how are we victorious?

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
    we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us.

Romans 8:35-37; NRSVue

The context of Paul’s words quoted above is about living in danger and weakness. And strictly speaking, it is addressed to people together. The point is that in everything, no matter what, we are more than victorious through him who loved us. Our victory is in and of Christ. And thinking even this small portion through a bit, it’s a victory that is not on our terms, but on Christ’s, in the way of Christ. The way of being loved and loving, yes even our enemies. That is how we’re victorious even in this present life.

what does love think?

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge, but anyone who loves God is known by him.

1 Corinthians 8:1b-3; NRSVue

[Love] hopes all things…

1 Corinthians 13:7; NRSVue

Knowledge is given much pride of place in our world, even if there has been a severe backsliding in that area as of late. There’s no doubt that it has an important place in human existence. Wisdom must accompany it, or otherwise we’re stuck with problems like the specter (fearful threat) of nuclear holocaust. Along with wisdom, something even greater must accompany it, according to Paul. Nothing less than love.

Surely we need to read the Bible and all of life with both the lens of Christ and love. Of course people will rightfully want to know what our definition of love is, and just who this Christ is we profess. As Christians, Christ-followers, people of faith, we point to the cross. To understand God, we have to look to Jesus hanging on the cross, God in Christ thus reconciling the world to God’s self. The God who is love is Jesus.

Only love knows in any true sense of the word, according to Paul. Only the mind animated and moved by love, considering all things with the love of God in Christ at the center, and through which we consider everything, is of any value. Sheer knowledge by itself is not only not enough, but ultimately ends up being devilish, puffed up.

Just a simple word that I always need, to apply to everything.

we can’t live on anger and hate

You must understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for human anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:19-27

Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.

Richard M. Nixon

There’s not a few things to be angry about and hate these days. And that’s surely true any time, just ratcheted up now. If you don’t react with anger and grief over many things, then you’re not human.

James doesn’t tell us in the above passage not to be angry. And it seems to me to be in the context of human relations into which James is speaking. We’re told to be slow to anger, and that human anger does not produce God’s righteousness.

We can’t live on anger and hate. I find myself believing that I don’t hate the people, but just what they do. That might be true at least to a significant extent, but does anything they do or say get under our skin, so that it becomes personal, and we hold it against them? If so, we’re probably off the green and onto the yellow or red.

As we’ve all probably found out to some extent, and some as in the quote above on public display, anger easily can at least border on hate, and if we’re living on those fumes, it neither helps ourselves or others. We end up going down. I certainly know that firsthand.

It’s far from enough just to abstain from this anger and the hate which so easily accompanies it. If we do that and that’s it, then our faith and religion according to James is empty. We have to act according to God’s word, which means we act in love for God, for our neighbor, for those in need, even for our enemies.

We remember that what we hate is not that far removed from ourselves. There are things in or about us or what we do which are also hate-worthy. We’re all in need of God’s grace. We extend that grace to all others, even the ones we consider totally undeserving, just bad, even dangerous.

We hate all that is wrong, but abstain from expressing such hate to those who are not loving. We do not do as they do, but instead we commit ourselves to living in love. Doing just what needs to be done, including what needs to be said but with careful wisdom, in that love only. And when we are not animated by that, we hold ourselves back and do nothing until we can get our proper bearings.

Avoiding the destructive anger and hate which will help no one. And committing ourselves to the love with which we’re helped to help all others.

(I’m having trouble linking right now.)

loving the wrongdoer while hating the wrong

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give your coat as well, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.“

Matthew 5:38-48

To be human is to hate what is inhumane as in cruelty and evil. To cozy up to what deserves hate is to become less human, ultimately inhuman.

So what are we left with? On the one hand we have to hate all that is wrong and unjust, but on the other hand we’re to love the perpetrators of such? That’s more than a tall order, but that’s what we’re called to, as followers of Christ.

Left to ourselves, at least I would say that we’re not built for this, that we’re limited as human beings, that it’s asking too much. But Christ has come and not only shown us the way, but actually is the way. In Christ together and then individually we can begin to really live this out.

Of course it won’t be easy. But we can learn to see through exteriors to the humanity underlying that. Even while we insist on addressing what is a violation of love for God and neighbor.

against a passive, non-activist faith

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:27

For true evangelical faith is of such a nature that it cannot lie dormant; but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it dies unto flesh and blood; destroys all forbidden lusts and desires; cordially seeks, serves and fears God; clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it; teaches, admonishes and reproves with the Word of the Lord; seeks that which is lost; binds up that which is wounded; heals that which is diseased and saves that which is sound. The persecution, suffering and anxiety which befalls it for the sake of the truth of the Lord, is to it a glorious joy and consolation.

Menno Simons

So much of what I’ve seen in evangelical Christian faith is more than less totally about one’s individual relationship with God through Christ with an emphasis on being assured of eternal life, and the best of that, an emphasis on knowing God’s love in one’s own life. Most of that I’ve found good insofar as it goes. But it simply doesn’t go far enough if we take all the pages of Scripture seriously.

If we have the faith of Jesus, we’ll be active on the ground, and that, especially together. This is not a life any of us can live on our own, by ourselves, because the life of Christ is mediated primarily through Christ’s body, the church. In and from that, we can live honoring lives in the love of God and neighbor and enemy as well.

Let’s clarify a bit where that activity nowadays should be. To be concerned about all the injustice that has been meted out and remains even to the present day. To let it be known that this is not acceptable. To do the necessary work in which we’ll mostly be unseen, with the willingness to work in changing systems, in many cases advocating for something entirely new. And all of this simply the natural outworking of our faith. An expression of who we are in Christ.

Yes, we’re totally loved, completely accepted, and helped in every way possible in our life in Christ, and that especially so together. Even as we do struggle due to our human limitations and ongoing resistance by the spiritual and physical principalities and powers. But our faith is active, in good works for the poor and mistreated, not just to bandage the wounds, but stop all that is wrong and work to bring about new beginnings, as well as reparations in the quest for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven.

Yes, we have the hope that Christ will return. But a major part of being ready if I understand all of Scripture correctly will to be about our God’s business right now, which means a passion to see that light of Day make needed differences in the here and now. That as I understand it is what the true evangelical faith looks like.

keep pressing forward no matter what

My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to your word.
When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
Put false ways far from me,
and graciously teach me your law.
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your ordinances before me.
I cling to your decrees, O LORD;
let me not be put to shame.
I run the way of your commandments,
for you enlarge my understanding.

Psalm 119:25-32

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day here in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. seems to be celebrated across the board nowadays, though I’m sure that if he were still present, some would at best only grant him a grudging respect. Some of the same elements that he and the Civil Rights Movement were up against, have come to the fore today, saying and standing for some of the very same things which he was challenging. King was committed to nonviolent resistance to evil, always in love for enemies, grounded in the promise of shalom in the gospel of Christ.

Part of King’s story was the need to go on no matter what, whatever pressures were being faced internally or externally. This is something of the same lesson I have to keep going through, of course in my case, in much lesser matters. I find that I have to just keep pushing through, going through by faith. And one of the most important aspects for me to remember is to simply accept the heaviness, fear, whatever it may be I’m experiencing, and keep going through in faith.

If I resist those negative experiences, as a friend reminded me this morning, I’m resisting it in the power of the flesh which will get me nowhere. If I’m getting nowhere over time, that’s a sure sign that I’m going about it wrong. But going on in the Spirit, means I accept whatever I’m experiencing, that being a part of trusting God instead of thinking that somehow it’s up to me to get rid of it. At least this is something which has worked for me over and over. Though it seems like I still have to be reminded the hard way.

Martin Luther King Jr. was able to be triumphant through it all, because he did not try to escape reality, but was willing under the leadership of the Spirit, to confront it head on, along with others. Part of what Christ calls all of his followers to.

how is God’s judgment evident, yes, on God’s people?

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

Matthew 23:37-24:2

What was true in Jesus’s day is just as true today. God’s judgment is on religious leaders, those supposedly the closest to God, I’m referring now to Christians. Not so much if at all on those they are leading, except to say that this is a case of the blind leading the blind which ends up disastrous for all. But the heavy judgment falls on the religious leaders.

They had their agenda and believed that God was all about doing their bidding, or that’s what they wished. And they got their way. But we see what followed. In Jesus’s day, the destruction of the Temple and the fall of Jerusalem. We see now religious leaders, prominent, not only defending but even promoting what amounts to an abomination in the eyes of God. Completely oblivious, evidently, to Jesus’s call of judgment on the rich and powerful, and blessing of the poor and marginalized.

The only correct posture before God for us all is one of humiliation and repentance. That is not what we’re seeing today, and we see God’s judgment in letting them go their way, along with the beginning of what follows as a precursor of what may come.

And for those who can’t figure this out, remember, as Jesus said, “You’ll know them by their fruits.” Good people do what is good, bad people bad. Love for one’s neighbor, in Jesus’s teaching including love for one’s enemies. Love being love, period. Not tied to whether or not they do what we consider or think is right. Unconditional. Like God’s love displayed in Jesus on the cross.

And as some wise writer said, Idolatry is quite hard to get out of, to repent of, and much easier to work at avoiding.

May God give all of us ears to really hear and hearts to really begin to understand.

 

what is a Christian to do in the face of evil?

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them…. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:14, 17-21

Sometimes Paul gets a hard rap, understandably so given some of the interpretations of Paul, and perhaps the writings themselves. But when it comes to living a cross-formed life as followers of Christ, Paul along with the rest of the New Testament is on track with the gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Those accounts were written after Paul’s letters and most of the rest of the New Testament, but the tradition following Jesus was in agreement about certain basic things.

One of them is just how followers of Christ face evil. As a follower of Christ, it’s not hard to understand what one is to do and not do. You love your enemies, pray for them, do good to them, you don’t resist them physically. And if you take the account of Jesus literally, and what follows, you don’t even defend yourself physically. In other words, you don’t own a gun for the sake of stopping someone breaking into your house, or even attacking you or your family. If you take the account of Jesus, his words and what follows as is.

One of the greatest scandals of the faith have been Christians abandoning the way of Christ in service of the state. If you read what follows the scripture quoted above (click the link), you’ll find Paul’s words on the state, at least on the best one can understand of the state, meaning of course, government. But in this passage there’s not a hint that the follower of Christ should or even can participate in “the sword” which the state wields. The follower of Christ can and if we accept Paul’s example should accept the benefits of citizenship in a nation-state. Proper submission to the state is also required, which includes submission to punishment for necessary civil disobedience when government mandates are contrary to God’s will. The proper relationship of the follower of Christ to the state is complicated if you consider the whole, but in relation to “the sword,” or violence wielded by the state, it is straightforward. The follower of Christ is to have no part in that.

Following Christ, we appeal to the authorities and do the best we can to live at peace with them as we carry on as “living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1-2). We don’t aspire to martyrdom, but if need be, will face that as well, honoring those who are martyrs as a witness of their faith.

This is part of the heart of our witness as followers of Christ.

the church and war

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In days to come
the mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the LORD!

Isaiah 2:1-5

It used to be that after Christians returned from war the church made them do penance. There was an understanding that there is something intrinsically wrong, sinful about the enterprise, and that no one could participate in it without somehow being sullied. Or at least the idea that in fulfilling such responsibilities, sin is inescapable. In the early centuries Christians rarely participated in the military not only because the Roman Empire was at least averse to Christians participating, but because the early church fathers were univocal in their opposition to Christian participation in killing and war.

All of that has been long lost. Nowadays participation in war and preparation for such is more or less celebrated in all churches except for “peace churches.” It is one thing to respect and honor those who have served, but it’s quite another to see war as a necessary evil. To some extent given the world in which we live there has to be a forceful stopping of violence at times. But I think Christ followers should advocate for the end of war even now, for a worldwide commitment to settling disputes in any number of ways, as well as for understanding and addressing the problems which underlie violence in our communities. In our world in which cycles of violence are very present and seem to be held back only by force, this may not make sense and may even be resisted by some in power, though I think most governments would welcome such efforts. A regular answer to this problem is that such an ideal will occur only when Christ returns. Granted there’s some important truth in that. But followers of Christ ought to be committed to and be known as advocates for a peace which takes justice seriously in the path toward reconciliation.

The world hasn’t gone mad, it has lived that way for century after century, although violence has abated in some places. It doesn’t help when a renowned Christian writer and theologian sees war as not only inevitable, but pictures Christians on opposite sides shooting each other and then meeting in an embrace in heaven. Christians killing other Christians and non-Christians makes no sense. But neither does letting violence go make any sense. Following Christ which means taking the way of the cross, and loving enemies is never going to make sense in the world. But if we’re to take the witness of the gospel in scripture seriously, especially the gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John with the rest of the New Testament including a correct reading and interpretation of Revelation, then it seems to me that we’re left with no choice but to so follow and show the world the better way. At least that will be a true witness of Christ.

I honor veterans myself, remembering that my own father was in harm’s way in a tank in WWII. Many good Christians and good people have served honorably in the military. But what if we Christ-followers would honor conscientious objectors who served their country honorably? And we need to be advocates for peaceful means of ending conflicts. Mennonites have been among those at the forefront of helping groups work through conflict resolution in a way that addresses wrongdoing and works to end the cycle of violence.

Peacemaking in this world will always involve struggle. It is macro and micro. Our witness to peace through Christ means little if we don’t live at peace in our families and church communities. And that will involve working through disagreement and conflicts, learning to live together in peace. And learning to extend that peace to others whose hearts may be full of war. Always in the way of Christ, not physically resisting evildoers, but resisting the evil itself through love with acts to bring healing, and good works. In and through Jesus.

what is religion supposed to be (to be worth its salt)?

…one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:35-40

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:27

I wonder when it seems to me that so much of what we’re concerned about in our faith has to do with our own benefit. It can be the idea of being right with God by simple faith in Christ so that one has assurance of eternal life. Or for others, the idea that God wants them to be healthy and wealthy. And much of what church can be about is to help everyone in their own personal lives. And then for those who are helped to get others into the same church attendance that they too may be helped.

But if it stops there, isn’t that self-centered? I’m sure protests will arise, pointing out that the best of such church activity will be to help people faithfully seek to apply all of scripture. Okay, some truth in that, but it still seems to me that overall the goal or overriding motive is for one’s own good rather than for the good of all.

We do need something like what is called proper self-care. Indeed we’re called to love others as we love ourselves. That thought is not about an unhealthy self-love, otherwise the thought that we’re to love others in the same way would make no sense. No, we’re to accept God’s full, unflagging love for us so that in turn we can properly love ourselves. So yes, we definitely need to take care of ourselves. We need the help of others as well. “It’s me, it’s me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”

But the goal of all of this is love, and love as Jesus said is to be directed to God and to our neighbor which includes everyone, even our enemies. In a true sense we are blessed as we bless others. Or as it tells us in Proverbs, those who refresh others, are themselves refreshed (Proverbs 11:25).

For religion to be worth its salt, to be religion in the biblical good sense is to know that we participate in a love which knows no bounds, and is to be active in the world. Of course with wisdom according to the relationship and circumstance. But love nevertheless to one and to all. The love of God in and through Jesus.