Words of Life

The scriptures referred to is Hebrews 4:12-16.

A man decided that he wanted to know the will of God for his life but he didn't pray for it. He figured since the Bible is the Word of God, God would speak to him through it. He picked up his Bible, opened it at random, jabbed his finger onto the page without looking and then read the verse. It said, “Judas went out and hanged himself.”

Ok, it wasn't what he was expecting, but he felt God would make it all clear to him. He closed the Bible, riffled the pages, inserted his finger, and read the verse he was touching. “Go thou and do likewise.”

All right, now this was getting puzzling. But God moves in mysterious ways so the guy decided to give the Almighty one last chance. He shut the Bible, held it upside down, flipped it rightside up and holding the other hand over it, gently let it light on the page. He peeked at the verse. It said, “And there will be much rejoicing in heaven.”

I have no doubt that there are people who play Bible roulette that way. There are people who treat the Bible as if it were a talisman, a magical item. There are even people who worship the Bible, making it the subject of a kind of idolatry. All of those reactions are distortions of how we should relate to the scriptures. But what should our response be? How should we look at the Bible?

When I was ordained, I solemnly declared that I believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God. In what used to be called “the Catechism,” is now called “the Outline of the Faith,” and in the next edition will probably be called “the Christian F.A.Q.”, the Book of Common Prayer asks, “Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God?” The answer goes, “We call them the Word of God because God inspired the human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.” What it doesn't ask is why do we believe them to be the Word of God? And how do we believe them to be the Word of God? The answers to these 2 questions are at the root of much of the church's turmoil today.

It used to be that many people thought that God dictated the very words of the Bible, that the authors were not much more than stenographers. But if you read the 66 books of the Bible you will notice that we do not get just one voice or one point of view. You get many. The writers of parts of the books of Kings and of certain psalms see the world as fundamentally just. Good things happen to good people; bad things happen to those who are bad. But the author of Job knows that sometimes bad things happen to good people and asks why. And certain psalms and parts of the book of Proverbs talk about how bad people can prosper. Hosea emphasizes how much God loves his people. Jonah learns the hard way that God loves foreigners too. Most prophets speak of God's holiness, many of the same ones tell of his forgiveness. Some see God as a warrior. The old English phrase “Lord of Hosts” means “Lord of armies.” Others prefer to talk of God as shepherd, Father, or loving husband. Which is correct?

To answer, let's consider the Buddhist fable of a group of blind monks who encounter an elephant for the first time. One feels the elephant's tail and says, “An elephant is like a rope.” Another touches its leg and says, “No, it's like a tree.” One pats its side and says, “It is more like a wall.” Another fingers its ear and says, “I think it's like a leaf.” Still another encounters its trunk and says, “An elephant is like a snake.” But another feels its tusk and says, “No, it's like a spear.” The point is not that they are wrong. They are all right in part. What each perceives is true about an elephant but not exhaustive. Put all of their data together, noting their different positions around the animal, and you have a pretty good idea of what an elephant is like. And if describing all the elements of that creature is complicated, how much more is describing all the aspects of our Creator.

And some holy books only have one perspective on God, being filtered through just one person. The Quran is a collection of the revelations of one man, Muhammad. The distinctive doctrines of the Latter Day Saints are derived from The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price and other writings of Joseph Smith. Christian Science gets its name and beliefs from Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science with Key to the Scriptures. But the 66 books of the Bible were written by at least 40 people over as many as 1000 years, with material that goes back another 1000. Even in the New Testament, we have not one but 4 versions of Jesus' life and teachings, each with a different perspective. The church respected them enough not to edit and harmonize them into one account. Put all of these encounters with God together and you have a multi-dimensional view of a very big and complex God.

But a lot of people have a problem with this big and complex God. They want a simple God, small enough to carry around comfortably in their head. So they disregard some of the data, especially the parts they are uncomfortable with.

The central thesis of J.B. Phillip's book Your God Is Too Small is that we have a natural tendency to diminish God. We reduce him to one aspect of divinity, like justice, or mercy, or holiness, or forgiveness. It makes God easier to understand. The problem is that any god small enough for us to totally comprehend is too small to help us in all aspects of this large unwieldy universe, which we also don't totally comprehend. We need to resist our proclivity to chip away at the parts of God we don't like or understand.

In just about every episode of the show C.S.I., Gus Grissom, head of the Las Vegas crime lab, reminded his subordinates that their job is to follow the evidence. Although they may have their own pet theories and a tempting suspect, they must remain objective and not go beyond what the evidence tells them. So, unlike most fictional detectives, they don't always get their man or woman. Sometimes the evidence is insufficient. Sometimes the evidence is ambiguous. As Sherlock Holmes, Grissom's hero, said, “It is a capital mistake to theorize in advance of the facts.” And yet in The Adventure of the Yellow Face, Holmes himself makes that mistake. When the real solution of the mystery is revealed, Holmes even tells Watson that he may remind the great detective of this case should Holmes ever display such arrogance in violating this basic principle of investigation.

If we pick and choose among the Biblical evidence we can make it say whatever we choose. And indeed that's what cult leaders do. Right now churches that belong to the New Apostolic Reformation boast that their leaders are prophets and apostles. They make predictions and yet when they are wrong, they try to get around what Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says about false prophets. When their apostles say things that contradict the Bible or even Jesus, they say these new revelations supercede the ones in scripture. And they add to God's Word with doctrines about awakening angels and about picking up the mantle of dead prophets by lying on their graves. They run schools of supernatural ministry, nicknamed by students “Hogwarts for Christians,” which use a lot of New Age practices. And despite Jesus turning down Satan's offer of all the kingdoms of this world (Matthew 4:8-10), N.A.R. churches teach that Christians are to take control of everything, including business, media, entertainment, and the government, as part of the non-Biblical Seven Mountain Mandate. Jesus told Pilate his kingdom did not come from this world and that the evidence of that was that his followers were not fighting for him. (John 19:36) But the N.A.R. plans to take over earthly kingdoms and make them God's kingdom, not by persuasion or showing Jesus' love or by letting Jesus' enemies do their worst to them what they did to him, but by any means necessary. That's why you saw so many Christian symbols at the January 6^th insurrection. They think spiritual warfare includes physical warfare and violence. Contrast that with what Jesus said about turning the other cheek and loving our enemies. (Matthew 5:39, 44-45)

So how do we understand the Bible as the Word of God? In its totality, as a mosaic of human-divine encounters, some dramatic, some subtle, some obvious, some counterintuitive, some straightforward, some paradoxical, some popular, some decidedly not. And while we may have to view some of the content through knowledge of the cultures of the time, we may not simply dismiss parts by assuming we are smarter because our time and culture is superior. That's what C.S. Lewis called chronological snobbery, the idea that newer ideas are always better.

Knowledge changes but wisdom endures. Human paradigms shift but human nature remains the same. That's why our passage in Hebrews says that the Word of God is living. In other words, God still speaks to us through the Bible. More than that, it says God's word is “active” or as some translations render it, “energizing” or “effective.” It changes lives. Like a man I know of who was put into solitary confinement and left prison transformed. Why does it have this effect? Because the Bible is “sharper than a two-edged sword.” It cuts both ways, affecting our beliefs and our behaviors. It pierces to our marrow, to the dividing line between our earthly soul and our eternal spirit. It dissects our emotions and our thoughts. All we are is stripped naked before its divine perspective.

And yet there are those who feel we have grown beyond the Bible. It is not as up to date as science. But science is always a work in progress. Plus science is about how: how things develop, how they are structured and how they work. The Bible is about why: why we exist, why certain things are good and healthy and why some things aren't. It's about values, meaning and purpose. So science can tell you that some animals eat their young. It can't tell you why people shouldn't. Science and the Bible are dealing with different questions.

Whereas the current scientific understanding of things can be overturned tomorrow by some new discovery, the wisdom in the Bible is timeless. It's not like we have evolved beyond sin. It's not like technology will render murder, jealousy, lying, envy, drunkenness, arrogance, cowardice, slander, or foolishness obsolete. It's not like we will find replacements for the virtues of courage, wisdom, justice, moderation, faith, hope and love.

Science cannot tell us about God's love and forgiveness. Science cannot tell us about the meaning or purpose of life. And it sure can't tell us about eternal life. In the Bible, however, we have the field notes of those who have encountered God in the wild and who have found answers which make life about more than mere existence.

And where else would we get our knowledge about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ? You can deduce that God is Creator from nature but how on earth would you know that he so loved the world that he sent his son to become one of us so that we can become like him? From other historical sources we know that a man named Jesus lived and was crucified, but without the Bible we would not have 4 different perspectives on him as our big complex God. We would not have a portrait of the God who is far above us, as Phillips put it, focussed in terms we understand, that is, in terms of time and space and human personality. We would not have the picture of Jesus picking up and blessing children, rebuking hypocrites, touching and healing lepers, overturning the tables of the money changers, weeping at Lazarus' grave, commending Mary for listening to his teachings rather than doing the housework, defending and then forgiving the woman taken in adultery, praying for his executioners from the cross, comforting Mary Magdalene in the garden, or eating fish with the disciples on the shores of Galilee after his resurrection. We would not know that Jesus is the living Word of God, the embodied expression of who God is, to whom the written Word of God testifies.

It is real tempting to keep the parts of the Bible that we like and discard the rest, just as it is tempting to always eat potatoes and never anything green. But a lopsided diet leads to malnutrition, whether we are talking physically or spiritually. And the Bible gives us exercise in the form of wrestling with God over these things.

Ultimately it is a matter of faith, of trusting that God loves us and knows what is good for us, even when we cannot understand all the reasons why. When I was a child my parents prohibited stuff for no good reason that I could see. And they encouraged me to learn or do things that were of no earthly use to me at that time. And then, when I was a parent, I found it's hard to communicate the reason for your instructions to kids who think they know it all. They had to trust that I was looking after their best interests.

Finally, the reason why we call the Bible the Word of God comes down to the way its truths resonate deep within us. While it does not tell us everything about everything, it does give us what is vital and essential to understanding God and ourselves and how we should live. It points us in the right direction, gives us landmarks to look for, and the name of a trusty Guide. That's why people still read and follow it today.

The gospel of John tells us that, when Jesus spoke to the crowds that wished to make him king, he talked about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Those folks turned away in droves. So Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you also wish to go away?” Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

First preached on October 19, 2003. It has been revised and updated.

You're All a Bunch of Animals

For the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi and the Blessing of the Animals.

Ever hear of the Cambrian Explosion? In 1989 the late paleontologist Stephen Gould published a critically acclaimed book called Wonderful Life. In it, Gould discusses the Cambrian Explosion, the discovery of thousands of fossils from the Cambrian period where it looked like innumerable new lifeforms suddenly appeared, many of them with bizarre types of bodies. Other scientists, however, were reappraising this event and coming up with a different interpretation. But to ethologist Richard Dawkins, Gould's explanation of what was once the scientific consensus was in fact a “near-disingenuous” misrepresentation of the facts. That's awfully close to calling Gould a liar! And of course, this had nothing at all to do with the fact that Gould said that Dawkins' “selfish gene” theory was a form of “reductionism” and an example of “Darwinian fundamentalism.” Nor should we infer that Dawkins doesn't get along with anyone who disagrees with him, whether they are theists or other scientists!

What this was really about was whether these fossils represented new forms of life or not. In fact one of the heroes of Gould's book, Simon Conway Morris, had changed his mind. He originally thought these fossils belonged to new phyla but now thought that most of them belonged to modern classifications. And that's what these scientists were really arguing about—names! They were getting all worked up about what categories to put these fossils into, even though one of the constants of science is redrawing the tree of life. New specimens and new data are always challenging the existing reconstructions of how various lifeforms are related. In the early days scientists looked at various specimens and grouped them by similarities. But since the discovery of DNA, classification has gotten trickier. It turns out that aardvarks and anteaters are not that closely related even though both have long snouts, burrow in the dirt and eat ants. On the other hand, fungi are closer to animals than plants! Although some scientists argue that plants are closer to animals than fungi. Science is always a work in progress.

The fluidity of these efforts to catalogue creation means we need to take the pronouncements of how we are related to other species with a large grain of salt. It is obvious that we are related to apes, and DNA confirms this, but it is just as obvious that human beings are radically different from them and all other species. When I was a kid, I was taught that one of the things that one of the things that made us unique was that we were toolmakers. Now we know that chimps use sticks to fish for termites in their mounds and otters use rocks to break open shells. But there is a huge difference between a stick and a Swiss Army Knife and between a rock and a laser. What we create is much more complex than what other animals make. And while chimps are among the few animals who recognize themselves in mirrors and so may be self-aware, the smartest chimp is not as smart as the average 5 year old human child. We can teach chimps to use symbolic languages but left to themselves they don't develop any. Nor do they use the languages we teach them to communicate in any great depth about anything other than their current needs, feelings and perceptions. They are never going to produce an insightful memoir or great work of fiction.

Nor will they ever endanger the whole world, as we do. All of the locusts in history could not duplicate the ecological damage that humans can. Jane Goodall was shocked to observe the chimps she studied for decades go to war with each other and even practice cannibalism. But they will never develop nuclear devices or biological weapons. The gulf that exists between our powers and those of the other animals means not only that we can do greater good but also greater harm. And due to our language, our ability to imagine the future and to judge potential outcomes as well as our ability to empathize with others, we cannot excuse such acts as due to ignorance. Greater intelligence does not necessarily lead to better behavior. That's why every human culture has to spell out explicit rules of morality.

The ability to choose right over wrong is part of what the Bible calls “the image of God” in humanity. (Genesis 1:27) The negative version of the Golden Rule, that is, “Don't do to others what you wouldn't like done to you,” is so universal it could almost be called a meme, Dawkins' unit of cultural thought that spreads like a gene. While there are areas of morality in which cultures disagree, all peoples recognize concepts such as fairness, moderation, compassion and wisdom. There is broad agreement that these principles apply to our relationships with our fellow human beings. But what are our obligations to the other animals?

In the beginning humanity was not only created in God's image but we were also given “dominion” over the rest of creation. (Genesis 1:28) What does this mean? Some have felt that it means we simply can walk all over other creatures and that we have been granted absolute power over them. That's not what the Bible says. Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to care for it and protect it.” A better translation of the Hebrew would be “to serve it and preserve it.” In other words, the man was to act as its gardener. So this “dominion” is not ownership but stewardship. The earth belongs to God, not us. We have authority over the earth and its creatures in the same way the manager of a great estate has authority over its land and native animals. He can act in the name of the estate's owner but he is expected to do the owner's will. He is not authorized to go against the express wishes of the owner.

We tend to forget this. We act as if we know better than God does when it comes to what we do with his gifts. We often go against his express wishes. And then we are surprised when we suffer the consequences of going against the principles upon which this world was created. We forget just how interconnected it all is.

For instance, large commercial farms have been paying beekeepers with portable apiaries to travel the country and use their bees to pollinate crops on a scale that the local bees cannot do alone. But the exchange of diseases between the visiting bees and the local ones is being studied as a factor in the problem of colony collapse disorder. As bees mysteriously disappear, the crops they pollinate are endangered. This includes almonds, cranberries, cucumbers, raspberries, strawberries and watermelons. In trying to do God's natural order one better, we may lose many of its delicious gifts and one of its most iconic insects.

In the Keys we have seen how overfishing has had drastic negative effects on our fish stocks. It seems that even after killing all the dodos and passenger pigeons, we have not learned our lesson and we have pushed almost to the brink of extinction blue whales, red wolves, black rhinos, gorillas, leatherback sea turtles, chimpanzees, sea otters, elephants, lions, tigers and bears. Oh, my! Even with recent conservation efforts most of these species are endangered or the slightly higher rating of vulnerable. But their numbers are not robust and some are in decline. They are not out of the woods yet, so to speak.

We have also worked against God's way of breeding healthy species. Purebred people or animals are not natural. Just as blood diseases such as porphyria and hemophilia ran rampant through the inbred royal families of Europe, so have more than 500 distinct genetic defects been found in various breeds of purebred dogs. God's natural selection of mates works better than our artificial selection.

So we have not been wise stewards of the animals we have been charged with caring for and protecting. But does the Bible explicitly tell us to treat animals well? In Exodus, just 3 chapters after having been given the Ten Commandments, Moses is told that the Sabbath applies to our animals as well. (Exodus 23:12) They are also to rest from work so that they may be refreshed. And Jesus points out that the prohibition against humans working on the Sabbath could be lifted if an animal needed to be rescued. (Luke 14:5; Matthew 12:11) If you see an animal in trouble you are to help it. (Exodus 23:4-5; Deuteronomy 22:4). Oxen were not to be muzzled as they tread on grain. (Deuteronomy 25:4) In other words, they are allowed to eat some of the food they are helping to process. And Proverbs 12:10 says that the righteous person takes care of the needs of his animals. Or as Eugene Peterson translates it, “Good people are good to their animals.”

Another significant piece of Biblical data: Animals are included in God's covenant with Noah never to flood the whole earth again. (Genesis 9:8-11) And when he tells Jonah why he cared if Nineveh was destroyed, God specifically mentions his desire to save the animals as well as the people in the city. (Jonah 4:11) Jesus says that God is aware of each sparrow that falls. (Matthew 10:29) The conclusion is clear: God loves all of his creatures, not simply humans.

This is not to say that the Bible advocates vegetarianism nor that it puts animals on parr with humans when it comes to rights. Animals can be used for food. (Genesis 9:3) They were used in the sacrificial system. (Leviticus 1:2) Their blood reminded the penitent of the cost of his sin. (Leviticus 1:4-5) Their blood was used precisely because they are precious to us. If it became easy for a person to sacrifice an animal, it would not send the right message. The loss of any life has to be a significant loss. In the Bible, part of the preparation of meat is the draining of all blood. This predates the Kosher laws. God tells Noah that blood was not to be eaten. Blood is life and all life belongs to God. (Genesis 9:4)

The paradox is that we are animals and yet we are different from all other animals. Biologically, we are their kin. Spiritually, we are their caretakers. We are, as C.S. Lewis put it, amphibians, at home in both the physical and spiritual realms. When Paul tells us to be spiritual, that doesn't mean we are to be divorced from our bodies but directed by God's Spirit. (Romans 8:8-10, 12-14) The physical creation is not to be reviled but redeemed. Our ultimate destiny is not an ethereal existence in the clouds but a resurrected life in a new world, where heaven comes to earth, and the Creator's original plan for his creation as a paradise has been restored. (Romans 8:11; Revelation 21:1-4)

So on the day we remember St. Francis of Assisi, we bless our animals and they bless us. Just as we reflect some aspects of God, so also they reflect others. But there is an overlap. We are startled to see bits of ourselves in them and they remind us that we too are creatures and not gods. They often cock their heads in amazement at what we do, reminding us of the radically generous gifts God has bestowed upon us. We need to remember that in the Biblical economy, power is not given so that some may exploit others but so that we may help and protect others. To that end we are given gifts of empathy and love for them. (2 Samuel 12:1-6) And it works both ways. Our animals often sense when we need their love to lift our spirits.

Blessings are to be shared. We are blessed so that we may bless others. And the blessings of God need to be expressed and articulated, lest we forget that they are there and lest we forget what they are and what they mean. They need to be articulated so that we can see if our works are in harmony with our words, if what is on our lips can be found in our lives.

Let us pray:

Almighty and everlasting God, creator of all things and giver of all life, let your blessings be upon our animals. May our relationships with them mirror your love, and our care for them be an example of your bountiful mercy. Grant our animals health and peace. Strengthen us to love and care for them as we, like your servant Francis, strive to imitate the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We ask these things in his name and through the power of your Holy Spirit, who live and reign with you, Father, one God forever and ever. Amen.

First preached on October 4, 2009. It has been revised and updated.

Removing the Obstacles

The scriptures referred to are Mark 9:38-50.

The most frustrating driving experience has to be where you can see where you want to go but you can't seem to get there because there are obstacles in what should be a straightforward route. My worst experience in this regard was driving in the English city of Bath. We circled our hotel several times before we found the secret entrance to the little loop of road on which it was located. Later I found out that, in an effort to alleviate traffic, the city had changed many of its narrow medieval streets to one-way streets and cut others off completely to create a pedestrian walkway. The map I had did not indicate this. Because of the obstacles, you had to be an insider to navigate from certain parts of the city to get to other parts. It was almost as if the planners were saying to outsiders, “You can't get there from here.”

Today's gospel is best understood as a collection of sayings by Jesus. They were not necessarily all said at one time or in this order. Some commentators see the sayings as grouped by little more than shared words or loosely related thoughts. But I think there is a definite theme here. These verses are all talking about putting up obstacles which keep us from getting to Jesus and the kingdom of God.

For context, let's look at what happens just before this passage. Mark 9:33-37 records the disgraceful episode in which the disciples argue about which of them is the greatest. Achieving personal glory was a high priority in the Roman empire; humility was not. Jesus responds by reversing this popular standard: the greater person is not the one who is served but the one who serves others. And he illustrates his point by holding up a child, the most powerless person in society, as the kind of person we should welcome in Jesus' name. When we offer hospitality to a person who, like a child, needs everything and who can't offer us anything of material or political worth, we are welcoming Jesus and his Father. This overturning of worldly standards is a common theme in Jesus' teaching.

At the beginning of today's gospel the disciple John makes a comment that seems like a non-sequitur. Perhaps he is embarrassed about the whole greatness argument. Later in this gospel, John and his brother James are the main cause of the renewal of that debate about who is greater. (Mark 10:35-45) So to change the subject, John brings up this independent exorcist who is healing people of physical and mental illnesses using Jesus' name. Because he is not formally a member of Jesus' group of students, the disciples take it upon themselves to tell this guy to cut it out. John is obviously telling this to Jesus in the hope that he will at least commend them on this action.

But Jesus surprises them by saying, “Stop hindering him, for no one who does a powerful good deed in my name will be able to immediately afterwards say bad things about me. For whoever is not against us is for us.” I like the way Eugene Peterson translates the last sentence: “If he's not an enemy, he's an ally.”

Officially, 2.4 billion people, about 1/3 of the world's population, call themselves Christians. We do a lot of good. There are innumerable Christian charities and ministries for those who are poor, hungry, in need of a place to stay, in need of education, in need of medical care, and/or in need of psychological support. In many places, Christians, in the words of Proverbs 31:8, “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” and act as champions of the oppressed.

So why aren't Christians always seen as a force for good? Well, in part, because we are divided up into approximately 47,000 denominations. And these groups don't always play well with others. Many hold to distinctive doctrines, or interpretations, or rituals, or behaviors, or organizational elements that they feel are more important than having unity with other Christians. The rest of the world doesn't understand all of these distinctions. They just see so-called followers of Jesus fighting with one another. And that's a big obstacle to bringing outsiders to Jesus.

Unlike his disciples, however, Jesus wasn't upset by someone outside his original group doing good in his name. Why not?

The man in question really believed in Jesus. John doesn't say that the man was attempting to cast out demons in Jesus' name; he was succeeding in doing so. In those days, people thought diseases were caused by entities invisible to the eye called demons. Today we think diseases are caused by entities invisible to the eye called microbes. In both cases, the cure lies in expelling the unseen entities. And however you look at it, this unofficial Christian was healing people. Which means he had genuine faith in Jesus.

In the book of Acts we meet some Jewish exorcists who didn't believe in Jesus but tried using his name anyway, with the result that they were beaten up by the possessed man they tried to exorcise. (Acts 19:13-16) They didn't realize that using Jesus' name is not like magic. In magic you use words and rituals to force the universe to obey your will. Christians pray which is asking the Lord of the universe for something, always with the realization that it is up to our heavenly Father to respond in accordance with his will and his wisdom.

So this was a real Christian, doing what Jesus was doing. He was healing and helping others and spreading word of Jesus. And the Lord is basically saying, “Don't put up an obstacle for him. Let him continue to do my work and my will.” That's a lesson we still need to heed. If people really put their trust in Jesus and are doing powerful deeds for him, their official affiliation is not important. What they do for Jesus is.

It works the other way as well. Jesus goes on to say that anyone who simply gives you a cup of water because you are his follower will be rewarded. In other words, don't reject or despise the smallest gesture of hospitality or friendship. Sometimes we interpret anything less than 100% agreement with us, or anything other than total support, as unacceptable. We don't want half-measures. But in the Middle East, where hospitality is a major virtue, a cup of water was sometimes all a poor person could offer a visitor. Jesus says we should appreciate the thought behind the gesture. Because God does.

In the next verse we shift to the subject of causing little ones to stumble. It may mean that Jesus is talking about children here but he could also mean new Christians no matter what their age. In Greek the word for “put up a stumbling block” is the same word from which we get the English word “scandalize.” Jesus is saying if you cause a new believer to stumble in their faith, you are the one in real trouble with God. Taking advantage of someone's naivete by misleading them, or exploiting them, or bullying them, or giving them a hard time is wrong. Sometimes we engage in low-level blasphemy, acting a little too familiar or jokey about God and other sacred matters. This can eat away at a young Christian's faith, just as our culture's automatic contempt for all authority has made our children and young people unable to see any reason to obey rules or their teachers or the government.

Next Jesus moves from us being an obstacle for someone else following him to the ways in which we sabotage ourselves when it comes to being a Christian. Since Jesus says that evil comes from the heart, not from anything external, (Mark 7:20-23) he doesn't mean here that your hand, foot or eye is the actual cause of sin. Nor is he really saying amputation is a ticket to heaven. What he is saying is that we need to keep our priorities straight. Sometimes we get so attached to things that we feel that they are a part of us. Our possessions, our positions on certain issues, or the positions that we hold in society can come to feel like extensions of who we are. They become part of our self-image and so giving them up might be almost as hard to do as lopping off a limb.

We see this in how people modify what kind of Christians they are—conservative, progressive, Anglican, Evangelical, gay, charismatic, feminist or fundamentalist. And I wonder what would happen if Jesus came to them and said, “You must make a choice between simply being a Christian and the issue you have attached to my movement. You must give up one or the other.” How would you choose? In other words, what's more important: God's kingdom or our pet causes? Can't we have both? Sometimes, if the pet cause is neutral or totally in line with the gospel. But often it skews our work for Jesus. There are those who say that all true Christians must also belong to a particular political party. And we have seen how many people have been turned off to the gospel before they actually heard it because we associated it with something earthly and temporal. A lot of our modern issues don't appear in the Bible. Remember: the Bible contains everything necessary for salvation. We cannot add other conditions to it or we are adding to God's word. If we start off by saying, “Hi! I'm a pro-life, pro-choice, pro-death penalty, anti-gay marriage, anti-gun Christian. Would you like to hear the good news?” we will turn people off before they have a chance to hear the gospel and we will have rendered ourselves useless as ambassadors for Jesus.

And you know where useless things end up? In the garbage dump. The word translated “hell” in this passage is “Gehenna,” the valley of Hinnom. It runs along the southwest side of Jerusalem. In the past it had been the site for the worship of the pagan god Moloch. During a period of widespread apostasy, ancient Israelites sacrificed their children to Moloch by fire. (2 Kings 16:2-3; 17:17; 21:6) They did this in defiance of God's command as well as the lesson learned when God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac. (Deuteronomy 12:31; Genesis 22:10-13) King Josiah desecrated this valley so it could no longer be used for pagan worship and it became the city garbage dump. (2 Kings 23:10) In addition, Jeremiah prophesied that it would become a mass grave (Jeremiah 7:30-34) It also sounds like the place that Isaiah described where the corpses of God's enemies lie and “their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” (Isaiah 66:24) Recognize that language? Jesus uses this as an image of hell: the garbage dump, where worms feed and fire burns the things that are rotten, useless and irreparably broken.

Unlike garbage we have a choice in where we end up. Just as those who don't give up unhealthy behaviors like smoking, drinking and abusing drugs are on one level choosing a lifestyle that will inevitably lead to illness, those who end up in the cosmic garbage pile are self-selected. If they can't let go of the things that are obstacles to being with God, such as idolizing things like money, power, lust, or themselves, or such as hating other people and neglecting people in need (Mark 12:29-31), then they are choosing an existence apart from God, the source of all goodness. By resisting the healing he offers, they render themselves rotten, useless and irreparably broken.

The next three verses in our passage are among the most difficult in the Bible to interpret. To many, they seem to have been grouped together simply because of shared words like “salt.” Was Mark such a poor editor that he just lumped a bunch of miscellaneous quotes by Jesus together for such superficial reasons? I don't think so.

From talking about a fire that is never quenched, he goes to “everyone will be salted by fire.” This verse may be a reference to Leviticus 2:13 where we are told that sacrifices are to be salted. But why does this verse say “salted with fire”? The best interpretation is that Jesus is contrasting his previous use of fire as a destructive force with that of fire as a purifying one. The fiery trials of this life can destroy us if we let them or we can see them as experiences that are only able to burn up things in our lives that are neither essential nor eternal.

Disasters can bring people together or drive them apart. They can do the same with people's relationships with God. Some find meaning in the events through which they suffer and come away with a strengthened faith in God. Some reject God for allowing any suffering of pain and loss. Ironically, when they do, they are still left with their suffering. It's just that without God it will remain random and meaningless. What they have actually eliminated is any possibility that an objective meaning for their suffering can exist or that there is hope for justice or for restoration in this life or the next.

The way we perceive our trials can be an obstacle to our relationship with Jesus. We can either see them as events through which God can turn evil into good or we can see them as reasons to doubt that God is good. No event is so horrible that some good cannot come out of it. Corrie ten Boom and her family were good Christians who hid Jews during the Holocaust. They were discovered and Corrie, her sister and their aged father were sent to a concentration camp. The Jews they hid were safe but only Corrie survived the camp. She could have railed at God for punishing her, her father and sister for doing the right thing. But instead Corrie went around the world, telling people how God triumphed even in such a dark time. (In her 80s she spoke at my college and when at the end of her talk we applauded for her, she stopped us. “Not Corrie,” she said, “Only Jesus.”)

Jesus next says, “Salt is good but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?” Salt was used as a seasoning to make things better and as a preservative to keep things from going bad. Either use suits Jesus' purpose here. His point is how can you restore something that has lost its essential nature? Things in our life tend to lose what was once essential to what they were. The internet, which was originally created for the sharing of knowledge, has now become a tool for entertaining us and spreading misinformation. Our government has ceased to be a body of representatives working for the common good and is now a gladiatorial arena, where each side is simply trying to score points off the other without regard for whether their activity helps or harms the nation. Some churches seem to be acting in a similar manner. Changing the nature of the church definitely can be an obstacle to bringing people to Jesus.

Finally, Jesus says, “Have salt in yourselves...” Now what could that mean? What is the essential element that Christians must have to preserve us and make things better? Many will say “righteousness” or “orthodoxy” or “socially aware policies.” But Jesus concludes, “...and be at peace with one another.” Christians who are at peace with one another will preserve us and make things better. And Christian peace is not passive but active. We don't promote peace by simply saying “Don't rock the boat!” but by listening to one another, submitting to one another, making sacrifices for one another, bearing one another's burdens, forgiving one another, loving one another. (James 1:19; Ephesians 5:21; 1 John 3:16; Galatians 6:2; Ephesians 4:32; John 13:34)

One of the biggest obstacles to having people come to Jesus is us not seeing Jesus in one another, not serving Jesus in one another, not reflecting Jesus to one another. (Mark 9:35-37; Matthew 25:40) The object is not simply to be near Christ but to be in Christ, to push past the surface and live in him and to draw others in, so that we may all be one in Christ. (Galatians 3:26-28)

First preached on September 27, 2009. It has been revised and updated.

In Praise of Women

The scriptures referred to are Proverbs 31:10-31.

In the film The Matrix Keanu Reeves's character is offered a choice of two pills. If he takes the blue one, he will be returned to the fantasy that he is just an office worker in a normal world. If he takes the red pill, he will wake up to the horrific reality that he is being used as a battery by robots who are at war with human beings. The internet loved this idea and came up with variants on the pills. But to be blackpilled was to realize that civilization is hopelessly corrupt and in decline and there is nothing you can do, except hasten its collapse. It's an ironic, almost gleeful nihilism. The origins and consequences of this toxic attitude on the darker places of the web and how it spilled out into real life is the subject of Elle Reeve's book, Black Pill. As a reporter she has been monitoring how a group of mostly young men created a community of internet trolls who felt themselves to be hopeless virgins or incels (involuntary celibates). In addition to being socially awkward, many had high IQs and had read Charles Murray's book The Bell Curve, which asserted that IQ is inherent and that white men are smarter than non-whites...and women. This led to white supremacy, the alt-right, Gamergate, Charlottesville, QAnon and ultimately the January 6^th insurrection at the Capitol building. It also led to what these trolls ironically called “white sharia,” the idea that women should be stripped of their rights as they are in extremist Islamic countries.

Weirdly we see some echoes of this in certain churches and communities who call themselves Christian. There is a huge uptick in YouTube videos made by self-professed “trad wives,” women who want to go back to a simpler time when they could simply be traditional housewives, just cooking, cleaning and raising the children. There is nothing wrong with this if this is simply a woman's own choice and is not dictated as her only option by her husband or culture. Many of these women are Mormons and if you watch their videos on Tik Tok the algorithm will then offer you right-wing extremist videos as a follow-up. These people say they just want to go back to the way things always were, the way they were in the Bible. If so, perhaps they had better read the Bible first.

Women figure prominently in the saga of God's people. Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, Rachel, Miriam, Zipporah, Rahab, Deborah, Ruth, Esther, the various Marys, Martha, Lydia, Junia, Priscilla and many more women have played key roles in God's plan. They were matriarchs, queens, judges, apostles, leaders and teachers in the early church. And then there's today's reading from the Old Testament.

If one thinks the Bible's attitude towards women is “keep 'em barefoot and pregnant,” the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs will shatter that idea. Because this passage in praise of women portrays the virtuous wife as anything but a stay-at-home mom and doormat. And as the climax of one of ancient Israel's books of wisdom, it says that smart, skilled, industrious, business-savvy women are the epitome of practical wisdom.

This passage is composed as an acrostic, with each verse beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So the first word of the first verse begins with Aleph and it is a word that can be translated either as “woman” or “wife.” Most adults were married. The next word in that verse can be translated as “capable” or “strong.” Taken with the first word, we have a phrase often rendered “a woman of valor.” It is a phrase used of Ruth, King David's grandmother. Valor was also used of an army or warrior. So in 2 words, we have our topic: a woman of moral strength or virtue. And since the overall theme of the book is wisdom, that is the specific virtue being explored in this portrait. Let's take it verse by verse.

The Tanakh translation of the Jewish Publication Society renders the first verse this way: “What a rare find is a capable wife!” Like wise men, wise women are not common and so she is more valuable than jewels. From the repeated use of the words “my son” in the Book of Proverbs the original target was young men but this is a healthy, non-toxic approach to women. It's basically saying, “Marry a wise woman.” Good advice.

I like the way Eugene Peterson's translation The Message renders the next verse: “Her husband trusts her without reserve and never has reason to regret it.” By the way, the word translated “gain” in the NRSV is literally “plunder, spoils.” Perhaps this refers to her prowess at shopping. But once again, the Bible uses a word traditionally associated with a warrior and links it to a woman. It is good to remember that similarly in the second chapter of Genesis the woman is created to be not a servant to the male but a “corresponding strength,” which, used in a military context, means an “ally.” (Genesis 2:20) Marriage should be teamwork with mutual support and rewards. The next verse emphasizes this by saying a man's wife only does him good and never harm. That too is mutual among allies.

At that time there was no industrial garment manufacturing. A woman made most of her family's clothes. The seamless garment Jesus' executioners gambled for because it was so valuable was probably made by his mother Mary. (John 19:23-24) The verb “seeks” in verse 13 has the sense of “investigates.” The woman is shopping for the very best wool and flax. Which means she must first make the threads by spinning the wool and flax before she even gets to weaving and sewing the clothes. But this is not something she dreads. The NET Bible translates the next phrase the best; “She is pleased to work with her hands.” She's good at it and she enjoys it, just as much as any man enjoys exercising his skills at making something.

The next verse compares her to a fleet of merchant ships, bringing food from afar. As discerning as she is when it comes to wool and flax, this woman doesn't just grab any old thing from the market for food. She makes an expedition of it and, as Peterson puts it, “brings back exotic surprises.”

It took a while to get the fire in the home started and have the oven hot enough to cook with. So this woman gets up before dawn and makes breakfast for the family and her servants. The NRSV follows a lot of translations who interpret the part about alloting food for the serving girls as meaning the woman is actually handing out chores to them. Such a level of organization is not out of character with this woman but if we go with the literal translation it means she is thinking that even her servants need a hot meal before dealing with the tasks of the day.

The woman's discernment is not limited to materials and food. In the next verse, she carefully plans the purchase of some land and buys it “with the fruits of her hands.” In other words, her own income. This is a 2 income family, as were most families before the industrial revolution and unions made it possible for a family to be supported by one breadwinner. With the stagnation of the buying power of wages beginning in the 1970s we have returned to the traditional 2 income family. This wise woman, whom the Bible praises, is a business woman. And what does she do with this land? She plants a vineyard. She will make wine. It will take time for the vines to mature and produce decent grapes, so this is a long-term investment. She is looking and planning ahead.

“She girds her loins with strength.” In the ancient Near East, both men and women wore long robes. In order that your robe didn't get in the way when doing physical work, you gathered up the lower parts of your garment, pulled it up between your leg, and tucked it into one's sash or belt. Girding your loins meant getting ready to work, the equivalent of our “rolling up your sleeves.” So this woman is not afraid of hard work. She is strong, both mentally and physically.

The next verse tells us that she knows that her merchandise is good. Verse 24 tells us that she sells the excess clothing she makes. Or maybe she is looking forward to the wine she will produce from her new vineyard some day. The woman knows her strengths and is confident.

“Her lamp does not go out at night.” Again, the woman's hard working ethic is highlighted. She is burning the midnight oil. Or it could mean that the light of her wisdom illuminates her whole life, both night and day.

The next line emphasizes that she does her work herself, spinning the wool and making linen from the flax. She's got a good mind, yes, but she is not above working with her hands.

Next we are told that “she extends her hand to the poor and reaches out to the needy.” She doesn't regard her money as hers alone but helps out those not as fortunate as she is. But she doesn't wait for them to come to her. In Hebrew the words for “extend” and “reach out” are forceful ones. She seeks out the poor and needy whom she helps. Her charity is intentional.

And she isn't afraid that her generosity to the poor is going to mean her kids will suffer when it gets cold outside. The whole household is dressed in crimson. This might seem a little odd. How does the color of her family's clothes keep them warm? Crimson dye was expensive and crimson clothes were the best, made from wool. The next verse continues this idea that good clothing is important to her. I don't think we can accuse her of being a clotheshorse. Since she makes and sells clothes, she has to dress in them. She is, in a way, her own best advertisement.

“Her husband is known in the city gates...” At the main gate to a walled city back then, the city fathers sat on benches and heard and judged legal cases and civil disputes. This woman's husband is one of these elders and obviously is as wise as she is.

The next verse tells us how she makes her money. Making and selling clothing was a common trade for women. But lest we think this woman is just about being attractive on the surface, we are told she is clothed in strength and honor. This is a formidable woman who can laugh at the future because she had made provisions for whatever comes.

When she opens her mouth, out comes wisdom and she teaches kindness. This is not the ruthless caricature of a businesswoman that Hollywood gives us, like Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada. This passage does not equate being a good businessperson with being a horrible human being. This woman understands the value of kindness and teaches others its ways.

This woman does however keep an eye on what she manages and though she is well off, she doesn't goof off. She doesn't eat the bread of idleness but earns her bread.

Her children appreciate all she does for them as well as her husband. He says, “ Many women have done excellently but you surpass them all.” He compliments her without running down other women's achievements. He is not sexist.

We are reminded that charm can deceive and beauty is both empty and fleeting but a woman who reveres and is faithful to God is praiseworthy.

One last instance of iconoclasm: the Bible tells us to give this woman a share in the fruit of her hands. This means both “Give her credit for what she has accomplished” and “Give her the reward she has earned.” Women were legally owned by their husbands back then. So it was possible for the husband to keep any income his wife made. But the Bible is saying to let her have it. She deserves it. That doesn't sound like the sexist book people make the Bible out to be, does it?

Finally we are told to let her works praise her in the city gates, that is, the center of civic power. The worth of a person is not rooted in what they appear to be on the surface. What they really are is revealed by what they do. A person's works speak for themselves. Neither race nor gender determine what someone can do. That Biblical attitude is why the real strides in overcoming prejudice against race and gender have been made in the Christian West. Despite our pitiful progress in these areas, what Paul wrote in Galatians still resonates and inspires us: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) In the kingdom of God, what you were—by class, by culture, by country, by all the “accidents” of birth—are nothing compared to what you are becoming, and what you can do, in Christ.

Though they do not determine our worth or abilities, our differences are important, just as every color in an artist's palette is important. And so, at the beginning of each sabbath, before a woman lights and blesses the candles, this lovely peon to the noble wife is recited by the Jewish husband to his beloved. It is also read at the funeral of a Jewish woman.

We now know from studies that the prosperity of a nation is tied to how much economic power its women have. Similarly, science has found that the health and longevity of a marriage can be accurately determined by observing whether the husband listens to his wife and seriously considers what she says. These truths have been hidden in plain sight in scriptural passages like this one. And in the very first place in which the Bible mentions the sexes it says, “And God created humankind in his image; in the image of God, he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

We are all created in God's image and it was that way from the beginning. God planned it that way. God is so complex, he cannot be fully represented by just one gender. The image of God is fully seen in both coming together, working together, supporting each other. Only then do we see the true image of the God who is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

First preached on September 20, 2009. It has been revised and updated.

True Source

The scriptures referred to are Mark 8:27-38.

Sometimes it's easy to tell something from the genuine article. Several years ago McDonald's sued a restaurant named McCurry for copyright infringement. The courts in India decided against the fast food giant, pointing out that no one in their right mind would mistake a small ethnic restaurant for the American burger chain.

Sometimes it's harder to tell what's genuine from what's not. For instance, when you buy honey, you may not be getting the real thing. The FDA defines honey as a single ingredient food. But some honey bottlers have been watering down their honey by adding sweeteners, like sugar, rice syrup, malt sweeteners or the ubiquitous high fructose corn syrup. This is called honey laundering (cute!) and can be done by overseas producers to undercut US prices on honey. It's a federal crime and companies have been fined millions of dollars for doing it. 

So how can you make sure the honey you buy is the genuine article? Avoid any honey labeled “ultraprocessed” or even “pure,” which has no legal definition. Look for honey labeled “True Source Verified,” which means it was independently checked. Also real honey has certain qualities the fake stuff doesn't. Real honey is thick, not runny. Drop it in warm water, put it on your thumb or on tissue paper and it won't disperse or be absorbed; it will stay a lump. Real honey will caramelize when it's heated. If you spread it on bread the bread will harden in a few minutes. Real honey never goes bad but it will crystalize over time.

Why does this matter? Besides tasting better, real honey has health benefits. It's rich in antioxidants, which can help reduce the risk of heart disease. Eucalyptus, citrus and labiatae honey can act as a cough suppressant. It can help with some GI problems like diarrhea from gastroenteritis. Studies suggest it has antidepressant, anticonvulsant and anti-anxiety benefits and can help prevent memory disorders. And medical-grade honey applied topically promotes wound healing, especially with burns.

What does this have to do with today's gospel? As with honey, we are concerned with what's real, true and genuine.

We are looking at a passage from the end of the 8^th chapter of Mark, the earliest gospel. It is at the halfway point in the 16 chapters of Mark. Jesus is looking for feedback. He asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And it turns out that there are quite a lot of answers. Some say Jesus is Elijah. One of the great prophets of the Old Testament, Elijah did not die but was taken up into heaven by God. (2 Kings 2:11) The popular expectation was that he would return at the end of the present evil age to usher in the Messianic age. Jesus, with his miracles and his gift of healing, did seem to fill the bill.

Others thought Jesus was John the Baptist resurrected. John was the first true prophet in a long time and you can see how Jesus, his equally charismatic cousin, could be mistaken for him. Herod, who had John beheaded, was of this opinion. (Mark 6:16)

Others thought Jesus was simply another prophet, one of God's spokesmen, though not a special one. That seems to have covered all the possibilities for most folks. What's really interesting is what people don't say Jesus is. They don't say that he's the Messiah. Messiah means “Anointed One.” In the Bible there are 3 offices for which people were anointed with oil: that of prophet, that of priest and that of king. In Jesus' day there was a debate about which office the Messiah would fill. But the consensus was that he would be a King David redux, a holy warrior who will defeat the Romans and lead God's people into a new golden age. This was what the oppressed nation of Judea most wished for. But was it what they needed?

Jesus presses his disciples: “But who do you say I am?” And Peter, the spokesman for the Twelve, answers, “You are the Messiah.” Now it's out in the open. And Jesus approves of this. In Matthew's version, this is made explicit. In Mark, it is implicit in the way Mark says, “Jesus sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.” He doesn't deny the title. But why doesn't Jesus want his disciples to tell anybody? Why not tell everyone if it's true? Because Rome is not tolerant of liberator kings. Puppets like Herod are fine but the Jews are a rebellious people and anyone proclaiming himself a God-anointed king is just the spark to set things ablaze. Jesus has more to teach before he can be arrested.

Then why doesn't Jesus simply deny the title of Messiah? Because it's not the title that's wrong; it's the popular interpretation of the title that's wrong. When Pilate interrogates Jesus and asks if he is a king, Jesus says that his kingdom is not from this world. (John 18:36) He is not the king of just one people but of all people. He is not the king of just one land but of the whole earth. He is not a king who conquers by force but who woos by love. He is certainly not a king who triumphs by spilling the blood of others. The only blood spilled will be his own.

Or perhaps it's best to say that the emphasis was on the wrong role for the Messiah at this point in time. Kings weren't the only persons who were anointed. Prophets and priests were as well. Now it's obvious that he was a prophet. But the priesthood was hereditary and unlike his cousin, he was not from a priestly family. Would people accept him as a priest? Well, a priest acts as a mediator between God and man. A priest represents his people before God and represents God before his people. Through the offering of a sacrifice, he removes people's sin. But how was Jesus to do that?

What does Jesus say after the disciples declare him to be the Messiah? He says he must suffer. He must be rejected by the religious leaders, including the chief priests. He will be killed...like a sacrificial lamb. Jesus is presenting a new take on the Messiah. He is both priest and sacrifice.

Peter is repelled by the idea. Even Jesus' mention of resurrection doesn't soften what he is predicting will happen to him. Peter pulls Jesus aside and takes him to task on this. The Greek word translated “rebuke” has the sense of “forbid.” Peter is forbidding the man he just called the Messiah semt by God to talk like this. It sounds bizarre but we frequently tell God he's wrong. We act like we know reality better than its Creator does.

Jesus responds in 2 ways. First he calls Peter “Satan”! The word literally means adversary. And Peter is working against God here. Peter is looking at the situation from a human standpoint. What good is a dead Messiah? Peter would probably agree with General Patton that you don't win a war by dying for your country, or in this case, kingdom. You win it by making the enemy die for his country or, in this case, empire. That sounds rational. But, as we have seen, it's the reason we keep fighting wars. Because killing others doesn't kill the hate; in fact, it gives hate a new lease on life. Kill one enemy and you've just made more enemies out of his family and friends.

Next, Jesus says something really startling: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him renounce himself, take up his cross and follow me.” This is not generally the way you attract people to your cause. You promise them good things, not pain. You depict your way as the path to glory, not the last mile to a shameful death by execution. You ask them to carry a banner, not the instrument of their own death. You promise people that they will be all that they can be, not that they must say “No” to themselves. Jesus is not even saying “Die for me that I might live and reign.” The word translated “follow” also means “accompany.” Jesus is saying “Join me as we walk my road to the cross together.” In the context it sounded like an invitation to march off a cliff, arm in arm.

And lest anyone thinks that Jesus is merely using hyperbole here, he underlines what he means by saying that obeying the natural impulse to save oneself will in fact cost you eternal life. Being willing to lose this life for Jesus and his good news is what saves you. And those who are ashamed of Jesus' way of self-sacrifice and the cross will find that Jesus is ashamed of them when he returns.

If you want to know the essence of real Christianity, the signs of genuinely following Jesus, it is here. It consists of belief in Jesus as God's anointed prophet, priest, sacrifice and risen Lord as well as the action of imitating him. Both parts are necessary, just as both trusting your surgeon to fix your broken hip and doing physical therapy afterwards are necessary if you want to walk again. Too often people act as if Christianity is just a matter of belief or just a matter of behavior. The two are not mutually exclusive; in fact, you need both, just as you need both wings of a plane. Behavior without a firm grounding in the proper belief inevitably loses its direction. Belief that does not motivate us to behave differently is just intellectual B.S. Again if you are going to fly a plane, you need both the right knowledge in your head and to demonstrate the right skills or you will crash. And if I may mix metaphors, here's the cause of the train wreck of much of modern Christianity.

Surveys of those who don't go to church show that a lot of people like what they see in Jesus but they don't like what they see in Christians. They see us as judgmental, hypocritical, self-righteous, out of contact with reality and too political. And all too often they are right. When we only make press releases that condemn someone for something they do or say, when we say we stand for one thing but do the opposite, when we refuse to admit our own sins and mistakes, when we get sidetracked on issues like evolution, and when we align ourselves wholeheartedly with a political party or movement, we play right into these stereotypes. We come across as just another group of power players in the world, with our own agenda and our own spinmeisters. We alter our stated beliefs or behaviors when it suits us. We want the crown without having to go to the cross.

The essence of Christianity is centered in the cross. Unfortunately, we tend only to talk and preach and sing about the cross of Jesus. But Jesus said we all have a cross to pick up. And the cross we have to bear is not, as popularly thought, our own problems. If my chief burden is my own sin and my own grievances, how does that make me different from anyone else? If I assert my own rights, why should I be commended? Jesus did not bear his cross for any faults of his own but for ours. So the cross he wants us to bear is the sins and burdens of others. That's hard. That takes real love for others. That takes real faith in God. That takes daily, even hourly reliance on the Holy Spirit for strength, encouragement and wisdom.

The essence of the faith isn't “God loves me and Jesus died for me so that I can live a life of warm, fuzzy psychological comfort.” The BTK killer, who turned out to be the lay president of his congregation, has that kind of faith. Along with his revolting confessions of being a serial killer for decades, he spoke of being confident that God forgives him. What is missing is any kind of remorse for what he'd done or repentance, that is, a change in his way of thinking or way of life. That's the kind of theology that turns people off to Christianity.

It also blurs the distinction between Christianity and other religions. It makes it just another source of personal comfort and a way of blessing the status quo. It also makes it a refuge for the lazy, the self-satisfied and even the scoundrels. I'm tired of people caught red-handed who invoke the name of Jesus without expressing humility, without admitting their sins, without resolving to change.

The essence of the faith, as laid out by Jesus himself at the heart of this gospel, is this: “God loves me and every other person on this planet. Jesus died for me and for every other human being. As part of his ongoing mission to bring those other people the good news of forgiveness and redemption through him, my prophetic, priestly king expects me to say 'No' to myself, and 'Yes' to him as I shoulder the burdens of others, and live the kind of self-sacrificial life he did. My comfort is his companionship on this journey and the presence of his Spirit in me and in all who are really following him.” Anything else is a misrepresentation, and an adulteration of the gospel. Everything else in our faith flows from the true source of spiritual health, Jesus, God's Anointed, crucified for our sins and verified by his resurrection to new life.

First preached on September 9, 2009. It has been revised and updated.

Trust and Love

The scriptures referred to are Psalm 146 and James 2:1-17.

When Douglas Rushkoff was offered the equivalent of a third of his salary as a professor to speak on “the future of technology,” he accepted. He was flown to another state and given a 3 hour limo ride to a private desert resort. He was ushered into a green room, like those in which TV show guests wait before being called onstage. There were 5 other guys there: tech investors and hedge fund managers, two of whom were billionaires. He'd come prepared to give a speech but it turned out that he was just there to answer their questions. At first they were things you would expect from such a group, like questions on cryptocurrency. But then it got weird. They started asking him about what to do when civilization collapses. Where was the best place in the world to build a survival bunker? How would they maintain control of their security guards when the world's currencies, including crypto, were worthless? Should they instead look into robot guards? Rushkoff really couldn't help them. But it did inspire him to write a book: Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires. Their mindset is “how much money and technology do I need to escape the reality I'm creating...” So some are buying land in New Zealand, some are buying luxury underground apartments in converted missile silos left over from the Cold War, and some are trying to build floating cities in the international waters of the oceans. They are doing these things because, as Rushkoff told the Australian Broadcasting Company, “They see themselves as gods.”

If so, they are like the Greek and Roman gods who were just like the Mafia but with superpowers. People obeyed them because they didn't want them to rain down calamity on their heads. But their gods didn't care for the people who worshiped them. And the gods already had what these billionaires want: a retreat away from annoying humanity, Mount Olympus.

What's interesting is that these men, who in one year make hundreds or even thousands of times what the average American makes in their whole lifetime, never thought of using their mindboggling wealth to make things better so that civilization doesn't collapse. They didn't say, “Maybe I won't have to hide in a bunker surrounded by guards if I help people now so they won't revolt against the wealthy.” They didn't think of stopping their strip-mining of the planet for all of its resources. They didn't even consider increasing the wages of those frontline workers whose labor makes these CEOs and investors so rich.

None of these men who want to lord it over the rest of us want to be like the God of the Bible. The difference is that God loves humans, so much so that in the person of Jesus Christ he became one of us, told us to love one another and demonstrated the depth of his love by dying in order to save us. There's no self-sacrifice in the plans of these millionaires and billionaires.

One of the characteristics which made the God revealed in Jesus so attractive to people is that he doesn't prefer the rich over the poor or the powerful over the powerless. As it says in today's psalm, the God “who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them...gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger. The Lord sets the prisoner free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the just. The Lord watches over the immigrants; he sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he subverts the way of those who are evil.” (my translation) Unlike the pagan deities, God cares for the underdog.

Which is why in his letter James is scolding Christians who treat the poor differently than they do the rich. As Peter said, God does not show favoritism in dealing with people. (Acts 10:34) And while Peter was speaking of Gentiles, the same goes for everyone, whatever the nature of their differences. As Paul said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) If slaves are as much one in Christ as those who are free, then the poor and the rich are one in Christ as well. And if they are one in Christ, they are to be treated equally.

James rightly points out that showing partiality to people based on whether they are rich or poor is a sin. (Leviticus 19:15) Early in my time as the leader of my first church, we had a dispute arise between two women who were pillars of the church. I went to each to get them to reconcile. But one woman emphasized how much money her family gave to the church. She expected me to favor her side of the dispute because of that. And that's when she lost me. There may have been other arguments to support her side but she didn't make those. And I was not going to make moral decisions based on how much money we stood to lose. And we did lose her and her family. But the church went on.

Why is it wrong to show favor to those who have more? Because we are all created in God's image. And Jesus died for all of us. He didn't shed more blood for the rich than he did for the poor. In God's eyes, we are all spiritually impoverished. We all are in need of God's grace. As St. Augustine said, man is a beggar before God.

Wealth is not a sign of special merit. People aren't rich because they are superior human beings. Studies have shown that the rich are not typically any smarter than other people. Other studies show that whether you are rich or poor as an adult is much more dependent on whether you were born into a rich or poor community. Rarely do the rich rise from poverty. Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Donald Trump were born into wealthy families. Warren Buffet's father was a stockbroker and congressman. They are richer than most of us because they had a huge head start. They would have been rich had they done nothing but leave their money in a savings account or an index fund.

Here's a Bible verse I imagine none of them have memorized. It's 1 Chronicles 29:14 and it comes from David's final public prayer before turning over the throne to his son Solomon. He prays to God, “All things come from you and from your own hand we have given you.” Or as the NET translates it, “Everything comes from you and we have simply given back to you what is yours.” Nobody creates wealth or abundance out of nothing. Our life, our resources, our intelligence, our talents, our abilities, our family, our teachers and mentors ultimately come to us from God. All that we have are gifts from him. And we cannot keep them. We must surrender them back to God one day. So we are temporary stewards of all these things. And we are to use them wisely.

And by wisely I don't mean to use any means possible to pile up more wealth for ourselves. As the book of Proverbs says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” (Proverbs 19:17) As Jesus said, what you do to the least of his siblings—those who need food, water, and clothes as well as those who are sick, imprisoned or immigrants—you do to him. (Matthew 25:40)

James invokes what he calls the royal law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18) If someone you love needs something, and you have it, you give it to them. We are not talking about giving them all they desire but rather what they need. If you withhold something they need, that is not love. And as James says, that is a sign that your faith in God is not alive but dead.

Some people bristle at this. They think James is contradicting Paul, who wrote, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast.” But they forget that Paul goes on to say in the very next verse, “For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared beforehand so we may do them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10, my emphasis) We are not saved by works but we were created to do them. Good works are to spiritual health what vital signs are to physical health. If your temperature, breathing, pulse, or blood pressure are out of the healthy range, you are sick. If you are without any one of them, you are dead. In the same way, good works are the signs of spiritual health. If you aren't motivated by your faith in the God who is love to show love to others, your faith is dead. You obviously don't trust a loving God to take care of your needs so you have enough to take care of the needs of others.

And it's not enough to say you have faith. Nurses and doctors have people lie to them all the time about how healthy they are eating or how much exercise they are getting or how they've given up smoking or drinking. Their words don't make them healthy. And their tests will show it. As James said in last week's reading, “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” (James 1:22) Don't just join the gym; go there and work out. Don't just say “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill.” Give the person in need clothes and food. Make sure they have what they need. Or else your faith is as good as dead.

Which leads us to the question of why do some people receive more than others? Think of it as the handouts given to you in school. If you happened to be at the end of a row, you were given a stack of them, not to keep for yourself, but you were to take one and pass on the rest. That way everyone had what they needed. Those who happen to have more in this life are to use it to help those who have less. As Paul tells Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this world's goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous givers, sharing with others. In this way they will save up a treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the future and so lay hold of the life that truly is life.” (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

When God confronts Cain about what has happened to Abel, the man says, “Am I my brother's keeper?” (Genesis 4:9) A better translation would be, “Am I my brother's guardian?” And the implied answer is “Yes.” We are supposed to watch out for one another. We are supposed to protect and help one another. We are supposed to share what we have with others, especially those who have not received as much as we have. When God was about to lead the Israelites into the promised land, he said, “...there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord will surely bless you in the land that he is giving you as an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 15:4) But God is a realist. So he says, “If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers, within any of your villages in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you must not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother, but you must be sure to open your hand to him and lend him whatever he needs.” (Deuteronomy 15:7-8)

Jesus said that the world will know that we are his disciples by our love for one another. (John 13:35) And in 1 John we are told, “By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts off his compassion from him, how does the love of God reside in him? My little children, let's not love in word only, nor with the tongue only, but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:16-18)

There are people who say that ours is a Christian nation. They say that God will judge us on our attitude towards various sexual sins. They never seem to mention other Bible verses, like where God says he will execute judgment on those who enact unjust policies “to keep the poor from getting fair treatment, and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice, so they can steal what widows own, and loot what belongs to orphans.” (Isaiah 10:1-2) They don't quote the passage where it says “See here—this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them.” (Ezekiel 16:49-50) Ignoring the part about not helping the poor, they only focus on abominations, which are not defined here. But they neglect the fact that dishonest business practices are also called an abomination, as is lying, and people who sow discord or who mock others. (Proverbs 6:16-19; 11:1; 24:9) And while they are talking about judgment coming upon a nation, they forget that in Jeremiah God condemns those who have gotten rich and powerful through fraud and deceit. He says, “'That is how they have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to the evil things they do. They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor. I will certainly punish them for doing such things!' says the Lord. 'I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!'” (Jeremiah 5:28-29) And when Jesus talks about the last judgment he only mentions sins of omission, namely not helping the poor, the needy, the sick, the imprisoned and immigrants. (Matthew 25:41-46) That is what will bring judgment on us.

It comes down to faith, to trusting that God has provided us with enough to share. And he has. There is more than enough food produced in the world to feed everyone on the planet, according to the U.N. Yet we waste a third of it—1.3 billions tons—and 733 million people go hungry. Some people are not passing on what they have been entrusted with. There are 15.1 million vacant homes in the US, more than 10% of the nation's housing inventory. And HUD reports that in 2023 there were 653,104 people who were homeless on any given night. We could house them all and still have 14 million + vacant homes left over. The real problem is that there aren't enough affordable homes available. And there is no state, city or county in the US where a full-time minimum wage worker can afford to rent a place to live. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. In Florida it is $13 an hour as of the end of this month. But the minimum wage would have to be $32.11 an hour on average to make it possible to rent a place in this country. Meanwhile, the average salary for a CEO in the US is between $630,000 and $1.6 million. The average for the CEO of an S&P 500 company is $17.7 million a year. So CEOs make anywhere from 10 to 272 times what the average worker makes. ($65,470) Some people are not passing on what they have received.

A truly Christian nation would try to get rid of these inequalities. As God said to Israel there should not be any poor among us. And if there are, we are not to shut off our compassion but open up our hands and give the poor what they need. Nor should we leave it to churches to do alone. There are 37.9 million poor people in the US. There are between 350,000 and 400,000 churches in this country. For the churches to handle all of the poor would require each church to adopt between 94 and 108 poor people and provide food, housing, and medical care for them. Some of the megachurches might be able to do that but the majority of churches in this country are small with 80% having fewer than 100 members. Half have less than 65 people attending.

Most of the clergy I know do try to help but their churches can only do so much. Which is why a truly Christian nation would accept that the government has a duty to help the poor and not begrudgingly but cheerfully because God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7) Remember the new commandment Jesus gave us was to love one another as he loves us. (John 13:34) He did not hold anything back. He trusted God to take care of him as he gave up his life for us. The least we can do is trust God to help us as we help others. And the least Christian thing to do is to take off with your wealth and hide from those in need, either behind a heavily guarded fence or in a luxury bunker.

Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich person to enter God's kingdom. (Mark 10:25) He also said, “...woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort already.” (Luke 6:24) But when Zacchaeus gave half of his wealth to the poor and reimbursed others with 4 times what he cheated them out of, Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this household, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:9-10) Zacchaeus gave up his riches to become rich in good deeds and lay hold of the life that truly is life: eternal life with the God who is love and who gives us all things for our enjoyment.