Suffering in Silence

The story sounds something you might see on the TV news or a made-for-TV movie, but it happened to people we knew and loved. One of our former members came home from work to find that her whole family was dead. Her husband had shot and killed their two teen-aged children and then turned the gun on himself. The interviews with friends and neighbors we saw on the news were identical to the interviews we've all seen after similar tragedies before.  "They were a quiet family that kept to themselves." "He really seemed to adore his kids."  "I never dreamed that anything was wrong."    No motive was ever found for this senseless tragedy, but there was a reason somewhere. Something was going on behind closed doors or hidden deep within this man’s heart. And if someone would have only known, then maybe they could have helped him. But it seems that whatever the demons he was wrestling with, he chose to wrestle alone. He suffered in silence.

 Many people made the same choice. This morning I ran across a headline that I couldn't believe at first-- “More Americans Commit Suicide than are Killed in Car Crashes.” The headline, carried in multiple news outlets, was based on a study in American Journal of Public Health. The good news is that this statistic is partly true because the number of traffic fatalities has taken a radical dip. But the idea that more people kill themselves on purpose than are killed by accident on our highways is very surprising. Too many of us are way too proficient at keeping our pain and struggles hidden. We develop defense mechanisms to mask or deny our pain. We don’t want anyone to know that we don’t have the ideal family. We don’t want anyone to know that we aren't the ideal person. Sure, it is natural not to want to air all our dirty linen for the world to see. But this radical privacy that we have developed leads us to insulate ourselves from seeking the help we need from others. We want to keep our skeletons safely hidden in the closet. We may struggle with secret sin, failing marriage, wavering faith… and then invest our energy into keeping the problem safely hidden from others. We suffer in silence rather than reaching out for help and for healing.

 This is the "natural" response… as opposed to the "spiritual" response. Paul tells those who are spiritual to make themselves available to help those in the middle of struggle—

Brothers and sisters, if someone in your group does something wrong, you who are spiritual should go to that person and gently help make him right again. (Gal 6:1, NCV) 

True spirituality is the willingness to involved to help with the struggles of our brothers and sisters. The spiritual person is not some hermit monk who lives above the cares and concerns of this world; being spiritual is about making oneself available to get hands dirty in muck and mire of other people's lives. And that also means that being "spiritual" is about making ourselves vulnerable and accountable to others as we invite them into our mess to help us. God doesn't want us to suffer in silence. He invites you to “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” (1 Peter 5:7, NLT). And one way God works to take all our “worries and cares” is through His people that He puts in our lives.

A Servant's Heart

Evidently Tim Tebow, out-spoken Christian and famous back-up quarterback, has created something of a controversy. Again. He was recently interviewed by Vogue (so you could guess that this was not about the mechanics of running the Wildcat option offense in the NFL). He was asked about football, like his supposed rivalry with starting Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (there evidently isn't one, "I can say that honestly I’m rooting for him to do his best").  No what raised eyebrows was the answer to a question about the future Mrs. Tebow-

Obviously looks play a big part. Being attracted to someone plays a big part, but there's also so much more than that for me. It's about finding someone sweet and kind – and that has a servant's heart. It's about finding a girl who likes me for me, and not because of what I do or who I am or the name.

So was it bad for him to admit that he was so shallow that he was looking for someone who was attractive? There's nothing wrong marrying someone who is drop-dead gorgeous; I did! (Of course, I am thankful my wife didn't have the same hang-ups on physical attractiveness).  So what's the problem here? Well, it was OBVIOUSLY sexist and chauvinistic for Tebow to suggest that his future wife have "a servant's heart." That is the same things, of course, as saying he wants someone who is subservient and servile. The secular press decided "servant’s heart" means he wants a wife with no mind of her own who bakes cookies and does what he tells her. As one critic put it

He basically made it seem like he wants some hot woman who dropped straight from 50 Shades Of Grey and will do what he wants and not talk back and certainly not mention that he is currently sitting on the bench 

OK, never mind that earlier in the interview Tebow said that he had "been blessed to have an amazing mom and two amazing sisters-so they set a very high standard." Never mind that he said "I want to have a life that can help people" (in other words, he wants a servant's heart). The fact that he was looking for a girl with a "servant’s heart" proves that he has a twisted, patriarchal view of women.

No, what it means is that he has a Christian view of life and marriage. Jesus told his followers that He Himself "did not come to be served but to serve" and that "whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave" (See Matt 20:26-28). Paul said, "serve one another humbly in love" (Gal 5:13). Peter tells disciples "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace" (1 Pet 4:10). Having a servant's heart is something that all Christian's should want to have.

So when Tim Tebow suggests to his interviewer that he is looking for a wife with a servant’s heart, he is simply saying that wants to marry a Christian. Good for you, brother! Keep on looking and keep on praying—one day you’ll find her. Just one word of advice during your search, Tim. Keep your shirt on!

In the Beginning...

It seems like every time you turn around there is some new English translation of the Bible being released.  I don't know why we have to have so many Bible translations.  I mean, if the NIV was good enough for Peter and Paul, why can't we just be happy with that?  Of course, I don't just use the NIV; every time I open my computer Bible, seven different translations open with it... and two different versions of the NIV! The more, the merrier, I always say.  Actually, what I always say is that the best Bible translation for anyone is the one they are the most likely to read.  I love the NLT-- not because I use it much (though it is one of the seven on my computer Bible). I love it because it's the version my wife reads and enjoys every day.

 Today, I received an unsolicited email advertisement (OK, it was spam;) for a new Bible translation called "The Voice." The translation is published by Thomas Nelson and was produced by a committee of 120 scholars. It is a modern, dynamic equivalence translation, which means it seeks to best translate each thought in the Bible rather than making a close word for word rendering. That makes it very readable, supposedly on a Middle School reading level. It also has some unique characteristics that make it, well, unique among Bibles. It renders conversations in a dialogue, screenplay style. So that Genesis 3 reads:

"Adam (pointing at the woman): It was she! The woman You gave me as a companion put the fruit in my hands, and I ate it. 

“God (to the woman): What have you done? 

“Eve: It was the serpent! He tricked me, and I ate.” 

That's kinda interesting... and it might get a little annoying after awhile. One of the criticism that has been thrown around the internet, "This Bible doesn't have "Jesus Christ" in it. No, it has "Jesus the Anointed," which is a TRANSLATION of the Greek word "Christos." King James and those who followed him transliterated Christos into English. so, contrary to what you may have heard, no the Voice does not remove Jesus Christ from the Bible. In the same way, Psalm 23 begins “The Eternal is my shepherd …” Horrors? Well, "The Lord" really stand in place of YHWH, the covenant name of God, the name Moses was given when God said, "I am that I am." So is "Eternal" not one way translate that? Of course. Is it annoying that it goes out of its way to be different? Of course. Anyway, here is a good feel for how different "The Voice" really is, a video of John 1:1-18 based on "The Voice." And of course, it starts "Before time itself was measured, the Voice was speaking..."

 

Before a Fall

The Bible has a lot to say warning us against the dangers of our pride. When Solomon lists things that God hates, he begins his list with “haughty eyes.” (Prov 6:17). Literally this expression is “high eyes,” but "haughty" works. The same word is used in Numbers 15:30 for “sins defiantly” (NIV) or “with high hand” (ESV) or “brazenly” (NLT). When we lift our eyes, we are to see God-- not raise them in arrogance and defiance. Many of the Proverbs warn us about the dangers of pride (see Prov 8:13, 11:2, 16:18, 29:23). And our reading today from Amos begins with a scathing denunciation of the pride of Israel, “I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it” (Amos 6:8). “Pride goes before a fall” (Prov 16:18) and Israel was going to fall big time!

The problem as Amos presents it is really “the disease of ease,” that led to a proud complacency, "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria" (Amos 6:1). Amos attacks the rich, privileged class who are totally clueless about God and “at ease in Zion” (KJV). This was a time of great prosperity, and Israel did what you do in boom times and bull markets— they assumed it would last! And so the rich basked in their arrogance and ignore the sufferings of others and the call of God.

Our present economic darkness was caused in large part by huge banks and investment companies lending money (and the rest of us borrowing it) like the boom time would last forever. And it never does. I recall seeing a 60 Minutes piece on a bank in Iceland that continued to thrive despite the bust. Why? It is totally run by women, and the theory is that women are more social and tend to act based on what’s best for whole group.  This particular bank did not make all the bold, risky, get-rich-quick moves that caused the economic collapse in much of the banking world. After all, it wasn't “Lehman Sisters” that went bust!

Why did Israel act like they thought the good times would roll on forever? Pride! Amos points them the to the examples of the city-states that Israel had captured (Amos 6:2-3). Those cities thought that they would last forever as well. Their arrogance led them to think that there wouldn't be a price to pay. And if those cities thought they would never have to pay the piper, why did Israel think they were protected? Israel’s pride blinded her to her own vulnerability.  That same pride led Israel to be unconcerned about anything or anyone else. Amos is known as the prophet of social justice for sermons like this. (Amos 6:4-6)

4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches.
       You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves.
5 You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

What a picture of a prideful, self-absorbed and self-centered people... that sounds too much like too many people today.  These were the rich and important people who only had time for rich and important things. And they didn't care about the people round them not about the things of God. Their pride blinded them to everything except themselves. That is what is what pride does; that is why pride goes before a fall.

Boy, it's a good thing Amos was talking to 8th century B.C. Israel.  This would be scary if it had any application to our country or our church!

In the Year That King Uzziah Died...

Personally, I don't like books or movies that make use a of the literary device of the "flashback." You know what I’m talking about— they start the story then jump back in time (maybe several times) and then flash-forward to the present and then back again a couple of times so that you never quite sure whether your reading what is happening, what has happened or what will happen. I like stories that start at the beginning, end at the end, and have the middle in the middle. Well, some authors don’t write that way… authors like Isaiah (whose book we started reading together yesterday). Isaiah’s book is organized into oracles or sermons that are not presented in chronological order. There are a lot of flashbacks and (Isaiah is a prophet after all) flash-forwards.

Today’s reading in Isaiah 6 flashes back to tell the beginning of Isaiah’s career as a prophet.  Isaiah call as a prophet was a vision of God high and exalted with His robe filling the temple and angelic seraphs flying above covering both their faces and their feet (you don’t show the king your face or your feet... you bow) crying “Holy, holy, holy” as their voices shake the temple. And all that was just Isaiah’s first day on the job!

But it is important that we don’t miss the flashback. Isaiah dates his call, “In the year that King Uzziah died” (which would have been 740 BC or so). With this impressive vision of God to describe, why does Isaiah bother to date the flashback? The point here really isn't the date so much as the fact that this was the year that King Uzziah died. Uzziah was the greatest and most powerful of Judah's kings since the time of David and Solomon. He raised and equipped a large and powerful army (2 Chron 26:11ff) and built great war machines for his archers (2 Chron 26:15a). Uzziah defeated the Philistines and exacted tribute from the Ammonites. The fame of King Uzziah spread all the way to Egypt (2 Chron 26:8b). Judah didn't have many politically powerful kings after David and Solomon, so the death of the great King Uzziah would have been devastating. What was going to happen now that the great king was gone?  That’s why Isaiah vision of the exalted God was dated "in the year King Uzziah died."

You see, before Isaiah could fill the role of prophet, he had to know which king was really the King. Isaiah's faith could not be in kings like Uzziah; his faith had to begin with God Himself. The Jews would have seen Uzziah's throne more clearly than they could see the throne of God. And when the great king died, they wondered whether their world had fallen apart. And we make the same mistake! When we put our trust in the things of this world, then what happens when those things let us down? If Isaiah was writing today, he might begin his book with something like...

• “In year of the great recession following the banking collapse...”
• “In the year that the Twin Towers were destroyed…”
• “In the year that that Republican or Democrat was elected…”
• Or more personally, "In the year that I got cancer..."

No matter what it is that happens that seems to make our world fall apart, what is important is that we  continue to see the Lord, high and exalted. His throne is above all thrones, and his rule is sovereign and supreme. He is the One who rules over all creation as the Lord of all lords and the King of all kings. If we with Isaiah will see the Lord high and exalted, then we will never be so wowed or worried by the things of this earth. When we truly see the Great God, we won’t take ourselves or our desires so seriously. If we see God high and exalted, then we cry out with the seraphs, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” And we say with Isaiah, “Here I am. Send me!”

Eleven Years Ago...

Eleven years ago, four hijacked jetliners crashed and our world was changed-- the Twin Towers were destroyed, the Pentagon was attacked, and a third attack was thwarted and a fourth plane lost. At the end of the day, more than 3000 innocent people were dead, and with them died the unstated but widely held view that terrorism was something that happened in the Middle East and we read about in Time or watched on CNN.

Alan Jackson's song asks, “Where were you when the world stopped turning?” Most of us can remember exactly where we were and what we were doing that day. That was the first day that Elaine Denman was to start a counseling ministry in our church building once a week. We spent all morning in the teen classroom completely transfixed by the TV. We were watching when the second plane hit and when each of the towers fell. No work was done that day; a lot of prayers were prayed. The world didn’t really stop turning, but it was changed forever.

The last war fought on American soil was the Civil War. (Regardless of what my kids think of my rapidly advancing age, I don’t remember a lot about that war.). Every war since then has been fought, to use the words of a Word War I era song-- “Over There”

Over there, over there, send the word, send the word over thereThat the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming,The drums rum-tumming ev'rywhere.So prepare, say a pray'r, send the word, send the word to beware.We'll be over, we're coming over, and we won't come back till it's over, over there

After September 11, war didn't seem to be just fought "over there." This new kind of war fought by extreme fundamentalists against us and our way of life was now being fought over here. It was a new war against a new enemy that didn't fight fair. This was an enemy without an army, uniform or country that turned our planes into bombs and used our own freedoms toagainst us to bring their terror to our shores. This was an enemy that seemed to be everywhere, and seemed to be nowhere. Ironically, our response to 9-11 was to launch a "War on Terror" that has once again sent brave men and women to fight “over there.”

What has changed in the eleven years since 9-11?  Has the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan made the world a safer place?  That depends on who you ask, but the world doesn't feel safer.  But then the world never has been a safe place, has it?  One thing that hasn't changed is this-- despite how the nations may "conspire" or "rage," (Psa 2:1), God is still sovereign. Psalm 47:8 is just as true today as it was when the sons of Korah wrote it so long ago, “God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.” We live in a fallen world where the evil choices of evil people hurt the innocent. That is not exactly a new development in the history of the world. Jesus said to those who came to arrest him, “But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns” (Luke 22:53, NLT). But just as Jesus looked to God in that time of darkness, so we look to God and his power today. We pray for His peace. We pray His justice. We pray for His will. We pray for His mercy. And we pray for His coming. Peace on earth will always be the impossible dream until the Prince of Peace returns.


(updated repost of blog written 9-11-2008)

What a Great Day!

There’s an old joke about the little boy drawing a picture in Sunday School. The teacher asked him what he was drawing; he said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” The teacher smiled and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” The little boy answered, “Well, they will when I’m done!”

I felt like a little bit that yesterday before our first “Baby Dedication Service.” Someone could well have asked me, “What exactly does a baby dedication service at Denbigh look like?” I would have answered, “I don’t know; I’ll you when we are done!” We have never done a baby dedication service before (though I've done a private service when requested by parents).  We've talked about it, but it never went any further than that. Well, Jenn Glaspell really, really wanted to dedicate Willa to God before the church, and she started talking to some of the other young parents and soon the ball started rolling. Thanks Jennifer!

And I think it was, one of the best services that we've ever had! Nine young sets of parents stood before the church and promised to raise their child in the training and instruction of the Lord, the love of God and the fellowship of His family. The church stood with them and promised to stand with them as one of our shepherds prayed over us.  Of course, the hard part now is translating the church service into real life. But then, that’s the hard part after every Sunday service, isn’t it?

And if yesterday wasn't special enough already, Andrew King came forward confessing his faith in Jesus and was immersed into Jesus Christ.  Yesterday was Andrew’s physical birthday; he was born in 2003, a week before Hurricane Isabel slammed into Virginia and took out power in our area for well over a week (Will and Michele ran off with him to Roanoke... wimps). And September 9 is also Andrew re-birthday. It was great that his parents and grandparents were all here to share in Andrew's big day.  So nine babies were dedicated to God by their parents and Andrew dedicated himself to God... 10 is a good Biblical number!

Yesterday was also the kickoff of our 2012-2013 Body Life Small Group season. If each of our groups was only half as enjoyable as our group over at at Bes and Sam Hoxha's last night, then we’ll have a great season! Our rather diverse group (including a college student, a college professor and two of the babies dedicated yesterday) had a great discussion and really seemed to enjoy each other.  OK, the fact that Sam cooked us a great meal for us didn't hurt either!

Yesterday was a great day!  We give glory to the One who made it!