Scripture

Trends in Godliness

Dan

It has been my observation that life can look very unfair if we do not view it through the lens of God’s eye. Ecclesiastes 7:15-20 says “In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness. Do not be over righteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes. Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful than ten rulers in a city. Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” [NIV]

Shedding the old ways, the old self, the old attitudes, the old pattern of life is not trivial nor is it easy. Habits are difficult to abandon. This disposition, extraction, adjustments of the old self is a work of God. If they are not of Him, then the adjustments will fail. The adjustments are not a work of passion or heated exuberance; we are not talking about the emotional fire of a revival tent that exudes a zeal for God. Rather we are talking about deliberate, conscious actions, yielding to the wisdom of God.

If the changes are forced on us, we will surely develop pride or conceit of our own ability to bridle our actions in accordance with the Law. We will start finding fault with everything that does not exactly align with our personal view of godliness. We start busying ourselves with the matters of other people, failing to see the logs in our eyes because we are sooooo busy getting all our friends on board with the latest ‘trend’ in godliness. It is true that we can live an ok life with ‘knee jerk’ reactions to the latest trend blowing through our local churches, but I think that there is a better way.

I think if we are to really respect and fear God who created this universe (not a scared, cowering fear), if we are to express a healthy respect for God’s power and righteousness then we will express a desire to emulate Him within our limited capacity. We will gradually develop the need (desire) to serve others, to be steady in the fiercest storms of life, to exude a quiet joy when things are going ‘really good’ rather than some kind of ‘jumping jack flash’ approach to good things. A steady heart, unmoved by any circumstances softens many an angry confrontation. Wisdom brings us to the waters of stability, the calming strength that overwhelms resentful affronts with gentility. Passion has its place, but it must be bridled and managed, or it will bring much trouble to our doorstep.

Solomon tells us (Ecclesiastes 7:23-26) “I am determined to be wise … Whatever exists is far off and most profound— who can discover it? So, I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search for wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly. I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.“ [NIV]

I think that Solomon, in his search for meaning, felt deluded and foiled by real life. He was earnestly trying to walk with God, but with a few steps closer to God came a step or two backwards away from God. He felt his search was mostly stumbling in the dark. Then comes the awareness of how companions influenced him. He was unable to find companions that shared his interests. He felt trapped. Yet, he also knew a strong woman could be our best friend, she would know our habits and be a sounding board against poor behavior; she can remind us of the original path we set forth on; she can ask the questions that no one else on earth can ask of our actions and behavior. Being one with us, she would know us best and encourage the best for us (implied in Ephesians 5:22-33). What are we asked to do? Love this woman as Jesus loved the Church and died for the Church. Love her even unto death.

I choose Jesus.

Anger is Not our Friend

Dan

It has been my observation while reading Ecclesiastes that I have much to learn if I want to walk peacefully with God. Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 says “A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. … The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools. Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless. “[NIV]

Our behavior matters, Paul tells us that we should walk humbly before God and people, that we should be men and women who can be trusted, acting with self-control and serious minded, that we should have a respect for order, we should be a person who is comfortable with guests In our house, a ready teacher, truthful, able to manage our social interactions, and to be comfortable with our income, not desiring riches (implied in 1 Timothy 3:2-8).

Our lifestyle should not be easily influenced by our surroundings or by events. We should be sensitive to help from wise men and women, avoiding flippant exuberance, we should seek stability rather than pleasure. Solomon is clear on how life can be lived in power. Foolish behavior is meaningless, it makes more sense to get focused, get serious, and walk humbly before God. This is where the power exists… Anger mutes this expression of life, Anger distracts our heart, controls our emotions, and steals our peace. We should avoid this thief.

Dark days come and go like storm clouds. They dot the sky, they bring rain, but they also bring thunder, lightning, and wind. When the blue sky (high pressure cells) collide with dark clouds (low pressure cells) friction occurs, in some cases a tornado develops, but like all things, the darkness moves on and the blue sky is restored. Our trials are similar. The trouble does not seem so bothersome the day after, just as a tornado lasts for a short time, it is better to be patient and navigate through the storm rather than be hasty to force a solution and stand in pride at the outcome. Else, if we encourage and support the tornado, we have weeks of clean up to repair the poor decisions.

Anger is not our friend; long term anger should never be our companion. The energy required to maintain anger steals our heart, our smile, our ability to help, our ability to be compassionate. We should be terribly slow to anger, always looking for an alternative to resentfulness.

Exuberance is not our friend. It steals the show, causes us to not see things clearly with prudence. We lose perspective and we lose humility. It leads to resentful actions when someone appears to be trying to impair our exuberance.

Someplace in the middle is where we belong. When we are balanced in our emotions, not pinging off the wall from anger or from exuberance; we are able to gather facts properly, sift through the information in front of us accurately, apply discernment to the situation and then find God’s plan. Because we are thinking clearly, we are able to yield easily to his will. Exuberance and anger are both self-focused, they both impair our ability to yield to God (less of me and more of Jesus). We are to be of sound judgement.

Only foolish people embrace the noise and showiness of anger. Loud does not make right, nor does it excuse our poor habits. Mercy for our actions is difficult to find if we are unable to extend mercy to others. If all we do is make noise from anger or exuberance, how can others feel our compassion?

Complaining and murmuring are poor substitutes for humility, mercy, kindness, and grace. Bragging about how blessed we are does not always create the desired result. People stop seeing Jesus in you and only see your mouth pushing oxygen in an endless stream of self-adoration.

When we are balanced, the clouds come and go, but God’s grace remains, it remains firm in our heart, unchanging, always present. Be careful that your foolishness does not bring you to stand against God, for we are very unwise of we engage in quarrels with God about His behavior and plan.

Walking with God’s version of balance and wisdom delivers a bonus. God provides a strong inheritance for our children as we pass his wisdom and lifestyle to the generations to come. Wisdom brings us shelter and peace even when there is a raging storm all about us, The Word of God shelters us from the scorching heat of the day, bringing a calm approach to our daily life, it strengthens us through all the struggles and keeps us from too much buoyancy when things are good.

Balance in everything is the goal, garnering strength from God to manage both the good and bad in a way that is pleasing to the God we serve. Truth and wisdom will undergird our walk with God and strengthen men for services under their sufferings.

Ecclesiastes 7:18-19 tells us — Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes. Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful than ten rulers in a city (NIV). How can we not clamor towards this goal? How can we not sift through the scriptures hunting down wisdom like a miner who hunts for Gold?

Fearing God is a simple thing – it is respecting his sovereign actions and wisdom that guides us through the storms of life to his safe haven. Respect him. Live well. Anger is a thief. It steals your time. Walk away from the thief – put your anger to rest.

I choose Jesus.

Do not be Surprised at Such Things

Dan

It was my observation while browsing Ecclesiastes chapter 5 that making vows is a serious business. We are told to keep our obligations, do not back out. What does this mean in practical terms, how do we avoid loans and promises? God knows there are times when we need to obligate ourselves to debt. In those cases, we should be determined to keep our word. No waffling, no excuses – we keep our word.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-7 says — When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore, fear God. [NIV]

How do we proceed? We should view our vow as a primal bond. Moses wrote — When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said (Numbers 30:2); before we make the vow (commitment) we carefully examine the conditions, and we confirm we are respecting the affirmations in God’s word. Leviticus says — They must not exchange it (the vow) or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; if they should substitute one animal for another, both it and the substitute become holy (Leviticus 27:10). After making an agreement, we should act on the agreement as if we are in God’s service and elevate God’s glory by keeping our word. If trouble arises and we cannot avoid a delay, we are wise to keep our debtor aware of the situation and the new plan for repayment. Clearly, it is better we do not make vows, than to vow and not to re-pay, or to vow with no intention of full repayment (implied from Acts 5:1-6).

If we view lack of repayment as an affront to the one true living God, we elevate the importance of the loan or vow to its proper place. We would not be able to show proper respect for God if we had no awareness of his objectives and plans. There are many ‘prophets’ who would talk you into purchasing things you do not need, new cars, new clothes, jewelry, road trips… All these things take money, easily borrowed with a charge card. These ‘prophets’ tell you to charge it – you deserve it – you can handle the debt and handle the payments.

Jeremiah wrote — Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. … which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? (Jeremiah 23:16-18). None of them.

Solomon seemed to understand the deeper truth. He wrote — This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, [they should] accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life [pining for things they crave]; because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20).

When the gifts (our earnings) come from God, and we acknowledge God as the source of the gift, we are given wisdom on how to use the gift. Seek the higher calling, seek God’s wisdom on how to manage your earnings.

Borrow carefully, only when it is necessary. Be at peace with yourself. Be not driven by avarice.

I choose Jesus.

Abundance Leaves no Sleep

Dan

It has been my observation that Solomon demonstrated (in the fifth chapter of Ecclesiastes) the inherent problems with pleasure, gaiety, and public testimony of outstanding personal honor, power, or dignity. He also observes there are many covetous humans that believe money to be worthy of aggressive pursuit and that the voluminous pile of fresh dollar bills will make a person powerful and extremely happy. After setting the premise, Solomon attempts to explain the deeper over-riding problem; he shows that there is much emptiness in wealth; the pride of life tugs on all of us. Therefore, a man can make himself no happier by hoarding wealth than by spending it. Neither condition brings happiness or peace that overcomes the troubles of the day. Only God can bring peace to our troubled soul.

Ecclesiastes 5:9-17 says — The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the field. Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb and as everyone comes; so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes; so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? [NIV].

Our profit from the earth is for all; it is appointed for all; there is enough for all; the same fertile soil supports food for cattle and food for men (implied in Ecclesiastes 5:9 and Psalms 68:7-10). Solomon maintains that excess riches support hoarding and vanity, they will not make a man’s life easy or happy. Jesus said — a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses (Luke 12:15). Our spirit filled heart will rest when the goals are met, but the greed in us can drive us further. We often strive for a bit more. Learn to resist. Learn to rest.

Jesus said in Luke 12:27-31 — Consider how the wildflowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well [NIV].

The more wealth we accumulate the more anxiety we garner; the collecting of wealth disrupts our rest (Ecclesiastes 5:12). We sleep better when we work hard and have only what we work for; the balance between working and becoming weary facilitates our ability to sleep. When our head is full of troubles, they drive away the sleep we need to be ready for tomorrow. After spending time in the service of others and of God, the sleep of the diligent Christian will be fruitful; we settle in, we rest from a good day’s work.

Those that have accumulated too much often are unable to secure a good night’s rest. Either their eyes are held open, their sleep is unquiet, or their sleep does not refresh; the anxiety over their abundance disturbs their rest (implied in Luke 12:16-21). The abundance vexes the heart, makes them sick with ulcers, and so hinders their rest. God gives his beloved the rest they need, so they are ready for work on the next day. I choose Jesus.

The Bottom of the Glass

Dan

It has been my observation while reading Ecclesiastes that Solomon struggled to find meaning in Life. He had the resources to explore a wide range of avenues looking for wisdom and meaning. In Ecclesiastes 2:1-3 Solomon leaps into the fray with the following observation, “I said to myself ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.’ But that also proved to be meaningless. ‘Laughter,’ I said, is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish? I tried cheering myself with wine and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.” [NIV]

Solomon was struggling, trying to put his finger on the nature of wisdom and the fullness of meaning in his life. He tried pleasure (a form of hedonism) to determine if there was something to be learned. He pursued anything he wanted, any woman, any object, any experience. Nothing was out of bounds for the king. Yet this failed. Both pleasure and laughter were unable to calm the angst in his heart as he searched for peace and meaning in life.

He filled up vessel after vessel with wine, hoping the buzz would dull the angst. As many people do, he looked for wisdom at the bottom of an empty glass. Finding none, he turned to other things, see Ecclesiastes 2:4-11 “I undertook great projects: I built houses … planted vineyards … planted all kinds of fruit trees … made reservoirs … owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem … I amassed silver and gold …. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me …. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” [NIV]

 So, what happened? He had achieved all we could imagine when defining success. He had money, possessions, power, prestige, and pleasure. He had it all, and he had done it all “for himself.” There was a reason he struggled to find purpose. This reason was simple – God was not part of the plan, rather Solomon was busy working on self, building for self, looking for satisfaction of self with little regard to the negative impact on others (effort and taxes of the common folk to build stuff) or benefit to anyone else but himself. 

He learns the hard way that leisure and entertainment are not valuable to anyone including himself if there is no intent or external goal associated with the effort. It is not enough to see a new thing, do a new thing, or experience a new thing; if all we are accomplishing is the receipt of something, then we are left with angst.

Giving is not just a mantra, it is central to the way we are made, the way we think, the way we find meaning in life. When we think of others before self our angst begins to dissipate. When we give to others, our angst begins to dissipate. As a man thinks – a Man is (implied in Proverbs 23:7). As the Father gave to us – we are designed to give to others. After all, we are created in his image. Giving only to self is counterproductive to who we are, why we are, how we are designed to function.

What do we do? Isaiah 43:6-7 says, “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” [NIV]

What do we do? We respond to the call!

I choose Jesus.

There is a Time for Everything

Dan

It was my observation while reading Ecclesiastes chapter 3, that Pete Seeger created the song ‘Turn Turn Turn’ from the first 8 verses. Solomon said (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”[NIV]

It is clear there is a plan for us, a plan that has been in place for eons, a plan that includes ebbs and flow of life events, a plan that carries us from birth to death. This plan was built from God’s foreknowledge, (God’s awareness of our choices and decision nuances), he integrates our free will decisions with His goals and forms the plan. Solomon pens the ebbs and flow of life in the context of God’s plan for us. We read about the rhythms of joy and sorrow, tearing down and building, scattering things and gathering things all playing out in our life and the life of our community.

Everyone reading this essay knows that life is full of turns. Not all the turns lead us to smooth waters. Some lead right through the valley of death, complete with tragedy and deep troubles. We know that God provides comfort and protection, but the bumpy road remains. Not all death means the termination of human Life. The death may be of things that matter, or relationships, or feelings, or other things. He uses these troubles to draw us over, around, or through walls that keep us from a deeper trust of his love for us. He uses events (good and bad) to strengthen our character.

There is more — Solomon says (Ecclesiastes 3:11) “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” I think that we know about some things, but there is much knowledge that God keeps tucked away, out of our reach. Human wisdom is real, is true, and extremely useful, but it is built on a limited knowledge structure – the things and ways he chooses to reveal to us. But, for sure, there is not one thing that we can know or ever know apart from God. Everything we experience, encounter, embrace – the good and the bad – is allowed from God. We discover things, we experience all that life brings us and we find trust. His timing is his business; in the end his timing reflects His glory.

Solomon says (Ecclesiastes 3:12-14) “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to His plan, and nothing taken from His plan.” I think — if we knew everything that God knew it would create a burden that could not be carried. Consider the initial shock that Adam felt after they realized they were being evicted from Eden – I bet it took a while to adapt to their new surroundings. They had two sons, one of the sons killed the other son. This early example of evil is difficult to assimilate. How did things get so far out of control so quickly? I suspect this is why so much is hidden from us.

Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are amazing blessings that are gifted from God to us. With Jesus, hope abounds. We can face a myriad of experiences (good and bad) with hope, knowing we are secure in his grace. I really like the song ‘Turn Turn Turn’. Solomon wrote the lyrics long ago; the 1965 ‘Byrds’ recording holds the distinction of being the oldest known lyric for a #1 U.S. hit on the pop chart. But I think God’s Grace is infinitely better. I choose Jesus.

How do you know me?  

Dan

It has been my observation while reading scripture that word meanings matter. We rest our salvation on the twist of a phrase or a deeper understanding of a few terms. Words matter. I think it is useful to invest time in the meaning of terms we encounter in scripture if we are to have a reasonable chance of understanding the truth in Scriptures. Let us begin at the beginning. Our key words and terms gleaned from scripture should express God’s ideas, we are not idea creators, we are interpreters. The words, themselves should not be the endgame. We say that God is love; we say that God is light; or we say that Christ is truth; we are conveying a truth about God the Father and Jesus. Consider the implications of this example sentence — “My friend is patient.” By making this statement, we are not saying that the sum total of my friend is patience, i.e., patience and my friend are equal; we are merely saying our subject (my friend) exhibits a tremendous amount of patience. The term – is, are, and be all express a similar idea and are used in a similar way. Our subject (my friend) is more than just patience, but he is very patient. The differentiation is an important distinction, one that requires thought.

The attributes of God are collective, together they help us to know something about God and about how he will respond to things. If we impair the concept of personality in God and reduce His attributes to one, then, by inference, we are relegating that specific attribute as our God. We could say God is power. If we were defining God, with the notion that God equals power, would we not also have to say power is God? What if we said, God is mercy. Would we not also have to say mercy is God? When we start accidently limiting God by our terms, the God we have left is not the God of Abraham; He is not the God and Father of Jesus; He is not Elohim, the power behind the prophets and the apostles; He is not the Redeemer of his church, nor the God of the new covenant, and he is not the God of the universe..

Let us push a little deeper into the notion of God’s attributes.  What we are talking about is quiescent attributes vs active attributes. Quiescent attributes define God’s essence. Active attributes define how God interacts all the time with the things around Him. Please understand, this differentiation of attributes is not an easy thing to discuss. Ask three people about this, you will get three different answers. In my view, the quiescent attributes of God are eternal, omniscience, indivisible, sovereign, holy, immutable, omnipotent, and infinite. The active attributes are love, knowledge, wisdom, truth, righteousness, goodness, grace, mercy, justice, and power.

Why does this matter – because when we limit our view of God to only one or two of these attributes, we render Elohim impotent – we limit his activities. If you were part of the community trying to negate the impact of God (progressive theologians), I think this would be a primary goal of this community – limit God’s sphere of operations. Negate the effect of as many active attributes as possible. Deny the existence of all quiescent attributes with a simple theorem – nothing stays true forever. Reduce God to a few active attributes, choose the attributes carefully and then lament of his inability to act or his inconsistent actions over time. This is the underlying goal of the liberal theologian.

When John says, ‘God is Love’, he is defining an essential, active attribute of God (see 1 John 4:8). Love as well as life reveals its presence by its actions. Love is a powerful characteristic of God but is not the sole attribute of God. Love is the underpinning for holiness, justice, faithfulness, mercy, kindness, and truth – to name a few. Because God is immutable, He acts consistently with love. He never stops being himself – ever. In context, John is saying, if we cannot or do not love the people around us, then we do not have God in us, for he loves the people around us – God is love, God is embodiment of the type of love we should and will have for others.  IF WE ARE FILLED with God, He will exude from us, why? He is love. We cannot hold him back.   Therefore, I choose Jesus.