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What if God said this to us?

August 27, 2011 in Biblical Justice

I read this verse the other day and felt a bit of a painful punch in the gut. I don’t think these moments happen often enough for me when I read my Bible really. But I was struck with it’s poignancy. Imagine, for a second, that God directed these very words at you and your church:

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies…Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

Ouch! I looked at several different translations, and they all seem to say “I hate, I despise…” which in and of itself caught my eye. As you have probably noticed, translations often differ widely on the specific wording. Apparently there isn’t much confusion on how to translate that part.

I’m starting to write about this theme of “missing God” quite a bit, and thinking even more about it. I am realizing that I have a tendency to read negative passages like this by putting myself on God’s side as he lambastes the Israelites. Since I of course read my Bible, go to church, and live a good Christian life, this doesn’t apply…right? Plus the context of this verse, as I’ll share in a minute, is very strongly for justice. I’m passionate about justice, so I don’t need to hear this lecture from God, right?

Pause.

If I believe that I understand God, Christ, and the Christian faith simply because I read the Bible and go to church, I have made a grave error.

If I believe that, I have made the same error the Pharisees of Jesus’ day made. And I think I’m making the same error the Israelites are making here. Their faith was a mere religious checklist and as long as they did all the religious feasts and solemn assmblies, they were pleasing in God’s sight, right? God says not. Because as soon as I look for a checklist to complete, the minute I lean on my own understanding of the Bible and my own religious fervor as my hope, I have quit leaning on Christ. Our human intellect is a marvelous gift, and I don’t think we use it often enough. But we must recognize our limitations, and we must not be luled into a false sense of security that we “know” God and Christ because of what we do.

So, back to the verse, what does God tell the Israelites?

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Now I think we have to be careful here not to look at this as some new item on the same checklist. It isn’t. I think what we should learn here is precisely the opposite. God isn’t interested in us completing a list of religious todos. He is interested in our heart. Just as religious feasts and solemn assemblies can be mere todos for us to check off our religious checklist so too can the pursuit of justice. I think a desire for justice, for the Christian, should come out of a thriving and abundant personal relationship with God. I hope that my own ambitions are skewed to reflect the desires of God’s heart

I leave you with the “unabridged” scripture. May you and I seek to know God, and worship in a way that is pleasing to Him.

I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:22

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A verse on Justice: Psalms 89:14

August 26, 2011 in Biblical Justice

I’ve promised to start posting some scriptures that pertain to Justice. I’ll start off by posting one of my favorites, and one that I think is very thought provoking too.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness* go before you.

Psalm 89:14, ESV

I like this verse, because I think it gives us a simple, but powerful of understanding who God is and what his character is. Another translation says “Your kingdom is ruled by justice and fairness.” The wording here is beautiful: the very foundation, the bedrock, of who God is and how he rules, is to be understood as a righteous and just God. Studying other religions of the time, one would be hard-pressed to find another god or gods who described themselves this way. Most ancient deities acted on whims, and it would be hard to describe them as just.

We know from the Biblical narrative, however, that God’s justice is not good news for us. All have sinned, and all have fallen short of God’s righteousness. We have “wronged” God and acted unjustly in our relationship with our Maker. We know, however, that is not the end of the story. Though we are powerless to change our standing before God, God in his infinite mercy and grace (or “love and faithfulness” as this translation words it) made a way, and that way was Jesus Christ. Christ showed us grace on the cross by paying or debt. What God’s justice demanded for our punishment, Christ payed.

So I like this verse because I think it encapsulates all of those truths well. The psalmist praises God for his character. Apart from Christ, God’s justice would be a terrifying reality. Because of the work of the cross, God’s justice can be a comforting reality instead. God is not ruled and does not rule by his emotions, but righteousness and justice. Contrast this with many pagan gods in mythology who were ruled by their emotions and whims, and this verse should bring us considerable comfort in the stability. Even the wording–the foundation of his throne–conjures a very secure image.

I hope to rest at His feet.

 

*Some translations say “mercy and truth” rather than “love and faithfulness.” Just an interesting subtlety that I find interesting.

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Recentering

July 6, 2011 in Thoughts of the Day

I came across a great quotation today that I thought would be worth sharing, especially in light of my post yesterday. Currently, I am reading Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life, which is a fantastic book. Nouwen begins the book talking about our modern, busy lives. I’ve had many conversations about the modern life, modern busyness, and balancing the spiritual life with “secular” life; so I found this quotation thought-provoking:

It is important for us to realize that Jesus in no way wants us to leave our many-faceted world. Rather, he wants us to live in it, but firmly rooted in the center of all things …. [Jesus] speaks about a change of heart. This change of heart makes everything different, even while everything appears to remain the same.

…

Jesis asks us to move our hearts to the center, where all other things fall into place. What is this center? Jesus calls it the kingdom, the kingdom of his Father.

{ Making all things New, page 42-43 }

At first read, it’s just a restatement of the familiar “be in the world but not of it” idea that Christians often (rightly) parrot. But I think Nouwen captures an essence of this delicate balance of Christian life in this world very well. We are to refocus on the Kingdom, just as Jesus did.

This is the freedom Christ offers: death to self and life in Him. When we refocus on that kingdom, and that reality, we experience true freedom. Christ does not call us to forsake all things earthly, rather we are called to refocus so that we are no longer concerned primarily with the physical kingdom around us, but the kingdom of the Father.

May you and I find the strength and the courage to recenter our lives on that kingdom.

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True Freedom

July 4, 2011 in Christian Life, Thoughts of the Day

Independence day. Undoubtedly, many of us are celebrating today by enjoying time off and spending it with family and friends. Today is a reminder of our country’s heritage and freedom. I would like, however, to offer something that I have been thinking about a lot: what is true freedom for the Christian? I would like to suggest that the freedom we celebrate today, on July 4th, is at best a pale shadow of the freedom Christ offers to us, and at worst an idea that lures us into a false conception of Christ’s freeing work on the cross.

Let me start out by saying that I by no means wish to “bash” our country or its principles. As a historian, I recognize the uniqueness of our country’s founding, and our ideals; we are indeed blessed with a freedom that many people today and throughout history have not been. I am glad that I can choose my own government—that our government in theory works for us and not the other way around, that I can worship as I please and where I please, live my life as I please, and so on and so forth. But the problem with that list, for the Christian, is that word I.

Christians believe they have freedom in Christ. But what is this freedom? Is it to do as we wish and live as we please? No. Paul tells us in Romans 6:6,7 that “our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin” And the more I see the power of sin in my own life, the more I see how the word “enslaved” is so appropriate. But Paul does not end there:  (verses 17 & 18) “But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” We are dead to self and alive in Christ. We are all familiar with Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Freedom in Christ, then, is fundamentally about far more than little old me. In fact, Paul goes so far as to say that he is no longer living his own life—he is dead to self, but that it is Christ living in him. I should no longer be concerned with my own desires, but the desires of Christ. Not that all human desires are wrong or should be ignored, but rather that I submit them to Christ my master.

Do you see the paradox with what we call “freedom” in America? Freedom here is the freedom to do whatever you wish with your life, and be free of governmental control, religious control, and free from tyranny. Freedom in Christ is the freedom to no longer be concerned about your own life, and to no longer be enslaved to your own sin, but to wholeheartedly give your life to Christ and live for him. To call him Lord and Master: two words that are inherently, not “free.” To be completely free from yourself, your desires, and your sin is true freedom.

Again, I by no means believe there is anything immoral about experiencing what I am calling “American” freedom. Indeed, we are arguably better enabled to serve Christ and live for him because of it. But I hope we can see the limitations of that freedom too. And I hope we can see that our freedom in Christ is completely independent of secular freedom, and perhaps even stands in stark contrast to that secular freedom. Christians living under the most oppressive governments, or Christians who are physically enslaved to someone, can still experience freedom in Christ, and perhaps they even have experienced that freedom more fully than we who live in “free” countries.

I leave you with the words of Christ from John 8:31-36 :

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’

Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’

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