Problems are for Solving

I received a comment from someone on this post from the Coalition for Secular Government. They called the amendment I was touting in Colorado, “a monstrous evil.”

I found the contradiction ironic. Secular government coalition using the term “monstrous evil.” How do they know? What constitutes a monstrous evil? How do they know that this is evil?

I believe that the killing of defenseless people is murder, and therefore it is evil. Murder is a violation of God’s law (6th commandment, 5th for my Lutheran readers), and God says it’s wrong. Throughout God’s Word he elaborates on why and when killing is murder, and when it is not. And killing Jews because you don’t like them is murder (Hitler). Killing citizens because they might rise up against tyranny is wrong (Stalin). And killing your baby because he might change your life in a way you don’t like is murder (3,500 babies today, tomorrow and the next day).

And I can say this beyond doubt because I’m relying on a standard outside myself. This is evil. Life is good. End of argument.

For the Coalition for Secular government, defining good and evil is somewhat more complicated. Who gets to decide what is good and evil? Majority vote? Nine men and women in black robes? The Coalition for Secular Government?

You see, neither Hitler nor Stalin believed what they were doing was wrong. And they religiously attacked those who they hated, and used their power to kill.

People who do not love babies viciously attack the unborn and kill them. And other women are either fooled into believing their babies are not human or are lead to think they have no other options when in fact those options exist. To the tune of 1 baby murdered for every 3 babies born.

God created us to be worshiping beings. It’s written into our makeup as creatures created in His image. We were created to worship Him. homo adoranis. homo sapien is inadequate.

And that natural proclivity to worship is undeniable and inescapeable. Even the rebellious who turn their backs on God worship something. It may be a baseball team. It may be an ideal, even an ideal that is a good ideal like personal liberty. It may be personal peace and affluence. For everyone, there is something in your life that is worth more than anything else. Even if that something is yourself.

The Coalition for Secular Government worships secularism. They want to be freed from all reminders that they were created by a sovereign, loving, just, holy God. And they want to make laws with no foundation. And their false worship will drive them further from God as they try to bury His image into something unrecognizable. And Jesus Himself, in David’s Psalm 2 tells us that this will happen, even among the kings of the earth:

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
(Psalms 2:1-3)

But they can’t. Because it’s inescapable. God exists. The next verse in Psalm 2 says He laughs at these efforts. His image in man exists. And so even they will use the term “monstrous evil,” even though they don’t have any way to define what is evil and what is good.

True religion involves turning to the creator and submitting to Him.

Sad thing is that you can’t. Not on your own at least. And that is why the loving, holy, sovereign God sent His own Son to become a man and to pay for the rebellion of people like you (and me!), and to bring into the world the power to turn from death and darkness and evil to a loving Son who takes us to the Father in forgiveness.

I know what is good and evil because Jesus came to divide the waters and to give evil people like me life for death and a heart of flesh for a heart of stone. May those at the Coalition for Secular Government turn to and honor King Jesus, and may each of us do this today and every day.

The Gospel Coalition | Vision
We cannot look at the poor and the oppressed and callously call them to pull themselves out of their own difficulty. Jesus did not treat us that way.

I read a blog each day (or most days) called Of First Importance which mostly has quotes that remind me of the centrality of Jesus and His Gospel to my life. These are short reminders each day, and on many days I need them. Today there was a quote from this Gospel Coalition vision statement, including the quote above.

I have added some emphasis to the quote and I haven’t at all digested its context, but this quote struck me this morning because it’s something I’ve been thinking about in another context.

How should Christians, being like Christ, respond to poverty? This quote makes me wonder if our response needs to have in its context symbolism of what and how Jesus has done for us.

Lord willing I’ll have more thoughts on this later–no time this morning to expound. I wanted to put this here though so others can remind me later, and so I’ll remember to go back and look at this whole vision statement.

I started to leave a comment on this post from Gabrielle, and then it turned into something long enough that I wanted it here.
———–

And because of this, even when our lives are pathetic and cranky, Jesus intercedes and redeems those things that are pathetic and cranky.

He gives us:
Beauty for ashes
An oil of joy for mourning
A garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness.

And He sometimes gives us hope for despair as well. Praise the Lord He is risen in power.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion– to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
(Isaiah 61:1-3)

Series Index

So we’re at war. And we’re to fight the war in the power of Christ’s might.

This begs the question: with whom are we at war? Whom are we fighting? Who’s the enemy?

The next verses in Ephesians 6:

Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
(Ephesians 6:11-12)

Going first to verse 12: “for we wrestle not . . .” That “not” is important. This is not a flesh and blood war. This is a war against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

[I'm not going to cover all of these in one post—my goal is to give a thorough treatment to this passage in chunks that are under 700 words, preferably shorter. This accomplishes two things. First, it helps my half dozen readers to read without being overwhelmed and second it helps me to learn to be more terse in my writing. This post will be the longest of this section]

The devil. We are to stand and fight against the “wiles of the devil.” The ESV translates this word, “schemes.” The Greek word here is the one from which our English word “methods” is derived. We are to stand against the methods of the devil.

It’s only recently that I’ve realized a tendency I’ve had in the past to minimize the reality of the forces of evil. And many of us err in our assessment of Satan. Some make more of him than is true, almost making him into a co-god who rules apart from God’s sovereign providence, and others (and I have fallen into this camp more often) practically trivialize the efforts of the eventually losing side of darkness. This war is real, and Satan is a real, active, strong enemy.

In that great hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, Martin Luther writes,

For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.

Luther refers to Satan as our ancient foe. He goes back a long way—further than we know for sure. And his methods, his schemes, are to work for our woe. He wants us to be sad and disorganized and filled with hopelessness. Satan is no lightweight either. Luther correctly describes him as great in craft and power. Remember that craft, when this hymn was originally translated, didn’t refer to knitting and scrapbooking, but to the vocations of craftsmanship like blacksmithing. Certainly many of our modern “crafts” were once crafts in the traditional sense (pottery comes to mind), but in the hymn Luther is referring to Satan’s craftsmanship. Satan has no equal on earth. Luther continues:

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,

We don’t stand a chance against this guy. Our ancient foe has no equal. If we take confidence in our own strength.

were not the right man on our side,
the man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabbaoth, his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

Jesus is on our side, so we need not fear. Satan is a real enemy, but his doom is sure. And so we must stand, by faith in Christ, against of the methods of the devil—by putting on the whole armor of God, about which more later.

Yesterday I posted about the glorious war that the Christian has been called to fight. This war doesn’t look like the wars we see, though it is just as difficult and dangerous for the combatants. Lord willing, over the next few days I’m going to write a series of posts based on Ephesians chapter 6, dealing with our fighting of the war.

Paul, having just finished an extensive section on the Christian walk including a description of various parts of the social order (husbands and wives, workers and masters, children and parents) , turns back to the heavenly perspective with which he began in chapter 1. He wants us to see the Christian walk from God’s perspective—as a war. This is the conclusion to his letter to the Ephesians, his final encouragement to them as they walk with the Savior.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
(Ephesians 6:10)

I don’t usually use the King James, but because of the poetic flow of this section I like the way the KJV puts the passage. The added benefit is that the King James, being older English, has distinctive pronouns for singular and plural that have fallen away in modern usage, giving a clearer picture of the original.

Finally: “because of all that I’ve written so far, I want to end here” so to speak. And the apostle goes with the familial “brethren” calling to attention the family ties that we all share in Christ. This is not intended to exclude the “sisters” of the Ephesian church, but to emphasize the family relationship.

The command? Be strong. But not in your own strength—but in Christ. In the power of the might of the Savior.

So we’re going to fight this war. We must be strong. But we can’t. We need the Lord, and that’s where Paul’s been headed the whole time. All the examples of who we are in Christ and what Christ has done that he expounded in chapters 1-3: that’s to point us to Christ. The commands of chapters 4-6: to point us to Christ. We need Him and can’t do this on our own.

We need the power of His might.

The call is to rise up and stand—to be strong—but only to be strong in Christ. Because our strength fails and His never does. So before we ever take up the weapons of the war, before we get to know our enemy, we must stand up and be strong in Christ, and depend upon Him for everything. So have this attitude as you go to war: be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

I was pointed to this quote that will make many a neo-Puritan shudder, from Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, Book IV, chapter 10, section 30 (emphasis mine):

But as there is here a danger, on the one hand, lest false bishops should thence derive a pretext for their impious and tyrannical laws, and, on the other, lest some, too apt to take alarm, should, from fear of the above evils, leave no place for laws, however holy, it may here be proper to declare, that I approve of those human constitutions only which are founded on the authority of God, and derived from Scripture, and are therefore altogether divine. Let us take, for example, the bending of the knee which is made in public prayer. It is asked, whether this is a human tradition, which any one is at liberty to repudiate or neglect? I say, that it is human, and that at the same time it is divine. It is of God, inasmuch as it is a part of that decency, the care and observance of which is recommended by the apostle; and it is of men, inasmuch as it specially determines what was indicated in general, rather than expounded. From this one example, we may judge what is to be thought of the whole class—viz. that the whole sum of righteousness, and all the parts of divine worship, and everything necessary to salvation, the Lord has faithfully comprehended, and clearly unfolded, in his sacred oracles, so that in them he alone is the only Master to be heard. But as in external discipline and ceremonies, he has not been pleased to prescribe every particular that we ought to observe (he foresaw that this depended on the nature of the times, and that one form would not suit all ages), in them we must have recourse to the general rules which he has given, employing them to test whatever the necessity of the Church may require to be enjoined for order and decency. Lastly, as he has not delivered any express command, because things of this nature are not necessary to salvation, and, for the edification of the Church, should be accommodated to the varying circumstances of each age and nation, it will be proper, as the interest of the Church may require, to change and abrogate the old, as well as to introduce new forms. I confess, indeed, that we are not to innovate rashly or incessantly, or for trivial causes. Charity is the best judge of what tends to hurt or to edify: if we allow her to be guide, all things will be safe.

From the Archives, April, 2005

So I’m riding home from work listening to an older Mars Hill Audio Journal (#64 from September/October 2003) and I hear an interview with Dr. Jeremy Begbie regarding his book, Theology, Music and Time.

In the interview (and I presume the book) he talks about how theology and music relate to one another—and especially within the context of time. During the interview Begbie speaks to Myers of chord progression and resolution. At one point, as a way of illustration, he plays what I think is a V⁷ chord which he says leaves us waiting for the resolution in the I chord.

I wasn’t sure I understood much of what he was talking about but he gave examples of how this resolution is put off and delayed in particular musical pieces (like in Fur Elise by Beethoven) and how the delay of this resolution makes the resolution even sweeter. He also talked about the presupposition of the V⁷ where the musical piece starts with the I chord in the pattern home, away, home again. This is the pattern of most western music.

I will want to talk to my friends Aaron, Anthony and Steve about this lecture and have them listen to it (they’re real musicians compared to my own amateur interest in the topic) and see if we can start a discussion that will fill out some of what Begbie was talking about for our own edification.

I hope to write more about this in a later after talking with my friends and listening to the interview again.

This morning I took the recyclables and the trash out to the curb. Some people make fun of me because I pay for recycling but it’s worth it to me to have someone else take care of the recycling duties for only a few dollars a month.

This morning, though, as I took out what seemed like a lot of trash and cans and bottles I remembered something I read several years ago while studying the book of Judges with my pastor and using a commentary on the book as a companion to the study.

The author was saying that he used to hate taking out the trash. One day, though, it hit him that the mere existence of trash meant that God had provided abundantly for his family. I was struck by this and remember it over 12 years later.

God provides for my family so much that I have stuff left over to throw away.

Today, therefore, I was thankful for taking out the trash as I remembered that God is a great and abundant Provider. Praise God for His abundant blessings!