CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION

PART VIII

Who Is A Christian To Vote For?

Although the topic of this month’s essay is outside of our series on the Ten Commandments, it still is an appropriate topic for a series about Citizenship.  What better opportunity is there for Christians to exercise their calling to be good citizens than responsible voting?     Also I thought the timing for writing about this topic was good following our sermon last week, so if you would like you can think of this as the second part of last week’s sermon.

To begin it would probably be helpful if you knew that when it comes to elections, especially presidential elections, I would best be described as an idealist.  I have had several conversations over the years where I have explained to people that I thought it was a real shame that Christians often do not vote their convictions or conscience but vote for the ‘lesser of two evils’, or in the case of a primary, the candidate who is the most electable.  I have unabashedly supported Ron Paul in the last two election cycles, even asking Christians to seriously consider him on this blog a few months ago.  It is obvious that Ron Paul will not be the Republican candidate.  So, what is someone like me to do under these circumstances?  There have been occasions when I have seriously flirted with the idea of a third party candidate, which is just being consistent with my desire to always vote according to my convictions and conscience; and I would never hold it against anyone for doing so.  It is important for our voice to be heard.  What if we found ourselves entering the presidential election cycle with a sitting President who was evil?  What do I do in a situation where my convictions are very important to me, where my convictions would generally lead me to vote third party, but it had become obvious to me that the person in power was absolutely evil and would bring nothing but destruction and terror to my beloved country.  Well, then it just might be time to change my convictions.

At first glance that seems to be a shocking statement, yet if we follow the lessons taught to us by the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer that is exactly what we would do.  Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying here.  I have struggled, every step of the way, with the prospect of voting for Mitt Romney.  He does not, in most circumstances; match up with my Christian ideal of what a President should be.  I know of Pastors who are already writing about why they will vote third party this time around.  In spite of all of that it is recent conversations that I have had with Ps. Jim about the upcoming election and Bonhoeffer which got me to start thinking differently about it all.  When I say maybe we need to change our convictions, what I am talking about is our convictions of who we would vote for and why.

Bonhoeffer began as a pacifist, but when he truly realized who Hitler was, what Hitler was doing, and what Hitler wanted to do, he reevaluated his pacifistic leanings.  One article online puts it this way, “After years spent openly opposing Adolf Hitler and encouraging Germans to turn against his regime, Dietrich Bonhoeffer – a Christian minister, theologian, pacifist and German citizen – made a deliberate turn from civil disobedience to secret participation in a cabal whose aim was to assassinate the Fuhrer.  … Pretending to be a loyal servant of Hitler’s Reich, Bonhoeffer was in fact a double agent working toward Hitler’s forcible overthrow.”

Now to bring this back around to our situation today, this caused me to rethink my stance on voting.  If Bonhoeffer came to a point in which he could ethically defend aiding in the assassination attempts of Hitler, certainly he would defend voting for a candidate who is less than ideal in order to displace the evil, as some like to call it, mal-administration.  Let me be absolutely clear here, my conscience has caused me great consternation in the prospect of voting for Romney.  I do not believe that he is the best candidate; I do not believe that he is easily supported by a biblical worldview, and I do not think he would be a ‘Christian President’.  Maybe you have had the same thoughts, and maybe you are struggling with the prospect of voting for him.  If you are then let me reassure you, I believe, based on what Bonhoeffer taught us, you could rest at night knowing that you did everything within your power to get rid of Obama, in that you voted for a less than ideal candidate, in that you compromised, for the sole purpose of putting someone else in the White House.  You voted in such a way as to end his Presidency, you voted to keep him a one-term President.  Maybe, right now, under the current circumstance that our country finds itself in, we should do everything we can (in voting) to keep everyone a one-term President, at least until more people begin to recognize their need for a King, Jesus Christ.

CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION

PART VII

The Fourth Commandment states, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.  For in six days the lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

So, what could the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath Commandment, possibly have to say about good citizenship?  I believe the answer to that question is best found in two parts, because the nature of this commandment comes to us in two parts.  Everyone who is familiar with the fourth Commandment is familiar with it in terms of the fact that it ‘provides a day off.”  That is absolutely an oversimplified understanding of the Sabbath Commandment.

First, we should see here a commandment to work; and not only a commandment to work but a commandment to work six days.  Our modern era has been wrought with ‘experts’ who do efficiency studies, and productivity studies, and ergonomic studies, all of which come to the conclusion that the work to output ratio is at its peak in the 40 hour work week.  This I do not deny.  Also, many have written about how increased technology has changed the nature of what we call ‘work’.  This I do not deny.  It has all seemed to culminate in an unprecedented amount of idle time for the average person, especially in western society.  Yet very few seem to acknowledge that in spite of the above accepted truths, the Bible teaches that it is good (that is, healthy) for individuals, families, and societies to be workers.  Especially in terms of accomplishing the Kingdom work that God calls His people to.  Idle hands may very well be the devil’s workshop because they aren’t accomplishing the increase of God’s Kingdom.

Second, we do not work six days in order to enjoy a ‘day off’ that God has granted us.  Notice here that God has set apart, or made holy one day out of the seven.  The Sabbath, properly understood, provides a taste of eternal, holy rest.  We are brought into the presence of the King, we are fed at his banquet table, and we are re-created (read recreation) by Him to go back out to those six days of work again.  When any given society decides that either part of the Sabbath Commandment; work or rest, is not important then that society is creating a recipe for failure.  Exhibit A: Western Civilization; Exhibit B: America.  Simply stated, a biblical and wonderful way for Christians to be good citizens, and to do good for the society that we are a part of, is to obey the Fourth Commandment, both in our work and in our rest.

Finally, we see this principle as well in Jesus’ teaching of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.  He states, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”  Even as the phrase is used today, someone who really hungers for something is someone who works hard toward it.  The really hungry are not found with idle time.  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who are doing God’s work toward it and Jesus’ promises are that they will ultimately be satisfied in their work.  Even as we, each and every week, are given a taste of that at His table, ultimately we can expect our society to be satisfied, and eternally we know that His Church will be satisfied.

ASHE WEDNESDAY, 2012

ASH WEDNESDAY

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

SPARE YOUR PEOPLE, O LORD

JOEL 2: 1-2, 12-17

ONE OF THE GREATEST, MOST VISIBLE REMINDERS TO US, IN THIS LIFE, THAT GOD IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER IS THE STEADFAST NATURE OF THE CALENDAR.  WE ONCE AGAIN FIND OURSELVES HERE MARKING THE BEGINNING OF LENT ON THIS ASH WEDNESDAY.  WE SHOULD NOT BALK FROM THESE LESSER SIGNS AND SYMBOLS THAT HE, OUR GOD, HAS GIVEN TO HIS CHURCH.  IN FACT, WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL FOR HIS GRACE, BECAUSE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO SEE THESE AND UNDERSTAND THEM FOR THE DISCIPLINE THAT IT BRINGS INTO OUR LIVES.  FOR EXAMPLE, MY CHILDREN KNOW THE BIBLE STORIES THAT THEY DO, THEY HAVE THE BIBLE VERSES AND PASSAGES MEMORIZED THAT THEY DO, SIMPLY BECAUSE WE TRY TO SPEND TIME GOING OVER THEM EACH AND EVERY DAY.  OUR CULTURE LIKES US TO BELIEVE THAT SOMETHING IS ONLY SPECIAL IF WE DO IT EVERY ONCE IN A GREAT WHILE, BUT GOD HAS CREATED HIS WORLD AND WIRED US IN SUCH A WAY THAT THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE SPECIAL ARE TRULY SPECIAL BECAUSE THEY HAPPEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

THIS IS ALSO WHY SYMBOLISM AND TRADITION, UNDERSTOOD IN ITS PROPER PLACE, IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN IMPORTANT TO CHRISTIANITY.  THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY ENCOUNTERED PEOPLE TODAY WHO HAVE THE ‘ASHEN’ SIGN OF THE CROSS PLACED ON THEIR FOREHEAD.  IF YOU WERE HERE LAST WEEK, IN OUR STUDY OF ESTHER, WE REVIEWED THE BIBLICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ASHES.  REMEMBER ESTHER 4:1…

            [4:1] When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

(Esther 4:1 ESV)

WE TALKED ABOUT HOW THIS WAS A BIBLICAL SYMBOL, OR REPRESENTATION OF DEATH, AND HOW IT CONNECTED TO REPENTANCE; BUT, WHAT ABOUT USING THE SIGN OF THE CROSS.  IF YOU HAVE BEEN HERE FOR A HEALING SERVICE, OR HAVE EVER HAD THE ELDERS ANOINT YOU WITH OIL AND PRAY OVER YOU, CHANCES ARE YOU WERE ANOINTED WITH THE SIGN OF THE CROSS.  THE EASY WAY TO UNDERSTAND THAT IS SIMPLY THAT IT IS THE MOST EASILY RECOGNIZED SYMBOL OF JESUS AND CHRISTIANITY.  YET, FASCINATINGLY, EZEKIEL SPEAKS OF THIS WHEN WE READ…

            [4] And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”

(Ezekiel 9:4 ESV)

HERE EZEKIEL IS SPEAKING OF THE SAINTS WHO WILL SURVIVE THE COMING JUDGMENT BY HAVING THIS PROTECTIVE MARK PLACED ON THEIR FOREHEADS.  IN THE HEBREW LANGUAGE, THE MARK THAT IS SPOKEN OF HERE IS LITERALLY THE LETTER TAU WHICH IS WRITTEN IN THE SHAPE OF A CROSS.  MUCH LIKE DAYS GONE BY, WHEN PEOPLE COULD NOT READ OR WRITE, THEY SIGNED SOMETHING BY MAKING THEIR MARK, WHICH WAS AN ‘X’ OR CROSS.  THIS VERSE FROM EZEKIEL HAD SUCH AN IMPACT ON THE EARLY CHURCH THAT THE PRACTICE OF MAKING THE SIGN OR MARK OF THE CROSS ON SOMEONE AT THEIR BAPTISM AND DURING AN ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE BECAME THE NORM EARLY ON.  IN FACT, TERTULLIAN, IN THE SECOND CENTURY, SAID THAT GOD HAD GIVEN TO EZEKIEL “THE VERY FORM OF THE CROSS, WHICH HE PREDICTED WOULD BE ON THE SIGN ON OUR FOREHEADS.”

THIS IS, BY THE WAY, ALL CONNECTED TO ASH WEDNESDAY, WHY WE ARE HERE TONIGHT, AND WHAT THE SEASON OF LENT IS ALL ABOUT.  OUR READING FROM JOEL MAKES THIS VERY CLEAR.  THE BOOK OF  JOEL HAS TWO DISTINCT PARTS.  THE FIRST PART IS THE PROPHET’S INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE COMMUNITY TO CONVENE A SERVICE OF PRAYER.  IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE BOOK THE PROPHET EXPLAINS HOW THE LORD RESPONDS TO GENUINE REPENTANCE.  THE PIVOT POINT, IF YOU WILL, OF THOSE TWO SECTIONS IS CHAPTER 2 VERSE 17, WHICH READS…

            [17] Between the vestibule and the altar

                        let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep

            and say, “Spare your people, O LORD,

                        and make not your heritage a reproach,

                        a byword among the nations.

            Why should they say among the peoples,

                        ‘Where is their God?’”

(Joel 2:17 ESV)

NOTICE VERSES 12-14…

            [12] “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,

                        “return to me with all your heart,

            with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

                        [13] and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

            Return to the LORD your God,

                        for he is gracious and merciful,

            slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

                        and he relents over disaster.

            [14] Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,

                        and leave a blessing behind him,

            a grain offering and a drink offering

                        for the LORD your God?

(Joel 2:12-14 ESV)

THIS IS NOT JUST ANY OLD PRAYER SERVICE AS MUCH AS IT IS A CALL OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD TO REPENTANCE.  WHAT SPURS THIS ON IS A NATIONAL CATASTROPHE, ONE WHICH THE PROPHET INTERPRETS AS A SIGN OF GOD’S DISPLEASURE.  THAT IS, GOD’S JUDGMENT, WHICH IS VISITED UPON THE PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THEIR TRANSGRESSION.  THERE ARE THREE POINTS THAT WE LEARN ABOUT THE NATURE OF THIS REPENTANCE FROM JOEL WHICH SHOULD BE APPLIED TO US THIS EVENING, DURING LENT, AND THE WHOLE OF OUR LIVES.

FIRST, THE REPENTANCE THAT GOD IS LOOKING FOR MUST BE FROM THE HEART.  CERTAINLY IT MUST BE SINCERE, BUT BEING FROM THE HEART IS NOT ONLY LIMITED TO BEING SINCERE.  IT HAS MORE TO DO WITH A FUNDAMENTAL REORIENTING OF THE PERSON’S, OR COMMUNITIES, WHOLE BEING.  WE SEE HERE A DESCRIPTION OF FASTING, WEEPING, AND MOURNING WHICH ARE ALL APPROPRIATE, ESPECIALLY AS OUTWARD MANIFESTATIONS OF AN INWARD REORIENTING, BUT THEY ARE NOT NECESSARILY REQUIRED.  MORE SO, IT SEEMS THAT THE PROPHET HERE IS SAYING THAT REPENTANCE IS FROM THE HEART WHEN ONE IS OPENED UP TO GOD, AS IN VERSE 13…

                        [13] and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

            Return to the LORD your God,

                        for he is gracious and merciful,

            slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

                        and he relents over disaster.

(Joel 2:13 ESV)

SECOND, REPENTANCE IS NEVER ONLY A MATTER OF PERSONAL DECISION AND COMMITMENT.  IT MUST ALSO HAVE A CORPORATE ASPECT.  IN JOEL THIS COMES ABOUT BECAUSE OF ISRAEL’S DISOBEDIENCE, THEREFORE THE PROPHET APPEALS TO THE WHOLE NATION.  THERE IS A CALL TO RETURN TO BEING GOD’S PEOPLE, THERE IS A CALL TO RETURN TO ONE ANOTHER WITHIN THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH.  WE SEE THIS IN THAT THE PROPHET CALLS THEM TO A COMMUNAL ACT OF REPENTANCE, WHICH IS VIEWED AS SO IMPORTANT IT INTERRUPTS ALL OF THE NORMAL COURSE OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE.

            [15] Blow the trumpet in Zion;

                        consecrate a fast;

            call a solemn assembly;

                        [16] gather the people.

            Consecrate the congregation;

                        assemble the elders;

            gather the children,

                        even nursing infants.

            Let the bridegroom leave his room,

                        and the bride her chamber.

(Joel 2:15-16 ESV)

AND SO, TONIGHT, WE STOP OUR WORK AND OUR LIVES FOR JUST ONE HOUR, TO COME TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY OF FAITH, AND CONFESS NOT ONLY OUR INDIVIDUAL SINS, AND NOT ONLY OUR CORPORATE SINS, BUT THE SINS OF OUR WHOLE NATION, AND THE SINS OF OUR WHOLE WORLD.  TONIGHT WE DO NOT ONLY THROW OURSELVES AT GOD’S MERCY, IN FAITH EXPECTING HIM TO SPARE US, WE ACT AS THE PRIESTS OF VERSE 17 WHO…

            [17] Between the vestibule and the altar

                        let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep

            and say, “Spare your people, O LORD,

                        and make not your heritage a reproach,

                        a byword among the nations.

            Why should they say among the peoples,

                        ‘Where is their God?’”

(Joel 2:17 ESV)

IT IS SIMPLE, REALLY.  IF THE CULTURE, OR THE COMMUNITY, OR THE LEADERS; THE MAYOR, THE GOVERNOR, THE PRESIDENT; THE LAWMAKERS, THE MOVIE MAKERS, THE SONG MAKERS; AREN’T GOING TO REPENT BEFORE GOD THEN WHO IS, OR PUT ANOTHER WAY, IF THE CHURCH ISN’T GOING TO REPENT BEFORE GOD THEN WHO IS?

FINALLY, THIS REPENTANCE INVOLVES THE RENEWAL OF ONE’S TRUST IN GOD.  CONFESSING SIN AND PROMISING TO DO BETTER DOES NOT AMOUNT TO REPENTANCE.  IN FACT, ONE AUTHOR STATES, “…INSOFAR AS THIS RESOLVE PRESUMES AN ABILITY TO REFORM ONESELF, IT REPRESENTS A HARDENING OF THE HEART, NOT AN OPENING OF IT TO GOD AND OTHERS.”  WHAT THE PROPHET DOES IS ASSUME THE PEOPLES NEED FOR GOD, BUT CENTERS THAT ON GOD’S CARING AND COMPASSION.

            [6] The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, [7] keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

           

(Exodus 34:6-7 ESV)

WE, THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE ABSOLUTELY ACCOUNTABLE TO HIM, BUT HE IS JUST AND FULL OF COMPASSION.

THIS BRINGS US BACK TO THE BEGINNING.  WHY ARE WE HERE?  WHAT ARE WE DOING?  WHAT ABOUT ASH WEDNESDAY, AND ITS SYMBOLS, THE ASH AND THE SIGN OF THE CROSS.  WE ARE CALLED, AS A CHURCH, DURING THE NEXT FORTY DAYS TO MEDITATE ON REPENTANCE.  WE BEGIN BY SETTING ASIDE THIS NIGHT, MUCH LIKE THE PEOPLE OF GOD DURING THE TIME OF JOEL, TO HAVE PRAYER SERVICE THAT IS FOCUSED ON REPENTANCE.  MAYBE WE MARK THIS IN OUR OWN LIVES BY FASTING FROM SOMETHING, OR DEDICATING EXTRA TIME TO PRAYER.  WE CALL IT ASH WEDNESDAY, AND SEE PEOPLE WITH ASHES WHICH REMIND US OF SIN, THE CURSE, AND DEATH.  BUT LET US ALSO DURING THIS SEASON NEVER FORGET ABOUT THE CROSS.  THE SHAPE OF THE CROSS ALSO REMINDS US OF SIN, THE CURSE, AND DEATH BUT IT REMINDS US THAT THEY HAVE ALL BEEN DEFEATED BY THE SON OF GOD.  WE WILL DIE AND TURN TO DUST, AND SO MAY OUR CULTURE AND OUR COUNTRY, CERTAINLY HER LEADERS WILL, BUT OUR HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS’ BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY, 2012

SUNDAY JANUARY 15, 2012

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

OH BABY, THE PLACES YOU COULD HAVE GONE

PSALM 139: 1-6, 13-18

LET US HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD THIS MORNING…

            [139:1] O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

            [2] You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

                        you discern my thoughts from afar.

            [3] You search out my path and my lying down

                        and are acquainted with all my ways.

            [4] Even before a word is on my tongue,

                        behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

            [5] You hem me in, behind and before,

                        and lay your hand upon me.

            [6] Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

                        it is high; I cannot attain it.

(Psalm 139:1-6 ESV)

            [13] For you formed my inward parts;

                        you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

            [14] I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

            Wonderful are your works;

                        my soul knows it very well.

            [15] My frame was not hidden from you,

            when I was being made in secret,

                        intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

            [16] Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

            in your book were written, every one of them,

                        the days that were formed for me,

                        when as yet there was none of them.

            [17] How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

                        How vast is the sum of them!

            [18] If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

                        I awake, and I am still with you.

           

(Psalm 139:13-18 ESV)

PRAY:  OUR GOD AND OUR FATHER, DAY AND NIGHT YOU SUMMON US, YOUR PEOPLE.  WE PRAY LORD THAT YOU WILL STIR US WITH YOUR VOICE THROUGH YOUR WORD, AND ENLIGHTEN OUR LIVES WITH YOUR GRACE THAT WE GIVE OURSELVES FULLY TO CHRIST’S CALL TO MISSION AND MINISTRY.  IT IS IN HIS NAME THAT WE NOW PRAY.  AMEN.

NEXT SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, IS SANCTITY OF LIFE SUNDAY, A DAY THAT WE AS CHRISTIANS SHOULD CERTAINLY MARK.  I HAD EVERY INTENTION OF DEALING WITH THAT THEME FROM THE SCRIPTURES, NEXT WEEK, UNTIL I FOUND THAT OUR READINGS FOR TODAY INCLUDED THE ABOVE VERSES FROM PSALM 139.  SO, ALTHOUGH SANCTITY OF LIFE SUNDAY IS ONE WEEK FROM TODAY, AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOU TO BE MEDITATING ON GOD’S WORD AND PRAYING FOR GOD’S HELP AND MERCY IN REGARDS TO THIS ISSUE ALL WEEK AND NEXT SUNDAY, WE ARE GOING TO PAUSE FOR A MOMENT TO SEE SOME OF WHAT HIS WORD HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS TOPIC TODAY.

ON MARCH 2, 1904, THEODOR GEISEL WAS BORN.  HE LIVED 87 YEARS, AND DURING THE COURSE OF HIS LIFE HE PUBLISHED 46 BOOKS.  MANY OF WHICH HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED TO BE CLASSIC WORKS.  HE ALSO WORKED AS AN ILLUSTRATOR, A POLITICAL CARTOONIST, AND IN THE ANIMATION DEPARTMENT OF THE U.S. ARMY.

HE WAS QUITE A COMPLICATED PERSON.  HE LOVED CHILDREN, AND LOVED TO ENTERTAIN THEM, ALTHOUGH HE HAD NONE OF HIS OWN BY EITHER OF HIS TWO WIVES.  POLITICALLY HE WAS A MIXED BAG, LIKE SO MANY OF US.  HE WAS A LIFETIME LIBERAL DEMOCRAT AND SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND THE NEW DEAL, BUT HE WAS ALSO PASSIONATELY OPPOSED TO FASCISM, AS HIS POLITICAL CARTOONS MADE CLEAR.  HIS WORLDVIEW CERTAINLY COMES OUT IN THE TOPICS HE CHOSE TO WRITE ABOUT: ENVIRONMENTALISM AND ANTI-CONSUMERISM, RACIAL EQUALITY, THE ARMS RACE, HITLER AND ANTI-AUTHORITARIANISM, AND ANTI-ISOLATIONISM AND INTERNATIONALISM.  INTERESTINGLY, HE WAS ALSO KNOWN TO BE A BELIEVING AND PRACTICING CHRISTIAN.  HE BELONGED TO A CHURCH IN HIS HOMETOWN OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, HE WAS THE SON OF CHRISTIAN PARENTS WHO RAISED HIM IN A CHRISTIAN HOME, AND HE ATTENDED MANDATORY CHAPEL SERVICES AT BOTH DARTMOUTH AND OXFORD.  BY ANY ACCOUNT HE HAD A STRONG RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND.

SO, WHAT IS IT ABOUT MR. GEISEL THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HIM TODAY?  I BELIEVE A FAMOUS QUOTE FROM ONE OF HIS WORKS CAN SHED SOME LIGHT ON THAT.

DON’T GIVE UP!  I BELIEVE IN YOU ALL!  A PERSONS A PERSON, NO MATTER HOW SMALL! 

MR. THEODOR GEISEL WAS THE DR. SEUSS, AND THAT WAS A FAMOUS AND WELL KNOWN LINE FROM ‘HORTON HEARS A WHO’.  HIS WIFE HAS WRITTEN…

“[HE WAS] INTRIGUED BY RESEARCH INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF BABIES WHILE THEY ARE IN THEIR MOTHER’S WOMB.  THE FACT THAT THEY COULD HEAR SOUNDS – AND MIGHT ACTUALLY RESPOND TO THE VOICES OF THEIR PARENTS- WAS BOTH EXCITING AND MYSTIFYING TO HIM.  RESEARCHERS FOUND INCREASED UTERINE ACTIVITY DURING READING [THE CAT AND THE HAT] – AND A GRADUAL SETTLING DOWN AFTERWARD.  THIS RESPONSE TO THE BOOK CONTINUED AFTER DELIVERY.  THE BABY APPARENTLY RECALLED HAVING HEARD THE STORY BEFORE …IN UTERO!

NOW, ALL OF THIS IS FINE AND GOOD, BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY IS WHAT THE BIBLE HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS TOPIC, AND IT HAS A LOT TO SAY ABOUT IT STARTING IN PSALM 139.  I WANT TO BREAK DOWN THE VERSES THAT WE HAVE THIS MORNING INTO THREE SECTIONS.  FIRST, VERSES 1 THROUGH 6 SPEAK ABOUT GOD’S INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS PEOPLE.  SECOND, VERSES 13 THROUGH 16 DESCRIBES LIFE IN A VERY DARK PLACE, A PLACE THAT ONLY GOD’S KNOWLEDGE COULD PENETRATE; A MOTHER’S WOMB.  THIRD, AND FINALLY, VERSES 17 AND 18 DESCRIBE HOW DELIGHTFUL IT IS TO KNOW OF GOD’S KNOWLEDGE.

IN THE FIRST SECTION WE FIND AN AFFIRMATION THAT THE LORD KNOWS ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT US.  THE PSALMIST STATES THAT ‘YOU HAVE SEARCHED ME AND KNOW ME.’  WE RECOGNIZE, ALONG WITH THE PSALMIST, THAT GOD KNOWS ALL OF OUR ACTIVITIES, HE KNOWS ALL OF OUR WORDS, AND HE KNOWS ALL OF OUR THOUGHTS, EVEN OUR DEEPEST THOUGHTS.  GOD’S KNOWLEDGE OF US GOES BEYOND WHAT WE COULD EVER COMPREHEND.  IT IS TOO WONDERFUL.  IT IS BEYOND OUR ABILITY, EVEN AS WE READ IN DEUT. 29:29…

            [29] “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

(Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV)

AS THE PSALMIST CONTINUES HE ILLUSTRATES THE EXTENT OF THIS KNOWLEDGE.  HE PAINTS A PICTURE IN VERSES 11-12…

            [11] If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

                        and the light about me be night,”

            [12] even the darkness is not dark to you;

                        the night is bright as the day,

                        for darkness is as light with you.

(Psalm 139:11-12 ESV)

…WHICH HE THEN EXPLAINS IN VERSES 13-16.  THAT IS THAT GOD SAW US AND LOVED US EVEN BEFORE WE WERE BORN.  THE PSALMIST MOVES FROM THE GENERALITIES OF VERSES 11 AND 12 TO A PARTICULAR DARK PLACE WHERE THE LORD STILL WAS ABLE TO SEE INTO AND CARE FOR US.  GOD WAS ACTIVE EVEN WHEN WE WERE IN OUR MOTHER’S WOMB, WHEN WE BEGAN UNFORMED AND THEN GREW AND DEVELOPED, GOD WAS THE ONE WHO FORMED US.  IN FACT, EVEN BEFORE OUR MOTHERS KNEW THAT THEY WERE PREGNANT, AS THE PSALMIST PUTS IT “MY FRAME WAS NOT HIDDEN FROM YOU, WHEN I WAS BEING MADE IN SECRET”, HE KNEW US AND WAS ACTIVE IN OUR LIVES.  THE LORD WAS ALREADY SHOWING CARE.  VERSE 14 DESCRIBES THE WORSHIPPERS’ MARVEL OVER THE MYSTERIOUS PROCESS OF A GROWING AND DEVELOPING BABY IN THE MOTHERS WOMB, BUT IT ALSO TELLS US SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL ABOUT GOD’S WORK IN THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE.  IN THE HEBREW THE PHRASE ‘WONDERFULLY MADE’ HAS A SLIGHTLY UNUSUAL SPELLING WHICH CAN ALLOW IT TO BE TRANSLATED “I AM FEARFULLY SET APART.”  THIS IS THE TERM THAT WE FIND USED ELSEWHERE IN REFERRING TO GOD SETTING HIS PEOPLE APART.  FOR INSTANCE, IN EXODUS 8 WE READ…

            [22] But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

           

(Exodus 8:22 ESV)

ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS FOUND IN PSALM 4…

            [3] But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;

                        the LORD hears when I call to him.

(Psalm 4:3 ESV)

WE ALSO SEE THIS SAME PHRASE USED WHEN A DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN GOD’S PEOPLE AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT HIS PEOPLE.

            [4] But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”’”

(Exodus 9:4 ESV)

            [7] But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’

(Exodus 11:7 ESV)

            [16] For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

(Exodus 33:16 ESV)

SO IT SEEMS THAT THE PSALMIST IS NOT ONLY AFFIRMING THAT WE ARE “FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE”, AND CERTAINLY WE ARE, BUT THAT IN BEING FORMED BY THE HAND OF GOD WE ARE ALSO SPECIALLY SET APART BY HIM.  THE IMPLICATION OF THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.  THE FAITHFUL PERSON SINGING THIS DURING THE TIME OF THE OLD TESTAMENT WOULD BE THE CHILD OF FAITHFUL PARENTS.  IT WOULD BE, AND IS AN AFFIRMATION THAT GOD SET HIS SPECIAL LOVE UPON THAT INDIVIDUAL, THE WORSHIPPER, FROM THE EARLIEST STAGES OF HIS PERSONAL LIFE.

            [9] Yet you are he who took me from the womb;

                        you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.

            [10] On you was I cast from my birth,

                        and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

(Psalm 22:9-10 ESV)

            [5] For you, O Lord, are my hope,

                        my trust, O LORD, from my youth.

            [6] Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;

                        you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.

            My praise is continually of you.

(Psalm 71:5-6 ESV)

FINALLY, WE SEE IN VERSES 17 AND 18 WHAT OUR PROPER RESPONSE IS TO THIS KNOWLEDGE.  UNDERSTANDING GOD’S INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF US CAUSES US TO RECOGNIZE THE VALUE, EVEN THE PRECIOUSNESS OF HIS THOUGHTS.  HE KNOWS US SO COMPLETELY THAT WE SHOULD VALUE THE MIND OF GOD OVER ALL OTHER THINGS.

DR. SEUSS WROTE THAT “A PERSONS A PERSON NO MATTER HOW SMALL”, AND ALTHOUGH IT HAS BEEN HOTLY CONTESTED, AND STATED BY HIM AND HIS WIFE THAT THIS STATEMENT AND BOOK REALLY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ISSUE OF ABORTION, EVEN TODAY THE DEBATE STILL VERY OFTEN REVOLVES AROUND PERSONHOOD.  BUT WE HAVE ALREADY SHOWN THAT PSALM 139 SPEAKS POWERFULLY TO THE NATURE OF UNBORN HUMAN LIFE, AS WELL AS OTHER SCRIPTURES. BRIEFLY THEN, LET US NOW LOOK AT THE QUESTION OF PERSONHOOD, FROM THE PLACE THAT WE SHOULD VALUE ABOVE ALL OTHER THINGS, GOD’S THOUGHTS.  IN VERSE 13 OF PSALM 139 THERE IS A CELEBRATION OF GOD’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS BABY.  THE WORD HERE THAT IS TRANSLATED ‘INWARD PARTS’ IS THE HEBREW WORD FOR KIDNEYS.  BIBLICALLY THIS IS THE SEAT OF AFFECTIONS.  IT IS THE HIDDEN PART WHERE GRIEF MAY BE EXPERIENCED…

                        [13] his archers surround me.

            He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare;

                        he pours out my gall on the ground.

(Job 16:13 ESV)

IT IS WHERE THE CONSCIENCE EXISTS…

            [7] I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;

                        in the night also my heart [KIDNEYS] instructs me.

(Psalm 16:7 ESV)

IT IS WHERE DEEP SPIRITUAL DISTRESS CAN BE FELT…

            [21] When my soul was embittered,

                        when I was pricked in heart,

(Psalm 73:21 ESV)

VERSE 16 MAKES CLEAR THAT GOD’S KNOWLEDGE OF THE PSALMIST REACHED EVEN TO HIS EARLIEST DEVELOPMENT IN THE WOMB.  ALSO, DAVID CONFESSES THAT HE WAS A SINNER FROM CONCEPTION, AS WE READ IN PSALM 51…

            [5] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

                        and in sin did my mother conceive me.

(Psalm 51:5 ESV)

THEREFORE, WHEN LOOKING AT THESE POINTS AS A WHOLE, GOD’S WORD MAKES IT CLEAR THAT PERSONHOOD BEGINS AT CONCEPTION.  DAVID ATTRIBUTES MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY TO CONCEPTION, JUST AS SINFULNESS IS CONNECTED TO CONCEPTION AND IT IS ONLY PERSONS THAT CAN BE MORALLY ACCOUNTABLE BECAUSE THEY ARE SINNERS.  IT IS ONLY PERSONS THAT CAN BE DESCRIBED AS POSSESSING THE SEAT OF AFFECTIONS AT THE EARLIEST STAGES OF LIFE, FROM CONCEPTION.  BESIDES, WE KNOW, AND I WOULD SUBMIT THAT EVERY ONE OF THEM KNOWS, WHETHER THEY WOULD ADMIT IT OR NOT, THAT “A PERSONS A PERSON NO MATTER HOW SMALL.”

SO, WHAT SHOULD WE, AS THE CHURCH THINK ABOUT THIS AND WHAT SHOULD WE BE DOING ABOUT THIS?  SINCE 1972, 40 SHORT YEARS, OVER 52 MILLION ABORTIONS HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN AMERICA.  WIKIPEDIA LIST 242 COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD, AND THE NUMBER 52 MILLION IS MORE THAN OR EQUAL TO THE POPULATION OF 219 OUT OF 242 OF THOSE COUNTRIES.  THERE ARE ONLY 23 COUNTRIES THAT HAVE A POPULATION GREATER THAN THE NUMBER OF ABORTIONS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THIS COUNTRY IN THE LAST 40 YEARS. THIS CAN BE DIFFICULT TO PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE, BUT IT MIGHT HELP TO SEE THAT AS OF OCTOBER 2011 THE POPULATION OF CANADA WAS 34.6 MILLION, ALMOST 20 MILLION LESS THAN THE NUMBER OF ABORTIONS IN THE LAST 40 YEARS IN AMERICA.  CERTAINLY THIS IS A SIN THAT THE CHURCH NEEDS TO CONTINUE TO FIGHT AGAINST AND SHINE A LIGHT UPON.  BUT I THINK ANOTHER SET OF STATISTICS COULD BE VERY HELPFUL IN MOVING US ALONG TO UNDERSTANDING HOW IT IS THAT GOD WANTS US TO FIGHT THIS BATTLE, AND OTHER ONES LIKE IT.  SINCE 1972, OUT OF 8 PRESIDENTS 5 HAVE BEEN REPUBLICAN, AND OUT OF 40 YEARS ABOUT 26 HAVE BEEN UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT.  I AM OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE BACK IN THE 1980’S, AND HOW VOCAL THE CHURCH’S OPPOSITION TO ABORTION WAS.  MOST OF US HERE CAN REMEMBER THAT FOR A LONG TIME IT WAS CONSIDERED A CONSERVATIVE LITMUS TEST FOR JUDGING POLITICAL CANDIDATES.  THAT FIRE IN THE CHURCH’S BELLY HAS CERTAINLY DIED DOWN TO A SMOLDERING EMBER, AT BEST.  THE EVANGELICAL CONSERVATIVE RIGHT DOES NOT SEEM TO MAKE TOO MUCH OF A BIG DEAL ABOUT THIS ANYMORE.  WE HEAR PEOPLE TALK ABOUT IT HERE AND THERE, AND IT COMES UP OCCASIONALLY, BUT AS A COLLECTIVE GROUP WE HAVE MOVED ON TO BEING TERRIFIED ABOUT LOSING THIS COUNTRY.  THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE TOO MANY DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ABORTION ANY MORE, AS MOST OF THE TIME WE ARE CONCERNED WITH ISSUES OF ECONOMIC MODELS AND PERSONAL FREEDOMS.  I WANT TO BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR HERE, THOSE ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT AND VALID.  IT ALL IS, BUT I CAN NOT BE EASILY CONVINCED THAT GOD WILL ALLOW THIS COUNTRY ANY MORE MERCY, REGARDLESS OF WHO WINS THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, IF WE CONTINUE TO GO DOWN THE SAME SINFUL PATH THAT WE HAVE BEEN GOING DOWN.  THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS CONSIDERED THE PARAGON OF CIVILIZATION IN ITS HEYDAY, AND EVEN BY HISTORIANS TODAY, BUT IT WAS CICERO THAT WROTE IN THE ‘TWELVE TABLES OF ROMAN LAW’ DURING THE LAST CENTURY B.C. THAT… “DEFORMED INFANTS SHALL BE KILLED”; AND IT WAS PLUTARCH DURING THE FIRST CENTURY A.D. WHO WROTE THAT IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON FOR ROMANS TO “OFFER UP THEIR OWN CHILDREN, AND THOSE WHO HAD NO CHILDREN WOULD BUY LITTLE ONES FROM POOR PEOPLE AND ‘SACRIFICE’ THEM AS IF THEY WERE SO MANY LAMBS OR YOUNG BIRDS; MEANWHILE THE MOTHER STOOD BY WITHOUT A TEAR OR A MOAN.”  REALLY, THAT IS WHAT A CIVILIZED CULTURE LOOKS LIKE?  WE NEED TO BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, CIVILIZATION DOES NOT EXIST WHERE CHRISTIANITY AND THE CHURCH DOES NOT EXIST, AND CHRISTIANITY AND THE CHURCH (IN ITS MOST BIBLICAL FORM) HAS NOT EXISTED HERE FOR QUITE SOME TIME, AND POLITICS AND ELECTIONS, ALTHOUGH A VERY IMPORTANT RESPONSIBILITY FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN, IS NOT WHAT IS GOING TO BRING TRUE CIVILIZATION BACK TO THIS LAND, OR ANY LAND, FOR THAT MATTER.  IT WAS EARLY CHRISTIAN CULTURE, DURING ROME AND ITS HEYDAY, WHICH BROUGHT AND TAUGHT A SANCTITY OF LIFE, ONE OF THE HALLMARKS OF TRUE CIVILIZATION.  THE DIDACHE, A FIRST CENTURY PASTORAL MANUAL STATED, “THOU SHALT NOT MURDER A CHILD BY ABORTION NOR KILL THEM WHEN BORN.”  THE LETTER OF BARNABAS ALSO STATES, “YOU SHALL NOT ABORT A CHILD NOR, AGAIN, COMMIT INFANTICIDE.”  IT WAS THE ACTIONS OF CHRISTIANS IN THE THIRD CENTURY LIKE CALLISTUS WHO PROVIDED REFUGE TO ABANDON CHILDREN BY PLACING THEM IN CHRISTIAN HOMES; AND BENIGNUS OF DIJON WHO OFFERED NOURISHMENT AND PROTECTION TO ABANDON CHILDREN, SOME WHO REPORTEDLY HAD DISABILITIES CAUSED BY UNSUCCESSFUL ABORTIONS.  THE PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT HAD A CALLING, AND SPOKE OF CERTAIN THINGS IN AN EVIL AGE.  LET US TAKE A LOOK AT WHERE THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ENDED UP AND HOW THEY GOT THERE.

            [7] Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.

(1 Kings 11:7 ESV)

            [26] When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. [27] Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.

(2 Kings 3:26-27 ESV)

            [2] Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done, [3] but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

           

(2 Kings 16:2-3 ESV)

            [7] And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods [8] and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. [9] And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. [10] They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, [11] and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, [12] and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.” [13] Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

            [14] But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. [15] They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. [16] And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. [17] And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

           

(2 Kings 17:7-17 ESV)

I WOULD SUBMIT THAT THIS IS AN EVIL AGE, AND THEREFORE WE ARE CALLED, JUST AS THE PROPHETS OF OLD, TO CALL THE PEOPLE OUT.  WE ARE NO BETTER THAN THE ROMANS.  WE ARE NO LONGER A CIVILIZED SOCIETY, AS WE MURDER THE GIFTS OF NEW LIFE THAT GOD BLESSES US WITH.  I WILL SAY, IN THE NAME OF OUR GREAT JEHOVAH AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST…

            [20] And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter [21] that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them?

(Ezekiel 16:20-21 ESV)

THEREFORE, THE LORD WAS VERY ANGRY WITH AMERICA, AND HE REMOVED THEM OUT OF HIS SIGHT.  NONE WAS LEFT BUT THE FAITHFUL CHURCH.

IN CLOSING TODAY, WE FIND OURSELVES RIGHT WHERE WE ENDED UP LAST WEEK.  IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTICE THAT THIS ISSUE OF ABORTION IS A SYMPTOM, A VERY IMPORTANT SYMPTOM, BUT A SYMPTOM LIKE ALL OF THE OTHERS.  EVERY IMPORTANT TOPIC THAT WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THIS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CYCLE IS A SYMPTOM.  THEY ALL POINT TO THE DISEASE AND THAT DISEASE IS FOUND SQUARELY IN THE HEARTS OF EACH AND EVERY MAN.  IT IS PART OF OUR CALLING, AS THOSE STARS FROM LAST WEEK, GOD’S GLORY REFLECTORS, TO SHOW EACH AND EVERY PERSON THE CURE, EVEN AS PAUL TELLS US IN ROMANS 5…

[18] Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. [19] For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

 

(Romans 5:18-19 ESV)

[21] so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(Romans 5:21 ESV)

SO, I CHALLENGE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US TODAY, WHAT IS YOUR MISSION AND MINISTRY?  IF WE ARE TRULY WORRIED ABOUT LOSING THIS COUNTRY, THEN LET US BE THOSE WHO ARE DOING THE ONLY THING THAT WILL SAVE IT; MAKING DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THAT JESUS HAS COMMANDED.

IN 1997 A COMPILATION OF DR. SEUSS STORIES WAS PUBLISHED INTO ONE BOOK WITH THE DISTINCT PURPOSE OF BEING READ TO BABIES WHILE THEY WERE IN THE WOMB.  IT WAS TITLED “OH, BABY, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO”.  MAY OUR PRAYER AND OUR GOAL BE THAT THAT CAN ONCE AGAIN BE SAID WITH INTEGRITY NOT ONLY ABOUT THE CHURCH IN THIS LAND, BUT ABOUT ALL OF THE CHILDREN AS WELL?  OH, BABY, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO, INDEED.

 

             

 

 

 

 

                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION

Part VI

The Third Commandment states, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”  In summarizing the first three commandments, one author writes, “The first commandment is concerned about the object of worship, the second commandment concerns the means of worship, and this commandment concerns the manner of worship, forbidding all careless, or profane use of His name, and commanding an holy reverence from us in all our solemn addresses to him, or ordinary mention of his name.”

I find it interesting, and I wonder if you do too, that in a series of essays about good citizenship we have spent so much time talking about man’s right worship of God.  I did say interesting and not surprised, and I hope that you have not been surprised.  It has always amazed me that in a time when so many conservative Christians want to talk about the importance of upholding God’s Law when it comes to culture and politics they miss the fact that His Law (at least at the beginning) has so much to say about our relationship with him through worship.

The point being, and has always been, that truly good citizens can only come from those people who rightly worship God, and this has everything to do with His name, it has everything to do with the third commandment.  For example, David reminds us in Psalm 8:1, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  As Buddy Hanson writes, in reference to the above verse, “We have the high privilege of using every means and opportunity to advance and defend the glorious name of God so that others may be moved by us to love, honor and serve Him.”  The only thing that I would add to that is that it must begin in the Church, through our worship of God.

Abraham Kuyper may be held up as a fine example of a Christian citizen, even, in my humble opinion, better and sounder than Mr. Benjamin Franklin.  He was born in 1837 and died in 1920.  He lived a life, informed by his faith in God, of service; working as a politician, journalist, statesman, and theologian/pastor/church reformer.  He even founded the Free University in Amsterdam.  Kuyper knew, believed, and understood the third commandment, which lead him to be such a great citizen, even as one author points out, “Abraham Kuyper correctly observed that in Scripture we are seldom asked to demonstrate our gratitude to God by doing something, by performing any work for Him or bestowing anything upon Him.  Rather, emphasis is placed upon being something for the Lord, namely, that we exalt, honor, praise, and glorify His name.”  Kuyper accomplished this by being a ‘good citizen’.

Finally, as we have done each month, we come full circle by looking at God’s Laws for the New Covenant, the Beatitudes, where we read, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”  That is, those who are gentle, those who “do not assert themselves over others in order to further their own agendas in their own strength, but who will nonetheless inherit the earth because they trust in God to direct the outcome of events.”; those who, rightly, put His name above their own.  That certainly sounds like a description of a ‘good citizen’ to me.

The War Against Religious Liberty

This was written by Michael Milton, Ph.D.  a Presbyterian (PCA) minister and Chancellor/CEO elect of Reformed Theological Seminary.  Please feel free to share, as this is an issue that touches us all.

 

We were told this would not happen. We were told to just let the bill pass and read it later. Well, we are reading it now. And the fine print doesn’t look good for religious freedom. Perhaps you have heard about last Sunday’s “pulpit protest” by Roman Catholic priests around the nation over the administration’s mandated health care program which will require Catholic institutions like universities, hospitals and seminaries to “tow the line” regarding national health care mandates; notably, the requirement to provide insurance that will promote contraception and ultimately abortion. The protest is unprecedented by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. But make no mistake. This is not a Catholic issue only. It is not a contraception issue. It is a religious liberty issue. It is an American issue.

Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted was spot-on when he preached, “we cannot, we will not, comply with this unjust law. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build (America) … Or to have the posterity stripped of their God-given rights…”

Put this Presbyterian down as saying, “Amen,” to that Catholic bishop.

As the next chancellor and chief executive officer of one of America’s largest protestant seminaries, I can tell you that the Obama health care mandate is already having an enormous impact on our ministry. Yet until this latest revelation, the impact has mostly been financial. In a word, this thing is going to be extraordinarily expensive. Now, unless there is a wholesale repeal of this Act or unless there is dramatic and immediate steps taken to curb the government’s prying into the consciences of religious institutions like our seminary, or other similar religious establishments that appeal to a Higher Law than Man’s, we will have a constitutional crisis on our hands. I realize that those are heavy words. But we must all realize that this is a weighty matter.

It is interesting that Ronald Reagan’s 101st birthday (February 6th, 1911) is going to be celebrated as this crisis unfolds before us. He had something to say about how government mandated medicine steals liberty. Back in 1961 then actor and General Electric spokesman, Ronald Reagan, warned America:

“One of the traditional ways of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine…” Reagan went on to describe how a secularist government would use national health care to advance other leftist agendas. He also went on to quote a founder who warned against the loss of liberty through gradual intrusion of a meddling government.

James Madison warned, “Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” (James Madison, speech in the Virginia ratifying convention on control of the military, June 16, 1788 in: History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788, Vol. 1, p. 130 [H.B. Grigsby, ed. 1890]).

If liberty and freedom were a government-issued “right” then government would have the prerogative to take it back. But liberty and freedom, as our founders declared, comes from Almighty God. To meddle with those rights of conscience is to return to the crisis of that gave rise to this nation. Unless these violations of religious rights are expelled, now, they will bring ruin to this nation.

It is time for Americans to speak up for religious freedom while there is still time. Thank God for the Catholic Bishops and priests who did. We all must. For you can’t lose just a little liberty. You lose—we lose—all of it when we lose any of it.

CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION

PART V

The Second Commandment states, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.”  In Matthew chapter 4 verse 10 Jesus summarizes this commandment by stating, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.”  The question before us today is what does a commandment forbidding idolatry have to do with being good citizens?  It seems to have everything to do with false worship, and as Buddy Hanson puts it, “The First Commandment requires we worship no other gods in our hearts, and the Second Commandment requires we worship no other gods in our actions…While the First Commandment prohibits idolatry, the Second Commandment warns of making an idol of false worship.”  What I would like to submit today is that this issue goes to the very heart of whether or not someone can be a good citizen.  The issue is whether or not we can serve two masters at the same time, or put another way ‘can we walk in two directions at the same time?’  Although on the face of it the answer seems obvious, obviously one can’t, what we have been trying to do in this country, for quite some time, is exactly that.  Actually, it is quite simple, in that there is only one direction to walk, there is only one Master to serve, and that is Jesus Christ.

Here is my point, plain and simple, if you are concerned about the direction that this country (and our society) seem to be headed in (and in all reality have been headed in for quite some time) then there really is only one thing for you to do, there is only one real fix, and that is to disciple people.  Jesus made it really clear, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

It is about helping people to follow the one and only Master, it is about getting them to walk in the one and only direction, recognizing that everything else we could be concerned about will fall into place.  If the people of society are trying to, let us say, be good citizens, and they are not followers of Jesus Christ then the whole thing is doomed to catastrophic failure.  Possibly a very accurate description of where things are at right now.

So, to be very practical, it is not about us getting people educated as to whAT the issues are, it is not about educating people as to who the best candidate may be, if we are doing that to people who don’t already follow Jesus Christ then it is a massive waste of time.  It is about loving people the way that Jesus loved, and teaching people how to live and love that same exact way when they become followers of Jesus.  Only then will we have true good citizens, and a truly civil society.

Finally, remember the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 where Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”  The pure in heart, those “whose pursuit of purity and uprightness affects every area of life”, is a wonderful description of one who has singleness of mind, who is walking in one direction, following the one and only Master.  Again, it will be those people, and the society marked by those people, who ultimately bring about the Kingdom of God.