A Jealous God
Exd 20:2-6 NIV - [2] "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. [3] "You shall have no other gods before me. [4] "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. [5] You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, [6] but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
When most of us think of jealousy, we are actually thinking of envy. The Greek and English have two words for it, but the Hebrew interestingly uses similar words: quanna and quana. Both come from the root word qinah, which can mean "ardor, zeal, or jealousy." The origin of the word jealousy means "to become intensely red." It "seems to refer to the changing color of the face or the rising heat of the emotions which are associated with intense zeal or fervor over something dear to us" (http://bible.org/seriespage/jealous-god). Perhaps a better term in today's terms is "zealous." Zeal is the sort of thing which makes a man red in the face when he sees a man coming onto his wife. It is an intense, principled passion for someone or some idea held dear to oneself. In this sense, jealousy is perfectly applied here in Exodus 20. When God instructs the Israelites on only worshiping Him, he is incredibly clear that they "shall have no other gods before [Him]." They must not "make for [themselves] an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." They "shall not bow don to them or worship them." The reason, God explains, is that "the Lord your God [us[ a jealous God." God is passionate that we worship Him, for He is worthy of praise. Some wonder if this isn't a bit conceited of God. It is, of course, conceited. Is not conceit perfectly natural for a Being who has created everything and holds infinite power? Possession of such power would generally make one want to be praised, especially if one's creation is in error of praising some other god who does not hold infinite power. We have likely felt a similar way when we have seen others turn away in a direction we know is not correct. When a Christian sees a man protest Christianity as rubbish because of his perceived flaws, we burn inside with passion to correct him. This is, in a much more minor sense, zeal.
While zeal is most dependent on the conceit of an idea or person, such as God's zeal to have others worship Him just because He is who He is, it is also indicative of love. God's love is manifested through zeal. It seeps through, like the sun through a crack in the blind, revealing itself openly and unashamedly. We see it even in the Ten Commandments when God lays the foundations for worship of Him. In the midst of His stern commandment not to make idols, we hear Him saying something rather unexpected: that he "[shows] love to a thousand generations of those who love [Him] and keep [His] commandments." Thus, when we follow after God with all of our heart, just as He commands us to, His zeal is at the same time coupled with love. It does not morph into love, as if one state becomes another; it is both at the same time: zeal and love existing dually and being manifested on us. I think of that law of quantum mechanics: that an electron does not alternate in different orbits, but that it exists in different places at the same time. That is how zeal and love operate. God at the same moment loves us and desires us to worship Him. When we do not, neither the love nor the zeal disappears. And when we do, neither does one appear where it never existed.
To the Christian, zeal represents a passion of God not only for us to worship Him, but a passion for us simply because we were made for Him. A jealous man who has just seen someone coming onto his wife burns with passion not only that his wife is his own, but also that he loves her. God, upon seeing us turn from Him and go to the many idols of the world, wishes us to worship Him not simply because we are supposed to or were created to, but because He desires us. He, in a more liberal term, chases after us. He would not leave Samuel to his sleep, nor David to his flock. He pursues us, whispers to us, yells at us, haunts us until we follow Him. He is zealous of you. He desires you as a man desires his bride, or as a father desires his son. This jealousy ought to have a significant impact on the way we define our relationship with God each day. Our prayers to Him, His Biblical instruction to us, the way we treat others--all of these ought to be done to run into the arms of a jealous God who desires us and will do anything to have us. A God so desperate to have us that He should manifest Himself in a weak, lowly state and crucify Himself to death all that we might be with Him. That's zeal! Follow a God so zealous of you! Amen.
With love in Christ,
Austin Aldrich
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The Good Samaritan and You
The Good Samaritan and You
Luk 10:33-37 NLT - [33] "Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity. [34] Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. [35] The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. `If his bill runs higher than that,' he said, `I'll pay the difference the next time I am here.' [36] "Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked. [37] The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy." Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."
Christian charity is one of Jesus' central teachings. The love of God which flows out of us ought to flow out into the world. Throughout history, charity has certainly been manifested. Many organizations today, such as the YMCA, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and literally an entire directory(http://bit.ly/a6m0xU) exist in the world. This is not to say there are not Muslim charities or Hindi charities. Indeed, there are even charities by those who do not even believe in God. But there is a crucial difference between the Christian and the "good man." The difference is somewhat hidden in allegory here in Luke 10. In the story of the Good Samaritan, we are told that "a despised Samaritan came along" and "felt deep pity" for the beaten man on the side of the road. The Samaritan shows enough care to "[soothe] his wounds with medicine and [bandage] them." He "put[s] the man on his own donkey and [takes] him to an inn, where he [takes] care of him." Not only does the Samaritan, but he does a much more interesting and crucial thing. We are told that the Samaritan "hand[s] the innkeeper two pieces of silver and [tells] him to take care of the man." The Samaritan explains to the innkeeper that "if his bill runs higher than that, [he will] pay the difference." It is the debt that is the direct object of this allegory. The paid debt is a reflection of not only Christ's healing of us, but of His salvation of us. The teacher of the religious law to whom this story is directed remarks that the neighbor was "the one who showed [the beaten man] mercy." Mercy, then, is the chief cornerstone of our salvation. It is mercy by which Christ saved us, and it is mercy that He calls us to give to others.
Mercy is manifested not only in meeting physical and psychological needs, but in spiritual needs most importantly. A man can feed another man a thousand times over, and yet his soul is still starved. Physical needs only buy time for the lost. It is the condition of the soul, therefore, in which we are most interested. This, then, is the distinction between the Christian man and the good man. The good man shows mercy because it is the right thing to do, and that is how we should treat those we love. The Christian man does so for the same reason, but he adds the spiritual needs to the equation. Now, we must not misunderstand one another here. The Christian man does not use healing as a mere means to an end. I once heard a preacher say that the goal of the church was to "get [sinners] saved, baptized, and registered to vote." But healing is not a means to an end. We are not concerned with getting one more church attender because it will score us points or make us feel morally satisfied for the day; we are concerned with making the man a part of God's Church because he is our brother in Christ. We are concerned that he will need counseling and love to grow from a tiny plant into a mighty oak for the Lord. We, then, are called to be Good Samaritans who not only heal a broken man, but who pay that man's tuition, fill his shelves with books, and go and get him a job.
Many among us are doing such things in unique ways that I'd have never thought of. The Internet, once likely deemed a tool of Satan, has been used as a tool to reach the lost. There are even people dedicated to Internet ministries. Teachers and coaches are able to plant the seed of the Gospel into the lives of kids in broken homes. Missionaries travel far and wide to feed the desolate and starving, then feed them spiritually. All of these are ministries which Christ uses daily. People often ask if one is "going into the ministry." Every Christian ought to say yes. The ministry is not a single entity, but an array of tools used to reach the lost. We are Samaritans loaded with spiritual first aid kits. The Lord is calling us to go out and heal. Will we go out and heal? Amen.
With love in Christ,
Austin Aldrich
Luk 10:33-37 NLT - [33] "Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity. [34] Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. [35] The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. `If his bill runs higher than that,' he said, `I'll pay the difference the next time I am here.' [36] "Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked. [37] The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy." Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."
Christian charity is one of Jesus' central teachings. The love of God which flows out of us ought to flow out into the world. Throughout history, charity has certainly been manifested. Many organizations today, such as the YMCA, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and literally an entire directory(http://bit.ly/a6m0xU) exist in the world. This is not to say there are not Muslim charities or Hindi charities. Indeed, there are even charities by those who do not even believe in God. But there is a crucial difference between the Christian and the "good man." The difference is somewhat hidden in allegory here in Luke 10. In the story of the Good Samaritan, we are told that "a despised Samaritan came along" and "felt deep pity" for the beaten man on the side of the road. The Samaritan shows enough care to "[soothe] his wounds with medicine and [bandage] them." He "put[s] the man on his own donkey and [takes] him to an inn, where he [takes] care of him." Not only does the Samaritan, but he does a much more interesting and crucial thing. We are told that the Samaritan "hand[s] the innkeeper two pieces of silver and [tells] him to take care of the man." The Samaritan explains to the innkeeper that "if his bill runs higher than that, [he will] pay the difference." It is the debt that is the direct object of this allegory. The paid debt is a reflection of not only Christ's healing of us, but of His salvation of us. The teacher of the religious law to whom this story is directed remarks that the neighbor was "the one who showed [the beaten man] mercy." Mercy, then, is the chief cornerstone of our salvation. It is mercy by which Christ saved us, and it is mercy that He calls us to give to others.
Mercy is manifested not only in meeting physical and psychological needs, but in spiritual needs most importantly. A man can feed another man a thousand times over, and yet his soul is still starved. Physical needs only buy time for the lost. It is the condition of the soul, therefore, in which we are most interested. This, then, is the distinction between the Christian man and the good man. The good man shows mercy because it is the right thing to do, and that is how we should treat those we love. The Christian man does so for the same reason, but he adds the spiritual needs to the equation. Now, we must not misunderstand one another here. The Christian man does not use healing as a mere means to an end. I once heard a preacher say that the goal of the church was to "get [sinners] saved, baptized, and registered to vote." But healing is not a means to an end. We are not concerned with getting one more church attender because it will score us points or make us feel morally satisfied for the day; we are concerned with making the man a part of God's Church because he is our brother in Christ. We are concerned that he will need counseling and love to grow from a tiny plant into a mighty oak for the Lord. We, then, are called to be Good Samaritans who not only heal a broken man, but who pay that man's tuition, fill his shelves with books, and go and get him a job.
Many among us are doing such things in unique ways that I'd have never thought of. The Internet, once likely deemed a tool of Satan, has been used as a tool to reach the lost. There are even people dedicated to Internet ministries. Teachers and coaches are able to plant the seed of the Gospel into the lives of kids in broken homes. Missionaries travel far and wide to feed the desolate and starving, then feed them spiritually. All of these are ministries which Christ uses daily. People often ask if one is "going into the ministry." Every Christian ought to say yes. The ministry is not a single entity, but an array of tools used to reach the lost. We are Samaritans loaded with spiritual first aid kits. The Lord is calling us to go out and heal. Will we go out and heal? Amen.
With love in Christ,
Austin Aldrich
Sunday, July 11, 2010
On Miracles
On Miracles
Mar 16:14-20 NLT - [14] Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their unbelief--their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. [15] And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. [16] Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. [17] These signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak new languages. [18] They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them." [19] When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. [20] And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked with them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.
Much attention is given to miracles when referring to Christianity. It is, after all, one of the chief aspects of our faith. Were it not for miracles, the story of the Bible and of Christ's death would have been just that: stories meant to entertain or frighten children and to keep the masses under the power of the elite. Were they not miracles, they would be no more than bedtime stories of faeries and wizards that the ancients so often told. But Christians well know the Bible to be more than bedtime rubbish. Even a child is able to make the distinction that the god Wōden is not really the leader of the Wild Hunt, but that it is perfectly logical that Christ should rise from the dead. It is because of miracles that we are able to separate myth from true myth. That is, our stories, while mythical in their telling, are actual in their occurance. These myths, as C.S. Lewis puts it, were propogated originally in the old pagan stories. The myths were ancient desires placed by God into the minds of men as a precursor to the true myth of Christ's death and resurrection. The Norse god Odin is said to have made a sacrifice to himself by hanging from the world tree Yggdrasil for nine days and nights, being pierced by his own spear. The idea of self-sacrifice does not originate itself in the Christian faith, but it is realized in it. Only Christianity has an account of a man who actually hung from a tree and was pierced by a spear.
The greatest evidence of miracles lies in the discipleship of Christ's followers. I do not mean only Christ's first eleven followers, but us today. Christ, when departing into heaven, promised that His disciples would "cast out demons in [His] name, and they will speak new languages." They "will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them." They "will be able to lay their hands on the sick and heal them." Christ's promises were made to aid in His commandment for us to "go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere." The miracles accompanied the greater miracle of Christ's own resurrection. As C.S. Lewis puts, the great Corn King has made his yearly resurrection from Winter. Spring is here, and the ground is fertile again.
Miracles are God's reminders to us that He is still in control. They are, as Lewis puts, supernatural manifestations of a normal processes. Lewis, after referring to Christ's miracle at the wedding feast in Cana, states that "God creates the vine and teaches it to draw up water by its roots, and, with the aid of the sun, to turn that water into juice which will ferment and take on certain qualities. Thus, every year, from Noah's time till ours, God turns water into wine." In a sense, miracles happen everyday. God resurrects a man from the dead every day from his sleep. He breathes into man the breath of life again in a mother's womb. The man who can notice these miracles is usually apt to do His will. The miracles are assurances of Christ's presence in his ministry. They ought to be assurances to us. For what does the scripture say? That "the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked with them, confirming what they said in many miraculous signs." Christ's presence was confirmed by the miracles. The miracles were the means to an end, not the end in themselves.
I have often found it strange that men should desire miracles as evidence of God, when the natural order of nature Herself is a miracle quite well beyond what is enough. It is not the miracles which can turn a skeptic to a believer, but the realization that, should these miracles be true, the evidence should be overhwhelming. The woman cured 30 years of cancer is evidence that a miracle has occurred. The man 3 months cured of cancer could well be in remission. What constitutes the miracle? In this case, it is the length of time. In Christ's case, it is the abundance of witnesses and the documentation from historians. This, then, is what the Christian should be concerned with. He must not be concerned with the miracle itself, but the thing which shows the miracle occured. The life of the drunken husband who turns his life to Christ and is radically transformed into a loving, God-fearing man. It is the changing of lives that shows the world that Christ lives. Christians must change lives. That is our purpose here. It is our commandment from the Father Himself. It is why miracles themselves occur.
With love in Christ,
Austin Aldrich
Mar 16:14-20 NLT - [14] Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their unbelief--their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. [15] And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. [16] Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. [17] These signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak new languages. [18] They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them." [19] When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. [20] And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked with them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.
Much attention is given to miracles when referring to Christianity. It is, after all, one of the chief aspects of our faith. Were it not for miracles, the story of the Bible and of Christ's death would have been just that: stories meant to entertain or frighten children and to keep the masses under the power of the elite. Were they not miracles, they would be no more than bedtime stories of faeries and wizards that the ancients so often told. But Christians well know the Bible to be more than bedtime rubbish. Even a child is able to make the distinction that the god Wōden is not really the leader of the Wild Hunt, but that it is perfectly logical that Christ should rise from the dead. It is because of miracles that we are able to separate myth from true myth. That is, our stories, while mythical in their telling, are actual in their occurance. These myths, as C.S. Lewis puts it, were propogated originally in the old pagan stories. The myths were ancient desires placed by God into the minds of men as a precursor to the true myth of Christ's death and resurrection. The Norse god Odin is said to have made a sacrifice to himself by hanging from the world tree Yggdrasil for nine days and nights, being pierced by his own spear. The idea of self-sacrifice does not originate itself in the Christian faith, but it is realized in it. Only Christianity has an account of a man who actually hung from a tree and was pierced by a spear.
The greatest evidence of miracles lies in the discipleship of Christ's followers. I do not mean only Christ's first eleven followers, but us today. Christ, when departing into heaven, promised that His disciples would "cast out demons in [His] name, and they will speak new languages." They "will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them." They "will be able to lay their hands on the sick and heal them." Christ's promises were made to aid in His commandment for us to "go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere." The miracles accompanied the greater miracle of Christ's own resurrection. As C.S. Lewis puts, the great Corn King has made his yearly resurrection from Winter. Spring is here, and the ground is fertile again.
Miracles are God's reminders to us that He is still in control. They are, as Lewis puts, supernatural manifestations of a normal processes. Lewis, after referring to Christ's miracle at the wedding feast in Cana, states that "God creates the vine and teaches it to draw up water by its roots, and, with the aid of the sun, to turn that water into juice which will ferment and take on certain qualities. Thus, every year, from Noah's time till ours, God turns water into wine." In a sense, miracles happen everyday. God resurrects a man from the dead every day from his sleep. He breathes into man the breath of life again in a mother's womb. The man who can notice these miracles is usually apt to do His will. The miracles are assurances of Christ's presence in his ministry. They ought to be assurances to us. For what does the scripture say? That "the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked with them, confirming what they said in many miraculous signs." Christ's presence was confirmed by the miracles. The miracles were the means to an end, not the end in themselves.
I have often found it strange that men should desire miracles as evidence of God, when the natural order of nature Herself is a miracle quite well beyond what is enough. It is not the miracles which can turn a skeptic to a believer, but the realization that, should these miracles be true, the evidence should be overhwhelming. The woman cured 30 years of cancer is evidence that a miracle has occurred. The man 3 months cured of cancer could well be in remission. What constitutes the miracle? In this case, it is the length of time. In Christ's case, it is the abundance of witnesses and the documentation from historians. This, then, is what the Christian should be concerned with. He must not be concerned with the miracle itself, but the thing which shows the miracle occured. The life of the drunken husband who turns his life to Christ and is radically transformed into a loving, God-fearing man. It is the changing of lives that shows the world that Christ lives. Christians must change lives. That is our purpose here. It is our commandment from the Father Himself. It is why miracles themselves occur.
With love in Christ,
Austin Aldrich
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