Broken People - Part 1

The reason that we need police in the first place, is the same reason there will always be “bad cops” in some place.  We’re all sinners who need a savior.  That goes for every aspect of life and society.

Once I understand the Gospel of God’s grace, I can begin to figure out that no human being or human society will ever produce the “perfect system” of any sort.  Broken people will always create broken systems – broken somewhere, somehow or in some way. And even if we could produce the “perfect system,” we are then left to populate that “perfect system” with less than perfect people.  Even a hypothetical perfect system will be less than perfect over time when it is implemented by broken people.

That goes for police forces, school systems, local churches, denominations, political parties, nations, corporations, garden clubs, family budgets, the front lawn and everything else.  As a Calvinist, I recognize this as “Total Depravity;” the “T” in my TULIP.  I may not be as bad or broken as I can be, but every part of me is affected by my brokenness in some way.  As a believer, I recognize that there is no escaping that sad reality until Jesus returns and He sets everything right.  Until then, every believer is letting His grace flourish more and more in their life and relationships.  Still, even on a good day, we are only seeing approximations of the true and perfect that is to come.

So, what do we do about that?

First, don’t plan on perfection for any system, plan or person.  Build in checks and balances along with points of accountability.  How will you discover a breakdown?  How do you make restitution, learn from and then implement changes that will minimize the chance of any future breakdown?

Second, have enough humility to recognize that even if your answer is “better” than the other person’s, it still won’t be the “perfect answer.“  There will come a time when circumstances change and the brokenness will work its way to the surface in whatever system or answer you propose.  Breakdown is a “when” not an “if.” 

Finally, don’t give up.  With accountability and humility, things in any system or situation can improve, and everyone benefits from that.  The Apostle Paul writes “do not grow weary in well-doing.”(Galatians 6:9)  Those of us living by His grace, are kept and strengthened in that grace in the pursuit of His glory.  (Hebrews 12:3)  Keep hungering and thirsting for His righteousness and justice.

All this to say: I was horrified to watch George Floyd die.  There clearly needs to be some accountability established, and then changes identified and implemented for policing.  We can do – and desperately NEED TO DO - better for every American.  But we will never get it “perfect.”  We will always need accountability, change and restitution.

So for now, let’s come to grips with the problem, identify some steps to make things better, and get to it.  Quickly.

What Do You Mean By That?

When I first heard the phrase “Defund the Police.” I was astonished.  I’ve done ministry in neighborhoods where the police did not go after dark.  It was awful to see what resulted – especially for the impoverished residents that I knew and loved.  I would not want that sort of circumstance for anyone, so how anyone could advocate THAT was beyond me.

STUPIDEST THING I CAN EVER IMAGINE! Was my natural response.

Thankfully, I have learned to ask instead, “What do you mean by that?”

A little time on Google and some reading across various news sources that I know – not one of them on FaceBook, but that is a different conversation – and I began to see the slogan “Defund the Police” a bit differently. CLICK HERE or CLICK HERE for two examples.

It turns out that others have noticed the same things I have. Over just the course of my lifetime, we have all grown to rely on the police to take care of more and more things: school disciplinary issues, my neighbor’s kid’s garage band, homeless people panhandling near the parking lot.  What if we began steps to let law enforcement focus on enforcing laws rather than ridding my life of inconveniences like those?  Policing that is more connected with the community and people equipped to handle other problems – like addiction – more available for those interventions.

To be honest, when people explain what they mean with this slogan, I’m still not convinced - in fact, I'm kind of alarmed!  But that too is another discussion.  My point is that asking “What do you mean by that?” rather than simply screaming “THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I CAN EVER IMAGINE!” moved my own thinking in an entirely different direction.

So ask the question and listen.  You don’t have to be convinced, but we’re all better off if we take that step in pursuit of understanding.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb Is Gonna Be A Potluck!

I’ve been thinking lately about that “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” that is mentioned in Revelation 19:9 & 17.  What I am about to suggest has no grounding in the actual text.  And I do not want to start a new denomination over this idea.  But .  .  .  .

 I think the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is Gonna Be a Potluck!

 And here’s why:

There Will Be Lots and Lots of Guests!  - Bigger than any one or ten or one hundred catering companies could manage, even with the help of angels.

These Guests Will Be From “Every Tribe & Tongue & Nation” – And of course, they will come with their own favorite tastes and preferences.

Serving Will Be At The Heart Of This New Kingdom – Because the Triune God of the Bible is now enthroned, selfishness is destroyed and all things are set right.

So, I’m concluding that everyone will joyfully bring their own favorite foods to share. And that my friends, is called a Potluck!

My brothers and sisters from Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church will bring the best Soul Food you can ever imagine.  And how could my Cajun friends from First Presbyterian Church in Houma, LA not bring their Alligator Sauce Piquante and more boiled crawfish than could ever fit on a plywood table?  There will be Banket on the dessert table as well as a whole variety of midwestern pies.  The Germans?  We’re bringing the Wurst food – Knockwurst and Bratwurst of course – and plenty of our special beverage.  Pastor Wang Yi and his congregation from the Early Rain Covenant Church in China will bring dishes I’ve never seen on the menu board here.  And from the underground churches in Iran, Persian food that I’ve never yet tasted.  I could go on and on and on, but you get my drift here.

And I can hardly wait!  How about you?

Returning From Exile

I had a long, sleepless night recently and decided to invest it in pursuing the Good Shepherd in prayer.  During that time, I began to be drawn to the Scriptures about the return of God’s People to Judah from the Babylonian Exile.  Can you guess what has been on my mind lately?

 Several things I took away from this time:

 The Return From Exile Took Time And Happened in Roughly Three Waves

• 539 BC – Zerubbabel – the Decree of Cyrus
•  537 BC – Rebuilding of Temple begins
•  458 BC - Ezra the Priest – Rebuild the people – problem of pagan assimilation
• 445 BC - Nehemiah – Rebuild the wall

 

The Return Was Neither Perfect Nor Complete

 “Mistakes were made.”  All three leaders and the people they led were flawed and stumbled at points.  Some mistakes were significant and had painful consequences.  No one was perfect.  But they were willing.  And the LORD used those people.

 I became aware as I prayed that the people returning to Jerusalem were very different than the people who had been dragged away from the city decades earlier.  It was an entirely new generation.  They and their children had been forever shaped by the event.  They never “got back to the way things were.” 

 Already for us here at Harderwyk – indeed for the entire world – there have been deaths and births while we are “staying safe at home.”  When we do get back together under one roof, we will not be the same people, in the same way those returning exiles were different.  Certainly, there is sadness with that, but it is not all bad.  God’s People learned some things in Babylon.

  

The LORD Was With His People Wherever They Were And His Promises Were Dependable

 It was the LORD Who raised up the Babylonians as His instrument to ransack Jerusalem, the Temple and carry off the People of Promise.  While they were far away, captive in pagan Babylon, the LORD was present – speaking through the prophets (Ezekiel and others), raising up Daniels and making promises (read Jeremiah 29!) that He would deliver on.  This exile would indeed end for Judah.  And though Cyrus the Persian King would write the decree that did it, the Scriptures are clear that it was the LORD Who was at work through even the civil government to make it all happen.

 Our Heavenly Father is with us also.  He is with us in the outbreak of sickness and loss.  And His promises are good and coming to pass.  It takes time.  Missteps go on.  Life and losses are all mixed into the gumbo.  But we are not alone, and things are not out of control.

  

We Look Forward To Our True and Perfect Return Home From Our Exile

 The return of God’s People from Babylon to Jerusalem points us to God’s work, presence and promise in our own moment.  We have a Good Shepherd who has gone ahead and made a place for us.  (John 10 & 14)  The Return to Jerusalem, our return to life together are wonderful expressions of our LORD at work, but they are meant to remind us of something greater.  They are not an end in themselves. 

 There is coming a time when the worship will be perfect!  (Rev 5;9)  There will be more people and more different kinds of people that we have ever experienced or can even imagine.  (Rev 7:9)  And there will be a great feast of a meal.  (Rev  19:9)  Frankly, I can hardly wait.

 And I am living today with whatever I face with that True and Perfect Return as my motivation.

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To be clear, I am not writing here about the judgment and exile part of the narrative.  I want to specifically reject any “cause-and-effect” connection between “bad-behavior-and-troubles-in-life.”  The gospel frees me from a graceless, mechanical sort of “Judah-sinned-so-God-punished-them-with-exile” cause-and-effect view of sin and judgment specifically because no amount of exile could ever pay for the depth of Judah’s sin, or of my sin or of the sin of any person or nation.  Only God Himself could take care of that problem.  Perhaps I will address this more deeply in a future post, but for now, I want to specifically reject any connection to “we-were-bad-so-God-sent-COVID-so-that-means-we-all-need-to-be-good” thinking.  God’s answer to our sin – personally and as a nation – is always the death and resurrection of Jesus, not some measure of punishment whether for us or for anyone else.

When It Seems So Dark, And Hard To See God – The Moon Is Always Round

I’m writing in the fourth week of Michigan’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” directives in the COVID-19 pandemic.  There have been some deaths in our congregation and I can’t sit with the family.  There is COVID in an area care facility, and I can only speak with my congregation members by phone.  Nationally, this afternoon there were over 860,000 cases and more than 46,350 deaths.  I can hardly imagine what this virus will do among the poor in Third World nations.

The night seems so dark, and it seems so hard to see God.  But the moon is always round.

I’m reminded of a powerful children’s book by that title.  It is the true story of a dad helping his two-year-old son (and himself, and me) understand the stillborn death of his expected sister. 

“When I waited at the hospital to meet my little sister .  .  .  and we left without her, I asked, ‘Why, Daddy?’  And he replied, ‘I don’t know why.  But the moon is always round.”

 The situation is different for me right now, but the message is just as timely, and just as powerful.

My thanks to publisher New Growth Press and for the Gibson family for letting us into their lives during this COVID time to let Ben – now old enough to read – read the book for us, and let us look over his shoulder at the illustrations.  CLICK HERE to do that, or click on the image above.  

I first stumbled on this story by way of this video: Dad Jonny Gibson – also a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary I Philadelphia – gives the backstory on their family’s circumstances.  CLICK HERE for that story. 

And to get a mother's perspective, I recommend Jackie Gibson's post Why We Need a Children's Book on Death by CLICKING HERE.

The book is available in the Harderwyk Church Library when we are all able to get back together.  Thank you Deb Whitbeck for having this great book available to all of us for check out.  CLICK HERE to reserve it.

Finally, you can order this book for yourself. It is worth having, for yourself, for neighbors for family.  It’s a book with profound theological substance presented in an understandable and unforgettable manner.  Here are three different sources:

• New Growth Press - CLICK HERE
• Amazon - CLICK HERE
• Westminster Theological Seminary Bookstore - CLICK HERE

"Loving Your Neighbor" From Six Feet Away

I’ve said clearly and will continue to say: “It is NOT fear of disease that motivates our social distancing and not gathering for worship on Sunday mornings.  It is love of our neighbor that keeps us apart.”  (CLICK HERE and begin at 9:30 to hear this in our "Celebration Easter Sunrise Service")  Let me explain further:

• The practice of maintaining a safe distance is presently the best-known way to slow the spread of this virus, maintain the health of all and protect vulnerable populations.  By not gathering – for church and otherwise – we are practicing the best medical response that we currently have for keeping people well and alive.  That is what loving your neighbor looks like in this circumstance.
• Fear – whether of death or disease or otherwise - is never a Gospel motivation for our response to the challenges of life.  Meditate on I John 4:18 if you find yourself facing fear as a motivation in your life.  There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 
• Wise Choices – Those with known risks – age, chronic respiratory conditions, diabetes, etc. – act wisely when they take even further precautions to avoid infection.  That is stewardship of life, and again need not be motivated by fear.  The Book of Proverbs is filled with this sort of "wisdom-for-living."  Those with lower risk factors are in a position to serve and support those with higher risks.  That is wisdom and gospel expressed in our current situation.
• Good News!  Unlike many other religions and worldviews, Christians are not tied to a building, a style, a time or the like when it comes to worshipping God. (John 4:23-24) What matters for this is the work of the Holy Spirit – Who gathers two or three (Matthew 18:20), Who inspires the Written Word (II Timothy 3:16) and Who meets us in the sacrament (Matthew 26:26).  I was particularly struck this Easter that as we at Harderwyk were dispersed and separate in gatherings of worship, there were many, many other fellow believers around the world who were just as dispersed and separate for different reasons – Pastor Wang Yi imprisoned in China, believers in secret in Iran, senior saints in our own community who are bed-ridden or otherwise incapacitated, to name just a few.  I will be the first one back in the building when we can once again gather and lift our voices to God.  But reopening the building does not mean the church has not been meeting.
• Added April 23 - 7 Ways To Love Thy Neighbor In A Pandemic - I came across this helpful listing of other potential ways to think about Loving Our Neighbors in this time.  Let it stimulate your thinking and prayers.  CLICK HERE

I get a bit miffed when the 3% of churches and pastors who are rejecting precautions and gathering get higher profile than the 97% who are taking the precautions.  More often than not, these people represent something other than Gospel-centered, historic Christian faith.

• Several of these jokers are not Christians in any historical meaning of the faith.  Over the years, I’ve actually had contact with some of them or their movement.
• One is Rodney Howard-Browne (Pastor of The River at Tampa Bay Church – CLICK HERE) with whom I had experience while pastoring in Mt Pleasant, MI in the ‘90’s.  He was a scoundrel then, and I see he continues in that behavior.  If you are interested, when we can get out, let’s get a cup of coffee and I’ll share my recollections!
• Tony Spell and his Life Tabernacle Church outside of Baton Rouge, LA is connected to a regional movement that departed from the historic Christian faith in 1916.  They reject core Christian beliefs like the Trinity and salvation by grace.  The movement has an ongoing history of political power play in rural Louisiana.  This church fits the dictionary definition of a “cult,” not a Christian Church.  News media refer to Life Tabernacle as a megachurch, but that refers only to the number of seats filled on Sunday, not the substance of their beliefs and motivations.  There are so many stories here, it will take a lunch if you want to hear them.
• Note the focus on “our rights” that marks the conversations of pastors that continue to lead their churches to meet.  This is a political statement, not a faith statement.  Unless of course, their faith is ultimately in their political stance.  I am willing to cooperate with local, state and federal government directives regarding public health.  But the final motivation for our not gathering on Sunday is not government directing my life, it is Jesus calling me to love my neighbor.  My support for duly-placed authorities as Paul writes about (Romans 13) is based on respect for God’s final sovereignty and love of neighbor for the common good, not surrender to any demand of any human government.  There is room to respectfully disagree with various policies and directives in pursuit of the common good, but the principle for the believer is the same:  Jesus is Lord, and He empowers me to lay down my life for the needs of others.
• And then there are the ones who say that their “faith” will keep them safe from the virus.  This is using faith as a “means” to get a particular outcome. ie. “My faith is strong/true/good enough for me to get good health in exchange.”  This is faith in (my!) faith, and not faith in Jesus.  CLICK HERE for a sad and ironic story of what this leads to.

I'll say it again:

“It is NOT fear of disease that motivates our social distancing and not gathering for worship on Sunday mornings.  It is love of our neighbor that keeps us apart.” 

Mary Magdalene, John Prine and the Surprise of the Empty Tomb

In my "Easter Sunday COVID Homily" I look at John 20:1-2 and try to point out that no one – despite all that Jesus had said while He was with them – expected that Jesus would actually rise from the dead on the third day.  Mary Magdalene showed up at the tomb to do her work, not because of any hope that Jesus would be raised to life as He had said.  “The Hurt of Her Circumstances Overshadowed even the Hope of God’s Promise Until She Saw the Risen Jesus and heard Him call her name.”  That kind of abandonment is so painfully real that it hurts us to look at it.  And impacts us in a similar way when it is our own pain.

I was a student intern with the NC Prison system in 1974 mostly processing papers for vets who had come back from Viet Nam with a heroin addiction, committed a crime and were jailed.  I had heard John Prine’s song Sam Stone, but was suddenly seeing it in the eyes of vets sitting across the table from me.  “With a purple heart and a monkey on his back .  .  .  . There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes.  Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose.  .  .  .”  If  you don’t know the song, you may want to give a listen, but be warned, in typical John Prine fashion, it is a hard reality - https://youtu.be/Sl9ZkYViEIs 

John Prine captured - and those vets lived - the same hopeless abandonment that clouded Mary’s heart and mind when she saw Jesus and thought He was the Gardner.  (John 20:15)  I’m really praying that the Holy Spirit would move on hearts and minds in everything we do this week at Harderwyk.  From Thursday's Maundy Thursday Online Service on through to our online Easter morning offerings, I am praying that the Spirit would awaken people to hear their name spoken by the Risen Jesus, just like Mary did that first Easter morning.  

It has been a Holy Week like no other in my experience.  During the time, I am thankful to be a part of all the effort, gifting and prayer that has gone in for these next few days by those I share ministry with.

I’ll be missing John Prine who passed away from complications with COVID-19 this week as well – and praying that he too came to hear Jesus call his name and to realize that Jesus did, in fact, die for something and that He is risen.

The Tomb is Empty!  He is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!!!

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CLICK HERE to hear my homily as part of our Easter Sunday Worship for Easter 2020.

CLICK HERE to hear a more in-depth (You understand that "in-depth" is how preachers say "longer!") presentation as part of our "Celebration Easter Sunrise Service," a special video done by Harderwyk's Celebration team.  It's a more classic or traditional setting for Easter with organ, brass, hymns and sermon like we do each week in "Celebration,"  the particular worshipping community that I serve at Harderwyk.  The sermon starts at about 24:30.