Life's Unfairness, #2:

"Time and chance happeneth to them all."  (Ecclesiastes 9:11)

Modern versions of that observation by Solomon abound:

"That's the way cookie crumbles." or,

"The cake breaks."

One wag observed, "I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not sure."

Another said, "This world is a mess.  None of us is going to make it out alive."

Brendan Gill, said, "Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious."

James Barrie concluded that, "Life is a long lesson in humility."

Anyone who thinks that life is predictable and that it rewards those who ought to be rewarded had

 better stay in bed.  And even that might not work.

Life isn't fair.  We cry out for an answer as to why bad things happen to good people.  Since I am so often obviously undeserving of the blessings I receive, I generally don't clamor for an answer to the inverse, but often good things befall real losers.  Life isn't fair.

One of the points of honesty about the Bible is that it makes no claim for life's fairness.  I quoted Ecclesiastes above.  Just before Jesus suffered the preeminent unfairness of all time He warned His followers that they would be persecuted (John 15:20 &16:33), later the Apostle Paul said the same (2 Timothy 3:12).

The present condition of this world is "groaning and travailing"  (Romans 8:22).  God isn't done yet.  

The patriarch, Joseph, certainly met with life's vagaries:

• A dad with poor parenting skills.
• Killer good-looks.
• Finding his brothers near a caravan route.
• The fact that neither TV nor soap-operas had yet been invented, compelling Mrs. Potiphar to look for a real-life outlet for her "Real Housewives of Egypt" fantasy.
• Etc.
• Etc.

Sure Joseph did some dumb things.  He would have been wise to keep his dreams to himself and maybe he should have saved that fancy coat for special occasions (Genesis 37) but come on.  Life smacked Joseph awfully hard for some immature behavior.

Life is like that.

In the end, though, Joseph affirmed God's goodness.  

God is the one delivers us from this world.

It's STTA. 

You'll find some resources that explain that deliverance here.

It's not fair:

If Joseph had been in our high school class he would likely have been voted "Most Likely to Succeed.   He  was handsome, well-built, articulate--at times to much so--he dressed sharp, and was the kind of guy who tended to rise to the top in whatever situation he found himself.  Yet for the first thirteen years of Joseph's adulthood his life was a mess.  He was rejected--and I mean really rejected--by his family, sold into slavery, falsely accused, put in chains, jailed,  forsaken and forgotten.  

His life is a poster-child for life's unfairness.  

I wish I could say that life was more fair today than in Joseph's day.  I wish I could, but I can't.  I know children with parents who don't care, spouses with mates who are unfaithful--sometimes blatantly and cruelly so--hard workers who are under and un appreciated, and folk with the best of intentions who end up with the worst of results.  If you got out of bed this morning you probably have already noticed that life isn't fair.  A friend of mine says this is the way life is.  And I'm the gopher. 

Why?

Why does a good God allow such a dissonance between what obviously ought to be and what is?

Let's explore that a bit over the next couple of days. 

First, as I begin to plumb the depths of messed-up-ness in this world I need not begin out there, I find plenty to examine right in my own heart:

• Stubbornness will compel me to insist on my own way even if it places someone else in a position they don't deserve.
• Selfishness causes me to defend mine even when it costs someone else theirs.
• Pride so inflates my opinion of my own importance that I will do all sorts of mean things to others, because I see myself as so much better than them.

I call Pogo to the witness stand.

Is it Mr. Pogo?

Just Pogo is fine.  No, wait.  Mr. is nice.

OK Mr. Pogo, would you comment on Life's unfairness?

We have met the enemy and he is us.

 

It's STTA. 

Two Brothers Coming Together:

Jefferson Bethke, achieved something that lots of young adults--and not a few of we older adults--hope to achieve.   He  produced and starred in a video that went viral.  When I watched it last night over 16 million others had already done so.  Even better Bethke's message is worth the four + minutes it takes to watch it (not counting the slow buffering because of the demand).  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1IAhDGYlpqY

The young man skillfully contrasts religion--the version he lambasts sounds a lot like American Evangelicalism

--and Biblical Christianity.  Much of what he has to say is right on.  I encourage you to watch his video.  

Another Internet citizen, who in some ways looks a lot like someone Bethke is criticizing, Kevin DeYoung, wrote a thoughtful, though admittedly less artful, and interesting, response/analysis of Bethke's poem.  When you have time, it is worth reading.  (here) 

  What impresses and encourages me is the response.  You can find the link at the beginning of DeYoung's piece, but here it is in part:

I just wanted to say I really appreciate your article man. It hit me hard. I'll even be honest and say I agree 100%. God has been working with me in the last 6 months on loving Jesus AND loving his church.  (Bethke)

 Thanks for your email. It confirms my impression of you-humble, sincere, a real love for God and the gospel. . . . What can I do to help you? . . . I don't want people to take this in the wrong direction. . . .  Let me know if there is something I can do. (DeYoung)

This is a paradigm that I see way too infrequently.  Brothers who love the Lord reaching out in honesty and love to one another.

  

Lord make me like Barnabas.  Someone who helps a brother.  Amen.

 It's STTA. 

Grieving:

"During such tragedies, daily village life comes to a halt while everyone sits and mourns together."

So wrote a friend of mine who works at an orphanage/school in the hinterland of Nigeria.  The tragedy she speaks of is the death of three young boys, who had apparently locked themselves in a closed car and died in the heat.  

I participated in a funeral recently.  My friend was buried in a small family cemetery, that looks exactly like a family burial place should look.  Neighbors had come and dug the grave by hand.  Because I was riding with one of the staff from the funeral home, I was present when the guys gathered again, and with good-natured ribbing and joking--that wasn't at all irreverent, if you understand the culture--filled the hole and covered the grave with the sod they had removed a few days before.

In my community it is still common for folk to pull to the edge of the road and stop when a funeral procession goes by.  It is silent testament to the reality John Donne wrote of when he counselled those who hear the village bell announcing someone's death, "never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."  

When we gather to grieve, even if it is just for a moment as we pull our car to the side of the road, or as we take a moment to sign the register at the funeral home, it is an entry into the grief of another and a reminder of our own mortality.  One cannot easily claim earthly immortality while shoveling dirt into a hole that contains the body of a friend and neighbor.  

Not to put urban-ites down--I'm sure they have their own rituals--but I have been in funeral processions that passed through large cities.  We had to struggle, even with the help of police on motorcycles, to keep the cortege together.  Too many people, in too big a hurry to get to where they were going, not realizing where they are really headed.

Lord deliver us.  May we, like these simple African villagers, acknowledge the grief of another and our own mortality.

 It's STTA. 

Find out about the message that will defeat the ravages of sin and death here. 

You will find some ideas for having more meaningful devotions in the New Year here.

Put the fire out!

My son, in a prayer update for a new assembly of believers he is leading, used an analogy of fighting fire to describe the urgency of the church's task and the importance of teamwork in seeking to address the great need.   Comparing those of us who share the Good news with those who fight fires, he said, ". . . we too are seeking to save people from the fire."

Last night I was doing something that many (most) people regard as no fun at all--I was in what could generically be described as a committee meeting.  Not in an administrative sense, but rather in the sense in which my son uses the picture, we were fighting fire.  How can we take the resources God has entrusted to us and invest them in such a way so as to fight the fire?

It is a reminder that I often need.

There is an urgency about the task of the church.

It is a matter of eternal welfare.

We have been sent to fight the fire.  Our mandate comes from the Lord of the Universe--the One who made sure the complete and final defeat of the blaze that rages in our world.

Grab a line.

Help us set a ladder.

We need all hands in the fight.

 It's STTA. 

What Did He Die From?

What he die from?

It's a common question, often asked at funeral homes or when news of someone's passing comes.  We have gotten more specific in recent years, but still a common answer is the generality, "He died of natural causes."  What we mean by that is, it wasn't an accident or foul play that took the person's life.  He died of some disease, or the deterioration brought on by age.  In a sense nothing is more natural than dying.  It is one of the few universals in life.  

Looking beyond the realm of our experience, however, death is shown to be "dreadfully unnatural."  So says Michael Horton.*  He points out that, "No one really dies of natural causes, but of the most horrific and unnatural cause."  Contrary to what some people who haven't really read the Bible think, God's word gives a very realistic view of death.  It is an enemy.  It entered the world because of sin.  (Romans 5:12)  It is through fear of death that Satan holds the world in bondage.  (Hebrews 2:14-15)  Death was not a part of the world when it was fresh from God's creation and it won't be again when God renews all things.  In the mean time, death is a large part of the reason that we, and indeed all creation with us,groans and travails in this world of mortality.  

Micheal Horton goes on to say about death:  "We die because we have rebelled against our creator, collectively and individually.  So in order for God to raise us bodily from the dead, the judicial sentence has to be removed."*

While the Bible speaks realistically about death it also speaks hopefully.  There is life beyond the grave, and purposeful life in the here and now.  

 It's STTA. 

Find out about a hope that death can't kill, here.

You will find some ideas for having more meaningful devotions in the New Year here.

*Michael Horton, These Last Days, p 64-65

Does God Care?

Does God care?

Just about anyone who is Theologically aware at all would answer affirmatively, "Of course He does."  Wait a minute, though.  Gordon Monson, of the Salt Lake Tribune, makes a point with which I strangely agree, though I know it is wrong.  Don't tune out yet.  Let me explain.

Monson's comment is part of an article about perhaps the most controversial athlete in our nation, Tim Tebow.  "I've always believed," the commentator says,  "that God favors no professional athlete over another, no team over another. . . . He's too busy working to save the Earth, thwart evil, watch over the innocent, and publish peace.  He blesses the pure in heart, not the Denver Broncos."

First a couple of caveats:  God isn't too busy for anything.  Psalm 121:4 points out that God neither sleeps nor slumbers.  Jesus pointed out that the falling sparrow, and my falling-out hair are part of His ever-present attention.  David observed that He keeps count of my most mundane movements (Psalms 139).  From a logical viewpoint, since infinitesimal actions can have incredible consequences, if God isn't in control of the smallest things then He isn't in control at all.  Having said that, I agree with Monson.  I know I'm wrong, but that is what I think.  I came to this utterly contradictory conclusion while participating in another sport--deer hunting.  Back before I figured out that I wasn't any good at bringing home the venison I used to sit or stand at a deer-stand and talk to myself and the Lord.  

"OK, Lord, I'm here.  I sure would like to get a deer."   

Did the fact that I most often went home without a deer mean that God didn't hear my prayer?  Maybe He was letting me know that I ought to look for a better way to spend my time, or perhaps the lessons had to do with patience and persistence.  Did the success others had have to do with God's favor, or was it just a matter of my horrendous lack of the skills so valued by my outdoors-men buddies?  After a time of pursuing these mental rabbits on their circular trails, I would quit and come to the one conclusion that I knew was wrong, but that allowed me to settle down and take a nap--I was good at that.  

God didn't care whether I killed a deer or not.

 

I come to the same conclusion about football games. 

 

I don't know what Tim Tebow prays, when he famously takes a knee.  It might not have anything to do with who wins or loses.  Could it be something like, "Lord, I have no idea why I'm here in the end zone instead of under a pile of linemen on the other side of the line of scrimmage. I don't really figure it matters in any way that really matters who wins this game, but it matters supremely that I live for You.  Lord, I give you glory.  Help me to use the opportunities you give in a way that is pleasing to You.  Amen"

 

 I don't know what Mr. Tebow prays.  (If someone else does, let me know.)  I do know that for which I need to ask.

 

 "Lord, even down to things as simple as my eating and drinking, may I give glory to You."  

(1 Corinthians 10:31)  

 

 It's STTA. 

How is my love?

I didn't think about until this morning, but last evening I did things that I like a lot that are really very similar.  

Kathy and I had supper with the mom of one of our daughter-in-laws.  We spent a considerable part of our time together bragging about the wonderful grandkids that we share.  It was great fun.

Just before that supper I met with a group of guys for a weekly Bible study.  We are going through the Life of Christ.  It, too, was very enjoyable.

This morning I took note of the similarity of these two enjoyable experiences.  In each case I was talking about someone that I love.

Perhaps, when I fail to talk about my Lord it is because my love for Him has grown cold.

Click here for something the Lord Jesus, Himself said about this.

  

 It's STTA. 

Good Byes:

Did you hear about the man who had a dog that he had decided needed to have its tail bobbed so it would look right?  It was a boxer, or some such breed.  He knew this would be painful to his pet, so he decided to cut it off a little at a time.  Please know I don't recommend it.  I tell this tale about a tail, which I sincerely hope is fictitious, because earlier today I felt somewhat like that poor beast.

My wife and I just had a wonderful visit with our two sons and their families.  They live in two different states so we saw one first then another.  Today we said our good byes to the second of the families.  We were able to visit the two grandchildren at their lunch break at school.  Kira has an early lunch, so we met her about 10:20.  After she ate her hotdog, chips and Go-gurt, she went out to recess and we went back to our car-Good Bye number one. 

There was enough time between Kira's lunch and Silas's for us to meet our son and daughter-in-law for lunch, after which he went back to work--#2. 

It was time for Silas's lunch, so we watched him eat his P,B,&J, apple and granola, then he went to his recess, and we again left-The third set of hugs & kisses & lumps in throats.

Back to our son and daughter-in-law's house.  Chris was still at church, Nancy was there.  After gathering our stuff & loading the car the quartet of farewells was complete.  My heart, though, doesn't feel complete.  Not only are there those four holes, but six more in another state.

Beyond that, while driving down the interstate I called my uncle who has cancer.  Uncle J. trusted the Lord late in life.  As I spoke with him we were both aware that we might not see each other again on this earth.  During our conversation we talked about his sister, my mom.  I saw her a couple of weeks ago.  Barring a miracle she will never again, in this world, look at me and know who I am.  It is a strange good bye, but a profound one.

I'm not looking for sympathy.  I am wonderfully blessed.  Should I die in this metal box that is hurtling across the earth as I write, I am confident that I will see all the people I have mentioned in a place where Good Byes will be forever banished.  I say that because of the Good News of Jesus Christ in which I and all those above have put their trust.  Good Byes here are inevitable, but in the ultimate scheme of things they are totally unnecessary.  I write these little daily thoughts to provoke thought-thought that will lead to life change.  May the inevitable Good Byes of this world lead you to that which will last.  Find out more here.

  

 It's STTA. 

NEXT

I'm neck deep in the blessing of heritage.
As I type this, I'm upstairs in my son's house. He and my daughter-in-law are downstairs doing premarital counseling with a young couple who show every sign of being world-changers. In just a few weeks the young man is headed to a land that was closed to the gospel until just recently for a short-term ministry. I'm connecting the dots in my mind. The dots go back to times with a skinny kid,and beyond. They fade into the horizon, who knows where.
It's one of my granddaughters' birthday today. All of my grandchildren profess to love the Lord. The oldest of them displays a passion for the things of God that challenges me. They are growing up in homes where Joshua's words apply. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
I just heard reports about a spiritual son and grandson who are serving the Lord. Like John, I take joy in knowing that they are "walking in truth" (2 John 4 & 3 John 3) and serving the Lord.
Another, with whom it has been my privilege to share life, is together with his family, on his way back to place where they are punching holes in the darkness,


I'm asking myself, "What will I do this year that will go beyond me?"
You?




It's STTA.