What Difference Does It Make?

Several years ago, when we were all much younger, I was taking my older son, KC to his first cello lesson with a new teacher. I think he was in the third or fourth grade. That puts my younger son just a year behind him in second or third grade. If this hadn’t been the first lesson with this teacher, I would have just dropped him at the curb and waited outside, but because it was his first lesson, I walked him up to the door. I left Justin in the car. It was a typical day in San Antonio, hot and humid, so I left the engine running and the air on, and locked the car doors. (I know, I’m a terrible mother.)

Well, we got to the door and the teacher, by whom I was totally intimidated because he was the first chair cello in the San Antonio Symphony, asked me to step in so that I could give him some contact information and such. I turned and gave Justin the “stay-put” signal and stepped inside.

As this initial “interview” grew longer and longer, I was getting more and more uncomfortable about having left Justin in the car. And then, the doorbell rang. It was Justin who had become worried about me when I didn’t come right back out. I quickly apologized, finished giving the teacher the information and hurried outside.

I asked Justin for the keys and he indicated that they were still in the car. With sinking heart, I rushed to the car to find not only the keys still in the ignition, but the car still running…and all the doors carefully locked, even the back hatch that had saved us from being locked out on a couple of occasions before, because it had to be locked separately. Justin was very proud of himself because he had especially climbed over the backseat to make sure it was locked before he got out of the car.

So, at one end of the sidewalk, my car, keys in ignition, car running, air conditioner on high, and my purse/cell phone safely locked inside. At the other end of the sidewalk, the door to the cello teacher’s house with KC and his brand new teacher having their first hour lesson. In between, me and my seven or eight year old son, trying to figure out how much gasoline was in the tank and which was less scary, breaking a car window or ringing that scary man’s doorbell. (All these years later, I really don’t remember why I was so intimidated by that guy, but I was. As I recall, KC only had like two more lessons with him)

Anyway, there are so many ways a parent could handle a situation like that. What would you have done?

In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve some instructions and left them on their own for a little while. They didn’t follow those directions, so when God came back, there was a problem. What was God going to do? Adam and Eve knew they were in trouble and hid.

God could have essentially hit “control-alt-delete” and completely rebooted the whole world. He could have zapped the serpent, Eve, Adam or any combination of those three. God could have come storming into the Garden, raging and angry, telling them how they’d messed everything up. He could have shrugged and told everybody it was no big deal, accidents happen. Or, He could have done what He did -- take the consequences of their disobedience on Himself.

What difference would it have made to the Universe if God had just wiped out Adam, Eve and the serpent and started over? It seems like that would have been the least troublesome way to clean up the mess that they had made of God’s Creation.

If, as many folks believe, Creation took place over an extended length of time through the process of stronger species surviving while weaker ones died off, then it would have made perfect sense for God to just let things be and let the process continue. Humans really aren’t the strongest species.

A raging, terrifying God would certainly have scared Adam and Eve straight, don’t you think? Lots of people portray God that way anyway – ready to punish us whenever we step out of line.

So of all the ways that God could have handled the Fall, why did He choose the one He did? Why would He come looking for Adam and Eve when He already knew where they were? Why would He have asked them questions to which He already knew the answers? Why would He give us the freedom to reject everything He’s done for us?

“The death of Christ upon the cross made sure the destruction of him who has the power of death, who was the originator of sin. When Satan is destroyed, there will be none to tempt to evil; the atonement will never need to be repeated; and there will be no danger of another rebellion in the universe of God. That which alone can effectually restrain from sin in this world of darkness, will prevent sin in heaven. The significance of the death of Christ will be seen by saints and angels. Fallen men could not have a home in the paradise of God without the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Shall we not then exalt the cross of Christ? The angels ascribe honor and glory to Christ, for even they are not secure except by looking to the sufferings of the Son of God. …  Angelic perfection failed in heaven. Human perfection failed in Eden, the paradise of bliss. All who wish for security in earth or heaven must look to the Lamb of God. The plan of salvation, making manifest the justice and love of God, provides an eternal safeguard against defection in unfallen worlds, as well as among those who shall be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Our only hope is perfect trust in the blood of Him who can save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. The death of Christ on the cross of Calvary is our only hope in this world, and it will be our theme in the world to come. … The gift of God in his beloved Son was the expression of an incomprehensible love. It was the utmost that God could do to preserve the honor of his law, and still save the transgressor.  … There are many who will be lost, because they depend on legal religion, or mere repentance for sin. But repentance for sin alone cannot work the salvation of any soul. Man cannot be saved by his own works. Without Christ it is impossible for him to render perfect obedience to the law of God; and heaven can never be gained by an imperfect obedience; for this would place all heaven in jeopardy, and make possible a second rebellion. (E.G. White, Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889)

Our perfect God picked the perfect response to the first sin and it makes all the difference. He picked the only sure way to keep sin from happening ever again and guarantee us the opportunity to spend eternity with Him.

Did I pick the perfect response to Justin locking my keys inside my running car? Probably not, I remember it took a couple of hours for the guy to come unlock the car and cost more than I thought a minute and a half of work was worth. I remember the inside of the car was practically frosty by the time we got back in. And, it’s made a great story to tell and laugh about.

Disobedience makes a mess of God’s plans, but He has a perfect plan for cleaning it up. God is good.c

A Thin Green Line

Thoughts on the Sabbath School lesson for 2.25.12

I am a Christian who believes that God created everything in six literal days and then literally rested on the seventh day. Having said that, I’m not sure that I’ve spent enough time thinking about how that should shape my interactions with the things that God created in, say, the first five days of Creation week.

That doesn’t mean that I’m in favor of strip-mining or mowing down the rain forest or anything like that, it’s just that I’ve never really thought about EVERYTHING coming from God’s own hand. 

Think about it for a minute.  God made it and then asked Adam and Eve to take care of it.  What was there to take care of?  Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned yet, so what was there to tend? 

Then there are verses like this one: 

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” Genesis 1:26-28 NKJV

People read the words “have dominion over” and “subdue it” and decide that we have the right to do absolutely anything at all to the planet and not worry about what the consequences might be.  I’m pretty sure though, that showing Creation who’s boss, is not what the Creator had in mind..

On a very small scale, it might be like when my aunt and uncle would go on their medical missionary trips every year.  They would ask me to “take care of things” while they were gone.  That meant water the indoor plants, feed the cat, and generally keep an eye on things.

What if, while they were gone, I decided that they didn’t need all those plants and pulled up half of them or that they needed a dog instead of a cat?  My aunt and uncle would not be pleased with my stewardship of their home, would they?

Does being stewards of Creation mean that we should value it above other humans or even God, Himself?  It seems kind of odd that, in general, the environmentalist movement is primarily made up of individuals who believe that life is governed by belief in the phrase, “survival of the fittest.”  While those of us who believe a loving Creator made the earth and everything in it for us, His children, really don’t get too worked up over saving the snail darter or whatever.

Shouldn’t we be the leading advocates for Creation and caring for the planet?  Is there a way to honor God by taking good of everything He made without putting His creation ahead of Him?

“The message reverberates through culture beckons us to ‘go green’ because we will look better and feel better and fit in …. [But as followers of Christ] we have deeper reasons to go green. We serve the Creator of the planet …. He created the earth and took the time to tell us his plan for it. The God of the universe has given us the great task of caring for our planet …. We have an operating manual for our planet right in front of us in the Bible, and we must allow that manual to change our thinking and behavior.” [1]Do we consider ourselves part of God’s plan for taking care of His Creation? Or are we here to get all we can out of it?  Did you know that God gave instructions that would have helped avoid the dustbowl of the early twentieth century?  It’s called (Are you ready for this?) the “Law of the Sabbaths.”

“Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.” Exodus 23:10-11

Verse 12 goes on to remind folks to let their work animals rest on the weekly Sabbaths as well.  Interesting, the Sabbath is made for man, and man is then supposed to make sure that that little piece of creation stays healthy by sharing Sabbath rest with his animals and his land.

Imagine what might happen if one day out of seven, all unnecessary worked stopped.  What effect would that have on energy consumption and air pollution? Do you think it would be significant?  I don’t know, maybe?  I’m pretty sure it won’t happen, though.  Why? The same reason it quit happening in the first place.  Humans are selfish.

“Selfishness consists in dethroning reason from the seat of government and enthroning blind desire in opposition to it. Selfishness is always and by necessity unreasonable. It is a denial of that divine attribute that allies human beings to God and makes us capable of virtue. Selfishness dethrones reason and sinks human beings to the level of a brute. ...“It is a contempt for the voice of God within in him, and a deliberate trampling down of the sovereignty of his own intelligence. Shame on selfishness! It dethrones human reason, would dethrone the Divine mind and would place blind lust upon the throne of the universe.”[2]

Selfishness causes us to abuse the gifts God has given us, even the planet we live on.  Our selfishness has brought us to a place where we value ourselves, our wants and desires about anyone or anything else. We value our planet only for what we can get out of it. We don’t even value human life if it stands between us and something we want.  Our greed even causes us to injure our own bodies as we consume too much of the wrong things just because we want them, not because we need them.

As Christians we are in the unique position of protecting God’s Creation.  We know its true importance.  We aren’t caring for one random rock floating in random galaxy formed when a random star exploded.  We are stewards of an extravagant gift made especially for us by our God who loves us.  Every atom, every molecule was formed by His own hand and still bear His finger prints.

“… it was sin which marred God’s perfect work; …thorns and thistles, sorrow and pain and death, are all the result of disobedience to God. … see how the earth, though marred with the curse of sin, still reveals God’s goodness. The green fields, the lofty trees, the glad sunshine, the clouds, the dew, the solemn stillness of the night, the glory of the starry heavens, and the moon in its beauty all bear witness of the Creator. Not a drop of rain falls, not a ray of light is shed on our unthankful world, but it testifies to the forbearance and love of God.”[3]

Many of us would like to think that we don’t have to worry about the world around us because Jesus is coming soon.  But even before sin, Adam and Eve were to tend the Garden, what makes us think that we are any less responsible now?

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[1] Jonathon Merritt, Green Like God (FaithWords, 2010)

[2] Charles G. Finney in Principles of Love. Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no. 4.

[3] Ellen G. White, Testimonies of the Church, Volume 6, p 358

Holy Ground

Thoughts on the Sabbath School lesson for 2.18.12

How many hours of sleep do you get on an average night?  Do you get the full eight, or do you feel lucky to get five?  How many hours a week do you work (for pay)? How many more do you work at home? Do you ever feel really rested? I heard someone remembering being young and hating being told to go to bed … and wishing that someone would order him to bed now that he’s grown. 

Do you think our tiredness is really about lack of sleep, though? Yes, I know, people who live in “First World” countries tend to be sleep deprived, but is that really the issue? Maybe partly, but I believe we’re talking more about rest than about actual sleep.

Do you know that there’s a store in the Mall of America where you can buy a nap? (Well, there was one in 2005, anyway.  Don’t know if it’s still there.) Really, in this store, for a mere 70 cents a minute, patrons can, well nap, obviously, but they can also choose to 

“Escape the pressures of the real world into the pleasures of an ideal one.… listen to music, put their feet up, watch the water trickling in the beautiful stone waterfall, … and just take an enjoyable escape from the fast-paced lifestyle."[1]

I’m not sure that if I were paying 70 cents a minute, I could get real relaxed, but maybe that’s just me.  Anyway, I’m thinking just getting more rest is really the solution either.  I believe that our Creator knew what our minds and bodies needed and He provided for those needs when He created Adam and Eve.

Think about this for a second:  Adam and Eve were less than 24 hours old when God made the first Sabbath. 

“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3 NKJV

There was no stress in their lives, no sin, no weakness, absolutely no physical need for rest. God certainly didn’t need any rest. Could it be that even without sin, humans weren’t complete without time spent building a relationship with their Creator? Even in a perfect world where Adam and Eve could speak to God face to face anytime, they needed a day that was “set apart?”  I think so.

I believe that everything God does is for our good, and Sabbath is no different. God didn’t make any other day holy; He didn’t even name any of the other days. It’s interesting to me that so many people can blithely forget something that God, Himself told us to remember.

“‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. … For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.’” Exodus 20:8-11 NKJV

When God blessed and made holy the Sabbath, He made it different from the other days.  I believe that if we are obedient, God will fill the Sabbath hours with an extra measure of His presence.  The Ark of the Covenant held the Mercy Seat that held the Shekinah Glory, the presence of the Lord.  It was set apart in the Most Holy Place of the earthly sanctuary.  The Burning Bush is another example of God making something holy because of His presence.  Remember what God said to Moses? 

“So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’“And he said, ‘Here I am.’“Then He said, ‘Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’”  Exodus 3:4-5

I believe that the Sabbath is Holy Ground.  And just like Moses sensed the holiness of the area around the burning bush, and the Israelites understood the sanctity of the earthly sanctuary, we should feel the specialness of the Sabbath hours.

One author describes how special the Sabbath felt to him when he was a child:  

“When my mother lit the Sabbath candles, I would feel, almost physically, the Sabbath coming in, being welcomed, descending like a soft mantle over the earth. I imagined, too, that this occurred all over the universe—the Sabbath descending on far-off star systems and galaxies, enfolding them all in the peace of God.”[2]

Isn’t that a beautiful way to think of the Sabbath hours?

“But,” you say, “Saturday doesn’t feel any different than any other day of the week to me.”  Well, maybe that’s because we’ve forgotten what it feels like to stand on Holy Ground.

“It [the Sabbath] belongs to Christ.... Since He made all things, He made the Sabbath. By Him it was set apart as a memorial of the work of creation. It points to Him as both the Creator and the Sanctifier. It declares that He who created all things in heaven and in earth, and by whom all things hold together, is the head of the church, and that by His power we are reconciled to God. For, speaking of Israel, He said, ‘I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them’—make them holy. Then the Sabbath is a sign of Christ’s power to make us holy. And it is given to all whom Christ makes holy. As a sign of His sanctifying power, the Sabbath is given to all who through Christ become a part of the Israel of God....           And every object in nature repeats His invitation, “‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ Matthew 11:28.”[3]

“All heaven is keeping the Sabbath, … On this day every energy of the soul should be awake, for are we not to meet with God and with Christ our Saviour? We may behold Him by faith. He is longing to refresh and bless every soul. …“The Sabbath is God’s time. He sanctified and hallowed the seventh day. He set it apart for man to keep as a day of worship.“We need to cherish and cultivate a spirit of true worship, a spirit of devotion upon the Lord’s holy, sanctified day. We should assemble together believing that we shall receive comfort and hope, light and peace from Jesus Christ.”[4]

Let’s do an experiment. Friday, as the sun goes down, whether we’ve been observing the Seventh Day Sabbath your whole life, have never observed it before or somewhere in between, let’s bow our heads and ask God to give us a sample of what He created Sabbath to be.  Then, let’s take our everyday complacent shoes off of our spiritual feet and experience true Sabbath Rest.

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[1] www.powernapsleepcenters.com

[2] Oliver Sacks, "Brilliant Light," New Yorker (12-20-99), p. 60

[3] E.G. White, The Faith I Live By, p. 33

[4] Ibid. p. 35

Who Are You? Hoo Hoo – Hoo Hoo

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for  7.9.11

Pretty much from the moment Adam and Eve listened to the serpent, God has had to demonstrate who He is.  Every now and then we get it, but it’s like the Camelot thing – “one brief shining moment” – and then, POOF! it’s gone.

I mean, Adam and Eve had it for a little while, and then Eve got distracted and started listening to the serpent. Enoch got it, and managed to hang on.  Noah and his family seemed to understand who God was, right up until the time they got off the ark.  Things went haywire again.

The book of Genesis tells one story after another about the trouble people had hanging on to any understanding of who God is.  By the time Moses meets God at the burning bush, most folks really didn’t have any idea who God was.  Thankfully, Moses understood, so God took him back to start the arduous process of re-introducing Him to the Children of Israel.

 

The Children of Israel proved to be very difficult to teach (not unlike us), but God didn’t quit trying.  He used miracles, manna, water from rocks, pheasants, and the Ten Commandments.

Yes, you read that right.  I believe the Ten Commandments are God’s self-portrait, maybe even His autobiography.  I believe that they say more about Him than they do about us.

Now, I know lots of folks are going to disagree with me.  Most people who think of the Ten Commandments at all, think of them as a list of restrictions that God put out so He could catch people breaking the rules and then punish them.  Or, probably more accurately, rules that some people threw together to control other people. 

In fact, Haddon Robinson implies that if there were no rules, people wouldn’t think to break them. 

“The law can prompt us to sin. I am told that several years ago a high-rise hotel was built in Galveston, Texas, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, they sank pilings into the gulf and built the structure out over the water. When the hotel was about to have its grand opening, someone thought, What if people decide to fish out the hotel windows? So they placed signs in the hotel rooms, "No fishing out the hotel windows." Many people ignored the signs, however, and it created a difficult problem. Lines got snarled. People in the dining room saw fish flapping against the picture windows. The manager of the hotel solved it all by taking down those little signs. No one checks into a hotel room thinking about fishing out of the windows. The law, although well-intentioned, created the problem.”[1]

Is Robinson really saying that the Ten Commandments are what make us sin?  That’s what it seems like to me, but I could be wrong.  I’d love to know what you think.

On the other hand, there’s Randy Cohen who’s comments seem to imply that people only need a suggestion of the appropriate behavior.

“In New York at 33rd and Broadway, it's a big transportation hub. Penn Station's right there. A lot of commuter trains stop there, a major subway stop. Thousands and thousands of people pouring out…and what everybody wants more than anything else is: They want a taxi.
“And the most appalling episodes of violence I've seen since I've been here—and I've been in New York for 30 years—were committed there. People did just terrible things.
“Then about 10 years ago, someone—I guess, the Taxi and Limousine Commission—they did something very simple. They painted a yellow strip down the sidewalk and they stenciled two words on the sidewalk: Cab Line. It utterly transformed behavior there. It's the most astonishing thing. Nearly everyone, almost all the time, simply waits in line. It's magnificent. It's never enforced—there are no "line" police there. But we changed the physical conditions and made it possible for people to behave, invited them to behave, and they do![2]

The thing is, that however we feel about them as rules, I believe that the Ten Commandments are the clearest representation that the people who lived between Eden and Jesus had of just who God is. 

“You shall have no other gods before me.”  Exodus 20:3 God is loyal to His people and asks for theirs in return.  “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:20

“You shall not make for yourself an image…” Exodus 20:4  God knows how fruitless it is for us to put our faith in anything other than the God who created us.  He wants to spare us the heartbreak that would inevitable come from worshiping the wrong thing.

“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God…”  Exodus 20:7 God respects and values every human being who has ever or will ever live, regardless of gender, wealth or race.  He wants to teach us how to extend that respect to each other by learning to respect Him.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”  Exodus 20:8 God has put time with us on His calendar.  He knows He can spend time together anytime, but He wants to make sure we have that fenced off, uninterrupted time together so we don’t grow apart.

“Honor your father and your mother,…”  Exodus 20:12 God wanted us to experience the relationship that He has with Jesus and the Holy Spirit – individuals who are unified by their love for one another.

 “You shall not murder.  You shall not commit adultery.  You shall not steal.  You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”  Exodus 20:13-16 God wants everyone to know that each of us is valuable to Him.  When we injure each other, whether it’s physically or emotionally, He experiences that pain too.  His heart is broken when our hearts are broken.

“You shall not covet…”  Exodus 20:17 God longs to give us the desires of our hearts, but if we allow ourselves to want wrong things, He can’t give them to us.  When our hearts are aligned with His, we will want only what He can give us.

The Ten Commandments can’t just be rules to us or we’ll begin to worship the rules and not the Ruler of the Universe.  Rules for the sake of having rules are about power and control.  The Ten Commandments are about love and protection.  If you think about it, the Ten Commandments are the rules of Heaven.  If they feel like bondage now, how will they feel for eternity? 

Satan works really hard to make sure that people believe that the Ten Commandments are God’s way of controlling the population of Heaven; that they’re the barbed wire around eternity.  He wants us to feel pricked and chafed by them.  But that’s not what God intended.  He wants us all there.  “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 question is, do you want to be with Jesus for eternity?  I do. 

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[1] Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching (Baker Academic, 2001), p. 100

[2] From an interview with Randy Cohen, "Jesus Has a Lot of Explaining to Do!" Homiletics (September/October 2004) p. 67

Your Spiritual Footprint

Commentary on Sabbath School lesson for 4.9.11

“Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to one state or the other.”[1]

Ok, I want to make sure you really read C.S. Lewis’ quote, so go back and read it real quick.  No, really.  It’s important; I’ll wait right here…

Done?  Good.  So, isn’t that just a little bit terrifying?  “Every time you make a choice…”?  Now, I don’t think Lewis means when you’re deciding which socks to wear or what to have for supper.  But we do make a whole lot of decisions every day that seem innocuous but turn out to have huge implications.  Look at Eve – her decision to take a stroll through the garden without Adam probably didn’t seem all that important to begin with, but look how that turned out.

Then there’s Lucifer.  The first time he realized that he was different from Jesus; could he have made a less damaging decision?  What if he had decided it was ok that Jesus got all the glory because he (Lucifer) was just a created being?  What if he’d decided that being sparkly didn’t make him equal to Jesus?  That’s pretty hard to imagine, isn’t it?

If you’ve ever played in a band or an orchestra, you remember that, when the group is playing a piece of music, all the parts are important.  It doesn’t matter how small or quiet the part is, it has to be played when and how the score says.  Just because the trumpets play the loudest doesn’t mean that their part is any more important than any other part.  It’s just the most noticeable. 

“German orchestra violinists are suing for a pay raise, claiming they play many more notes per concert than their colleagues do. The 16 violinists point to their less-busy colleagues who play flute, oboe, or trombone.”[2]

What if those violinists decided that they should get paid more than the conductor and start a campaign to discredit the conductor?  That would be a terrible mess!  And it would ultimately destroy that orchestra, just like Lucifer’s decisions caused huge repercussions that we experience every day of our lives. 

“Lucifer might have remained in favor with God, beloved and honored by all the angelic host, exercising his noble powers to bless others and to glorify his Maker. But, says the prophet, ‘Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.’ Verse 17. Little by little, Lucifer came to indulge a desire for self-exaltation. ‘Thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.’ ‘Thou hast said, ... I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation ... I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.’ Verse 6; Isaiah 14:13, 14. Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of His creatures, it was Lucifer’s endeavor to win their service and homage to himself. And coveting the honor which the infinite Father had bestowed upon His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power which it was the prerogative of Christ alone to wield.”[3]

What kind of decisions are you and I making that could lead us into that dangerous neighborhood?  Do we sit in church and think about how we could have done a better job on the children’s story than that person?  Or do we make snarky comments about the special music?  Do we criticize the pastor because of his preaching style?  Those are all decisions that will lead us away from a relationship with God.  And our choice to make those comments probably won’t just have negative effects on us and our own walk with Jesus, but it’s very possible that those comments will damage other people’s relationship with Jesus.

“During a 1923 training exercise, a naval destroyer called the USS Delphy led a flotilla of seven vessels down the California coast. The USS Delphy was captained by Lieutenant Commander Donald T. Hunter, an experienced navigator and instructor at the Naval Academy. Without warning, about half way on their training mission, a thick blanket of fog descended on the ships. In the midst of the fog (Hunter claimed it looked like "pea soup"), Hunter couldn't get an accurate evaluation of his location. Contrary to Hunter's calculations, the lead ship was headed right into Devil's Jaw, a scant two miles off the California coast. But that didn't stop Hunter from plowing ahead. That is not surprising, for Hunter was known for his self-confident decisiveness and what others called his ‘magic infallibility’ to guide his ship.
“Traveling at 20 knots, suddenly the USS Delphy smashed broadside into the rocky Point Arguello shoreline. The force of the massive collision of welded steel and jagged rock split the hull of the USS Delphy in half. One by one, the other destroyers followed the Delphy's lead and smashed into the rocks. Twenty-two naval men died. The accident resulted in the loss of all seven ships. It still stands as one of the worst peacetime naval disasters in history.”[4]

Lucifer took a third of the angels.  Critical whispers and gossip have destroyed many churches and the salvation of countless people.

“Global warming seems to be on everyone's mind. … [It] is all very interesting (and controversial, no less), but it really gets one to thinking about a more inconvenient truth—sin.
“For every act of rebellion—every vicious word, every selfish act, every unhealthy state of mind—we further impress our own personal footprint in the wide, growing path of spiritual destruction. By just one misstep, these are the wages: the world will never quite be the same again—and not for the better. …
The good news, of course, is that we can leave another print of an entirely different kind. With every act of redemption … we can further impress the personal footprint of the One who walked before us, ushering in his new kingdom alongside him. By just one sure step, the world will never quite be the same again—and for the better indeed.”[5]

Which creature are your choices leading you toward becoming? What’s your spiritual footprint?

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[1] C. S. Lewis

[2] "Violinists Say Pay Far from Noteworthy," Chicago Tribune (3-24-04)

[3] E.G. White, Darkness before Dawn, page 2

[4] Robert McKenna, The Dictionary of Nautical Literacy (McGraw Hill, 2003), p. 97; Charles Lockwood & Hans Christian Adamson, Tragedy at Honda (Naval Institute Press, 1986), pp. 29-49

[5] Brian Lowery, Associate Editor, PreachingToday.com

Are you hearing voices?

If not, maybe you’re not listening hard enough.  I think most of us “hear” two opposing voices all the time.  One of those voices belongs to the serpent who tricked Eve in the Garden, ruining God’s perfect world, and one is the voice of One who created us, loves us and died for us.  From that perspective, you’d think it would be easy to decide to whom we should listen, wouldn’t you?  But it really, really isn’t.  In fact, it seems like most of the time I find myself listening and acting on the wrong one.  In fact, I feel exactly like Paul describes in Romans 7:14-25:

We know that the law is holy. But I am not. I have been sold to be a slave of sin. I don't understand what I do. I don't do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate to do. I do what I don't want to do. So I agree that the law is good. As it is, I am no longer the one who does these things. It is sin living in me that does them.

I know there is nothing good in my sinful nature. I want to do what is good, but I can't. I don't do the good things I want to do. I keep on doing the evil things I don't want to do. I do what I don't want to do. But I am not really the one who is doing it. It is sin living in me.

Here is the law I find working in me. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. Deep inside me I find joy in God's law. But I see another law working in the parts of my body. It fights against the law of my mind. It makes me a prisoner of the law of sin. That law controls the parts of my body.  What a terrible failure I am! Who will save me from this sin that brings death to my body? I give thanks to God. He will do it through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

So in my mind I am a slave to God's law. But in my sinful nature I am a slave to the law of sin.

So, how do we learn to hear God’s voice over Satan’s?

In Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 52&53, Ellen White says that Adam and Eve weren’t taken by surprise by Satan, that “heavenly messengers” had showed them the war in heaven and had warned them that Satan would be out to get them, but that if they followed God’s rules, they would be safe from him.  “While they were obedient to God, the evil one could not harm them; for, if need be, every angel in heaven would be sent to their help.”  I hadn’t really thought about that before.  Another thing I just learned is that Satan wasn’t allowed to chase them around the Garden to tempt them; he could only stay in that one tree.  Thinking about it now, it seems like it should have been pretty easy to stay out of trouble…they knew what to expect and where to expect it, and they still walked right into trouble.  We haven’t gotten any better over the years have we?  God has told us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  And what do we do?  We douse ourselves thoroughly with raw hamburger; walk right up to him and say, “Howdy!”  God must just shake his head, roll his eyes, and wonder… “What are they thinking?” 

He must cry as well.  Can you imagine the heartbreak He felt as He watched Eve and then Adam take bites of the fruit?  Sure, He knew they would, but when it happened for real, it must have torn His heart out.  I don’t think it gets any easier for Him as we trip, stumble, fall, crash into things and make fools of ourselves as we try to keep ourselves from sinning. 

It should be so easy!  You just tune your ear to God, and you’ll be fine.  Right?

Yeah, sure.  Six thousand years sinning have brought each of us to the point that it’s just easier to hear the lies that Satan tells, than the truth of Jesus.  Satan is free to chase us around and tempt us all the time.   We can be doing really well, walking in Christ, doing what we should be doing, and BANG!  Satan will put a thought in our minds that has nothing to do with anything, but we entertain that thought for just a micro-second…and  he has us.  Satan uses the same tricks with us that he used with Eve.  He takes the gifts that God has given us and uses them against us.  Satan appealed to Eve’s “physical, aesthetic and intellectual nature.”  He approaches each of us in the same way and because we have given ourselves over to those natures and forgotten our heavenly natures we almost can’t help but sin.

There is hope though.  God promised back there in the Garden that He would stand with us against evi,l that He would never leave us to face Satan alone.  Unfortunately, even though He never leaves us, we are always wandering away from Him.  Part of that is another inheritance from Adam and Eve.  After they sinned, they tried to hide from God because they had an “overpowering sense of sin and a dread of the future.”  So, they hid.  But they were also hiding from themselves.  When we sin we separate ourselves from God and from who God created us to be.  We, like Adam and Eve, try to sidestep the responsibility of our sin and place it on someone or something else because we are trying to avoid seeing how sinful we have become.  Amazingly enough, though, God knows, and He loves us anyway.  All He’s waiting for us to do is to turn to Him and ask for His help and forgiveness.  As soon as we do that He’ll wrap us in His arms and tell us He loves us and how much He’s missed us. 

So, whose voice are we listening for?  Jesus voice isn’t loud or pushy and so many things out there scream louder – work, school, radio, TV, newspapers, families, friends, shopping, even relaxing.  It’s really, really hard for me to turn all those things down so that I can hear “the still small voice” that I need to listen to.  I’m so glad that Jesus doesn’t give up when I don’t listen the first, or the thousandth time He tries to teach me.  I’m thankful that He’s patient, more patient than I deserve, when I fall over the same sin time and time again.  I feel blessed that He loves me so much that He gave up His life so that I could live with Him.  I’m looking forward to walking with Him through the heavenly garden like Adam and Eve walked through Eden with Him.  And, can you imagine, Jesus is looking forward to that too.  I want to hear Jesus talking to me face to face someday, but for now, I will listen to His still small voice – the Voice of Truth.

We’re Descended from Monkeys

Do you believe that?  If you do, do you remember when you figured out whether you believed in creation or evolution?  I have to say I was pretty much grown.  Somehow, for my whole childhood, I held parallel truths.  I had been taught evolution at school and creation at church.  I’d seen Walt Disney’s Fantasia and hadn’t noticed anything wrong with it.  Then, one day, it hit me.  They can’t both be true.  As soon as I realized that, though, the rest was easy.  I knew that I believed in Creation.  And sometimes, even though my belief has never wavered, it has landed me in some uncomfortable spots.  When I taught, one of the units in the 4^th grade curriculum was “Dinosaurs”.  Thankfully it was a unit in reading, not in science, but it still produced some challenges.  How does one stand in front of 25 4^th graders and “teach” something, in which you don’t believe.  I was not allowed to present an opposing theory.  And I absolutely refused to use any sentence containing “millions of years” in it without making sure no one thought I believed that. 

I made it through.  I must say I made it a very short unit.  I managed to always preface what I considered the “lies” with disclaimers like, “some people believe,” or “according to this story” and so forth.  Things were going pretty well, I thought, until one day one of my students raised her hand and asked, “But Mrs. Lopez, what do you believe?”  I tried, “This isn’t about what I believe; let’s read on” along with several other deflections, but she would not be sidetracked.  I finally shrugged, took a deep breath and told the class what I believed.  Then I waited to be called into the principal’s office because I had discussed **gasp** creationism in a public school classroom.  I was amazed though; nothing more ever popped up.

I don’t believe my own kids have ever not known what I believe.  They were both dinosaur freaks, much to my frustration.  Their obsession, though, gave us lots and lots (!) of opportunities to discuss both evolution and creationism even before they were old enough for school.  I wasn’t sure if they were getting it, until one day one of them came home with a story entitled, “Archaeopteryx and other evolutionary malarkey”.  In which, he proceeded to debunk evolutionary theory.  I was really proud of him for having the guts to write a dissenting opinion in the 3^rd grade.  God had made sure the message was getting through.  What a relief!

Do you think people who believe in creation view life, the world and everything, differently than people who believe in evolution?

Hey, if creation is intelligent design, would that make evolution, Stupid Design?  I’m just askin’. 

Do you think these different beliefs make people act in different ways? 

I heard someone (sorry, can’t remember who) theorize once that we could trace the loosening morals of America to the Scopes trial and evolution being taught in public school.  I’m pretty sure loosening morals go on back to Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, but this person’s theory did have some good points.  The main one being that, if a person thinks of themselves as just a highly functioning animal, then his/her actions will reflect that.  Reasoning becomes less important than instincts and feelings.  Truth becomes relative.  What’s right becomes anything that feels good…to me.  And wrong becomes anything that I don’t like.  Emotions rule our everyday lives, and restraint almost never comes into play.  Everyday is all about what we want; how we feel; what we deserve.  When we think this way, our world becomes smaller and smaller.  Water circling a drain. 

This belief system then affects everything about me – I’m not responsible for my thoughts or actions because I’m just doing what comes naturally. 

You probably know people who are searching for meaning in a life without God.  That’s not something I’ve ever experienced, so I don’t know what it’s like, but it seems like it would be a hopeless way to live.  Maybe I’m wrong; I don’t know.

But I do know this:  I believe in a loving and creative God, and I’m not just a tailless monkey.  Psalm 8:5 tells me, “For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.”  That verse is telling me exactly where I belong in the classification system of heaven! 

What a relief!  We’re not just a little higher than the monkeys; we’re a little lower than the angels.  We’re NOT genetic accidents; we are the sons and daughters of God.  And that makes all the difference!  We are the children of a God who loves us so much that He’s been counting the days until we can be together forever since Eve took her first bite of forbidden fruit.

Which would you rather believe?  I’d rather believe that I carry “the fingerprints of God.”

Why Are We Here?

The big question is, “Why are we here?”  Hmmmm…That IS a good question.   Ya know, philosophers, and others, have devoted reams of paper and oceans of ink to answering that question, but is all that really necessary?  I mean, if we’re here because of some cosmic mutation then the answer is easy, “No reason at all, we’re all just accidents.”  Or if, as I believe, we were thoughtfully and lovingly created, then we don’t need to waste paper and ink to figure it out, because God tells us why we’re here.

Or does He?  Rick Warren has written his book, The Purpose Driven Life, and he tells us all that God put us here with a purpose, and he’s sold bunches and bunches of books telling folks how to find out what God’s purpose is.  I know lots of people who have read it; I’ve read parts of it; my kids have read parts of it.  I think we have three copies at home right now.  But does Warren’s book tell us anything we didn’t already know? 

Didn’t God pretty much tell us, through Adam and Eve in Genesis 2, our purpose? 

Have you read Genesis 2 lately?  I had always read it as just an adjunct to chapter 1 and hadn’t thought too much about it on its own.  But I’m not sure, that in many ways it isn’t even more important than the basic creation story.  Chapter 2 tells us, not just who we are, but who we are in relationship to God.

From here it should be easy, right?  Well, maybe I’m slow, but it hasn’t been for me.  I still struggled with finding my purpose.  I think sometime I get confused.  I want God to tell me how to use my talents for Him (specifically and exactly, no guesswork).  But I think “our purpose” is something God wants us to discover for ourselves, with His help.  What He does tell us very clearly, is humanity’s reason for being here.  Genesis 2 tells us that our first reason for living is to worship our Creator by keeping the Sabbath.

Can you imagine that first Sabbath on earth?  Adam and Eve hadn’t even been in the Garden for 24 hours yet; everything is brand new, and God comes to them to spend the Sabbath with them…in person.  I’m not sure I can imagine what that would be like.  How many Sabbaths do you think Adam and Eve and God had together like that before the Fall?  Can you imagine the Sabbaths after the Fall?  I’ll bet they were heartbreaking.  I mean for us, mostly, Sabbath is a nice time to rest after a tough week, socialize with our church friends, and maybe squeeze in a nap before jumping back into the rat-race.  But for Adam and Eve, think of it, they spent a whole day walking and talking and learning from the God of the Universe!  Would anybody want to go home for a nap? I’m looking forward to Sabbath in Heaven, but how will I know how to act if I haven’t practiced here first?

Worshiping isn’t our only purpose though.  God told Adam and Eve to take care of the Garden and the animals.  Did they really need taking care of?  The world was perfect.  There weren’t weeds or plant destroying bugs.  There weren’t going to be any leaves to clean up or branches that fell down, so why did God tell them to work?  Ellen White has this excellent explanation:   “The Lord knew that Adam could not be happy without labor, therefore he gave him the pleasant employment of dressing the garden. And, as he tended the things of beauty and usefulness around him, he could behold the goodness and glory of God in his created works. Adam had themes for contemplation in the works of God in Eden, which was Heaven in miniature. God did not form man merely to contemplate his glorious works, therefore he gave him hands for labor, as well as a mind and heart for contemplation. If the happiness of man consisted in doing nothing, the Creator would not have given Adam his appointed work. In labor, man was to find happiness as well as in meditation. Adam could reflect that he was created in the image of God, to be like him in righteousness and holiness. His mind was capable of continual cultivation, expansion, refinement and noble elevation; for God was his teacher, and angels were his companions.” {RH, February 24, 1874 par. 8}

 God gave us work to be a blessing.  That’s not how we normally think of our jobs is it? Come on, how long would you be happy doing absolutely nothing all day, every day.  Not long for me.  Work makes us happy.  Even in Heaven we will have work to do.

Another of our reasons for being here is to obey the laws of God.  God gave Adam and Eve a rule and Satan tried to get them to break it.  It’s the same for us.  God has given us some rules, and our job is not to break them.  Unfortunately, Satan has other plans.  The universe is watching, and Satan wants God to look like the bad guy, making Him seem arbitrary and vindictive.  When we follow God’s rules out of the love in our hearts, we prove Satan wrong and show the universe the truth about God.

And, finally, God has told us to be involved with other people, in marriage, at work, and in worship.  We aren’t meant to be solitary beings.  Satan can get to us best when we don’t interact with and rely on others.  That’s how Satan got to Eve; he waited to catch her alone and then started in on her.  God is a social God; He put the need for social interaction within us as well.  Otherwise, we wouldn’t be looking forward to spending time with Him in Heaven.  It’s our job to be social.

To worship Him, to work for Him, to obey Him, and to be a part of society – God has given us this purpose.  Is He asking too much?