July 2009

July 1

This is not about me but that’s where I’ll start.  I’ve been hoping for July 1^st since last fall, usually hoping against all the evidence.  You see, today is the beginning of a new fiscal year for Concordia Seminary and that means today we’re in the black.  The recession clobbered us last fiscal year, our endowments dried up and unrestricted donations were down.  With government, accrediting agencies and our denomination watching, we absolutely cannot finish next year in the red.  So these last months we cut over 22% out of our new budget.  Tough?  Without doubt the worst anguish of my life.

Here’s my offering to you: In ways no theology book could get into my being, I experienced what living by faith means.  Faith means trusting the promises of God against the evidence.  There are times when you not only think God has forgotten you but that He’s actually against you.  That’s when you hang on to the promises for dear life; you hope.  The Father refines His children, tries us, purifies us…all for our good that only He foresees.  You get testy, you cry, doubt…but hang on against the evidence.  “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).  And that’s not about me; that’s for you. 

July 2

John Adams addressed the Continental Congress on July 1, 1776.  Thomas Jefferson said that Adams was, “not graceful nor elegant, nor remarkably fluent,” but spoke “with a power of thought and expression that moved us from our seats.”   It indeed was effective.  The next day, this July 2^nd, in 1776 the delegates approved the Declaration of Independence.

Adams wrote to his wife Abigail: “The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America.  I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

On July 4^th the delegates voted a second time for the Declaration of Independence.  At noon on July 8^th it was read to the public and officially signed on August 2^nd.  Today, 233 years later, we are entering a long Independence Day weekend that will be celebrated much as John Adams wished.  May we also observe our freedom with “solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”  (David McCullough, John Adams, p. 127, 130).

July 3

“Rabbi Levy saw a man running in the street and asked him, ‘Why do you run?’  He replied, ‘I am running after my good fortune!’  Rabbi Levy tells him, ‘Silly man, your good fortune has been trying to chase you, but you are running too fast.’” (Wayne Muller, “Sabbath,” p.48)

The Ten Commandments lead off with the command to worship only the God of Creation and Redemption.  That takes place in our hearts.  Then the commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,” should be kept by our lips.  The next commandment, the third or fourth, depending on how you count them, says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”  Where does that take place?  In your management of time. God commanded His ancient people to build a day of rest into their schedule.

We’ve lost that wisdom, that rhythm, in our frenzied lives.  Jesus says, “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31 ).  The days of the Fourth…enjoy them…and rethink the rhythm of your life.

July 6

Back in 1776 the day after Independence Day must have been a day of great hope for many Americans.   But hope is not easily realized.  In August the Continental Army was trapped on Long Island , New York .  Although many Americans escaped, the next month, September, the Continental Army was completely driven out of New York .  It would be seven years before independence would be fully realized.  Seven years.  Hope is not easily realized.

What is true in civic life is also true in your personal life.  Hope is not easily realized, and unless you nurture your hopes they will turn to despair.  Every aspect of your life has a spiritual dimension.  Every problem you face, every battle that leaves you wounded or bloodied, can easily replace hope with despair.  It takes effort to nourish hope, and nothing is better than the picture of hope, the empty tomb of the resurrected Jesus Christ.  He lives and offers the hope that will sustain you.

I came across this prayer: O God, You are the answer to our questions.  You have promised that one day You will wipe away every tear from our eyes.  Then our questions will cease and we will praise You.  Grant that we guard the image of hope in our souls.  Amen.  Guard the image of hope!

July 7

July 8

"Sophistry."  That word pops into my mind whenever I watch executives testify before a House committee.  Oh, the suits squirm!

"Answer me with a yes or no," demands an irritated congressman.

The executive shifts uneasily and begins a theoretical field trip that answers nothing.

"Sophistry" is a line of thinking that seems plausible but is really misleading, even false.  But you and I do it too.  You fudge the numbers on a loan application.  You don't tell your spouse how much you really spent.  Sophistry.

"Thou shalt not steal."  Straight and to the point.

"I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."  (Matthew 11:25)

Does the old commandment seem too simple for your sophisticated life?

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known."  (Luke 12:2)

Sophistry...your ticket to the hot seat.  I don't know about you, but the older I get the more I see the benefits of following the simple things I learned as a child.  Honesty is still the best policy.

July 9

If this Minute can provoke more than a minute of thought, you’ll be better off.

“Give me understanding, so that I may keep Your law and obey it with all my heart.”  (Psalm 119:34)  The psalmist is not into blind obedience but prays for informed obedience.  Without some rational understanding why God’s ways are good, our devotion to Him will be shallow, more lip service than 24/7 following.

Governor Sanford said his mistress was his soul-mate and he would have to fall in love again with his wife.  He’s religious but apparently without understanding.  The sanctity of marriage is not blind faith; there’s something very understandable about it.  “It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him.”  (Genesis 2:18)  Your spouse should be soul-mate.  Neglect that rational understanding and you’re hiking the Appalachian Trail to shame.

Think through the commandments and list some rational here-and-now benefits of what God has revealed.  Trying times come when we trust His promises against the evidence, but if we have seen the benefit of His ways in easier times, we’ll be more trusting in the hard times that “all things work together for good.” (Romans 8:28)

“Give me understanding, so that I may keep Your law and obey it with all my heart.” 

July 10

On this date in 1804 Vice President Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.  Burr, always an enigmatic and often a troublesome political figure, was indicted three years later for treason.  “Aaron Burr…being…under the protection of the laws of the United States , and owing allegiance…(thereto), not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil….”  So read the charge.  (James F. Simon, “What Kind of Nation,” p. 245)

“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

What would happen if more people in government and business were mindful that they will appear in that judgment on that day, the last day?  How many relationships would be better off, how many marriages preserved, how many lives brought into the world and cared for…  How different so much would be in your life and mine if we lived each day mindful that “We must all appear!”

The Bible teqaches that our only hope at judgment is Jesus.  “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13 ).  That final deliverance, however, is not a blank check to do our will rather than God’s.  That’s the highest treason.

July 13

My name is Connor and I have something to say.  I am now free, free to thrive!

Mommy and Daddy took me and Christian to Carmen’s.  Carmen takes care of little people in her home.  Carmen is nice.  But big brother Christian got too old for Carmen’s care.  So big brother Christian was graduated to Pre-School.  Pre-school is someplace else.  I don’t know where and I don’t know that I care.  What’s important is that I, the Con-man, now can be on my own.  I am out from my big brother’s shadow.

Do you big people sometimes overshadow other big people?  Do you sometimes talk so much about yourself that other people feel less important?  Do you listen to people so that they know they are just as important as you?  Do you trust other people to do some things on their own or do you have to loom over everything?  Do you pray for others or mostly pray about yourself?  Opa, why are you so quiet? 

“Connor, I know what you’re talking about.  I am a big brother.  Are you trying to prick my conscience?”

“Who can discern their own errors?  Forgive my hidden faults.”  (Psalm 19:14)

July 14

What do you ponder when you go to the cemetery…go alone?  A cemetery visit is a time to do what poet George Herbert advised, “By all means find some time to be alone.  Salute thyself and see what thy soul wears.  Dare to look into thy chest, for it is thine own.  Tumble up and down what thou findest there.”  (“The Temple,” 25)

Instead of tumbling thoughts about time and eternity by visiting the cemetery, some people in Chicago are tumbling confusion and anger.  For years the management of Burr Oak Cemetery dug up graves, threw the exhumed bodies on piles, removed the headstones, and resold the plots.  The place where the crime seems to have been worst was in the section where babies and children were buried, “Babyland.”  Officials estimate that the identity of 100,000 graves is in doubt.  Grieving families have been robbed, robbed of going to a loved one’s grave and pondering their place in time before God.

I went to a different cemetery in Chicagoland on Saturday.  Today is the first anniversary of Carol, our sister-in-law’s funeral.  Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “Death is the destiny of everyone” but Isaiah 25:8 promises that God “will swallow up death forever.”  As the poet said, “By all means find some time to be alone.”  “

July 15

In the middle of this workweek, some words about perseverance from Rocky Balboa:

“Let me tell you something you already know; the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows.  It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.  You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.  But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.  That’s how winning is done.  Now if you know what you’re worth?  Now go out and get what you’re worth.  But you gotta be willing to take the hits.  And not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him or her or anybody.”

In contrast to Rocky’s hard, fight-the-world philosophy, here is a grander view, a heavenly view for this workday: “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who He has given us.”  (Romans 5:2-5)

July 16

Years ago I was teaching religion class to 8th graders at our parochial school.  One day I had enough of their picking on each other, their cliquishness, their hurtful behavior.  So I unloaded the standard grown-up lecture they'd probably heard many times.  "Pastor, you've got it wrong," interrupted a courageous girl.  "How's that?" I asked.  "The reason we act that way is we're afraid that we're not going to fit in."

Why does that office worker hoard information that would help the rest of you do your job?  Why does the up-and-coming professional hide the fact that he's drowning in debt?  Why does the fearful woman present herself as having it all together?  Is there any way that some of your behavior grows out of a fear that in some way you're not going to fit in?

Because we compartmentalize our hectic lives, security in one area of life does not afford security in another.  What we need is a security that embraces every aspect of daily living, a centered sense that "It is well with my soul" whatever tries to scare us.

"Come unto Me" (Matthew 11:28).

July 17

Hail, Adonis!  If you lived 2000 years ago in the Roman Empire, chances are good that tomorrow, July 19^th you’d be celebrating the Festival of Adonis. 

According to mythology, Adonis was a beautiful youth who loved and was loved by the goddess Aphrodite.  Adonis must have been a real looker because he was also loved the Persephone, the goddess of the underworld.  To end the goddesses’ squabble, Zeus decreed that Adonis would spend part of the year in the underworld with Persephone and the rest of the year with Aphrodite in the realm of the living.  The Festival of Adonis was the yearly celebration of the marriage of Adonis and Aphrodite, a celebration that always turned to sadness because Adonis would have to return each year to Persephone and the realm of the dead.

How different is the One who says, “Do not be afraid.  I am the First and the Last.  I am the living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!  And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17-18).

Hail, Adonis?  Forget it!  Give your thoughts this weekend to the One who is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).  Or do you imagine you have someone better?