“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”Hebrews 13:8In a world where crises catch us by surprise and erode foundations we thought quite stable, it’s important to remind ourselves that Jesus is rock solid.
Blue, Blue, Blue: Apparently a thousand “We’re In This Together” yard-signs have not buoyed people’s moods. Studies suggest we’re all a bit lonely and grumpy. Indeed, the percentage of people saying they are “very happy” is down while the number who say they are “losing their temper more often” is up. It turns out that if you take away people’s jobs, friends, and mobility, they are less happy. One wonders where we’d be without studies like this to help us understand what is going on.
Correction: Last week, I noted that “God’s love for us tells us much about Him and less about us.” That part was true. Unfortunately, I then erroneously suggested this is because His love is “object-generated, not subject-elicited.” Wrong. It’s the opposite. God’s love is subject-generated and not object-elicited. He loves us because He is love and not because we are lovable. BTW, I also used rift when the word should have been riff. (If only people paid this much attention to my sermons!)
Quotes Worth Requoting:
- “When we find ourselves deficient in wisdom, it is not because the Word of God has pages missing, but because we have not seen all there is on the pages we have. It is not another book we need, but better attention to the Book we have; it is not more knowledge we require, but better vision to see what has already been revealed in Jesus Christ.” Eugene Peterson.
- “The only bloodshed that can heal in these (or any) times is the shed blood of Christ.” John Perkins
- “In the absence of a biblical morality a new elite will always come forward to dictate arbitrary absolutes to society.” Francis A. Schaeffer
Race Matters: I spent a good part of the last two weeks reading and talking about race. It is distressing for several reasons: 1) I thought I was more aware of the hurt, pain, challenges, and injustices than I actually was—the bad news is greater than I realized; 2) there is not a lot of common ground out there; and 3) many are only willing to talk if your views—and your level of outrage—matches theirs, whatever theirs happens to be. The good news is that racial challenges highlight opportunities to get better. And we need to get better.
MLK Jr. I do not set out to make people mad, but there may be something in this piece – called The Friend We Need but Do Not Want – to offend everyone.
Crises: I’ve previously mentioned that I’d started a “COVID file” only to watch it subdivide into six smaller folders (the virus, economic impact, impact on church, etc., etc.). I also recently created a folder for Crises. My COVID files now live alongside files on the 2020 Economy, Race Relations, Protests, and something temporarily called Post-Liberalism. (I’m not yet sure Post-Liberalism deserves a file, or even what it is, but it seems to be a thing and it doesn’t sound good. BTW, I don’t like being a guy with a crisis file.
Close… Well Not Really: Today’s headlines suggest that we’re back to believing in sin. They also suggest we think it’s bad. If only we were more bothered by our own sin than that of other people.
Closing Prayer: O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” The Book of Common Prayer