Not me Lord!
Philip Yancey in his book “Where is God when it hurts” Describes what it would be like for us to have a full recollection of our birth experience. He paints a graphic picture with these words. “Your world is dark, safe, secure. You are bathed in warm liquid, cushioned from shock. You do nothing for yourself; you are fed automatically, and a murmuring heartbeat assures you that someone larger than you fills all your needs. Your life consists of simple waiting--you're not sure what to wait for, but any change seems far away and scary. You meet no sharp objects, no pain, no threatening adventures. A fine existence.
One day you feel a tug. The walls are falling in on you. Those soft cushions are now pulsing and beating against you, crushing you downwards. Your body is bent double, your limbs twisted and wrenched. You're falling, upside down. For the first time in your life, you feel pain. You're in a sea of rolling matter. There is more pressure, almost too intense to bear. Your head is squeezed flat, and you are pushed harder, harder into a dark tunnel. Oh, the pain. Noise. More pressure.
You hurt all over. You hear a groaning sound and an awful, sudden fear rushes in on you. It is happening--your world is collapsing. You're sure it's the end. You see a piercing, blinding light. Cold, rough hands pull at you. A painful slap. Waaahhhh! Congratulations, you have just been born.”
In all of our human existence, the nine months that a child spends in the mother’s womb are the most secured and hassle free moments of its life. God has designed the human body in such a way that we are brought into this world just at the right time. In one sense God squeeze us out of our comfort zone to bring us into this harsh world, where we will encounter pain and difficulties for the rest of our life. As comfortable as it is for a child to be in its mother’s womb, that is not the place where it is meant to be all its life. To experience life it has to give up its secured, comfortable surrounding and come into a world that is unknown and difficult.
God squeezes us out of our comfort zone for our own good, and what is true of our physical growth is also true for our spiritual growth. Time and again God shakes up things in our lives to bring us out of our comfort zone. Now what is a comfort zone? In the book, The Dream Giver, Bruce Wilkinson explains, “A comfort zone is our cosy quilt of relationships. It’s the padding of routines that make us feel good. It’s the security fence of acceptable behaviour. It’s the steel mesh of our past successes and failures” In short a place where we are in control. Often God calls us to let go of that control and trust in Him. When we start to think that ‘life is good’ we need to be reminded that ‘God is good’ even when life is difficult.
Moses in his comfort zone
The call of Moses in Exodus 3 is a perfect example of how God urges His people to step out of their comfort zone and go into unchartered waters trusting in Him. To understand Moses’ comfort zone we need to place this chapter in its historical context.
Exodus chapter 1 describes the oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians who were intimidated by their numbers. (Exodus 1: 9)
Exodus chapter 2 is about the birth of Moses, of how God in His providence not only spared Moses’ life but also brought him up in Pharaoh’s palace. As the story unfolds, although Moses was brought up in the Pharaoh’s palace, he never forgot who he was. One day he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, Moses intervened and killed the Egyptian hiding his body in the sand. The very next day he saw two Hebrews fighting and when he tried to settle their dispute, one of them turned around and asked him “Are you going to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian”. Moses, afraid that his secret was known fled to Midian. Here he married a woman by the name of Zipporah and had a son through her. For the next forty years Moses looked after his father-in-law’s flock. He had comfortably settled into the role of a husband, a father and a shepherd. His previous life as an Egyptian prince was a distant memory now, but soon all that was going to change.
In Exodus 3 God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and told him, that He had heard the cry of the Israelites and had now come to rescue them. Moses may have been thrilled when he heard this. Finally, after all those years, God was going to intervene and rescue His people. So far so good; but what God said next must have knocked the day lights out of Moses. In Ex. 3: 10 God says to Moses, “So now, go I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt”. Moses’ first thought may have been ‘why me? I am happy with my life, why would I go to a place from where I escaped as a fugitive? In chapter 4:10 Moses expresses this out loud, when he says to God “O Lord, please send someone else to do it”.
So often we like Moses refuse to move beyond our comfort zone, hoping that God will call someone else to step out. We are excited when we see God at work, but we would rather be a spectator than a participant in God’s kingdom. Although Moses gave excuses after excuses for not going, God did not give up on him, but worked through each and every one of the excuses, and finally convinced Moses to step out in faith. As we see how God dealt with Moses there are three principles that we need to remember when God squeezes us out of our comfort zone.
When God sends — He sustains
Moses’ first excuse was his own sense of inadequacy, in Ex. 3: 11 Moses says to God “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” In response to this God says to Moses “I will be with you…” (Ex. 3:12) What God was essentially doing was, shifting Moses’ attention from his own inadequacy to God’s sufficiency. In other words God was telling Moses, that the success of his mission depended not in his ability but on God’s sovereignty.
In fact it is interesting to observe how God explained the strategy for His rescue mission. In Ex. 3: 7 God says to Moses “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians …” Notice, God says “ I have seen…I have heard…I am concerned…So I have come down…” The work of liberation was God’s work and not Moses’. Moses was an instrument in God’s Hand, but God alone was the redeemer. The task at hand can be accomplished only because God is at work. In promising to be with Moses God was assuring him that he would not lack anything. God would sustain him all through the way. God’s sustaining power can be clearly seen in the way He cared for them as they wandered in the desert for forty years. Years later as Nehemiah, praised God for His sustaining power he said this, “For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing…” (Nehemiah 9:21)
When God calls us for a task we can be sure that God will sustain us. Hudson Taylor, the great pioneer missionary to China, once commented that God's work done, in God's way will never lack God's provision. This does not mean that there will never be problems or that we won’t have to face any difficulties, but what it does mean is that God will never leave us nor forsake us. Moses had to face a lot of difficulties as he confronted Pharaoh and later on as he led the people of Israel out of Egypt, but through it all he always found God next to him.
The well known poem entitled ‘Footprints in the sand’ beautifully captures this truth. It describes a dream where a person sees, two sets of footprints, one that belongs to him and the other to the Lord. And as he looks at his life he sees that in the most difficult times there was only one set of footprints. So he turns to God and asks Him “Why is it that during the most difficult and trying times, I can see only one set of footprints, why did you leave me when I needed you the most?” God answers “My precious child. I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you saw only one set of footprints... That was when I carried you." If we were to look at our own lives we would recognize, how often God has carried us through the difficult times. Moses testified to this, years later in Deut. 1:31, as the Israelites were about to enter the promised land, where he says “…the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”
If God is asking you to step out in faith, remember He will be with you every step of the way. Through the good times and bad times His faithfulness remains unchanged. As He promised through the prophet Isaiah, “When you walk through the waters I will be with you…” So step out, with the assurance that where God sends you, He will sustain you.
When God enlist — He empowers.
Though God promised to be with him, Moses was still not sure if he could do what God was asking him to do. He came up with another excuse. In Ex. 4:10 he says “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue” Now this was not entirely true. Acts 7:22 says that earlier in his life, during his days as a Prince of Egypt, he was "...educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action." But that was half a life-time ago – according to Moses the "golden years" of his life. Now he saw himself just an old shepherd. His current skills in public speaking were limited to the words and sounds that were used to motivate sheep-not people-not a nation-not a pharaoh! God’s answer to this was a strong rebuttal. In verse 11 God says to Moses “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? What God was really saying to Moses, was “Moses don’t tell me what you can do and what you can’t do, I know you better that you know yourself. So trust me”
Forty years ago, Moses had tried to liberate the people of Israel trusting in his own strength. Now God was telling him, “This time, trust me. You tried it your way, now do it my way, in my strength.” Now, how did God empower Moses? He asked him what was in his hand (Ex 4:1) and Moses replied a staff. Little did Moses know about the power his simple staff would yield when it became the rod of God? The staff was a symbol of God’s power to both the Israelites and the Egyptians. When Pharaoh refused to let the people go, God sent Moses to him with these words “By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.” (Ex 7:17) When the Israelites stood before the Red sea with the Egyptian army in their pursuit, God told Moses “…lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it…” (Ex. 14:15) When God enlisted Moses for His mission, He also made sure that He empowered him to fulfil that mission.
God will not call us to do something for which, His power is not sufficient. There is story of Billy Graham, who was holding some of his early crusades in England. As the altar call was given after Billy Graham had preached, the choir would sing "Just As I Am," and the people would walk down the bleachers to make their commitment. The next day the press said, “Billy Graham had used music to manipulate the masses." The following night Billy Graham decided not to use music. At the alter call He simply said, "You just come forward without music." All you could hear were the bleachers creaking as the people went forward. This went on for days. There was no music, yet people in hundreds and thousands would come forward to commit their life to God. After some days the same reporter who had written, that music was being used to emotionally manipulate the crowd, wrote in his article “Please give us the music, the silence is deafening”. You see the crowds did not respond because they were being emotionally manipulated, but because God’s power was at work. God has promised in His word saying “ Its not by might, not by power but by my spirit …” (Zec.4:6) When we do what God asks us to do, we can be rest assured that the task ahead of us is not greater than the power that is behind us. We can do all things through Him who strengths us. Even leave our comfort zone and move into uncharted waters.
When God assigns – He amazes.
An anonymous writer once wrote these words:
I am not sent a pilgrim here, my heart with earth to fill;
But I am here God's grace to learn, and serve God's sovereign will.
He leads me on through smiles and tears, grief follows gladness still;
But let me welcome both alike, since both work out His will.
No service in itself is small, none great, though earth it fill;
But that is small that seeks its own, and great that seeks God's will.
Then hold my hand, most gracious Lord, guide all my doings still;
And let this be my life’s one aim, to do, or bear thy will.
There are times when God calls us to do His will and then there are times when we have to bear His will” In either case, when His will is done it will amaze us, how God can transform our trials into triumphs. In Gen. 50:20 Joseph says to his brother who had sold him into slavery “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” The Bible teaches us that our limitations do not handicap God’s plan and purpose. On the contrary often it is our limitations that enable God to work His glory in and through us.
One of the books that I read which has had a very deep impact on my life is the true story of a girl named Joni Eareckson Tada. Joni was left quadriplegic after a diving accident in 1967 when she was just 17 years old. Initially she believed that God would heal her, but as days went by and this did not happen, her belief turned into despair and she began to contemplate committing suicide. Being a quadriplegic she could not even take her own life. One night having reached the end of the rope she cried out to God and said “God, if I can't die, then please show me how to live.” Her prayer changed things dramatically in the long run. God did not heal her, but gave her a purpose to live. Today Joni is the founder of a ministry called ‘Joni and friends’ that ministers to people with physical disabilities. She has authored 30 books, is a world renowned speaker, and has learnt to paint by holding the brush in her mouth. In an interview on the BBC she once said “I would rather be in this wheelchair knowing Him the way I do than be on my feet without Him”
At the age of 17 God pushed Joni out of her comfort zone, and amazed not just her but the whole world to see what God can accomplish through a life that is surrendered to His purposes. At the beginning of Ex. 3 we meet Moses as a whiner, complaining about his own inadequacy, but at the end of his life the scriptures testify to his life with these words. “Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequalled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt…” (Deut. 34: 10-11). What a testimony! Moses would have missed the greatest adventure of his life, had he refused to obey God. When we fulfil what God has assigns us to do, it will amaze us what God can accomplish through us.
Adventure with God
John Wesley once said, “Man’s greatest discovery is to know God’s will, and his greatest adventure is to do God’s will”. Embarking on an adventure means taking risks, going in the unknown way. One cannot be in his/her own comfort zone and experience the thrill of an adventure.
What comfort zone is God asking you to move out of? It may be in the area of finance, where God is asking you to trust in His provision, or may be in the area of relationships where God is asking you to let go. No matter what God is asking you to do, remember when He commands, He also sustains, empowers and amazes you for His glory. So that at the end of the day, we too, like Paul can boldly affirm, “Not that we are competent of our selves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God” (2 Cor.2: 5-6)
-Rev. Paras Tayade.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
REDEEMING FAILURE
REDEEMING FAILURE
A man walks into the psychiatrist’s office and says to the psychiatrist, “Doctor I think I am suffering from an inferiority complex.” So the psychiatrist takes him through a whole battery of testing. The next week the doctor gives the troubled man the results.” I have both good news and bad news for you. The good news is that you do not suffer from an inferiority complex”, said the psychiatrist. “The bad news is that truly you are inferior.”
All of us have experienced failure at some point or the other. The fact is that all of us fail in our lives and all of us have got ways of dealing with it. Some of us live by the motto "if at first you don't succeed destroy all evidence that you tried." Failure-we hide, deny, fear, ignore, take it personally or hate it. We do everything but accept it but that doesn’t change the fact that we fail.
We can be thankful that Scripture deals openly with failure. The defects of the saints are not edited out. The dark sides of people who made a difference in their generation are there for all to see: King David’s adultery and murderous scheming, Elijah’s loss of nerve, Jonah’s vindictive spirit. In fact the lives of these people provide us with a clue about how God deals with failure. Time and again God took broken, messed up and utter failures and used them for His glory.
It is also true that not all failures that we see in the Bible had glorious endings. While people such as Moses, Abraham, David, Jonah and Simon Peter seem to have turned their failures into great transforming moments, others like Lot, Ahab, and Judas Iscariot seem never to have recovered. What was the difference? There are three principles that we can draw, as we look at the lives of those who failed and yet by God’s grace have come out of it triumphantly.
Failure does not diminish God’s love.
Failure, first and foremost, affects our sense of worth. We live in a success driven world, where anything less than success is worthless. It is not surprising that our society which advocates this kind of philosophy, witnesses a generation that is willing to end its life at the remotest possibility of failure. Every year when school / college results are declared, the newspaper is full of stories of students who commit suicide because they could not do well in their exams. In a society that worships success, failure is often met with repugnance. No one wants to associate with a failure.
How different is the God we encounter in the Bible. Paul wrote about God’s love in Romans 5:18 saying “…yet while we were sinners Christ died for us.” You see, God’s love for us is not based on our performance. There is nothing that we can do to make God love us more and there is nothing that we can do to make God love us less. Paul was so sure of God’s unfailing love that in Romans 8:38-39, he says “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Translate this in our every day life and we could read this as “ Neither failure nor poor church attendance, nor inadequate Bible reading and prayer, nor betrayal, denial doubt, insecurity, guilt, weakness, nor even losing our temper can separate us from the love of God.” He just keeps loving us.
It is true that when we sin, we break God’s heart but that never makes God’s heart grow cold towards us. When Adam and Eve sinned against God they were banished from the Garden of Eden but not abandoned by God. Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son highlight this truth that no one, no matter how insignificant or small or useless they may be, is written off in God’s economy. Each of these parables ends with Jesus telling His disciples that there will be great rejoicing over one sinner who repents. Henri Nouwen once said “God rejoices. Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted and are now praising Him for his goodness. No, God rejoices because one of His children who was lost has been found.”
Isn’t it comforting to know that our Heavenly Father loves us just as we are? Though we have failed Him and disappointed Him, when we turn to Him in repentance we encounter grace upon grace. In John 21 we read that after Jesus’ resurrection, He appeared to the disciples and what is fascinating in this passage, is Jesus’ question to Peter. He asked, “Peter do you love me?” I think it should have been Peter asking this question. “Lord, do you love me, after I denied you and deserted you at the time you needed me the most?” But the fact that it is Jesus and not Peter asking this question tells us that Peter was already forgiven and was now given a second chance.
No matter what our failure is, when we turn to God in true repentance we are always given a second chance. In Christ we are a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come.
Failure is not Final
William J. Gaither in one of his best known hymns wrote. “Something beautiful, something good. All my confusion He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life.” God in His sovereignty is able to take even our failures and transform them into something good. Paul in Romans 8:28 says “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.” Notice he says ‘all things’ which means even our failures and our blunders can be used for the good as we surrender them to God. In God’s economy failure is not final.
Consider Moses, who encountered failure when he impulsively killed an Egyptian. Though Moses understood his calling to deliver the people of Israel [Acts 7:25], he misunderstood God’s way of doing things. After killing the Egyptian, Moses ran away. One would think that’s the end of the story, but no; God was still at work. The next forty years in the wilderness served as a training ground for preparing Moses for the task that lay ahead. D.L. Moody once said of Moses, “he spent the first 40 years thinking he was a somebody, the next 40 years learning he was a nobody then the last 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody.”
When we go through failures, we may think it is the end of the road but in God’s providence that may be just the beginning of a great task ahead. As long as we live in this fallen world we will go through failures. The best way to deal with failure is, not to dwell on our past mistakes, but to trust in God and move ahead. Paul wrote in Philippians 3:13 “…Forgetting what lies behind and straining towards what is ahead”. John Chrysostom the early church father once said “The danger is not that we should fall…but that we should remain on the ground.”
The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 1:27 “God chose what is foolish…to shame the wise; God chose what is weak…to shame the strong”. Our failure rather than being an obstruction between us and God may be the very thing that pushes us towards Him, for our failure forces us to face the fact that we are not self-sufficient. The only way we can live a victorious life is when we trust in His grace and not in our strength.
Don’t let failure overwhelm you, but see the bigger picture through God’s perspective. And you will realize that failure is, but a stepping stone for success. Winston Churchill has rightly said “Success is never final; failure is never fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
Failure can be transformed.
Once upon a time there was a king who had a beautiful diamond in his possession. Once a year he would put that diamond on display for the general public to come and see. Men and women from all over the place would flock to see this rare beauty. As time approached for the diamond to be displayed, the king ordered that it be polished and put in its special case. Unfortunately the jeweller, who handled the diamond, was careless and as a result the diamond developed a big scar as it was being polished. This scar completely marred the beauty of the diamond.
The king was very upset that his prized possession was ruined. He sent word throughout the land that if there was any one who could fix the scar, he would be given a big reward. Many jewellers and diamond experts came and examined the diamond but there was nothing they could do to erase the scar from it. Finally, an old man walked into the king’s court and said that he would be able to fix the problem but for that he would have to take the diamond and would return it only after a week. The king was reluctant but having no other option he gave the diamond to the old man.
The old man took the diamond and returned after a week. He then presented the diamond to the king, and the king noticed that the old man had carved a beautiful rose on the diamond, using the scar as the stem of the rose. This made the diamond look even more beautiful than it was previously. The very scar that once blemished the good look of the diamond now, as the stem of the rose, enhanced its beauty. God, in his sovereignty, is able to use the very scars of failures and transform them into something beautiful. Failure can be transformed — look at people like Moses, David, Paul and Peter and you will see how God worked in and through flawed human beings. And the good news is He still does. John Newton the slave trader whom God transformed into a hymn writer. Charles Colson, who served President Richard Nixon and was, put into prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal, encountered Jesus Christ while in prison and his life took a complete turn. Today, he leads an international ministry called the Prison fellowship which reaches out to prison inmates with the love of Christ.
God said through the prophet Isaiah “…though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.” [Isa. 1:18] Our failure, when surrendered before God is but a tool in His hand to shape us and mould us for His glory.
A New Vision
In Matthew 25: 14-30, Jesus told a parable of a man who goes on journey and as he leaves he entrusts his property to his servants. To the first, he gives five talents, to the second, he gives two talents and to the third, he gives one talent, to each according to his ability. After a long time when their master returns he finds that the first and the second servant had doubled what had been given to them where as the third servant had hidden his talent and still had only one. The master rewards the first two, for their work while the third one is punished for his laziness; for not putting to good use what was given to him. Notice, the master does not commend the first two because they were successful in work nor does he rebuke the third servant because he had failed rather the point that Jesus was making through this parable was that at the end of the day what really matters is how faithful we are, to what we have been entrusted with, and not whether we succeed or fail.
When Charleston Heston was training to drive the chariot for Ben-hur, he said to Cecil B. Demill, the director of the movie, “I can barely stay on this thing. I can’t win the race” De Mille replied, “Your job is to stay on it. It’s my job to make sure you win”. That is what God says to us— that we need to be faithful to what He has entrusted us with, and God will take us to the finish line and declare victory. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” As long as we live on, this side of eternity we will continue to experience failures, but we need to move ahead trusting in God’s promises and provisions, knowing that His grace is all sufficient for our lives.
- Rev. Paras Tayade
A man walks into the psychiatrist’s office and says to the psychiatrist, “Doctor I think I am suffering from an inferiority complex.” So the psychiatrist takes him through a whole battery of testing. The next week the doctor gives the troubled man the results.” I have both good news and bad news for you. The good news is that you do not suffer from an inferiority complex”, said the psychiatrist. “The bad news is that truly you are inferior.”
All of us have experienced failure at some point or the other. The fact is that all of us fail in our lives and all of us have got ways of dealing with it. Some of us live by the motto "if at first you don't succeed destroy all evidence that you tried." Failure-we hide, deny, fear, ignore, take it personally or hate it. We do everything but accept it but that doesn’t change the fact that we fail.
We can be thankful that Scripture deals openly with failure. The defects of the saints are not edited out. The dark sides of people who made a difference in their generation are there for all to see: King David’s adultery and murderous scheming, Elijah’s loss of nerve, Jonah’s vindictive spirit. In fact the lives of these people provide us with a clue about how God deals with failure. Time and again God took broken, messed up and utter failures and used them for His glory.
It is also true that not all failures that we see in the Bible had glorious endings. While people such as Moses, Abraham, David, Jonah and Simon Peter seem to have turned their failures into great transforming moments, others like Lot, Ahab, and Judas Iscariot seem never to have recovered. What was the difference? There are three principles that we can draw, as we look at the lives of those who failed and yet by God’s grace have come out of it triumphantly.
Failure does not diminish God’s love.
Failure, first and foremost, affects our sense of worth. We live in a success driven world, where anything less than success is worthless. It is not surprising that our society which advocates this kind of philosophy, witnesses a generation that is willing to end its life at the remotest possibility of failure. Every year when school / college results are declared, the newspaper is full of stories of students who commit suicide because they could not do well in their exams. In a society that worships success, failure is often met with repugnance. No one wants to associate with a failure.
How different is the God we encounter in the Bible. Paul wrote about God’s love in Romans 5:18 saying “…yet while we were sinners Christ died for us.” You see, God’s love for us is not based on our performance. There is nothing that we can do to make God love us more and there is nothing that we can do to make God love us less. Paul was so sure of God’s unfailing love that in Romans 8:38-39, he says “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Translate this in our every day life and we could read this as “ Neither failure nor poor church attendance, nor inadequate Bible reading and prayer, nor betrayal, denial doubt, insecurity, guilt, weakness, nor even losing our temper can separate us from the love of God.” He just keeps loving us.
It is true that when we sin, we break God’s heart but that never makes God’s heart grow cold towards us. When Adam and Eve sinned against God they were banished from the Garden of Eden but not abandoned by God. Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son highlight this truth that no one, no matter how insignificant or small or useless they may be, is written off in God’s economy. Each of these parables ends with Jesus telling His disciples that there will be great rejoicing over one sinner who repents. Henri Nouwen once said “God rejoices. Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted and are now praising Him for his goodness. No, God rejoices because one of His children who was lost has been found.”
Isn’t it comforting to know that our Heavenly Father loves us just as we are? Though we have failed Him and disappointed Him, when we turn to Him in repentance we encounter grace upon grace. In John 21 we read that after Jesus’ resurrection, He appeared to the disciples and what is fascinating in this passage, is Jesus’ question to Peter. He asked, “Peter do you love me?” I think it should have been Peter asking this question. “Lord, do you love me, after I denied you and deserted you at the time you needed me the most?” But the fact that it is Jesus and not Peter asking this question tells us that Peter was already forgiven and was now given a second chance.
No matter what our failure is, when we turn to God in true repentance we are always given a second chance. In Christ we are a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come.
Failure is not Final
William J. Gaither in one of his best known hymns wrote. “Something beautiful, something good. All my confusion He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life.” God in His sovereignty is able to take even our failures and transform them into something good. Paul in Romans 8:28 says “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.” Notice he says ‘all things’ which means even our failures and our blunders can be used for the good as we surrender them to God. In God’s economy failure is not final.
Consider Moses, who encountered failure when he impulsively killed an Egyptian. Though Moses understood his calling to deliver the people of Israel [Acts 7:25], he misunderstood God’s way of doing things. After killing the Egyptian, Moses ran away. One would think that’s the end of the story, but no; God was still at work. The next forty years in the wilderness served as a training ground for preparing Moses for the task that lay ahead. D.L. Moody once said of Moses, “he spent the first 40 years thinking he was a somebody, the next 40 years learning he was a nobody then the last 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody.”
When we go through failures, we may think it is the end of the road but in God’s providence that may be just the beginning of a great task ahead. As long as we live in this fallen world we will go through failures. The best way to deal with failure is, not to dwell on our past mistakes, but to trust in God and move ahead. Paul wrote in Philippians 3:13 “…Forgetting what lies behind and straining towards what is ahead”. John Chrysostom the early church father once said “The danger is not that we should fall…but that we should remain on the ground.”
The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 1:27 “God chose what is foolish…to shame the wise; God chose what is weak…to shame the strong”. Our failure rather than being an obstruction between us and God may be the very thing that pushes us towards Him, for our failure forces us to face the fact that we are not self-sufficient. The only way we can live a victorious life is when we trust in His grace and not in our strength.
Don’t let failure overwhelm you, but see the bigger picture through God’s perspective. And you will realize that failure is, but a stepping stone for success. Winston Churchill has rightly said “Success is never final; failure is never fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
Failure can be transformed.
Once upon a time there was a king who had a beautiful diamond in his possession. Once a year he would put that diamond on display for the general public to come and see. Men and women from all over the place would flock to see this rare beauty. As time approached for the diamond to be displayed, the king ordered that it be polished and put in its special case. Unfortunately the jeweller, who handled the diamond, was careless and as a result the diamond developed a big scar as it was being polished. This scar completely marred the beauty of the diamond.
The king was very upset that his prized possession was ruined. He sent word throughout the land that if there was any one who could fix the scar, he would be given a big reward. Many jewellers and diamond experts came and examined the diamond but there was nothing they could do to erase the scar from it. Finally, an old man walked into the king’s court and said that he would be able to fix the problem but for that he would have to take the diamond and would return it only after a week. The king was reluctant but having no other option he gave the diamond to the old man.
The old man took the diamond and returned after a week. He then presented the diamond to the king, and the king noticed that the old man had carved a beautiful rose on the diamond, using the scar as the stem of the rose. This made the diamond look even more beautiful than it was previously. The very scar that once blemished the good look of the diamond now, as the stem of the rose, enhanced its beauty. God, in his sovereignty, is able to use the very scars of failures and transform them into something beautiful. Failure can be transformed — look at people like Moses, David, Paul and Peter and you will see how God worked in and through flawed human beings. And the good news is He still does. John Newton the slave trader whom God transformed into a hymn writer. Charles Colson, who served President Richard Nixon and was, put into prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal, encountered Jesus Christ while in prison and his life took a complete turn. Today, he leads an international ministry called the Prison fellowship which reaches out to prison inmates with the love of Christ.
God said through the prophet Isaiah “…though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.” [Isa. 1:18] Our failure, when surrendered before God is but a tool in His hand to shape us and mould us for His glory.
A New Vision
In Matthew 25: 14-30, Jesus told a parable of a man who goes on journey and as he leaves he entrusts his property to his servants. To the first, he gives five talents, to the second, he gives two talents and to the third, he gives one talent, to each according to his ability. After a long time when their master returns he finds that the first and the second servant had doubled what had been given to them where as the third servant had hidden his talent and still had only one. The master rewards the first two, for their work while the third one is punished for his laziness; for not putting to good use what was given to him. Notice, the master does not commend the first two because they were successful in work nor does he rebuke the third servant because he had failed rather the point that Jesus was making through this parable was that at the end of the day what really matters is how faithful we are, to what we have been entrusted with, and not whether we succeed or fail.
When Charleston Heston was training to drive the chariot for Ben-hur, he said to Cecil B. Demill, the director of the movie, “I can barely stay on this thing. I can’t win the race” De Mille replied, “Your job is to stay on it. It’s my job to make sure you win”. That is what God says to us— that we need to be faithful to what He has entrusted us with, and God will take us to the finish line and declare victory. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” As long as we live on, this side of eternity we will continue to experience failures, but we need to move ahead trusting in God’s promises and provisions, knowing that His grace is all sufficient for our lives.
- Rev. Paras Tayade
Monday, March 10, 2008
Pilate on trial
Pilate on trial
Michael Yaconeelii in his book ‘messy spirituality’ shares a story of a young boy by the name of Norman. One spring, his class decided to put up the play of Cinderella. As soon as his teacher announced the play, every student’s hand shot into the air volunteering to be one of the characters. “I want to be Cinderella!” every girl yelled. “I want to be the handsome prince!” the boys shouted. Realizing that not everyone could have the same part, the students soon erupted into urgent requests for the other parts. “I want to be the wicked stepmother!” “I want to be the ugly step sister!” Somehow the teacher was able to wade through all the requests, and soon everyone was assigned a part, except Norman, who was sitting right at the end. Concerned because there weren’t any characters left the teacher said to him “I’m afraid all the main parts have been taken for Cinderella but I’m sure we can find an extra part for you. What character would you like to be?”
Norman didn’t hesitate. “I would like to be a pig,” he declared. “Pig?” the teacher said bewildered. “But there is no pig in the Cinderella story.” Norman smiled and said, “There is one now!” Norman designed his own costume-paper cup for a nose and pink underwear with a pipe-cleaner tail. Since there was nothing in the script explaining what the pig was supposed to do, the action was left up to Norman. As it turned out, Norman gave himself a walk-on part. The pig walked along with Cinderella wherever she went. He became a mirror of action on stage. If Cinderella was happy the pig would be happy; if Cinderella was sad, the pig was sad. One look at Norman and you knew the emotion of the moment. At the climax, when the Prince finally placed the glass slipper on Cinderella's foot and the ecstatic couple hugged and rode off to live happily ever after, the pig went wild with joy, danced around on his hind legs, and broke his silence by barking. During rehearsals, the teacher had tried explaining to Norman that even if there was a pig in the Cinderella story, pigs don't bark. But as she expected, Norman explained that this pig barked.
The play was an instant hit. At the curtain call, guess who received a standing ovation? Norman, of course, the barking pig. He was, after all, the real Cinderella story. What is impressive about Norman is his attitude which refused to be limited by the script. On the contrary, he stole the show away from those who were supposed to be the key players of the story. That evening as the guests went back home no was talking about Cinderella or the stepmother, or the wicked sisters, but about Norman-the barking pig, who had become the star of the show.
Norman was so like Jesus. When Jesus was on the stage of the world history, the key players were people like the religious leaders, Caesar and Pilate, but compared to Jesus they are forgotten names today. Where as Jesus continues to rule and reign in the hearts of millions. Jesus would time and again turn the tables on his opponents, refusing to be limited by the “script” given to him. Jesus’ trail before Pilate is a good example, where instead of Jesus; Pilate seems to be the one under trail. It was not so much that Jesus was defending himself but Pilate who was trying to get out of a sticking situation. The way Pilate responded to Jesus then is the same as many people respond to the claims of Jesus Christ today.
Evasion
When Jesus was brought before Pilate, Pilate’s first response was to evade his own responsibility. Pilate tried passing the buck. He told the Jewish leaders to judge Jesus themselves, but they refused because they couldn’t execute him (John 18:31-32). He suggested, perhaps sarcastically, that they should go ahead and crucify him themselves (John 19:6-7), even though Pilate knew that crucifixion was legal only under Roman authority. At one point during the “trial” of Jesus, Pilate tried to pass the buck to Herod Antipas, who, as Tetrarch over Galilee, had the legal right to put Jesus to death. But Herod didn’t grab the bait, and used his meeting with Jesus as an occasion to mock him (Luke 23:6-12).
What Pilate tried to do was nothing out of the ordinary. Even today we see the blame game played so often. Our politicians do this all the time. When ever anything goes wrong, their immediate reaction is to point fingers at the opposite party. In fact passing the buck is ingrained in the human nature. Adam, in the Garden of Eden, did the same. When God asked him if he had eaten of the forbidden tree, Adam responded saying “the woman you put here with me she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” When God turned to the woman and asked her why she had done that, she in turn passed the buck by saying “the serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Why do we evade responsibility? One of the main reasons is that we live in the illusion that if we don’t make a decision, we won’t make a mistake. What we forget is that not making a decision is also a decision in itself. When we choose not to act we in fact make a choice. Neutrality in reality is an illusion. Jesus said in Matt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Jesus himself demanded from the disciples their uncompromising allegiance to himself, and declared that the criterion of their final judgment would be their response to him. He called people to believe in him, to trust him. Claims like that drive people to extremes. Either you accept his authority as tantamount to that of God himself, which is what his disciples did; or you declare the man a dangerous imposter, and determine to destroy him. Eduard Schweizer puts it even more strongly: “Neutrality is in any case impossible as a definitive attitude, for his summons is such that whoever seeks to remain neutral has already rejected him”
When Pilate tried to be neutral, he had already made his choice; that was to reject Jesus as the Messiah. It is the same choice that faces us today. To say that Jesus was a good man or a mere prophet is to reject his true claim to be the Son of God. He does not give us the luxury of sitting on the fence undecided. On the contrary he puts us on the spot by asking us “Who do you say I am?”
Compromise
When evading his responsibility did not work, Pilate tried a new method. He tried to compromise between the two sides. In John 18:38-39 after he questioned Jesus. Pilate came before the crowds and said “I find no basis for a charge against him”. Pilate was even willing to release Jesus as it was a custom to release one prisoner at the time of the Passover, but then in John 19:1 we read that Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. Now why would Pilate do that if he was convinced that Jesus was innocent? For a simple reason - Pilate was trying to please both sides. He thought if he flogged Jesus he could appease the crowd and get rid of them and at the same time he would save Jesus’ life and not have him crucified. Pilate tried to please both sides!
Today’s spirituality is marked by this characteristic; wanting the best of both the worlds. The New Age movement that has become so popular in today’s day and age is largely due to the fact that it offers spirituality without morality. Cult groups like Sai Baba are especially popular among politicians and the affluent class of the Indian society because they make no moral demands on one’s public or private life. One can have healing for one’s ailment, prosperity for one’s children, peace of mind all without anyone raising awkward questions about one’s political thuggery, racist policies or dubious commercial transactions. The attraction of the New Age movement lies in the offer of a religion without repentance. Sadly, this philosophy has also crept into the Church. What is promoted as ‘faith in God’ often turns out, on closer inspection, to be a means for obtaining emotional security or material blessing in this life and an insurance policy for the next. William Booth the founder of Salvation Army once said “I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, and salvation without regeneration.” People want all the benefits of the spiritual life without having to give up any of the worldly pleasures.
In contrast to this, the discipleship that Jesus spoke about involved self denial and dying to one self. In Matt 16:25 Jesus said “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” Christian living is a challenge to a radical commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ which leaves no room for compromise.
Verdict
Pilate tried to evade his responsibility, he tried to compromise between the two sides but finally he had to take a stand. In his verdict to have Jesus crucified, Pilate made it clear, that for him, his position and power meant more than the truth. Pilate, following the lead of the Jewish authorities, chose to protect his own political and personal interests over justice (John 19-12:16). Although at one point Pilate had asked Jesus “What is Truth?” Pilate did not care about the truth.
He did not want to crucify Jesus, but he did not want to believe in Jesus either. Pilate reflects the attitude of this world. Many just don't care about another life or another kingdom; they only want to rule their little world here. The famous novelist G.K Chesterton once remarked that ‘the problem with Christianity is not that it has been tried and found wanting but that it has been found difficult and left untried..’ People turn away from the Gospel, not because they do not see the truth of the Gospel but because they do not want to respond to the truth.
Aldous Huxley, the grandson of Charles Darwin’s “bulldog” Thomas Huxley, said candidly of his atheism, "I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption.” Huxley goes on to write "For myself, as, no doubt, for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaningless was essentially an instrument of liberation. The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain political and economic system and liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom; we objected to the political and economic system because it was unjust. The supporters of these systems claimed that in some way they embodied the meaning (a Christian meaning, they insisted) of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and at the same time justifying ourselves in our political and erotical revolt: we could deny that the world had any meaning whatsoever." For Huxley and friends, the only way to justify their immoral living was by cutting God loose from this world. The truth was only valuable to Huxley if it served his interests. If not; he wanted nothing to do with it.
Pilate rejected Christ in order to save his power and position, Huxley rejected Christian values in order to vindicate his own depraved philosophy.
Many today reject Christ for the same reason, to continue to live in their sin. John 3:19 says ‘this is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light, because their deeds were evil.’ It is their deliberate choice to live in darkness that keeps them away from the Light.
Cross of Christ
Pilate began by evading his responsibility; he then tried to compromise and finally rejected Christ for his own gains. In contrast to this when we turn to the cross of Christ we encounter a God who did exactly the opposite. God did not pass the buck and say ‘Sin is not my problem’ He took the initiative to deal with our problems by sending His Son to die for us. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16) The cross also reveals God’s uncompromising nature. God in His justice cannot overlook sin and God in His love cannot condemn us to eternal damnation. The scripture tells us in Isaiah 53:6 ‘… the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ In the cross we see both God’s justice and God’s love work simultaneously. The cross is also a reminder that for us God gave the best that He had, He did not hold back anything. Paul writes in Philippians 2:6-7 ‘Who, being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant.’ Unlike Pilate who rejected Christ for earthly power, Jesus gave up his heavenly place for our salvation.
We share a common humanity with Pilate. At times we know the right and choose to do the wrong. Pilate had his moment in history and now we have ours. What have we done with our opportunities and responsibilities? What judgment have we passed on Jesus?
Rev. Paras Tayade
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus- A Christian Response
The Aquarian Gospel Of Jesus- A Christian response.
Introduction
Every year during lent some book or movie or theory is put forward which tries to portray Christianity as a false religion. And inevitable the attack is on the person of Jesus Christ. Some years back it was the Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, which suggested that the church suppressed Jesus’ real story and that He had a family of his own. A central character in modern times discovers she is a direct descendant of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, who fled to what, is now France after the crucifixion.
The Lost Gospel of Judas, based on a manuscript found in the Egyptian desert in 1970 and claims Jesus enlisted a beloved and heroic Judas to betray him as part of a divine plan.
Titanic director James Cameron’s film about the lost tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem suggests that graves containing the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene were discovered in 1980
And the list can go on. This year is no different; a movie called “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus” is set to be realized next year. This movie claims that Jesus was an ordinary man who became ‘The Christ’ latter on. Let’s take a look at what this theory is all about and does it hold any water.
1. What is the Aquarian Gospel?
The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ claims to be the true story of the life of Jesus, including “the ‘lost’ eighteen years silent in the New Testament.”
Introduction
Every year during lent some book or movie or theory is put forward which tries to portray Christianity as a false religion. And inevitable the attack is on the person of Jesus Christ. Some years back it was the Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, which suggested that the church suppressed Jesus’ real story and that He had a family of his own. A central character in modern times discovers she is a direct descendant of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, who fled to what, is now France after the crucifixion.
The Lost Gospel of Judas, based on a manuscript found in the Egyptian desert in 1970 and claims Jesus enlisted a beloved and heroic Judas to betray him as part of a divine plan.
Titanic director James Cameron’s film about the lost tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem suggests that graves containing the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene were discovered in 1980
And the list can go on. This year is no different; a movie called “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus” is set to be realized next year. This movie claims that Jesus was an ordinary man who became ‘The Christ’ latter on. Let’s take a look at what this theory is all about and does it hold any water.
1. What is the Aquarian Gospel?
The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ claims to be the true story of the life of Jesus, including “the ‘lost’ eighteen years silent in the New Testament.”
Major Points
The “Aquarian Gospel’ makes the following claims, among others:
- Jesus was distinct from Christ or “The Christ.” By making himself, through effort and prayer, a fit vessel, Jesus enabled The Christ to dwell in him.
- Jesus was conceived by a human father.
- Jesus came to earth to show the way back to God via his lifestyle and teachings. He is the example we must model our own lives after, if we seek salvation.
Ø Source
The script for the movie, “The Aquarian Gospel,” is inspired by
¨ Levi Dowling’s book “ The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ” [1911]
¨ Nicholas Notovich’s “ The unknown life of Jesus Christ” [1894]
2. The Life of saint Issa.
¨Notovitch claimed that, at the monastery of Himis, he learned of the "Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men."
¨Notovich persuaded the lama to read the scroll to him, and had it translated from Tibetan by an interpreter.
¨From the scroll, Notovich learned that “ Jesus had wandered to India and to Tibet as a young man before he began his work in Palestine”
¨The scroll proceeds to explain how, after briefly visiting with Jains, Jesus (young Issa) studied for six years among the Brahmins at Juggernaut, Rajagriha, Benares and other Indian (so called) holy cities.
¨Got into trouble with the Brahamins.
¨Jesus / Issa, then flees, to the Buddhists, and spends six years among them, learning and mastering their religious texts.
¨Then, at the age of 29, he returned to Israel and began to preach all that he had learned.
¨According to Notovich’s “scroll” by the end of Jesus’ three year ministry, Pilate who had become insecure by Jesus popularity had him falsely accused and killed, although the Jewish priests had tried to save him.
¨Following this some merchants in Palestine allegedly traveled to India, came upon some people who had known Issa / Jesus as a casual student of Sanskrit and Pali during his youth in India, and filled them in on Issa’s demise at the hands of Pilate.
¨And as the story concludes, Life of saint Issa was written on a scroll by author(s) unknown…three or four years later.
3. The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi Dowling
¨ The title page of the “gospel” bears the words : Transcribed from the book of God’s Remembrances known as the Akashic Records
¨ Unlike Notovich whose conclusions were based on an alleged objective ancient document, Levi’s book is based on an occult form of subjective illumination.
¨ Jesus supposedly became interested in studying in the east after Joseph (Jesus’ father) hosted Prince Ravanna from India.
¨ Prince Ravanna offered to take Jesus to the East where he could learn the wisdom of the Brahmins.
¨ Jesus was accepted as a pupil in the temple Jagannath; and here he learned the Vedas.
¨ Levi proceeds to chronicle a visit to Tibet, where Jesus allegedly met
Meng-ste, the greatest sage of the East.
¨ He went back to Palestine where he had a ministry of three years and then was killed.
4. Reaction by Secular Scholar’s
i) F. Max Muller published a refutation of Notovich in ‘The Nineteenth Century’
¨ An old document like the one Notovitch allegedly found would have been included in the Kandjur and Tandjur (Catalogues in which all Tibetan literature is supposed to be listed.)
¨ How is it that the Jewish merchants happened to meet the very people among the millions of Indians who had known Jesus / Issa as a simple student in India
¨ Muller cites a woman who had visited the monastery of Himis and made inquiries about Notovitch. According to a letter she wrote (dated June 29, 1894), "there is not a single word of truth in the whole story! There has been no Russian here....There is no life of Christ there at all!"
¨ Muller questioned the great liberty Notovitch took in editing and arranging the alleged verses. Muller said this is something no reputable scholar would have done.
ii) J Archibald Douglas interviewed the chief lama and asked him about Notovitch.
¨ When asked the lama very categorically stated that he had never heard of Notovitch. [This lama had been the chief lama for 15 years which means he would have been the chief lama during Notovitch’s alleged visit.]
¨ When asked if he was aware of any book in the monastery, regarding the life of Jesus, his answer was again a no.
¨ This interview was written down and witnessed by the lama, Douglas and the interpreter and on June 3rd 1895, was stamped with the official seal of the lama.
5. Reactions by Christian Scholars.
¨The accounts of Jesus going to East have serious contradictions.
Each of the accounts differ, for example, regarding the beginning of Jesus’ trek. The life of Saint Issa portrays Jesus departing secretly from His parent’s house with some merchants on their way to India so he could perfect himself by studying the laws of the great Buddha. Levi’s Aquarian gospel depicts Prince Ravanna from India asking Jesus’ parents if he can escort Jesus to India where he can learn India wisdom
¨All of the “Jesus goes East” accounts contain historical inaccuracies.
Levi’s Aquarian Gospel said Herod Antipas was ruler in Jerusalem. Antipas, however, never ruled in Jerusalem but in Galilee. Levi also makes a reference to Jesus visiting Meng-ste (probably the great sage of China). However Levi didn’t realize that Meng-ste died in289 B.C
¨Jesus never taught from the Vedas.
If Jesus spent most of life learning from the Vedas and other Hindu scripture how is it that He never made any reference to them. On the contrary the only source He drew from was the Old Testament.
6. New Testament evidence
¨Jesus was well known as a carpenter [Mark 6:3]
People in and around displayed familiarity with Jesus, as if they have had regular contact with Him for a prolonged time.
¨ [Luke 4:16, 22]
“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up…”
¨People were amazed at His authority of the Scripture. [Luke 4:32]
Since people knew Jesus as a carpenter, they were amazed at His authority of the scripture. If Jesus had been away learning, then it would be expected of Him to display His learning.
7. Our response to controversies
¨ Expect: The Bible warns us of people who will try to deceive us, and shake our faith. The best defense is to be prepared for such attacks. [ Matthew 24:11]
¨ Exploit: We also use controversies as a contact point to reach out to people. Movies, books and documentaries that attack the Christian faith often make people curious about the truth. And we can use that for our advantage [ I Peter 3:15]
¨ Explain: As Christians it is our responsibility to explain the truth of the Gospel to those who do not understand. If people have false ideas, then we need to correct them and bring them in line with the Biblical world view [ Jude 22]
Conclusion
The Movie ‘The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus’ is set to be realized next year. Like the Da Vince code this movie will also raise a lot of questions. As those who are called to defend the faith are we ready to clear the misconceptions and bring people to a better understanding of who Jesus is?
- Rev. Paras Tayade
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Whatever Happened to Human Life?
Whatever Happened to Human Life?
Zoë, a three year old girl had a pet turtle whom she really loved. She would play with him the whole day. One day her father returned home to find a crisis at hand. The turtle had died and Zoë was crying her heart out. Her father tried his best to calm her, he even suggested that they buy a new pet turtle, but Zoë would not be comforted. Suddenly Zoë’s father had a brilliant idea; he turned to Zoë and said “I tell you what; we'll have a funeral for the turtle.” Being three years old, she didn't know what a funeral was. So, he quickly proceeded to expand on the theme. "A funeral," he explained, "is a great festival in HONOR of someone." Well, she didn't know what a festival was either so he explained further. "Actually," he said, "a funeral is like a BIRTHDAY PARTY! We'll have ice cream and cake and lemonade and balloons, and all the children in the neighborhood will come over to our house to play." [According to customs in the West when friends and relatives visit the grieving family, they are offered snacks]
Well this tactic worked! Zoë’s tears began to dry, and she quickly returned to her happy, smiling self again. She was very excited at the prospect of all that was going to happen—a party with all the trimmings, all because the turtle had died. This was great! Then, an utterly unforeseen thing happened. They looked down, and lo and behold, the turtle began to move. It wasn't dead after all! In a matter of seconds, it was crawling away as lively as ever. The father was dumbstruck not knowing how to respond to this new development, but Zoë appraised the situation perfectly. With all the innocence of her tender years, she looked up at her father and said, "Daddy, let's kill it."
So often our society responds to its troubles much like little Zoë did that day. When a life interferes with our pleasures and plans, the most popular solution these days is to simply end that life. If a woman is pregnant and it is not convenient for her to give birth....our society says she can deal with that problem by killing the unborn child. These days when people are frustrated with the way the world treats them, many decide to get even by purchasing a hand gun...and then they go on a shooting spree. The Virginia killing that took place in the month of April, 2007 where a young man went on a shooting rampage killing 32 people is an example of how recklessly life is treated. Add to this scenario the problem of suicide, euthanasia, and acts of terrorism, where human life is ended without a second thought. All this goes to say that many people in our society are like little Zoë in that, when a life becomes inconvenient they feel that the best thing to do is to end that life.
What has gone wrong with the world? Why is ‘Life’, God’s most precious gift, treated so carelessly? Primarily there are three things that have caused people to view life in an impetuous way.
· Sanctity of life is lost.
· Purpose in life is lost.
· Significance in life is lost.
The only way we can live life to its fullest as Jesus promised in John 10:10, is by recovering what has been lost. This recovery begins by aligning our worldview with the biblical view. Without a biblical view there is no way to say what the value of a human life is? Who defines it? Who says how it ought to be treated? Without a biblical view it is impossible to understand human life, its worth and its significance. So we turn to the Bible to recover what it means to live an abundant life.
Created in the Image of God
Scripture tells us that “God created man in his own image… male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). This is a breathtaking assertion. Humans actually reflect the character of the ultimate source of the universe. Out of all the things that are created in this world, humans alone mirror a part of God’s character. The Psalmist in Psalm 8:3-4 says “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?” This question expresses surprise, even incredulity, that God should pay so much attention to his human creation, for we are insignificant in comparison to the vastness of the universe, and impure in contrast to the brightness of the stars. Yet we are the crown jewel of God’s creation. When we turn to the creation account in Genesis 1 it is fascinating to read that at the end of each day God would remark about his creation as “…it is good”, but when God created man and woman, the scripture says He saw that as “…very good”.
Evolutionists on the other hand not only deny that God has created us, but also deny that we as humans have any unique quality that sets us apart from the rest of the creation. Going by their logic we are a result of matter + time + chance; which means humans beings are nothing more than over grown germs, since everything in this world has come from a single primordial cell? There is nothing special that can be attributed to the human race or human life. Ingrid Newkrik, founder and director of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. (PETA) once said “When it comes to feeling, a rat is a pig, a pig is dog, and a dog is a boy. They are all mammals. They all feel pain. There is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights…six million people died in concentration camp, six billion chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses”. With God out of the picture it is but natural that human life is denigrated in an effort to make human species equal with all others.
Sanctity of life can be understood only when we see ourselves and others as people created in the image of God. Only the Christian worldview gives a strong basis for human dignity. When the Christian worldview is negated, the result is a shift from ‘sanctity of life’ to ‘quality of life’. As a result humanness is defined more in terms of what we have, rather than who we intrinsically are. Human life is scared because it alone is stamped with the image of the Creator. Sanctity of life is a forgotten truth in our society; as a result life is treated carelessly. This truth can be grasped only when we see ourselves and others as created in the Image of God.
Created for a Relationship with God
C.S. Lewis once said that “when a ship is out on open waters, there are three questions it must ask itself - How do I keep from sinking? How do I keep from bumping into other ships? And most importantly, what am I doing out here in the first place?” The first question deals with personal ethics, the second with social ethics, but the third and the most important question deals with normative ethics. What am I doing here in this world? Our purpose in life will determine how we live and also influence the way we relate to others. So for a meaningful life one needs to have purpose in life. The fact is men and women cannot live without purpose. Pleasure, freedom, happiness, prosperity-none of these is ultimately fulfilling because none can answer the ultimate question of purpose.
The Bible gives us a clear cut answer to why we are created. Paul in Colossians 1:16 writes “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” The scriptures very clearly tell us that we are created for God, created to have a relationship with him. Man’s primary purpose is to know God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: “What is the chief end of man?” and the answer given is “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” It’s a staggering thought that we can know and glorify and enjoy the sovereign God, fulfilling His purpose through our lives. It is this all-consuming purpose that gives life meaning and direction in all circumstances. True satisfaction comes only as we transcend our personal pleasure, happiness and prosperity and seek to fulfill God’s purpose for our life.
No wonder then, that even though Paul was in prison he was able to write “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) It seems strange that a man in prison would tell a church to rejoice. Being imprisoned would cause many people to become bitter and to give up, but Paul saw it as one more opportunity to spread the good news of Christ. His purpose in life was to live for Christ. And it did not matter where he was, what his circumstances were, or what hardships he had to undergo. For Paul, even his chains became an opportunity for rejoicing because as he writes in Philippians1:12 ‘…what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel.’ Paul’s relationship with Christ enabled him to see beyond his dire circumstances and focus on the bigger picture. His motto in life was “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain” (Philippians 1:20) Knowing that we are fulfilling God’s purpose is the only thing that really gives rest to the restless human heart. As Augustine has rightly said “You made us for Yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in You”
Created as God’s Workmanship
H. L. Mencken said “the problem with life is not that it's a tragedy, but that it's a bore. A child who is filled with wonder is also filled with a sense of enchantment, a sense of significance, a sense of meaning. When wonder ceases, boredom and emptiness begin to stalk existence.” Notice a child at work or play, no matter how trivial the task may be the child puts in its heart, soul and mind to what ever he/she does. It may be as simple as painting a picture or as complex as building a toy airplane, but everything it does needs to be done in the best possible manner. After the task is complete, the child shows it to everyone with a great sense of pride. Unfortunately, as we grow older our ability to be enchanted by small things diminishes, but the hunger for that sense of wonder remains in us. To satisfy this hunger, many turn to sex, drugs and other cheap thrills, only to find that nothing can satisfy. King Solomon in the Bible was one such man, who tried everything that the world had to offer, sensual pleasure, knowledge, work; you name it and he had done it. Yet his journal, as recorded in the book of Ecclesiastics is punctuated by this remark “Meaningless everything under the sun is meaningless”
All of us want to make a difference; we want more than just a good job with lots of money. We want our lives to be significant in the larger arena of life. How can what we do today, impact eternity?
Paul in Eph 2:10 said “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The context of this verse is about salvation that comes to us as a result of God’s grace. What Paul is saying in these verses is that one of the effects of having come into a right relationship with Christ is that our entire life is infused with meaning and significance because God is now a part of it. Our work that we would consider trivial and meaningless now becomes an act of worship for God. We are God’s workmanship in our offices, in our schools, in our homes and in every other place where God has placed us. Dr. Ravi Zacharias in his book ‘Can Man Live Without God’, shares a story about Eric Liddell from the movie Chariots of Fire. At one point in the film Eric is reprimanded by his sister, Jenny, for trying too hard in his effort to win the gold medal, thus neglecting things of greater importance. His answer to her reveals the profound connection of all of life’s pursuit for him. He says, “Jenny, God has made me for a purpose- for China. But He has also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” For Eric Liddell whether it was running or going as a missionary to China, it had to be in line with God’s pleasure. He was God’s workmanship on the track and in the mission field.
Jesus said in John 15:5 “I am the vine you are the branches…apart from me you can do nothing” In this world there are a lot of things that we can do without Christ, but nothing of eternal significance. It is only when we see ourselves as God’s workmanship, men and women created in Christ, that our mundane life is transformed into a significant life.
Touch of the Maker
There’s a story about an auction taking place. A number of beautiful and exotic items were being auctioned, each being sold at a very high price. Towards the end, an old, worn out violin was brought to be auctioned. The starting bid was a mere Rs.100, but even at such a low cost there were no bidders. The auctioneer encouraged the audience to bid by telling them that the violin was made of the finest wood and that great artist’s had played this piece of instrument but, still, there were no takers. An old man from the audience got up, walked to the podium, picked up the violin, cleaned it, tuned it and played a very beautiful tune and then returned the violin and walked off. Immediately after that the bidding for the violin started to pick up and the violin was sold for a sum that was ten times it’s original bidding price.
Now, there were two men sitting in the first row. One of them turned to the other and asked, “How is it that, all of a sudden, this useless piece of musical instrument is now sold for such a high price?” The other man replied, “The old man who cleaned the violin, tuned it and played it, was it’s maker.”
It is the touch of the Maker that makes all the difference.
No matter how badly messed up our lives are, when God cleans us, tunes us to His will and plays us for his glory, it makes all the difference in the world. Sanctity, Significance and Purpose of human life is found only in Jesus Christ.
Rev. Paras Tayade
Zoë, a three year old girl had a pet turtle whom she really loved. She would play with him the whole day. One day her father returned home to find a crisis at hand. The turtle had died and Zoë was crying her heart out. Her father tried his best to calm her, he even suggested that they buy a new pet turtle, but Zoë would not be comforted. Suddenly Zoë’s father had a brilliant idea; he turned to Zoë and said “I tell you what; we'll have a funeral for the turtle.” Being three years old, she didn't know what a funeral was. So, he quickly proceeded to expand on the theme. "A funeral," he explained, "is a great festival in HONOR of someone." Well, she didn't know what a festival was either so he explained further. "Actually," he said, "a funeral is like a BIRTHDAY PARTY! We'll have ice cream and cake and lemonade and balloons, and all the children in the neighborhood will come over to our house to play." [According to customs in the West when friends and relatives visit the grieving family, they are offered snacks]
Well this tactic worked! Zoë’s tears began to dry, and she quickly returned to her happy, smiling self again. She was very excited at the prospect of all that was going to happen—a party with all the trimmings, all because the turtle had died. This was great! Then, an utterly unforeseen thing happened. They looked down, and lo and behold, the turtle began to move. It wasn't dead after all! In a matter of seconds, it was crawling away as lively as ever. The father was dumbstruck not knowing how to respond to this new development, but Zoë appraised the situation perfectly. With all the innocence of her tender years, she looked up at her father and said, "Daddy, let's kill it."
So often our society responds to its troubles much like little Zoë did that day. When a life interferes with our pleasures and plans, the most popular solution these days is to simply end that life. If a woman is pregnant and it is not convenient for her to give birth....our society says she can deal with that problem by killing the unborn child. These days when people are frustrated with the way the world treats them, many decide to get even by purchasing a hand gun...and then they go on a shooting spree. The Virginia killing that took place in the month of April, 2007 where a young man went on a shooting rampage killing 32 people is an example of how recklessly life is treated. Add to this scenario the problem of suicide, euthanasia, and acts of terrorism, where human life is ended without a second thought. All this goes to say that many people in our society are like little Zoë in that, when a life becomes inconvenient they feel that the best thing to do is to end that life.
What has gone wrong with the world? Why is ‘Life’, God’s most precious gift, treated so carelessly? Primarily there are three things that have caused people to view life in an impetuous way.
· Sanctity of life is lost.
· Purpose in life is lost.
· Significance in life is lost.
The only way we can live life to its fullest as Jesus promised in John 10:10, is by recovering what has been lost. This recovery begins by aligning our worldview with the biblical view. Without a biblical view there is no way to say what the value of a human life is? Who defines it? Who says how it ought to be treated? Without a biblical view it is impossible to understand human life, its worth and its significance. So we turn to the Bible to recover what it means to live an abundant life.
Created in the Image of God
Scripture tells us that “God created man in his own image… male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). This is a breathtaking assertion. Humans actually reflect the character of the ultimate source of the universe. Out of all the things that are created in this world, humans alone mirror a part of God’s character. The Psalmist in Psalm 8:3-4 says “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?” This question expresses surprise, even incredulity, that God should pay so much attention to his human creation, for we are insignificant in comparison to the vastness of the universe, and impure in contrast to the brightness of the stars. Yet we are the crown jewel of God’s creation. When we turn to the creation account in Genesis 1 it is fascinating to read that at the end of each day God would remark about his creation as “…it is good”, but when God created man and woman, the scripture says He saw that as “…very good”.
Evolutionists on the other hand not only deny that God has created us, but also deny that we as humans have any unique quality that sets us apart from the rest of the creation. Going by their logic we are a result of matter + time + chance; which means humans beings are nothing more than over grown germs, since everything in this world has come from a single primordial cell? There is nothing special that can be attributed to the human race or human life. Ingrid Newkrik, founder and director of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. (PETA) once said “When it comes to feeling, a rat is a pig, a pig is dog, and a dog is a boy. They are all mammals. They all feel pain. There is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights…six million people died in concentration camp, six billion chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses”. With God out of the picture it is but natural that human life is denigrated in an effort to make human species equal with all others.
Sanctity of life can be understood only when we see ourselves and others as people created in the image of God. Only the Christian worldview gives a strong basis for human dignity. When the Christian worldview is negated, the result is a shift from ‘sanctity of life’ to ‘quality of life’. As a result humanness is defined more in terms of what we have, rather than who we intrinsically are. Human life is scared because it alone is stamped with the image of the Creator. Sanctity of life is a forgotten truth in our society; as a result life is treated carelessly. This truth can be grasped only when we see ourselves and others as created in the Image of God.
Created for a Relationship with God
C.S. Lewis once said that “when a ship is out on open waters, there are three questions it must ask itself - How do I keep from sinking? How do I keep from bumping into other ships? And most importantly, what am I doing out here in the first place?” The first question deals with personal ethics, the second with social ethics, but the third and the most important question deals with normative ethics. What am I doing here in this world? Our purpose in life will determine how we live and also influence the way we relate to others. So for a meaningful life one needs to have purpose in life. The fact is men and women cannot live without purpose. Pleasure, freedom, happiness, prosperity-none of these is ultimately fulfilling because none can answer the ultimate question of purpose.
The Bible gives us a clear cut answer to why we are created. Paul in Colossians 1:16 writes “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” The scriptures very clearly tell us that we are created for God, created to have a relationship with him. Man’s primary purpose is to know God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: “What is the chief end of man?” and the answer given is “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” It’s a staggering thought that we can know and glorify and enjoy the sovereign God, fulfilling His purpose through our lives. It is this all-consuming purpose that gives life meaning and direction in all circumstances. True satisfaction comes only as we transcend our personal pleasure, happiness and prosperity and seek to fulfill God’s purpose for our life.
No wonder then, that even though Paul was in prison he was able to write “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) It seems strange that a man in prison would tell a church to rejoice. Being imprisoned would cause many people to become bitter and to give up, but Paul saw it as one more opportunity to spread the good news of Christ. His purpose in life was to live for Christ. And it did not matter where he was, what his circumstances were, or what hardships he had to undergo. For Paul, even his chains became an opportunity for rejoicing because as he writes in Philippians1:12 ‘…what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel.’ Paul’s relationship with Christ enabled him to see beyond his dire circumstances and focus on the bigger picture. His motto in life was “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain” (Philippians 1:20) Knowing that we are fulfilling God’s purpose is the only thing that really gives rest to the restless human heart. As Augustine has rightly said “You made us for Yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in You”
Created as God’s Workmanship
H. L. Mencken said “the problem with life is not that it's a tragedy, but that it's a bore. A child who is filled with wonder is also filled with a sense of enchantment, a sense of significance, a sense of meaning. When wonder ceases, boredom and emptiness begin to stalk existence.” Notice a child at work or play, no matter how trivial the task may be the child puts in its heart, soul and mind to what ever he/she does. It may be as simple as painting a picture or as complex as building a toy airplane, but everything it does needs to be done in the best possible manner. After the task is complete, the child shows it to everyone with a great sense of pride. Unfortunately, as we grow older our ability to be enchanted by small things diminishes, but the hunger for that sense of wonder remains in us. To satisfy this hunger, many turn to sex, drugs and other cheap thrills, only to find that nothing can satisfy. King Solomon in the Bible was one such man, who tried everything that the world had to offer, sensual pleasure, knowledge, work; you name it and he had done it. Yet his journal, as recorded in the book of Ecclesiastics is punctuated by this remark “Meaningless everything under the sun is meaningless”
All of us want to make a difference; we want more than just a good job with lots of money. We want our lives to be significant in the larger arena of life. How can what we do today, impact eternity?
Paul in Eph 2:10 said “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The context of this verse is about salvation that comes to us as a result of God’s grace. What Paul is saying in these verses is that one of the effects of having come into a right relationship with Christ is that our entire life is infused with meaning and significance because God is now a part of it. Our work that we would consider trivial and meaningless now becomes an act of worship for God. We are God’s workmanship in our offices, in our schools, in our homes and in every other place where God has placed us. Dr. Ravi Zacharias in his book ‘Can Man Live Without God’, shares a story about Eric Liddell from the movie Chariots of Fire. At one point in the film Eric is reprimanded by his sister, Jenny, for trying too hard in his effort to win the gold medal, thus neglecting things of greater importance. His answer to her reveals the profound connection of all of life’s pursuit for him. He says, “Jenny, God has made me for a purpose- for China. But He has also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” For Eric Liddell whether it was running or going as a missionary to China, it had to be in line with God’s pleasure. He was God’s workmanship on the track and in the mission field.
Jesus said in John 15:5 “I am the vine you are the branches…apart from me you can do nothing” In this world there are a lot of things that we can do without Christ, but nothing of eternal significance. It is only when we see ourselves as God’s workmanship, men and women created in Christ, that our mundane life is transformed into a significant life.
Touch of the Maker
There’s a story about an auction taking place. A number of beautiful and exotic items were being auctioned, each being sold at a very high price. Towards the end, an old, worn out violin was brought to be auctioned. The starting bid was a mere Rs.100, but even at such a low cost there were no bidders. The auctioneer encouraged the audience to bid by telling them that the violin was made of the finest wood and that great artist’s had played this piece of instrument but, still, there were no takers. An old man from the audience got up, walked to the podium, picked up the violin, cleaned it, tuned it and played a very beautiful tune and then returned the violin and walked off. Immediately after that the bidding for the violin started to pick up and the violin was sold for a sum that was ten times it’s original bidding price.
Now, there were two men sitting in the first row. One of them turned to the other and asked, “How is it that, all of a sudden, this useless piece of musical instrument is now sold for such a high price?” The other man replied, “The old man who cleaned the violin, tuned it and played it, was it’s maker.”
It is the touch of the Maker that makes all the difference.
No matter how badly messed up our lives are, when God cleans us, tunes us to His will and plays us for his glory, it makes all the difference in the world. Sanctity, Significance and Purpose of human life is found only in Jesus Christ.
Rev. Paras Tayade
Saturday, November 3, 2007
TERRIBLE CORRUPTION
TERRIBLE CORRUPTION [Preached on August 19]
Kuruvilla Chandy
Every year Transparency International publishes a corruption index. In 2007 India ranked 72nd, along with China and 6 more countries. Indians may sense some national pride that it is ahead of its neighbours Sri Lanka (94 th), Nepal (131st), Pakistan (138th), and Bangladesh (162nd). However India is way behind Bhutan, but since the country is small and not in rivalry with India, we don't feel too bad about that.
For us in India, corruption is not just a word, it is stark reality. We feel frustration, anger and helplessness in the face of the rampant corruption that even the Right to Information Act has not yet curbed.Sadly, the Church in India and its institutions have not remained unstained. Last year a sting operation showed pastors of churches in Delhi taking bribes to issue membership certificates to non-Christians so that they can gain admission to Christian institutions. Mission schools and colleges that were once identified as representing the highest because of the Christian ethic have also resorted to corruption in admissions, examination results, etc.
One synonym for the word "corruption" is "rottenness." For something to rot, it must first be good. That is why corruption is terrible, because it rots what was good to start with.The history of the Kings of Judah shows us how a kingdom was corrupted, how the internal rot destroyed it. Truly, "Righteousness exalts a race, but sin is a disgrace to any people" ( Pro.14:34).
When Solomon strayed from God's ways, the kingdom was divided. Ten tribes broke away to become the kingdom of Israel, while Benjamin stayed on with Judah to form the kingdom of Judah.Israel's first king was Jeroboam. As he thought about the fact that the focal point of Jewish religion was the temple situated in Jerusalem, a part of the kingdom of Judah, he was afraid of losing the loyalty of his people. So Jeroboam decided to introduce idolatry in Israel, to counteract the attraction that the people of Israel felt toward the temple (1 Ki.12:25-33). Except for Jehu, the reformer who killed wicked Ahab's family (2 Ki.9:14-10:31), every king of Israel went down that road.
On the other hand, a number of the kings of Judah were reckoned as those who did right. But a closer examination reveals that, while a number of them started right, they ended wrong. Some of them were even reformers. How/why did reformers become corrupt?
Faithless in Trouble
Asa came after Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah. The sacred historian informs us that he did good and right "in the eyes of the Lord" (2 Chron.14:2). He was ardent in destroying idolatry (v.3). He commanded repentance: that his subjects turn from their ways to do what the Lord wanted of them (v.4). God favoured Asa's rule giving Judah peace and prosperity ( vv.6-7).When an enemy did attack, Asa trusted God. He prayed, "O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O Lord, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!" ( v.11). God answered with deliverance (v.12). A prophet commended his faith and exhorted him to keep on trusting the Lord (15:1-2,7).
Encouraged, Asa continued with the reformation in Judah (vv.8-15). He even deposed his grandmother for committing idolatry (v.16 ). The historian declared that he was "fully committed to the Lord throughout his life" (v.17). Whatever gifts of silver and gold that he and his father before him had pledged to God he brought into the temple ( v.18), instead of keeping back what had been promised by earlier generations or forgetting his own promises made earlier under different circumstances. How often people make promises when they are in trouble, but fail to keep their promises when the Lord has extricated them from their trouble! The Word of God counsels us that it is better not to vow, than to vow and not fulfil the vow ( Eccl.5:1-7). Asa would agree, for he was a promise-keeper.For 35 years Asa and the people of Judah enjoyed peace (2 Chron.15:19). Other races were afraid because God had fought for them (14:13-14).
After all those years of peace, Israel threatened Judah by fortifying along the border (16:1). Asa was quite unprepared for an attack from Israel, a nation of Judah's brothers. Strangely, Asa lost his faith and courage in the face of this threat from kinsfolk and turned to an idolatrous king for help. Asa gave the treasures of the temple to the idolater ( vv.2-3).Asa must have been one who imagined that since he was enjoying God's protection and favour, he would never have any trouble all his life. Sometimes Christians make the same mistake. I know a missionary whose father was dying of cancer. Susannah prayed that he would turn to Christ before death. Somehow she was convinced that God had promised her that this would happen. She went home to be at her father's side. Her father died without giving any evidence that he had turned his life over to the Lord Jesus. Susannah went into deep depression and it took her a long time to come out of it.
Selwyn Hughes wrote, "Of course, we have to be careful that we do not hold God to promises He has not given. Over the years I have seen the heartache suffered by Christians who have been encouraged to take a statement from the Word of God, turn it into a 'promise' and urged to believe that it would come about. When nothing happened, they became deeply discouraged and disheartened" ( Every Day With Jesus, 9 Feb. 2007)
No Promise
We have no promise that our faith will escape testing. Instead, the Lord said, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" ( Jn.16:33). The Apostle James echoed that: "Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything... God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him" ( Jas.1:2-4,12, NLT).
Annie Johnson Flint gave us the song "What God Hath Promised." The song is particularly significant in view of Annie's own trials. Her mother died after the birth of her younger sister, and her father abandoned them for a second marriage. The widow, who was deputed to take them in, had two children of her own and her means were limited. Annie and her sister felt unloved. A neighbour influenced a godly, childless couple to adopt them. After finishing school, she had to take a position near her home as her foster mother was ailing. Not much later Annie came down with arthritis. As the disease progressed she had to give up her work. When the foster parents died, Annie moved to a sanatorium. And it was there that Annie started to write the poetry that has blessed Christendom. Her song says,
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through.
How true! Faith that rests on God will weather the storms of life. That is the only promise we have—that God will stay with us and carry us through the storms.
King Asa was clinging to his circumstances rather than God, and when the circumstances changed for the worse, his faith faltered. Our Lord said that some seed will indeed fall on rocky soil or among thorns. In either situation, the germinating seed is likely to be unfruitful. Quickie converts are not rooted deep in faith. Those who allow their lives to be cluttered with life's preoccupations (whether pleasures or troubles) will not be able to grow in faith ( Mk.4:16-19). Instead they will be busy trying to manage their own life by their own craftiness, efforts and skills. That is what Asa was doing when he took the treasures of God's temple to buy the aid of an idolater king.
For this Asa was rebuked by a prophet of God. Instead of responding positively, Asa imprisoned him. He then became an unjust ruler of his people (2 Chron.16:7-10). When God's sovereignty is denied and His voice is suppressed, there is no reason to live a moral life. Then might makes right. Without God as the point of reference, our own desires and pleasures and concerns become the be-all and end-all of our existence. Others exist only to serve our needs and purposes.
Two years later, Asa was inflicted by a disease. The Bible says that he turned to physicians instead of turning to God (v.12). At first reading, this may suggest that the Bible is opposed to medicine. There is enough biblical evidence to contradict such a conclusion. In the well-known story of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan binds up the wounds of the battered man with wine (to disinfect) and oil (to stop bleeding). Paul advised Timothy to take a bit of wine for his persistent stomach trouble (1 Tim.5:23).
In Asa's time, physicians were in all probability pagan medicine men, who relied on magic and the occult for their healing powers. Once again, he was guilty of turning away from God to idolatry for answers to his problems. Asa seems to have gone to his grave without a change of heart.
Forgetting Truth
A few generations after Asa, came Joash. He was the sole survivor of the massacre of the royal family by wicked Queen Athaliah. He was just an infant when it happened. He was saved by his aunt and hidden in the temple for seven years by the high priest Jehoida (2 Chron.22:10-12).In the seventh year, Jehoida conspired with middle level officers of the army and brought Joash out from hiding and made him king. Athaliah tried to muster support, was seized and executed (23:1-15).
Jehoida who had served as protector, became the young king's mentor (24:2). Joash learnt well, and then took initiative to order the repair of the temple ( v.4). Though the Levites took their time going about it (v.5), Joash didn't give up, and pressed the matter of the repair of the temple (vv.5-14).
After Jehoida died, people who were ungodly sucked up to Joash and derailed him from the path he had chosen under Jehoida. The repairer of the temple abandoned what he had rebuilt, and turned instead to idolatry ( vv.17-18).
God sent prophets to call the king and his people to repentance, but they did not listen to the prophets. Finally, Zechariah, the son of Jehoida, the priest, challenged their infidelity. Instead of gratitude for Jehoida's protection that he had enjoyed as a little boy, the king ordered that Zechariah be killed for opposing him ( vv.19-22) This act of perfidy was so dastardly that it was mentioned by our Lord as a prime example of wickedness comparable to the killing of innocent Abel (Lk.11:51).
When Joash turned from God to idolatry, ignored prophets and killed God's servant, he found himself under attack from an alien, idolatrous king (2 Ki.12:17). The sacred historian seems to say that this was more than a coincidence for he connected the dots by saying that it happened "about [that] time."
Instead of waking up to God's call, Joash took all the temple's treasures, dedicated by three earlier generations and along with what he had himself dedicated and offered them to the alien idolater ( v.18).
Fascination With Exotic Religions
Joash's son Amaziah succeeded him. His mother's name Jehoaddin says she was a Jewess (2 Chron.25:1). After Asa, there had been good king Jehoshaphat. Though recognised as one "had sought the Lord with all his heart", by marrying a woman from Ahab's family (2 Chron.18:1), Jehoshaphat did have an adverse effect on the kingdom that lasted for at least three generations.Ahab's wife Jezebel, was an idolatrous foreigner, and gained notoriety in Israelite history for being an ardent devotee of Baal. Marrying into Ahab's family for political gain was disastrous spiritually. His son Jehoram followed in his steps (2 Ki.8:18), and so did his grandson Ahaziah (v.27) in continuing to marry into an that ungodly family. When Ahaziah was attacked and died of wounds inflicted by the reformer Jehu (2 Ki.9:27), Athaliah, his mother, a stepsister or cousin of Ahab (8:26), ruled Judah and no doubt continued with all the idolatry. Joash had broken that trend and married a Jewess who hailed from Jerusalem, the temple city. Her godly influence was evident in her son's life for he did what was right when he became king (2 Chron.25:2). He administered justice according to God's Law (v.4).
Amaziah was keen on strengthening his kingdom and so he began to organise a well-coordinated army (v.5). In the process, he decided to add to the numbers of fighting men, by hiring mercenaries from Israel ( v.6). A prophet of God exhorted him not to rely on Israelite soldiers who were doomed by God (because of the national penchant for idolatry). Amaziah told the prophet that he would lose the money he had paid them and the prophet assured him that if he would trust God, then God would give him more than he would lose. Amaziah dismissed the Israelite mercenaries and succeeded in the war against Seir/Edomites ( vv.7-12).
In spite of this victory given to him by God, Amaziah brought back Edomite idols and began to worship them. How strange this fascination with idolatry! Though he defeated the army that worshipped and depended on idols, he was tantalised by the idols and the ways of idolatry. The idols had shape and size. Not like the God he worshipped, who could not be seen with the eyes. Worshipping idols gave opportunity to indulge in gluttony and immorality and seemed more interesting than confessing sin and seeking forgiveness through sacrifices. God was angry and sent a prophet to confront Amaziah with his foolishness in worshipping the very gods who had not been able to protect the people he had conquered. Amaziah told the prophet to shut up because he had not been appointed the court advisor. The prophet went away saying that he was doomed ( vv.14-16) and that is how Amaziah's reign ended, in defeat (vv.17-28).
Judah, the nation with the temple of God, became corrupt because they progressed from being faithless in the face of trouble to forgetting the truth they had started with to being fascinated with the exoticism of idolatry. Today, the Church stands in danger for the same reasons. There are those who proclaim prosperity as the sign of God's blessing and erode the strength of God's people to face trouble. There are people who claim to follow Christ, but advocate departures from the truth as He gave it. Tiring of old ways, people seem fascinated with anything new, without a concern that when the fountain is poisoned it is not a source to drink from.
What God Hath Promised
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.
Refrain:
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
Kuruvilla Chandy
Every year Transparency International publishes a corruption index. In 2007 India ranked 72nd, along with China and 6 more countries. Indians may sense some national pride that it is ahead of its neighbours Sri Lanka (94 th), Nepal (131st), Pakistan (138th), and Bangladesh (162nd). However India is way behind Bhutan, but since the country is small and not in rivalry with India, we don't feel too bad about that.
For us in India, corruption is not just a word, it is stark reality. We feel frustration, anger and helplessness in the face of the rampant corruption that even the Right to Information Act has not yet curbed.Sadly, the Church in India and its institutions have not remained unstained. Last year a sting operation showed pastors of churches in Delhi taking bribes to issue membership certificates to non-Christians so that they can gain admission to Christian institutions. Mission schools and colleges that were once identified as representing the highest because of the Christian ethic have also resorted to corruption in admissions, examination results, etc.
One synonym for the word "corruption" is "rottenness." For something to rot, it must first be good. That is why corruption is terrible, because it rots what was good to start with.The history of the Kings of Judah shows us how a kingdom was corrupted, how the internal rot destroyed it. Truly, "Righteousness exalts a race, but sin is a disgrace to any people" ( Pro.14:34).
When Solomon strayed from God's ways, the kingdom was divided. Ten tribes broke away to become the kingdom of Israel, while Benjamin stayed on with Judah to form the kingdom of Judah.Israel's first king was Jeroboam. As he thought about the fact that the focal point of Jewish religion was the temple situated in Jerusalem, a part of the kingdom of Judah, he was afraid of losing the loyalty of his people. So Jeroboam decided to introduce idolatry in Israel, to counteract the attraction that the people of Israel felt toward the temple (1 Ki.12:25-33). Except for Jehu, the reformer who killed wicked Ahab's family (2 Ki.9:14-10:31), every king of Israel went down that road.
On the other hand, a number of the kings of Judah were reckoned as those who did right. But a closer examination reveals that, while a number of them started right, they ended wrong. Some of them were even reformers. How/why did reformers become corrupt?
Faithless in Trouble
Asa came after Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah. The sacred historian informs us that he did good and right "in the eyes of the Lord" (2 Chron.14:2). He was ardent in destroying idolatry (v.3). He commanded repentance: that his subjects turn from their ways to do what the Lord wanted of them (v.4). God favoured Asa's rule giving Judah peace and prosperity ( vv.6-7).When an enemy did attack, Asa trusted God. He prayed, "O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O Lord, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!" ( v.11). God answered with deliverance (v.12). A prophet commended his faith and exhorted him to keep on trusting the Lord (15:1-2,7).
Encouraged, Asa continued with the reformation in Judah (vv.8-15). He even deposed his grandmother for committing idolatry (v.16 ). The historian declared that he was "fully committed to the Lord throughout his life" (v.17). Whatever gifts of silver and gold that he and his father before him had pledged to God he brought into the temple ( v.18), instead of keeping back what had been promised by earlier generations or forgetting his own promises made earlier under different circumstances. How often people make promises when they are in trouble, but fail to keep their promises when the Lord has extricated them from their trouble! The Word of God counsels us that it is better not to vow, than to vow and not fulfil the vow ( Eccl.5:1-7). Asa would agree, for he was a promise-keeper.For 35 years Asa and the people of Judah enjoyed peace (2 Chron.15:19). Other races were afraid because God had fought for them (14:13-14).
After all those years of peace, Israel threatened Judah by fortifying along the border (16:1). Asa was quite unprepared for an attack from Israel, a nation of Judah's brothers. Strangely, Asa lost his faith and courage in the face of this threat from kinsfolk and turned to an idolatrous king for help. Asa gave the treasures of the temple to the idolater ( vv.2-3).Asa must have been one who imagined that since he was enjoying God's protection and favour, he would never have any trouble all his life. Sometimes Christians make the same mistake. I know a missionary whose father was dying of cancer. Susannah prayed that he would turn to Christ before death. Somehow she was convinced that God had promised her that this would happen. She went home to be at her father's side. Her father died without giving any evidence that he had turned his life over to the Lord Jesus. Susannah went into deep depression and it took her a long time to come out of it.
Selwyn Hughes wrote, "Of course, we have to be careful that we do not hold God to promises He has not given. Over the years I have seen the heartache suffered by Christians who have been encouraged to take a statement from the Word of God, turn it into a 'promise' and urged to believe that it would come about. When nothing happened, they became deeply discouraged and disheartened" ( Every Day With Jesus, 9 Feb. 2007)
No Promise
We have no promise that our faith will escape testing. Instead, the Lord said, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" ( Jn.16:33). The Apostle James echoed that: "Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything... God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him" ( Jas.1:2-4,12, NLT).
Annie Johnson Flint gave us the song "What God Hath Promised." The song is particularly significant in view of Annie's own trials. Her mother died after the birth of her younger sister, and her father abandoned them for a second marriage. The widow, who was deputed to take them in, had two children of her own and her means were limited. Annie and her sister felt unloved. A neighbour influenced a godly, childless couple to adopt them. After finishing school, she had to take a position near her home as her foster mother was ailing. Not much later Annie came down with arthritis. As the disease progressed she had to give up her work. When the foster parents died, Annie moved to a sanatorium. And it was there that Annie started to write the poetry that has blessed Christendom. Her song says,
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through.
How true! Faith that rests on God will weather the storms of life. That is the only promise we have—that God will stay with us and carry us through the storms.
King Asa was clinging to his circumstances rather than God, and when the circumstances changed for the worse, his faith faltered. Our Lord said that some seed will indeed fall on rocky soil or among thorns. In either situation, the germinating seed is likely to be unfruitful. Quickie converts are not rooted deep in faith. Those who allow their lives to be cluttered with life's preoccupations (whether pleasures or troubles) will not be able to grow in faith ( Mk.4:16-19). Instead they will be busy trying to manage their own life by their own craftiness, efforts and skills. That is what Asa was doing when he took the treasures of God's temple to buy the aid of an idolater king.
For this Asa was rebuked by a prophet of God. Instead of responding positively, Asa imprisoned him. He then became an unjust ruler of his people (2 Chron.16:7-10). When God's sovereignty is denied and His voice is suppressed, there is no reason to live a moral life. Then might makes right. Without God as the point of reference, our own desires and pleasures and concerns become the be-all and end-all of our existence. Others exist only to serve our needs and purposes.
Two years later, Asa was inflicted by a disease. The Bible says that he turned to physicians instead of turning to God (v.12). At first reading, this may suggest that the Bible is opposed to medicine. There is enough biblical evidence to contradict such a conclusion. In the well-known story of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan binds up the wounds of the battered man with wine (to disinfect) and oil (to stop bleeding). Paul advised Timothy to take a bit of wine for his persistent stomach trouble (1 Tim.5:23).
In Asa's time, physicians were in all probability pagan medicine men, who relied on magic and the occult for their healing powers. Once again, he was guilty of turning away from God to idolatry for answers to his problems. Asa seems to have gone to his grave without a change of heart.
Forgetting Truth
A few generations after Asa, came Joash. He was the sole survivor of the massacre of the royal family by wicked Queen Athaliah. He was just an infant when it happened. He was saved by his aunt and hidden in the temple for seven years by the high priest Jehoida (2 Chron.22:10-12).In the seventh year, Jehoida conspired with middle level officers of the army and brought Joash out from hiding and made him king. Athaliah tried to muster support, was seized and executed (23:1-15).
Jehoida who had served as protector, became the young king's mentor (24:2). Joash learnt well, and then took initiative to order the repair of the temple ( v.4). Though the Levites took their time going about it (v.5), Joash didn't give up, and pressed the matter of the repair of the temple (vv.5-14).
After Jehoida died, people who were ungodly sucked up to Joash and derailed him from the path he had chosen under Jehoida. The repairer of the temple abandoned what he had rebuilt, and turned instead to idolatry ( vv.17-18).
God sent prophets to call the king and his people to repentance, but they did not listen to the prophets. Finally, Zechariah, the son of Jehoida, the priest, challenged their infidelity. Instead of gratitude for Jehoida's protection that he had enjoyed as a little boy, the king ordered that Zechariah be killed for opposing him ( vv.19-22) This act of perfidy was so dastardly that it was mentioned by our Lord as a prime example of wickedness comparable to the killing of innocent Abel (Lk.11:51).
When Joash turned from God to idolatry, ignored prophets and killed God's servant, he found himself under attack from an alien, idolatrous king (2 Ki.12:17). The sacred historian seems to say that this was more than a coincidence for he connected the dots by saying that it happened "about [that] time."
Instead of waking up to God's call, Joash took all the temple's treasures, dedicated by three earlier generations and along with what he had himself dedicated and offered them to the alien idolater ( v.18).
Fascination With Exotic Religions
Joash's son Amaziah succeeded him. His mother's name Jehoaddin says she was a Jewess (2 Chron.25:1). After Asa, there had been good king Jehoshaphat. Though recognised as one "had sought the Lord with all his heart", by marrying a woman from Ahab's family (2 Chron.18:1), Jehoshaphat did have an adverse effect on the kingdom that lasted for at least three generations.Ahab's wife Jezebel, was an idolatrous foreigner, and gained notoriety in Israelite history for being an ardent devotee of Baal. Marrying into Ahab's family for political gain was disastrous spiritually. His son Jehoram followed in his steps (2 Ki.8:18), and so did his grandson Ahaziah (v.27) in continuing to marry into an that ungodly family. When Ahaziah was attacked and died of wounds inflicted by the reformer Jehu (2 Ki.9:27), Athaliah, his mother, a stepsister or cousin of Ahab (8:26), ruled Judah and no doubt continued with all the idolatry. Joash had broken that trend and married a Jewess who hailed from Jerusalem, the temple city. Her godly influence was evident in her son's life for he did what was right when he became king (2 Chron.25:2). He administered justice according to God's Law (v.4).
Amaziah was keen on strengthening his kingdom and so he began to organise a well-coordinated army (v.5). In the process, he decided to add to the numbers of fighting men, by hiring mercenaries from Israel ( v.6). A prophet of God exhorted him not to rely on Israelite soldiers who were doomed by God (because of the national penchant for idolatry). Amaziah told the prophet that he would lose the money he had paid them and the prophet assured him that if he would trust God, then God would give him more than he would lose. Amaziah dismissed the Israelite mercenaries and succeeded in the war against Seir/Edomites ( vv.7-12).
In spite of this victory given to him by God, Amaziah brought back Edomite idols and began to worship them. How strange this fascination with idolatry! Though he defeated the army that worshipped and depended on idols, he was tantalised by the idols and the ways of idolatry. The idols had shape and size. Not like the God he worshipped, who could not be seen with the eyes. Worshipping idols gave opportunity to indulge in gluttony and immorality and seemed more interesting than confessing sin and seeking forgiveness through sacrifices. God was angry and sent a prophet to confront Amaziah with his foolishness in worshipping the very gods who had not been able to protect the people he had conquered. Amaziah told the prophet to shut up because he had not been appointed the court advisor. The prophet went away saying that he was doomed ( vv.14-16) and that is how Amaziah's reign ended, in defeat (vv.17-28).
Judah, the nation with the temple of God, became corrupt because they progressed from being faithless in the face of trouble to forgetting the truth they had started with to being fascinated with the exoticism of idolatry. Today, the Church stands in danger for the same reasons. There are those who proclaim prosperity as the sign of God's blessing and erode the strength of God's people to face trouble. There are people who claim to follow Christ, but advocate departures from the truth as He gave it. Tiring of old ways, people seem fascinated with anything new, without a concern that when the fountain is poisoned it is not a source to drink from.
What God Hath Promised
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.
Refrain:
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
TAINTED CONNECTIONS
TAINTED CONNECTIONS [Preached on August 12]
Kuruvilla Chandy
Most of India gets electricity from overhead cables that are exposed to the atmosphere. There were times when the linemen who came to repair faults or breakdowns, would discover that the problem was caused due to the points of the wires from our home to the main supply line being encrusted with some gunk. There was electric power flowing in the main line but it could not get past the block. Water cannot flow freely where channels are clogged. The floods that wreaked havoc in Bombay a couple of years ago were caused by the plastic waste and other garbage clogging the drains and preventing the rain water from flowing out to sea. Similarly, if the lines of communication between us and God are somehow cluttered with what offends God's holiness, we disrupt the flow of spiritual power into our lives. Solomon is an example of how the tainted (defiled) connections he had in his life disconnected him from the source of all the blessings of his life.
Solomon's Folly
Solomon succeeded David as king of all Israel. When he began his reign, he secured his kingdom by ridding himself of all his rivals (1 Ki.2:22-46). He then married an Egyptian princess for political advantage (3:1), though he loved the Lord and lived by the godly rules of his father David (v.3). Early in his reign he offered a sacrifice at the most important shrine of the time. There he had a dream of God telling him to ask for anything. Though it was a dream, it had reality—the first ever case of virtual reality. Solomon responded by acknowledging God's faithfulness and his own youthfulness, inexperience and inadequacy for the very big task of ruling Israel, and asked God to give him discernment or the wisdom to distinguish between right and wrong. God was so pleased with this that He told Solomon that because he had asked for wisdom, God would not only give Solomon wisdom, but give him honour and riches too ( vv.4-15). In Sunday School, children are always taught of how he passed wise judgement in the case of two mothers disputing over one baby (vv.16-28). What a great beginning! If you were reading the story for the first time, you would think David's son will be a greater and better king than David.
As you continue reading Solomon's story, the first hint that all's not well comes in the historian remarking that Solomon spent seven years to build God's temple, but thirteen years to build his own palace (6:38-7:1). Something definitely wrong there! At least, he didn't have a sense of proportion. Still, he manifested some faithfulness and orchestrated a grand dedication of the temple of God. The Lord was delighted by this extravagant display of affection that, as in the days of the founding prophet Moses, God's glory came down in a cloud that filled the temple with dazzling light making it impossible for the priests to continue their work (8:10-11). On that day Solomon acknowledged before the people that he was king because God had been wonderfully faithful ( vv.15-21). He prayed that God would indeed turn a listening ear to His people when they would gather at the temple to pray for mercy and deliverance (vv.22-61). God responded by appearing to Solomon once again and promised His favour ( vv.3-5) but also threatened disfavour if Solomon or his descendants stopped following God's law (vv.6-9).
The next big event that all Sunday School children learn about is the visit of the Queen of Sheba. The queen is impressed with his wisdom and his great wealth and says that the splendour of his kingdom surpasses all the reports that she had heard (10:1-9).
But I think no Sunday School has ever taught kids about Solomon's great folly. While he had married the daughter of Pharaoh for diplomatic reasons, later in life he began to "collect" foreign women; he had a total of one thousand women in his harem. He married them despite the Lord's clear commandment that His people should not marry those who worship other gods ( Ex.3:15-16). The sacred historian says that Solomon "loved" these women—in fact, he "clung" to them (NRSV), "insisted on loving" them (NLT), "refusing to give them up" (TM). He chose them over God's commandment. As he grew older, they controlled Solomon and diverted him to idolatry (1 Ki.11:1-8). As a consequence of Solomon's folly his descendants lost the kingdom that was otherwise guaranteed to them (vv.-11).
Children of Idolatry
Solomon's son Rehoboam succeeded him. He was the son of an idolatress (14:21) and whereas it would appear that Solomon practised idolatry privately in his own life, it is not surprising that this son of an idolatress led his people into idolatry ( vv.22-24). What one generation hesitantly flirts with, the next generation will brazenly embrace and flaunt and take further.
A prophet rebuked Rehoboam and indicated that his kingdom was under attack from Egypt because of his unfaithfulness to God. (Note that Egypt was the very first kingdom that Solomon had allied himself to but that treaty was not honoured). Rehoboam and his people repented and were rescued from immediate destruction, though they did suffer a loss of independence (2 Chron.12:5-12). In the end, when the summary of his rule was recorded the historian said, "But the final verdict on Rehoboam was that he was a bad king—God was not important to him; his heart neither cared for nor sought after God" ( v.14, TM).
Abijah succeeded Rehoboam to the throne. His mother was a Jewess (1 Ki.15:2), but he chose to follow his father in doing everything wrong: he practised idolatry ( v.3), though he did use the fact that he was a descendant of David and the fact that the temple was in Judah, to claim a moral right to fight to rule all Israel (2 Chron.13:4-12).Solomon's compromise with idolatry affected generations to come.
Good Man, Bad Marriage
Fast forward to a few generations later, to King Jehoshaphat. As a young man he was faithful to God. Not only was he not an idol-worshipper, but he was an iconoclast (17:3-6). He also instituted a programme to teach his people the tenets of the faith (vv.7-9). Neighbouring nations, fearing the Lord who blessed Jehoshaphat, wouldn't war with him and he became more and more powerful ( vv.10-12).When he became rich and powerful he sought an alliance with wicked King Ahab through marriage (18:1). Ahab's wife was the notorious Jezebel. During their regime Israel became a stronghold of Baal-worshippers and Jezebel was more virulent than Ahab, willing even to kill just to grab some property (1 Ki.16:30-33; 21:5-16).
As Ahab's ally, Jehoshaphat was bound to go to Ahab's aid when the latter was attacked by an enemy (2 Chron.18 :2-3). When Jehoshaphat went to his aid, Ahab repaid his faithfulness by tricking him and putting Jehoshaphat's life at risk in order to save his own ( vv.29-32: when those who follow a Christian ethic have tried to partner with those who follow another ethic, almost invariably the Christian has found himself/herself disadvantaged and cheated). After he returned from that war, a prophet confronted him for having gone to the aid of a wicked man (19:2-3). To his credit, unlike other kings, Jehoshaphat didn't try to abuse or kill the messenger of God for confronting him with the truth.Once again, Jehoshaphat went on a campaign to get his people to keep faith with the Lord (vv.4-11).
After that there is the terrific story of how God Himself fought Jehoshaphat's battle when he faced war with a whole army of enemy races. This time he prepared for war, not by consulting with allies or confiding in them and plotting strategies. Instead, he announced a fast for his people, turned to God and acknowledged His great power and quite simply asked for God's help. And God sent a prophet to reassure Jehoshaphat and his people that God was with them: "This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don't be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God's...you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out there tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!" As his army marched out, Jehoshaphat remembered the word of the Lord and said to his people, "Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed." Then Jehoshaphat persuaded his people that instead of marching out with an army, he would lead a choir in singing,
Give thanks to the Lord;
His faithful love endures forever!
Enemy nations heard about the singing army and of God having fought for Judah. As a result the nation enjoyed peace from God (20:1-30, NLT).Sadly, Jehoshaphat's story doesn't end on that note. We read that later on he allied himself with wicked king Ahaziah of Israel. The Lord sent a prophet to warn that the alliance would fail and their venture of ship-building would end in disaster and it did ( vv.35-37). He did make ships a second time but refused Ahaziah's partnership (1 Ki.22:48-49).
Children of Bad Marriages
Good King Jehoshaphat (he was good, on the whole, even though he vacillated so much between keeping to the Lord's ways and aligning himself with those who were powerful in the world) left his kingdom to his son Jehoram. While Jehoshaphat had served the Lord, Jehoram didn't. But he did follow his father's example and married into Ahab's family by marrying a daughter of Ahab. Instead of being faithful to the Lord like his father, he imitated Israel's kings in idolatry (2 Chron.21:4-7,12-15).
Jehoram was succeeded by Ahaziah, whose mother was Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab whom Jehoram had married (22:2). Ahaziah "followed the evil example of King Ahab's family, for his mother encouraged him in doing wrong. He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, just as Ahab had done. After the death of his father, members of Ahab's family became his advisers, and they led him to ruin" (22:3-4, NLT).
With One Voice
Old and New Testaments speak with one voice that those who love the Lord must keep themselves from marrying those who don't love the Lord. The Bible consistently advocates that God's people need to keep themselves untainted or uncontaminated.
Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil ? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God's temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God (2 Cor.6:14-16, NLT).The history of the kings of Judah is an emphatic account of the danger of uniting with those who serve other gods.
Let it be noted: Christians flirt with spiritual danger and destruction when they marry those who do not share their faith in the Lord Jesus.
Sometimes people have argued that there's nothing wrong, and that they can bring their non-Christian partners to faith in Christ. There is no guarantee of that. Scripture says so: "How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?" (1 Cor.7:16,NIV).
At one of our church services when there was an opportunity for members to have a say, an older person got up and said, "Pastor Kuru has preached against marriages of Christians and non-Christians, but I want to say from my experience that it can be good." I am glad that before I could answer that, Pastor Paras Tayade got up and said, "What Pastor Kuru said is what the Bible says about this matter. That your experience has been different is the sheer grace of God. There is no promise in the Bible that that will always happen. I want to tell the young people here that you risk your spiritual life when you go down the road that ends in a marriage where Christ is not Lord."
The question is not how many people vote in favour of a preacher's message or against it. Nor is it a question of what the preacher's standing is, whether he is world figure or a small time pastor. First and last, the question is always, "What does God say/What does the Bible say?"God has told us that we stand in danger of deserting Him, of growing distant, when we put ourselves in a relationship in which we are unable to give Him the place of Lord. Within the family or home where we enjoy the most intimacy, if we have to hide our relationship with the Lord Jesus, where is the freedom to be ourselves? Home is where we should be able to hold what we consider dear.
The light of Jesus shining in our lives today will flicker and diminish, when the conduits or channels are not clean and the power of Jesus is blocked from flowing freely. Let your light shine. Let Jesus be seen in your life.
Kuruvilla Chandy
Most of India gets electricity from overhead cables that are exposed to the atmosphere. There were times when the linemen who came to repair faults or breakdowns, would discover that the problem was caused due to the points of the wires from our home to the main supply line being encrusted with some gunk. There was electric power flowing in the main line but it could not get past the block. Water cannot flow freely where channels are clogged. The floods that wreaked havoc in Bombay a couple of years ago were caused by the plastic waste and other garbage clogging the drains and preventing the rain water from flowing out to sea. Similarly, if the lines of communication between us and God are somehow cluttered with what offends God's holiness, we disrupt the flow of spiritual power into our lives. Solomon is an example of how the tainted (defiled) connections he had in his life disconnected him from the source of all the blessings of his life.
Solomon's Folly
Solomon succeeded David as king of all Israel. When he began his reign, he secured his kingdom by ridding himself of all his rivals (1 Ki.2:22-46). He then married an Egyptian princess for political advantage (3:1), though he loved the Lord and lived by the godly rules of his father David (v.3). Early in his reign he offered a sacrifice at the most important shrine of the time. There he had a dream of God telling him to ask for anything. Though it was a dream, it had reality—the first ever case of virtual reality. Solomon responded by acknowledging God's faithfulness and his own youthfulness, inexperience and inadequacy for the very big task of ruling Israel, and asked God to give him discernment or the wisdom to distinguish between right and wrong. God was so pleased with this that He told Solomon that because he had asked for wisdom, God would not only give Solomon wisdom, but give him honour and riches too ( vv.4-15). In Sunday School, children are always taught of how he passed wise judgement in the case of two mothers disputing over one baby (vv.16-28). What a great beginning! If you were reading the story for the first time, you would think David's son will be a greater and better king than David.
As you continue reading Solomon's story, the first hint that all's not well comes in the historian remarking that Solomon spent seven years to build God's temple, but thirteen years to build his own palace (6:38-7:1). Something definitely wrong there! At least, he didn't have a sense of proportion. Still, he manifested some faithfulness and orchestrated a grand dedication of the temple of God. The Lord was delighted by this extravagant display of affection that, as in the days of the founding prophet Moses, God's glory came down in a cloud that filled the temple with dazzling light making it impossible for the priests to continue their work (8:10-11). On that day Solomon acknowledged before the people that he was king because God had been wonderfully faithful ( vv.15-21). He prayed that God would indeed turn a listening ear to His people when they would gather at the temple to pray for mercy and deliverance (vv.22-61). God responded by appearing to Solomon once again and promised His favour ( vv.3-5) but also threatened disfavour if Solomon or his descendants stopped following God's law (vv.6-9).
The next big event that all Sunday School children learn about is the visit of the Queen of Sheba. The queen is impressed with his wisdom and his great wealth and says that the splendour of his kingdom surpasses all the reports that she had heard (10:1-9).
But I think no Sunday School has ever taught kids about Solomon's great folly. While he had married the daughter of Pharaoh for diplomatic reasons, later in life he began to "collect" foreign women; he had a total of one thousand women in his harem. He married them despite the Lord's clear commandment that His people should not marry those who worship other gods ( Ex.3:15-16). The sacred historian says that Solomon "loved" these women—in fact, he "clung" to them (NRSV), "insisted on loving" them (NLT), "refusing to give them up" (TM). He chose them over God's commandment. As he grew older, they controlled Solomon and diverted him to idolatry (1 Ki.11:1-8). As a consequence of Solomon's folly his descendants lost the kingdom that was otherwise guaranteed to them (vv.-11).
Children of Idolatry
Solomon's son Rehoboam succeeded him. He was the son of an idolatress (14:21) and whereas it would appear that Solomon practised idolatry privately in his own life, it is not surprising that this son of an idolatress led his people into idolatry ( vv.22-24). What one generation hesitantly flirts with, the next generation will brazenly embrace and flaunt and take further.
A prophet rebuked Rehoboam and indicated that his kingdom was under attack from Egypt because of his unfaithfulness to God. (Note that Egypt was the very first kingdom that Solomon had allied himself to but that treaty was not honoured). Rehoboam and his people repented and were rescued from immediate destruction, though they did suffer a loss of independence (2 Chron.12:5-12). In the end, when the summary of his rule was recorded the historian said, "But the final verdict on Rehoboam was that he was a bad king—God was not important to him; his heart neither cared for nor sought after God" ( v.14, TM).
Abijah succeeded Rehoboam to the throne. His mother was a Jewess (1 Ki.15:2), but he chose to follow his father in doing everything wrong: he practised idolatry ( v.3), though he did use the fact that he was a descendant of David and the fact that the temple was in Judah, to claim a moral right to fight to rule all Israel (2 Chron.13:4-12).Solomon's compromise with idolatry affected generations to come.
Good Man, Bad Marriage
Fast forward to a few generations later, to King Jehoshaphat. As a young man he was faithful to God. Not only was he not an idol-worshipper, but he was an iconoclast (17:3-6). He also instituted a programme to teach his people the tenets of the faith (vv.7-9). Neighbouring nations, fearing the Lord who blessed Jehoshaphat, wouldn't war with him and he became more and more powerful ( vv.10-12).When he became rich and powerful he sought an alliance with wicked King Ahab through marriage (18:1). Ahab's wife was the notorious Jezebel. During their regime Israel became a stronghold of Baal-worshippers and Jezebel was more virulent than Ahab, willing even to kill just to grab some property (1 Ki.16:30-33; 21:5-16).
As Ahab's ally, Jehoshaphat was bound to go to Ahab's aid when the latter was attacked by an enemy (2 Chron.18 :2-3). When Jehoshaphat went to his aid, Ahab repaid his faithfulness by tricking him and putting Jehoshaphat's life at risk in order to save his own ( vv.29-32: when those who follow a Christian ethic have tried to partner with those who follow another ethic, almost invariably the Christian has found himself/herself disadvantaged and cheated). After he returned from that war, a prophet confronted him for having gone to the aid of a wicked man (19:2-3). To his credit, unlike other kings, Jehoshaphat didn't try to abuse or kill the messenger of God for confronting him with the truth.Once again, Jehoshaphat went on a campaign to get his people to keep faith with the Lord (vv.4-11).
After that there is the terrific story of how God Himself fought Jehoshaphat's battle when he faced war with a whole army of enemy races. This time he prepared for war, not by consulting with allies or confiding in them and plotting strategies. Instead, he announced a fast for his people, turned to God and acknowledged His great power and quite simply asked for God's help. And God sent a prophet to reassure Jehoshaphat and his people that God was with them: "This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don't be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God's...you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out there tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!" As his army marched out, Jehoshaphat remembered the word of the Lord and said to his people, "Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed." Then Jehoshaphat persuaded his people that instead of marching out with an army, he would lead a choir in singing,
Give thanks to the Lord;
His faithful love endures forever!
Enemy nations heard about the singing army and of God having fought for Judah. As a result the nation enjoyed peace from God (20:1-30, NLT).Sadly, Jehoshaphat's story doesn't end on that note. We read that later on he allied himself with wicked king Ahaziah of Israel. The Lord sent a prophet to warn that the alliance would fail and their venture of ship-building would end in disaster and it did ( vv.35-37). He did make ships a second time but refused Ahaziah's partnership (1 Ki.22:48-49).
Children of Bad Marriages
Good King Jehoshaphat (he was good, on the whole, even though he vacillated so much between keeping to the Lord's ways and aligning himself with those who were powerful in the world) left his kingdom to his son Jehoram. While Jehoshaphat had served the Lord, Jehoram didn't. But he did follow his father's example and married into Ahab's family by marrying a daughter of Ahab. Instead of being faithful to the Lord like his father, he imitated Israel's kings in idolatry (2 Chron.21:4-7,12-15).
Jehoram was succeeded by Ahaziah, whose mother was Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab whom Jehoram had married (22:2). Ahaziah "followed the evil example of King Ahab's family, for his mother encouraged him in doing wrong. He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, just as Ahab had done. After the death of his father, members of Ahab's family became his advisers, and they led him to ruin" (22:3-4, NLT).
With One Voice
Old and New Testaments speak with one voice that those who love the Lord must keep themselves from marrying those who don't love the Lord. The Bible consistently advocates that God's people need to keep themselves untainted or uncontaminated.
Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil ? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God's temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God (2 Cor.6:14-16, NLT).The history of the kings of Judah is an emphatic account of the danger of uniting with those who serve other gods.
Let it be noted: Christians flirt with spiritual danger and destruction when they marry those who do not share their faith in the Lord Jesus.
Sometimes people have argued that there's nothing wrong, and that they can bring their non-Christian partners to faith in Christ. There is no guarantee of that. Scripture says so: "How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?" (1 Cor.7:16,NIV).
At one of our church services when there was an opportunity for members to have a say, an older person got up and said, "Pastor Kuru has preached against marriages of Christians and non-Christians, but I want to say from my experience that it can be good." I am glad that before I could answer that, Pastor Paras Tayade got up and said, "What Pastor Kuru said is what the Bible says about this matter. That your experience has been different is the sheer grace of God. There is no promise in the Bible that that will always happen. I want to tell the young people here that you risk your spiritual life when you go down the road that ends in a marriage where Christ is not Lord."
The question is not how many people vote in favour of a preacher's message or against it. Nor is it a question of what the preacher's standing is, whether he is world figure or a small time pastor. First and last, the question is always, "What does God say/What does the Bible say?"God has told us that we stand in danger of deserting Him, of growing distant, when we put ourselves in a relationship in which we are unable to give Him the place of Lord. Within the family or home where we enjoy the most intimacy, if we have to hide our relationship with the Lord Jesus, where is the freedom to be ourselves? Home is where we should be able to hold what we consider dear.
The light of Jesus shining in our lives today will flicker and diminish, when the conduits or channels are not clean and the power of Jesus is blocked from flowing freely. Let your light shine. Let Jesus be seen in your life.
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