A Hospital, Not a Court

Image by scem.info

"As many times as you sin, repent for your sin; do not become discouraged. And if you sin a second time, repent a second time. Do not be completely deprived of the hope for the proposed goods through indolence. And if you are in the depths of old age and you sin, enter into the church and repent, because the church is a hospital, not a court of justice."

John Chrysostom (349 - 407 CE)
Homilies on Repentance and Almsgiving 3.4.19

Noah Questions

Two questions about Noah today. Maybe the floods, hurricanes, and boat rescues is reminding the denizens of Quora (where I usually answer these first) of the Biblical deluge.


Q: Where did the idea of Noah preaching to the people about the flooding come from? I can't seem to find any account of it in the book of Genesis.


A: For Christians this idea may have come from the New Testament book of 2nd Peter 2.5 where Noah is depicted as “a preacher of righteousness… when He [God] brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.”

Peter and many 1st century Jews would have heard these stories from the midrashic commentaries of the rabbis that elaborated on the stories of the Hebrew scriptures.





Q: How did Noah transport the 87 species of human parasites (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parasites_of_humans)


A: Inside the humans, I would suppose. Except for the parasites that also afflict animals; they might take a different route.

Of course that's presuming that the story of the Deluge is a strictly historical account, as we modern westerners tend to expect, rather than a story probably based on an actual event (Mesopotamia is known to have had some pretty bad floods) and intended to teach the lessons it teaches: monotheism (as opposed to the multitude of panicky gods who can’t even control their own flood in the old Mesopotamian stories), the incorrigible evil in the heart of man, that evil will be judged, that God requires obedience, that, in the end, God forgives and shows mercy, etc., etc.

Oh yeah, and the origin of wine and need to drink responsibly. Very important. ;)

Are We Doing it Right?

Jesus of Nazareth came as the long expected warrior-Messiah, as I wrote Thursday, but his weapons, his enemy, his battlefield, his strategy, and the final, climactic battle he fought were entirely unexpected. And the same is true for us. We humans really have a thing for violent, bloody, wars, and that even goes for some of us in the Christian movement. But we're not doing it right, not following the king we've pledged to follow, unless we're fighting the same foe with the same weapons he used. Paul the Apostle and Jerome the scholar explain...


Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground against the stratagems of the Devil. For ours is no struggle against enemies of flesh and blood, but against all the various Powers of Evil that hold sway in the Darkness around us, against the Spirits of Wickedness on high.

(Letter to the Ephesians 6.11-12, TCNT

______________________

The battle is not against flesh and blood or ordinary temptations. The scene is the war of flesh against spirit. We are being incited to become entrapped in the works of the flesh... But this is not merely a physical temptation. It is not merely the inward struggle against flesh and blood as such. Rather Satan has cleverly transformed himself into an angel of light. He is striving to persuade us to regard him as a messenger of goodness. This is how he throws his full might into the struggle. He employs deceptive signs and lying omens. He sets before us every possible ruse of evil. Then, when he has so ensnared us that we trust him, he says to us, “Thus says the Lord.” This is not flesh and blood deceiving us. It is not a typical human temptation. It is the work of principalities and powers, the ruler of darkness and spiritual wickedness.

Jerome (AD 347 - 420)
Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians 3.6.11

Weapons of Redemption

Deep in the bloody four-year american civil war Abraham Lincoln was already contemplating the task of putting the country back together once it was over.

One congressman with whom he was discussing his plans for a merciful reconstruction was incensed. "Mr.  President," he exclaimed, "how can you speak of extending mercy towards the south? They our enemies! We must destroy them and treat them as conquered territories when this war is ended!"

To which Lincoln is supposed to have replied, "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"

Jesus of Nazareth of course called on his followers to live in just this way:

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly. If you do this, you will be children who are truly like your Father in heaven. He lets the sun rise for all people, whether they are good or bad. He sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. 

If you love only those who love you, why should you get a reward for that? Even the tax collectors do that. And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than anyone else. Even the people who don’t know God are nice to their friends.

What I am saying is that you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

(Gospel of Matthew 5.43 - 48, ERV)

Jesus himself lived this out all the way the end. Hanging from nails that had just been hammered through his hands and feet by hardened Roman soldiers, he famously prayed, "Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing," (Gospel of Luke 23.34, ERV).

At this far a remove from the events of Jesus' execution we 21st century people tend to think of forgiveness in abstract terms, as an admirable ethical principal that we ought to apply in our lives. But for Jesus on his cross that day it was also something else.

Love -- praying for the Romans and extending forgiveness to them -- was more than a noble principle.

Love was a weapon.

Forgiveness as a Weapon

Jesus was not a philosopher, social gadfly, violent revolutionary or most of the other interesting but historically groundless things he has been described as. As his student Simon Peter recognized, he was the Messiah and he fulfilled the role of the Messiah (read a little more about that here and here). When he crisscrossed Galilee and Judah inviting everyone into the Kingdom of God,  rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, and cleansed the Temple, he was doing what most Jewish people expected the Messiah to do. And they knew that the next step would be destroying the enemies of Israel -- the Romans, of course. Who else could it be but the Romans?

But that's where the paths diverged. All the other "Messiahs" battled Rome (or before that the Seleucid

Triumphant Christ by Melozzo da Forli (1483)

Empire), the "obvious" enemy of Israel. Jesus saw a greater enemy though. Yes, it's true, we must face facts: Jesus was a firm believer in "he who must not be named" (because it's so unenlightened, you know): Satan the devil. As the focus of evil in the world Satan was the power behind the throne of Rome and the other nations. He was the true enemy of Israel and the Messiah was duty bound to attack and tear down his kingdom. "The Son of God came for this: to destroy the devil’s work," (1st Letter of John 3.8, ERV)

This cosmic battle took place not on the Plains of Esdraelon or the Kidron Valley but on Jesus' cross and his weapons were self-sacrificial love, trust in God's justice, the words of Scripture, prayer, and forgiveness.  Forgiveness even for a man who maybe a few days ago had been living as a criminal (Gospel of Luke 23.29-43). The triumph of love over the worst possible hatred, the nullification of the horrific disease of sin, and the forgiveness of all people conquered the devil and smashed to shivers his kingdom in the deep mystery of God's atonement for his children.

It's the same for us today. We in the Christian Movement fight the same battle against evil and to extend God's reign. Praying for your enemies, living out God's love in realtime, and making the Great Announcement of forgiveness to people still has the power to destroy the devil's work.

"I will let everyone who wins the victory sit with me on my throne. It was the same with me. I won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne," (Book of Revelation 3.21, ERV).


Note: FYI, this is a re-write of an earlier article

Why Do We Struggle in Our Lives as Christians?

"The Prodigal Son"

by Rembrandt

Another question from my "Quora ministry."

Q: Why is it that I have a struggle in my relationship with Christ?I have my high and lows. I follow after God and love Him. I want to honor and glorify his name. Then, there are periods of my life I commit habitual sin. I repent. Turn. Then later go back to it. I am disgusted in myself.


A: You are going through the same struggle that all Christians go through — even the ones who seem to be paragons of virtue. I’m certainly still going through it and I’ve followed Jesus for some time. As Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” (Mark 14.38), and that struggle is still there even after we receive the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5.16–17). We have been justified -- made right -- by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross so (and this is important) God does not condemn us for our sins anymore (Romans 8.1–2). This means that shame is not part of the cycle anymore. If God doesn’t condemn us, then who are we condemn ourselves?

There is a stage after being justified, of course, usually called sanctification. This is the work of the Holy Spirit and, quite frankly, it takes all of your life. This is what Paul is referring to in the Galatians scripture I mentioned above, and what you and I are going through right now. Sanctification is an act of God just as justification is. Our part is to cooperate with the Spirit within us. How? By focusing not on our many sins but on love, because, “the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’” (Galatians 5.13–15, Matthew 22.36–40). Our motivation for everything should become love more and more because as Paul says, the only thing that counts really is “faith working through love,” (Galatians 5.6). And God himself “is love,” (1 John 4.8, 16).

 But becoming like God — which is what sanctification really is — is a lifelong project. Nobody does it right away — or even over decades. And as you say, there are habitual sins and faults and weaknesses that all of us have. So what if we have a moment of weakness and commit a sin? What if we slip back into committing some sin several times in our lives? Does God condemn us? No, he himself says that he does not. Should we be overcome by shame and disgust with ourselves? No, we are justified, forgiven of our sins and have been adopted as God’s own children.

 So what do we do about it? As soon as you realize it, do this: “Confess [y]our sins, [for] he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1.5–9). No drama, no shame. Just acknowledge you messed up, then go back to growing in love and working with the Holy Spirit in becoming more and more like Jesus.

Jesus and the Toads

A vile toad

Photo by Paul Henjum

I ran across this passage by Richard Baxter, famous puritan teacher, and it just made me laugh with his picture of Christ holding himself back from making fun of all us toads in our little swamp. Sorry, this is what happens to old theology students: we find ourselves snickering at 17th century preachers.

_____________

As a sinner, you are far viler than a toad. Yet Christ was so far from making light of you and your happiness that He came down into the flesh, and lived a life of suffering, and offered Himself a sacrifice to the justice which He has provoked, that your miserable soul might have a remedy. It is no less than miracles of love and mercy that He has showed to us.


Richard Baxter (AD 1615 - 1691),
From his sermon Making Light of Christ and Salvation

Never Out

The Lord is loving to humans beings, and swift to pardon, but slow to punish. Let no one therefore despair of his own salvation.

Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 313 - 386)
Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem

Or as the Salvation Army says, "A man may be down, but he is never out."

What Preaching Should Do

Preaching must either break a hard heart or heal a broken one.

--John Newton


Preaching (including internet preaching) is foolish, you know. The Apostle Paul said so himself:

Since in the wisdom of God the world by its own wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. (1 Corinthians 1.21)

"Preach" is something of a dirty word today: "Don't you preach at me!" Preaching today is usually assumed to be criticism.  But in reality, Christian preaching is supposed to be about the Gospel, the message Jesus sent us to spread all over the world.  And the Gospel is really an announcement -- the Great Announcement as we like to call it on this site: "The universe has a king, namely, Jesus of Nazareth! His Kingdom is here, now and will put everything right! Come join it; everyone is invited."

Oh, and as part of the bargain, every wrong, selfish thing you've ever done will be forgiven forever.

This is not criticism, it's good news.

As this blog frequently points out, Paul also said that this announcement, "is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes," (Romans 1.16). This announcement, itself, is charged with that power.

When people hear it -- truly hear it -- the hardest hearts can break with compassion for their fellow beings, and the most injured hearts can heal.

The Victory of Forgiveness

Yesterday, Anselm gave us a moving example of praying for and forgiving your enemies. Essentially he asks God to "destroy" his enemies in the same way Abraham Lincoln described: "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"

Jesus of Nazareth of course called on his followers to live in just this way:

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly. If you do this, you will be children who are truly like your Father in heaven. He lets the sun rise for all people, whether they are good or bad. He sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. If you love only those who love you, why should you get a reward for that? Even the tax collectors do that. And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than anyone else. Even the people who don’t know God are nice to their friends.

What I am saying is that you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

(Gospel of Matthew 5.43 - 48, ERV)

Jesus himself lived this out all the way the end. Hanging from nails that had just been hammered through his hands and feet by Roman soldiers, he famously prayed, "Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing," (Gospel of Luke 23.34, ERV).

At this far a remove from the events of Jesus' execution we 21st century people tend to think of forgiveness in rather abstract terms, as an admirable ethical principal that we ought to apply in our lives. And it is that. But for Jesus on his cross that day it was also something else.

Love, praying for his enemies, and forgiving them were weapons.

Forgiveness as a Weapon

Jesus was not a philosopher, social gadfly, violent revolutionary or most of the other interesting but historically groundless things he has been described as. As his student Simon Peter recognized, he was the Messiah and he fulfilled the role of the Messiah (read a little more about that here and here). When he crisscrossed Galilee and Judah inviting everyone into the Kingdom of God,  rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, and cleansed the Temple, he was doing what most Jewish people expected the Messiah to do. And they knew that the next step would be destroying the enemies of Israel -- the Romans, of course. Who else could it be but the Romans?

But that's where the paths diverged. All the other "Messiahs" battled Rome (or before that the Seleucid

Triumphant Christ by Melozzo da Forli (1483)

Empire), the "obvious" enemy of Israel. Jesus saw a greater enemy though. Yes, we must face facts: Jesus was a firm believer in "he who must not be named" (because it's so unenlightened, you know), Satan the devil. As the focus of evil in the world Satan was the power behind the throne of Rome and the other nations. He was the true enemy of Israel and the Messiah was duty bound to attack and tear down his kingdom. "The Son of God came for this: to destroy the devil’s work," (1st Letter of John 3.8, ERV)

This battle took place not on the Plains of Esdraelon or the Kidron Valley but on Jesus' cross and his weapons were self-sacrificial love, trust in God's justice, the words of Scripture, prayer, and forgiveness.  Forgiveness even for a man who maybe a few days ago had been living as a criminal (Gospel of Luke 23.29-43). The triumph of love over the worst possible hatred, the nullification of the horrific disease of sin, and the forgiveness of all people conquered the devil and smashed to shivers his kingdom in the deep mystery of God's atonement for his children.

It's the same for us today. We in the Christian Movement fight the same battle against evil and to extend God's reign. Praying for your enemies, living out God's love in realtime, and making the Great Announcement of forgiveness to people still has the power to destroy the devil's work.

"I will let everyone who wins the victory sit with me on my throne. It was the same with me. I won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne," (Book of Revelation 3.21, ERV).

"When Sins are Erased"

(A very Lent-like poem by Israel's King David. Suggested by N T Wright in Lent for Everyone, which I'm using to prepare myself for Easter.)

~          ~          ~

It is a great blessing when people are forgiven
     for the wrongs they have done,
     when their sins are erased.  
It is a great blessing when the Lord says
     they are not guilty,    
     when they don’t try to hide their sins.

Lord, I prayed to you again and again,
     but I did not talk about my sins.
        So I only became weaker and more miserable.
Every day you made life harder for me.
     I became like a dry land in the hot summertime.

Selah  

But then I decided to confess my sins to the Lord. I stopped
  hiding my guilt
    and told you about my sins.
And you forgave them all!

Selah  

That is why your loyal followers pray to you
     while there is still time.
Then when trouble rises like a flood,
     it will not reach them.
You are a hiding place for me.
     You protect me from my troubles. You surround me and protect me,
     so I sing about the way you saved me.

Selah  

The Lord says, “I will teach you and guide you
    in the way you should live.
        I will watch over you and be your guide.
Don’t be like a stupid horse or mule
     that will not come to you unless you put a bit in its mouth
        and pull it with reins.”

Many pains will come to the wicked,
     but the Lord’s faithful love will surround
       those who trust in him.
Good people, rejoice and be very happy in the Lord.
All you who want to do right, rejoice!


(Book of Psalms 32.1-11 ERV )

"...the port of divine forgiveness..."

Meditation for a Sunday Morning

"In Christ we are made free by his blood sacrifice. We have forgiveness of sins because of God’s rich grace."

Letter to the Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7 ERV

______________________________

Tertullian, a writer during the days of the early Christian Movement, declares that there is no sin that God will not forgive.

To all sins then, if committed by flesh or by spirit, if by deed or will, the same God who has destined penalty by means of judgment, has truly engaged to grant pardon by means of repentance, calling to people, 'Repent, and I will save you' (Prophecy of Ezekiel 18.21)... That repentance, sinner, like myself (actually less than myself, because I claim first place in sinning as my own) hurry to embrace like a shipwrecked man would the safety of a random plank. It will pull you out when you are sunk in the waves of sin, and carry you forward into the port of divine forgiveness.

Tertullian (AD c. 160 – c. 225)
"On Penance," chapter 4