My Parent Lives in Me

As I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed more and more of my parents’ traits coming out of me.  For example, I’ve been told I’m quite a taskmaster toward myself, that I’m ultra-responsible, and that I seem to go to any lengths to stand by my word.  In all of those things, I see my parents.  It’s now become my voice rather than theirs telling me “a day’s work for a day’s pay,” “if it’s worth doing it’s worth doing right,” “you’re only as good as your word.”  And behind all of that is the question my parents often posed to me, “What if everyone did it, would it be a better world?”  In those formative years, when my parents were raising me, coaching me, forming me, I heard their words, but I never dreamed they were becoming so entrenched in my own thinking, my own worldview, my own way of treating myself.  But taking a moment for a bit of introspection I see it clearly, my parent lives in me.

Thinking about issues of character in that way has helped me appreciate the ways God is at work in my life and yours.  When Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:3) that he (we) must be born again, it’s getting at establishing a new “parent” in us.  When Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), he’s describing our new Parent’s character traits becoming more naturally part of who we are.  Through the scriptures, worship, Christian fellowship, prayer, God sets about raising, coaching, and forming His children.  As time goes by God’s words become more entrenched in our own thinking and our own worldview.  It’s not brainwashing.  It’s spiritual heredity.

As I marvel at that process taking place in the life of any individual I can’t help but ask the question often posed to me, “What if everyone did it, would it be a better world?”  I think that’s the plan, actually.

Word Replace

You know how they say we should think before we speak?  (Did they think before they said that?)  Sounds like good advice.  I think some of us do more thinking-before-speaking than others of us.  For some of us, it seems to be a pretty short route from initial thought to mouth with not much contemplation along the way.  For others of us there are several moments of crafting and editing that take place within us before the perfect statement comes forth to bless the world.  How does all that work for you?

Perhaps we could think of it this way; it’s like we have an internal word processor.  Maybe we don’t use it much to change fonts in our thoughts, but we use it to assemble our thoughts, cut-and-paste, delete, bold, and other similar functions.  Here’s one function it would be helpful to put in place in our internal word processor: word replace.  As you roll a thought around in your mind, if it begins with the phrase, “I know” and also contains the word “but”, try replacing that word with the word “so.”  The intended outcome would be that instead of us saying to ourselves or others, “I know… but…” we would say, “I know… so…”.

What gets us into predicaments so often is when we acknowledge we know the right thing, the most helpful thing, to do in a situation, but we consciously choose to do something other than the most helpful thing.  Hence, “I know… but…”  What I’m suggesting is that we listen to ourselves say the truth we know and then choose to follow through accordingly (“so…”).  If an example would be helpful, instead of saying, “I know I shouldn’t interfere in his business, but I think I will anyway” we would do the internal word replace to make it come out, “I know I shouldn’t interfere in his business, so I won’t.”

Stuff about internal word processors is not exactly in the Bible, but all of this goes along well with the wisdom of many of the Proverbs in the Old Testament and with a statement from that little book of wisdom in the New Testament, James, “Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin” (James 4:17).  Just something to think, and perhaps speak, about.

A Cart with Good Wheels

I went to the store last week and I pulled a shopping cart from the line of carts.  I started my adventure into the store, pushing my cart, waiting to see and hear what this particular cart would do.  I exaggerate not; most of the carts I get usually have a noisy limp.  As a rule, one of the four wheels won’t turn or won’t swivel or won’t roll smoothly for some reason, and the dysfunctional wheel usually comes with a loud and obnoxious noise that will draw the attention of other shoppers to you as you make your way down the aisles.  Of course, their shopping carts usually have an issue as well, but these issues do seem to come in varying degrees of annoyance, so I suppose shoppers are making comparisons amongst themselves, some of them thinking, “Well I guess it could have been worse.” 

But on that particular occasion last week I happened to be the lucky one millionth shopper (or something like that) that got a cart with four good wheels.  I pushed and listened, pushed more and listened, but nothing, no inappropriate noise was coming from the cart’s wheels.  With that discovery, I froze for a moment.  I wasn’t exactly sure what to do.  On one hand I expected a supervisor to come and take the cart back, explaining it was reserved for the employee of the month.  On the other hand I expected lights to start flashing, balloons and confetti to start falling, and employees to start singing to me like servers at a restaurant serenading a patron having a birthday.  There was none of that.  Just your basic shopping trip followed from there, but I wanted to tell you about the good thing that happened so you’d know it is possible.

I’m going back to the store this afternoon.  No great expectations, but I’m more hopeful as a result of my last experience.  What I’m thinking is that grace happens.  It doesn’t exactly say it that way in the Bible, but it’s true, grace happens, sometimes pertaining to stuff more important than wheels on carts.  It usually happens without fanfare, but it happens.  And knowing that, may you be more hopeful as you go about your day.

The Scorpion and the Frog

You may have heard the fable about the scorpion and the frog.  It goes like this: A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too."  The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp "Why?"  Replies the scorpion: "It’s my nature..."

People can feel like the scorpion.  We can feel like certain negative habits or tendencies we possess are just our nature and there’s nothing we can do about it, “even if my life depended on it.”  Or we might think other people to be “scorpions”, possessing a destructive nature that forecloses on any potential for good that might have come their way.  So why bother?

But people are not scorpions.  People are better than that.  People can weigh alternatives.  People can learn.  People can make choices, new choices, different choices, better choices.  People can change. God can help.

In the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and throughout the records of His teaching it becomes clear that while on earth in the flesh He operated completely under this assumption.  He was fully convinced that people could change and that He could help.  He devoted His earthly life and death to that conviction.

People should be compared to scorpions?  It’s not in the Bible.  The Bible is clear that people are not to be confused with scorpions.  People are made of better stuff than that.  People can change.  People can be “born again.”  People can be redeemed.

When the World Went Mad

I said in a sermon a few weeks ago that sometimes I sit and try to figure out exactly when the world went mad.  When did the world lose its mind?  If you don’t agree with me that the world has gone mad, do you never watch/check the news?  Do you not watch “COPS”?  The decisions made by individuals, organizations, factions, and governments are so often simply whack in my humble and unbiased opinion.  It’s a crazy world.  I’ve wondered when it became that way.  You’ll be glad to know I’ve figured it out.

For a while I thought we’re approaching the 50^th anniversary of the big turning point for the sanity of the world.  February 9, 1964, the Beatles’ first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, brought a cultural change.  The new emphasis on youth, freedom of expression, and throwing off former norms began a major shift.  Disillusionment and the emergence of a new proliferation of drug abuse came along with that, and eventually brought many people and neighborhoods into ruin.  The drug-related early deaths of several rock music stars of the era seemed to personify much of what was happening to the world people once new.  With the war in Viet Nam coming along toward the end of that decade, I began to think that it was the 1960s that ushered in the madness we have now inherited, with the turning point being February 9, 1964.

But I had to back up from there and think about where and when the seeds were sown that bore fruit in the 1960s.  Sure enough, the influences that would shape the 1960s were coming out of the new affluence of the 1950s, and backing up from there, of course, much of what shaped the 1950s came from the second world war of the 1940s.  Much of that event that rocked the world came out of greed, madness, and a will-to-power not just found in Adolf Hitler, but in many humans in many nations.

You may be seeing the picture coming into focus.  When you start trying to figure out when the world went mad you just keep backing up in time, and that’s where the pursuit took me.  But I finally did come to a moment that signaled the corruption of all that was good and right with the world.  It was when the first people God created used the gift of free will to oppose the God who gave it to them.  It was when they didn’t trust God and bit off more than they could chew.  When they were expelled from the garden they ended up east of Eden, in the land of Nod, which means “wandering.”  That’s when it all started.  That’s what it says in the Bible.

Thanksgiving is Sacred

This Thanksgiving there were more stores open on Thanksgiving day than in years past, and that caused some controversy amongst the American public.  The concern was primarily for the employees of those stores who were being pressed into service on Thanksgiving day rather than having the day off.  I saw a story about it on a network newscast where they interviewed a woman who was out shopping the day after Thanksgiving.  She was very opposed to stores being open for business on Thanksgiving day.  Her reason?  She said, “Thanksgiving is sacred.”

Really?  What does that mean?  What does “sacred” mean?  I suppose that woman was using the word to say that Thanksgiving day should be regarded with a certain reverence, but I think that because of the religious connotations of the word, it might be a rather strong choice of adjectives in this instance.

We could say that it’s good to set aside a day to give thanks for all our blessings.  We could say it’s helpful.  We could say it’s healthy.  But sacred?  What makes something sacred anyway?  I would think that some kind of God-involvement would make something sacred.  Something that is set aside for God or by God is often referred to as sacred.  With that in mind, is there a day other than Thanksgiving day that better qualifies to be described as sacred?

How about every Saturday if you’re Jewish or Seventh-day Adventist?  How about every Sunday if you’re Christian?  How about one day out of every seven if you’re anyone wanting to live according to the way prescribed by the God of the Bible?  Rather than one day every year being regarded as sacred, how about one day every week?   What about one day every week where it’s not mostly about money and it’s not even mostly about family, but it’s mostly about God? 

“Thanksgiving is sacred” is not in the Bible.  “It is good to give thanks to the Lord” (Psalm 92:1) is in the Bible, as is “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).

Our Guardian God

Angels are very prominent in the Christmas story and in the celebration of Christmas.  They’re prominent in the Bible’s narratives regarding Jesus’ birth in that they make announcements to Joseph (Matthew 1) and Mary (Luke 1) and to shepherds (Luke 2).  They’re also prominent in the celebration of Christmas as we know it in the modern era.  Just look at the pictures that adorn the front of Christmas cards.  Note the lyrics of Christmas carols.  Notice the decorations on front lawns and you’ll see angels included quite often.

Christmas season or not, many people like angels.  Many people especially like the thought of a personal, guardian angel.  Many like to think about, “my angel watching over me.”  I suppose it’s comforting to think of a heavenly being with no other assignment, no other purpose, nothing else to do than to watch over little ole me.  It’s not in the Bible, though there is something close to that in Matthew 18:10 (… their angels…).

But what if there was a time when every person on earth did have a personal, guardian angel.  What if there was a time when the population of the earth was such that there were enough angels to go around, so everyone on earth could have an angel of their very own.  But what if there are a fixed number of angels?  What if there were a certain number of angels created in the beginning and there aren’t more being added as time goes by?  What if, as the population of the earth grew, there came a time when there were no longer enough angels to go around?  And what if God decided that that predicament wouldn’t lead to a worse thing, but to a better thing?  After all, that seems to be the way God works.  So what if God determined that the better thing would be that rather than everyone having a personal angel, a personal representative of God, they would instead have a personal God?  What if God determined the improvement this predicament would usher in would be that in the Spirit God would spread Himself around and be with every person, everywhere, all the time?

That string of events isn’t in the Bible, but in this Christmas season it’s good to remember that what is in the Bible is that the Savior born unto us is introduced in Matthew’s gospel as Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23).  Better than angels (Hebrews 1:4-14) is the personal guardian of your soul (1 Peter 2:25), who says, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).