What is the right question to ask?

     Judges 21:25 says, "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit."  This occurs between the death of Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, and the time of the judges.  Of this time, Wesley wrote in his commentary, "What wonder was it then, if all wickedness overflowed the land?"  I can't help but think of this passage as I read about and hear discussed the events of this week in our country.  One of the editorials in today's edition of USA Today discusses the issue of same-sex marriage in terms of "who is it going to hurt."  I get from the editorial that Justice Kennedy, who is considered by many the "swing vote" in the Court, used this principle in reaching his decision.  I don't really want this post to be a discussion of that Supreme Court ruling as much as I want to consider the idea of "who does it hurt." 

     The question of "who does it hurt," bothers me.   As I see it, that question leads us back to the days between Joshua and the judges in which people did what was right in their own eyes.  I suppose as long as no particular group was "hurt" by an action, then it could be called "OK" to do.  However, for this to work, there has to be someone who decides who, if anyone, is hurt and by how much.  It seems to me that using this question to determine a course will only lead to confusion, chaos and ultimately a sliding standard (what doesn't affect someone today, may tomorrow, etc).  As I look back over the lines that I just typed on the screen I have to ask myself "Isn't that what happens when each person gets to decide what is right for him/herself?" 

  It seems to me that there has to be a better way to establish what is right or wrong.  Is it possible that there is a moral absolute?  Is it possible that some actions are right and some are wrong regardless of what people might think of them?   I know that I am begging the question here, a bit.  The Bible, though, talks about right and wrong in terms of absolutes.
  
 Isaiah 5:20    
             
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!          

2 Corinthians 5:10                   

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.  
         

1 Peter 1:23                    

Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

     To see the world in terms of moral absolutes, in my opinion, allows for more certainty and confidence.  It provides hope that even when evil is having its day, right will win out.  As I see it, moral absolutes point directly to God.  The absence of moral absolutes, seems to me, to leave God out of the picture.   What does all of this philosophizing mean?   I think simply this.  No matter what others may say, some things are always inherently right and some are inherently wrong.  Though we might like the ability and authority to determine the rightness and wrongness of actions, that prerogative is purely God's.  He determines the nature of all activity.   Our best course of action is to follow what he has already set out.  With regard to doing something, don't ask yourself whether or not anyone will be harmed by what I do.  Ask yourself is what I am about to do the right thing to do. 

     Thanks for reading and have a blessed day...

    

Do it now...

      Garrison Keillor once said, "They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days." That quote seems to fit what I'm thinking this weekend. I reread a book this week that I've had on my shelf for quite a while, For One More Day by Mitch Albom.  It's a story about a guy whose life is not what he had hoped for getting the chance to get one more day with the person that loved him the most and the one he took most for granted.  This statement from the book expresses what it's about; "Have you ever lost someone you love and wanted one more conversation, one more chance to make up for the time when you thought they would be here forever? If so, then you know you can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.” 

     I wondered how many of us wish we had "one more day" with someone we love.  Maybe that someone has already died.  Maybe that someone now lives far away and is immersed in a different chapter of life.  Maybe that someone is simply estranged and is no longer close.   The circumstances may vary greatly, but the desire is the same.  If I could have just one more day then I could say how I really feel.  I could share what is most important.  If I...

     I really like the book For One More Day, but if you're looking for it, you'll find it in the fiction section.  You see, life's not like that.  We don't get to go back.  There are no mulligans or do-overs.  We have to pick up where we are and do the best we can.  That's why I think the message of this book is important and, in some ways, Biblical.  Albom seems to be saying it's not too late to tell folks that you love them and to share with them things that are meaningful.  Paul wrote to the Ephesians and to the Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32 NIV).  Paul's message is a simple one here.  In the context he's written about getting rid of bitterness, anger, brawling, slander and rage.  He wants his readers to be overflowing with kindness, compassion and forgiveness. In doing so, they become "imitators of God."  

     What is the "take away" from this devotional?  I think it is pretty straight-forward.  Don't wait until someone you love dies before sharing what is meaningful.  Talk to them today.  Write a letter or an email.  If you've lost track of someone and feel the prompting to reach out to them, do it.  Don't wait.   It is heart-breaking to see someone at a funeral grieve and plead for "one more day."  You have a day right now; today.  Use it.   Thanks for reading and may God bless.... 

 

Reflection on when things don't go as planned...

     Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”  Edgar Allan Poe wrote, "Never to suffer would never to have been blessed.”   I thought both of these statements were revealing, and, as I have been working with the book of Acts in Bible Bowl, I found them to reflect what I think may have happened in Acts 16. 

     Let me set the context in this passage.  Paul is traveling with Silas and they are preaching and teaching Jesus as the Christ.  They are in Philippi, a leading city of Macedonia, and meet Lydia and her family.  It is a wonderful time of teaching and many come to the Lord.  I imagine it to be a sweet, encouraging time.  However, as they continue in Philippi, they encounter a slave girl that is demon-possessed.  Throughout the time they are in Philippi, Paul and Silas encounter this girl and her "captor."  Paul becomes greatly annoyed at this situation and commands the demon to leave this girl.  The demon is rebuked and leaves and with him goes the girl's ability to make money for her owners.  They are outraged.  They haul Paul and Silas before the authorities and accuse them of stirring up trouble.  The crowds turn against them and the magistrates order them to be beaten and imprisoned.  Then we see verse 25.  "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them"(NKJV).  I want to pause the story there for a moment.  I went back and read that again.  What began as a good trip to Philippi, turned ugly quickly.  Paul and Silas are beaten and jailed.  It has to be a miserable experience, but what are they doing?   Praying and singing hymns to God.

     That was humbling to me and I thought it might be a challenge for all of us.  Adversity comes in many ways and takes different shapes.  Things may be going great, but we all know that tough times will also come.  The fact that we are Christians does not prevent us from going through the challenges of life.  The question is how do we respond when things get hard?   I suppose there are all kinds of ways we can answer that.   One of the first that comes to my mind is to whine about how unfair it is to have to endure whatever it is that challenges me at the moment.   Another response might be to throw up my hands in frustration and despair and give up.  I think it is possible, too, to get angry at God and allow hurt and bitterness to build up in my soul.  Maybe you're familiar with these responses, too.  Perhaps there are other ones just as ineffective.  The challenge is for us to praise him in the darkness, uncertainty and chains.  Will I be able to see beyond the suffering to glimpse the savior?  Will I be able to praise in the presence of problems?   Will I worship in the face of worry? 

     The rest of  the story?  God delivered Paul and Silas and the message of Jesus Christ continued to spread and touch hearts and lives.  God uses all kinds of circumstances to deliver his message.  Our challenge is to have an attitude of praise.  Thanks for reading...