Opus 2011-184, Christian Cliches: My Brother’s Keeper

People use certain phrases to escape responsibility and accountability.  One of those phrases is “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  Most people use it expecting an answer of “No.”  The actual answer is “Yes.”

In the Bible, in the book of Genesis, we have the story told about how Cain killed his brother Abel.  He did it in a fit of jealous rage.  It was totally unjustified.  Then God got into the picture.

(Genesis 4:9 KJV)  And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

Cain knew what had happened to Abel.  God knew what had happened to Abel.  The scenario here is to get Cain to face up to his sin. 

As in so many places in the Bible, we don’t know how the story would have played out with a different response.  What would have happened it Cain had said, “Lord, I have sinned.  I killed my brother Abel.  I am undeserving and can only ask for your mercy.”  Would grace have been extended?  Would the course of history have been changed?  Think of other places where repentance could have changed things.  What would have happened if Judas had repented?  What about Simon the magician? 

What about you?

So often we go through life in denial.  We are victims.  It is the other guys fault.  One phrase I found myself using tongue in cheek yesterday was, “I am a helpless pawn in the hands of fate.”  I respond that way too often.  I think that way even if I don’t say it.  How would my life be different if I would instead say, “I am a helpless sinner in the hands of Almighty God.”

What about you?

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-183, Monday Pulpit: Know Nothings

As usual I was listening to Alistair Begg this morning.  He quoted someone and I want to quote him.  “You know enough to be afraid to know any more.”  He did not say where he got it.

Our churches are full of people like this.  They attend regularly but never listen.  They claim to believe the truths of the Bible but they never read it.  Why?  I think this points out the answer.  Many do not really want to know the expectations of Jesus.  If they know what He expects then they will be forced to respond and they don’t want to.  They think that being ignorant will shelter them from the consequences. 

Our families are full of people like this.  I deal regularly with parents who profess profound love for their children.  They claim to care.  One week before the end of the school year they show up wondering what the child can do to pass the class.  Where were they when the previous seven progress reports were mailed home?  The kid kept saying there was no homework.  The parents don’t ask any more questions.  They don’t want to know more because that would mean they would be forced to take action.

Our politics are full of people like this.  I think of our last election.  We had a promise of hope and change.  All it would have taken is a little investigation beyond the carefully crafted media image to see what that meant.  We had promises of much higher energy costs.  It was ignored.  We had a man who had written two autobiographies about a life of doing nothing.  People did not look any farther because they wanted the temporary comfort of empty promises rather than making a hard decision. 

There is an old proverb, or at least I was told it was an old proverb.  It may have been made up the week before I heard it, but I think it has truth in it.

“Ignorance is not innocence, it is sin.”

I heard this before the invention of the internet.  It is double true today with the ability to Google just about anything and have an answer in seconds.

You have decisions to make today and every day.  Decisions about your eternal destiny, your family and your country.  Make a commitment to plug in your brain and seek out the truth you know is available. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-182, Prescription for Us Old Folks

If you are past middle age or approaching it you might benefit from listening to a sermon by Alistair Begg.  You can probably find it on the TRUTH FOR LIFE website.  My podcast downloads were dated January 12 and 13, 2011.  The Title is “Curriculum for Seniors, Part A and B.”

He reminds senior saints that they have a great responsibility as spiritual leaders.  He reminds the church that mature, seasoned men and women are an overlooked and ignored asset.  If you have an I-pod or such, try to find time to listen to this.

And for you young, wet-behind-the-ears puppies, I do have an I-pod.  It is the best thing invented since the hearing aid.  Every senior ought to have one.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-181, Monday Pulpit: Post Pentecost

Sunday was Pentecost Sunday.  That is the day that the church remembers the coming of the Holy Spirit to fill the disciples waiting in the upper room.  It was the transforming moment that brought the true church into existence. 

That was Sunday.  What about today?  Part of what our pastor has been teaching is that the filling of the Holy Spirit is not only a beginning but a continuation.  Yesterday my wife asked me what “progressive sanctification” was.  She was reading a book that mentioned a whole bunch of people from a theological tradition that is more into irresistible grace than resistible sanctification.  I told her it was the process of maturing that all Christians agree exists. 

Progressive sanctification is the growth process that takes place after the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Without the Holy Spirit, it isn’t going to happen.  Two things the pastor shared that I thought were important to remember.  You can’t understand the Bible if you don’t have the Spirit and the Holy Spirit can’t help you remember what you never knew.  To that I would add, you will not hear if you are not listening.

Pentecost Sunday is over for this year.  The process of Pentecost continues.  Listen, read, obey.  Let’s each transform our little corner of the world.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-180, Green Piece: Your Brother, the Whale

Christians are concerned about the earth and the animals on it but our concern is different from the Sierra Club, PETA, Green Peace and the others.  We have the concerns of stewards, not siblings.  The whales are not our brothers, they are, well, whales.

(Genesis 1:26 KJV)  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

When God was in the process of creation He only made one created being “in His image.”  That was Adam.  In order for me to feel the whale is my brother I must reject that I am created in the image of God; different family tree.  We are to “have dominion” over the animals.  The other translation you find at this point is “rule over.”  That seems pretty clear but it is only clear if you accept the Bible as the word of God and God as the creator of the universe.

We are to be good stewards.  In all areas of our lives we are to live as managers, not owners.  Stewardship is a key Christian concept.  It infers personal responsibility and duty mixed with freedom and love.  Most people think of tithing when they hear stewardship but it also refers to the way we treat our animals and the care we give for our environment.

(Proverbs 12:10 KJV)  A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

If you think of the whales as your brothers, you have my sympathy.  It has been said that you can’t pick your relatives but you can pick your friends.  If I am ever in a Starbucks and run into a whale I will introduce myself but I won’t ever expect to see one at a family reunion.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-179, Healthy Insights: Average or Immediate

In my current phase of diabetes control I am wrestling with two numbers:  Calories and carbohydrates.  You may get bored with “organ recitals” in all their glory, but bear with me.

These two numbers are my focus right now but each number has a different significance.  Calories are concerned with weight control.  This has a long term effect on diabetes but is not significant moment by moment.  An average is good enough.  If I keep under my goal for the day, or even a good average for the week, then all is well.  The body requires a certain amount to operate each moment and either stores or withdraws as needed.  If you take in more, you gain weight; less, you lose.

Carbohydrates on the other hand are an ongoing, immediate issue.  They turn into glucose and your body uses them for energy.  For normal people the body regulates this like it does calories, it stores and withdraws.  For diabetics this goes haywire.  Your body needs a steady source and cannot deal with feast or famine.  Too low means weakness and one set of immediate issues.  Too much means long term damage being done to your body. 

Each need is addressed differently.

In our daily, non-diabetic lives we have the same types of issues.  Some things in life can work as averages.  Generally speaking, if your income at the end of the month is in balance you are okay.  You might use credit cards or have a monthly billing.  It is your ability to match resources and needs that are important.

Some areas are more moment by moment.  Our relationships with other people fit into this category.  You really can’t ignore your children for 29 days and then take them to Disneyland.  I guess you can, but the long term damage will not be pleasant.  You can’t ignore your wife all year and then buy her a diamond on your anniversary and figure you have balanced it out.  People try.  It does not work.

Spiritually we have the same issues.  In many areas God cuts us some slack.  If you miss church on a Sunday, it will not send you to hell.  If you decide to shack up with your secretary for a one night stand, it could ruin your life and your eternity.

Think about it.  Act on it.  Life, and eternity, will be better for it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-178, Fellowship and Worship

I was reading in Wesley’s Journals and came across this bit of correction he offered:

“We went to Lowestoft, where the people have stood firm from the beginning.  Observing in the evening that forty or fifty people were talking together, as soon as the service was over, (a miserable custom that prevails in most places of public worship, throughout England and Ireland,) I strongly warned the congregation against it; as I had done those at Norwich and Yarmouth.  They received it in love; and the next evening, all went silently away.  But this warning must be given again and again in every place, or it will not be not effectual.”  Wesley, John.  The Works of John Wesley, Volume IV, Third Edition.  Kansas City:  Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1979, p. 263.

I thought this was interesting because it goes totally opposite of the current received wisdom.  Why was Wesley so straight laced?  At another place he had this to say about a school he ran,

“...either the school should cease, or the Rule of it be punctually observed:  Particularly that the children should never play; and that a master should b always present with them.”  ibid, p. 259

Children were not to be allowed to play.  Did this mean at all times or only in formal school?

Many of us want revival.  We want to be salt and light.  Instead of looking to the lesson taught by people whom God used to bring revival in the past we look to modern gurus who have a lot of money to be made selling books and DVD’s.  We listen to experts who have careers to build and egos to bloat.  We embrace styles of worship that mimic rock concerts because they appeal to a generation that has a history of casual drug use, fornication and alcohol abuse.  We laugh at people like Wesley who changed the course of history in England.

This is progress?

homo unius libri