False Prophets vs the Good News

The scriptures referred to are Deuteronomy 18:15-20.

A Baptist preacher named William Miller said that, based on his calculations of the numbers in Daniel, chapters 7 and 8, Jesus was going to return to earth between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When that didn't happen, he used a different Jewish calendar and put the date at April 18, 1844. Wrong again. Then a follower of his recalculated and said Jesus would come back on October 22, 1844. Many Millerites sold their homes and possessions and quit their jobs before that date. Some went up on mountains to be the first who would caught up in the air to meet Jesus. What followed is what historians call the Great Disappointment. Some Millerite churches were burned, some congregations were attacked with clubs and knives, and some groups were tarred and feathered. Some people lost their faith. Some returned to their old denominations. Some reinterpreted the date as a heavenly event and eventually became the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

William Miller wasn't the first person to incorrectly predict the date of Jesus' return and he wouldn't be the last. Radio preacher Harold Camping famously predicted that the Rapture would take place on May 21, 2011 and the world would end on October 21 that year. It wasn't even the end of the world for Camping, though he did have a stroke in June of 2011 and died 2 years later. The Jehovah's Witnesses, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, Tim LaHaye (co-author of the Left Behind series of books), and even Archbishop James Ussher, the 17^th century scholar who said the world was created in October 4004 BC, have put forth dates that so far have been false. And that's just the Christian contingent of world's end predictors.

One thing you can't blame this on is Biblical literalism. Because in Mark 13:32, Jesus literally says, “But as for that day or hour no one knows it—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son—except the Father.” At least during his time on earth, not even Jesus knew the date. And furthermore, Jesus specifically warns us not to believe people who say the end is here. (Mark 13:5-8) The wars and disasters people think are the end of the world are like the beginning of labor pains. So what should we do when a person prophesies falsely? According to our passage in Deuteronomy, a false prophet should be killed! I find it odd that these fundamentalists aren't literal about that either. But the truth is that fundamentalists do what they accuse others of: picking and choosing what they take literally.

Sadly, these things say more about the persons saying them and the people following those persons than they do about the Bible. The apocalyptic passages in particular seem to act as a Rorschach test for some people, where they read into them their own obsessions. And while I don't think we should kill false prophets—we don't live in Bronze Age Israel, after all—perhaps we should treat them as if they were dead to us. As the verses that immediately follow the cut off point of our lectionary selection say, “Now if you say to yourselves, 'How can we tell that a message is not of the Lord?'—whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it, the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.” (Deuteronomy 18:21-22) And if we need not fear him or her, we need not heed them anymore.

So why is our passage from Deuteronomy relevant today? This church does not have “Prophet” as an official position, nor do we seem to have anyone with the gift of seeing the future. But the word “prophet” in Hebrew does not mean “foreteller” but “spokesman.” A prophet's role is to speak God's word. It is a serious responsibility. And as we've seen there are even today a lot of false prophets whom people follow.

Recently, a lot of folks were paying attention to QAnon, a massive conspiracy theory that had people thinking there was a huge network of politicians and celebrities who, not to put too fine a point on it, were Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic pedophiles. They believe that, among others, Tom Hanks, the rare celebrity who actively attends church and talks about it, eats babies. The supporters of this conspiracy theory were among those who stormed the Capitol earlier this month. They expected martial law to be imposed on Inauguration Day and the mass execution of high-placed people they believed were in on the baby-eating. And when that didn't happen, they went through their own Great Disappointment. And like the Millerites, they are proposing new dates for their day of reckoning.

The surprising thing is how many of the people supporting this theory called themselves Christians. Yet they violated the very principles Jesus laid down in his talk about the end times. At the very beginning of answering the disciples' questions Jesus says, “Watch out that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Anointed,' and they will mislead many.” (Matthew 24:4-5) First red flag: anyone who is called the Anointed, the Messiah or the Christ (they all mean the same) is not the real thing. By his own account, there will be nothing subtle about Jesus' return. (Mark 13:26) And he is definitely not coming back as someone else.

What Jesus emphasized was how his followers should behave during bad times, even if they are not the end of the world. First, we are not to be warriors but witnesses. In the whole of the book of Revelation, Christians are never depicted as fighters. “Lord of hosts” really means “Lord of the armies of angels.” God fights his own battles. We are to be witnesses to the good news about Jesus and if necessary, martyrs. (Mark 13:10-11) In fact the Greek word for witness, martus, is where we get the word martyr. Which is another clue about the end times. Despite what some people say, Christians are not being persecuted in this country. They are not being imprisoned for simply being Christians, nor are churches being closed down by the government, nor are Christians being executed by the government. And, remember, Jesus said that while things will get worse, “these are but the beginning of birth pangs.” (Mark 10:13)

And what is the gospel or good news to which we are to be witnesses? It is basically Jesus. Paul calls it the “gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 9:12; Galatians 1:7, et al.) The gospel is all about Jesus: who he is, what he has done for us and how we should respond.

So who is Jesus? He is God, who created us and who became a human being like us. (John 1:1-3, 14; Philippians 2:5-7) He is the Messiah, the Christ, God's Anointed Prophet, Priest and King. (Matthew 16:15-17; John 1:49; Luke 4:18, 24; Hebrews 5:5) And because God is love, Jesus is the Divine Love Incarnate. (1 John 4:7-8)

What has he done for us? He reveals to us God's grace, love and forgiveness. (Matthew 5:43-48; 6:14-15) He died on the cross for us. (Matthew 26:28; Mark 10:45; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3) He rose again (John 20; 1 Corinthians 15) And he sent the Holy Spirit to live in us. (John 14:16-17)

What should our response be? To believe in and trust him. (John 3:16; Romans 10:9) To obey his commandments, especially to love God with all we are and have and to love each other, whether friends or enemies. (Mark 12: 28-31; John 15:12-14) To take care of and treat the destitute, the diseased, the disadvantaged, and the despised of the world as we would Jesus. (Matthew 25:34-40) To follow him no matter how hard it is. (Luke 9:23) And to spread the good news about Jesus. (Matthew 28:18-20)

That's the gospel in a nutshell. Notice there's nothing there about building bunkers or overthrowing the government. That's not the way of love that Jesus lived and commanded us to live. When Pilate asked Jesus if he was a king, he said that the sign that his kingdom was not from this world is precisely that his followers weren't fighting to free him. (John 18:36) When Peter did try to defend Jesus from arrest, by violently cutting off the ear of a servant of the high priest, Jesus rebuked him—and then healed the man whose ear had been cut. (John 18:10-11; Matthew 26:51-52; Luke 22:50-51) Jesus came to heal, not to harm. And his followers are to be like him. (1 Peter 2:21)

We are to be witnesses to the gospel by not only saying it with our lips but also by showing it in our lives. You wouldn't believe a person who told you how great his doctor is at curing his lung cancer if the man was smoking and coughing. How can we expect people to believe that Jesus saved us from our sins if we keep doing the very things he called sins?

It also doesn't help if our message could hardly be called good news, which conspiracy theories never are. They are always about a terrible situation being the result of a secret plot by powerful people or organizations. It sucks people in because it gives them a way to tie in a number of awful events with an explanation that places blame not on them but on certain evil people. But it is a terrible frame of mind in which to live. On a recent broadcast of The A-1, a man said that during the time he believed in conspiracy theories, starting with 9/11, he was always angry and afraid and full of hate. That is the opposite effect of the good news that God in Christ saves us. As James says, “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” (James 1:20) Paul says, “For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7) And Jesus told us to love, not hate, other people, even those we consider our enemies. (Matthew 5:43-44) What a conspiracy theory produces is the antithesis of what the gospel or good news produces.

And as Christians we are committed to the truth. It isn't hard to check facts these days. And while real conspiracies have existed they don't involve lots of otherwise unrelated groups. They exist within an industry, like the tobacco industry which denied links between smoking and cancer, or the sugar industry, which denied links between sugar and obesity. Or, sadly, they might exist within a department of the government, like MK-Ultra, the CIA's unsuccessful mind control experiments involving giving LSD to unsuspecting johns in brothels. And unfortunately these things have made some people see conspiracies everywhere. But global conspiracies involving world domination by the Jews or the Vatican or the Freemasons or Satan-worshiping baby-eaters aren't real. And we know about the actual conspiracies because someone talked or leaked information. Official investigations were done and the facts were made public. As Ben Franklin said, “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” Conspiracies do not last forever.

The gospel does. And rather than spreading fanciful tales that can only exist in spy thrillers and movies, we need to be telling people the truth about Jesus: who he is, what he has done for us and how we should respond to him. Rather than worrying about shadowy supposedly all-powerful evil cabals, we should be following Jesus' advice and not worry about everything. (Matthew 6:25-34) Because we have a God who really is all powerful and who is good and loves us and will never leave us or abandon us. And if that isn't good news I don't know what is. 

Reconsider

The scriptures referred to are 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.

An old Peanuts comic strip is making the rounds on Facebook. Snoopy is on top of his doghouse with a typewriter. Charlie Brown says to him, “I hear you're writing a book on theology. I hope you have a good title.” Snoopy thinks, “I have the perfect title...” And then he types, “Has It Ever Occurred to You That You Might Be Wrong?”

I love this because that could be the subtitle to a lot of theology books that are written in response to other theology books. It could even be the underlying attitude of some theologians, preachers and even ordinary Christians towards others with different interpretations of certain doctrines. But actually Snoopy's title could be seen as the first step in becoming a Christian. Usually it is put in the form of one word: repent.

The Greek word for “repent” literally means “to think differently or reconsider.” And the usual reason to do so is that you realize you are wrong, or at least that there is a different perspective to consider. As we see in our passage from Mark, Jesus' message began with a call to repent or think differently about things. Let's look at a few of them.

First he says, “The time is fulfilled.” What was he talking about? People were waiting for God to do something about the evil in the world. And it seemed like it was never going to happen. As Shakespeare put it, “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time.” The daily status quo never seems to change much. We see this at least as far back as when the people complained in Psalm 74, “We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and we none of us knows how long this will be.” (Psalm 74:9) People became complacent. They said, “The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.” (Zephaniah 1:12) It looked like God wasn't going to do anything after all. We see that idea abroad in the world today: God is either indifferent to the world or against it. Or he doesn't exist.

Jesus is saying, “You need to reconsider the idea that God is no longer at work in the world.” The time of waiting for the Messiah, God's Anointed, is over. God is doing something new in Jesus. He is getting involved in the history of humankind in a way he never had before. God becomes one of us. Jesus is not merely going to speak God's word like any prophet would; he is God's Word. He is the very expression of the God of justice and mercy and love, who was active in the creation of the world and is now active in the recreation of the world.

Next Jesus says, “The kingdom of God has come near.” The people of his time were thinking of a literal kingdom. They wanted a new David, a warrior-king who would throw out the Gentiles oppressing them and set up a theocracy that would enforce all the laws of the Torah plus the Oral Law deduced from it. The only way that righteousness could be established in the land was for it to be externally imposed by a political authority, backed by God. We see that idea abroad in the world today. Of course, the disagreement is which interpretation of God and his laws will the government mandate.

Jesus is saying, “You need to reconsider that idea of God's kingdom.” The Greek word translated “kingdom” is more properly translated “royal reign or rule.” God doesn't intend to rule through a human or humans but in them. External rules don't change internal dispositions, or else laws would render everyone law-abiding. In fact authoritarian regimes always have a thriving criminal underground. Often some of the criminals are in the regime itself or friends of it. God doesn't want a kingdom that superficially looks like his people are following his will. He wants to reign in their hearts and minds and lives.

And that means reconsidering what kind of king God has put in charge. Like I said, the people wanted a strong military leader who ruled with an iron fist. That's why some people had trouble seeing Jesus as God's anointed king. Jesus didn't come as a warrior to kill God's enemies; he came as a peacemaker to invite them to become God's friends. (Ephesians 2:14-15) He didn't blame the poor or condemn the prisoner or marginalize the immigrant; he said that what we do or neglect to do to them, we do or neglect to do to him. (Matthew 25:31-46) He didn't avoid the diseased and disabled; he healed them. (Mark 1:32-34) He didn't condemn the person who sinned; he offered forgiveness and a new life. (John 8:2-11)

Consequently when he talked about the kingdom of God, he didn't use military metaphors but spoke of a tiny seed that grows over time to become enormous. (Mark 4:30-32) He compared it to a field where both wheat and weeds, like good and bad people, were found together and not separated until the end. (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) He said it was a realm where forgiveness is not optional or a one-way transaction. (Matthew 6:14-15) In God's kingdom his grace is not earned but given to all as equals. (Matthew 20:1-16)

Because of this, Jesus says, “Repent and believe the good news.” Or in other words, “You need to reconsider your life and put your trust in the good news.” The good news is that God is compassionate and forgiving and healing and gracious. He is more concerned with saving people from their sins than punishing them for their sins. In fact, he was willing to take the consequences of our sins upon himself and did so, letting his enemies, acting on their sinful intentions, execute him. But that wasn't the end. Jesus wasn't just a martyr. He rose again, showing his mastery over not only nature and disease but also his mastery over death. Furthermore, he gives his eternal life and the Holy Spirit of God that empowered him to those who put their trust in him. And of course, if you really trust this good news about him, you will reconsider and change how you live your life.

We are saved by God's grace and not by earning his favor through our feeble attempts to do good enough works. Yet, as James pointed out, anyone can say they believe in God. Real belief results in a changed life. We have seen in the last year who really believes the science of epidemics and disease by whether they follow the protocols laid down by doctors and scientists. And we have seen how people who didn't believe and didn't wear masks or didn't keep their distance got sick and some died. Jesus tells us what thoughts and words and acts are spiritually, morally and socially healthy and which are unhealthy. If we believe him, we will follow his words and the example of his life.

So what do we need to reconsider in our lives if we truly trust Jesus?

We need to reconsider out relationship with God. The two major errors people make about God is that he is too just to be forgiving or that he is too forgiving to be just. And perhaps the best parable to illustrate both sides of God's nature is the parable about the merciless servant. (Matthew 18:21-35) A slave owes a king an outrageous amount of money: millions of dollars in today's currency. He can't pay it back and so the king orders that the man, his wife and his children be sold to repay it. “The slave fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'” The king, his master, takes pity on him and cancels the debt. Then he lets the man go.

That is how forgiving God is. No matter how morally bankrupt we are, no matter how much we owe him for our bad behavior, he is willing to forgive us if we ask. For instance, John Newton was the captain of a slave ship. He repented and became a Christian. Consequently, he renounced the slave trade and became an abolitionist. He became an Anglican priest and served in parishes for the last 20 years of his life. He became an ally of William Wilberforce, who worked in Parliament to abolish the slave trade in Britain. He actually lived to see the Slave Trade Act passed just a few months before he died. He also wrote hymns, like “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken.” But he is most famous for being the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” It was his spiritual autobiography, his mea culpa for his years in the slave trade and his amazement and gratitude for God saving a wretched and wicked person such as himself. God is amazingly forgiving.

But Jesus' parable goes on. Right after leaving his master's presence, the slave whose debt is forgiven runs into a fellow slave who owes him a few dollars. He grabs and chokes this other slave, demanding his money back. This slave drops to his knees and asks for patience so he can pay the money back, using the same words the first slave did before the king. But the first slave refuses to give the man the same consideration his master had given him and has the other slave thrown into prison until he pays off the paltry debt. The other slaves are alarmed and tell their master, the king. He then calls the first slave back into his presence, points out how the slave did not show his fellow the same mercy he had been shown and throws him in prison till he repays his enormous debt. Jesus concludes with “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from the heart.” God means business when he says certain attitudes and behaviors are unjust. James puts it this way: “...judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not be merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13) God expects us to be as forgiving to others as he is to us. After all, following Jesus means being like him.

Which means we also need to reconsider our relationships with other people. The world tends to divide people into categories of sex, race, country and creed and then to treat people as if these external differences were differences in a person's value. But in his parable of the good Samaritan Jesus showed that goodness and compassion do not necessarily reside in the “right” people, like the priest or the Levite, but can be found even in a minority which his original audience despised. (Luke 10:25-37) Paul said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Sin causes us to value people differently. But to the person who is following Jesus, everyone is a person created in the image of God as well as a person for whom Christ died. To treat anyone as worth less than someone else is to deny God's unconditional love and to try to limit his grace based on our judgment.

We also need to reconsider our relationship with ourselves. The world tends to tell us that we should always believe in ourselves and not listen to those who contradict us. But that kind of sweeping self-belief is often the attitude of people who do a lot of damage to others. You wouldn't tell a serial killer to follow his dream despite what others think. Nor would you say that to someone who is foolish or ignorant of the consequences of his ill-conceived scheme. Self-confidence doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with a good character or with competence. In fact, we call people who never admit they might be wrong arrogant. In Rudyard Kipling's poem “If” he strikes a better balance when he says, “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too.”

It's always good to remember that, as Snoopy wrote, you might be wrong. We are not perfect, either in our reasoning or in our behavior. If you read enough biographies of great men and women, you will find they had their blind spots and character flaws, often with tragic consequences. The Bible doesn't shy away from depicting the imperfections of people God nevertheless used in a mighty way. Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Peter and Paul all had their weaknesses and sins. The Bible doesn't make excuses for them, nor does it hide the fact that their misdeeds had consequences for them and for their relationships. Following Jesus doesn't make you immune from mistakes or temptations. Which is something to remember when thinking of judging others. (Matthew 7:1-2)

I was once at a clergy retreat where the speaker spoke out against regret. I raised my hand and said it's healthy to have regrets when they are for things a person should regret. After all sociopaths have no regrets and that's not a good thing. I suggested that just as we now distinguish between healthy masculinity and toxic masculinity, we would note that there is a difference between healthy regret and toxic regret. If you have done something stupid, especially something that hurt or harmed someone through a cavalier and careless attitude when you should have known better, you should regret it. And learn from it and change your habits so as to not do it again. And if you actually wanted to hurt them, that is something you should regret and get help fixing from God, and maybe from a professional as well. But you shouldn't torture yourself endlessly when it comes to something you had no control over and therefore shouldn't blame yourself for. That's toxic regret. But there is a place for real regret when we have done wrong. In fact it's vital.

Sincere regret leads to repentance. And true repentance leads to change. In Hebrew one of the words translated “repent” literally means “to turn back.” Reconsidering our thoughts, words and deeds in the light of the truth and love and grace we see in Jesus should make us turn from the direction we are going and go back to God. He is our just and merciful, loving and forgiving Father. As Jesus said, “Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away.” (John 6:37) Repenting your ways and coming to Jesus is something you will never regret.

Whose Are You?

The scriptures referred to are 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.

In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean gets out of prison after 19 years. Because of his status as an ex-con, no inn will take him in. After sleeping on the streets, bitter and angry, Jean is given shelter by the Bishop Myriel. But Jean steals the bishop's silver and runs off only to be caught by the police. When Jean is taken before his victim, the bishop says he gave the silverware to him and says he forgot to take the silver candlesticks as well. The police believe the bishop and release Jean. The bishop tells Valjean that God spared his life and he should use the money from the silver to make himself a honest man. And the rest of the story tells how Jean does just that. So what does this have to do with today's passage from 1^st Corinthians? Stay tuned.

Corinth was a wealthy seaport with a reputation for sexual promiscuity that made it notorious even among the Greeks and Romans. The city's name was turned into a verb that meant to be debauched. I was there in the 1970s and you can still see the acropolis that overlooks the ruins of the city Paul visited. On that mountain there was a temple to Aphrodite, staffed by sacred prostitutes. Every day they would come down the mountain looking for “worshipers.” On the soles of their sandals were words, embossed in reverse, so that their foot prints read, “Follow Me.” And men would indeed follow them back up the mountain to show their “devotion” to the goddess of love, better known today as Venus.

This is what Paul was up against in trying to give directions to the new Christians in this original “Sin City.” Fortunately his 2 letters to this very troubled church gives us a wealth of insight into how to deal with an array of issues, from divisions to lawsuits to dietary controversies to the Eucharist and worship to spiritual gifts to the resurrection. And of course, Paul had to deal with the issue of sexual promiscuity. One church member was living in sin with his stepmother, which even the pagans thought was just wrong.

But Paul was never content to just say, “Do this! Don't do that!” There was a reason why a person in Christ lived a different kind of life than his neighbors. And that's what he is discussing in today's passage from 1st Corinthians.

He starts out by quoting things his critics said. “All things are lawful for me.” The problem here is that his opponents are trying to use Paul's idea of freedom against him. He was a zealous Pharisee before Jesus appeared to him. Paul probably used to believe the idea that the Messiah would come if only all Jews obeyed the Torah perfectly for just one day. But having been saved by God's grace despite his violent persecution of Christians, and seeing God's Spirit move even Gentiles to follow Jesus, Paul realized that righteousness did not come by trying to obey the 613 laws of the Torah, not to mention the additions the Pharisees deduced from the Torah, which they called the Oral Law. Most of these had nothing to do with ethics. And like all laws, they could tell you what is right or wrong but not give you the power to obey them. That comes from God's gracious gift of the Holy Spirit, who comes into all who put their trust in Jesus Christ. Thus the Christian is free from having to follow the law.

Unfortunately, some church members took this to mean that freedom from the law meant Christians were free to do whatever they wanted. But that wasn't what Paul meant at all. So he quotes the distorted version of his teaching and points out the flaws in it. 

“'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are beneficial.” Let's say you had destroyed your liver through drinking copious amounts of alcohol. It is going to fail and you will die. But let's say you are fortunate enough for someone to donate a lobe of their liver to be transplanted into you by a skilled surgeon. Now, there is no law that says you can't go back to drinking. But why would you? That's what got you into trouble in the first place. Rather you should follow doctor's orders and even join AA or another support group to take advantage of the new life granted to you by the donor and the surgeon. Not everything that's legal is beneficial. Corinth was a wide open town and that might have been fun for some of its residents but it wasn't spiritually healthy or beneficial.

Then Paul again quotes what his critics say but points out a different problem with it. “'All things are lawful for me' but I will not be dominated by anything.” Going back to our analogy about the person who drinks so much his liver is destroyed, his drinking, once done voluntarily, is probably not voluntary any more. He is most likely addicted. It disrupts and rules his life. When something that once was done for pleasure comes before everything else in your life, you are addicted. It could be a substance, like alcohol or drugs, or it could be an activity, like gambling or sex. It could even be an unhealthy religious activity, like self-mortification or devotion to a charismatic leader or cult. Whatever it is, if it controls your life while also ruining it, you really aren't acting freely.

Paul then talks about something that is not merely a desire but an actual need: eating. If you don't eat or don't eat enough, that's unhealthy. But if you eat too much or eat the wrong things, that is also unhealthy. The interesting thing is that both people who eat to the point of weighing 400 lbs or more and those who are anorexic or continually dieting are both unhealthily obsessed with food. Paul reminds us that from an eternal perspective, obsession with the food or with your body are misplaced priorities. You need eat enough good food to be healthy, no more and no less. Food is a necessity but it still can be toxic if you make too big an issue of it. It too can dominate your life.

Then Paul moves to something that feels like a need but is really just a strong desire. Sex is, strictly speaking, not an individual need. In some species sex is reserved for the queen or the alpha couple and not for the rest of the hive or pack. We seem to have forgotten that the purpose of sex is reproduction. The purpose of the good feelings it gives us is to encourage enough members of the species to reproduce that we don't go extinct. And in the past it was important to have as many children as you could because they wouldn't all survive. Nowadays most will. We have better nutrition and healthcare and vaccines and that has brought infant mortality in the US down from the 135 deaths per 1000 live births it was a hundred years ago to just 5.7 deaths per live births today. With a world population of 7.8 billion, our species doesn't need everyone pumping out babies at the rate we used to. In fact, we need to ease off a little lest we outstrip the carrying capacity of the globe.

That wasn't the problem in Paul's day. His problem was not overpopulation but the persistent one of people trying to enjoy the pleasure of sex separate from its responsibility. Sex is supposed to cause people to pair off and form couples and maybe families. That's why the act causes out brains to release oxytocin which makes us bond with our lover. It is also released at birth to cause mother and child to bond. But people, mostly male, have often sought the good feelings without the bonding part. It's akin to unhealthy eating practices, like overeating and then vomiting to make room for more. Or indulging in junk foods which are formulated to be addictively tasty while giving you very little actual nutrition. Again it's guys primarily who go from lover to lover, thinking themselves superior to their poor married friends. And yet, ironically, every survey on the subject finds that married people have twice as much sex as single people. And by the way, people who are more religious have more sex than those who report having no religion! Contrary to popular belief, the Bible doesn't say sex is bad. It just says that, like anything powerful, it is good in certain contexts and bad in other ones. Like, say, fire is. It gives us light and warmth and cooks our food. So fire on a candle, in the fireplace, or on the stove is good. Fire on the curtains, on the roof or on a person is bad. Power needs to be controlled. Simply because you are free to do something doesn't mean you should.

The power a Christian is given by God is not merely freedom from what is bad and what is controlling us but freedom and power to do good. Power not dedicated to doing good will inevitably be used for evil. The recent horror film Brightburn shows how terrifying a child with the powers of Superboy would actually be. But in real life people do not need superpowers to do a lot of damage. Good old fashioned, totally human powers are sufficient, when used badly.

Paul, however, is making a deeper point. There are many sources of fire, some benign, some harmful. Fire is not sentient nor does it have a moral compass. But we have one source: God. Humans are created in God's image. We are created with a moral purpose: to love God and to love each other. We have misused the ordinary powers God gave us to turn what could have been a paradise into hell on earth. So God sent his son to live as one of us and set right our understanding of who God is and who we are meant to be. Unfortunately, since words alone are often insufficient to change minds and lives, Jesus was executed by his opponents. However he used his death to set right what is keeping us from reconciling with God. Finally he rose again to show us he was who he said he was and to give us new life and new power. The Holy Spirit is given to every Christian to call upon so as to be able to live the life God wants us to live. He wants us to live a life of love and forgiveness and reconciliation and healing and peace.

The price Jesus paid to bring this about is huge: his death on the cross and his experiencing the estrangement from God that is the natural end result of our destructive and self-destructive lives. (Mark 15:34) He took on not only physical pain but the psychological and spiritual pain of our sin in our place. Nor is taking the consequences of our deeds all he did. He gave his life not only for us but to us. So our lives now belong to him. The source of our new power in Christ is the Holy Spirit. And he is both sentient and moral.

And so a passage that people mistakenly think is Paul being puritanical about sex (and part of the mistake is thinking the puritans disapproved of sex) turns out to really be about something much larger. It is about how not only our bodies but our very lives belong to not to ourselves, but to God, who saves us.

After his unsuccessful Beer Hall putsch, Hitler fled to the home of a supporter, Ernst Hanfstaengl. There he tried to commit suicide only to have the gun wrested from his hand by Helene, Ernst's American wife. Later she became disillusioned about Hitler and, divorced from Ernst, returned to America. I wonder if she ever thought “I saved Hitler's life and this is what he did with it?” Did she ever wish that Hitler had felt an obligation to her for saving his life and that he had honored her act of mercy by dedicating himself to using his powers of persuasion to do good rather than great evil?

In contrast, Les Miserables tells of a man who, when shown mercy, becomes a new man, helping and showing mercy to others, including Javert, the police inspector who pursues Jean relentlessly. What many people don't know is that Jean Valjean was based on a real person: Eugene Francois Vidocq. Vidocq was an ex-convict who became a businessman and a philanthropist. He also is the inspiration for one of Valjean's feats of strength. Vidocq saved one of the workers at his paper plant by lifting a heavy cart off of him with his shoulders. Vidocq's re-evaluation of his life began when he witnessed the execution of an old friend who had led him into a life of crime. He saw that, as Paul said, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) Having once been under a death sentence himself, Vidocq chose to forge a new life for himself by now serving good. Vidocq became the head of an undercover police unit and founded France's first private detective agency. This former criminal is considered the father of modern criminology. He was the model for Edgar Allen Poe's detective C. Auguste Dupin and was one of the inspirations for Sherlock Holmes.

God in Christ did more than stop us from destroying ourselves. He died that we might live. We owe God our life. As Paul says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” We are not independent agents who throw God our support when we feel like it. Rather “He made us and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture,” as the psalmist says. (Psalm 100:3) He not only made us; he redeemed us. Through his Spirit he lives in us. As Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

We do not belong to ourselves. We belong to God. He frees us from all the things that are not beneficial but harmful to us. He frees us from all the things that dominate and enslave us. He frees us from our self-destructive ways of thinking and speaking and acting. But he not only frees us from what is bad; he frees us to do what is good and just and healing. He frees us in order that we may love him and each other. Why would we want to go back to the prison of the mindset that got us to this state? Why should we want to keep repeating the old mistakes? Why shouldn't we want to start anew and go in a different direction, one guided by his love and forgiveness?

We should be grateful that God chooses to live in us and work through us. We should be as grateful as someone who almost died only to get a new lease on life. A week ago Saturday was the 5^th anniversary of my accident, the day I almost died but didn't. It has given me a new sense of mission, a purpose which helps me face each day, despite the pain and the fatigue and the limitations I live with. I hope none of you ever have to go through that. But I do hope that you reflect on what God has done for you and how he has changed your life. And I hope that you too find in Jesus a sense of purpose, a mission for your talents and skills and gifts. After all, Christianity is about becoming Christ-like. And if that sounds, daunting, remember, we have the Spirit of Christ in us helping us all the way. 

Immersed

The scriptures referred to are Acts 19:1-7.

They say your musical tastes are pretty much fixed at age 14. And your movie tastes are probably are probably fixed by the time you are in your 20s. When I was young I picked up great lines from movies without effort. I could tell you the plots in detail. I knew every actor in every movie and the James Bond films scene by scene. And I remember being outraged when they were edited for television. I was immersed in movies. I was a walking Internet Movie Database. Now I can barely remember what I watched last month. Probably because of age. And probably because during the pandemic my wife and I have been watching a lot of TV and movies. And possibly because of IMDb itself. Who has to remember such stuff when you look it up? They say that's how our smartphones are making us dumb.

So I can't remember exactly where I got this quote. 2 characters are discussing the McGuffin of the film, the powerful whatever-it-is that everyone wants. One character says that it must never fall into the wrong hands. And the other character holds up his or her palms. The first character looks at them quizzically and asks “What are these?” The second character laughs and says, “The wrong hands!” And we now know who the villain is.

Of course, that is something a person would only say in a movie. In real life, nobody thinks of themselves as a villain. We always think we are the good guy. Or the victim. We didn't do what we did because we are evil; we were trying to do the right thing. Or we are misunderstood. Or maybe we were just getting back at someone who wronged us. At most we made a mistake that everyone is blowing up all out of proportion.

An actor knows that the key to playing a villain convincingly is to play him or her with the conviction that they are right. They know better than others. Or they are just more honest than others. What they do is justified. In Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the titular villain probably speaks for all supervillains when he says, “The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it.” Hitler felt that way. As does every dictator and every conqueror. The problem is they are human. Their perspective is too limited to rule everything. And it isn't possible for them to resist all the temptations that come with power. If you are using your power for the good of the movement or the organization or the country or the world, what's wrong with using that power to do some good for yourself and your friends? Don't you deserve some of the benefits of that power? Of course you do!

Which is why we have so many scandals concerning people who are talented and have done a lot of good. I own every album Bill Cosby recorded. He made a lot of good TV for kids and for families. And it really hurt when we found out how he was using the power and popularity all that good had garnered him: by drugging and raping young starlets who came to him looking for help in the business. John Lasseter is responsible for a lot of wonderful movies made by Pixar...and he sexually harassed his employees. I just read a biography of Florence Nightingale, one of my heroes. She improved and organized nursing and hospitals and public health. She pioneered women's freedom to work and fought prejudice and poverty. She saved a lot of lives...and literally worked some of her supporters to death. And part of her justification was that she felt called by God to nurse the sick.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Which is another way of saying that people feel the end justifies the means of achieving it. And the minute people feel that way, they are not following God. Peter thought he was right to tell Jesus, the man he just identified as the Messiah, that he was wrong about having to die. Jesus startled him by saying, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on God's interests, but on man's.” (Mark 8:33) Christians and churches often get into trouble because they think they are pursuing God's interests but really it's their own. Or they are trying to do God's work but by any means necessary. And the devil, as they say, is in the details.

The problem is that you can't follow God's will if you don't have the right Spirit. If you are trying to do the right thing in order to make a name for yourself, or to prove to yourself that you are a good person, or to earn the approval of others or even of God, the fear and pain of failure will tempt you to focus on the goal to the exclusion of worrying about exactly how you “succeed.” But God is interested not in whether you succeed or fail by human standards but in how you live. After all, Stephen, Paul, Peter, and even Jesus did not succeed in terms the world sees as success. They didn't become rich or politically powerful or popular celebrities. They were condemned as criminals and traitors and heretics and killed by their opponents in painful and shameful ways. But in God's eyes they did what they should. They did what was right. They walked according to his Spirit.

In 1 John it says, “The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked.” (1 John 2:6) Walking in these contexts means living. The metaphor is that our life is like a journey to return from exile to our true home with God. But we are not alone or searching to find our way. The Spirit is here to guide us and equip us and help us and transform us.

The night before he died Jesus said, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13) That truth is specifically about Jesus and what he has taught us about himself, God, his kingdom and how citizens of his kingdom live. As it says in Psalm 143, “Teach me your will for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.” (Psalm 143:10, WEB)

The Spirit also guides Christians in fulfilling their mission. The Spirit told Philip to talk to the Ethiopian eunuch and help him understand the scriptures about Jesus. (Acts 8:29-39) The Spirit led Peter to baptize a Gentile family. (Acts 10:19-22) The Spirit changed the itinerary of Paul's second missionary journey, diverting him to Macedonia and guiding him to take the gospel to Europe. (Acts 16:6-10)

The Spirit also equips Christians to serve God's mission. He gives us talents and skills. Paul lists a few, like gifts of speaking wisdom, sharing knowledge, faith, healing and more. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) The Spirit gives us roles in the church, like preaching, teaching, serving, leading, giving financial support and acts of mercy. (Romans 12:6-8) All of these gifts and roles are given, as Paul says, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, until we all attain the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ's full stature.” (Ephesians 4:12-13) They are not given for the individual's benefit but to equip everyone to minister to the whole body of Christ.

And to keep us focused on the reason for these gifts, the Spirit produces in us qualities like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Notice that these are social qualities. This is underlined by the fact that immediately after the list Paul says, “Against such things there is no law.” There is no divine or human law against such pro-social attitudes and what they produce.

Paul contrasts these with the anti-social qualities that our fallen nature produces, including “hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions” and more. Paul warns that “Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21) If you stir up such things or let them dominate your life and relationships you obviously cannot live in the kingdom of the God who is love. It's like saying the Nazis would be right at home in heaven. Instead they would turn it into hell. Humans have a history of doing that to any paradise that presents itself.

Indeed it is letting the natural human tendency towards selfishness and creating factions and letting differences escalate into anger and hate that have turned movements and organizations intended to do good into instruments of evil. We cannot do sustained good without letting the Spirit of God control our thoughts, words and acts. When we try to seize control from the Spirit, things will eventually and inevitably go off the rails.

To check if an idea or speech or action is of the Spirit, I propose using something similar to the saying “What would Jesus do?” Use the fruit of the Spirit. Ask “Is this loving? Is this joyful? Is this peaceful? Is this patient? Is this kind? Is this generous? Is this faithful? Is this gentle? Does this display self-control?” If not, it does not come from the Spirit.

The Spirit helps us. In John's gospel, Jesus describes the Holy Spirit with the Greek word paraclete. It is impossible to translate this into English by using just one word. It literally means one called to someone's side to aid them. A paraclete could mean a lawyer or a character witness for a defendant on trial. It could mean an intercessor. It could mean an advocate or an adviser. It could mean a comforter or a person who encourages you. So basically the Holy Spirit is a helper, especially when you really need someone to help you. The Spirit has your back when you're under attack.

That why Jesus said, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7) In his earthly life, Jesus could not be everywhere or with every follower of his in every situation. But the Spirit can. Jesus said of the Spirit, “...you know him because he resides with you and will be in you. I will not abandon you as orphans. I will come to you.” (John 14:17-18) So when Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age,” he was talking about the Spirit. (Matthew 28:20) Indeed 1 Peter refers to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:11) And Paul also calls him “the Spirit of Christ,” (Romans 8:9) and “the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:19) In Galatians he says, “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts...” (Galatians 4:6) The Spirit who was in and who empowered Jesus in his earthly life is within us and will help us...provided we do not try to quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Finally, the Spirit transforms us. The first law code dates back to the 24^th century BC and covers things like murder, theft, hunger and the blind. The code of Hammurabi, coming 7 centuries later, deals with slander, perjury, fraud, liability, rape, and divorce. The Torah prohibits incest, legal injustice, and animal abuse. It protects resident aliens, the poor, widows and the fatherless. Jesus commanded us to love everyone, neighbor and enemy, and not to retaliate but to forgive. If morality was simply a matter of knowing what is good and what is evil, we would be living in a much better world. We know what to do; we just don't want to do it. Not all the time. Not in every instance.

What we need is a change of heart, a new spirit. Which God promised through the prophets. In Ezekiel 36, God says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27) And on the Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, God fulfills that promise by pouring out his Spirit on the church, the body of Christ on earth.

So why do we not see more evidence of the Spirit in the church today? Because as we said, it is possible to quench the fire of the Spirit in us. You have to feed a fire to keep it going. You have to take in proper nutrition to grow and to stay healthy. We know how people are radicalized for evil purposes: they feed themselves on and immerse themselves in hateful writings. Worse, they twist even things meant to inspire goodness. Islamic extremists ignore the parts of the Quran that speak of peace with Christians and Jews and of not harming noncombatants, focusing exclusively on the parts written during armed conflicts. They misinterpret the concept of jihad, which most Muslims take to be the spiritual struggle to be a good Muslim. In the same way, some so-called Christians focus on the parts of the Old Covenant that apply to the conquest of Canaan and bronze- and iron-age Israel, ignoring the commandments there to love that Jesus makes central to his New Covenant. White supremacists, sovereign citizens, and so-called patriots who say they love this country, while ignoring the Constitution and democracy that make it unique, immerse themselves in irrational conspiracy theories that back up their beliefs that all our problems come from “those people.” And they can put into that category of “those people” anyone in the world they don't like. We are all on the hate list of someone who cannot admit that they themselves might be part of the problem.

Evil likes to parody what is good. And these people are simply corrupting the process by which we can let God's Spirit transform us. We are to feed on and immerse ourselves in God's word. As the psalmist says, “Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders.” (Psalm 119:27) And if we do that we will see that “good” is spoken of 100 times more than “evil” and “love” nearly 3 times as often as “hate.” As Paul says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Extremists groups attend rallies to stir up their hate. We attend worship to celebrate the God who is love. Extremists recruit people into their hate groups. We are to share the good news of Jesus Christ who died to save us and rose again to give us the Spirit of the God who is love. Extremists define themselves by whom they hate. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) If we try to do this on our own, however, we will find the effort hopeless. We can only do this “because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

Just as a body without breath is dead, so is the body of Christ without the Spirit. And some parts of the church seem to be holding their breath, so to speak, inhibiting the movement of the Spirit. Yet we see the Spirit active in other parts of the church. We see the love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and generosity and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control the Spirit is producing in those places.

In our passage from Acts, Paul encounters would-be Christians who did not have the Holy Spirit. Paul baptizes them in the name of Jesus and they receive the Holy Spirit and miraculous things happen. Baptism means immersion. We have already been baptized in Christ. But are we staying immersed in his word and in his Spirit? Because if so, watch out!

The Gifts of Christmas

 The scriptures referred to are Ephesians 1:3-19.

Someone has pointed out that when you are a child the excitement of Christmas is all about getting to open your presents. When you are an adult, however, it is all about watching your children or grandchildren open their presents. And science backs this up. Studies on the elements of happiness have shown that you get more bang for your buck, so to speak, if you buy something, not for yourself, but for someone else.

This shouldn't surprise us because God is the original giver. He gives us a world full of good things and he gives us abilities and opportunities to enjoy them and use them to spread the joy. Sadly, we have often used them to do things other than what they were intended for. We have, in the words of Genesis, “corrupted” or “ruined” God's world and filled it with violence. (Genesis 6:11) God sent Jesus to change that by changing us. Like we said last week, he wants to change us from mere creations of his into his children. And he loves to give his children gifts.

So in today's passage from Ephesians Paul speaks of those gifts. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...” Or as William Barclay translated the last part, “with all the spiritual blessings which are only found in heaven.” In other words, these are blessings only to be found in God's presence. And then Paul goes on to list them, though this is obscured by the fact that in the Greek, verses 3 through 14 are one long sentence. But there are at least 3 blessings that Paul mentions. And they all come from what we discussed last week.

In verse 5, Paul wrote, “He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ...” The blessings he is talking about come from the fact that God adopted us. Barclay says that for an adoption in ancient Rome, scales and copper were brought out. The natural father would sell the child to the adoptive father and then symbolically buy the child back—twice. But not on the third time. The adoptive father would then go to a magistrate and plead the case for adoption. So you really had to want to adopt the child.

In speaking of the first blessing, Paul says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses...” Redemption literally means “buying back” and was used of paying a ransom or buying someone out of slavery. In this case, Paul is talking of slavery to sin, the destructive and self-destructive ways we act. (Romans 6:16-18) And the price is not copper but iron, so to speak: the iron-carrying blood spilled by Jesus on the cross. He loves us enough to pay that high a price.

As part of our redemption our sins are forgiven by God. The Greek word translated “trespass” literally means “a false step, a slip up.” It can mean “a falling away” after being close to something, like the truth, or someone, like, in this case, God. It can be inadvertent. Sometimes we don't realize that we are drifting away from God. And Paul says that this is “according to the riches of his grace.” It's not that we deserve to be redeemed and forgiven. We haven't earned it. We can't. God is gracious, granting us blessings that we have no right to expect.

Paul gets to the second blessing in verse 11. “In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance...” Here he is reminding us that, once adopted, a person has the same rights and privileges as a natural born child. He can inherit a portion of his father's property. In our case our inheritance is the kingdom of our God and Father. In Revelation, after John sees the new heaven and new earth, the One on the throne tells him, “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:7) Lest you think this is referring to Jesus as son of God, in the letters addressed to the 7 churches in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, numerous promises are made to believers who overcome, or conquer, which is another good translation of the word.

First Christ says, “To him who overcomes I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God,” In other words, we inherit eternal life. (Revelation 2:7)

Then Christ says,“He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” In other words, we need not fear punishment in the afterlife. (Revelation 2:11)

Christ says, “To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17) In other words, we will receive the bread of heaven, ie, Christ. (John 6:33-35) The white stone might be a token for admission to the Messianic banquet. And the new name recalls Isaiah 62:2 where it says, “You will be called by a new name that the Lord himself will give you.” A new name is given to each new person in Christ.

Christ says, “To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations....I will also give him the morning star.” (Revelation 2:26, 28) In other words, as Paul says to Timothy, “If we endure, we will reign with him.” (2 Timothy 2:12) As it says later in Revelation, “...with your blood you purchased humans for God from every tribe and language and and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10) In other words, we are a royal priesthood and will rule as such. And in Revelation 22:16, Jesus identifies himself as the morning star. In other words, we get Jesus and we will always be with him. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Christ says, “He who overcomes will, like them, will be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.” (Revelation 3:5) In other words, our filthy garments will be cleansed by his blood. (Revelation 7:14) And we have assurance of eternal life and being one of God's people.

Christ says, “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and I will also write on him my new name.” (Revelation 3:12) In other words, besides providing support in service to God, the person will be identified as someone who belongs to God, who is a citizen of his heavenly city and who will receive a full revelation of Jesus' character.

Finally Christ says, “To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” Again, it is part of our inheritance to reign with Christ. In the ancient Near East it was common for sons to reign alongside their fathers as co-rulers. We know this from the fact that the dates of their reigns overlap. So as Jesus rules alongside his Father, we will rule alongside him. What a remarkable inheritance!

And lest you be worried that “overcome” or “conquer” means this is something we must do through our own strength, I remind you of what Jesus said to the disciples. “I have told you these things so that that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage—I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) If we remain in Christ, we too will overcome the troubles and suffering the world inflicts on us. As Paul, facing his execution no less, said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) In Romans 8, after listing things that threaten to separate us from the love of Christ—trouble, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword—Paul says, “In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

So the second spiritual blessing Paul lists in Ephesians is a tremendous array of what he calls in verse 18 “the riches of his glorious inheritance.” And the third blessing builds on that. Paul writes, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people...” The Holy Spirit we receive when we respond to the gospel and believe or put our whole trust in Jesus Christ is the pledge or down payment on our inheritance. Normally an adopted child would go to live with his or her parent. In this case, however, God comes to live with or in us. As Jesus says, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23) Or to put it another way, Jesus says, “...I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.” (John 14:20) Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus lives in and through us. Thus Paul prays that the members of the church, the body of Christ, may know “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.” (v. 19) Or as Jesus put it, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) And indeed believers united and working together in his Spirit have preached the good news to more people that Jesus did when on earth, and through schools have taught more people than he did, and through hospitals have healed more people than he did, and through food ministries have fed more people than he did when he fed the 5000. Because, of course, he did it through us, the body of Christ, by means of his Spirit. As he said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.” (John 15:5)

These are just some of the spiritual blessings we receive as children of God. I don't think this list is exhaustive, any more than I believe Paul's list of the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 are. After all, Paul uses the word “immeasurable.” That wouldn't mean anything if we could enumerate them all. We don't even know everything about this creation in which we live here and now. God is infinite and I imagine that part of the pleasure of being with him for eternity is exploring all that is wonderful about him and in him. As the psalmist says, “You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11) This life is just a taste of the innumerable good things God has in store for us.

Of course, right now we experience much less pleasurable things, which are part and parcel of our current existence in this fallen world. Yet of them Paul says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. For the creation waits with eager expectation of the children of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:18-19) Imagine that: something so glorious that all our pain, all our losses, all our sufferings will fade in comparison when it arrives. And what is it all creation is waiting for? Us. Not as we are but as we will be when our transformation—our sanctification and glorification—is complete, when we are no longer babes in Christ, dependent on milk and soft foods, but fully grown and mature in Christ. As John says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him just as he is.” (1 John 3:2) When Jesus returns and we see him face to face, it will be like looking in a mirror. What he is, the full revelation of the God who is love, we will be too.

You know what all children want? They want to be grown up, like their parents. They want to be wise and to be able to understand the things they don't as yet and to do the things they can't as yet. If we are children of God, we want to be like him. We want to be as loving and wise and fair and good as he is. We want to be like Jesus.

Well, he has given us all the gifts, all the tools we need to grow up into what he is. So let us not just count our blessings, let's put them to use. However long it takes, how difficult it turns out to be, it will be worth it.