When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12 (NIV)
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Jesus, in Matthew 5:14-16
The moon has sailed across the night sky, capturing imagination and dreams, since the dawn of our species. On some evenings, when the moon seems close and full, it gracefully brightens the darkness with its silvery glow. But it wasn’t until the Greek Philosopher Anaxagoras (500 BC-428 BC) came along that humanity learned that the moon was not a source of light itself. He discovered that the moon simply reflects the light of the sun.
In the same way, we ourselves have no ability of our own to be the light in the darkness, as Jesus commanded us to be near the start of His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5. Yet, just like the moon reflects the light of the sun to illuminate a dark night, we have the opportunity to reflect the Light of the Son into the darkness of this world.
Sometimes the moon stubbornly lingers for an hour or two past dawn, but in the glistening sunlight, it is only faintly visible, a ghostly whisper of the beacon that had split the darkness the previous evening. Light is lighter in the darkness.
So given the darkness enshrouding our world and (especially) the United States at an ever quickening pace, now is the time more than ever when we as followers of Christ need to reflect God’s Light to those around us. Repay hatred with love and prayer. Don’t post that angry Facebook update or bitter tweet. Respond to vitriol with kindness the way only Jesus could. You may say it’s impossible for us to act only as Jesus could, and that’s definitely true if we are acting on our own. But the good news for us and those around us is that God empowered us with the Holy Spirit, enabling us to treat others just as Jesus did.
So will this be easy? Of course not! But God never promised us an easy life, only that He will be with us to help us.
But imagine how much darkness could be overcome in this volatile political climate if every Christ-follower made a concerted effort this coming week to reflect God’s love and light to even just one person they encountered each day! I’m going to make that my goal for this week. How about you?
After my last blog post, one of my three readers said that it sounded nice to hold onto faith over fear, but that it’s easier said than done. I couldn’t agree more! So how do you do it?
You ask for God’s help! A simple prayer, something like, “Help me, Jesus,” is all it takes. You can always add, “I need your help,” or “I need you to take this fear from me.” A few simple words and the Light of the World will step between us and the darkness.
Does this always work? Yes!
But for how long? Well, that depends on you and me. If you’re anything like me, I feel a tremendous sense of peace the moment I hand whatever blech I’m dealing with over to God. But then for reasons I can’t explain and seemingly can’t block, at some point I stomp right on up to Jesus and yank that nastiness back out of His hands. It may be several days, weeks, or months later. Or, sadly, it could be just a few moments later. It’s as if I’m saying, “Sorry, God, turns out I can’t trust you with this after all. Only I can handle it!” It seems ridiculous, I know, when I say it like this, but that’s essentially what I’m doing–what we’re all doing–when we grab it right back from Him.
But here’s some truly amazing news: God’s grace knows no bounds. So as soon as I realize how foolish it was to yank that struggle away from Him, and I skulk sheepishly back to Him and ask Him to take it back, He does. Maybe with a twinkle in His eye, as if saying, “Sure, I’ll take it back for the thousandth time. Are you going to let me keep it this time?” And this is the tug-of-war I play repeatedly with so many facets of my life. It’s part of my journey.
With the 2020 election just two days away in the U.S., I have to admit that this is one of the areas where I have had this back-and-forth with God. Candidly, I am very concerned for the future of this great country if the various important races and initiatives go a certain way. So at times I find myself praying for a particular set of outcomes.
But then this thought has occurred to me: God cares more about furthering His Kingdom more than He does about any particular country. That may seem hard to accept for those of us who believe that America has been blessed as “one nation under God.” But on the other hand, Israel was God’s chosen people, yet it had disappeared from the map from the time the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, or you could say from when the Babylonians destroyed the southern kingdom of Judah (where Jerusalem was) in 586 BC, until it once again became a nation in 1948. For over 2500 years, Israel had ceased to exist! It was part of the Roman Empire when Jesus walked the earth.
So while I believe God cares deeply for you and me, I think He cares more about our spirits and our souls and where we will spend eternity than He does about what happens in the new few days, months, or even years. And if one election outcome or another would lead more Americans–or better yet, more people in the world–into deep relationship with Him, He would undoubtedly choose that outcome over whichever one you or I may be praying for.
At #NewLifeChurch, we are so fortunate to be in the middle of a sermon series on Revelation (and I don’t believe in coincidences, at least not when it comes to God!). Today, Pastor Brady Boyd preached from Revelation 17, which includes these verses:
“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
Revelation 17:12-14 (NIV, my emphasis added to echo Brady’s)
And then one of the best things Pastor Brady said during his message, which helps bring this blog post home:
“I don’t know of a donkey or an elephant that can save my soul, but I know a Lamb that can!”
Pastor Brady Boyd–November 1, 2020
So no matter what happens in the election on Tuesday, Jesus, the Lamb of God, will triumph. Remembering that and believing it will help us choose faith over fear regarding the future of our country. Even if we have to keep wrestling with God about it, taking it back but then handing it over to him again and again, many times between then and now, the Lamb will win. Thanks be to God!
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
Matthew 14:22-32 (NIV)
As followers of Christ, we are generally very familiar with Jesus’ miracles–from turning water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana to His resurrection, we almost expect the unexpected when reading about His adventures.
The same may not be true for Peter. Maybe best known as the impetuous disciple who acted or spoke first and thought later, or perhaps for denying his beloved Savior, but he also performed some miracles of his own. I’ve included the story of his most famous one in the passage above. A few things are noteworthy about this.
First off, Peter walked on water! It was his idea, which is remarkable in itself. I mean, that’s not exactly a normal response to Jesus saying (basically), Hey, it’s me, don’t worry. But whatever inspired him to react the way he did to Jesus’ arrival, I can only imagine that at some point later, when he was retelling the story (this is Peter, so he probably didn’t think about it in the moment), he probably thought to himself, Why in the world did I offer to walk out onto the water to meet him?? But in the moment, as soon as Jesus told him to come, he probably sat right down on the edge of the boat, swung his legs around, placed his feet on (not in) the water and decided it was a good idea to stand up and take a few steps.
So he did!
Matthew’s description of the event doesn’t say how many steps Peter took, but it must have been enough so there was no doubt in Matthew’s mind that Peter actually had walked on the water.
But then reality set in for Peter. He noticed the waves, and suddenly they became bigger and more powerful than Jesus in Peter’s mind.
So he sank.
But before we allow ourselves to feel disappointed for Peter, we have to realize we do the same thing. I do it all the time. In one moment, I can feel so strong in my faith, like nothing can stop me since I have God in my corner. How great, but how fleeting, are those moments! A moment later, I remember that the world doesn’t work that way, or another of the million lies we allow ourselves to believe in more than the power of God. So I sink too, just like Peter did.
And then something else odd happened. When Jesus reached down to pull Peter out of the water, He rebuked Peter for not having enough faith. If I were Jesus, I probably would have been tempted to point out how cool it was that he took 7 or 8 steps on the water, and then maybe encouraged him to practice so he could get as good at it as I am. What this means to me is that Jesus expected Peter–and by association, expects us–to have enough faith to continue the journey on the water. Nobody ever said Jesus didn’t set the bar very high for us! But thankfully, He offers to help us meet the bar, and offers grace and forgiveness when we don’t.
OK, here’s the last thing. Peter walked on water again! He had to get back to the boat, didn’t he? The text doesn’t say that when Jesus rescued Peter, suddenly they were back in the boat, so they must have walked back to the boat in order to climb back into it. It’s possible that Jesus was holding Peter’s hand during this time, but I would still consider that very remarkable–even miraculous. So it seems he had no trouble believing he could do it as long as Jesus was there to help him.
And here’s the thing: Jesus is always there to help us. Growing our faith is about remembering that, and believing it. The idea make me think of this quote (which I have seen attributed to Karan Goel and Faraz, among others):
In faith, day after day and all throughout each day, we need to remind ourselves that God’s power is greater than the waves, or any other force that stands against us.
At one point, Jesus told His disciples a story that has come to be known as the Parable of the Bags of Gold. This story is captured in Matthew chapter 25, and I’ve pasted at the bottom of this post due to the length of that passage, since I thought it would be useful to see the whole story. Having said that, though, what I really want to focus on is, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, the acknowledgement given to the two servants who used their gifts wisely: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
The reason I want to emphasize this is because of the vast difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of this world. All across the globe today, success is generally tied to outcomes–the best athlete wins the gold medal, the best hunter is the one who gets the most food for the tribe, the best project managers are those who finish their projects on time and within budget, etc. This idea is fairly well understood across cultures. However, in the economy of God’s Kingdom, what seems to matter most is that we serve God as best we can with the talents He has given us in the situations in which we find ourselves–not the outcomes.
The outcomes are in God’s hands.
In much the same way that we can’t take credit when God works through us to achieve things greater than we could have imagined, we also can’t allow ourselves to be dissatisfied with any Godly thing we do even if it doesn’t yield the outcome we expected, or even one that’s visible to us at all. The outcome will be one that God designed and desired, and will occur in His timing. For example, my wife and I taught third and fourth grade Sunday school at church for a year or two. Honestly, it’s hard to see great outcomes when you’re teaching kids that age. The best you can hope for usually is that there is some general sense of order in the classroom and that more of the children seem to be paying attention than those who are pulling something out of their nose or putting gum in someone’s hair. But still it remains a sacred duty to lovingly and as accurately as possible in words that 9-year-olds can understand, plant the seeds of the Kingdom in their hearts and minds.
Here’s the thing: the outcomes for any of those kids may come at any point in their lives, long after they’ve forgotten that my wife and I taught them Sunday school in third or fourth grade. They may not even make the connection that something we said or did triggered growth in their relationship with God so many years later.
And that’s OK with God. The important thing for us to know is not the outcomes of what we did, but just that we did it. We used whatever talents and situations He blessed us with to help another one of His created beings. We attempted to further the Kingdom, not our own interests, which is really what we’re focused on when we want to know the outcome of our actions.
We don’t get to know that. But what we do get is a kind word of encouragement from our Creator. This is one of the things I look forward to when I get to heaven: for Jesus to smile at me, pat me on the back, and sum up all the things I’ve done to serve Him (a paltry offering compared with all that He has done for me!) with the simple phrase, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
Here is the passage from Matthew 25. It’s probably worth noting that I am aware that my message above, that the outcomes from our service to God are in His hands, is not exactly the same as the message of the parable, in which the first two servants seem to be rewarded and praised because of their outcomes–they each doubled what they were given. However, at the risk of having a theological argument with myself, I will contend that even if the first two servants hadn’t doubled what they were given, they still would have gotten rewarded since they were earnestly trying to provide good outcomes for their master; the third servant was punished because he didn’t even bother trying to use what he was given in a productive way.
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
“ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:19-20 (NIV)
Hope is an alluring and powerful force in the psyche of we human beings. No matter how desperate our circumstances, if we have even the smallest strand of hope to hang onto, that can enable us to rise above the miry pity of misery and suffering and end up victorious in the long run. This synopsis summarizes a vast majority of our favorites stories, both fact and fiction. Especially here in the U.S., books and movies that show us that good can overcome evil, even against the most overwhelming odds or even when all seems lost, tend to succeed since they enable us to believe that anything is possible.
But here is where we need to pay attention to the object of our hope. If we hope in the wrong thing–or rather, place our hope in someone who is not worthy to deliver on that hope–we are on a crash course with disappointment.
Along these lines, I’ve been thinking lately about why this particular presidential election season in the U.S. seems even more partisan and full of vitriol than I ever remember it being (Note: this is not going to be a political blog post!). One answer I’ve landed on is because we all have ideas about how the country should be run and, perhaps even more powerfully, how it should not be run. As such, we tend to place our hope in the candidate who we believe offers the brightest future for our families, our country, and ourselves–or at the very least, the person least likely to really foul things up.
Remember what I said earlier about how powerful hope can be? Well, if I strongly believe a particular candidate stands in opposition to the future I hope for, then it’s likely I will have a strong, even visceral, reaction against that candidate or anyone who supports them. Frankly, on a human level, I have to admit I have wrestled with this myself (although I won’t say which candidate, and I hope you can’t tell!).
So here’s the thing I’ve realized, and I have to keep telling myself repeatedly: When I’m feeling this way, it’s because I have placed my hope in the wrong person.
And no, I don’t mean that I’ve realized I should vote for the other candidate!
Here’s the headline for the breaking news story that shouldn’t really surprise anyone: No politician is going to deliver on everything we hope for. All of them will always disappoint us in meaningful ways (some more than others, of course!). But to be fair to politicians, the same is true of every human being–including ourselves! I don’t care who it is–a spouse, friends, teachers, kids, coaches, sports heroes, military heroes, healthcare heroes, managers, CEOs, workers, etc.–the list goes on and on. Well-meaning people will hopefully not intentionally disappoint us, but they will nonetheless. We are all fragile, fickle, and broken human beings, after all.
There is one, however, who isworthy of our hope. As we saw in the book of Hebrews earlier, if we hope in God, our hope is firm and secure. It’s important that we recognize, though, that where we will spend eternity, as well as the quality of our day-to-day lives right now, are vastly more important than the things we tend to focus most of our energy on–our families, our jobs, our vacations, our stuff. God may not necessarily care about getting you a new TV, but He cares deeply about your relationship with Him, how much you love Him and trust Him. And He wants us to be with Him in heaven so much that God the Father sent God the Son and God the Spirit to enable this.
So whenever I get worked up that one candidate might infringe upon my way of life or my future, I have to remind myself to trust God, to hope in Him alone. One candidate won’t get me to heaven, and the other won’t keep me from getting there! To think any other way is like building a house on quicksand instead of a firm foundation of bedrock, to borrow an idea from Jesus:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Jesus, in Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)
Hopefully all of us are smart enough to choose building our lives upon a foundation of solid rock rather than sand! So why would we anchor our hope in a political candidate rather than the Creator of the Universe?
Over the last week, I have stood toe-to-toe with evil, like two fighters in an MMA cage. For anyone who does not believe that evil roams free over this planet, let me pass along the Apostle Peter’s warning:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
I Peter 5:8 (NIV)
I wouldn’t say I won, but neither did I lose.
My younger daughter, who is 20, experienced some very significant trauma in her life just over a week ago. The details are personal to her, so I won’t share them here, but it’s enough to say that in the aftermath of this is when evil blew its foul breath into my face and that of my family.
As a father, I wanted to lash back at the person who perpetrated this against her, and the guy who brought this other person into her life. I wanted to hurt them. Badly. Actually, I felt it was my duty as her father. My daughter chose not to pursue any legal recourse, which heightened my need to seek revenge and punish those involved.
We (my wife and I) were actually on our way to our daughter’s apartment a week ago Saturday, and the chances were good that at least one of people who hurt would be there (as she remains friends with the guy who brought the perpetrator into her life).
Fortunately, a couple things happened on the way there. First, we spoke with a dear friend of ours and member of our church home group who is a paralegal. She reminded us that if I did anything physical to either of the 2 guys involved, I could be facing legal issues of my own, and could possibly be taken away from my family. Second, some words that God had given me previously to publish in a prior blog popped into my head: “You can’t fight evil with evil.” And also:
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21 (NIV
Isn’t it just like God to use my own words, borrowed from Jesus and the Apostle Paul, to remind me how I should behave?
So I said a quick (if rather reluctant) prayer, and a sense of calm overcame me. The last thing I wanted, but exactly what I needed. I realized I needed to focus only on rescuing my daughter.
Sadly, rescuing my daughter was much easier said than done, either because she didn’t recognize that she needed rescuing, or she didn’t want her family to be the ones rescuing her. It has been an ongoing struggle, filled with many sleepless nights and baffling behavior from someone who I sometimes can’t believe came from my home. Thankfully, though, we have made small gains in a multi-front battle that added to our ranks her brother and sister, and even friends of hers who were concerned about the self-destructive path she had been on to try to escape the pain. She at least has agreed to seek professional help to grapple with what happened to her.
I provide this frank update to point out that while we have stood in direct defiance to evil and lived to tell about it, the situation has not wrapped itself up in a nice, tidy bow. That’s not how real life works. We may enjoy small victories along the way, but we have to fight for every inch of ground we gain–but not in the way this world fights. Not with weapons of war, hate, or destruction. We must, as Paul says (following the cue from Jesus), overcome evil with good. Love, prayer, patience. When we do this, we bring God’s healing power–the awesome power to bring life into that which was dead–into the situation. Someday, though maybe not until eternity, we will look back over he course of history and realize that thisPower is greater by far than any weapon ever formed, even than all of them combined.
Does this mean it’s easy for us stand in the gap between good and evil?
Of course not. We were born into this broken world, and are unfortunately too easily influenced by it. I wanted to hurt one of these people responsible for my daughter’s pain, but when faced with him, I saw him as a little boy lost. I pity him, and pray for him, that he will get the help he needs. But I know this is only because God is making me see him through His eyes, even though I really didn’t want to. And my daughter intentionally brings people like this into her life because for at least 10 years, she has preferred the influence of the darkness of this age over that of the Light of the World or His words of love, boundless grace, and acceptance.
So how can we possibly find the strength to contend with the evil of this world, day after day, night after sleepless night? The short answer: we can’t. Not within ourselves.
Jesus left the ultimate joy and peace that can only be found in paradise, in God’s presence, to come to this planet full of broken people whom He had created to be whole. He encountered violence and filth and hate and many other signs that we had screwed it all up, but He endured all of it for us. When we executed Him, He went straight to the gates of hell to do battle there.
And He won.
He returned to life here on earth for a short time, then continued on His journey back to paradise. So if anyone can help us contend with evil and come away with victories great and small, it’s Him. All we have to do is ask His help.
And if God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31b, emphasis added)
Back to the 23rd Psalm, to finish out with the last verse:
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Psalm 23:6 (NIV)
This is maybe the most comforting part of the Psalm, although not quoted as often as earlier parts of the chapter. David, the poet/author was clearly quite certain that God’s goodness and love would always be with him. Did David live a blameless life? Not even close–he impregnated one of his best friend’s wife and then had the man killed to try to cover it up, among other misdeeds. Was David’s life smooth when he wrote this poem, or afterwards? Nope. First his King (Saul) was trying to kill him; then later in his life, one of his sons tried to kill him and take his throne.
Nevertheless, David found ongoing comfort in God’s goodness and love.
What this means to you and me is that we don’t have to be perfect for God’s love and goodness to remain with us throughout our lives. What great news!
Notice that the promise David points to does not point to an easy life. We will have difficulties in our earthly lives. Instead, the promise is that God’s love and goodness will be with us through every moment, even when it doesn’t feel like it. God will never abandon us. It is we who tend to abandon Him when things aren’t going our way, then we wonder where God is. He waits, patiently watching for us like the father of the prodigal son, and runs to us when we are ready to come back. He never leaves us.
Then, maybe even better, there’s a further confidence from David that he will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He doesn’t say, if I live right or dress right or vote right or do anything right, then I will will dwell in the house of the Lord. He is confident that he will dwell there no matter what happens or what he does. God’s message to us by including this in Scripture is that we will dwell with Him in His house forever, regardless of what dumb things we do, so long as we have accepted Jesus as Lord.
This is also incredible news! Life is worth living, of course, but each day fills up with struggles, some worse than others. But eventually, we will all pass through death into the house of the Lord, where we will dwell forever. No more troubles, no more sorrow or pain or hate. Only love, peace, beauty. Better by far than the best church service you’ve ever attended, or mountaintop vista, or cool garden sheltering you from the heat of the day. Only paradise.
I don’t know about you, but the comfort I find in these verse can help me get through any terrible day, especially since it helps me remember the beautiful picture of our ultimate destination. Thank you, God!
I generally try to make a blog post about once a week. So when I posted last night, I figured I was done for the week. However, during my hike this morning before church, while listening to the Daily Audio Bible for today, God let me know He had other ideas. The thought occurred to me, courtesy of God, I believe, that I needed to add a part two to my post from last night. And that I need to do it today. So, here I am, and there you are, probably thinking I’m weird. That’s OK, though–everyone thought Noah was weird for building a giant boat in the middle of the desert…
So here goes. Following my post with thoughts and a plea to end racism, here are some ideas that address the present, increasingly unpleasant outcomes that are resulting from racist violence, idiotic and cowardly though they may be.
My first observation is that violence begets more violence. If you punch me once, I may punch you three times to retaliate and “teach you a lesson.” The lesson you learn, though, is that you need to use a better weapon than your fist, so you pull out a knife and give me a nasty cut. Do you think that will be the end of it? Not if I have a gun and am inclined to use it. And so it goes with the escalating cycle of violence. By worldly standards, hardly anyone would blame either of us for acting the way we did, with the possible exception of your initial action of punching me. Unless, of course, I cut you off on the freeway or slighted you in some other way.
So here’s an important lesson: violence is not the answer for ending violence. It only leads to the crazy situations we’re seeing now where extreme, violent protesters at both crazy ends of the political spectrum show up to protest and counter-protest. Does anyone really think either group has as their primary goal an immediate end to racism? Or even helping a particular racial group, or anyone other than themselves?
Well then, you may ask, how can we possibly break this escalating cycle of violence happening in so many cities across our country?
Here’s a crazy idea, straight from the lips of God’s Son: Forgiveness.
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)
But how are we going to eradicate violent, racist behavior by forgiving people? That’s a very fair question, and I don’t really have a good answer for you, other than to say that this is God’s plan to achieve that.
I would also point out that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was aware of the futility of violence and riots in response to the blight of racism, and the need for forgiveness:
“The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.”
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Still, forgiveness may not seem like much of an answer. It may seem so passive and weak. But it is really just the opposite. It takes much more courage and strength of character not to repay evil for evil. Imagine the fortitude required to follow Jesus’ directions about this, from the Sermon on the Mount:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
Matthew 5:38-42 (NIV)
Although you may not be convinced, at least consider these idea that by forgiving a slight against you (or a race of people):
You are not saying that what happened was OK–there could and should be consequences, and something needs to be changed to keep it from happening again, and,
You enable yourself to stay calm and rational.
Good decisions can only be made when people are calm and rational. Only good decisions can lead to lasting and meaningful change. Yes, it’s entirely possible that an ancestor of mine mistreated an ancestor of yours. Of course, the reverse is also possible. As tragic as that may be, we must find a way to set that aside, to forgive one another and our ancestors, and to seek or create that common ground upon which we can stand to drive us toward the brighter future envisioned by Dr. King and other intelligent men of God and of peace:
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I know I’m running long, but this is important stuff. Let me leave you with some real-world examples where people have demonstrated forgiveness against impossible odds. It seems really hard to imaging having the grace to offer forgiveness in these situations, but God has a way of helping us through trying times, and helping us to shine His light in the darkness by doing so.
Corrie Ten Boom and her family were leaders in the Dutch Underground, hiding countless Jewish people from the Nazis and helping them escape to safety. When they were discovered, she and her family were sent to various Nazi concentration camps themselves. Corrie and her sister, Betsie, spent several long and grueling years at Ravensbruck, where Betsie was eventually executed, but Corrie survived.
Following the war, Corrie was faced with one of the Nazi guards responsible for the death of her sister. Instead of bitterness and hatred, Corrie chose to forgive them man. She and Betsie had learned in Ravensbruck that "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still." (quote from her book, The Hiding Place).
From this experience, Corrie Ten Book launched a worldwide ministry in which she proclaimed God's love and encouraged everyone she met with the message that "Jesus is Victor."
For 100 days beginning in April, 1994, thousands of people from Rwanda's Hutu ethnic majority perpetrated unspeakable violence against their fellow countrymen from the Tutsi minority, as well as Hutu people who refused to take part in the genocide. Nearly one million people were killed.
How can a nation move forward after a devastating episode like that?
Since then, Rwanda has been very intentional about reconciliation. The government created a National Unity and Reconciliation Commission. Christian organizations have stepped in to help, including once called Prison Fellowship Rwanda. This group formed seven "reconciliation villages," which are small groups of homes for those convicted of violent crimes during the genocide and those impacted by their crimes. Prison Fellowship Rwanda created a way to connect the perpetrators with the families they harmed. Reconciliation has been happening and continues to happen through open discussions across the two groups, and via community-centered activities in which they must work together for the good of their community. Pastor Deo Gashagaza, one of the organization's founders, said, "It's painful, but it's a journey of healing."
The govenment's National Unity and Reconciliation Commission created a "reconciliation barometer," which looks at quite a few factors that attempt to measure how well people are living together. In 2015, just over 20 years after the attempted genocide, the country determined that reconciliation in Rwanda was at 92.5%.
Closer to home and even more recently, there was a mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC, on June 17, 2015. Nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study by a white supremacist, whom I won't give the dignity of naming here. At a hearing for the perpetrator just two days later, relatives of the nine victims had the chance to address the assailant via video teleconference. Although not everyone was able to speak or bring themselves to forgiveness, some people conveyed their anger or profound sadness and sense of loss, but also expressed that they were extending God's grace and forgiveness to the villain.
For example, Nadine Collier, whose mother Ethel Lance was killed, said, ""I forgive you.... You took something really precious from me. I will never talk to her ever again, I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you and have mercy on your soul."
Also, the sister of DePayne Middleton-Doctor said, “I acknowledge that I am very angry. But one thing that DePayne always enjoined in our family...is she taught me that we are the family that love built. We have no room for hating, so we have to forgive. I pray God on your soul.”
Wanda Simmons, granddaughter of Daniel Simmons, summarized that the forgiveness and pleas for the perpetrator's soul were proof that “hate won’t win.”
Here is the list of the people who died in that shooting, to honor their memories and the legacy of love and forgiveness that they left behind:
Clementa C. Pinckney(41) – the church's pastor Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd (54) – a Bible study member and manager for the Charleston County Public Library system Susie Jackson (87) – a Bible study and church choir member Ethel Lee Lance (70) – a church officer Depayne Middleton-Doctor (49) – a pastor who was also employed as a school administrator and admissions coordinator at Southern Wesleyan University Tywanza Sanders (26) – a Bible study member; grandnephew of victim Susie Jackson Daniel L. Simmons (74) – a pastor who also served at Greater Zion AME Church in Awendaw, SC Sharonda Coleman-Singleton (45) – a pastor; also a speech therapist and track coach at Goose Creek High School Myra Thompson (59) – a Bible study teacher
Jacob Blake. Another racially charged police shooting, resulting in more social unrest–when will it end? Actually, it won’t until the new heaven and the new earth, when Jesus comes again to make all things new and banish all evil and brokenness once and for all.
Does that mean there’s nothing we can do in the meantime? Of course not! God is perfectly capable of completely eradicating this or any other form of evil just like that, but He tends to prefer to accomplish His purposes by having His people work on His behalf. As much as it grieves Him to see evil take hold of someone’s heart, I think the joy He must feel when one of His followers does something to help another human being in His name surely outweighs the grief.
So what can we do in this horrible situation we find ourselves in? What can I, an insignificant person living in an insignificant town, do to end systemic racism, as the social justice mantra of the day demands? That is a tall order, indeed. Well, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Perhaps instead of trying to end systemic racism, I can search myself, examine my own soul and motivations, to make sure I don’t harbor any judgement toward any other group of human beings because of what they look like or believe or sound like, or any other way of differentiating others from myself. God will be glad to help all of us with this, if we ask Him to show us any such rivers of darkness flowing through our soul, and eliminate them for us.
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive say in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalms 139:23-24 – A simple prayer to ask God to find seeds of racism in our own hearts, and eliminate them in order to find find the way everlasting
Further, I can remember that Jesus saw fit to give His life for every single person I encounter, and by remembering that, I can treat them with the kindness and dignity and respect that Jesus would offer them. The Gospels are full of stories about Jesus surprising everyone, even His closest followers, by engaging with people who didn’t matter, people different from Him: women, children, Samaritans, adulteresses, tax collectors, Roman soldiers, lepers. Jesus risked His neck by protecting the woman caught in adultery. He risked His reputation by speaking to the “racially inferior” Samaritan woman. He supposedly became unclean by touching lepers, so He risked not being able to enter a place of worship.
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
John 8:7 – The simple yet brilliant statement Jesus gives in defense of the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. Side question: Why was the man not also dragged in front of Jesus…?
Oh, to be known as someone who loves others sacrificially, even people different from me, even when it’s risky, like Jesus did… Jesus showed us that everyone matters to God, so everyone should matter to us too.
If everyone acted this way, the problem of racism, as well as many other evils in this broken world, would end immediately. But unfortunately, there are far too many people in the world who are not followers of Christ–and sadly, even too many who are–who have no interest in trying to mimic Jesus’ behaviors. So we can’t stop at eradicating all traces of racism from ourselves.
So what else can we do?
If we encounter a situation where someone is being treated unjustly, and especially if that seems to be motivated by race or some other unfair judgment, we can step and try to peaceably resolve the situation. If we know someone who is a racist or displaying racist tendencies, we can lovingly point it out to them and offer to help them navigate away from that river of darkness. We can offer job opportunities to qualified minority candidates. We can reach out to people who are different from us, treat them kindly, and find common ground between ourselves and them. In the grand scheme of things, there really are many more things that we have in common with any person anywhere on the planet than there are differentiate us.
I could go on, but the possibilities are truly endless, limited only by our creativity and other unique gifts God gave each of us.
We may not be able to end racism, but I can end it in me, and you can end it in you. We can lovingly and peaceably help others we are already in relationship with identify and end it in themselves. We can treat our fellow human beings with kindness and show them love–real, true, sacrificial love that puts others above ourselves–the way Jesus would. We can find common ground for us to stand on together, and invite others to come along too. It may not seem like much, but goodness can add up, multiply, and even grow exponentially, so that one day it will overcome evil.
I look forward to that day so much that I deeply desire to do my part to bring it about, to make it a reality. To help love and kindness win. Won’t you join me?
Last time, I wrote about the fourth verse of Psalm 23, reminding us that we should not fear any evil. Now I’d like to move on to the next verse. I’m not trying to create “sermon series”, but this song that David wrote thousands of years ago is so rich in gratitude toward our Good Shepherd that it bears dwelling on verses that aren’t pondered as often as the earlier verses.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” Psalm 23:5 (NIV)
The first part of this, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,” focuses on trusting God. Sure, we may think of our Good Shepherd coming into battle with us in those moments where we know we are fighting something–we just came through the valley of the shadow of death! That is one level of trust, and it is certainly important. But what about in a mundane, everyday activity like having a meal. Do we realize that even in those calm moments, we are in the presence of our enemies? Just like in “physical” warfare, the enemy and his combatants in spiritual warfare look for opportunities for sneak attacks, when we least expect it and are therefore not prepared to fight back. David is telling us here that even in those moments, even when we don’t know it, God is protecting us.
Imagine you are in the middle of an actual physical battlefield, in which you are surrounded by clear and present threats to your life. Now picture this: Jesus calmly walks up to you, spreads out a blanket, and starts setting up a lavish picnic feast He has prepared for you. What do you do? Of course, my natural instinct would be to tackle Him and tell Him to take cover. But before I can do that, He looks at me with a twinkle in His eye and says, “Trust Me.” OK, I feel like I trust Him, but do I trust Him this much??
So what is this about anointing our heads with oil? On the one hand, it’s a reference to God’s blessings, which He so freely gives to us. We have trusted Him, so we’ve made it through the valley of the shadow of death and we’ve agreed to a feast in the presence of our enemies, so He anoints us with oil the way kings of Israel were anointed when they became king. God takes away our filthy rags and replaces them with His own royal robes.
In another sense, though, this also symbolizes God’s protection over us. Getting back to the uncomfortable (but true!) comparison of us to sheep, God is again being a Good Shepherd. Since sheep are prone to attracting insects–not only ticks, lice, and flies, but also other bugs that would crawl into their ears and wreak all kinds of havoc on their brains (enough said about that!). The way a good shepherd would protect his/her sheep would be to rub oil onto their heads, which would keep all the nasty pests away. One thought might be: I wish I could put that oil on my head and it would keep Satan and his demons away from me. But that’s is the point of this phrase–we don’t have to, because the Lord, our Good Shepherd, has done it for us! Simply whispering the name of Jesus is enough to send the forces of darkness running away from us in fear.
And where does all this lead? God’s protection and God’s abundance lead to an overflowing cup. OK, so we’re back at our lavish feast with Jesus in the midst of a battlefield. Now imagine He produces a bottle of 2016 Chateau Lafite Rothschild (and imagine you know off the top of your head that a single bottle of this costs about $1000). He sets your glass before you and begins to pour the wine into it. But instead of being a good sommelier, He keeps pouring and pouring, until the expensive liquid overflows out of your glass. “Jesus, what are you doing?!?” you might exclaim. He laughs, the twinkle still in His eye. This was no careless accident. “That’s OK, I’ve got plenty,” He says. For a moment, the thought flashes through your mind that this is an expensive symbol for His priceless blood, so why would He waste it?
We have a tendency toward a scarcity mindset. If you get a bigger piece of the pie, there’s less for me, or vice versa. That’s not the way it works with God. The word abundance (or variations of it) appears in the Bible about 231 times. If I give you a bigger piece of the pie, God will make more. He is pleased to lavish blessings upon us. This includes the blood of Christ–there is more than enough to go around!
However, when we talk about blessings, we all tend to think of worldly blessings. If I’m blessed, I must have a big mansion (or several), a big fancy car (or several), a big bank account, and frequent foreign vacations. While there is nothing wrong with or evil about worldly wealth, this is not what God has in mind when He talks repeatedly about blessing us abundantly. He lavishes us with eternal blessings, things that get or keep us on the path toward an eternal life that is so grand and glorious that our minds can scarcely imagine it. He blesses us with a close relationship with Himself, and out of that flows abundant love and grace and peace. He grants us the ability to find life and joy through Him, even in the most dire circumstances. All of these things can lead to earthly blessings, but these are not the prize. We are not to hoard them, for often He gives us these blessings to pass along to others. In fact, this is one reason He gives us each other–so often, blessings we receive flow through people we encounter. I can’t even count how many ways God has blessed me through my wife, my kids, my extended family, and friends.
We only need eyes to see the countless ways God has blessed us, and continues to bless us. And He has given us that ability as well, to see the blessings all around us instead of focusing on negative aspects of our lives and the world we live in.
So there it is. We are blessed beyond measure so that we can be blessings to others. That’s the way it works in God’s economy of abundance. And so it is that our cups overflow, thanks to our Good Shepherd.
Master's Canvas - Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter 