There is Hope!: From tax collectors and prostitutes to lepers, Gentiles and Roman soldiers, the early church included the most scorned people in the culture. This is good news. It suggests that even the desperately broken person who looks back at you from the bathroom mirror is welcome in the family of God.
Looking Back: Alan Jacobs’ book, Breaking Bread with the Dead, has me on a quest for greater “personal density” – i.e., an expanded temporal bandwidth. C.S. Lewis made a related point to Oxford students on the eve of WWII. In a chapel talk entitled, “Learning in Time of War,” he writes: “Most of all, perhaps we need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about it, but because we cannot study the future, and yet need something to set against the present, to remind us that periods and that much which seems certain to the uneducated is merely temporary fashion. A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village: the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age.” (FYI, you can click here to listen to an interview with Jacobs).
Prayer Requests: There is enough going wrong in the US to occupy our attention – and dominate our prayers – but we must not overlook the more severe challenges being faced around the globe. Personal friendships have me focused on Nigeria and Belarus. In “The Mass Murder of Nigerian Christians,” you can catch up on some of the horror of the first. The situation in Belarus is so fluid I suggest you google prayer for Belarus.
The Synoptic Sermons: Last week’s entry comparing Luke’s Sermon on the Plain (blessed are the poor in spirit) with Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (blessed are the poor) generated some questions. For what it’s worth, I am of the belief that some form of this talk was Jesus’s stump speech and He gave it many times in many villages – each slightly different. Matthew recorded one version, Luke recorded another.
Without Comment: 1) 2020 set a record for the most natural disasters costing at least $1 billion; 2) Internet searches for Bible verses soared this year, with Isaiah 41:10 being the most read: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Quotes Worth Requoting: “If once upon a time we looked to politics primarily for governance, we now look to it for belonging, righteousness, meaning, and deliverance—in other words all the things for which we used to rely on Religion.” David Zahl.
Why Believe?: Why do you believe what you do? Anthropologists suggest it has much to do with our parents; philosophers point to a “quadrilateral of authority;” Freud dismissed religious belief as the naïve wishes of the weak; some therapists suggest we believe whatever helps us sleep through the night. For the record, Luke – whose second chapter will be much in play this month – justifies belief in Christ in history. This means, he suggests we believe it because it happened and is true.
Part of the Problem: We all make assumptions about human nature. Part of the problem today is that we bring our assumptions – which may be quite different from those held by our neighbor – into our understanding of justice, freedom, tolerance, respect, human rights and more. As a result, we talk right past each other.
The Path Forward: Last month I heard Lecrae, a Christian rap artist, suggest we stop discussing the fatherlessness of the inner city when exploring the problems faced by Blacks. I am sympathetic. To be clear, I not only believe the family is God’s plan, and the best ministry of health, education and welfare. I also believe that we have all the documentation we need to prove as much and that those who stand against the family as a patriarchal, damaging or exploitative institution are tragically wrong. However, Lecrae’s point is, we need to move on. It’s time to stop discussing and to find ways to support and help build healthy, hopeful and stable families in our city’s centers.
Closing Prayer: Lord, your grace has cut down the tree of sin in my life, but the stump and its roots are still there and they go deep. Must I always guilty prove, and idols in my heart have room? Oh! Let the fire of heavenly love the very stump of Self consume. Amen. (John Newton 1725-1807)
Next Week: There will be no Friday Update next Friday, Dec. 25th. So let me wish you a Merry Christmas now, and suggest that next week you reflect on Luke 2 and Phil. 2:5-11.