that we have serious tragedy ahead for our family.  God has called us to a life where hardship is a daily reality, regardless.  Whether or not we will one day see one of our children die, we have a daily responsibility to get on with the work that God has called us to do here and now.  Whether or not God will one day bring us one of the scenarios that have, in the past, happened to other missionaries in this area, cowering out of fear of that possibility would be irresponsible.  Supposedly Caesar said "It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience." In the same way, I think being daily responsible to a hard task may be harder that living up to a once in a lifetime horrific tragedy. In any case we know we are called to the daily hardships now, and the later is speculation. Let us not live in fear of death before we are actually called to die.  When that moment does come, we will pray for the strength and courage to continue until we know what the sacrifice was for.

hope, revisited

After my last post, I took the opportunity to spend a few minutes in the "garden" with the boys.  We dug up some of the many things we don't want growing there, turned the dirt with some fertilizer (the one thing the bats are good for), and transplanted the tomato.  It was a stirring moment, like something out of Field of Dreams -- a man struggling to do something that no one else understands, yet which provides him hope and purpose for the moment yada yada yada....  But the kids got to see the usefulness of bat dung again, which is always cool for our boys.
Then I looked out later and didn't see anything there at all.  I asked the kids, and they disavowed knowledge.  Here is a pic I took the next morning:

No more than 12 hrs after planting it, our DOG, who is so hot she has no business living on the equator, sat on it. Rolled in the freshly dug up (and cool) earth, actually.  Which I'm sure was fun for her.  Ha ha.
But I had not even passed the second of the five stages of grief over my dead tomato plant of hope, when the children brought news of more volunteers on the compound.  That's the great thing about the equator.  Even though its so hot that dogs bred for elsewhere feel the urge to roll in your garden, stuff grows like crazy, like it or not.  Which has been good, given the time we've been able to set aside for gardening (i.e., none).
But with all these ups and downs, I guess that's why the scriptures say

hope

The Bible reading program I use recently took me out of Isaiah, into Jeremiah.  So as I've pondered our life here, and how hard it seems, I've had many messages of condemnation and difficulty to reflect on.  And I've wondered if things are just going to get harder and harder.  And they might.
But this morning the psalm was Psalm 86, which ends

   Show me a sign of your favor,
   that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
   because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me. (v17 ESV)

Now I'm always weary of seeking signs, having too many examples in my so far short life already of how wrong people go by them, in addition to Jesus' own admonition.  But this caught my eye.  Then comes the selection from Jeremiah, which includes a letter to the exiles in Babylon:

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jeremiah 29:4-7 ESV)

So anyway, I thought that an interesting juxtaposition.  What some might call coincidence.  Or maybe God is saying to us, like He said to the exiles, life is hard where I've put you, but settle down and make the best of it, because you're going to be there awhile.
And the crowning irony? This morning I found a volunteer tomato plant next to our house. Having had no time whatsoever to garden, this is an amazing Grace to me. Less than five minutes before reading these passages, which specifically mention gardening.  Perhaps God has a plan after all, and perhaps it really is Good.

Thailand is in America, right?

I went to buy sugar and flour at the market the other day, and had an interesting conversation with the shop owner.  He asked me where Thailand was, and I told him Asia.  No, I thought it was in America. Well, take a look at their script on the bag... But Viet Nam, that's in America, right? Um... I wasn't sure how much geography to get into, but I thought it was an interesting mistake.  He made another observation before I was able to get away:  But they are both much more developed than Congo, right? Hmm... not sure about that, but I didn't think so.  The thing is, these countries export there rice and sugar to Congo, and everyone here buys it over the local stuff. I think it is even cheaper than the local stuff (when you can get it), though its been shipped and trucked across an entire hemisphere to get here.  So they must be developed nations.  When I told him I wasn't sure, he asked when they could export all that food then, when people here can't/don't produce as much.  I'm sure that someone from the World Bank would have something to say, right or wrong, about this.  I just said that it was a good question, and that it was one for the Congolese, not me, to answer.  Anyway, maybe it's a question of relative poverty; I seem to recall DRC on a "bottom 10" list somewhere recently, in terms of GDP, or some such.  Then again, the guy we bought our car from (who now has a newer, bigger one) has a bustling business in fuel, gold, diamonds, cigarettes, and now cell phone service.  Not quite the "sin tax" guy, but close.  I don't think he sells alcohol.  But he seems to be doing OK.  So maybe the "buy foreign" campaign was too successful.  Or maybe there is a self image issue, where Chinese goods are cheap and don't last (their words, and a common opinion of the goods sold here), but they're better than the ones we make.  Sounds like we've all got our work cut out.

First Fruits

I like mangoes. really. Like I really like mangoes. I could have one with every meal. Or two.  So when we found that our compound had three mango trees, it wasn't just the kids who were excited.  And a month or so ago, when the first ones started getting ripe, and falling when you touched them, boy was that a happy time for me. For a bit.  See, while not really a big city person, I have lived in cities of 5+million more than on compounds with as much land as we have here.  Which means there's a lot about agriculture that I don't know. Like firstfruits.  I have seen this concept in scripture so many times, of the offering of the first of your produce.  And recently I saw this concept again in 2 Thessalonians:

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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. (2:13-15 ESV)

I always thought of this as first, or perhaps also best, as in giving your best to God.  Don't sift through the produce of your fields for the stuff you don't want; give the first stuff you get.
But with mangoes (and perhaps with other firstfruits, I wouldn't know), there is good chunk of time between the firstfruits and the rest of the fruit.  Why, I don't know.  But We must have gotten some 8 mangoes of one of our trees, then nothing.  We had one ripe each day for a good solid week, then nothing.  Just a couple hundred slowly growing, without a one close to ready.  And I've looked around town, and all the mango are like this, at about the same stage of development. We are still probably another good week away from our next ripe mango.
So as I thought about the above verses applying to us, there seemed to be another interpretation, that Paul may well have intended.  The fruit that comes before the rest (particularly if it comes some time ahead, like these mangoes) is something of a pioneer class.  So if God chose some to be the firstfruits of salvation in an area, they are not just first/best or whatever, but it is probably also intrinsically harder for them.  Which makes sense in the context of the pioneer expansion of the church.
This last week, we were considering the fact that (I think this is true) we have the only white kids in town.  There is another expat family with two children, but they're back in the states for awhile.  Lots of single expats, a few couples married with grown kids, or none yet.  But there are lots on the way, we hear. Which makes us a kind of pioneer, as well.  This area has a long history of missionary activity, with one mission having had some 67 families.  Now there are NGO workers galore, but few missionaries. And UN workers come single, or without their families. As things settle down and become more peaceful, we expect there to be more and more expat families, but in the mean time we get to get along without much interaction in the context of our own language and culture.  Not impossible, by any means, but not the easiest, either. So we'll get together and sing hymns and watch movies with people we can speak English freely with, but also share our beignets with the kids across the street.  On our morning walks we practice our greetings (which no one seems to mind) and get to know the town, and how to find home.  And get stared at by the kids that think eyeballing us is more interesting than walking to school. Oh, well. 
I guess I just needed the reminder that maybe this is supposed to be hard, but worth it.  We look forward to the day when we are established and surrounded by many colleagues, both pat and expat, and getting some good work done. One day those hundreds of mangoes are all going to ripen, and I want to be there. :-)

the test

^{I've been trying to make sense of some stuff we've been going through, and I think I've got something.  Not particularly happy, but somewhat settling, anyway.
At group conference in July, the theme was "Strength through Weakness," or something like that. The speaker talked on several passages in 2 Corinthians, which I found very encouraging. One day included the following verses:
24}Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,^[a] in cold and exposure. ²⁸And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? (2 Corinthians 11:24-28)
Ironically, this was the same day we were to give our testimonies, and I had chosen these verses to describe our life since our last conference, some three years earlier.  I should mention (as I did then) the caveat that (as the speaker said) our struggles were not to be compared with those of Paul -- we have never been actually lashed or beaten with rods, for instance.  But what strikes me about these verses is the manifold nature of the suffering. Paul encountered danger from all sorts of angles: from men (Jews and Gentiles, and people who don't care, but just want your money); nature (city/wilderness/sea); physiology (unmet needs for sleep, food, drink and covering); and psychology (anxiety for the churches).  While we have not suffered the same events, I've found the number of different angles we get hit from to be exhausting.
While undergoing burnout therapy during furlough, we were counseled to try to limit our move to the field to as little as two weeks, if possible.  This is because of our long history of moving (some 13 moves in our first four years of marriage?), which has been very stressful for us. But manageable, assuming most other things are under control. We are now in our sixth month in Congo, after some six weeks in Nairobi, and we're still putting up the ceiling on our house.  We've been in this house some four months, one of which I was off doing an alphabet seminar, and another of which was taken up by an overland trip to conference in Kenya.  We've done a lot to the house so far, with now fairly reliable water and electricity, a dining room table and chairs, a few desks, and a living room couch. But we still feel the need to seal the rest of the ceilings and get a few bookshelves and some kitchen counters (and a bit of tile on the cement in the kitchen and bathroom would be nice, and Kim would add to this list. ː-)) We go to sleep at night often exhausted (emotionally and/or physically), asking when it will end.
We came back from our first term on 70% of our support quota, which meant we were cutting meat and cheese from our diets, and looking for other things to cut. Which is, again, manageable, assuming most other things are under control (this was when we were still trying to figure out why our four year old was having loose stools and wetting all the time). This also came up in our burnout processing, where I realized that this was more stressful than I had realized at the time, and we renewed our commitment to raise 100% of the funds needed for our work and life. So after we got our burnout more or less under control, we got to talk with our partnership about finances.  God provided amazingly, through small and larger sources, and we got up to 100% (of our new quota, which was larger for our new location) before a delayed return to the field.  This was during the economic trials everyone was going through in 2008/9, so we thought that would be fairly stable.  Then there was apparently another wave of economic trouble, as several people have stopped giving. Last month, when we were expecting annual gifts to cover debts, we received 60% (our lowest in over 12 months).
Neither our house nor our finances would be as stressful alone as they are together. If we had more money, I would hire more people to help, and just order and pay for bookshelves, etc. and get it done. On the other hand, if the house were set up, I would have more time to get stuff done (the stuff we were sent here to do, not the house setup stuff I'm doing now) and write to people back home about it, and they might get more excited about supporting us.
Speaking of what we were sent here to do, we completed alphabets and charts for three languages in June, and I have yet to finish writing up that work.  There is at least one interesting paper to write in what we did, in addition to processing what went well, and what didn't, for the next workshop.  There is also the follow-up.  There was a guy who was interested in coming by to work on a dictionary in his language, which I would love to have him do, but there are some legal and logistical hurdles to get over first, and I haven't finished those.  It would also be nice to catch up with the guys who were at the workshop (some of whom are in Bunia) to see what they've done with the Alphabet charts we gave them, and to encourage them. And that's where I hear Paul writing "the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches."  and I'm not yet to thinking much about the work we're planning for FY2009-10. I want so bad to see this work done.  I hate so much that I'm a barrier to seeing it done, and that our needs as a family are a part of what's keeping some things from moving forward. So it's not just living with bat dung falling on you, or not having as much money as you'd like to fix it, but knowing that the time you're wasting in this transition period could be used for other things.
Anyway, not as impressive as "shipwrecked and beaten," but those are our big three right now, as they have been for some time.
Enough with the sob story.  Yesterday we read 2 Corinthians 13:5,
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (ESV)
I've seen this verse many times before, but never connected the test so closely with the presence of Christ in the believer. At least, it is clear to me now that the necessary and sufficient condition for passing the test is having Christ in us.  That is, the test is passed if and only if Christ is in you.  So what is the test? Paul had talked earlier about persistent suffering as a mark of the ministry:
 ⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. ⁸We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:7-11 ESV)
And as I read this, I am so puzzled (and sometimes angry!) that God would leave his servants at the brink of death, but not let them die.  I have so often felt so close to cracking, yet somehow never do.  We have often relied on the verses in chapter 1:
For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. (2 Corinthians 1:8-11 ESV)
The theme of continued peril, while escaping death, seems recurrent.  And these two verses shed some light on why. We have for some time insisted that peril makes us rely on God, and depend on the prayers of others, as in these last verses from chapter 1. But what of chapters 4 and 13? "We who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."  So perhaps it is not just to make us rely on Christ, but to show the life of Christ in us.  Is this the test?  Is God showing us, by persistent, manifold suffering, that Christ is in us -- proven by the fact that, though we feel like giving up, we haven't?  I'm not sure what forces kept us going until the end our our last term, but this makes a lot more sense than our bootstraps. How many times have I said, I would die right now, if Christ were not compelling me on (ch 5:13-15)? I have long said that God uses suffering to prepare us for worse trials later, and several times I have stopped and said, "If this is what we're going through now, what is God preparing us for?!?!" But it is somehow strangely comforting to look back at all those times we bent but didn't break when God took us through hard stuff before. As John Piper wrote:
Why does God allow this? No, that is not quite the right question. We have to ask, Why does God appoint this? These things are a part of God's plan for his people just as the suffering and death of Jesus were part of God's plan for salvation (Isa. 53:10, Acts 4:27-28) (Let the Nations Be Glad, ed 2003 p 84)
Reading through his "Six Reasons God Appoints Suffering for His Servants" again is humbling. I won't quote them all here (though they're well worth the read), except for the first sentence of point six: "The suffering of missionaries is meant by God to magnify the power and sufficiency of Christ." The chapter on suffering ends "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.  And the supremacy of that glory shines most brightly when the satisfaction that we have in him endures in spite of suffering and pain in the mission of love."  Wow.  May that be said of me.