Some “through the bible” thoughts from the Old Testament book of Jonah.
After Jonah is thrown off the boat, swallowed by a fish, and spit up onto the beach, we find out why he didn’t want to go to Nineveh in the first place. Jonah says to God, “That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2).
God’s grace is wonderful when applied to our lives. It’s harder to swallow when he’s gracious to someone else, someone we know deserves to be punished.
I find it hard to understand how God could forgive people who have done atrocious things. This struggle reveals a shocking self-righteousness, as if there was nothing very sinful going on in my life.
The truth? I’m much more sinful than I realize. The ugliness of the cross reveals the ugliness of my sin, which Christ took on himself. Rather than thinking of myself as less-needful of grace, I’m need to be reminded I’m less deserving of grace than I thought.
The Jonah in me needs a regular reminder of God’s unlikely yet very real grace, mercy, and steadfast love.
O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth! Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! (Psalm 94:1,2)
He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out. (Psalm 94:23)
The imprecatory psalms are one of my guilty pleasures. In those psalms, the writer asks God to give the bad guys, whoever they are, exactly what they deserve. Which is what we all want, right? We want those who have hurt us to pay for their actions.
We don’t like to admit this, though. It doesn’t feel very Christlike. After all, Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. I’m pretty sure he didn’t want us to pray that they would be wiped out.
Yet that exactly what the psalmist does. However, maybe this is a good prayer to pray or song to sing. It takes the idea of vengeance out of my hands and leaves it with God, where it belongs.
And here’s a sobering thought. Maybe, just maybe, there’s someone out there who’s praying this about me. Whether I’m aware of it or not, I’ve hurt, neglected, ignored, dismissed, and snubbed someone who would like to see me get a taste of my own medicine. Is there anyone praying that I be wiped out?
I don’t like that side of the psalm, either.
I guess the best thing to do is go ahead and pray this psalm. Get it out of your system. Then be thankful your God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He understands how you feel. Don’t worry. In the end, he’ll take care of everything, including you.
Ever order something online, only to find it’s much smaller than you expected it to be? Could be clothes, a tool, or a toy. I have to make sure I read the specs before I buy something.
Pictures of short-term rentals make homes look palatial. When I arrive, though, everything looks so small. Whoever took those pictures knew exactly what they were doing. They knew just the right angles to magnify every bedroom, bathroom, closet, and living area.
It’s just the opposite with God. We tend to underestimate the dimensions of his steadfast love, or mercy. The words of Psalm 103 blow the roof off our meager expectations.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Psalm 103:8)
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. (Psalm 103:11)
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. (Psalm 103:17)
The Lord has an abundance of steadfast love, more than enough to go around, enough for seconds and even thirds. That same steadfast love keeps going up and up and up, far beyond the highest floor of the worlds tallest building. And if that’s not enough, his steadfast love lasts forever. It’s the ultimate bottomless cup of whatever.
Before you order the salad in a restaurant, ask how big they are. They’re often enough to feed both of you, with leftovers to take home.
Check out that breakfast platter coming out of the kitchen. Look at the size of those pancakes! Maybe we should split an order.
And make sure you consider the dimensions of God’s amazing steadfast love. Yeah, you’re going to need at least one take-home box.
The writer of first Kings gives King Ahab the honor of being the worst king – maybe the worst person – ever!
“There certainly was no one like Ahab who gave himself over to do evil in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 21:25).
And yet, when confronted by Elijah, Ahab repents.
“Yet it came about, when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently.Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; I will bring the disaster upon his house in his son’s days.” (1 Kings 21:27-29)
When Ahab repents, God is merciful to him! It makes me wonder, “Is repentance ever off the table?”
We like to think so. We like to think that when someone crosses a line, it’s over. There’s no going back. And yet Jesus himself says, “the one whocomes to Me I certainly will not cast out” (John 6:37).
On any given day, I underestimate God’s mercy and overestimate my own righteousness. Chapters like this and kings like Ahab force me to reevaluate. Repentance is always on the table. Repentance is always on he table for me. That’s because Jesus is on the cross for me. Not just for everyone, but for me.
When he got to his cubicle and logged into the computer, the first email that caught his eye was from the boss.
Come by and see me when you get in.
Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good. Now what? What did I do? What did I forget to do? Should I just clean out my desk?
But it was a different kind of meeting. It was all about a a great annual review, a promotion, and a raise.
In a flurry of instructions about building a tabernacle and an ark, God gives Moses this instruction:
“You shall make an atoning cover of pure gold…Then you shall put the atoning cover on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you (Exodus 25:17,22).
Another expression for “atoning cover” is “mercy seat.” God would come and meet with his people from a place of mercy.
This is huge. As David will later sing, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8). The gold-covered lid for the ark, topped by two angels, was a visual statement of this truth. The condemning law of God, tablets inside the ark, was covered or “atoned” for by the mercies of God. Ultimately, that mercy would be seen at the cross, where the death of Jesus covers sin.
Now that I think about it, once the ark was placed in the holiest place of the tabernacle, no one but the high priest ever got to see it. When it was time to travel, the ark was covered in blue cloth. But everyone knew about it. The craftsmen made everything according to specifications. And then the cloud of God’s presence filled the tabernacle, it was an awesome and reassuring sign of his presence and mercy.
The Sam’s Club parking lot wasn’t crowded when we stopped for a big box of K-cup coffee pods. As we walked in, I heard a voice, “Sir, could you get me a bag?” We turned and saw a young lady around the corner from the main entrance, standing by a suitcase.
Assuming she was homeless, I turned and said, “A bag of what?”
“No,” she answered, “Just a bag. A Sam’s Club bag.”
“You mean a shopping bag?” I glanced at my wife, we both shrugged, and I said, “Sure. We’ll be back out in a few minutes.”
Of course, you never come out of Sam’s with just one thing. I grabbed the coffee and some peanut butter while my wife found a pack of snack crackers for the grandkids. After glancing around the checkout area, I asked an employee, “Do you have any Sam’s shopping bags?”
She said, “No. We have lots of boxes. But we don’t sell any bags.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I wasn’t surprised. I kind of knew were this was going anyway. She was looking for a handout. We decided to get something she could easily eat, in this case a box of beef jerky strips.
She was still there when we walked out of the store. My wife offered her the food and said, “They don’t have bags here.”
The woman said, “I asked and they said they did.”
“Well, here is some food.”
“No thanks.”
Our grandson likes these, so they wouldn’t go to waste. My wife said, “She probably wanted some money.”
“Yeah, I know. But we’re not doing that.”
The topic came up in bible class. Helping the poor and homeless often comes up. The best way to help isn’t obvious. Someone said, “That guy with a sign on the street corner? He’s not poor. He’s got a cell phone and a big wad of cash in his pocket. My friend gives him rides all the time. He’s doing just fine.”
Another person added, “I was talking to the sheriff and asked him about helping people like that. Never give them money. Instead, support the organizations that feed, house, and help them get jobs.”
We encounter it every day. What’s the best way to help? The answer is rarely obvious.
“There’s someone on the phone — they need a place to stay tonight.”
“OK, I’ll talk to them.” When I pick up the phone, I never know how the conversation will go. Even though I’ve heard the request before, it’s never the same experience.
“Hey, how can I help you?” The story was familiar but unique. Evicted, no transportation, friend picking them up tomorrow to drive them back up north, need a place to spend the night. He and his wife were at the hospital last night until they were asked to leave the ER waiting room. Now they were waiting at a gas station, calling around to find someone who would pay for a motel room.
In the “olden” days, you would work your way through the yellow pages listing of churches in the area. Today, I guess you google “churches” and find out who’s in the area. Then you start calling until you reach someone who will help you out.
I had about an hour before a scheduled visit and had just finished up a sermon for tomorrow, so I agreed to come and get them and take them to a motel. It wasn’t out of my way and it’s not a lot of money and mercy is a good thing, so I headed out the door and down the road.
On the way, I though to myself, “Shouldn’t you be more careful?” I mean, you have no idea who is on the other end of that conversation. You have no idea what they are really up to. You are just going to go there and pick up a guy and his wife and take them to a hotel?
Then I thought, “Oh, stop it. What are they going to do, rob me? I was going to give them the 11 bucks in my pocket anyway. I’m meeting them at a public place. If they look creepy, I’ll figure something out. Why don’t you try trusting God? He made sure you had extra time today. He’s got your back, you know.”
I pulled in, walked up and met one of the nicest couples I’ve encountered in a long time. They had come to Florida from Pennsylvania, couldn’t really make it here, and were headed back where they had family support. They had been married just over a year, were feeling very alone, and very, very grateful. After a short ride, the very kind hotel manager got them situated, I had a chance to pray with them, and we parted ways.
What would I do if I were in that situation? Who would I call if I had no where else to turn? I have no idea. They had more courage and faith than I did today, humbly reaching out to a stranger, any stranger, for help. I think God is starting to get somewhere with me. My gut more often tells me “have mercy” than “be careful.”
And I didn’t even see it till just now: this is Christmas. A couple from out of town looking for a place to say. No baby, but maybe someday. You know what? This is even better than being in a Christmas play or live nativity!
I just started reading the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, and I think I had forgotten how harsh that prophetic message is. By the end of the second chapter God is basically saying, “Don’t come to me for help. Go to all those gods you’ve been worshiping” (Jeremiah 2:28).
So I began to wonder, at what point could I turn someone away who has been away from the church for a long, long time, but comes back for some a la carte spiritual food? Like someone who you haven’t heard from in about fifteen years who calls up one day and says, “Can I get my kids baptized this Sunday?” Or another who stops by the church now and again and sends an email asking me to do their wedding eighteen months from now. I denied both requests.
Of course I felt guilty. How could I not, seeing as how Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son being welcomed home? And there have been families who have been away for a while who have recently reconnected with the church. And I had no problem with them.
“With great power comes great responsibility.” I always thought Uncle Ben said that to Peter Parker (Spiderman). Actually, it is attributed to Voltaire. Anyway, it applies here. Jesus gives the church the authority to forgive or not, to loose or bind people in their sin.
But how do you know whether to apply mercy or accountability in a given situation? The catechism says you forgive the sins of the repentant. But how do you know if someone is repentant?
The bottom line is, you don’t. You can talk to someone and try to understand their story. You could look for the fruits of repentance. But in the end, you really don’t know. I tend to lean towards compassion, but in the two examples above, I just couldn’t do it.
Sometimes Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you.” Other times he said, “You’re already condemned” (John 3:18). Jesus didn’t like it when the Pharisees shut heaven’s door in people’s faces. Yet he also warned against giving pearls to the pigs.
But Jesus was better at sorting things out. He’s really good at reading hearts and minds.
And he’s great at keeping me on task. I’m not supposed to be a religious sub-contractor, providing various services. I’m just the messenger.
No church today. Waiting for Hurricane Irma to traverse the Florida peninsula. Plenty of time to think and pray…
Of course you’re going to hear about it. You’ve thought about it, too. How could you not? All the pieces are there: a total eclipse, back-to-back hurricanes hitting the United States, a devastating earthquake in Mexico City, scorching wildfires in the west after record high temperatures and years of drought, hatred and violence in places like Charlottesville, VA and nuclear war just over the horizon. Science fiction writer John Scalzi tweeted, “These aren’t the End Times, but it sure as hell feels like the End Times are getting in a few dress rehearsals right about now” (1:20 pm Sept 8. 2017)
[Jesus said,] “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26).
Just make sure you keep reading. “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). The coming of our Lord is good news for God’s people. We’ve been waiting for him, right? Continue reading “All the signs are there”→
No church today. Waiting for Hurricane Irma to traverse the Florida peninsula. Plenty of time to think and pray…
Waite for it... 