By John Stallings
Jesus' rejection in his own hometown is a story that gives me chills every time I read it.
Jesus, fresh from a preaching and healing campaign in Galilee has returned to his boyhood home of Nazareth after an absence of many months. He left a commoner, He returns a celebrity. In Nazareth He was known as a nice, hard-working young man from a good family.
The Nazarenes had been hearing about Jesus’ exploits from almost a year on the road. They knew about the water He’d turned into wine at Cana and the paralyzed man He’d healed in Jerusalem. Now Jesus was home and the people were waiting to be impressed. The “buzz” on the street was “that boy is back in town.” The Nazareth Gazette probably ran a story entitled “hometown boy makes good.”
In the temple on the Sabbath Jesus is invited to read from the sacred scrolls and comment on the text. Nazareth would see what kind of teacher He had become. Jesus reads from Isaiah 61:1-5, about the Spirit of the Lord anointing him to preach good news, heal and set free.
When He’d finished reading from the scroll He sat down and said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Huh? You could have heard a marshmallow fall on a carpet.
In essence, Jesus is saying;
“I’m the finale. I’m the completion of God’s plan to save you. Everything Moses wrote about in his books, everything David wrote in the Psalms, and everything the prophets promised, all of that pointed to me. I’m the seed of the woman. I’m the son of David. I’m the suffering servant. I’m the one God anointed. In Hebrew I’m the Messiah: in Greek I’m the Christ. Are you waiting for the Messiah? You’re looking at him!”
Mixed Reaction
The reaction in the synagogue on that Sabbath was one of astonishment. Luke says they were "amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips." Apparently they had never heard Jesus as a public speaker, or teacher. His life among them had been as a carpenter, never a public figure. This was an entirely new role, and they were, as Matthew and Mark put it "astonished." Jesus "gracious words" were impressive.
But was this the astonishment of appreciation or of skepticism? At first glance, we're not sure. Maybe there was a wave of approval, followed by a low guttural muttering, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
The congregation's quickness to pigeonhole Jesus as Joseph's son shows that their paradigm was unable to view Jesus in any other context than as a member of a Nazareth family. They may have been thinking of the “scandalous” events surrounding his birth. After all, this was a small town, and people talk.
"Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” Matthew 13:54-56
The people of Nazareth were amazed but skeptical. Sure, He was good with words. But how could He really be worthy of the acclaim and adulation He had been met with elsewhere in Galilee? The congregation "took offense at him" Matthew 13:57.
A Prophet without Honor
Jesus sensed the unbelief and skepticism in the room that day. The congregation made no attempt to hide their feelings. Jesus' next comments confront this anti-faith:
"Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' I tell you the truth," he continued, "No prophet is accepted in his hometown." Luke 4:23
The words, "Physician, heal yourself" are plain enough. It's similar to our proverb which observes that the cobbler's children go barefooted. Probably the townspeople are applying the words to Jesus hometown vs. other towns where He had performed healings. In other words, they are saying, “you’ve healed elsewhere; how about in your own hometown?”
The skepticism in Nazareth was so pervasive that Mark records, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith." Mark 6:5-6
If your family doesn’t accept your faith, have you ever wondered why? They remember your past, perhaps, and don't believe you've changed. Jesus’ family was convinced that He was mad though they finally came around and accepted Him, - His townspeople never did. Sometimes faith is a lonely road.
Jesus speaks to them of God's Blessing on Two Foreigners
In response to his townsmen's open skepticism, Jesus refers to stories of how God blessed two non-Jewish individuals, at a time that many Jews had needs that went unmet. Jesus tells of the widow at Zaraphath in 1 Kings 17:7-24. The Prophet Elijah had stayed with her and her son during the 3-1/2 year drought that preceded his victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The widow's small jar of flour and tiny jug of oil were not depleted, though they fed the three of them for years. Later, when the widow's son died, Elijah's prayers revived him from the dead. No Israelites received such a blessing.
Then Jesus told of Naaman, General of the Army of Israel's enemy Aram, whose capital was Damascus 2 Kings 5. Naaman had contracted leprosy, and heard that the Prophet Elisha in Israel had the power to heal. At Elisha's word, Naaman had dipped seven times in the Jordan, and after the seventh time his leprosy was healed and his skin restored like that of a child.
There were many lepers in Israel at the time, commented Jesus, but only the foreigner Naaman was healed.
Jesus' clear implication was that the Israelites in these eras were unworthy of these miracles, and so God bestowed miracles on outsiders who believed. It was a not-so-veiled commentary on the absence of faith Jesus perceived in Nazareth. Outside this village Jesus had performed amazing miracles, but the unbelief in Nazareth was way too thick. Even though they wanted to see a miracle show, they were neither worthy nor ready. A prophet wasn't honored in his own hometown.
Murderous anger
As always, the truth hurts. The resentment and skepticism that seethed beneath the surface now erupted in murderous rage. The congregation rose up from their Sabbath synagogue worship intent to kill their homegrown boy. They took Jesus into custody and then they drove him out of the building and out of the village.
I’ve visited Nazareth several times and IMHO it’s the quintessence of a dreary, depressing back-water town built at the edge of a mountain. To the west the ground drops very rapidly to the fertile Jezreel Valley below. Without hearing or trial, and in violation of both Jewish and Roman law, Jesus’ townspeople intended to kill Him by throwing him over a precipice perhaps as a prelude to stoning.
I don’t know if you saw the 80’s movie Throw mama from the train, but in this case it’s—Throw Jesus off the cliff. Was Jesus justified in his judgment of their worthiness, faith, and character? Obviously He was!
Walking Away
What happened next is perhaps one of the most “unsung” miracles in the Bible. As we’ll see, this isn’t the only time it’s happened to Jesus. Strangely, though they forced Him to the cliff, they couldn't throw him over. Jesus just walked away, through the crowd, and out of town, never -- so far as we know -- to return to his hometown of Nazareth. It wasn't his time to die -that would be three years later. But the anger in Nazareth was emblematic of the kind of anger and resentment that finally killed Jesus.
JOHN CHAPTER EIGHT- ANOTHER CLOSE CALL
A man went on a long awaited vacation to Europe. Two days after he left he called home to check on his cat and his brother answered the phone. The man asked, “How’s my cat?” The brother answered, “Your cat is dead.” The man said, “Now you could have been gentler in telling me that, so as not to shock me and hurt my feelings. You could have said your cat is on the roof. Then tomorrow you could have said the fire department came to get the cat down and dropped him and your cat is at the vets. The day after that you could have said the cat couldn’t be saved and was peacefully put down. Then you wouldn’t have hurt my feelings.”
The man then asked, “How’s mother?” To which the brother replied, “She’s on the roof.”
GENTLE JESUS, -MEEK AND MILD?
Jesus didn't use that kind of subtly. He didn't "tiptoe through the tulips, nor walk on eggshells." Generally when I think of Jesus’ physical presence, I see Him holding a little lamb across His shoulders or with children surrounding Him. Other pictures of Jesus that often come to mind are Him sitting at Jacob’s Well talking to the Samaritan woman, standing before the multitudes teaching, silently facing His tormentors, or on the cross in death as He forgave those who were crucifying Him.
It’s easy to forget that Jesus didn’t write “How to win friends and influence people,” although He always spoke the truth in love. Jesus wasn’t always smooth and subtle, and definitely didn’t “tip-toe through the tulips,” either in His hometown of Nazareth or in this story in John Chapter eight. If we want to see Jesus “torqued,” and “in your face” it’s here.
It’s interesting that the conversation starts in John 8:31 with these words;
As He spoke these words many believed on Him.
So Jesus is talking to Jews who believed in Him and His message. As He speaks to them a debate ensues and it’s plain to see that the crown was in top form as far as not “getting” what Jesus was saying. Talk about confused, when Jesus told them “the truth would set them free” in typical argumentative fashion they said, “Free? We’ve never been in bondage,” conveniently forgetting the 400 years their ancestors spent in Egyptian slavery. Was that just a vacation? What about the 70 years they spent in Babylonian enslavement? Even as they spoke they were living in subjugation to a merciless, Jack-booted Roman occupation.
DON’T YOU TALK ABOUT MY MAMA!
But in verse 41 they crossed the line and said, “We were not born of fornication” an obvious slur on the conditions of Jesus’ birth.
Again he’s faced with people questioning His “spiritual paternity, or lineage.” If ever He had an “in your face” attitude, He had it when speaking to His townsfolk in Nazareth and with these people in John chapter eight.
Jesus is speaking to a group of people who were separated from Him because they belonged to another god, and were not true Believers. He figures that if they want to dabble around in “bloodlines,” He’ll lay it out for them and show them who their daddy really is.
JESUS OFFERS ONLY TWO OPTIONS
Jesus tells the crowd there are only two possibilities concerning who they are. They’re either God’s children or the devil’s children. He clearly proves these people are not able to receive Him because they were living under a different spirit and power, their “father the devil.” He tells them that they persecuted Him because of their spiritual separation. They were under the influence of their god whom He names; -“Ye are of your father the devil.” Bam, Bam, there it is.
Jesus then sets forth the evil activities of the people who were imitators of their father the Devil. They worship this false god and copied his evil ways. As proof of their pedigree, Jesus tells them that they want to kill him so that makes them like the devil, and He called them liars, the other trait of the devil. This of course didn’t thrill these folk much which is why at one point they picked up stones to kill him. It seems the attitude of the people was, “if you call us what we really are we’ll kill you.”
Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”- John 8:44-47KJV
“YOU GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY”
Several years ago Bob Dylan wrote a song entitled “You gotta serve somebody.” There are two roads, the broad road that leads to destruction or the narrow road leading to life eternal. There are two masters, God or the devil. And there are two places to go when we die, heaven or hell.
There’s a popular saying that-“We’re all God’s children.” That’s true in one sense, since God made us all. But nevertheless, spiritually speaking we all have a “daddy.”
Listen to 1 John 3:10;
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither loveth not his brother.
Paul told the Galatians;
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revel lings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance…
Listen to John;
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.—John 1:12-13
This verse makes it clear that unless an individual receives Christ they don’t belong to Him in the sense that their eternal address will be heaven when they die.
In John 8:43, Jesus said;
“Why do ye not understand my speech, even because ye cannot hear my word?” That is, ye cannot bear my doctrine: it comes too close to you; it searches your hearts, detects your hypocrisy, and exposes your iniquitous intentions and designs; and as ye are determined not to leave your sins, so ye are purposed not to hear my doctrine.
Jesus then exposes the unregenerate character of the unbelieving religious person that serves
their god Satan.
THIS EVENT PARALLELS THE NAZARETH EXPERIENCE
This story closes almost exactly as the Nazareth story closed. With a huge crowd mad enough at Him to kill Him, somehow Jesus just walked away out of harms way, because as in Nazareth His time to die hadn’t come.
CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR FATHER
If you and I can truly call the God of heaven our Daddy,
We’ll have no problems trusting Him,
We’ll enjoy talking about Him,
We’ll seek to do His will,
We’ll have a longing to be like Him,
We’ll suffer willingly for Him, and we’ll obey His words.
We’ll use our father’s vocabulary,
We’ll have love one for another, [God’s kids are known by their love not their t-shirts.]
It would be a terrible thing not to know who our father is.
My father is the Alpha and the Omega, He’s the Almighty, He’s the Bread of Life and the Bishop of my soul, He’s the Christ, the Captain of my ship, the Daystar and the Deliverer who brings joy in the morning, He’s Emmanuel and the Eternal One, He’s the Father of all who trust Him and a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, He is God and the Good Shepherd, He’s the Holy One and the Horn of Salvation, He’s the great I AM and the Invisible God, He’s Jesus and Jehovah, He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He’s the man of sorrows and Manna that fell from heaven, He’s Nazareth’s Son, He’s the Omnipotent God, Prince of peace, Righteous Judge, Son of God and the Savior of the world, He’s the truth, the Way, and the Life, the Unseen hand that’s providing when we’re not looking, He’s the Voice of the Lord that speaks sweet words of life to me, He’s Wonderful, and He’s mysterious, He’s Zion’s King.
He wants you and me to stop acting like we’re illegitimate and take our place at His table and be His son or daughter.
Who’s your Daddy?
Blessings,
John
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Big Boy Christianity
By John Stallings
Like many of you, the Spirit of God got a hold of my heart at a very young age. By the time I was six I realized that Jesus loved me & died on the cross to save me. So I gave Him my heart & life & was born into the family of God.
As you might expect, I had no spiritual vocabulary & no spiritual teeth. I didn’t understand all there was to know about Jesus & still don’t. If you’d put a gun on me I couldn’t have told you what repentance or faith was. I had received the spirit of adoption whereby I could cry Abba or Da-da according to Romans 8:15, but that’s about it.I think I was pretty much a normal baby, spiritually & physically.
I remember my first “little mans” haircut & remember crying to get out of the barber chair. My kinfolk never let me forget that I was so scared all I could sobbingly say was “Feet on floor daddy, feet on floor.”Though my parents never said much about it, I can imagine the relief when I slowly began to grow up, though I also have a feeling it took quite a long time. One of the phrases I can remember hearing most from my childhood was “Johnny, be a big-boy.” Come on son, be a big-boy for daddy, or mommy.”
I can also remember that sentiment being impressed on me in non-verbal, somewhat painful ways that centered on the place where I sat down.One of the reasons a baby takes so much care is because in their world, it’s all about them & their needs. They’re always getting hurt, if not really hurt they’re getting their feelings hurt & they’re always making a mess for someone else to clean up. As much as we love our babies, we have to admit that in the home, if there’s a problem, it usually centers around the babies.
Have you ever noticed that the same is true in a church? You can count on spiritual babies to be at the center of just about every church disturbance.Acts chapter 15: 36-41 gives us a rare glimpse behind the scenes into the inner working of perhaps the greatest missionary team the Holy Spirit ever put together.This little glimpse into the lives of Paul & Barnabas shows the humanity yet spiritual maturity of the two men.
Paul needs no introduction anywhere because He’s without doubt one of the icons of Holy Writ. Barnabas however isn’t as well known but it’s good to remember that his name meant “Son of consolation” or “Encourager.” It’s rather special to be named after a gift of the spirit. i.e. Romans 12:8.Barnabas was responsible for over half the books of the New Testament. Paul wrote 13 of them, & Barnabas was the man who brought Paul to the brethren in Jerusalem. Acts 9:26-27. Mark wrote one & no doubt it was Barnabas who loved & encouraged him to continue in the faith. That’s 14, over half of the 27 books.
Have you ever heard the term “kinfolk’s complex?” The word we use today is nepotism. What both terms refer to is a prejudicial, biased leaning toward family. This problem is at the root of what’s happening in this story.On Paul & Barnabas’ first missionary trip together, John Mark the cousin of Barnabas accompanied them. Somewhere along the way John Mark decided to leave the team & return to his home in Jerusalem. We’re not told the reason for his departure however some have theorized the fires of resistance to the gospel were so hot, John Mark allowed fear to cause him to tuck-tail & run.When a second campaign was planned Barnabas suggests taking John Mark along as helper. Paul promptly nixed the idea. The scripture tells us that “sharp contention” developed between Barnabas & Paul over John Mark. Barnabas says he goes, Paul says he doesn’t go. They couldn’t agree so they split up.
As far as I’m able to discern, the two remarkable men never saw each other again.It’s impossible to read this drama & not be moved. The encouraging thing is the break-up didn’t come over doctrine. The rupture involved a personal dispute based on a judgment call. To their credit Paul nor Barnabas didn’t allow the conflict to distract them from their respective efforts of spreading the gospel. They were big-boys & exhibited “big-boy” maturity. Too often we can act like babies when we have a disagreement.If you ever raised kids you know the most glorious day was when the kids could sit at a table & feed themselves. We knew then they were becoming big boys & girls. I think God has the same feeling when He sees His kids growing up & not reacting to a speed-bump like it was a mountain.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN SPIRITUAL MINDS & HEARTS WILL DISAGREE.
The important thing is to stay focused on the work of God. Because of the disagreement, Barnabas chose his cousin John Mark & they formed an evangelistic team. Paul chose Silas & both teams went on the road.Which team was most successful? As far as we know they were both equally successful. Some have said that Paul was just too stubborn in the matter. However we read in Acts 15:40 that the Church commended Paul & Silas, but no such commendation came for Barnabas & John Mark.Paul may have been motivated more by experience, cool logic & rationality, while Barnabas was guided by a kindred familiarity & a warm heart. Most of can relate to Barnabas here because we’ve all needed a second chance .
It’s interesting to note that later on Paul writes to Timothy & says,--Get Mark & bring him with you, for he is profitable to me in the ministry.—2 Tim.4:11. Sounds to me like "uncle barny" got some vindication here.
We're looking here at a case of brass tacks Christian maturity. We are allowed to closely inspect how God’s choice men dealt with disagreements. Let’s look at some of the aspects of the way Paul & Barnabas settled their dispute & see what we might glean & utilize the next time we have a problem with a family member, Christian friend or worker.I think you’ll agree that 95% of our problems will be less than Paul & Barnabas’ situation so let’s see how we can disagree & still be like Jesus. Let’s see what “Big-Boy” Christianity is all about.
1. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION BEFORE YOU DISAGREE.
We’ve looked closely at Paul & Barnabas’ problem & see the simple story; they disagreed over taking John Mark on this missionary trip. It’s all laid out rather simply for us don’t you agree?Proverbs 18:13 says,--he that answereth a matter before he hears it, it is folly & shame to him.
The following ad was placed in a newspaper,
“Wendell Walsh has a sewing machine for sale. It belongs to the lady who loves with him.—Ph. 359-4704 Address 67 Walnut street.”The next day the following ad appeared.—“Wendell Walsh no longer has a sewing machine for sale. I have smashed it. The owner did not love with me; she’s an elderly lady who lived in my upstairs apartment. Please don’t call 359-4704, it’s been disconnected. Please don’t go to 67 Walnut Street, I no longer live there.”What a mess, & all the confusion was caused by the mix-up of two letters, I & O.
So much pain is caused on a daily basis because someone got their facts wrong. You may remember the news story about a young woman in a beauty pageant who was crowned queen & as she walked around with the crown on her head the judges started comparing notes because they knew she wasn’t the one they voted # ONE. It was embarrassing for all concerned when they had to back-peddle & remove the crown from one woman’s head & place it on the real winners head, all because of a mistake in counting.
Paul Harvey told about one of the top national credit reporters who messed up a woman’s credit & it took her ten years to get them to clean up their mistake. After all those years of suffering the credit company finally found [admitted to] their problem & the woman was given millions in compensation, but not before wrecking her good name & her emotions in the process.It’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of having our facts straight before we allow our opinions to jell, especially when it’s something we are telling to others as the truth. There’ll be plenty of time to disagree, but first get the truth.
2. DON’T INFLATE THE IMPORTANCE OF ONE DISAGREEMENT.
Paul & Barnabas didn't over inflate the importance of the disagreement they had. How do I know that? As we’ve already stated, Paul & Barnabas had the love & grace to sit down, spread out a map & say, “You go here & I’ll go there.” Every battle isn’t Armageddon & it’s always wise to choose our battles.If you’re having a disagreement with someone, here are a few pointers that should help;
1. Check your motive. Is your problem a valid point or is it a personality problem.
2. Check your spiritual fruit. Love, joy, peace, etc.Don’t go into a disagreement until you know your love level is higher than the disagreement level.Read & reread 1 Corinthians 13.
3. Have you lifted this up to God in prayer? Prayer will set our hearts & minds right.
4. Have you searched the scriptures on this matter?—Do you know what the bible teaches about it?
5. If you disagree, don’t be disagreeable. Our positions don’t get us into trouble, our dispositions do.
3. ISOLATE THE TRUE ISSUE & STAY ON THE POINT. DON’T BROADEN THE AGENDA.
A couple [I’m sure all married folk have experienced this, I know I have] will be out driving & get into an argument over directions. Maybe the man will turn on the wrong street or make some other mistake the wife feels will put them off course. It’s important to remember it’s just that one corned not all corners for the rest of our lives.And it’s extremely important to remember that our mother-in-law has nothing to do with this corner.A couple can get into a disagreement over the wife spending money on clothes & & then she’ll say to the husband, “Well, you bought a new shotgun & you already had two guns.” Then the man might say, “I don’t like your old momma anyway.” Where did momma come from? Money, money, money, momma. Once it gets to this point old Satan has a heyday.
A person in church might come by the pastor & say, “I think the music was a little loud this morning. And while I’m at it, your tie was a little too flashy last Sunday.” I’ve seen this spirit get loose & go on to say, “And I don’t like your hair, your shoes, clothes, your car, house or kids.”You see what that is? It’s broadening the agenda. I’m sure you know that a church of any size will have an agenda for their annual business meeting. The meeting has to be announced far enough in advance for all the folk to plan for it. Then the pastor & deacons will take all the business of the church & formulate an agenda for the meeting.If it wasn’t done this way, you’d have people getting up during the meeting & bringing up things that would lead the proceedings way a -field. Precious time would be wasted & people would leave all dazed & confused. Centuries of experience has taught that even the best of God’s people can get into strife if meetings like this aren’t conducted in a timely, planned & deliberate way.
Paul said,--Avoid foolish & unlearned questions for they gender strife. 2 Tim 2:23. We don’t see this happening with Paul & Barnabas. As far as we know they stayed on the one issue, worked it out & never moved out of peace.
4. LEARN HOW TO BE HONEST WITHOUT BEING BRUTAL.
In John 4:7-39, when Jesus sat down at the well & talked to the woman, he could have taken the truth & destroyed her with it. She’d had five husbands & was shacked up with one she wasn’t married to. If Jesus had thrown her past in her face, she’d have shriveled up but he didn’t. He could have said, “woman, don’t go telling people you’ve been talking to me,” but He didn’t. He allowed her to act as a messenger to go into her little town & tell the story of this man who’d told her all she’d ever done. Many people came out to see Jesus & became believers because of her testimony.
I heard about a lady who mastered the art of telling the truth without being brutal. Her husband told her one day, “Honey, I wish I could be smart, educated & handsome for you because you deserve that kind of husband.” She answered, “But I don’t want someone smart, educated & handsome, I want you.”
A young man told his dad he felt everybody in the world hated him. The dad said, “That’s silly son, everyone hasn’t met you yet.
If you watch the news at all you know that in our country, you can’t do things that appear brutal. Even if a person is caught mistreating a dog or cat, they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Human nature recoils if we see a human being or animal being treated unfairly. Though I love the animals & believe in treating them with kindness, I have a problem with the fact that we can kill unborn babies with fewer problems than we have when cats & dogs are mistreated. But "don’t be cruel" is always a good motto.We shouldn’t make statements like; “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” or “you’re as strong as an Ox & almost as smart,” or “honey, I wish you’d lose a little weight, when you walk in front of the TV we miss three episodes.” It’s much better to learn to say; “I may be wrong but here’s what I think.”
5. NEVER BREAK YOUR PLOW OVER A STUMP!
This is a very “old school” illustration that comes from the farming culture. My father was raised on a South Georgia farm & he shared many philosophies with me that originated on “dirt poor” farms.My grandfather used to teach his sons that some of the richest soil had stumps growing in it. What the farmer had to do was plow around the stumps instead of hitting them with his relativity fragile plow. This might seem like a no-brainer because anyone can see how unwise it would be to intentionally use a light plow on an entrenched & sturdy stump. The stumps were deeply embedded & rock solid. If a farmer tried to pull one of them up with his plow he’d not only tear- up his plow but He’d break down the horse or mule pulling the plow. So the farmer would simply plow around stumps.
There will be “stumps” growing in every field we’ll ever work in be it the ministry or a secular business. These stumps will be of the human variety. They aren’t of themselves demonic, but Satan sets them in your path trying to get you to do or say something you’ll regret. It might be a kindly old aunt, grandmother, mother-in-law, boss, neighbor or any other person “planted” in your field.I remember in the first church I pastored there was a “stump” in the form of a little old lady who’d been in the church for fifty years. She was against me from the day I arrived in town & she’d sit in the congregation & glare at me when I preached. Looking back she was the best friend I ever had because at least I always knew where she stood & she kept me sharp. I would study and pray an extra hour just with sister……in mind. I knew she was looking for any mistake I might make & she’d trumpet it to the high heavens.I challenge you to look at your life & pin-point the stumps in your “field.” Again, they aren’t necessarily Satanic, they may be some of best folk you’ll ever meet, but God has chosen to use them to challenge, chisel, sand-paper, test your patience & polish you up.We should remember that the more serious the issue, the higher our love level must be.
Paul took the time to totally expound on love in 1 Corinthians 13. He not only tells us what love is, he tells us what love isn’t. Everything you & I do & say must be filtered through that chapter & everything good we might accomplish, even if it’s being burned at the stake, If it’s not done in love, it won't count.If you need another proof-text to show if you’re dealing in love or if others are dealing with you in love, apply James’ test;
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy.-James 3:17
If we’re going to have any friends, hold a job long or live in anything closely resembling peace & happiness, we’ll all have to plow around a stump now & then. But some gorgeous & nutritious crops are grown in some awfully stump-filled farm land.
6. IF YOU HAVE A DISAGREEMENT WITH SOMEONE, AND IT TURNS INTO A POINT OF SEPARATION, MAYBE NOBODY WAS WRONG. MAYBE A SEPARATION IS GOOD EVEN IN GOD’S EYES.
The bible doesn’t say Paul & Barnabas were at odds about everything & on every point for life; they just had a difference of opinion on one point. Obviously God blessed both these ministering teams.Paul didn’t write poison-pen letters to the churches against Barnabas. Barnabas didn’t send letters saying “Don’t listen to Paul. I know him & he’s a scoundrel.” They just split up “and the church rolled on.”
Some churches like to Baptize by totally dunking the individual & that seems to me to be the bible way. But when you think about it, others want to sprinkle them with water. Some want to baptize folk back ways, front ways or sideways. There was such as drought in Georgia recently the Baptists were sprinkling, the Methodist’s & Episcopals were spraying from a bottle & the Catholics were offering handiwipes. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems to me whether we squirt-em, spray-em, sprinkle-em or dunk-em, we should find a way to meet in the middle because in the final analysis, we’re all heading for the same heaven.
WHAT IS ‘BIG-BOY’ CHRISTIANITY? IT’S LOOKING FOR THINGS WE CAN AGREE ON & AS MUCH AS IS POSSIBLE, LIVING PEACEFULLY.
Let me tell you about the biggest baby in the bible.We find him in Jonah 4:1-11. Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it-when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”God said, “What do you have to be angry about?”
But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city.God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up.But then God sent a worm.
By the dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: “I’m better off dead!”Then God said to Jonah, “What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?”Jonah said, “Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die.”God said, “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planter or watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?”
This big baby named Jonah was mad at God for blessing & forgiving the people he’d preached to.
What a contrast to the words of Jesus on the cross;
“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.
Jonah---Not a very BIG-BOY!!
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
BLESSINGS,
John
Like many of you, the Spirit of God got a hold of my heart at a very young age. By the time I was six I realized that Jesus loved me & died on the cross to save me. So I gave Him my heart & life & was born into the family of God.
As you might expect, I had no spiritual vocabulary & no spiritual teeth. I didn’t understand all there was to know about Jesus & still don’t. If you’d put a gun on me I couldn’t have told you what repentance or faith was. I had received the spirit of adoption whereby I could cry Abba or Da-da according to Romans 8:15, but that’s about it.I think I was pretty much a normal baby, spiritually & physically.
I remember my first “little mans” haircut & remember crying to get out of the barber chair. My kinfolk never let me forget that I was so scared all I could sobbingly say was “Feet on floor daddy, feet on floor.”Though my parents never said much about it, I can imagine the relief when I slowly began to grow up, though I also have a feeling it took quite a long time. One of the phrases I can remember hearing most from my childhood was “Johnny, be a big-boy.” Come on son, be a big-boy for daddy, or mommy.”
I can also remember that sentiment being impressed on me in non-verbal, somewhat painful ways that centered on the place where I sat down.One of the reasons a baby takes so much care is because in their world, it’s all about them & their needs. They’re always getting hurt, if not really hurt they’re getting their feelings hurt & they’re always making a mess for someone else to clean up. As much as we love our babies, we have to admit that in the home, if there’s a problem, it usually centers around the babies.
Have you ever noticed that the same is true in a church? You can count on spiritual babies to be at the center of just about every church disturbance.Acts chapter 15: 36-41 gives us a rare glimpse behind the scenes into the inner working of perhaps the greatest missionary team the Holy Spirit ever put together.This little glimpse into the lives of Paul & Barnabas shows the humanity yet spiritual maturity of the two men.
Paul needs no introduction anywhere because He’s without doubt one of the icons of Holy Writ. Barnabas however isn’t as well known but it’s good to remember that his name meant “Son of consolation” or “Encourager.” It’s rather special to be named after a gift of the spirit. i.e. Romans 12:8.Barnabas was responsible for over half the books of the New Testament. Paul wrote 13 of them, & Barnabas was the man who brought Paul to the brethren in Jerusalem. Acts 9:26-27. Mark wrote one & no doubt it was Barnabas who loved & encouraged him to continue in the faith. That’s 14, over half of the 27 books.
Have you ever heard the term “kinfolk’s complex?” The word we use today is nepotism. What both terms refer to is a prejudicial, biased leaning toward family. This problem is at the root of what’s happening in this story.On Paul & Barnabas’ first missionary trip together, John Mark the cousin of Barnabas accompanied them. Somewhere along the way John Mark decided to leave the team & return to his home in Jerusalem. We’re not told the reason for his departure however some have theorized the fires of resistance to the gospel were so hot, John Mark allowed fear to cause him to tuck-tail & run.When a second campaign was planned Barnabas suggests taking John Mark along as helper. Paul promptly nixed the idea. The scripture tells us that “sharp contention” developed between Barnabas & Paul over John Mark. Barnabas says he goes, Paul says he doesn’t go. They couldn’t agree so they split up.
As far as I’m able to discern, the two remarkable men never saw each other again.It’s impossible to read this drama & not be moved. The encouraging thing is the break-up didn’t come over doctrine. The rupture involved a personal dispute based on a judgment call. To their credit Paul nor Barnabas didn’t allow the conflict to distract them from their respective efforts of spreading the gospel. They were big-boys & exhibited “big-boy” maturity. Too often we can act like babies when we have a disagreement.If you ever raised kids you know the most glorious day was when the kids could sit at a table & feed themselves. We knew then they were becoming big boys & girls. I think God has the same feeling when He sees His kids growing up & not reacting to a speed-bump like it was a mountain.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN SPIRITUAL MINDS & HEARTS WILL DISAGREE.
The important thing is to stay focused on the work of God. Because of the disagreement, Barnabas chose his cousin John Mark & they formed an evangelistic team. Paul chose Silas & both teams went on the road.Which team was most successful? As far as we know they were both equally successful. Some have said that Paul was just too stubborn in the matter. However we read in Acts 15:40 that the Church commended Paul & Silas, but no such commendation came for Barnabas & John Mark.Paul may have been motivated more by experience, cool logic & rationality, while Barnabas was guided by a kindred familiarity & a warm heart. Most of can relate to Barnabas here because we’ve all needed a second chance .
It’s interesting to note that later on Paul writes to Timothy & says,--Get Mark & bring him with you, for he is profitable to me in the ministry.—2 Tim.4:11. Sounds to me like "uncle barny" got some vindication here.
We're looking here at a case of brass tacks Christian maturity. We are allowed to closely inspect how God’s choice men dealt with disagreements. Let’s look at some of the aspects of the way Paul & Barnabas settled their dispute & see what we might glean & utilize the next time we have a problem with a family member, Christian friend or worker.I think you’ll agree that 95% of our problems will be less than Paul & Barnabas’ situation so let’s see how we can disagree & still be like Jesus. Let’s see what “Big-Boy” Christianity is all about.
1. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION BEFORE YOU DISAGREE.
We’ve looked closely at Paul & Barnabas’ problem & see the simple story; they disagreed over taking John Mark on this missionary trip. It’s all laid out rather simply for us don’t you agree?Proverbs 18:13 says,--he that answereth a matter before he hears it, it is folly & shame to him.
The following ad was placed in a newspaper,
“Wendell Walsh has a sewing machine for sale. It belongs to the lady who loves with him.—Ph. 359-4704 Address 67 Walnut street.”The next day the following ad appeared.—“Wendell Walsh no longer has a sewing machine for sale. I have smashed it. The owner did not love with me; she’s an elderly lady who lived in my upstairs apartment. Please don’t call 359-4704, it’s been disconnected. Please don’t go to 67 Walnut Street, I no longer live there.”What a mess, & all the confusion was caused by the mix-up of two letters, I & O.
So much pain is caused on a daily basis because someone got their facts wrong. You may remember the news story about a young woman in a beauty pageant who was crowned queen & as she walked around with the crown on her head the judges started comparing notes because they knew she wasn’t the one they voted # ONE. It was embarrassing for all concerned when they had to back-peddle & remove the crown from one woman’s head & place it on the real winners head, all because of a mistake in counting.
Paul Harvey told about one of the top national credit reporters who messed up a woman’s credit & it took her ten years to get them to clean up their mistake. After all those years of suffering the credit company finally found [admitted to] their problem & the woman was given millions in compensation, but not before wrecking her good name & her emotions in the process.It’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of having our facts straight before we allow our opinions to jell, especially when it’s something we are telling to others as the truth. There’ll be plenty of time to disagree, but first get the truth.
2. DON’T INFLATE THE IMPORTANCE OF ONE DISAGREEMENT.
Paul & Barnabas didn't over inflate the importance of the disagreement they had. How do I know that? As we’ve already stated, Paul & Barnabas had the love & grace to sit down, spread out a map & say, “You go here & I’ll go there.” Every battle isn’t Armageddon & it’s always wise to choose our battles.If you’re having a disagreement with someone, here are a few pointers that should help;
1. Check your motive. Is your problem a valid point or is it a personality problem.
2. Check your spiritual fruit. Love, joy, peace, etc.Don’t go into a disagreement until you know your love level is higher than the disagreement level.Read & reread 1 Corinthians 13.
3. Have you lifted this up to God in prayer? Prayer will set our hearts & minds right.
4. Have you searched the scriptures on this matter?—Do you know what the bible teaches about it?
5. If you disagree, don’t be disagreeable. Our positions don’t get us into trouble, our dispositions do.
3. ISOLATE THE TRUE ISSUE & STAY ON THE POINT. DON’T BROADEN THE AGENDA.
A couple [I’m sure all married folk have experienced this, I know I have] will be out driving & get into an argument over directions. Maybe the man will turn on the wrong street or make some other mistake the wife feels will put them off course. It’s important to remember it’s just that one corned not all corners for the rest of our lives.And it’s extremely important to remember that our mother-in-law has nothing to do with this corner.A couple can get into a disagreement over the wife spending money on clothes & & then she’ll say to the husband, “Well, you bought a new shotgun & you already had two guns.” Then the man might say, “I don’t like your old momma anyway.” Where did momma come from? Money, money, money, momma. Once it gets to this point old Satan has a heyday.
A person in church might come by the pastor & say, “I think the music was a little loud this morning. And while I’m at it, your tie was a little too flashy last Sunday.” I’ve seen this spirit get loose & go on to say, “And I don’t like your hair, your shoes, clothes, your car, house or kids.”You see what that is? It’s broadening the agenda. I’m sure you know that a church of any size will have an agenda for their annual business meeting. The meeting has to be announced far enough in advance for all the folk to plan for it. Then the pastor & deacons will take all the business of the church & formulate an agenda for the meeting.If it wasn’t done this way, you’d have people getting up during the meeting & bringing up things that would lead the proceedings way a -field. Precious time would be wasted & people would leave all dazed & confused. Centuries of experience has taught that even the best of God’s people can get into strife if meetings like this aren’t conducted in a timely, planned & deliberate way.
Paul said,--Avoid foolish & unlearned questions for they gender strife. 2 Tim 2:23. We don’t see this happening with Paul & Barnabas. As far as we know they stayed on the one issue, worked it out & never moved out of peace.
4. LEARN HOW TO BE HONEST WITHOUT BEING BRUTAL.
In John 4:7-39, when Jesus sat down at the well & talked to the woman, he could have taken the truth & destroyed her with it. She’d had five husbands & was shacked up with one she wasn’t married to. If Jesus had thrown her past in her face, she’d have shriveled up but he didn’t. He could have said, “woman, don’t go telling people you’ve been talking to me,” but He didn’t. He allowed her to act as a messenger to go into her little town & tell the story of this man who’d told her all she’d ever done. Many people came out to see Jesus & became believers because of her testimony.
I heard about a lady who mastered the art of telling the truth without being brutal. Her husband told her one day, “Honey, I wish I could be smart, educated & handsome for you because you deserve that kind of husband.” She answered, “But I don’t want someone smart, educated & handsome, I want you.”
A young man told his dad he felt everybody in the world hated him. The dad said, “That’s silly son, everyone hasn’t met you yet.
If you watch the news at all you know that in our country, you can’t do things that appear brutal. Even if a person is caught mistreating a dog or cat, they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Human nature recoils if we see a human being or animal being treated unfairly. Though I love the animals & believe in treating them with kindness, I have a problem with the fact that we can kill unborn babies with fewer problems than we have when cats & dogs are mistreated. But "don’t be cruel" is always a good motto.We shouldn’t make statements like; “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” or “you’re as strong as an Ox & almost as smart,” or “honey, I wish you’d lose a little weight, when you walk in front of the TV we miss three episodes.” It’s much better to learn to say; “I may be wrong but here’s what I think.”
5. NEVER BREAK YOUR PLOW OVER A STUMP!
This is a very “old school” illustration that comes from the farming culture. My father was raised on a South Georgia farm & he shared many philosophies with me that originated on “dirt poor” farms.My grandfather used to teach his sons that some of the richest soil had stumps growing in it. What the farmer had to do was plow around the stumps instead of hitting them with his relativity fragile plow. This might seem like a no-brainer because anyone can see how unwise it would be to intentionally use a light plow on an entrenched & sturdy stump. The stumps were deeply embedded & rock solid. If a farmer tried to pull one of them up with his plow he’d not only tear- up his plow but He’d break down the horse or mule pulling the plow. So the farmer would simply plow around stumps.
There will be “stumps” growing in every field we’ll ever work in be it the ministry or a secular business. These stumps will be of the human variety. They aren’t of themselves demonic, but Satan sets them in your path trying to get you to do or say something you’ll regret. It might be a kindly old aunt, grandmother, mother-in-law, boss, neighbor or any other person “planted” in your field.I remember in the first church I pastored there was a “stump” in the form of a little old lady who’d been in the church for fifty years. She was against me from the day I arrived in town & she’d sit in the congregation & glare at me when I preached. Looking back she was the best friend I ever had because at least I always knew where she stood & she kept me sharp. I would study and pray an extra hour just with sister……in mind. I knew she was looking for any mistake I might make & she’d trumpet it to the high heavens.I challenge you to look at your life & pin-point the stumps in your “field.” Again, they aren’t necessarily Satanic, they may be some of best folk you’ll ever meet, but God has chosen to use them to challenge, chisel, sand-paper, test your patience & polish you up.We should remember that the more serious the issue, the higher our love level must be.
Paul took the time to totally expound on love in 1 Corinthians 13. He not only tells us what love is, he tells us what love isn’t. Everything you & I do & say must be filtered through that chapter & everything good we might accomplish, even if it’s being burned at the stake, If it’s not done in love, it won't count.If you need another proof-text to show if you’re dealing in love or if others are dealing with you in love, apply James’ test;
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy.-James 3:17
If we’re going to have any friends, hold a job long or live in anything closely resembling peace & happiness, we’ll all have to plow around a stump now & then. But some gorgeous & nutritious crops are grown in some awfully stump-filled farm land.
6. IF YOU HAVE A DISAGREEMENT WITH SOMEONE, AND IT TURNS INTO A POINT OF SEPARATION, MAYBE NOBODY WAS WRONG. MAYBE A SEPARATION IS GOOD EVEN IN GOD’S EYES.
The bible doesn’t say Paul & Barnabas were at odds about everything & on every point for life; they just had a difference of opinion on one point. Obviously God blessed both these ministering teams.Paul didn’t write poison-pen letters to the churches against Barnabas. Barnabas didn’t send letters saying “Don’t listen to Paul. I know him & he’s a scoundrel.” They just split up “and the church rolled on.”
Some churches like to Baptize by totally dunking the individual & that seems to me to be the bible way. But when you think about it, others want to sprinkle them with water. Some want to baptize folk back ways, front ways or sideways. There was such as drought in Georgia recently the Baptists were sprinkling, the Methodist’s & Episcopals were spraying from a bottle & the Catholics were offering handiwipes. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems to me whether we squirt-em, spray-em, sprinkle-em or dunk-em, we should find a way to meet in the middle because in the final analysis, we’re all heading for the same heaven.
WHAT IS ‘BIG-BOY’ CHRISTIANITY? IT’S LOOKING FOR THINGS WE CAN AGREE ON & AS MUCH AS IS POSSIBLE, LIVING PEACEFULLY.
Let me tell you about the biggest baby in the bible.We find him in Jonah 4:1-11. Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it-when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”God said, “What do you have to be angry about?”
But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city.God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up.But then God sent a worm.
By the dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: “I’m better off dead!”Then God said to Jonah, “What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?”Jonah said, “Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die.”God said, “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planter or watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?”
This big baby named Jonah was mad at God for blessing & forgiving the people he’d preached to.
What a contrast to the words of Jesus on the cross;
“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.
Jonah---Not a very BIG-BOY!!
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
BLESSINGS,
John
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Battles We Need Not Fight
By John Stallings
Perception isn’t the same thing as reality.
You know this if you’ve ever jumped to a conclusion that simply wasn’t right.
First impressions are often right, but they are also sometimes totally wrong. At times we think we know what’s going on only to discover later that we weren’t even in the ball park when it came to seeing what was happening or why someone was behaving the way they did. As a rule things are more multi-layered than we suspect. The story in Joshua chapter 22 is a case in point.
After the Jews conquered the east side of the Jordan River, Moses was going to abandon the old land, because the Promised Land was on the other side of the river. But the leaders of Gad, Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh had asked if they could stay in the land they had already conquered, because it was just what they needed for their flocks.
The land was rich and fertile and there were large valleys for grazing their flocks and plenty of water. It seemed perfect. Moses agreed on the condition that they had to go across the river with their fellow Jews and help conquer the land of Canaan. After that task was completed they would be allowed to return to their own homes once more.
Canaan is finally subdued after over five years. The soldiers from the 2½ tribes had been faithful in their service and were given permission to return to their homes and families. Joshua, now their leader admonished them to love God and continue in His ways and to serve Him with all their hearts.
In that respect, things haven’t really changed much in the day in which we live. God still wants our faithful service. When He knows He has our hearts he will pour out His best on us.
The separation was an occasion of mixed emotions for everyone. The soldiers from all the other tribes had said their good-byes and there were probably numerous hugs and slaps on the back. Then the 2½ tribes left to cross the Jordan River and return to their families on other side. The soldiers could probably barely wait to get home. Their kids had now grown up and they had many stories to tell them of all the great things God had done.
THE PLOT TAKES A TWIST
As the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh backtracked east, they passed landmarks that must have brought back memories of what God had done. Happy as they were to be going home, it hadn’t been easy to say good-bye to their brothers. They were leaving behind the nearness of the Priesthood and the Tabernacle containing the Ark of the Covenant. They were leaving the land God had promised to bless. They were going home but somehow already missed the others tribes and began to feel isolated from the nation of Israel.
That’s probably what prompted the 2½ tribes to do what at first glance didn’t make much sense. Not only did it not make sense, it could have cost them their lives.
A MASSIVE MISCONCEPTION
Canaan is now under the control of God’s people. The tribes have each received their allotted portion of land and now they must begin, in the settled environment of Canaan, to live as the people of God; as a nation committed to be obedient to His Law. Under the new arrangements, the 9½ tribes will live on the western side of the Jordan in the land of Canaan itself, while the other 2½ tribes, Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh would live on the eastern side of the Jordan.
Things were going swimmingly. The Promised Land and peace were both finally theirs. It seemed nothing could go wrong with the new set-up and then, at that very moment- it did. It wasn’t a small thing either, it was major. The tribes on the western side of the Jordan didn’t see it coming, but there it was. The 2½ tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan River did it. They’re responsible. On the eastern side of the Jordan River, they built a massive altar.
What’s wrong with that? Well God had made it clear in Deuteronomy 12 that everyone in any city that built an extra altar for sacrifice was to be put to death. It didn’t take long of course for word to filter through to the western tribes that the eastern tribes had set up a new altar.
While an altar may not seem all that significant to us, it raised an alarm with the Israelites because it was clearly forbidden. In the aforementioned passage they were told to have only one altar for sacrifices, lest multiple altars lead to a falling away from God’s perfect plan for worship. Having only one altar and one place of sacrifice was a way to preserve the purity of the worship of God. It was a preventative measure to ensure that each tribe didn’t do its own thing when it came to worshiping. One altar spoke of one faith and one people. Unity! In fact, again, the penalty for building another altar was that everyone in the city which built the altar was to be put to death. This was serious business.
So, quite logically, when the western tribes heard another altar had been built they immediately thought that the eastern tribes had abandoned God and become apostates before they even got home. It’s interesting that the 2½ tribes were experiencing such joy about the great things God had wrought; the altar was built as they went home, not after they got there.
However-the western tribes were frightened. Remember how 36 people died when Achan took those few items from the tent in Jericho. Though that had been nearly 5 years earlier, they hadn’t forgotten that lesson. They must not disobey clear commands from God or the consequences would be terrible. What should they do? Were the 2½ tribes so quickly becoming “loose cannons?”
The 9½ tribes on the western side of the Jordan River decided that they had no choice but to go to war with their Jewish brothers on the east bank in order to overthrow their “apostasy and disobedience.”
In chapter 22 verse 12 we read the statement, "the whole assembly gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against their brother tribes."
At least on some level the western tribes are to be commended for the zeal to look out for the honor of God and maintain the purity of worship. The fact that they were so stirred up by what they believed was spiritual infidelity shows that they were deeply committed to God. Far too often God’s people gradually accept things that God doesn’t accept.
The western tribes were right to want to stand against sin.However, as proper as it is to stand up against what’s wrong, they were also wrong because they jumped to conclusions that were far off the mark. It appeared that what their brothers were doing was wrong, but they would discover that there was another side to the story. When they heard about the altar being built they immediately assumed it had been set up in opposition to the altar in Shiloh. Were they correct?
THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM.
That’s something all of us must guard against; the danger of judging people by their outward appearance. There’s danger in attributing bad motives to people’s actions when the very same actions could in fact be explained in other honorable ways.
Perhaps you meet a Christian friend walking down the street and wave at them. Although they seemed to be looking your direction they didn’t wave back, in fact, they seem to stare right through you. It’s easy if that happens to immediately jump to the conclusion that they are snubbing you. When in reality it might be that your friend is upset about some personal matter and is thinking about it at that moment. Far from being a deliberate snub that intense countenance could have in fact been the outward evidence of inner turmoil.
One more thing along those lines; when I was younger I had eagle eyes. I could see a person a long distance away and immediately recognize them. I’ve spotted famous people in airports that I’d only seen on T.V maybe once or twice, even when they thought they were incognito.
Because I had good eyesight, it never occurred to me that some people are born, and I say this with all love, about half blind. Out in a crowd, they have to get fairly close to you to recognize you even with their glasses on. Since we tend to judge out of our own hearts, I had to get older and in need of glasses, at least to read, to fully understand that some of those folk who didn’t seem to recognize me, didn’t really even see me. I’m just saying, let’s cut one another some slack.
It’s so easy to do what these western tribes did and jump to the wrong conclusions and pass rash judgments on others.
The Pharisees in the New Testament were often guilty of that. Consider what Jesus said to them about this very subject in John 7:24.
"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (NAS)
All of us have had some occasions in our lives when if people had judged us on the way things appeared we would have been in trouble. Things aren’t always as they seem. It’s far easier for me to recall the times when others have misjudged my motives and talked about me, than it is for me to remember the times when I have misjudged others and talked about them.
THE CONFRONTATION
To show the importance that was put on this situation, the 9½ tribes sent Phinehas the priest and 10 other leaders of the tribes to speak with the leaders of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh. Phinehas started off with a full head of steam. Instead of listening to the 2½ tribes he began pointing out their failures.
The fact that the priest Phinehas was included in this delegation illustrated that this wasn’t mainly a political matter, the primary issue was spiritual. It was a highly charged moment for Israel. The eastern tribes were accused of breaking faith with God, building an altar in rebellion against God and the rest of the covenant nation.
Phinehas, as their spokesman said, "How could you turn your backs on God and break faith with Him and all the other tribes? You built this altar in rebellion to God. You know how God punished us all when one chose to sin. If the land you’ve chosen is unfit for worship, you can move over to the other side of the river with us. Just don’t rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves."
How many of us would have responded well to Phinehas? Imagine someone walking up to you and saying, "Look here you backslider, what you have done is rebellion and sin.”
The strongest word used in his attack was the word, "rebel" which means to deliberately resist God’s will and disobey His law.
On the surface of the story, there seems to be one group which is very right and another group which is very wrong. At this point it seems like things are going to go sideways but what we’re getting ready to see is a model of skillful/ healthy conflict resolution.
If the 9½ hadn’t taken the time to talk to the 2½ they would have probably wiped out the 2½. The 9½ didn’t realize that the 2½ had built an alter for other reasons than the ones they [the 9½] had in mind. [Microsoft Word didn’t like that last paragraph and wanted it re-written. No way!] I’m just glad that the 2½ didn’t get defensive when confronted by the 9½. A good thing to remember is to do all possible to treat criticism as a friend not an enemy.
Proverbs 27:6 says; faithful are the wounds of a friend.
Back to our story -and Phinehas. Sometimes criticism is necessary but it produces stress for most of us. Yet some folk try to motivate people to do better by constantly criticizing them. It doesn’t work as a rule because people don’t feel they deserve it. When we set out to deal in a corrective manner , unless it’s someone directly under our authority, we’d better know what we’re doing, because as you know the person we’ve chosen to ‘set straight” at some point is going to at least make an effort to turn it around on us.
But the western delegation, showing they were honest brokers of peace, doesn’t only accuse and condemn, it makes a very generous offer. If the eastern tribes don’t think they can worship the Lord on the east side of the river, they can come and live on the western side of the Jordan. This would shrink the territory of all the other tribes. This was a marvelously generous thing to do. How were they able to make such an offer? It had to be because it had been discussed with Joshua and the other leaders before they left. In other words, as harsh as the confrontation seemed to be, there was a desire for restoration.
THE EXPLANATION
To their credit, the 2½ tribes responded in an extremely constructive way. They said; - "God Almighty knows what our motives were. He alone is to be praised. If we have done what you said we have done, then we deserve God’s punishment and more. But we didn’t build this altar to sacrifice here, or worship another God. We built this altar as a witness.” The 2½ tribes began by acknowledging a very important fact concerning the accusations made against them, - God knew the truth.
Stated negatively, they say they have not built an altar as an act of rebellion against God. Worded positively, they have built the altar as a replica of the altar before the Tabernacle at Shiloh, as witness to their commitment to keep worshipping at the tabernacle with all Israel, and as testimony of their continuing right to share in the Lord’s worship despite the river that separated them from one another. The altar stood for covenant unity, not division, for firm devotion to God, not for backsliding. The 2½ tribes had a lot of “splaining” to do and they did it from the heart. The eastern tribes focused their attention on God. They used three separate names for (God) in their response to the accusations. El the Mighty One , Elohim God, Yahweh the Covenant Lord.
The Eastern tribes utterly rejected all the accusations. In their oath of denial, they basically invited God to call them to account and encouraged Israel to put them to death if the charges leveled against them were accurate. We should be willing to listen before we rush to judgment.
What a tragedy it would have been for the 2½ tribes to have said, "We know we haven’t done anything wrong and we know what our motives are, and we don’t have to explain it to you."
When we love each other, we really do have to explain our motives and we have to be willing to accept the motives of others. This is at the heart of communication. If you often find yourself saying, - "I don’t have to explain myself,” there’s a good chance you’re walking outside of the will of God for your life, -and you’re choosing to destroy relationships.
THE RESOLUTION
When Christ is at work in our lives, we think less of ourselves and more of what’s best for everyone concerned
Each time we’re willing to say, "I’m sorry" we’re living out a little bit of the Spirit of Christ. These are words of repentance, and repentance means going in the opposite direction. The 9½ tribes went from being critical of the altar to understanding because they were willing to listen and acknowledge that their fellow Israelites had thought of something they hadn’t considered.
This incident with the 2½ tribes can teach us an important lesson. Sometimes we are inclined to fight battles that do not need to be fought. We just see two different ways of getting to the same place. Don’t take it personally that your plan was not chosen this time. If the goal is the same, and the end product is the same, then flow with the plan of others. - Even if you had the better plan. - It’s called teamwork.
Human nature being what it is there will be times when misunderstanding will occur even among Christians. The spirit and example from this chapter speaks of the proper way to resolve those clashes. You and I must be governed by our love for the Lord and we must be careful that we don’t quickly jump to conclusions about others without giving them the benefit of the doubt. In Israel’s case, a few honest, rational words prevented a civil war.
I’m not suggesting that we gloss over things which really matter, that’s equally wrong. The well-known Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, once put it in wonderful perspective when he said. .
"Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth."
The very fragile situation between these tribes ended happily. It ended well because the two groups were highly invested in truth, love and unity. They were intent on loving, walking, obeying, holding fast and serving God with all their hearts. Their commitment to be conscientious brokers of understanding and unity leaves you and me with a template to follow in our personal lives, our homes, and in our churches.
The 2½ tribes made a statement that blows me away. They told the other tribes;-“If we’re in sin, may God destroy us, because we don’t want to defile His name or hurt you.”
Love isn’t’ the absence of problems or differences. Love is a function of something higher, -our commitment -which is an act of our Will to seek one another’s’ highest good.
Blessings,
John
Perception isn’t the same thing as reality.
You know this if you’ve ever jumped to a conclusion that simply wasn’t right.
First impressions are often right, but they are also sometimes totally wrong. At times we think we know what’s going on only to discover later that we weren’t even in the ball park when it came to seeing what was happening or why someone was behaving the way they did. As a rule things are more multi-layered than we suspect. The story in Joshua chapter 22 is a case in point.
After the Jews conquered the east side of the Jordan River, Moses was going to abandon the old land, because the Promised Land was on the other side of the river. But the leaders of Gad, Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh had asked if they could stay in the land they had already conquered, because it was just what they needed for their flocks.
The land was rich and fertile and there were large valleys for grazing their flocks and plenty of water. It seemed perfect. Moses agreed on the condition that they had to go across the river with their fellow Jews and help conquer the land of Canaan. After that task was completed they would be allowed to return to their own homes once more.
Canaan is finally subdued after over five years. The soldiers from the 2½ tribes had been faithful in their service and were given permission to return to their homes and families. Joshua, now their leader admonished them to love God and continue in His ways and to serve Him with all their hearts.
In that respect, things haven’t really changed much in the day in which we live. God still wants our faithful service. When He knows He has our hearts he will pour out His best on us.
The separation was an occasion of mixed emotions for everyone. The soldiers from all the other tribes had said their good-byes and there were probably numerous hugs and slaps on the back. Then the 2½ tribes left to cross the Jordan River and return to their families on other side. The soldiers could probably barely wait to get home. Their kids had now grown up and they had many stories to tell them of all the great things God had done.
THE PLOT TAKES A TWIST
As the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh backtracked east, they passed landmarks that must have brought back memories of what God had done. Happy as they were to be going home, it hadn’t been easy to say good-bye to their brothers. They were leaving behind the nearness of the Priesthood and the Tabernacle containing the Ark of the Covenant. They were leaving the land God had promised to bless. They were going home but somehow already missed the others tribes and began to feel isolated from the nation of Israel.
That’s probably what prompted the 2½ tribes to do what at first glance didn’t make much sense. Not only did it not make sense, it could have cost them their lives.
A MASSIVE MISCONCEPTION
Canaan is now under the control of God’s people. The tribes have each received their allotted portion of land and now they must begin, in the settled environment of Canaan, to live as the people of God; as a nation committed to be obedient to His Law. Under the new arrangements, the 9½ tribes will live on the western side of the Jordan in the land of Canaan itself, while the other 2½ tribes, Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh would live on the eastern side of the Jordan.
Things were going swimmingly. The Promised Land and peace were both finally theirs. It seemed nothing could go wrong with the new set-up and then, at that very moment- it did. It wasn’t a small thing either, it was major. The tribes on the western side of the Jordan didn’t see it coming, but there it was. The 2½ tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan River did it. They’re responsible. On the eastern side of the Jordan River, they built a massive altar.
What’s wrong with that? Well God had made it clear in Deuteronomy 12 that everyone in any city that built an extra altar for sacrifice was to be put to death. It didn’t take long of course for word to filter through to the western tribes that the eastern tribes had set up a new altar.
While an altar may not seem all that significant to us, it raised an alarm with the Israelites because it was clearly forbidden. In the aforementioned passage they were told to have only one altar for sacrifices, lest multiple altars lead to a falling away from God’s perfect plan for worship. Having only one altar and one place of sacrifice was a way to preserve the purity of the worship of God. It was a preventative measure to ensure that each tribe didn’t do its own thing when it came to worshiping. One altar spoke of one faith and one people. Unity! In fact, again, the penalty for building another altar was that everyone in the city which built the altar was to be put to death. This was serious business.
So, quite logically, when the western tribes heard another altar had been built they immediately thought that the eastern tribes had abandoned God and become apostates before they even got home. It’s interesting that the 2½ tribes were experiencing such joy about the great things God had wrought; the altar was built as they went home, not after they got there.
However-the western tribes were frightened. Remember how 36 people died when Achan took those few items from the tent in Jericho. Though that had been nearly 5 years earlier, they hadn’t forgotten that lesson. They must not disobey clear commands from God or the consequences would be terrible. What should they do? Were the 2½ tribes so quickly becoming “loose cannons?”
The 9½ tribes on the western side of the Jordan River decided that they had no choice but to go to war with their Jewish brothers on the east bank in order to overthrow their “apostasy and disobedience.”
In chapter 22 verse 12 we read the statement, "the whole assembly gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against their brother tribes."
At least on some level the western tribes are to be commended for the zeal to look out for the honor of God and maintain the purity of worship. The fact that they were so stirred up by what they believed was spiritual infidelity shows that they were deeply committed to God. Far too often God’s people gradually accept things that God doesn’t accept.
The western tribes were right to want to stand against sin.However, as proper as it is to stand up against what’s wrong, they were also wrong because they jumped to conclusions that were far off the mark. It appeared that what their brothers were doing was wrong, but they would discover that there was another side to the story. When they heard about the altar being built they immediately assumed it had been set up in opposition to the altar in Shiloh. Were they correct?
THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM.
That’s something all of us must guard against; the danger of judging people by their outward appearance. There’s danger in attributing bad motives to people’s actions when the very same actions could in fact be explained in other honorable ways.
Perhaps you meet a Christian friend walking down the street and wave at them. Although they seemed to be looking your direction they didn’t wave back, in fact, they seem to stare right through you. It’s easy if that happens to immediately jump to the conclusion that they are snubbing you. When in reality it might be that your friend is upset about some personal matter and is thinking about it at that moment. Far from being a deliberate snub that intense countenance could have in fact been the outward evidence of inner turmoil.
One more thing along those lines; when I was younger I had eagle eyes. I could see a person a long distance away and immediately recognize them. I’ve spotted famous people in airports that I’d only seen on T.V maybe once or twice, even when they thought they were incognito.
Because I had good eyesight, it never occurred to me that some people are born, and I say this with all love, about half blind. Out in a crowd, they have to get fairly close to you to recognize you even with their glasses on. Since we tend to judge out of our own hearts, I had to get older and in need of glasses, at least to read, to fully understand that some of those folk who didn’t seem to recognize me, didn’t really even see me. I’m just saying, let’s cut one another some slack.
It’s so easy to do what these western tribes did and jump to the wrong conclusions and pass rash judgments on others.
The Pharisees in the New Testament were often guilty of that. Consider what Jesus said to them about this very subject in John 7:24.
"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (NAS)
All of us have had some occasions in our lives when if people had judged us on the way things appeared we would have been in trouble. Things aren’t always as they seem. It’s far easier for me to recall the times when others have misjudged my motives and talked about me, than it is for me to remember the times when I have misjudged others and talked about them.
THE CONFRONTATION
To show the importance that was put on this situation, the 9½ tribes sent Phinehas the priest and 10 other leaders of the tribes to speak with the leaders of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh. Phinehas started off with a full head of steam. Instead of listening to the 2½ tribes he began pointing out their failures.
The fact that the priest Phinehas was included in this delegation illustrated that this wasn’t mainly a political matter, the primary issue was spiritual. It was a highly charged moment for Israel. The eastern tribes were accused of breaking faith with God, building an altar in rebellion against God and the rest of the covenant nation.
Phinehas, as their spokesman said, "How could you turn your backs on God and break faith with Him and all the other tribes? You built this altar in rebellion to God. You know how God punished us all when one chose to sin. If the land you’ve chosen is unfit for worship, you can move over to the other side of the river with us. Just don’t rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves."
How many of us would have responded well to Phinehas? Imagine someone walking up to you and saying, "Look here you backslider, what you have done is rebellion and sin.”
The strongest word used in his attack was the word, "rebel" which means to deliberately resist God’s will and disobey His law.
On the surface of the story, there seems to be one group which is very right and another group which is very wrong. At this point it seems like things are going to go sideways but what we’re getting ready to see is a model of skillful/ healthy conflict resolution.
If the 9½ hadn’t taken the time to talk to the 2½ they would have probably wiped out the 2½. The 9½ didn’t realize that the 2½ had built an alter for other reasons than the ones they [the 9½] had in mind. [Microsoft Word didn’t like that last paragraph and wanted it re-written. No way!] I’m just glad that the 2½ didn’t get defensive when confronted by the 9½. A good thing to remember is to do all possible to treat criticism as a friend not an enemy.
Proverbs 27:6 says; faithful are the wounds of a friend.
Back to our story -and Phinehas. Sometimes criticism is necessary but it produces stress for most of us. Yet some folk try to motivate people to do better by constantly criticizing them. It doesn’t work as a rule because people don’t feel they deserve it. When we set out to deal in a corrective manner , unless it’s someone directly under our authority, we’d better know what we’re doing, because as you know the person we’ve chosen to ‘set straight” at some point is going to at least make an effort to turn it around on us.
But the western delegation, showing they were honest brokers of peace, doesn’t only accuse and condemn, it makes a very generous offer. If the eastern tribes don’t think they can worship the Lord on the east side of the river, they can come and live on the western side of the Jordan. This would shrink the territory of all the other tribes. This was a marvelously generous thing to do. How were they able to make such an offer? It had to be because it had been discussed with Joshua and the other leaders before they left. In other words, as harsh as the confrontation seemed to be, there was a desire for restoration.
THE EXPLANATION
To their credit, the 2½ tribes responded in an extremely constructive way. They said; - "God Almighty knows what our motives were. He alone is to be praised. If we have done what you said we have done, then we deserve God’s punishment and more. But we didn’t build this altar to sacrifice here, or worship another God. We built this altar as a witness.” The 2½ tribes began by acknowledging a very important fact concerning the accusations made against them, - God knew the truth.
Stated negatively, they say they have not built an altar as an act of rebellion against God. Worded positively, they have built the altar as a replica of the altar before the Tabernacle at Shiloh, as witness to their commitment to keep worshipping at the tabernacle with all Israel, and as testimony of their continuing right to share in the Lord’s worship despite the river that separated them from one another. The altar stood for covenant unity, not division, for firm devotion to God, not for backsliding. The 2½ tribes had a lot of “splaining” to do and they did it from the heart. The eastern tribes focused their attention on God. They used three separate names for (God) in their response to the accusations. El the Mighty One , Elohim God, Yahweh the Covenant Lord.
The Eastern tribes utterly rejected all the accusations. In their oath of denial, they basically invited God to call them to account and encouraged Israel to put them to death if the charges leveled against them were accurate. We should be willing to listen before we rush to judgment.
What a tragedy it would have been for the 2½ tribes to have said, "We know we haven’t done anything wrong and we know what our motives are, and we don’t have to explain it to you."
When we love each other, we really do have to explain our motives and we have to be willing to accept the motives of others. This is at the heart of communication. If you often find yourself saying, - "I don’t have to explain myself,” there’s a good chance you’re walking outside of the will of God for your life, -and you’re choosing to destroy relationships.
THE RESOLUTION
When Christ is at work in our lives, we think less of ourselves and more of what’s best for everyone concerned
Each time we’re willing to say, "I’m sorry" we’re living out a little bit of the Spirit of Christ. These are words of repentance, and repentance means going in the opposite direction. The 9½ tribes went from being critical of the altar to understanding because they were willing to listen and acknowledge that their fellow Israelites had thought of something they hadn’t considered.
This incident with the 2½ tribes can teach us an important lesson. Sometimes we are inclined to fight battles that do not need to be fought. We just see two different ways of getting to the same place. Don’t take it personally that your plan was not chosen this time. If the goal is the same, and the end product is the same, then flow with the plan of others. - Even if you had the better plan. - It’s called teamwork.
Human nature being what it is there will be times when misunderstanding will occur even among Christians. The spirit and example from this chapter speaks of the proper way to resolve those clashes. You and I must be governed by our love for the Lord and we must be careful that we don’t quickly jump to conclusions about others without giving them the benefit of the doubt. In Israel’s case, a few honest, rational words prevented a civil war.
I’m not suggesting that we gloss over things which really matter, that’s equally wrong. The well-known Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, once put it in wonderful perspective when he said. .
"Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth."
The very fragile situation between these tribes ended happily. It ended well because the two groups were highly invested in truth, love and unity. They were intent on loving, walking, obeying, holding fast and serving God with all their hearts. Their commitment to be conscientious brokers of understanding and unity leaves you and me with a template to follow in our personal lives, our homes, and in our churches.
The 2½ tribes made a statement that blows me away. They told the other tribes;-“If we’re in sin, may God destroy us, because we don’t want to defile His name or hurt you.”
Love isn’t’ the absence of problems or differences. Love is a function of something higher, -our commitment -which is an act of our Will to seek one another’s’ highest good.
Blessings,
John
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Things I Cannot Do
By John Stallings
1. I CANNOT FORGET WHO I AM
“Who do you think you are, anyway?”
I never did like that question. The reason I don’t like it is because it’s in the category of things that sound like a question- but isn’t. It’s a question that’s always asked when the “asker” thinks the “askee” thinks a little too highly of themselves. So knowing that, we know it’s not a question at all.
Care to hear a few more questions that are actually statements? Try this one. “And where have you been all day?” Now this question, it doesn’t matter who’s asking it, your parent or your spouse, is not—let me repeat-is not a question looking for an itinerary. What the “question” is telling you is—“Because you certainly weren’t where you were supposed to be—here!”
Here’s another one- one my mother probably asked me a thousand times; “So, Son, just how long are you planning on leaving your room in that condition—seeing that it runs contrary of the health laws of this state?”
Don’t- I’m telling you-don’t fall for that one. It isn’t a question. Heed this warning and don’t say-“Well, let’s see. Today’s Monday, Tuesday’s band practice, how about…” This sounds like a question but if you ever hear those words just remember, you’re not being asked for your schedule.
Here’s one for the married men; “Does this dress make me look fat?” Again, sounds like a question- but this is a test. Don’t hit that “tar-baby.” Husbands, learn to cry. Because at some point you’re gonna get cornered and the best thing you can do is weep these words, “Honey I really don’t know, but I do know I love you.” You’ve got to watch out for these questions that aren’t questions.
One more. “Sir, may I please see your license and registration?”
So going back to the original question, “who do you think you are” we clearly see it isn’t a question. The continuation of it would be, whether stated or not- “Because whoever you think you are, I want you to know I don’t think you’re that hot.” Trust me, this question, no matter who asks it, is never good news.
If you’re anything like me, when you’re alone with just your gut, you’ll ask yourself that question. “Really, who do I think I am?” When we have those times of introspection, often we’ll come face to face with ourselves and the masks we wear. We’ll find if we’re not careful the masks we put on to hide ourselves from others have been so effective- we don’t even know ourselves.
When we ask- “who do we think we are”- we could answer it from the point of view of the psychologist. They’ll tell us that who we are has a lot to do with something called the “genetic code.” Here’s something that a lot of folk use; -- “since my genes dictate the color of my eyes and hair and how crooked my teeth are, and to some extent my disposition and personality, I’ll just blame all my problems on my genes. It runs in my family.”
Our families will do a good job of telling us who we are. They’ll remark that you’re funny and you’re fun. They might also say they wish you’d have listened a bit more or that you are and have always been a holy terror. They might tell you that you are their most cherished possession or they may say you scare the beejeebers out of them. And there are always the teachers who’ll tell us we’re bright or that we’re average. Maybe they’ll say we’re just plain dumb, but they’ll tell us. Here’s the big one I always heard, “John has such potential, if he’d just apply himself a little more. [But he would not.”]
In the midst of all the influences, here we are in the corner staring into the middle of our soul asking the question-“Who do you really think you are? “When all these pieces of me come together, what’s the big picture?”
Knowing who we are is very important because if we don’t know, there are the voices of Ma and Pa, Jocks and Cheerleaders, Geeks and Jerks, Meatloaf Martha and Potato Salad Priscilla who’ll be glad to fill in the picture. If you’re not certain, those folks will be more than happy to tell you who you are or who you could be if you’d just…….
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
If we’re still confused we can just take a look at the things we’ve done or the things we do. We can look at our grades and try to claim some sort of identity through our scholastic achievements. If you are “ultra super cum laude” or valedictorian, you’ve got it made. Or flip it and be a school drop out. Don’t even try in life. Some people will try to claim some identity that way. Sadly, many people can’t tell who they “are” unless they’re high on some substance, and then they really know. Maybe getting pregnant will give some identity.
And none of these decisions we make by ourselves. There are the others, the advice, and the influences. Right? And there’s enough pressure in all of that to scare most of us to death. Here’s the tragic part. In this county alone, we perform at least ten funerals a day for teenagers who just can’t make it because the pressure of trying to discover who they are is just too overwhelming.
You and I can get some guidance from friends and family, strangers and enemies and everything others say about us may be exactly right. But hear this; whatever people say about us good or bad must be filtered through our core identity, -who we really are in essence. And that’s, -we are God’s creation and therefore God’s child and He’s never going to be mad at us, He’s too busy being mad about us. O, He won’t put up with too much “stuff” out of us, and He will probably take us to the woodshed now and then but He’ll always love and forgive us because we’re always and forever His Child. That’s who you are. That’s who I am. I cannot forget that!
2. I CANNOT ALLOW A FAILURE IN ONE AREA TO CONVINCE ME THAT MY LIFE IS A FAILURE.
Failure doesn’t mean that we’ve blown everything. It just means we have some hard lessons to learn.
Failure doesn’t mean we are permanent losers. It means we aren’t as smart as we thought we were.
It doesn’t mean we should give up. It means we need the Lord to show us the next step.
It doesn’t mean God has abandoned us. It means that He has a better plan.
I’d like to share with a story so shocking that we’re still talking about it 2000 years later. It’s the story of Simon Peter’s denial of Christ.
Peter was in charge of his failure.
Jesus was in charge of restoring him.
Behind this story lies a wonderful, liberating hope-filled truth assuring us that failure is an event not a destiny. This is good news because we all fail from time to time. If we’re prepared to be painfully honest we must admit we fail over and over again.
Those who’ve failed in a great way will truly appreciate this story. This story won’t greatly move you if you’ve only failed in a small way. But if you’ve known the shame of a large failure, then listen. This story is for you.
Failure, especially when we’ve failed someone we love deeply will set our mind into a swirl of emotions.
Embarrassment…Anger…Fear…Shame…Despair. We feel dirty and unworthy because we acted foolishly. When we have hurt someone we love deeply we want to know if they still love us or have we blown everything.
Will they forgive me?
Can I ever forgive myself?
As long as Peter lived he never forgot that terrible night he denied his Lord. Tradition says that he’d start weeping when he heard a rooster crow and that he’d wake up every night and pray during the hour when he denied the Lord.
How did Jesus restore His fallen disciple? The answer is;
1. HE SENT FOR HIM.
When the women arrived at the empty tomb on Sunday morning an angel announced the good news and instructed them to-“Go tell His disciples and Peter. Mark 16:7
Peter no doubt was wondering, “Who am I now? Am I a disciple or a traitor? That’s why Jesus asked for him separately to show He still held him in high esteem.
Peter had bragged about how brave he was and how he’d never desert Jesus but how wrong he was. Under pressure, the bold disciple turned to butter. But Jesus didn’t write Peter off and put him in the “biggest loser” category. Jesus still has plans for Peter, plans to use him, and plans to give him a second chance.
2. HE MET HIM
Where did Peter go after he denied Christ? We don’t know for certain. He probably spent the next hours in a miserable prison of self-imposed solitary confinement.
I’ve had failures and have made huge mistakes in my life and I can tell you when it happens we don’t want to be around people, especially the ones who know and love us best. Having let them down, it’s painful to see them. Sin isolates and separates us from God and from God’s people.
We aren’t told where Peter was during the crucifixion on Friday or during the burial that afternoon. We can guess that he retreated to some lonely spot to replay those awful memories in his mind and beat himself up again and ask, “Why? Why did I do it? What made me think I was so much better than the others? How could I have been so stupid?
Jesus made a special appearance to Peter sometime on Easter Sunday. We don’t know where or when precisely nor do we know how long the meeting lasted, but twice the New Testament says it took place. To wit;
It’s true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.—Luke 24:34
He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. 1 Cor. 15:4-5
This is especially heartening to me that Jesus met with Peter before he met with the rest of the disciples. Aren’t you glad that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?
What amazing grace. There will be no “Perp walk,” no public humiliation. Since Peter denied Christ, things must first be settled between the two of them. With wisdom and grace Christ comes to Peter and doesn’t wait for him to make the first move.
3. HE CHALLENGED HIM.
In John 21, not long after the resurrection, Peter and six other disciples have spent the night fishing. They end up catching nothing. In the morning a man calls from the shore telling them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat and they’ll catch fish. They end up catching so many fish they can’t haul them all in. When Peter realizes the man is Jesus he impulsively jumps in the water and begins swimming for shore. It turns out Peter and the disciples caught 153 fish by simply obeying Christ.
If Jesus was watching the disciples from the shore all night, why didn’t he speak up sooner? Why allow His men to toil for hours in frustration? The answer is;
THEY NEEDED TO FAIL
Failure was going to be the prerequisite to success. Let the night pass and the sun come up and these tired fishermen are ready to listen to the voice of the Lord. The Lord allows us to fail in our own strength so we may learn that only by His power we will ever succeed.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said; “Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can’t lose.” [Sound like any televangelists you know?] The disciples needed to fail so they could learn to depend on God for their victories. Sometimes it takes shameful failure for us to finally wake up and see our need of the Lord.
4. HE REINSTATED HIM.
After breakfast was over Peter and Jesus took a walk together. That’s the part of the story we know best.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes Lord you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon, son of John do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”-John 21:15-17
Peter had stood by one charcoal fire and three times he denied he ever knew Jesus. Now he stands with Jesus beside another fire and is given the opportunity to speak his love for Christ three times. Peter is finally restored by the Lord. Jesus didn’t make Peter feel guilty. He didn’t humiliate him publicly. He didn’t ask, “Are you sorry for what you did?” He doesn’t make him promise to do better. He just asks one question, “Do you love me?”
There’s a legend that Peter will meet us at the gates of heaven. While there’s no biblical proof of that, it would be appropriate for Peter to be there because he understood more than others what God’s grace really means.
In the light of this wonderful story of redemption of Simon Peter and the way his life was changed by the Lord, and his failure was forgiven, you and I cannot allow our failures to ever cause us to see ourselves as failures.
3. I CANNOT ALLOW MY DREAMS TO DIE- WHATEVER MY AGE.
Everyone needs dreams.
As someone has said, if you have no dream how will you ever have one come true. Dreams deliver us to a new reality when they come true. We need to follow our dreams, and never stop dreaming, though we reach 100 years of age.
In the book of second Kings the fourth chapter, there is a great story about just such an event. It’s called the story of the Shunammite woman and her son. Elisha passed by her home so often that she and her husband built a room or prophet’s chamber for him.
One day Elisha asked her how he could repay her for her hospitality. She replied that she had always wanted a child but her husband was now too old. Elisha gave her a word of prophecy that one year from that time, she and her husband would have a son. She reacted by telling the prophet not to lie to her, showing that her faith was weak in this area.
HER DREAMS DIED IN HER ARMS
None- the- less, in exactly one year the prophecy came true and she held a son in her arms. So now we have a dream that has come true for this woman. When the child got older he was with his father in the field one day and suddenly the boy ran to his dad complaining of pains in his head. They took him to his mother and horror of horrors, he died in her arms.
The woman immediately took her dead son, cradled him in her arms and went into the room she had built for the man of God, laying the lifeless child on the Prophet’s bed. So now, this woman has seen a dream come true, held the dream in her arms, then sees the dream, her son, die in her arms.
And what a wonderful woman this is. Look at all the great qualities she has. She’s a woman with a great sense of hospitality, and a great love for servants of God. After all she had her husband built the prophets chamber for Elisha. Certainly not a bitter woman.
Though she heretofore had been deprived of a child, she was still reaching out to others and loving them. Some women would have been so bitter that God had closed their womb they would never have wanted a man of God staying at their house. This woman must have had a right spirit, as she wanted to entertain God’s man in her home and help him in every way she could. There must have been an atmosphere of Faith and Godliness in this home. And now she has been given a miracle child, and that miracle is snatched from her arms.
Look at some of alternatives she had: this woman could go into a rage, start panicking and screaming and cursing, even cursing the God who had given her the gift and now so cruelly taken it from her. She could have gone on a tirade saying, “Well I quit. If that’s what God does to you, I want no more to do with him.” Some people blame God when bad things happen to them. I’ve seen folk who never again darkened a church door after life dealt them a disappointment similar to this. But you don’t see those kinds of hysterics with this woman. Instead, she tells her husband to tell the helpers to get a donkey ready for her. He reminded her that it was the Sabbath, but that didn’t seem to register with her, she was going to find Elisha.
Nothing would deter her. We’re not told how much trouble she had finding Elisha. It probably wasn’t all that easy, but she found him and when she found him at Carmel, she ran to him to tell him what had happened. When some people have trouble, they run from God, they stay out of church and hibernate. But this woman is going in the right direction. God is always the right direction.
When she found Elisha and told him what had happened, he was so sensitive to her need that he immediately sent his servant running ahead to place his staff on the child. Sadly, when this was done it failed to raise the boy.
The situation looked hopeless until Elisha arrived. He went into the room with the child and closed the door, stretching himself on the lad. When that failed to raise the child, he did it the second time and miraculously, the child came back to life.
What an amazing story, a story that would never have happened if the woman had not been a fighter. What if she had gotten so caught up in the finality of death that she collapsed in despair? What if she had let the discouragement of her husband stop her from going even if it was the Sabbath? She could have allowed a hundred things to divert her that day and her dream would have been over. She could have gotten mad at God for what seemed like a cruel joke played on her by granting her dream son and then taking him away. She could have even been angry enough at the man of God that she would never want to see him again. She could have said, “Well, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” She could have said, “Well I’m too old now to see another miracle, that’s it for me, after all, God works in mysterious ways.” But- The violent take it by force!
This story underscores the fact that just because a dream comes, doesn’t mean it can’t and won’t slip away. If it does, we must fight with everything within us to see it resurrected. There may be something in your life today that you need to fight for. Let me ask you about your dream, - how much do you want it? Are you going to give up without a fight? You may have laid your dream up on a shelf and it’s been there for years. It perhaps has grown dusty and parched with age. But I want to encourage you to take that dream off the shelf now and allow God to breathe life back into it. Do you believe it can happen? I know it can.
In Habakkuk, God told the prophet this: “Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it .For the vision is yet for an anointed time but at the end it shall speak, and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it: because it will surely come and will not tarry.”
The writing of the vision on tables speaks of the fact that sometimes while we wait; the vision or dream may fade. If it’s written on a table, it can always be read again and refreshed. Rarely when God gives a vision or dream does He give all the details of what will transpire before it comes to pass. Our challenge is to keep it close to our hearts and never let it go.
I cannot forget that. You cannot forget that.
Nothing can convince me to the contrary, our future holds-
RESURRECTED DREAMS!
Blessings,
John
1. I CANNOT FORGET WHO I AM
“Who do you think you are, anyway?”
I never did like that question. The reason I don’t like it is because it’s in the category of things that sound like a question- but isn’t. It’s a question that’s always asked when the “asker” thinks the “askee” thinks a little too highly of themselves. So knowing that, we know it’s not a question at all.
Care to hear a few more questions that are actually statements? Try this one. “And where have you been all day?” Now this question, it doesn’t matter who’s asking it, your parent or your spouse, is not—let me repeat-is not a question looking for an itinerary. What the “question” is telling you is—“Because you certainly weren’t where you were supposed to be—here!”
Here’s another one- one my mother probably asked me a thousand times; “So, Son, just how long are you planning on leaving your room in that condition—seeing that it runs contrary of the health laws of this state?”
Don’t- I’m telling you-don’t fall for that one. It isn’t a question. Heed this warning and don’t say-“Well, let’s see. Today’s Monday, Tuesday’s band practice, how about…” This sounds like a question but if you ever hear those words just remember, you’re not being asked for your schedule.
Here’s one for the married men; “Does this dress make me look fat?” Again, sounds like a question- but this is a test. Don’t hit that “tar-baby.” Husbands, learn to cry. Because at some point you’re gonna get cornered and the best thing you can do is weep these words, “Honey I really don’t know, but I do know I love you.” You’ve got to watch out for these questions that aren’t questions.
One more. “Sir, may I please see your license and registration?”
So going back to the original question, “who do you think you are” we clearly see it isn’t a question. The continuation of it would be, whether stated or not- “Because whoever you think you are, I want you to know I don’t think you’re that hot.” Trust me, this question, no matter who asks it, is never good news.
If you’re anything like me, when you’re alone with just your gut, you’ll ask yourself that question. “Really, who do I think I am?” When we have those times of introspection, often we’ll come face to face with ourselves and the masks we wear. We’ll find if we’re not careful the masks we put on to hide ourselves from others have been so effective- we don’t even know ourselves.
When we ask- “who do we think we are”- we could answer it from the point of view of the psychologist. They’ll tell us that who we are has a lot to do with something called the “genetic code.” Here’s something that a lot of folk use; -- “since my genes dictate the color of my eyes and hair and how crooked my teeth are, and to some extent my disposition and personality, I’ll just blame all my problems on my genes. It runs in my family.”
Our families will do a good job of telling us who we are. They’ll remark that you’re funny and you’re fun. They might also say they wish you’d have listened a bit more or that you are and have always been a holy terror. They might tell you that you are their most cherished possession or they may say you scare the beejeebers out of them. And there are always the teachers who’ll tell us we’re bright or that we’re average. Maybe they’ll say we’re just plain dumb, but they’ll tell us. Here’s the big one I always heard, “John has such potential, if he’d just apply himself a little more. [But he would not.”]
In the midst of all the influences, here we are in the corner staring into the middle of our soul asking the question-“Who do you really think you are? “When all these pieces of me come together, what’s the big picture?”
Knowing who we are is very important because if we don’t know, there are the voices of Ma and Pa, Jocks and Cheerleaders, Geeks and Jerks, Meatloaf Martha and Potato Salad Priscilla who’ll be glad to fill in the picture. If you’re not certain, those folks will be more than happy to tell you who you are or who you could be if you’d just…….
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
If we’re still confused we can just take a look at the things we’ve done or the things we do. We can look at our grades and try to claim some sort of identity through our scholastic achievements. If you are “ultra super cum laude” or valedictorian, you’ve got it made. Or flip it and be a school drop out. Don’t even try in life. Some people will try to claim some identity that way. Sadly, many people can’t tell who they “are” unless they’re high on some substance, and then they really know. Maybe getting pregnant will give some identity.
And none of these decisions we make by ourselves. There are the others, the advice, and the influences. Right? And there’s enough pressure in all of that to scare most of us to death. Here’s the tragic part. In this county alone, we perform at least ten funerals a day for teenagers who just can’t make it because the pressure of trying to discover who they are is just too overwhelming.
You and I can get some guidance from friends and family, strangers and enemies and everything others say about us may be exactly right. But hear this; whatever people say about us good or bad must be filtered through our core identity, -who we really are in essence. And that’s, -we are God’s creation and therefore God’s child and He’s never going to be mad at us, He’s too busy being mad about us. O, He won’t put up with too much “stuff” out of us, and He will probably take us to the woodshed now and then but He’ll always love and forgive us because we’re always and forever His Child. That’s who you are. That’s who I am. I cannot forget that!
2. I CANNOT ALLOW A FAILURE IN ONE AREA TO CONVINCE ME THAT MY LIFE IS A FAILURE.
Failure doesn’t mean that we’ve blown everything. It just means we have some hard lessons to learn.
Failure doesn’t mean we are permanent losers. It means we aren’t as smart as we thought we were.
It doesn’t mean we should give up. It means we need the Lord to show us the next step.
It doesn’t mean God has abandoned us. It means that He has a better plan.
I’d like to share with a story so shocking that we’re still talking about it 2000 years later. It’s the story of Simon Peter’s denial of Christ.
Peter was in charge of his failure.
Jesus was in charge of restoring him.
Behind this story lies a wonderful, liberating hope-filled truth assuring us that failure is an event not a destiny. This is good news because we all fail from time to time. If we’re prepared to be painfully honest we must admit we fail over and over again.
Those who’ve failed in a great way will truly appreciate this story. This story won’t greatly move you if you’ve only failed in a small way. But if you’ve known the shame of a large failure, then listen. This story is for you.
Failure, especially when we’ve failed someone we love deeply will set our mind into a swirl of emotions.
Embarrassment…Anger…Fear…Shame…Despair. We feel dirty and unworthy because we acted foolishly. When we have hurt someone we love deeply we want to know if they still love us or have we blown everything.
Will they forgive me?
Can I ever forgive myself?
As long as Peter lived he never forgot that terrible night he denied his Lord. Tradition says that he’d start weeping when he heard a rooster crow and that he’d wake up every night and pray during the hour when he denied the Lord.
How did Jesus restore His fallen disciple? The answer is;
1. HE SENT FOR HIM.
When the women arrived at the empty tomb on Sunday morning an angel announced the good news and instructed them to-“Go tell His disciples and Peter. Mark 16:7
Peter no doubt was wondering, “Who am I now? Am I a disciple or a traitor? That’s why Jesus asked for him separately to show He still held him in high esteem.
Peter had bragged about how brave he was and how he’d never desert Jesus but how wrong he was. Under pressure, the bold disciple turned to butter. But Jesus didn’t write Peter off and put him in the “biggest loser” category. Jesus still has plans for Peter, plans to use him, and plans to give him a second chance.
2. HE MET HIM
Where did Peter go after he denied Christ? We don’t know for certain. He probably spent the next hours in a miserable prison of self-imposed solitary confinement.
I’ve had failures and have made huge mistakes in my life and I can tell you when it happens we don’t want to be around people, especially the ones who know and love us best. Having let them down, it’s painful to see them. Sin isolates and separates us from God and from God’s people.
We aren’t told where Peter was during the crucifixion on Friday or during the burial that afternoon. We can guess that he retreated to some lonely spot to replay those awful memories in his mind and beat himself up again and ask, “Why? Why did I do it? What made me think I was so much better than the others? How could I have been so stupid?
Jesus made a special appearance to Peter sometime on Easter Sunday. We don’t know where or when precisely nor do we know how long the meeting lasted, but twice the New Testament says it took place. To wit;
It’s true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.—Luke 24:34
He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. 1 Cor. 15:4-5
This is especially heartening to me that Jesus met with Peter before he met with the rest of the disciples. Aren’t you glad that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?
What amazing grace. There will be no “Perp walk,” no public humiliation. Since Peter denied Christ, things must first be settled between the two of them. With wisdom and grace Christ comes to Peter and doesn’t wait for him to make the first move.
3. HE CHALLENGED HIM.
In John 21, not long after the resurrection, Peter and six other disciples have spent the night fishing. They end up catching nothing. In the morning a man calls from the shore telling them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat and they’ll catch fish. They end up catching so many fish they can’t haul them all in. When Peter realizes the man is Jesus he impulsively jumps in the water and begins swimming for shore. It turns out Peter and the disciples caught 153 fish by simply obeying Christ.
If Jesus was watching the disciples from the shore all night, why didn’t he speak up sooner? Why allow His men to toil for hours in frustration? The answer is;
THEY NEEDED TO FAIL
Failure was going to be the prerequisite to success. Let the night pass and the sun come up and these tired fishermen are ready to listen to the voice of the Lord. The Lord allows us to fail in our own strength so we may learn that only by His power we will ever succeed.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said; “Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can’t lose.” [Sound like any televangelists you know?] The disciples needed to fail so they could learn to depend on God for their victories. Sometimes it takes shameful failure for us to finally wake up and see our need of the Lord.
4. HE REINSTATED HIM.
After breakfast was over Peter and Jesus took a walk together. That’s the part of the story we know best.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes Lord you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon, son of John do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”-John 21:15-17
Peter had stood by one charcoal fire and three times he denied he ever knew Jesus. Now he stands with Jesus beside another fire and is given the opportunity to speak his love for Christ three times. Peter is finally restored by the Lord. Jesus didn’t make Peter feel guilty. He didn’t humiliate him publicly. He didn’t ask, “Are you sorry for what you did?” He doesn’t make him promise to do better. He just asks one question, “Do you love me?”
There’s a legend that Peter will meet us at the gates of heaven. While there’s no biblical proof of that, it would be appropriate for Peter to be there because he understood more than others what God’s grace really means.
In the light of this wonderful story of redemption of Simon Peter and the way his life was changed by the Lord, and his failure was forgiven, you and I cannot allow our failures to ever cause us to see ourselves as failures.
3. I CANNOT ALLOW MY DREAMS TO DIE- WHATEVER MY AGE.
Everyone needs dreams.
As someone has said, if you have no dream how will you ever have one come true. Dreams deliver us to a new reality when they come true. We need to follow our dreams, and never stop dreaming, though we reach 100 years of age.
In the book of second Kings the fourth chapter, there is a great story about just such an event. It’s called the story of the Shunammite woman and her son. Elisha passed by her home so often that she and her husband built a room or prophet’s chamber for him.
One day Elisha asked her how he could repay her for her hospitality. She replied that she had always wanted a child but her husband was now too old. Elisha gave her a word of prophecy that one year from that time, she and her husband would have a son. She reacted by telling the prophet not to lie to her, showing that her faith was weak in this area.
HER DREAMS DIED IN HER ARMS
None- the- less, in exactly one year the prophecy came true and she held a son in her arms. So now we have a dream that has come true for this woman. When the child got older he was with his father in the field one day and suddenly the boy ran to his dad complaining of pains in his head. They took him to his mother and horror of horrors, he died in her arms.
The woman immediately took her dead son, cradled him in her arms and went into the room she had built for the man of God, laying the lifeless child on the Prophet’s bed. So now, this woman has seen a dream come true, held the dream in her arms, then sees the dream, her son, die in her arms.
And what a wonderful woman this is. Look at all the great qualities she has. She’s a woman with a great sense of hospitality, and a great love for servants of God. After all she had her husband built the prophets chamber for Elisha. Certainly not a bitter woman.
Though she heretofore had been deprived of a child, she was still reaching out to others and loving them. Some women would have been so bitter that God had closed their womb they would never have wanted a man of God staying at their house. This woman must have had a right spirit, as she wanted to entertain God’s man in her home and help him in every way she could. There must have been an atmosphere of Faith and Godliness in this home. And now she has been given a miracle child, and that miracle is snatched from her arms.
Look at some of alternatives she had: this woman could go into a rage, start panicking and screaming and cursing, even cursing the God who had given her the gift and now so cruelly taken it from her. She could have gone on a tirade saying, “Well I quit. If that’s what God does to you, I want no more to do with him.” Some people blame God when bad things happen to them. I’ve seen folk who never again darkened a church door after life dealt them a disappointment similar to this. But you don’t see those kinds of hysterics with this woman. Instead, she tells her husband to tell the helpers to get a donkey ready for her. He reminded her that it was the Sabbath, but that didn’t seem to register with her, she was going to find Elisha.
Nothing would deter her. We’re not told how much trouble she had finding Elisha. It probably wasn’t all that easy, but she found him and when she found him at Carmel, she ran to him to tell him what had happened. When some people have trouble, they run from God, they stay out of church and hibernate. But this woman is going in the right direction. God is always the right direction.
When she found Elisha and told him what had happened, he was so sensitive to her need that he immediately sent his servant running ahead to place his staff on the child. Sadly, when this was done it failed to raise the boy.
The situation looked hopeless until Elisha arrived. He went into the room with the child and closed the door, stretching himself on the lad. When that failed to raise the child, he did it the second time and miraculously, the child came back to life.
What an amazing story, a story that would never have happened if the woman had not been a fighter. What if she had gotten so caught up in the finality of death that she collapsed in despair? What if she had let the discouragement of her husband stop her from going even if it was the Sabbath? She could have allowed a hundred things to divert her that day and her dream would have been over. She could have gotten mad at God for what seemed like a cruel joke played on her by granting her dream son and then taking him away. She could have even been angry enough at the man of God that she would never want to see him again. She could have said, “Well, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” She could have said, “Well I’m too old now to see another miracle, that’s it for me, after all, God works in mysterious ways.” But- The violent take it by force!
This story underscores the fact that just because a dream comes, doesn’t mean it can’t and won’t slip away. If it does, we must fight with everything within us to see it resurrected. There may be something in your life today that you need to fight for. Let me ask you about your dream, - how much do you want it? Are you going to give up without a fight? You may have laid your dream up on a shelf and it’s been there for years. It perhaps has grown dusty and parched with age. But I want to encourage you to take that dream off the shelf now and allow God to breathe life back into it. Do you believe it can happen? I know it can.
In Habakkuk, God told the prophet this: “Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it .For the vision is yet for an anointed time but at the end it shall speak, and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it: because it will surely come and will not tarry.”
The writing of the vision on tables speaks of the fact that sometimes while we wait; the vision or dream may fade. If it’s written on a table, it can always be read again and refreshed. Rarely when God gives a vision or dream does He give all the details of what will transpire before it comes to pass. Our challenge is to keep it close to our hearts and never let it go.
I cannot forget that. You cannot forget that.
Nothing can convince me to the contrary, our future holds-
RESURRECTED DREAMS!
Blessings,
John
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Catch Me If You Can
By John Stallings
The first grey streaks of dawn appeared and the young fugitive knew he must move on.
He traveled light because he was on the run. As he swung his backpack on, his mind wondered back over the last months. It felt as if he’d been on the road all his life. He knew every back trail, every village, every cave, every gully, and every place a man could hide for a few hours. Such was his life lately. Such had been and would be his life for most of his twenties.
As any man whose home is the road knows there were good days are bad days. Today he didn’t have to concern himself with eating breakfast because there was nothing to eat. As dawn appeared- down the dusty winding road he went; a road that seemed to lead nowhere in particular.
The tattered traveler came to the top of a hill & surveyed the valley below. There sat a small village, rather non-descript; just a few buildings with a large tent in the middle. Hopefully our fugitive might find some food for his empty stomach in this little backwater town.
NOB
The village he is viewing is called Nob. Eighty-five priests of God live here & it’s also home to High Priest Ahimelech and home to the Tabernacle.
The fugitive has run out of options. He didn’t really want to come to this place but as detectives say, “he had a tail.” A mad man was tracking him and he had no choice but to stop in this village & try to get help. He has the “street- cred” to know “you play the hand you’re dealt.”
Though the fugitive basically had a good character, in his present state of affairs he’d lie or do just about anything to stay alive.
This story begins in 1 Samuel 21.
DAVID VERSUS SAUL
The fugitive is young David and he’s being hotly pursued by King Saul. It should not be forgotten that this traveler had been anointed by the prophet Samuel years earlier as the future king of Israel. Now his only royal distinction was—king of the road.
There are few men in the Bible that attract our attention as much as David. He’s mentioned more than any other man in the Bible except Jesus. From the time Goliath’s body hits the ground until he was anointed king, in spite of the mistakes he made and repented in bitter tears, we come to understand why David is the only man in the Word of God who’s called: “A man after God’s own heart.”
It’s important as we look at this story to remember that it’s not irrelevant to our lives. This is a cautionary tale God had recorded for a reason -as we’ll see.
What makes this particular story stab the heart is the fact that David had never done anything to Saul but show him compassion and respect. Saul had gotten his nose out of joint out of jealousy of young David who was Israel’s ‘boy wonder,” and greatly loved by everyone. But as we know, life isn’t always fair; it certainly wasn’t in this instance.
After a meeting with Jonathan, David went straight into the wilderness to begin his years on the LAM. He’s smart enough to know how to pull some strings, or call in a few favors so his first stop will be Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. David and Ahimelech go way back. When Ahimelech answered his door-bell and saw David, he trembled & asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
SITUATIONAL ETHICS
When David entered the desert he had some very real needs. He has no weaponry, no food, no water “no nothing.” Those needs will have to be met if he’s to stay alive. The important thing is, how will David choose to meet those needs? Answer: David resorts to situational ethics meaning--the end justifies the means.
We see it all the time in our day. We see it in our government, in our churches, even our own lives; doing things that hurt other people in the name of expediency.
Now David is going to tell a whopper of a lie. He says to Ahimelech, “The king [Saul] charged me with a certain matter & said to me, -- no one is to know anything about your mission & your instructions.”— David didn’t place all his cards on the table. Or put it another way-David lied.
David was running from Saul, not conducting a secret mission for him. He must have sounded convincing because Ahimelech bought it without question. But it was still a lie. David lied because he was between a rock and a hard place. Saul was trying to kill him. After so long on the road a man gets desperate and he says whatever he has to say to stay alive. David never meant to hurt anyone with his fabrication. Oh- but he did.
“OH WHAT TANGLED WEBS WE WEAVE …..”
David is telling lies that are so preposterous the truth would have sounded better. A small boy was asked to describe what a lie was and he said; “A lie is an abomination unto the Lord, but an ever present help in time of need.” I’m not sure which translations the kid was reading.
THE PLOT THICKENS
Someone else was in Nob that day. A certain someone knows who David is and knows David is telling a lie. His name was Doeg the Edo mite. He was Saul’s head shepherd, - one of Saul’s hired guns. He saw David and David saw him. And Doeg saw Ahimelech give several loaves of consecrated tabernacle bread or- “bread of the presence” to David.
Why did God allow David to see Doeg that day? He knows Doeg will “high-tail” it to Saul and tell him he saw David. Doeg is nothing short of a mercenary and won’t fail to use this information to ingratiate himself with the king. David also knows what that will mean to his old friend Ahimelech. IMHO God allowed this sighting of Doeg to give David another chance to come to his senses and do the right thing here. But alas, David doesn’t do the right thing; he does the quickest thing which is almost always wrong. David cares about no one but himself right now and is probably whistling-“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, glory- hallelujah.”
Just before David leaves town he says to Abimelech, “Oh, by the way, you don’t happen to have a sword handy do you? I left mine back at home”? Now David makes an attempt at putting himself into “Oscar’s best actor” contention “by adding, -“……Because the King’s business is urgent.” It turns out that among David’s other talents; he’s also a “drama-king.” He’s acting his brains out. When we tell one lie we usually have to tell another one to prop it up.
Ahimelech replied, “The sword of Goliath whom you killed as a boy in the Valley of Elah is here; it’s wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword but that one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” [1 Samuel 21:9]
David, what’s gotten into you? First you lie then you lie again. Now you’ve taken the sword of Goliath, the giant you defeated-- to fight your battles. David, have you lost your mind? Where is God in all this? When you were just a shepherd boy you faced Goliath & all you needed was one stone from your sling. Now are you going to use the weapon of the man you killed with a rock?
David was wrong when he took the consecrated bread and now he’s wrong again by taking the sword that had been consecrated to the Lord because it stood for Israel’s victory over the Philistines.
Yes, in a sense, David has lost his mind. Another old saying goes, -- “Honesty is the best policy but insanity is the best defense.” If you cut a man off from his friends and family and put him in the wilderness, it does strange things to him. The constant pressure pulls at him until it wears him down. Things he swore he’d never do now don’t seem so bad.
Up to this point in his life David had done everything right. He has been the absolute model of faith, obedience, courage, integrity and devotion to God and to his king. But he is still a very young man who is living a long way from his family and home because he’s a fugitive on the run from King Saul. David needed some stability in his life but for the time being that had gone.
DAVID HAD BECOME USED TO POSITION & POPULARITY
A humble shepherd boy had been promoted to a captain over a thousand in Saul’s army and he had all the popularity that came with that. David had leaned on the support of people but now in this trying hour that support had been dismantled.
David had the support of his wife Michal. He also had the support of Saul’s son Jonathan who loved him more than his own father. Then David had the support of the prophet Samuel who’d taught him about sacrifice, service & worship. Samuel was a significant support to David during his early years.
It’s wonderful to have supports, props & crutches in our lives to help us make it. Praise God if He’s been gracious to you and given you an adequate support network in your life.
BUT DAVID’S SUPPORT SYSTEM HAS BEEN DISMANTLED.
Think of it. Think of all David had lost and how far he’d slipped to now be a desert dweller, begging for sustenance. David had been the greatest battlefield hero his nation had ever known and now he was a fugitive from justice.
David had also lost his popularity, his people and his pride and was now relegated to a distant memory. He’d been removed from the public eye. People assumed Saul would be successful in his attempts to take David’s life. Every person upon whom David had leaned in his life was taken away.
The lowest place a man can come to is the place where he loses his pride. Now all that David had to cling to have been stripped away.
His lies were acts of fear but taking Goliath’s sword was an act of desperation. First there’s fear, then there is a lie, then desperation, but the worst is yet to come.
Fear drove David to lie to Ahimelech. Fear drove him to take Goliath’s sword. Now fear drives him to do the strangest thing he has ever done.
NEXT DAVID GOES TO GATH
Gath? Haven’t we heard that name somewhere? Yes, we have. Gath is in Philistine territory. That means it’s not in Israel; it’s foreign to David. But wait; Gath is also the hometown of Goliath, enemy territory. Why would David do something like this?
It’s hard to know but we can imagine he was thinking, --no one would ever look for him there. -- So now David’s in Gath with Goliath’s people. The man of God is hiding in the enemy’s camp. It was an outright act of spiritual treason. God’s people were to have nothing to do with the Philistines. They were to be separated from the surrounding nations. But David looked around and said, “This looks like the quickest way out.”
The greatest temptation when we’re in trouble is to take the quickest way out. You and I can write this next principle down; -- when in trouble, the quickest way out is almost always wrong.” When we go over to the world’s side and compromise our convictions, disaster is soon to follow.
DAVID HAS A MELT-DOWN
Once David realizes he’s been seen and recognized, he plunges headlong into an act of madness. He feared what might happen to him so he –“pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 1 Sam. 21:13
Have you ever seen someone put on a crazy act, but then you realized if they were sick enough to be that convincing, they in actuality had a “screw loose.” IMHO, you can’t play-act like someone who’s “lost it” without having some level of emotional disturbance, at least for the moment. Can we say Mel Gibson? Keep in mind this is the man who won the greatest military victory in Israel’s’ history, the victory over Goliath and the Philistines, Israel’s arch enemy.
David’s compromise [ostensibly play acting] didn’t work. All it got him was thrown out of Gath. Now he’s back on his own and back on the run. First there is fear, then the lie, then desperation, then compromise and now humiliation.
DAVID WILL SOON BECOME THE CAPTIAN OF CROOKS AND THE DUKE OF DEADBEATS.
Still on the run, David comes to a place called the Cave of Adullam. Chapter 22:1 tells us that his family went to meet him there. Now he’s back in Israel. David has basically reached bottom and is on his way back. Then we’re told that “all those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him and he became their leader.”
About four hundred men were now with David; the exiled king and his rag-tag army. Every crook and troublemaker came out to join him. David was now the captain of crooks & the duke of deadbeats. As David grew spiritually, these men began to grow & they would one day become his mighty men. In later years his greatest warriors would come from this motley crew.
DAVID FINALLY STARTS TO WALK WITH GOD AGAIN.
Living in a cave changes David and as he changes, his men change. Some parents tell their children --“Don’t do as I do-- do as I say do.” But you and I know that’s never what actually happens. The reality is, in the end our children will do what we do. All David has to do to change these 400 hoodlums huddling in this cave with him is to start doing right & they’ll follow suit. It’s here that David again becomes a force to be reckoned with.
The story should be over but it isn’t, not yet. There are a few loose ends dangling that need to be tied up. Whatever happened to Doeg the Edomite & Ahimelech?
Let’s return to the village of Nob for a moment. Things are quiet, -too quiet. There’s not a sound in that little village of priests. There never was much noise but now all you hear is the wind whistling through the bushes. It’s deathly quiet. Tumbleweeds are rolling around and overhead the vultures are circling. In the hot sun dismembered bodies lie on the ground. They’ve been hacked to death in some kind of execution. Eighty-five priests are dead along with their families. A whole village has been wiped out.
WHAT HAPPENED HERE? WHO DID THIS?
Doeg the Edomite told Saul that he had seen Ahimelech give the sacred bread to David. Keep in mind; Ahimelech believed David’s lie that he was on a mission for King Saul. He’d acted out of patriotism but Saul called him out and accused him of treason for aiding and abetting David, a fugitive. Ahimelech had no way of knowing David had told him a lie but he will now pay with his life. When Saul ordered the priests killed, his own soldiers wouldn’t do it because the priests were servants of the Lord.
But Doeg was an Edomite, a foreigner and a lackey for Saul and priests meant nothing to him. So the whole village was wiped out. Only one man lived to tell the story and his name was Abiather. Somehow he found David and told him what happened at Nob. David’s reaction in 1 Sam. 22:22 is, ---That day when Doeg the Edomite was there I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your father’s whole family.
David thought he could get away with the lies and the charade but he couldn’t and didn’t. He knew Doeg was there and he knew he’d tell Saul but he was so wrapped up in himself and his own problems that he acted out of self-interest and didn’t level with Ahimeleck.
Who killed the priests of Nob? Who is really responsible for the tragedy? Not Doeg, not Saul- but David. David’s hands were dripping with the blood of the innocent people of Nob.
LOOK AT THE MALIGNANT GROWTH OF SIN
First there is selfishness, then fear, then desperation, then compromise, then humiliation and finally disaster. The saddest part of the story is that David never intended for things to end up like this. Not in a million years. He lied to get food and it seemed justifiable at the time. Most of us would have done the same thing.
If David had stopped to think, if he’d even dreamed of such a thing he’d never have told the lie. But he didn’t think. He didn’t dream, he just lied.
NO ONE EVER GETS AWAY WITH SIN
Numbers 32: 23 says, -- Be sure your sin will find you out. Galatians 6:7 says…….a man reaps what he sows. The chickens always come home to roost and the skeletons always eventually come out of the closet.
This story is so powerful because many of us are like David. We cut corners morally and ethically, we make excuses for our small sins and under pressure we do things we shouldn’t do. All the while we’re like fugitives, running, hiding always looking over our shoulder, hoping against hope we won’t get caught today.
GOD’S SEVERE MERCY
But even though David committed such horrendous sins he’s still God’s man and God is going to use him. This brings up the question; couldn’t God have supplied David’s need for food so that he didn’t have to bother Ahimelech in the first place? The answer is yes.
Why did God allow David to disobey knowing that a whole village would be wiped out in the process? It’s not possible for us to fully understand God’s ways but this much we know; God allowed this so that David would humble himself and realize that left to himself he’d ruin his own life. Sadly this is a case of severe mercy because a city was destroyed in order for the lesson to be learned.
As we’ve already said, we can lean on many things in this world. Some people lean on a pill, some on a needle & some on a bottle. What are you leaning on today?
Are you leaning on a spiritual spouse who prays for you? Are you leaning on people or things more than you trust in the Lord?
Is your support system keeping you from looking to God for the real support you need? Every plank in my support system can fail but God will never fail me.
God is famous for dismantling men’s support systems and the process is painful, but it helps us to learn to lean on Him-- and Him alone.
When at last David got back to his own country on his own turf, resting safely in the cave of Adullum, reflecting on the events in Gath, he wrote Psalm 34. If you check, you’ll see the inscription at the top of the chapter--“When David feigned madness before Ahimelech.”
There in the cave of Adullam, gradually God restored David to his spiritual roots. In Adullam David wrote Psalm 34, one of the classic descriptions of true spirituality;
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear it & rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
Then David refers to the specific events of his deliverance;
I sought the Lord & He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him & were radiant,
And their faces shall never be ashamed.
THIS POOR MAN cried & the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
This brings me to the final point in this story: When we sin, someone is going to have to pay the price. In this case an entire village of innocent people paid the price.
The one overarching quality David possessed that made him a –Man after God’s own heart- was his willingness to repent. Saul on the other hand didn’t seem to ever be able to do it. The javelin he threw at David started the manhunt that lasted nearly ten years. But in a sense, that javelin never stopped traveling & years later it found Saul & pierced his heart on Mount Gilboa.
The good news of the gospel is that God specializes in forgiving sinners.
Whenever we’re ready to turn for home, the Heavenly Father will meet us on the way.
Blessings,
John
The first grey streaks of dawn appeared and the young fugitive knew he must move on.
He traveled light because he was on the run. As he swung his backpack on, his mind wondered back over the last months. It felt as if he’d been on the road all his life. He knew every back trail, every village, every cave, every gully, and every place a man could hide for a few hours. Such was his life lately. Such had been and would be his life for most of his twenties.
As any man whose home is the road knows there were good days are bad days. Today he didn’t have to concern himself with eating breakfast because there was nothing to eat. As dawn appeared- down the dusty winding road he went; a road that seemed to lead nowhere in particular.
The tattered traveler came to the top of a hill & surveyed the valley below. There sat a small village, rather non-descript; just a few buildings with a large tent in the middle. Hopefully our fugitive might find some food for his empty stomach in this little backwater town.
NOB
The village he is viewing is called Nob. Eighty-five priests of God live here & it’s also home to High Priest Ahimelech and home to the Tabernacle.
The fugitive has run out of options. He didn’t really want to come to this place but as detectives say, “he had a tail.” A mad man was tracking him and he had no choice but to stop in this village & try to get help. He has the “street- cred” to know “you play the hand you’re dealt.”
Though the fugitive basically had a good character, in his present state of affairs he’d lie or do just about anything to stay alive.
This story begins in 1 Samuel 21.
DAVID VERSUS SAUL
The fugitive is young David and he’s being hotly pursued by King Saul. It should not be forgotten that this traveler had been anointed by the prophet Samuel years earlier as the future king of Israel. Now his only royal distinction was—king of the road.
There are few men in the Bible that attract our attention as much as David. He’s mentioned more than any other man in the Bible except Jesus. From the time Goliath’s body hits the ground until he was anointed king, in spite of the mistakes he made and repented in bitter tears, we come to understand why David is the only man in the Word of God who’s called: “A man after God’s own heart.”
It’s important as we look at this story to remember that it’s not irrelevant to our lives. This is a cautionary tale God had recorded for a reason -as we’ll see.
What makes this particular story stab the heart is the fact that David had never done anything to Saul but show him compassion and respect. Saul had gotten his nose out of joint out of jealousy of young David who was Israel’s ‘boy wonder,” and greatly loved by everyone. But as we know, life isn’t always fair; it certainly wasn’t in this instance.
After a meeting with Jonathan, David went straight into the wilderness to begin his years on the LAM. He’s smart enough to know how to pull some strings, or call in a few favors so his first stop will be Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. David and Ahimelech go way back. When Ahimelech answered his door-bell and saw David, he trembled & asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
SITUATIONAL ETHICS
When David entered the desert he had some very real needs. He has no weaponry, no food, no water “no nothing.” Those needs will have to be met if he’s to stay alive. The important thing is, how will David choose to meet those needs? Answer: David resorts to situational ethics meaning--the end justifies the means.
We see it all the time in our day. We see it in our government, in our churches, even our own lives; doing things that hurt other people in the name of expediency.
Now David is going to tell a whopper of a lie. He says to Ahimelech, “The king [Saul] charged me with a certain matter & said to me, -- no one is to know anything about your mission & your instructions.”— David didn’t place all his cards on the table. Or put it another way-David lied.
David was running from Saul, not conducting a secret mission for him. He must have sounded convincing because Ahimelech bought it without question. But it was still a lie. David lied because he was between a rock and a hard place. Saul was trying to kill him. After so long on the road a man gets desperate and he says whatever he has to say to stay alive. David never meant to hurt anyone with his fabrication. Oh- but he did.
“OH WHAT TANGLED WEBS WE WEAVE …..”
David is telling lies that are so preposterous the truth would have sounded better. A small boy was asked to describe what a lie was and he said; “A lie is an abomination unto the Lord, but an ever present help in time of need.” I’m not sure which translations the kid was reading.
THE PLOT THICKENS
Someone else was in Nob that day. A certain someone knows who David is and knows David is telling a lie. His name was Doeg the Edo mite. He was Saul’s head shepherd, - one of Saul’s hired guns. He saw David and David saw him. And Doeg saw Ahimelech give several loaves of consecrated tabernacle bread or- “bread of the presence” to David.
Why did God allow David to see Doeg that day? He knows Doeg will “high-tail” it to Saul and tell him he saw David. Doeg is nothing short of a mercenary and won’t fail to use this information to ingratiate himself with the king. David also knows what that will mean to his old friend Ahimelech. IMHO God allowed this sighting of Doeg to give David another chance to come to his senses and do the right thing here. But alas, David doesn’t do the right thing; he does the quickest thing which is almost always wrong. David cares about no one but himself right now and is probably whistling-“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, glory- hallelujah.”
Just before David leaves town he says to Abimelech, “Oh, by the way, you don’t happen to have a sword handy do you? I left mine back at home”? Now David makes an attempt at putting himself into “Oscar’s best actor” contention “by adding, -“……Because the King’s business is urgent.” It turns out that among David’s other talents; he’s also a “drama-king.” He’s acting his brains out. When we tell one lie we usually have to tell another one to prop it up.
Ahimelech replied, “The sword of Goliath whom you killed as a boy in the Valley of Elah is here; it’s wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword but that one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” [1 Samuel 21:9]
David, what’s gotten into you? First you lie then you lie again. Now you’ve taken the sword of Goliath, the giant you defeated-- to fight your battles. David, have you lost your mind? Where is God in all this? When you were just a shepherd boy you faced Goliath & all you needed was one stone from your sling. Now are you going to use the weapon of the man you killed with a rock?
David was wrong when he took the consecrated bread and now he’s wrong again by taking the sword that had been consecrated to the Lord because it stood for Israel’s victory over the Philistines.
Yes, in a sense, David has lost his mind. Another old saying goes, -- “Honesty is the best policy but insanity is the best defense.” If you cut a man off from his friends and family and put him in the wilderness, it does strange things to him. The constant pressure pulls at him until it wears him down. Things he swore he’d never do now don’t seem so bad.
Up to this point in his life David had done everything right. He has been the absolute model of faith, obedience, courage, integrity and devotion to God and to his king. But he is still a very young man who is living a long way from his family and home because he’s a fugitive on the run from King Saul. David needed some stability in his life but for the time being that had gone.
DAVID HAD BECOME USED TO POSITION & POPULARITY
A humble shepherd boy had been promoted to a captain over a thousand in Saul’s army and he had all the popularity that came with that. David had leaned on the support of people but now in this trying hour that support had been dismantled.
David had the support of his wife Michal. He also had the support of Saul’s son Jonathan who loved him more than his own father. Then David had the support of the prophet Samuel who’d taught him about sacrifice, service & worship. Samuel was a significant support to David during his early years.
It’s wonderful to have supports, props & crutches in our lives to help us make it. Praise God if He’s been gracious to you and given you an adequate support network in your life.
BUT DAVID’S SUPPORT SYSTEM HAS BEEN DISMANTLED.
Think of it. Think of all David had lost and how far he’d slipped to now be a desert dweller, begging for sustenance. David had been the greatest battlefield hero his nation had ever known and now he was a fugitive from justice.
David had also lost his popularity, his people and his pride and was now relegated to a distant memory. He’d been removed from the public eye. People assumed Saul would be successful in his attempts to take David’s life. Every person upon whom David had leaned in his life was taken away.
The lowest place a man can come to is the place where he loses his pride. Now all that David had to cling to have been stripped away.
His lies were acts of fear but taking Goliath’s sword was an act of desperation. First there’s fear, then there is a lie, then desperation, but the worst is yet to come.
Fear drove David to lie to Ahimelech. Fear drove him to take Goliath’s sword. Now fear drives him to do the strangest thing he has ever done.
NEXT DAVID GOES TO GATH
Gath? Haven’t we heard that name somewhere? Yes, we have. Gath is in Philistine territory. That means it’s not in Israel; it’s foreign to David. But wait; Gath is also the hometown of Goliath, enemy territory. Why would David do something like this?
It’s hard to know but we can imagine he was thinking, --no one would ever look for him there. -- So now David’s in Gath with Goliath’s people. The man of God is hiding in the enemy’s camp. It was an outright act of spiritual treason. God’s people were to have nothing to do with the Philistines. They were to be separated from the surrounding nations. But David looked around and said, “This looks like the quickest way out.”
The greatest temptation when we’re in trouble is to take the quickest way out. You and I can write this next principle down; -- when in trouble, the quickest way out is almost always wrong.” When we go over to the world’s side and compromise our convictions, disaster is soon to follow.
DAVID HAS A MELT-DOWN
Once David realizes he’s been seen and recognized, he plunges headlong into an act of madness. He feared what might happen to him so he –“pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 1 Sam. 21:13
Have you ever seen someone put on a crazy act, but then you realized if they were sick enough to be that convincing, they in actuality had a “screw loose.” IMHO, you can’t play-act like someone who’s “lost it” without having some level of emotional disturbance, at least for the moment. Can we say Mel Gibson? Keep in mind this is the man who won the greatest military victory in Israel’s’ history, the victory over Goliath and the Philistines, Israel’s arch enemy.
David’s compromise [ostensibly play acting] didn’t work. All it got him was thrown out of Gath. Now he’s back on his own and back on the run. First there is fear, then the lie, then desperation, then compromise and now humiliation.
DAVID WILL SOON BECOME THE CAPTIAN OF CROOKS AND THE DUKE OF DEADBEATS.
Still on the run, David comes to a place called the Cave of Adullam. Chapter 22:1 tells us that his family went to meet him there. Now he’s back in Israel. David has basically reached bottom and is on his way back. Then we’re told that “all those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him and he became their leader.”
About four hundred men were now with David; the exiled king and his rag-tag army. Every crook and troublemaker came out to join him. David was now the captain of crooks & the duke of deadbeats. As David grew spiritually, these men began to grow & they would one day become his mighty men. In later years his greatest warriors would come from this motley crew.
DAVID FINALLY STARTS TO WALK WITH GOD AGAIN.
Living in a cave changes David and as he changes, his men change. Some parents tell their children --“Don’t do as I do-- do as I say do.” But you and I know that’s never what actually happens. The reality is, in the end our children will do what we do. All David has to do to change these 400 hoodlums huddling in this cave with him is to start doing right & they’ll follow suit. It’s here that David again becomes a force to be reckoned with.
The story should be over but it isn’t, not yet. There are a few loose ends dangling that need to be tied up. Whatever happened to Doeg the Edomite & Ahimelech?
Let’s return to the village of Nob for a moment. Things are quiet, -too quiet. There’s not a sound in that little village of priests. There never was much noise but now all you hear is the wind whistling through the bushes. It’s deathly quiet. Tumbleweeds are rolling around and overhead the vultures are circling. In the hot sun dismembered bodies lie on the ground. They’ve been hacked to death in some kind of execution. Eighty-five priests are dead along with their families. A whole village has been wiped out.
WHAT HAPPENED HERE? WHO DID THIS?
Doeg the Edomite told Saul that he had seen Ahimelech give the sacred bread to David. Keep in mind; Ahimelech believed David’s lie that he was on a mission for King Saul. He’d acted out of patriotism but Saul called him out and accused him of treason for aiding and abetting David, a fugitive. Ahimelech had no way of knowing David had told him a lie but he will now pay with his life. When Saul ordered the priests killed, his own soldiers wouldn’t do it because the priests were servants of the Lord.
But Doeg was an Edomite, a foreigner and a lackey for Saul and priests meant nothing to him. So the whole village was wiped out. Only one man lived to tell the story and his name was Abiather. Somehow he found David and told him what happened at Nob. David’s reaction in 1 Sam. 22:22 is, ---That day when Doeg the Edomite was there I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your father’s whole family.
David thought he could get away with the lies and the charade but he couldn’t and didn’t. He knew Doeg was there and he knew he’d tell Saul but he was so wrapped up in himself and his own problems that he acted out of self-interest and didn’t level with Ahimeleck.
Who killed the priests of Nob? Who is really responsible for the tragedy? Not Doeg, not Saul- but David. David’s hands were dripping with the blood of the innocent people of Nob.
LOOK AT THE MALIGNANT GROWTH OF SIN
First there is selfishness, then fear, then desperation, then compromise, then humiliation and finally disaster. The saddest part of the story is that David never intended for things to end up like this. Not in a million years. He lied to get food and it seemed justifiable at the time. Most of us would have done the same thing.
If David had stopped to think, if he’d even dreamed of such a thing he’d never have told the lie. But he didn’t think. He didn’t dream, he just lied.
NO ONE EVER GETS AWAY WITH SIN
Numbers 32: 23 says, -- Be sure your sin will find you out. Galatians 6:7 says…….a man reaps what he sows. The chickens always come home to roost and the skeletons always eventually come out of the closet.
This story is so powerful because many of us are like David. We cut corners morally and ethically, we make excuses for our small sins and under pressure we do things we shouldn’t do. All the while we’re like fugitives, running, hiding always looking over our shoulder, hoping against hope we won’t get caught today.
GOD’S SEVERE MERCY
But even though David committed such horrendous sins he’s still God’s man and God is going to use him. This brings up the question; couldn’t God have supplied David’s need for food so that he didn’t have to bother Ahimelech in the first place? The answer is yes.
Why did God allow David to disobey knowing that a whole village would be wiped out in the process? It’s not possible for us to fully understand God’s ways but this much we know; God allowed this so that David would humble himself and realize that left to himself he’d ruin his own life. Sadly this is a case of severe mercy because a city was destroyed in order for the lesson to be learned.
As we’ve already said, we can lean on many things in this world. Some people lean on a pill, some on a needle & some on a bottle. What are you leaning on today?
Are you leaning on a spiritual spouse who prays for you? Are you leaning on people or things more than you trust in the Lord?
Is your support system keeping you from looking to God for the real support you need? Every plank in my support system can fail but God will never fail me.
God is famous for dismantling men’s support systems and the process is painful, but it helps us to learn to lean on Him-- and Him alone.
When at last David got back to his own country on his own turf, resting safely in the cave of Adullum, reflecting on the events in Gath, he wrote Psalm 34. If you check, you’ll see the inscription at the top of the chapter--“When David feigned madness before Ahimelech.”
There in the cave of Adullam, gradually God restored David to his spiritual roots. In Adullam David wrote Psalm 34, one of the classic descriptions of true spirituality;
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear it & rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
Then David refers to the specific events of his deliverance;
I sought the Lord & He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him & were radiant,
And their faces shall never be ashamed.
THIS POOR MAN cried & the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
This brings me to the final point in this story: When we sin, someone is going to have to pay the price. In this case an entire village of innocent people paid the price.
The one overarching quality David possessed that made him a –Man after God’s own heart- was his willingness to repent. Saul on the other hand didn’t seem to ever be able to do it. The javelin he threw at David started the manhunt that lasted nearly ten years. But in a sense, that javelin never stopped traveling & years later it found Saul & pierced his heart on Mount Gilboa.
The good news of the gospel is that God specializes in forgiving sinners.
Whenever we’re ready to turn for home, the Heavenly Father will meet us on the way.
Blessings,
John
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Passing The Buck
By John Stallings
A baseball team was having problems with their center-fielder.
Smith played the position but it seemed every fly-ball that came his way he’d get his glove on it but couldn’t catch it. During one game this was happening repeatedly.
Finally the coach took Smith out and put in a very good center-fielder named Jones. Jones ran out into center field with his game face on and a great show of confidence as if to say, there’ll be no more errors today. Low and behold, every fly ball that came toward Jones was dropped- to his utter embarrassment.
After a few more misses by Jones the coach had to remove him because he wasn’t doing any better than Smith. So out to center field runs the newbie, a man named Clark. Now things would pick up. To the utter astonishment of the fans, every single fly ball that went out to Clark went right through his glove just as it had Jones and Smiths.’ The coach went out to talk to Clark saying that if he didn’t stop making errors, he’d have to replace him as he did the others.
The very next fly ball that came to Clark was dropped. He stormed off the field in total disgust and was heard to say as he walked along the sidelines, “those guys have got center field so messed up nobody could play it now.”
I did a little research on the meaning and origins of the term “buck-passing.” As I understand it the odd expression appears to have come from the old days during card games where passing the buck was actually buckshot. A token was used in a game to show who was next to deal---a bit of buckshot. In order to designate who had responsibility for dealing next, you would literally pass the buckshot. This was later shortened to buck. Over time, the phrase “passing the buck” came to mean that you pass responsibility onto someone or something else.
How often in an average day do we hear, “You did it” “you caused it”- "Don’t look at me’-“you’re to blame” “I did nothing wrong”- “I’m innocent.” We do this almost as a natural reflex. Blame is so easy to dish out, isn’t it?
In the last few weeks of watching the news I’ve heard the term used dozens of times by politicians, most recently by the president. Speaking of presidents; you’ve most likely heard that President Harry Truman was famous for keeping a small plague on his desk reading “The Buck Stops Here.”
In the few months of the oil gush, we’ve seen and heard the buck passed numbers of times. There are more versions of “The dog ate my homework” than I ever knew existed. President Reagan kept a plaque on his desk saying, “There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” It seems to me our present leaders could have one that read, “There’s no limit to the credit you can get if you don’t care who did the accomplishing.”
We see buck-passing in smokers with self-imposed addictions attempting to get millions from tobacco companies by shifting the blame for their habit, obviously unable to read the ominous warnings from The Surgeon General on each pack.
We see it in public officials every time they pass the blame for some failure to their predecessors.
THE BLAME GAME
Passing the buck happens when you blame other people for your problems. It’s a way of explaining why life hasn’t worked out the way you would like. You’ve been treated unfairly; you’ve ended up on the short end of the stick; you’ve been dealt a lousy hand of cards. You’re a victim. And that’s how you get through life—by blaming other people for the bad things that happen to you.
If you’re late turning in a report at work, that’s easy. You just say, “I would have turned it in earlier but Frank was late getting the statistics to me.”
If you lose your job, it’s because the boss was unreasonable, he didn’t understand you, he had it in for you, and he hated you from the moment you walked into the office.
—If you didn’t keep a promise, it’s because you were too busy doing other things.
—If you failed to do your homework, it’s because your roommate borrowed the textbook and wouldn’t give it back.
—If you lost your temper, it’s because “they” provoked you.
- If a relationship ended, it couldn’t have been your fault. Of course not. You are a nice person.
The other person was a creep. That’s all there is to it.
Sound familiar? It ought to. Most of us know all too well about being a victim. Years ago we learned the victim’s battle cry—"It’s not my fault.” We’re not always sure whose fault it is, but we know it’s not our fault.
Who me? Couldn’t be. Impossible. Unthinkable.
But if it’s not us, it must be somebody else. Maybe it’s Jones or Smith. Our parents, possibly. It’s popular to blame parents nowadays for every kind of psychological illness. If it’s not our parents, then it’s probably our brothers or sisters. They never treated us right. We were always overlooked. But if not our parents, the world is still full of candidates.
It could be our grandparents who messed us up. Or maybe it was the friends we ran around with in high school. Maybe we ran with the wrong crowd and they corrupted us, or maybe we ran with the good crowd and we ended up too good for our own good. Of course, you can always blame your husband. After all, he’s probably just a bone-head. Or you can blame your wife. She’s far from perfect. Or maybe it’s the people where you work.
ADAM AND EVE – CLASSIC BUCK-PASSERS
There’s a reason why we’re so good at the blame game. We make excuses because excuse-making is in our family tree. It’s in our spiritual bloodstream. When we pass the buck, we’re only doing what our ancestors did.
Let’s roll the tape backwards to the Garden of Eden. Let’s focus our lens right after Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit. To the untrained eye, it still looks like paradise. Adam has just eaten the fruit and a silly, guilty grin slides across his face. He knows he’s done something wrong, but he has no idea what is about to happen next.
It happens so fast. He looks at Eve and notices something he never saw before. She doesn’t have any clothes on. That’s a shock to him. Then he looks down. He’s naked too. The thought crosses his mind, “We better cover ourselves up.”
But where did that thought come from? It came from a mind that has just had its first encounter with sin. Adam and Eve never wore clothes before because they never knew they were naked. The shame of nakedness is the first result of the fall.
Sin first brings shame. And with shame comes the disgrace of being uncovered. Then a strange sound of footsteps. Who could it be? It’s the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
Instinctively [and I used that word carefully] Adam and Eve hide themselves. Why? Who told them to hide? No one had to tell them anything. Their guilty consciences condemned them. Disobedience is now bearing its bitter fruit. Where once they enjoyed unbroken fellowship with God, - now sin has separated them from their Creator. Hiding from God is the second result of the fall.
But now the truth is about to come out. When God calls out for Adam, the man answers, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” There was no shame in nakedness as long as there was nothing to hide, but once sin entered the picture, Adam could not face God uncovered.
Then the question, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat of?” And the answer, -“The woman that you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
That’s a classic piece of buck-passing. Blame it on the woman and if that doesn’t work, blame it on God. Minimize your guilt by making the others look bad.
But the story still isn’t over. God turns to Eve and asks her, “What is this you have done?” Listen to her answer: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Do you know what’s so tricky about those two answers? Technically, Adam and Eve both told the truth. Adam told the truth when he said Eve gave him the fruit. Eve told the truth when she said the serpent deceived her. But both of them were making excuses as a means of avoiding personal responsibility. As long as Adam could blame Eve, he didn’t look so bad. And as long as Eve could blame the serpent, she looks like an innocent victim.
That explains many things. First, it tells us that the tendency to blame others is deeply ingrained in human nature. Second, it tells us that left to ourselves; we will do anything to avoid taking personal responsibility for our actions. Third, it tells us that blaming others is often nothing more than a subtle twisting of the truth in order to take the heat off of ourselves. Fourth, it tells us that without a deep working of the grace of God within us, we will do exactly what Adam and
Eve did.
CHEATING HEARTS
Jeremiah wrote in 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it.”
We are by nature so deceitful that we will do anything say anything to avoid admitting the truth about ourselves. And we will do anything to avoid taking personal responsibility for our actions.
We live in a society which teaches us to blame other people for our problems. And we go along with it because blaming others is in our spiritual bloodstream. Passing the buck is part of our inherited sin nature. Adam was the first buck-passer; Eve was the second. But they weren’t the last. After thousands of years, we’ve learned our lessons well.
THE MAN AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA
There’s a wonderful story in John 5 that brings this issue to the surface. Jesus had come to Jerusalem during one of the yearly feasts. Thousands of pilgrims were there from throughout Israel. While he was there, he paid a visit to a place called Bethesda, “the house of mercy.” It was a pool near the Sheep Gate in the northeastern section of the city. Five porches were built by the pool. It was the Jewish Lourdes of that day. The Jews believed that an angel would come and periodically stir the waters. The first person to enter the water after it had been stirred would be healed of his diseases.
So hundreds of sick and infirm people gathered around the pool, waiting and hoping for the water to be stirred. On the day that Jesus passed by, he met a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. When He found out how long the man had been paralyzed, He asked only one question, “Do you want to be well?”
On the surface it seems to be a bizarre question. Why else would the man be there? Of course he wanted to be well. Was Jesus insulting his intelligence? No, not at all. He was asking a very serious question. He was asking because it was entirely possible that the man did not want to get well.
The man answers this way: “Do I want to be healed? That’s a crazy question. Why do you think I’m here? You must be new here. You don’t understand the problem. Every time the water is stirred, somebody else beats me to the water. No one will ever help me. They just push me out of the way.” Have you ever heard a sadder story? Ain’t it a shame?”
I think Jesus is probing at the level of the will. He’s saying, “Stop blaming others for your problems. I have the power to make you well. But I won’t exercise my power until you decide you want to be well. If I make you well, you can’t sit here and gossip all day. If I make you well, you can’t be a beggar anymore. If I make you well, you can’t use your illness to get special treatment at home. If I make you well, you won’t get all that sympathy anymore. There’s a price to be paid for being well. Do you want to pay it?”
Jesus is saying, “Do you really want to be changed?” If the answer is yes, then miracles can take place. If the answer is no, then even Jesus cannot help you.
As I wrote in a recent blog, change is scary. It takes a lot of faith to truly want Jesus to change you. Sometimes it’s easier to stay the way you are.
The Son of God won’t barge into your life unless you invite him in. He will not change you unless you want to be changed.
THE “POOR ME” ATTITUDE
The man at the pool was indulging in self-pity.
How do you spot a person with a “poor me” attitude? There are several signs:
•They endlessly repeat how others have mistreated them.
•They view the world as hostile and unfair to them.
•They are “beachcombers of misery” who see each grievance as a treasure to add to their collection.
•They have a hidden need to feel bad. Many have enjoyed bad health for years.
•They live by the childish notion that life should always be fair to them.
•They find it very difficult to forgive others because forgiveness is a sign of weakness.
•They have a competitive view of life in which others are always winning at their expense.
•They have difficulty maintaining close friendships because they eventually turn on their close friends.
•They see themselves as permanent victims.
•They tend to be pessimists, always anticipating the worst possible outcome in every situation. Their pessimism becomes a form of self-fulfilling prophecy.
•They destroy their closest relationships because they have difficulty trusting other people.
It’s hard to break the poor-me attitude because people derive a kind of perverse satisfaction from it. However- the cost is high for the “poor me” folk.
They pay for that pleasure by forfeiting the hope of happiness. Only when we ask whether the price tag is too steep does change become possible.
Have you given up the hope of happiness? Perhaps you feel like the man lying beside the pool for 38 years. “There’s no hope for me. Things will never change. Somebody else will always get there first.”
If you feel that way, then let me ask the question Jesus asked: Do you want to be healed? That’s the first step in a new life. Do you want Jesus Christ to come into your life and change you?
Only God Gives Us Hope
Some people have felt like losers for years and years. When they tally up the score, they always seem to be losing by four touchdowns.
Here is the gospel: In Jesus Christ you are already a winner! That’s what grace is all about. He takes perpetual losers and he transforms them into eternal winners. He takes people who have no hope and he gives them a hope and a future. He takes people who are down on their luck and makes them recipients of sovereign grace.
Here is the proof that you are at last beginning to grow in your spiritual life:
—You no longer need to defend yourself.
—You no longer have to blame others for your problems.
—You don’t have to win every time.
Are you tempted to blame others for your problems? Are you tempted to take the dirt of your failures and throw it on them? Don’t do it. All you’ll do is make them dirty. You won’t make yourself clean. You can’t get rid of the dirt by throwing it on someone else.
If you are willing to accept responsibility for your own life, God is willing to come in and do his work in your life. He can redeem your failures and your mistakes. He can turn the dirt into compost. And from the fertilizer of your failure, a new life can grow.
He can do that. That’s what grace is all about.
But you’ve got to stop throwing your stuff on other people. You’ve got to finally say, “This dirt is mine.” When you do, the work of redemption begins. And when at last God has done his work, something beautiful will begin to blossom out of the soil of your bitter mistakes.
AHAB AND THE PROPHET ELIJAH
In 1 Kings 18:17 king Ahab told the prophet Elijah, when speaking of the drought that Elijah had pronounced, -
“You are the man who troubles Israel.” Elijah answered right back telling the king the truth, “No, you’re the one who troubles Israel.”
SARAH
You will remember that Sarah persuaded Abram to sleep with Hagar but she immediately passed the buck to her husband when things didn’t turn out as she’d planned.
ESAU
You will also remember Esau who carelessly sells his birthright for a bowl of bean soup demonstrating his contempt for his birthright then turns around and bitterly accuses Jacob of stealing it.
AARON
The first high priest of Israel passed the buck to the people when Moses confronted him about forging the molten calf. He told Moses, “Don’t get mad at me—you know these people.” Aaron denied all culpability in making the idol from melted gold, when he was largely responsible.
Like some names we’ve already called, Aaron was quick to take credit for things done properly but lightening quick to shift the blame when things ran amok. So the beat goes on.
KING SAUL
When King Saul was confronted by Samuel about why he didn’t obey God and totally destroy the Amalekites animals and all, he blamed the people.
PILATE
When Pilate saw that he couldn’t keep the mob under control he washed his hands in front of the multitude and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person.”
BLAMING THE DEVIL
The late comedian Flip Wilson had a famous line, “The devil made me do it.”
The devil is an awesome foe but you and I know the devil can’t force Christians to do something they don’t want to do.
Listen to Proverbs 28:13;
He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
Let me make one last suggestion here. Look in the mirror. This a good place to start. Are you a blamer? The answer is probably yes because as we’ve said, that’s part of Original Sin we inherited from Adam and Eve. The better question is probably-in what ways do I use blame as an excuse for not accepting responsibility?
If you and I want the blessings of God on our lives, we must mentally place a sign on the desk of our hearts reading, “The Buck Stops here.” After that we must stand solidly behind it and put it to work in our Christian walk.
When this happens we’ll begin to take quantum steps toward Christian growth.
Blessings,
John
A baseball team was having problems with their center-fielder.
Smith played the position but it seemed every fly-ball that came his way he’d get his glove on it but couldn’t catch it. During one game this was happening repeatedly.
Finally the coach took Smith out and put in a very good center-fielder named Jones. Jones ran out into center field with his game face on and a great show of confidence as if to say, there’ll be no more errors today. Low and behold, every fly ball that came toward Jones was dropped- to his utter embarrassment.
After a few more misses by Jones the coach had to remove him because he wasn’t doing any better than Smith. So out to center field runs the newbie, a man named Clark. Now things would pick up. To the utter astonishment of the fans, every single fly ball that went out to Clark went right through his glove just as it had Jones and Smiths.’ The coach went out to talk to Clark saying that if he didn’t stop making errors, he’d have to replace him as he did the others.
The very next fly ball that came to Clark was dropped. He stormed off the field in total disgust and was heard to say as he walked along the sidelines, “those guys have got center field so messed up nobody could play it now.”
I did a little research on the meaning and origins of the term “buck-passing.” As I understand it the odd expression appears to have come from the old days during card games where passing the buck was actually buckshot. A token was used in a game to show who was next to deal---a bit of buckshot. In order to designate who had responsibility for dealing next, you would literally pass the buckshot. This was later shortened to buck. Over time, the phrase “passing the buck” came to mean that you pass responsibility onto someone or something else.
How often in an average day do we hear, “You did it” “you caused it”- "Don’t look at me’-“you’re to blame” “I did nothing wrong”- “I’m innocent.” We do this almost as a natural reflex. Blame is so easy to dish out, isn’t it?
In the last few weeks of watching the news I’ve heard the term used dozens of times by politicians, most recently by the president. Speaking of presidents; you’ve most likely heard that President Harry Truman was famous for keeping a small plague on his desk reading “The Buck Stops Here.”
In the few months of the oil gush, we’ve seen and heard the buck passed numbers of times. There are more versions of “The dog ate my homework” than I ever knew existed. President Reagan kept a plaque on his desk saying, “There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” It seems to me our present leaders could have one that read, “There’s no limit to the credit you can get if you don’t care who did the accomplishing.”
We see buck-passing in smokers with self-imposed addictions attempting to get millions from tobacco companies by shifting the blame for their habit, obviously unable to read the ominous warnings from The Surgeon General on each pack.
We see it in public officials every time they pass the blame for some failure to their predecessors.
THE BLAME GAME
Passing the buck happens when you blame other people for your problems. It’s a way of explaining why life hasn’t worked out the way you would like. You’ve been treated unfairly; you’ve ended up on the short end of the stick; you’ve been dealt a lousy hand of cards. You’re a victim. And that’s how you get through life—by blaming other people for the bad things that happen to you.
If you’re late turning in a report at work, that’s easy. You just say, “I would have turned it in earlier but Frank was late getting the statistics to me.”
If you lose your job, it’s because the boss was unreasonable, he didn’t understand you, he had it in for you, and he hated you from the moment you walked into the office.
—If you didn’t keep a promise, it’s because you were too busy doing other things.
—If you failed to do your homework, it’s because your roommate borrowed the textbook and wouldn’t give it back.
—If you lost your temper, it’s because “they” provoked you.
- If a relationship ended, it couldn’t have been your fault. Of course not. You are a nice person.
The other person was a creep. That’s all there is to it.
Sound familiar? It ought to. Most of us know all too well about being a victim. Years ago we learned the victim’s battle cry—"It’s not my fault.” We’re not always sure whose fault it is, but we know it’s not our fault.
Who me? Couldn’t be. Impossible. Unthinkable.
But if it’s not us, it must be somebody else. Maybe it’s Jones or Smith. Our parents, possibly. It’s popular to blame parents nowadays for every kind of psychological illness. If it’s not our parents, then it’s probably our brothers or sisters. They never treated us right. We were always overlooked. But if not our parents, the world is still full of candidates.
It could be our grandparents who messed us up. Or maybe it was the friends we ran around with in high school. Maybe we ran with the wrong crowd and they corrupted us, or maybe we ran with the good crowd and we ended up too good for our own good. Of course, you can always blame your husband. After all, he’s probably just a bone-head. Or you can blame your wife. She’s far from perfect. Or maybe it’s the people where you work.
ADAM AND EVE – CLASSIC BUCK-PASSERS
There’s a reason why we’re so good at the blame game. We make excuses because excuse-making is in our family tree. It’s in our spiritual bloodstream. When we pass the buck, we’re only doing what our ancestors did.
Let’s roll the tape backwards to the Garden of Eden. Let’s focus our lens right after Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit. To the untrained eye, it still looks like paradise. Adam has just eaten the fruit and a silly, guilty grin slides across his face. He knows he’s done something wrong, but he has no idea what is about to happen next.
It happens so fast. He looks at Eve and notices something he never saw before. She doesn’t have any clothes on. That’s a shock to him. Then he looks down. He’s naked too. The thought crosses his mind, “We better cover ourselves up.”
But where did that thought come from? It came from a mind that has just had its first encounter with sin. Adam and Eve never wore clothes before because they never knew they were naked. The shame of nakedness is the first result of the fall.
Sin first brings shame. And with shame comes the disgrace of being uncovered. Then a strange sound of footsteps. Who could it be? It’s the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
Instinctively [and I used that word carefully] Adam and Eve hide themselves. Why? Who told them to hide? No one had to tell them anything. Their guilty consciences condemned them. Disobedience is now bearing its bitter fruit. Where once they enjoyed unbroken fellowship with God, - now sin has separated them from their Creator. Hiding from God is the second result of the fall.
But now the truth is about to come out. When God calls out for Adam, the man answers, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” There was no shame in nakedness as long as there was nothing to hide, but once sin entered the picture, Adam could not face God uncovered.
Then the question, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat of?” And the answer, -“The woman that you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
That’s a classic piece of buck-passing. Blame it on the woman and if that doesn’t work, blame it on God. Minimize your guilt by making the others look bad.
But the story still isn’t over. God turns to Eve and asks her, “What is this you have done?” Listen to her answer: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Do you know what’s so tricky about those two answers? Technically, Adam and Eve both told the truth. Adam told the truth when he said Eve gave him the fruit. Eve told the truth when she said the serpent deceived her. But both of them were making excuses as a means of avoiding personal responsibility. As long as Adam could blame Eve, he didn’t look so bad. And as long as Eve could blame the serpent, she looks like an innocent victim.
That explains many things. First, it tells us that the tendency to blame others is deeply ingrained in human nature. Second, it tells us that left to ourselves; we will do anything to avoid taking personal responsibility for our actions. Third, it tells us that blaming others is often nothing more than a subtle twisting of the truth in order to take the heat off of ourselves. Fourth, it tells us that without a deep working of the grace of God within us, we will do exactly what Adam and
Eve did.
CHEATING HEARTS
Jeremiah wrote in 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it.”
We are by nature so deceitful that we will do anything say anything to avoid admitting the truth about ourselves. And we will do anything to avoid taking personal responsibility for our actions.
We live in a society which teaches us to blame other people for our problems. And we go along with it because blaming others is in our spiritual bloodstream. Passing the buck is part of our inherited sin nature. Adam was the first buck-passer; Eve was the second. But they weren’t the last. After thousands of years, we’ve learned our lessons well.
THE MAN AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA
There’s a wonderful story in John 5 that brings this issue to the surface. Jesus had come to Jerusalem during one of the yearly feasts. Thousands of pilgrims were there from throughout Israel. While he was there, he paid a visit to a place called Bethesda, “the house of mercy.” It was a pool near the Sheep Gate in the northeastern section of the city. Five porches were built by the pool. It was the Jewish Lourdes of that day. The Jews believed that an angel would come and periodically stir the waters. The first person to enter the water after it had been stirred would be healed of his diseases.
So hundreds of sick and infirm people gathered around the pool, waiting and hoping for the water to be stirred. On the day that Jesus passed by, he met a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. When He found out how long the man had been paralyzed, He asked only one question, “Do you want to be well?”
On the surface it seems to be a bizarre question. Why else would the man be there? Of course he wanted to be well. Was Jesus insulting his intelligence? No, not at all. He was asking a very serious question. He was asking because it was entirely possible that the man did not want to get well.
The man answers this way: “Do I want to be healed? That’s a crazy question. Why do you think I’m here? You must be new here. You don’t understand the problem. Every time the water is stirred, somebody else beats me to the water. No one will ever help me. They just push me out of the way.” Have you ever heard a sadder story? Ain’t it a shame?”
I think Jesus is probing at the level of the will. He’s saying, “Stop blaming others for your problems. I have the power to make you well. But I won’t exercise my power until you decide you want to be well. If I make you well, you can’t sit here and gossip all day. If I make you well, you can’t be a beggar anymore. If I make you well, you can’t use your illness to get special treatment at home. If I make you well, you won’t get all that sympathy anymore. There’s a price to be paid for being well. Do you want to pay it?”
Jesus is saying, “Do you really want to be changed?” If the answer is yes, then miracles can take place. If the answer is no, then even Jesus cannot help you.
As I wrote in a recent blog, change is scary. It takes a lot of faith to truly want Jesus to change you. Sometimes it’s easier to stay the way you are.
The Son of God won’t barge into your life unless you invite him in. He will not change you unless you want to be changed.
THE “POOR ME” ATTITUDE
The man at the pool was indulging in self-pity.
How do you spot a person with a “poor me” attitude? There are several signs:
•They endlessly repeat how others have mistreated them.
•They view the world as hostile and unfair to them.
•They are “beachcombers of misery” who see each grievance as a treasure to add to their collection.
•They have a hidden need to feel bad. Many have enjoyed bad health for years.
•They live by the childish notion that life should always be fair to them.
•They find it very difficult to forgive others because forgiveness is a sign of weakness.
•They have a competitive view of life in which others are always winning at their expense.
•They have difficulty maintaining close friendships because they eventually turn on their close friends.
•They see themselves as permanent victims.
•They tend to be pessimists, always anticipating the worst possible outcome in every situation. Their pessimism becomes a form of self-fulfilling prophecy.
•They destroy their closest relationships because they have difficulty trusting other people.
It’s hard to break the poor-me attitude because people derive a kind of perverse satisfaction from it. However- the cost is high for the “poor me” folk.
They pay for that pleasure by forfeiting the hope of happiness. Only when we ask whether the price tag is too steep does change become possible.
Have you given up the hope of happiness? Perhaps you feel like the man lying beside the pool for 38 years. “There’s no hope for me. Things will never change. Somebody else will always get there first.”
If you feel that way, then let me ask the question Jesus asked: Do you want to be healed? That’s the first step in a new life. Do you want Jesus Christ to come into your life and change you?
Only God Gives Us Hope
Some people have felt like losers for years and years. When they tally up the score, they always seem to be losing by four touchdowns.
Here is the gospel: In Jesus Christ you are already a winner! That’s what grace is all about. He takes perpetual losers and he transforms them into eternal winners. He takes people who have no hope and he gives them a hope and a future. He takes people who are down on their luck and makes them recipients of sovereign grace.
Here is the proof that you are at last beginning to grow in your spiritual life:
—You no longer need to defend yourself.
—You no longer have to blame others for your problems.
—You don’t have to win every time.
Are you tempted to blame others for your problems? Are you tempted to take the dirt of your failures and throw it on them? Don’t do it. All you’ll do is make them dirty. You won’t make yourself clean. You can’t get rid of the dirt by throwing it on someone else.
If you are willing to accept responsibility for your own life, God is willing to come in and do his work in your life. He can redeem your failures and your mistakes. He can turn the dirt into compost. And from the fertilizer of your failure, a new life can grow.
He can do that. That’s what grace is all about.
But you’ve got to stop throwing your stuff on other people. You’ve got to finally say, “This dirt is mine.” When you do, the work of redemption begins. And when at last God has done his work, something beautiful will begin to blossom out of the soil of your bitter mistakes.
AHAB AND THE PROPHET ELIJAH
In 1 Kings 18:17 king Ahab told the prophet Elijah, when speaking of the drought that Elijah had pronounced, -
“You are the man who troubles Israel.” Elijah answered right back telling the king the truth, “No, you’re the one who troubles Israel.”
SARAH
You will remember that Sarah persuaded Abram to sleep with Hagar but she immediately passed the buck to her husband when things didn’t turn out as she’d planned.
ESAU
You will also remember Esau who carelessly sells his birthright for a bowl of bean soup demonstrating his contempt for his birthright then turns around and bitterly accuses Jacob of stealing it.
AARON
The first high priest of Israel passed the buck to the people when Moses confronted him about forging the molten calf. He told Moses, “Don’t get mad at me—you know these people.” Aaron denied all culpability in making the idol from melted gold, when he was largely responsible.
Like some names we’ve already called, Aaron was quick to take credit for things done properly but lightening quick to shift the blame when things ran amok. So the beat goes on.
KING SAUL
When King Saul was confronted by Samuel about why he didn’t obey God and totally destroy the Amalekites animals and all, he blamed the people.
PILATE
When Pilate saw that he couldn’t keep the mob under control he washed his hands in front of the multitude and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person.”
BLAMING THE DEVIL
The late comedian Flip Wilson had a famous line, “The devil made me do it.”
The devil is an awesome foe but you and I know the devil can’t force Christians to do something they don’t want to do.
Listen to Proverbs 28:13;
He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
Let me make one last suggestion here. Look in the mirror. This a good place to start. Are you a blamer? The answer is probably yes because as we’ve said, that’s part of Original Sin we inherited from Adam and Eve. The better question is probably-in what ways do I use blame as an excuse for not accepting responsibility?
If you and I want the blessings of God on our lives, we must mentally place a sign on the desk of our hearts reading, “The Buck Stops here.” After that we must stand solidly behind it and put it to work in our Christian walk.
When this happens we’ll begin to take quantum steps toward Christian growth.
Blessings,
John
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