It's the little things

“Who dares despise the day of small things?” Zechariah 4:10

The other day I was going down the interstate and most of the trees were brown, thanks to winter. The scenery was, for the most part, lifeless, bleak, and depressing, except for small clusters of purple blossoms on trees here and there. I almost missed the blossoms because I didn’t want to look at dead trees. Amidst the bland scenery of dead trees there was life in bursts of vibrant color.

These pockets of blossoms on the trees were like the small things in life God gives us. Life can be bleak if you don’t notice the small things in life. We humans tend to get caught up in day-to-day things and completely miss small gifts from God, like the flowers on the trees. The small gifts remind us of God’s sovereignty. He’s in control at all times, even when life is bleak.

Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” If we don’t appreciate the little things in life, then God won’t trust us with larger things. To Jesus, a little thing can be powerful.

Recall the parable of the mustard seed, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32) Such a small thing and yet it can yield much.

Be thankful to God for the little things He does in our lives to remind us that He’s there. Life becomes bleak when you don’t appreciate the little things. However, when you do appreciate the little things life becomes joyful.

God gives us so much to be thankful for, so don’t let the small things in life pass you by. Look out for the small things and give some thanks to the Lord for them when you notice them.

Ephesians 5:20 is a good reminder of this, it explains that we should always be “giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Absalom, Absalom!

My topic today is Absalom, the son of King David. Absalom’s entire story is found in 2 Samuel chapters 13-18. I suggest that you read this first because everything is from these chapters.

The story of Absalom begins with the rape of his sister, Tamar (2 Samuel 13). Amnon, who is actually the half-brother of both Absalom and Tamar, lusted after the beautiful Tamar. Amnon became so obsessed with her that he made himself ill. One day Amnon dishonestly arranges for Tamar to come to his bedroom and he rapes her. Then he throws her out of his house in disgrace for his own sin. The Bible says that “Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her.” (2 Samuel 13:15)

When Absalom heard what happened, he took Tamar in to live with him. David was furious when he found out what happened, however, he did nothing about it. There are many theories about why David refused to do anything, but the fact of the matter is that he didn't do anything in the way of justice. (2 Samuel 13:20-22) For two years Absalom held a grudge against Amnon and plotted his assassination. Absalom then killed Amnon at a banquet he planned solely for the purpose of killing Amnon (2 Samuel 13:23-28).

Absalom fled to Geshur afterwards, where he found asylum with the king of Geshur. He stayed there for three years and David longed to see him, but he didn’t go see him. (2 Samuel 13:37-39) He mourned over Absalom ‘day and night.’ Thanks to Joab, David’s commander, Absalom was eventually allowed to return to Jerusalem, without being allowed to see David (2 Samuel 14:38).

Absalom became tired of waiting for King David to summon him, so he hatched a plot to gain an audience with the king. Absalom sent for Joab and he refused to see him; he sent for Joab a second time and again Joab refused. Joab’s fields were adjacent to Absalom’s fields, so Absalom had his servants ignite Joab’s fields. Joab approached Absalom once he found out that Absalom lit his fields on fire, he demanded to see the king and Joab then took him to David. When David saw Absalom he kissed him, which evidently meant that he was forgiven for Amnon’s murder. (2 Samuel 14:29-33)

Absalom entered into a conspiracy to usurp the throne. He set himself up at the city gates as a judge, people would bring complaints before him and he would promise to fix said problem once he was king, thus gaining him popular support. After doing this for four years he went to Hebron under the guise of fulfilling a vow, but, in actuality, he sent secret messengers throughout Israel proclaiming that Absalom was king of Hebron, which gained him more support. Fearing for his life, David fled Jerusalem and Absalom took the city. (2 Samuel 15:1-18) Absalom also controlled the royal harem that David left behind and slept with his concubines, which was an unforgivable act in those days.

David wept as he climbed the Mount of Olives (2 Samuel 15:30). Absalom then laid plans to immediately pursue and attack David’s forces, but the idea was abandoned owing to the advice of Hushai (2 Samuel 17). This delay allowed David to muster what troops he had at Mahanaim and mount a counterattack to retake the kingdom. At the advice of his men, David did not march with the army to retake Jerusalem. He commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai to be gentle with Absalom. (2 Samuel 18:1-5)

The armies of David and Absalom clashed in the forest of Ephraim, there were twenty thousand casualties and David’s army was victorious. Absalom met David’s troops and fled on his mule, but his hair caught a branch of a tree he rode under. As he was dangling from the tree, Joab disobeyed David’s orders. The Bible says that Joab “took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.” (2 Samuel 18:1-17)

Upon hearing what happened David wept and said, of his unruly son, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33)

There you have the tragic story of Absalom. Those are the facts we have about Absalom, but there are several questions this account brings up:

Why didn’t David punish Amnon for the rape of Tamar? Why did Joab convince David to allow Absalom back into Jerusalem? Why did David kiss Absalom instead of punishing him for killing Amnon? Why didn’t David quell Absalom’s rebellion instead of fleeing Jerusalem? Why did David think God would allow Absalom to kill him? And last, but not least: why did David mourn over Absalom after all that he did?

None of these questions really have a clear answer. Now, you may be wondering what it is that we can learn from this account; it appears to be a clear cut story, what else can you say?

David, for whatever reason, had a soft spot for Absalom, even after he killed Amnon and overthrew Jerusalem. To me, it seems David’s biggest mistake in this saga was leaving God out of it. These passages don’t mention anything about David praying before making any of these decisions, they were knee-jerk reactions. Absalom was a blind spot for David, dealing with Absalom took him away from God.

David did not discipline either of his sons involved in this situation. He should have disciplined Amnon for his crime against Tamar. He had the right, no the obligation, to punish him legally for the crime and he wouldn’t do it. Then, if Absalom still killed Amnon, David should have punished him for that. As Proverbs 29:15 says, A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother.”

We can also learn a lesson from Absalom himself. David made some mistakes in dealing with Absalom, but he was old enough to make his own decisions. A poor decision he made was not trusting in God’s will; instead, he chose to take matters into his own hands. What Amnon did to Tamar was indefensible, but that’s not justification for Absalom’s murder of him. Revenge is not for us to have. Romans 12:17-19 says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.”

In closing, let us all take the accounts of Absalom as a cautionary tale and avoid making the same mistakes as the ones made here. The take home lessons are: pray before making any important decision, discipline your children properly (if applicable), trust in God’s will, and don’t take the law into your own hands. These are lessons we can all use reminding of.

God Always Knows What We Need

I was watching the a medical drama the other day where a psychiatrist a patient that suffers from this recurring hallucination of a wolf that attacks him. The cause of the hallucination wasn’t addressed. The young man’s father was the psychiatrist’s other patient and he, naturally, was trying to do everything in his power to help him. His son’s medications weren’t working and therapy wasn’t working either, so they went as far as trying deep brain stimulation.

Deep brain stimulation is a procedure where electrodes are inserted in certain areas of the brain. These electrodes produce electrical impulses that regulate abnormal impulses. This procedure is only approved by the FDA to treat a small number of conditions, such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. The procedure is risky because the surgery can have serious complications and the side effects after surgery can be serious as well.

The young man in the show has a successful surgery without any complication, however, his hallucination returns. Having exhausted all options the doctor suggests that he go spend some time at an agriculture co-op to get him out of the city. The doctor realized that the young man’s hallucinations are incurable because the father and himself are trying too hard to fix him instead of just giving him support. So, the father and the son decide that this is the best option and it will allow him to focus on drawing, which is his hobby.

The lesson I took away from this is that sometimes people identify a problem that needs fixing, then they realize they identified the wrong problem. They thought they knew what they needed, however, they didn’t know what they needed. This isn’t an issue for God, though.

This episode reminded me of one of the healings Jesus performed. From Mark 2, “A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”” (v. 1-5)

Jesus did heal the man of his paralysis later in the account, but he started with what the man really needed: forgiveness of sin. The man and his friends were seeking physical healing for him (which isn’t wrong), however, they didn’t know everything the paralyzed man needed. Jesus knew everything the man needed and he knew what was more important. Forgiveness of sins prepared the man for eternal life, priority 1, whereas healing made his earthly life easier, priority 2.

We, as humans, want what we want to be fixed, fixed first, but God knows what we really need. Paul wrote in Romans 8:26-27, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

God himself intercedes for us in our prayers to take the intentions of our hearts and show us what we should pray for. He knows that we truly don’t know what we need many times, so He helps us to understand what we need to pray for.

I always liked the story of this particular healing. It’s obvious that I can relate to the man, in that we both have physical disabilities. I can also relate with the man’s need for spiritual healing, as in God’s grace and forgiveness of sins. Both the paralyzed man and I received spiritual healing first. Jesus knew the man wanted physical healing, but He also knew the man needed spiritual healing.

I am thankful that God healed me spiritually before healing me physically. If He later chooses to cure Muscular Dystrophy, then I’ll be thankful for that too; however, if He doesn’t, then I’ll still be thankful for spiritual healing.

God always knows exactly what we need, even when we don’t know what we need. Matthew 6:8 puts this another way, it says that the “Father knows what you need before you ask him.” When you pray, remember that God will always know what you need.

Merry Christmas

This year for my Christmas blog post I’m going to quote from my favorite Christmas hymns. The only Christmas songs I really like are hymns (just personal preference), so don’t expect me to quote anything modern. I hope you will enjoy these lyrics and I hope you have a Merry Christmas.

As usual for Christmas, here are links to the Christmas story, Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2.

The first Christmas hymn up is “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”. The whole Christmas season is summarized, basically, in the first verse,

God rest you merry, gentlemen, 

let nothing you dismay, 

remember Christ our Savior  

was born on Christmas Day 

To save us all from Satan's pow'r 

when we were gone astray. 

O tidings of comfort and joy,  

comfort and joy; 

O tidings of comfort and joy.

Next is “Angels from the Realms of Glory”. I’m going to quote the original final stanza, which isn’t included in some hymnals. It might sound gloomy to some people, however, it completes the narrative of the song. The narrative goes from the Angels song, in the first stanza one, leads to the Shepherds’ adoration, stanza two, and to Sages’ gifts, in the third stanza, and to Saints’ praise in heaven, stanza four, and lastly, to the Sinners’ repentance on earth.

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,  

Doomed for guilt to endless pains,

Justice now revokes your sentence,

Mercy calls you; break your chains.

“I Saw Three Ships” is up next. The original song is about the ships that took the supposed skulls of the wise men to Cologne cathedral in Germany. The version I’ve quoted, which is the most common version now, is about Mary and Jesus traveling to Bethlehem. I couldn’t decide which stanza to highlight, so here’s the whole song.

I saw three ship come sailing in, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

I saw three ship come sailing in, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And what was in those ships all three? 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And what was in those ships all three? 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

Our Saviour Christ and His lady, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day.  

Our Saviour Christ and His lady, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And where they sailed those ships all three? 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And where they sailed those ships all three? 

on Christmas Day in the morning.

All they sailed in to Bethlehem, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

All they sailed in to Bethlehem, 

on Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the bells on earth shall ring, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And all the bells on earth shall ring, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And all the angels in heaven shall sing, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And all the the angels in heaven shall sing, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And all the souls on earth shall sing, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And all the souls on earth shall sing, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

And let us all rejoice again, 

on Christmas day on Christmas day. 

And let us all rejoice again, 

on Christmas Day in the morning. 

“Good Christian Men, Rejoice” is another good Christmas hymn. This song was originally written in German and Latin with the title of “In dulci jubilo”. It dates back to at least 1328. This is the third stanza,

Good Christian friends, rejoice  

with heart and soul and voice;  

now ye need not fear the grave:  

Jesus Christ was born to save!

Calls you one and calls you all 

to gain his everlasting hall. 

Christ was born to save! 

Christ was born to save!

Next I have “Hark! The Herald Angels sing”. This hymn was written in 1739 by Charles Wesley, the brother of John Wesley, as “Hymn for Christmas-Day”. Then in 1754, George Whitefield changed some wording in the the first verse and renamed it "Hark! the Herald Angels sing". I’m going to quote the third stanza,

Hail the Heav'n-born Prince of Peace 

Hail the Sun of Righteousness! 

Light and Life around he brings,  

Ris'n with Healing in his Wings.  

Mild he lays his Glory by, 

Born that Men no more may die; 

Born to raise the Sons of Earth, 

Born to give them second Birth.

Now, last but not least is “Silent Night”. “Silent Night” was written in 1816 by a Catholic priest named Josef Mohr from Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. The original name was “Stille Nacht” and it was a poem written to commemorate the coming of peace after the Napoleonic Wars.

Two years later the river Salzbach flooded into Mohr's parish church of Saint Nicholas damaging the organ. Just days before Christmas Eve, Mohr contacted asked Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist in the nearby village of Arnsdorf, to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the Christmas Eve mass. Gruber composed the melody in an afternoon.

I’m going to quote the last stanza,

Silent night, holy night, 

Son of God, love's pure light; 

Radiant beams from thy holy face 

With the dawn of redeeming grace, 

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth, 

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. 

Is money "the root of all evil"?

“Money is the root of all evil.” I’ve heard this phrase many times in my life and I’ve said it many times believing it to be a Biblical quote. Many folks use this quote as a condemnation of the wealthy. The real quote uses slightly different wording, which changes the meaning. This is my topic today, the Biblical view of money.

The actual quote is found in 1 Timothy, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10) The verse is speaking directly about the love of money as opposed to money itself. This love of money “is a root of all kinds of evil”, not the root of all evil. This may seem to be a petty argument over semantics, but there really is more to it than that.

Let's start with money versus the love of money. Money is needed to buy food, clothing, housing, water, healthcare, and many other necessities. Money can also be used for charitable endeavors such as, feeding the hungry or buying winter coats for the homeless. All of these good things are accomplished with money. Now, the love of money is dangerous. The love of money leads to things like extortion, Ponzi schemes, theft, corruption, and excessive spending. The money doesn’t cause these actions, a heart poisoned by the love of money causes these actions.

The context of 1 Timothy 6:10 also clarifies this point; this section, made up of verses 3-10, is talking about false teachers and the love of money. Verses 3-10 read,

“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”(emphasis added)

To put that another way, those “who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” do not agree with the teaching of Christ and “godly teaching” and are conceited. Apparently at this time there false teachers that taught that godliness brings financial gain and people were believing it. This passage also clarifies that the love of money is the actual problem. The Bible doesn’t take the easy route and blame an inanimate object, rather, it goes straight to the condition of the heart.

Next, let’s talk about “the root of all evil” versus “a root of all kinds of evil.” The misquote (“Money is the root of all evil”) implies that having money (or material possessions) leads to evil, because money is the root of all evil. Whereas “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” means that money can lead to evil, if  it’s allowed to. As stated earlier, money can be good or evil depending on how it’s used.

A situation that folks typically include with the misquote (“Money is the root of all evil”) is Jesus and the rich young man, or ruler depending on the translation, found in Mark 10:17-27. In the respect of time, I’ll summarize this account for you:

A rich young man stops Jesus one day and asks him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 17) Jesus explains that none are good except God and he says, “You know the commandments.” (v. 18-19) The young man arrogantly declares, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus lovingly tells the young man, “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (v. 20-21) The young man went away sad because he couldn’t bring himself to do it. (v. 22)

Jesus then tells his disciples, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (v. 23-25) In light of this teaching, the disciples ask Jesus who can be saved and he replies, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (v. 26-27)

This account is commonly mistaken as a condemnation of being wealthy, but this is a condemnation of idolatry. The idol being money in this case. The rich young man put his money before God and, therefore, couldn’t be saved. “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24) Money had become his master. Jesus told his disciples that it is difficult for a rich person to be saved, not impossible. He said it is impossible for man alone, however, all things are possible with God.

Here is the good news folks: if a person has devoted their life to money, then they can still be saved, as long as they give their life over to Christ. It won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible with  God. This is the Gospel of Jesus in a nutshell. No matter the sin, aside from continued unbelief, a person can be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.

So, the love of money is the sin, not having money. We shouldn’t condemn someone for something that isn’t a sin. And idolatry isn’t specific to one group of people, anything can be used as an idol. As with many things, it’s about the condition of the heart and not an object.

The Golden Rule

This story occurred a few years ago when I was attending community college.

We had a fire drill on a bitterly cold day while it was drizzling. I was cold and people were walking all over the place as I was trying to get inside after we were clear to go back in. I can’t handle cold weather well: my hand gets too cold to drive correctly and it was almost to that point this time. It goes without saying that I was not in the most Christian mood at that point.

There was a student who I knew, only by his first name, Kenny. I barely knew him, nonetheless, he would always speak to me when he saw me. He could probably look intimidating if he wanted to, but he was very nice. So I’m stuck in this mob and I sensed a large presence behind me, it turned out to be Kenny. He cleared the sidewalk of people with his large voice to help me get inside out of the cold.

That is one the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I thanked him and he just said, “No problem.” I don’t think he really understood how big of a deal that action meant to me.

I do not know if Kenny is a Christian or not, but this is a great example of how we as Christians should act.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:12, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”  Some people call this the Golden Rule, it’s also called the Great Commandment. This is one of the first things we are taught as children, but it’s easy to forget how important it is to live by this principle.

Kenny demonstrated a form of love, what the ancient Greeks called agape, which translates as love. The word love can be used to mean a few different things in English. The ancient Greeks, on the other hand, had a multiple words for love: philia (brotherly love), eros (erotic love), and storge (natural or instinctual affection, as of a parent for a child).

The Christian meaning of agape is “the love of Christians for other persons, corresponding to the love of God for humankind.” This is the love we should have for all people. God doesn’t expect us to be friends with everyone, He just expects us to be respectful to everyone.

Agape love goes beyond just our neighbors, it extends to our enemies. Our enemies are our neighbors and creations of God also.

But wait. We’re supposed to love our friends and hate our enemies, right? Our culture teaches us this sometimes: if you’re a member of one political party, you’re supposed to hate the other party; and if somebody wrongs you, then you get back at them. This was the belief of the culture in Jesus’ time too.

Matthew 5:43-47, however, Jesus teaches a different message.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”

Jesus references the law from Leviticus when he instructs us to love our enemies. Leviticus 19:18, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

This kind of love does not come to us easily, we naturally want to hate our enemies due to our fallen state. We have to make an effort to love our enemies, that means it’s not an emotional feeling. Loving our enemies is something we have to make ourselves do, which is difficult for us. If you make the effort to do this, then your actions will eventually follow suit.

Jesus was making this point when he said, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”  It’s easier to love those who love you and hate those who hate you, which is why everybody does it.

Finally, Jesus loves those who hate him. On the cross Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) After all that had been done to him Jesus still loved the people who cheered for his death and the people that physically killed him. Christ is the example we should look to.

In summary, we need to love our neighbors as ourselves and we need to love our enemies. This isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but it’s the right thing to do.