When Life’s Not Fair

Life just isn’t fair sometimes.  Things don’t add up the way we think they should.   The bad guys seem to get away with murder and live great lives, and those that seem to live lives that honor and obey God suffer.  What’s up with that?!

  The Psalmist was frustrated because life didn’t seem fair and he wrote to God:

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.  Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire except you.  My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Psalm 73:21-26 (NIV)

No Disclaimers

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where theives break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where theives do not break in and steal.  Matthew 6:19-20 (NIV)

Jesus said this.  It challenges me.  I imagine it made the people he was speaking to uncomfortable as well.  Whether you are a first century Jew or a 20th century gentile, it makes one squirm a bit to be told not to accumulate stuff.  I’m pretty sure Jesus knew it would bother his audience then and now.

Yet almost every time I’ve heard this passage taught, there has been a disclaimer offered where I’ve been told, “Now Jesus didn’t mean for us to be irresponsible and not plan ahead,” or “This doesn’t mean it’s wrong to have nice things or save money.”  Now disclaimers like that may be true, but I’m very much of the opinion that they are unnecessary.  Honestly, are many of us REALLY tempted to focus so much on heavenly treasure that we neglect to be financially prudent? 

C’mon.  My temptation, and what Jesus made the point of warning about, is to store up wealth here and now.  I desperately need to hear his warning and I need to sit and stew in it.  I need to wrestle with how I make my living, how much I’m driven by the need to accumulate, how I strive for wealth and comfort and the good things here on earth.  And I need to work through the disconnect between what I say is of most value and what my life and lifestyle actually reveal. 

I’m fully capable of justifying myself without anyone’s assistance.  I don’t need that, and I doubt you do either.  I need to hear it unfiltered and it needs to really, really bug me until I do something about it…….

God Gave

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 (NLT)

God gave motivated by love.  The gift was his one and only Son.  God gave intentionally to us and for us.  God gave his very best.  No strings attached.  Jesus Christ is God’s gift to us all.

God Loved

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 (NLT)

John 3:16 is undoubtedly the most quoted verse in the New Testament.  It may be so familiar that I miss the power of it, how incredible it really is.  God loved!  Just those two words back to back floor me.  God, the one who made it all and lives forever in unimaginable glory and power, loved.  He didn’t have to love.  He chose to love us.  He chose to love me.  He chose to love you.  Isn’t that incredible?

There’s a song by John Mark McMillan called HOW HE LOVES that includes the line, “And heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss.”  That line has been edited out and amended and disinfected and sanitized in some versions, and it has been kinda explained away, but I think it graphically captures the passion, the abandon, the intimacy of the love God has for me and for you.  God loved.  It wasn’t dignified, but it is amazing……

Hate

Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;  There is no fear of God before his eyes.   For it flatters him in his own eyes concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.   The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;  He has ceased to be wise and to do good.  He plans wickedness upon his bed;  He sets himself on a path that is not good;  He does not despise evil.  Psalm 36:1-4

I might think you really have issues, but a lot of time I just find my own sin inconvenient or slightly embarassing.  That’s not enough.   I need to despise evil itself.

In order to get to the place I can truly HATE sin, I have to be very honest with myself.  I have to recognize and face some rotten stuff in me and call it what it is.  I believe Satan does his best to help me avoid going there.  He flatters me and tells me that my sins aren’t really serious,  that they have no effect, that I may not be perfect but I’m really a pretty good person.   That’s right were he wants me.

In describing spiritually lukewarm people, Francis Chan says, “They don’t genuinely hate sin and aren’t truly sorry for it; they’re merely sorry because God is going to punish them.”

I’m afraid I can relate.

Sound Bite 2

Into your hands I commit my spirit.  Luke 23:46

Today is another quote from Jesus in His last moments where He referenced part of a longer Psalm with a single sentence.  (See previous post for a little more explanation.)   These were His last words recorded by Luke.   Following are first five verses of the Psalm referenced.  It’s not specifically about death, but about trust and confidence in God.  If you have time, below that are the last 10 verses of the same chapter.

In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;  let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.   Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.  Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.  Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.  Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.  Psalm 31:1-5 (NIV)

But I trust in you, O LORD;  I say, “You are my God.”   My times are in your hands;     deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.  Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.  Let me not be put to shame, O LORD,        for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and lie silent in the grave.   Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous.  How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.  In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.  Praise be to the  LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.  In my alarm I said, ”I am cut off from your sight!”   Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I cried to you for help.  Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful,      but the proud he pays back in full.   Be strong and take heart,  all you who hope in the LORD.

Sound Bite

“God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  Matthew 27:26 (NIV)

Short blog posts are more likely to be read than long ones, so this is probably just for myself.  Above are  some of the last words from Jesus’ mouth as he hung dying on the cross…..and they are troubling words.  I’ve heard several explanations of how Jesus the Son was or was not forsaken in this moment by God the Father.  I don’t know.

A concept I picked up recently from reading was that Jewish rabbis would often state part of a verse, with the expectation that the hearer would know the rest of the story.  They would give a sound bite and the complete picture and context would come to mind.   I think that’s what Jesus was doing in His last moments before death.

We communicate the same way sometimes.  When I say, “Who’s on first,” I expect you to know the entire routine that follow those words and understand how it relates to the current confusing situation.  Or if I bring up “Don’t ask – don’t tell,” my expectation is that you will know I’m talking about a very specific position imposed on our armed services to avoid dealing with homosexuality.

In the same way, I think Jesus offered this as a sound bite to reference Psalm 22.  It’s a song of trust  and dependence and praise and confidence in God, even when He seems nowhere in sight.  So as Jesus was nearing the end, I think this scripture was what was on His mind and heart.  I encourage you to take a minute to read along….

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me,  so far from the words of my groaning?  O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,  by night, and am not silent.  Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;   you are the praise of Israel.   In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.  They cried to you and were saved;   in you they trusted and were not disappointed.   

But I am a worm and not a man,  scorned by men and despised by the people.   All who see me mock me;  they hurl insults, shaking their heads:  “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him.  Let him deliver him,  since he delights in him.”

Yet you brought me out of the womb;  you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast.   From birth I was cast upon you;  from my mother’s womb you have been my God.   

Do not be far from me,  for trouble is near and there is no one to help.   Many bulls surround me;  strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.  Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.  I am poured out like water,  and all my bones are out of joint.   My heart has turned to wax;  it has melted away within me.  My strength is dried up like a potsherd,  and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;  you lay me  in the dust of death.  Dogs have surrounded me;  a band of evil men has encircled me,   they have pierced my hands and my feet.  I can count all my bones;  people stare and gloat over me.  They divide my garments among them         and cast lots for my clothing.

But you, O LORD, be not far off;   O my Strength, come quickly to help me.   Deliver my life from the sword,   my precious life from the power of the dogs.  Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;   save me from the horns of the wild oxen.  

I will declare your name to my brothers;  in the congregation I will praise you.  You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!  For he has not despised or disdained  the suffering of the afflicted one;   he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.  From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;  before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.   

The poor will eat and be satisfied;   they who seek the LORD will praise him—   may your hearts live forever!  All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD  and he rules over the nations.  

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;   all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—  those who cannot keep themselves alive.  Posterity will serve him;  future generations will be told about the Lord.  They will proclaim his  righteousness to a people yet unborn— for he has done it.

Lurking

He sits in the lurking places of the villages.  In the hiding places he kills the innocent.  His eyes steadily watch for the unfortunate.  He lurks in the hiding place as as lion in his lair.  He lurks to catch the afflicted.  He catches the afflicted when he draws them into his net.  He crouches.  He bows down and the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.  He says to himself, “God has forgotten.  He has hidden his face.  He will never see it.”  Psalm 10:8-10 (NASB)

I read an article in the paper this week that just chilled my soul.  Briefly, leaving out some of the more lurid details: a 60-year old man, his wife, and their adult son abduct a 6-year old little boy walking by their home.  Man and Wife watch while Son molests the child.  Then Man joins in and finally Man and Son strangle the child to death together with their hands.

When I read these verses I thought the author described that crime pretty well from several thousand years away.   I believe evil not only exists, he has a personality, has allies in the spiritual realm, and is at work in our world in and through people.  Satan is still lurking in the dark, in people’s hearts, twisting them to the point they can do such heinous, obscene things.  And he’ll begin his work in you and me with any foothold we’ll allow him.  Don’t think you’re immune.

Never forget what and who is lurking out there.  Every time I turn away from God, I am choosing to join with what’s lurking in the darkness.  There’s no middle ground.

Don’t Go There

Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.  Psalm 1:1 (AMP)

NASB translates that last warning against ”sitting with scoffers” and I was convicted.  I have a tendency to “scoff” a bit on ocassion and to sit around with the likeminded,  and that’s not the place to be.  I thought the Amplified translation (blessings on Biblegateway.com) threw some extra light on the idea.  I don’t need on’t walk, stand, or sit down with people or in settings that I know will take me places I don’t want to be.

Re-salted

You are the salt of the earth.  But if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything but to thrown out and trampled by men.  Matthew 5:13 (NIV)

Obviously Jesus  wasn’t telling these people they were made out of salt.  He had some spiritual message to convey that might have included some ideas like these:  Salt preserves.  Salt flavors so that it’s presence or absence is unmistakable.  Salt is best used when it’s spread around and not piled up in one place.  Salt makes you thirsty.  So Jesus gave them high praise for how valuable they were. 

But he also reminded them it was important to retain the unique nature of saltiness.  A lot of the time I feel like I fall in that “trampled by men” category.  My tendancy is to then get down on myself and look inward and lose even more saltiness.   A better response is to ask God to make me salty all over again.  God can do that, I think.