The Good Fortune of Others ...

Cancer still kills.  On the 29^th of May, my wife took our dog Oscar to the vet to see what could be done to help a pain he had developed in his leg.  Oscar never came home again.  It was not just some ordinary ache or pain, or even a case of treatable arthritis.  Instead it was the same aggressive cancer that killed his sister Layla only a few months ago.  It seems Oscar had it as well, for perhaps even a longer period of time, he simply had a higher tolerance for pain, so we never knew.  We were not prepared for this loss.  As is often the case, death comes and interrupts, what you were thinking.  And we did not lose Oscar without prayer, I had been praying for him since his sister got sick, never knowing just how much he needed that prayer, and was being sustained by it.  But cancer still kills.  And I have lost more than just a family pet, I have lost a nurse dog who stood beside me, and leaned against me anytime I was too shaky to attempt standing.  He would steady me as I moved.  One of the side effects of my medication is a shaky short-term memory, so when I would forget to take my medicine, Oscar would come and remind me.  He only did that when I needed it.  Otherwise he was content to sit on my feet while I work, even closer when it rained.  My dogs were very obedient, even learning to go to the bathroom on command.  They were full of love, and were fierce protectors of my family.  I cannot imagine life without them, and so will be looking to reclaim them once again in a Kingdom yet to come.

For now, while my life yet goes on, I will begin my search for another Akita breeder and hope I can do as well despite my doubt that will ever be possible.  These two have set the bar quite high.  It is somewhat ironic that my wife spends her career helping those with cancer.  It is her passion, even if there is no way to translate it to the animals in our circle.  Very often she brings home the need of a given patient and their family for prayer, as science has only been able to go so far.  And cancer still kills.  So we pray for them.  I seldom know their names, as HIPPA must be maintained.  But she knows them, and God knows them.  What I know, is that “horse lady” is in full remission.  But a “young man” recently died, an atheist his whole life, until a series of encounters with a few Christians including “horse lady” as they both got treatment.  There will be a star in her crown, even if she does not know it.  The “young man” came to know Jesus before the end took him.  “Frank” who chose to tell me his name, believes in God so strongly that he prefers to live on prayer, even more than treatment.  Much to the frustration of his Hindu cancer doctor.  But Frank still lives.

And it occurs to me, not all my prayers are answered.  As not all the prayers of those in that cancer treatment center are answered as they asked them.  And I wonder, do the families of those who have suffered loss, take great joy in those who still remain?  Or does our own loss so cast shade in our hearts, that the blessings of others are not cause for celebration, but only of mystery.  Why them, why not all?  Can we truly find joy in the good fortune of others, or is our joy constricted only to the good fortune poured out upon us?  For me, it brings me extreme comfort to know the blessing of remission for the “horse lady” my wife is so fond of.  And amazement with even greater joy, to know that Frank lives what he believes even against the advice of medical science.  That could not have been an easy decision for him or his family.  It could still go south, but then, it already could have gone south.  So each day that Frank lives, is a testimony to the love of God for a man I have never met.  And Frank’s life will lift up my faith, no matter the outcome, it already has.  It continues to, and I will continue to pray for him, because he needs it, as do I.

I wonder then, if it is different for you, if you are young enough, or blessed enough, not to have suffered many losses so far.  In those instances, I wonder if the good fortune of others, is something you take great joy in or not?  I fear sometimes we are so busy, that what joy our neighbor experiences never even touches our doorstep.  We post a like on Facebook, and continue to scroll.  In real life, our neighbor is not someone we socialize with, and so hear their happy and sad stories only on rare occasions.  But you would think the church might be the one place where the joy and the sadness come together for the sharing with the rest of the body of Christ.  I don’t think it is.  We have very structured worship services.  We ask for participation in the joy, and offer no venue for the sadness.  We do hold the funerals from time to time, so the ultimate loss might be shared.  But prior to that it is made of prayer requests, and brief 30 second explanations of what might be profound struggles we deal with.  My wife is terrified that without Oscar I am going to wind up falling through our glass tables, or will continually forget my medicine being distracted by work at home.  Those are real fears for her.  But the church as it sits, is not the place for her to share them.  It would take a weaving of personal conversations there with people who take a personal interest, otherwise she might come and go, and no one be the wiser.

That is how the modern church is today.  We ask for believers to come and share their joy.  To participate in worship music.  To try to get a sense of the positive from having gone to church.  We mask the sadness, and ignore it.  And then we wonder why people lose interest in coming.  Does church offer a place to meet the need?  What if your problem is ongoing?  What if you are struck down by inabilities that shape the very fortunes of your life?  Luke in chapter thirteen of his gospel letter to this friend Theophilus about what we believe and why tells of a woman who suffered for 18 long years without the ability to fully extend her body.  She was perpetually hunched over, severely.  Yet she still struggled to go to synagogue every week.  She sought God.  Even if the church, governed by the iron hand of men, was not a friendly venue for a woman to find God.  Even if her fortunes were judged as punishment for her vast sins, by an angry God.  She was at best a cautionary tale.  A horror story parents told their children would happen to them, if they did not obey.  But that was not true.  And Jesus had something to say about the image of an angry God, and the insensitivities of men who thought they ruled the church which He founded.

Luke picks up in verse 10 saying … “And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.”  You will note, the failure of the church both then and now, does not prevent our Lord from going to meet us at church on His Holy Day.  This is yet another of the many texts that show Jesus attending church on the Seventh Day Sabbath He ordained for such joyous occasions.  Not only attending, but teaching, the true image of His Father and our Father God.  Imagine what it must have been like to hear the Truth of God right in front of your eyes and ears.  Way better than any worship music.  Way better than offering calls, and children’s stories, and a regimen that does not have the time for an individual.  When Jesus spoke, He spoke right to your heart.  He cut through the noise of life’s distractions and reminded you what Love was.  He reminded you why you were not only worth saving to God, but that God had made it His number one mission to save you, despite anything you encountered in life. 

Your fortunes are not governed by disease, or bad luck, or natural consequence.  They are a tapestry, woven together, to save you as well as everyone you encounter.  My wife told me how much her “young man” hated God when he entered that cancer treatment area of the hospital.  He encountered other patients, some of them Christian who died before he did.  But what they said lived on in his ears, and their lives became a celebration in his own heart.  They did not pass without meaning, but instead their passing offered him a greater perspective on the next life possible with a loving God.  It was only then that his encounters with the “horse lady” would seal the deal.  And now his own life remains a testimony to the all the medical staff who knew him, touching their hearts and lives, and standing as a firm candle to the light of God.  I wish our churches had time for sharing like this with each other, beyond the greetings of hello and goodbye, but real time to listen, and comfort, and pray.  That kind of real sharing might do more than rekindle interest in going to church on Sabbath, it might change the body entirely for the better.

Luke continues in verse 11 saying … “And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. [verse 12] And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. [verse 13] And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.”  Hold the phone.  Stop the sermon.  Interrupt everything.  Through the crowds that gather, in the very back of the synagogue in the places set aside for the women, (so that they do not disturb the men, because it is only the men who matter), is a woman unable to straighten herself up.  You do not see her head bobbing up and down with all the others.  Instead you catch a glimpse of it at waist or knee level of the others, intently listening, but unable to move well.  And she had been like this for 18 years.  But this was not a genetic disease.  It was an actual demon inhabiting her and causing her great misery.  This demon thought if her misery was high enough and struggle hard enough she would not even try to go to church.  But she did.  And this week she was hearing about the Love of God in words so clear, they cut her like a knife.

But then the unexpected happened.  Jesus stopped everything, and called to her.  Just His voice, gave her strength she had never known.  She obeyed without question and went to Him.  And He told her, “Woman, that art loosed”.  With that, the demon was sent spiraling out of this church and far far away.  The woman remained, but the years of damage to her body had now taken their toll.  So Jesus reaches out and puts His hands upon her.  He helps her up, and His creative energy flows through her, correcting bone, muscle, and joint.  She is restored to what she was intended to be.  This is the testimony of salvation for us all.  First to rid us of the devil in us.  To take the burden of sins from us and loose those chains that bind us.  Then to restore what has been made deformed over so many years.  To restore us to what He intends for us to be.  That is the very nature of salvation.  And when you finally allow yourself to experience it, through the submission of your will to Jesus, you will explode, like this woman exploded, no longer silent, but glorifying God for all to hear.  Her joy could not be contained.  It could not be pushed back into the rear of the building and muffled so as not to disturb the men.  It was right there in center court, loud for all to hear, and God was lifted up in praise that could not be denied, for she had been saved in spirit, heart, and body.

All of this in the middle of church, in the middle of church service.  Jesus made time for this woman’s grief and sadness.  He stopped teaching to demonstrate healing.  The needs of the one sheep, the least sheep in the flock, became more important to him, than the other 99.  Jesus wants the full 100 to be restored.  But alas, the elders who value tradition, reverence, and rules, did not share in the good fortunes of this woman.  They did not join her praise to God, but rather became angry at all this flaunting of so many years of established tradition and male dominance.  Luke continues in verse 14 saying … “And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.”  How many times have I heard that.  How many times has true “ministry” been criticized because it dared to be seen on Sabbath in His church.  True “ministry” looks too much like real work.  Why not wait till the other six days of the week to conduct it.  Why attempt it when Jesus is there in the building.  And today we make “work” our excuse not to minister, so that we can hurry up and leave to go to the nearest restaurant where we have no problem being served by those who would benefit from time away with our God.  But this leader of the synagogue not only did not share in the good fortune of this woman, he actively condemned it, and condemned Jesus for creating it.

Jesus responds in verse 15 saying … “The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? [verse 16] And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? [verse 17] And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.”  Jesus knows it is “work” to feed the livestock, but he also knows it is work that cannot skip a day.  It is ministering work that reflects a love for our animals.  I never actually thought it was work to take care of my dogs.  Oscar was so close in my heart, he was like another child, with special needs and rewards that only he could offer.  His hunger was never something to be categorized as work to me, it was only hunger, and needed to be addressed.  And his love for me was never in question.  People sometimes have a hard time loving others like that, myself included.  But Jesus was making a greater point.

Why did this woman suffer in this synagogue for 18 years, instead of only 1 week?  Why didn’t the leaders of this church lay hands upon her, and call for Father God to heal her, and drive out the demon within her?  They did not, because they cared not.  Women were just not that important to begin with.  These leaders were too timid to publicly demonstrate their lack of faith, never believing it was even possible.  And they did not visit her on the other six days they recommended for this kind of work either.  No, instead they were content to let her suffer and blame her for her suffering.  Has anything changed?  If God is supposed to be praised in our services, don’t you think we could offer those in need, and those who are suffering a reason to experience new joy.  Why instead do we mask their suffering, and pretend it should not exist.  Why not uncover their suffering, and offer the healing ministry of Jesus Christ to see it removed, once and for all.  Isn’t that what church is supposed to be all about?  If you want to see explosive joy today, get off your butt, and interact with God, to bring Jesus into the life of the suffering, so that they have reason to explode in praise to God.  When Jesus pointed these things out to the leaders there, they were ashamed.  As should we be.  If we are content to see the suffering, continue to suffer, we should also be ashamed.  For we know the cure, we know the medicine, it is Jesus Christ and Him alone.

But there is hope.  For the believers who knew this woman, and attended church with her, shared in her joy.  And they too began to praise God.  An act of Love as demonstrated by God Himself, to interrupt even church for the sake of one in need, touched the hearts of those in attendance.  News of it would spread far and wide.  Relieving suffering was even more important to God, than delivering His own sermon and Truth.  He could take the time out to see suffering relieved.  The sermon would be waiting till He was finished changing lives.  That was the priority of the Son of God, and His Father, and His Holy Spirit.  Why is it not ours?  Why do we so value and treasure structure in church, that we make no time for those in real need.  If we cannot demonstrate the love of Jesus in real time, to real people, we are nothing more than noise.  We need to adjust how we think about church.  We need to adjust our ideas about why people praise, and become more active in giving them reason to.  Let our own tapestry make more of a difference.  And as my wife reminds me, take joy in the lives of others, even when you have suffered loss in your own.  The families of patients who have passed on, still celebrate the lives of those who have not.  Those families have suffered horrific loss, yet they can share joy with others who have not.  Not all of them Christian.  So should we do any less?  Would that in church we grieved more together, and then sought the Lord to relieve our grief, until we have reason for overwhelming joy.  It has happened before.  It will happen again.

 

Unpardonable ...

And speaking of criticism … today it seems all the world is a critic.  We freely dole out “advice” to others about how they could have done a better job.  We feel it our duty, our responsibility, after all we are only trying to make the world better.  And the recipients of our advice clearly need it.  None of us are too receptive to the advice of others, but it would seem all of us are inclined to share criticism, often without being asked.  And what happens in the secular arena, being a reflection of character, is dragged right through the doors of the church into the ministry where it least belongs.  Yet our critique is freely shared inside the church with nearly every ministry offered, and every leader or participant who dares to stand in front of us long enough to listen.  We explain that our motive is only to “help”, to make the ministry “better”, or to avoid the pitfalls of the world.  But the net effect is that criticism flows freely, and our own participation flows slowly by comparison, if at all.

Knowing the condition of man, and the struggle of men against sin in all its form, you might just write this off as an “oops” of our characters that will one day get straightened out by the Lord.  This is true if we let it, rather than in true human form, keep attempting to fix it ourselves.  But there is a danger here in this area that is like none other.  As it turns out there is a much MORE dangerous sin, than homosexuality (which most modern Christians believe is by far the worst).  There is much more permanent sin than even murder.  Hard to imagine that, as life once lost sure looks permanent from a “this world” perspective.  And perhaps worst of all, the sin looks so innocuous that most of us don’t even consider it a sin.  We regularly participate without a second thought, and venture in to unpardonable zones with glee.

The first response to this is to recoil.  Perhaps this is only the opinions of the author of this Blog, nothing more.  I wish that it were so, for I am as guilty as any of my brothers and sisters in the faith.  But unfortunately for me, I am unable to argue with the words of my Lord.  Matthew picks up in his gospel in the twelfth chapter in verse 31, not his own words, but the quoting of the words of Jesus Himself as it reads … “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.”  Ouch.  There is something that sits on the “shall not be forgiven” unto men list.  Blasphemy against Holy Spirit.  So what is Blasphemy then?

For us to claim something is from the Holy Spirit which is truly not would constitute blasphemy.  Not many of us claim to be prophets of God, so the danger here is low for most.  Not many of us claim to have direct communication from the Holy Spirit on any matter, we are nearly all too timid for that.  But for those who do, they better be right, or into this list they march.  But a false claim of authentication is not the only definition or use of this term.  The converse is also true.  To attribute something to Satan that is truly from the Holy Spirit, is also a blasphemy against God.  This is the one church goers are so quick to offer opinions about, particularly the conservative branch of our body.  How many times have you heard the opinion offered … “that music is of Satan”.  Or, bringing drama into the church in the form of Christian plays, or short skits, is of the devil?  It could be an instrument, a method of ministry, a manner of dress, or the message offered.

We have all done it.  We do it still.  We think it our Christian responsibility to “call out” things that we believe are of the world, so as to keep the sacred free from worldly influence.  But the key part of that sentence is “we believe”.  It is our belief, stemming from our opinion and interpretation of scripture, that something is of the world or not.  And those opinions and interpretations are often heavily influenced by our own preferences and traditions.  In these instances, we approach scriptures with the conclusions already made, looking only for texts which will support them, leaving no room to be led, or to find we are wrong.  Yet still we present ourselves with such a level of certainty in our criticism you would think we were ready to wrest the role of Judge from our God and carry it on our shoulders without a care in the world.

Perhaps blasphemy is strong enough as a word in its imagery to give you comfort that you “never” go that far with your critiques.  Perhaps because you associate the word blasphemy with such a level of sin, you believe yourself to be incapable of this, making it something you do not need to worry about.  So Jesus continues as if reading the notions of your heart 2,000+ years later.  He continues in verse 32 saying … “And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”  The problem extends beyond blasphemy.  The problem extends to merely “a word against” category.  Now even the slightest slight falls into the same unpardonable zone as does full blown blasphemy.

Jesus makes the distinction that all of these same sins against Himself are forgivable.  But NONE of them are forgivable when offered against the Holy Spirit, to be clear, not in this world, or in the world to come.  The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Godhead.  It is an independent entity of God, that we understand little about.  The Bible is about Jesus, and His creation of us.  It is about our fall from trust, embrace of sin, and the redemption of man due to the love and sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.  Jesus is the main character, and the lens through which we see God the Father.  The Holy Spirit however, while equally active in the redemption of mankind is not what scriptures are written about.  He like a silent partner who does not want the spotlight, seemingly content to work in the background, noticed only when His power moves upon us and we reflect the impossible because of Him.  But He is there.  Some of us hypothesize that the Holy Spirit might be the mom character in the Godhead, but we are as clueless as ants trying to describe the scientific properties of stars.  Perhaps we are only trying to make the Holy Spirit more human, to be more understandable, and in this we mean no criticism.  Stupidity perhaps, but not criticism.

On the other hand, we are quick to judge things, and even results, where the methods are not of our liking.  How many Christian musical artists have been verbally associated with the devil, because we do not like their brand of music?  The phenomenon is not new, organ music was given this attribution 100 years ago.  Now it is having electric guitars, and drums in the sanctuary that gets some folks all riled up.  For some it is worship music that is so repetitive and simplistic it strikes more of inane meditations than music that truly expresses our praise to God.  The point is not what we like or do not like.  The point is the results.  When music points the heart to God, when through our experience of music, we find ourselves coming to Jesus, longing to submit our lives to Him.  The Holy Spirit is in that.  For the Kingdom of heaven is bent on bringing people to Jesus, the method of that journey far less important, than the destination of it.

Our tastes evolve over time.  What we may like as a child expands as an adult.  What we once thought so important, becomes less so as we age.  And Jesus, if we have submitted even our desires to, is the Author behind those changes we do not even understand.  So many Christians are so quick to judge methods, ministers, and messages they feel are inadequate; but whose results are leading of people to Jesus, as being “of the devil”.  This attribution is unfortunately a venture into the unpardonable zone which even after the end of all things is still remembered by the Holy Spirit and not forgiven us.  And why should it be?  We are saying our opinions matter more than the ministry of God to lead people to Jesus.  Better we should say nothing and let the Holy Spirit do as the Holy Spirit wishes.

And do not think this issue is confined only to criticism of music and its various genre’s and methods in the church.  It extends to issues or topics like women’s ordination as well.  This topic is not a debate over doctrine or tradition.  It is a recognition of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or a rejection of them based on the opinions we hold.  When the Holy Spirit gives the gift of ministry to a woman pastor, and we as the body of Christ reject her because she is a woman, or treat her less because of her sex, we are effectively saying “no” to the Holy Spirit deciding who does what within the body of Christ.  Who are we to make that call, particularly against the wisdom and plan of God?  It holds true to the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to young child who we reject because of his/her age.  We reject the word of the Lord, because it comes from a mouth far too young to really understand what they are saying.  And in so doing, we speak more than just a mere word against the Holy Spirit, we are rejecting His gifts, intentions, and plans entirely; based on what, “adult” thinking?

All of these issues boil down to the ego we did not know we held so dearly.  It is the lens of self we apply to things of a spiritual nature, judging what is good and what is not.  But our judgment was never what was needed, our love was.  Leave judging to our God, who alone is qualified.  It becomes then an extremely dangerous thing to offer criticism, which in the end, may well be criticism against the Holy Spirit.  Better we should quell our tongue, and keep our helpful “advice” to ourselves.  Better to uplift, than to offer critical insights.  Better to come from a motivation of pure love, than from a heart who has yet to experience that kind of motivation.  When we seek out the positive, instead of constantly focusing our eyes on the negative, our world suddenly changes around us.  It is this focus on positivity that begins to reflect what Jesus is doing inside of us.  It is a reflection of being someone different than we were before, of allowing the Holy Spirit to decide what we say, and even what we think and believe, and trusting in Him, in God, to not see us follow error to our doom.

Jesus then makes an analogy to help us understand this change phenomenon in our lives picking up in verse 33 saying … “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.”  Those Christians you know, who never seem to run out of love, who always have something uplifting to say; they are trees of good fruit.  You can just tell they are connected with Jesus, or how else could they say those things, and be that loving no matter what circumstances they are in. or they encounter personally.  On the other hand, those Christians you know who always seems to have a critical word on their tongue, and who appear to love themselves very much, perhaps their families, and very few others; they are Christians of corrupt fruit, for they have yet to surrender who they are, and let Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit begin to truly transform how their hearts love. 

Jesus gets more to the point picking up in verse 34 saying … “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. [verse 35] A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”  This is about words people, your words.  This is not about how well the pastor did last Sabbath, or how well the missionary was able to convey what is going on in the fields.  This is about what you say throughout the week, and how you say it.  Those critiques you have to offer come from a heart that does not yet truly understand love.  Because when it does, it has no time for words that do not bring comfort and joy.  Those words that tear down, are not found in the halls of heaven, for the hearts behind voice never feel that way in the first place.  And so many continue to write this off as unimportant.

Jesus has other views continuing in verse 36 saying … “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. [verse 37] For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”  It is the words we utter when we give our lives to Jesus that see us justified.  It is our words of surrender that see us transformed.  It is the idle words we think are still not important that see us condemned, as they continue to reflect the fact that we have not yet surrendered, and have not yet seen our hearts truly transformed into His image.  Our words then are a reflection of who we are.  Our words, how we say them, what we say, are a reflection of the hearts that lie under them.  And so many of us, spend so much time, in words of critique; fully ignorant of our sins mounting against the Holy Spirit all because we have opinions we equate to doctrine, and certainty that surpasses the will of God.  All of it a venture into the unpardonable.

But love is stronger than that.  At least the love of God is stronger than that.  That love is strong enough, not to leave us as we are, but to transform us to what He intends for us to be.  Not just what Jesus intends, but what the Holy Spirit intends, and what God the Father intends.  There are three parts to our united God, not just one, or two.  The third part, the Holy Spirit, has a work and mission, and a personality as well; independent of the others, as I am independent of my wife, yet bound to her as one flesh.  The Holy Spirit is united in purpose with the Godhead, and gives man gifts, and power that reflect the will of God.  When we argue against that will, we venture in unpardonable zones we dare not go.  For we will not soon forget our own actions that delayed, or dismayed the ministry of God to redeem man, even though we ourselves are safely in the Kingdom of heaven.  That criticism we offered that disheartened the soul of a potential believer who was so close to accepting Jesus, but saw in us a discouragement they could not overcome will weigh on us forever, a judgment we will not escape, the judgment of our memories.  The treasure of souls who would have otherwise come to Jesus, is a treasure we should never risk, by clumsy words, and “helpful” advice.  If it does not reflect the passion of God’s love through a heart that has been transformed, our silence would be better preferred, coupled only with actions of love in demonstration.