So Much Grace, It's Not Fair

GRACE:

The last time we were together we talked about a social engineering project in China, that some have compared to  Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World.  In case you forgot your high school literature, neither of those dystopian novels presented a very pleasant scene. Here is the question that concerns us: What if there were a system that would reward each of us with exactly what deserved? Really, it's not a matter of if; the fact is there is such a system and it presents a far more alarming scene than any fictional account.  We tend to think in terms of more-or-less.  God is perfect; His standards are likewise perfect.  These words from our Lord's earthly brother are one example of what the Bible has to say on the subject:  "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10).  The question is not, "Am I better--or less bad--than others around me?" but, "Do I measure up to God's standard?" The answer is, "NO!" “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”  (Romans 3:23)   We don't need justice.  We need grace.  Grace of such a quality that when we examine it we'll be tempted to say, "That's not fair!"  Take the case of the Apostle Paul.  He was a legalistic leader of a warped brand of Judaism.  He felt driven to, and totally righteous about, persecuting followers of Christ.  He was involved in the stoning of Stephen, and proceeded to wreak havoc in the church.  See here, and here.  Yet this former one man wrecking crew, came to be a recipient of God's grace.  He, himself, was amazed at the scope of this grace.  Paul called himself the "foremost of sinners."  Yet he saw God's grace as sufficient to deal with any quantity of sin.       "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,           so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21 Yes, God is righteous, but, without any compromise to either, He is also gracious.  That is why the Apostle Paul puts both concepts in one brief statement.   "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. . . ." (Romans 6:23) We are right to respect God's justice.  That should not be the end, however.  A knowledge of God's absolutely holy standard ought to drive us to God's grace.  What John Newton called God's "amazing grace." That great grace is captured in a verse that is likely the best known passage of scripture in all the Bible. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16, KJV) I encourage you to find out more here.   A good place to start is to scroll down to the "The Good News About Jesus."   It's STTA.

Displaying the Ten Commandments, #4:

One of the requirements on Old Testament Israel was the keeping of the Sabbath.  God, Himself, set the example on creation week by resting on the seventh day.  The requirement was formalized in the fourth of the Ten Commandments, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."  (Exodus 20:8)

I have met Christians who meet for worship on the seventh rather than the first day of the week, also observing at least some of the Sabbath restrictions.  Others have transferred the idea of the Sabbath to Sunday.  My wife grew up with a version of this.  Others of us, following the pattern of the early church have concluded that the Sabbath is part of the ceremonial aspect of the law fulfilled in Christ.  The Book of Hebrews has a lot to say about Christ fulfilling the law.  It is significant that in Acts 15:20 when the leaders of the early church announced expectations for Gentile believers, nothing was said about the Sabbath.   

All of the Ten Commandments emphasize important principles.  Just as the tithe made known that really all that one has comes from God, the Sabbath clearly indicates that all time is His.  Makes sense; as C. S. Lewis pointed out, we are incapable of making any.  The Sabbath also teaches us the importance of worship.  The New Testament says that serving the Lord is our reasonable service.  The word in Romans 12:1 is the word from which we get "liturgy."   Our worship ought not to be limited to one day a week; everything we do, whenever we do it ought to bring glory to God.  (1 Corinthians 10:31)

It is another opportunity for us to display the Ten Commandments.  Those who read our lives ought to see clearly that God is worthy to be worshiped.

  

Stay tuned.

It's STTA.

Displaying the Ten Commandments, #3:

Many Christians are quite passionate about maintaining our "right" to display portions of scripture and religious symbols in public places.  

The central symbol of Christianity has been a public symbol for two millennia.  Our Lord was crucified in plain view, and the early martyrs gladly owned the cross as they went to their deaths, some of them, like Peter and Andrew, even dying on crosses like their Lord.  The word of God, as well, ought not to be a private matter.  The book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament tells the story of how the early church spread the Good News from Jerusalem to the far reaches of the known world.  I don't see that the concern of those disciples was to get the Romans to let them hang copies of scripture in the Coloseums where they gave their lives.  Rather they made the Word known by lives that clearly demonstrated the power of God's word to change the world one life at a time.

There are good reasons why it makes sense to have a copy of the Ten Commandments displayed in a High School.  The sweeping secularization of our public spaces ought to be appropriately resisted, but far more important than a plaque on a wall, is the Word of God shining out from a life.  Perhaps the courts in our land will prevent the display of Ten Commandments in our schools and other government buildings. No power on earth can prevent us from living out the truth of those ten guidelines for Godly, sensible living.

The third of the Ten Commandments says that we are not to "take the name of the LORD [our] God in vain."  When I consider this with other passages of scripture that speak about my speech, like Ephesians 4:29 and 5:4, I see that what I say ought to display the fact that God is in control in my life.

When I open my mouth, what comes out? 
 

Stay tuned.

It's STTA.

Displaying the Ten Commandments, #2:

Not far from where I sit, a  case is being decided related to displaying the Ten Commandments in public space.  It is not the first such lawsuit, and likely won't be the last.
I am not so much in favor of the display of the Decalogue as I am opposed to the mentality that has forced the removal of similar displays.  We are on an ice-coated incline.  What I am heartily, and completely in favor of, is the display of the morality and ethic that is presented in the law received from the hand of God on Sinai in the lives of God's people today.
Take the second of those ten terse statements:

 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth." (Exodus 20:4)
It is a standard that the People of God in the Old-Testament habitually violated.  In fact before Moses had even returned from the mountain they had made a golden calf to represent God.
One of the clear points God makes about Himself is that He is beyond all such constructs, be they wood, gold or stone, whether they are produced in the Sinai desert, Hollywood, Detroit, or Wall Street.  (Deuteronomy 4:12, 1 Timothy 6:16)  

When Moses came down from having met with God, there was no doubt what was going on, Aaron's lame excuses not withstanding.  I fear that even a quick, casual observation of the average Twenty-first Century Christian would demonstrate a modern version of idolatry every bit as obnoxious as the reveling of the people before the calf that, according to Aaron, just came out of the fire.  

I need to ask myself, "Does my life show that I worship and obey the God, Who is other than all that is around me, or do I look way too much like everyone else--devoted to a god of human manufacture?"

Stay tuned.

It's STTA.

JUSTICE?

The talking heads are working overtime in the aftermath of the Casey/Kaylee Anthony trial. Instinctively, we feel that when a little girl's body is left to rot in a swamp that someone ought to pay. This morning the chief suspect, the mom, has been found not guilty. Many people feel that justice was not done. With no reflection on the jury, clearly justice was not done--often in this world justice is a very rare commodity.

Justice is a major theme of the book of Job. Job accused God of injustice. His three friends accused Job of denying the fact that God is just. As outside observers, given a view into the heavenly scene, as well as Divine perspective on the beginning and end, we can see things differently than those submerged in the events as they happened, yet we still wonder about the questions of right and wrong, and balancing the scales.

Rightly, or wrongly, the case in Florida, in many ways, came down to: "Do I know enough?" Our law, quite reasonably, requires a standard of "Beyond reasonable doubt." (We may question whether the juror's doubts were reasonable, but we cast away that standard at our own risk. Another post, another time.) As believers in the Word of God, we know that justice is often not served down here. We look forward to a time when God will bring flawless judgments to bear.

Elihu, the young spokesman in the book of Job comments on this toward the end of the book. With God there is never a lack of knowledge, never a foundation for doubt. It's STTA.
"His eyes are on the ways of mortals;
he sees their every step.
There is no deep shadow, no utter darkness,
where evildoers can hide.
God has no need to examine people further,
that they should come before him for judgment.
Without inquiry he shatters the mighty
and sets up others in their place.
Because he takes note of their deeds." (Job 34:21-25)

In a world where we often don't know--even can't know--for sure, it is inevitable that justice will not be served.
When we deal with the Lord of the Universe there is no such lack.

It's STTA.