God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 (NRSVCE)
It seems strange in today’s world, but when I was a kid we walked to school and we would walk home. There were safety patrol members standing at the busy corners to make sure kids didn’t walk across the street when the sign said “don’t walk.” It was a sea of childhood humanity flooding out of the school and making a daily pilgrimage home.
Once you were off school grounds, of course, there was no adult supervision. It’s amazing how quickly we learned that there was safety in numbers, and since I had older siblings I had the advantage of knowing a bunch of kids older than me. I could tag along and feel the relative safety of being with a “big kid.”
The real goal, however, was home. There was a certain sense of safety once I got to my own block. That was my territory. I was known there. I experienced real safety, however, once I was inside my house. Any fear of bullies or anxiety of potential trouble melted away. I was safe at home.
Today’s chapter, Psalm 46, is a song that celebrated refuge. For the ancient Hebrews, home base was the walled city of Jerusalem. The temple was there on Mount Zion. For the Hebrews, God was there in His temple. Their warrior-king was there in his palace. Troubles may rage, but they celebrated the safety they felt being safely in the place God resided. For those who remember growing up singing the great hymns, today’s psalm was the inspiration for Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress is Our God.
As I have written about on numerous occasions, Jesus changed the entire spiritual landscape. He made it clear that God’s “temple” was not a bricks-and-mortar edifice. When I open my heart and life and invite Jesus in, God’s Spirit indwells me. The temple is me.
How radically that changes the metaphor of refuge. Refuge is no longer without. Refuge is within. Writing to the followers of Jesus in Phillipi, Paul explained that God’s peace, which is beyond human comprehension, guards my heart and guards my mind. Though troubles may surround me on all sides, I may find a peace within sourced not in me, but the Spirit in me.
In the quiet this morning, I’m taking comfort in that.
Very early in the Jesus Movement, believers began a ritual of “passing the Peace.” They would say to one another “the peace of Christ be with you.” It was a tangible way of reminding one another of this spiritual intangible of God’s refuge within.
In this world, we have lots of troubles. Jesus told us to expect it, and not to worry about it because He overcame the world. The beginning of another work week. Here we go.
The peace of Christ be with you, my friend.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
This week’s Wayfarer Weekend podcast is part 9 of the 10 part series A Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story. This week we’re providing an overview of “the epistles” or “letters.”
Click on the following link to listen, or click on the banner below for easy links to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite app.
The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes; in many-colored robes she is led to the king; behind her the virgins, her companions, follow. Psalm 45:14 (NRSVCE)
How on earth could you put together an anthology of the lyrics of 150 songs and not have at least one love song in it?
Today’s chapter, Psalm 45, is the lone love song in the book of Psalms. It was penned for the wedding celebration between the King and the princess of another nation who was being married as part of a political alliance between the two countries. The thought was that one king wouldn’t attack another king if that king was a son-in-law. It also meant that you had a family member who had eyes and ears on what was going on within a rival’s palace. This was a common diplomatic practice throughout history even into the last century. If you look at a chart of European royal families it looks like a spider’s web with all the crossing and intersecting lines. Even Queen Elizabeth married her own cousin.
The song is written from the perspective of the bride looking at her groom and singing of how handsome, strong, and powerful he is. The song’s climax is the bride and her virgin bridesmaids walking into the king’s palace and the very next verse is a promise to bear the king many sons (which was a sign of strength and succession), and also a little racy because it alludes to what’s going to happen once she enters the king’s chambers.
The chapter is also interesting from how it was used in history. After the Hebrews returned from exile in Babylon, psalm 45 was considered a messianic psalm pointing to the messiah who would come and ascend the throne of David. That is interesting because marriage was used by Jesus repeatedly as a metaphor when discussing His second coming and the climactic apocalyptic event known as “the Day of the Lord.” The metaphor is that Jesus will come back like a bridegroom to be united with all believers, collectively and metaphorically referenced as the bride.
In my podcast series The Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story (I know, I know. I have two episodes left, and I will get a Wayfarer Weekend podcast done this weekend I promise!), I mention that God’s language is metaphor precisely because it can be layered with meaning. When I was a young man attending a fundamentalist Bible college I told to interpret passages like today’s psalm only in terms of its spiritual, prophetic meaning. I mean, we wouldn’t want young people in hormonal overdrive thinking about what’s going on in the king’s bed chamber.
Along my journey, I came to realize that this is not a case of “either or” but “both and.” Yes, there is messianic metaphorical imagery in the song, but that’s not why it was written. It was written as a love song to celebrate a beautiful princess entering the palace and the bed chamber of the king. Man, woman, wedding, love, expression of love, life, pro-creation. That’s beautiful. That’s holy.
[cue: Barry White]
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
The "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" Blues (CaD Ps 44) –
Wayfarer
All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten you, or been false to your covenant. Psalm 44:17 (NRSVCE)
One of the most fascinating characters I’ve ever seen in a film is that of Antonio Salieri in the movie Amadeus played masterfully by F. Murray Abraham. We are introduced to Salieri at the beginning of the film as he resides in an insane asylum. He narrates the film as he tells his story to a priest. Salieri was an accomplished composer who was a devout believer and lived his life with the notion that there was a certain reciprocal arrangement between him and God: If he lived a good, devout life and sought to write music that glorified God then God would make him the greatest, most successful composer in the world.
At first, things were going along according to the plan. Then Amadeus showed up on the scene. Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart was a young, wild, profane man who gave himself over to every human appetite. And, he was an amazingly gifted composer. Soon, the depraved young brat Mozart was getting all of the commissions Salieri wanted. He was writing music so pure and inspired that it left Salieri mad with envy. God appeared to have been granted Mozart the answers to all of Salieri’s prayers. Salieri felt cheated and he allowed his jealousy, rage, and resentment to drive his soul to madness.
I thought of Salieri as I meditated on today’s chapter, Psalm 44. This psalm is different. It’s a lament like other psalms, but rather than expressing the heart of an individual, Psalm 44 is a community lament, and it is written as the community struggles with the loss and defeats they’ve been experiencing at the hand of their enemies. The songwriter structures it almost like a well laid out legal argument to God:
In verses 1-8 establish God’s faithfulness through history and the covenant relationship between them and God. It remembers how God had done great things for them and they, in turn, placed their trust in God.
Verses 9-16 make an abrupt 180-degree turn and lyrics lament their current misfortunes and defeat, laying the blame for their woes squarely at God’s feet.
Verses 17-22 make a case for the people’s innocence and faithfulness to God.
Finally, in verses 23-26, the people pray for God to wake up. They cry out for deliverance and redemption.
One of the things that I love about the psalms is the way they express really honest human emotions. As an individual who has tried to follow Jesus faithfully through the years, it’s easy to feel that God has let me down when things don’t go my way or when I see what appears to be really bad human beings prospering in ways I can only dream about. The “What have I ever done to deserve this?” blues are a raw human emotion that I can identify with.
Along my spiritual journey, I’ve come to realize that like children or teens blaming their parents for everything wrong in life, I sometimes can do the same thing with God. Yet, God never promised me life would be Easy Street or that every one of my self-centered wishes dressed up in the liturgical robes of prayer would be granted. The path of comparison leads to really tragic places. Just watch the opening scenes of Amadeus as the priest walks through the asylum to find Salieri.
In the quiet this morning I find myself challenged by Psalm 44 because I find the premise of the lyrics, that the nation’s defeat was somehow God’s failure, as misguided. At the same time, I am reminded that in my spiritual journey I’ve had to work through all sorts of misguided notions of my own including those not unlike that of today’s psalm. In expressing my honest feelings and getting them out in the open I make it possible to process them just like a child sometimes has to throw occasional tantrums on the path to maturity. Which is a much healthier path than the one Salieri took.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from those who are deceitful and unjust deliver me! O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. Psalm 43:1,3 (NRSVCE)
Have you ever had something that just keeps recurring in your life, and you know that there is something significant in it even if you’re not sure what it is? Simply because you begin to see it every where you turn?
A number of years ago, our local gathering of Jesus followers was introduced to what our leader called The Chain Reaction of Praise. It is a very simple concept and it goes like this:
Praise God in every circumstance (yep, even the bad ones), which
Activates my faith to…
Pray powerful prayers, which
Overcomes the enemy, and prepares me to
Live and reign with Christ.
Ever since we spent five weeks unpacking it among our local gathering, and once Wendy and started actually applying it, it just keeps showing up over and over and over again. In fact, now every time an unexpected difficult, tragic, or painful circumstance occurs along our life journey, Wendy and I begin the conversation with, “So, we have a Chain Reaction of Praise moment here…”
Until the last few years, I never realized how self-centered my reaction to circumstances tended to be. When things don’t go my way, when tragedy struck, or when I felt victimized I usually looked within for the resources I need, the answers to the situation, and the power to handle it. “Rugged individualism” kicked in and told me to grit my teeth, step up to the challenge, and take control of my circumstances. I wanted to act, to lash out, to jump in, and to do something to address the person who wronged me or the need I felt to turn circumstance to my favor.
Once Wendy and I began to respond first by praising God in the midst of our painful reality, declaring our trust in God’s faithfulness and sovereignty over our lives and offering ourselves, our circumstances, our emotions, and our right to be right and/or react to God in prayer, we began to notice a spiritual shift in ourselves and our lives. We began to see the circumstances themselves differently. We were less apt to quickly react out of our human ego and emotions. In some cases, we haven’t responded at all to circumstances other than to offer it up to God and choose to trust and wait on God to make things right, even if that never happens the way we desire.
Today’s chapter, Psalm 43, is a little Hebrew ditty and it’s no wonder that those who compiled and ordered the psalms put it right after Psalm 42. It’s almost as if it’s the same song only shorter. Like Psalm 42, the lyrics are a lament in the midst of difficult circumstance that have the psalmist’s soul downcast and discouraged by the oppression of enemies who have the upper hand.
And what is sitting right there lurking in the lyrics but the Chain Reaction of Praise. The psalm itself is a powerful prayer. The songwriter establishes the circumstances in the first two verses. The central verse (the verse that is “center” of a Hebrew psalm typically communicates the songwriter’s central theme) then asks God to lead the writer to God’s “holy hill.” What’s that? The holy hill of the Hebrews was Zion where the temple was and where you went to worship, to surrender, to sacrifice, and to offer praise. The praises then flow out of the third verse into the fourth verse, and the psalm ends with the songwriter agreeing to keep praising, trusting, and entrusting God the circumstances plaguing them.
In the quiet this morning, I find myself (like everyone else), contemplating the troubling circumstances and terrible events that seem to be globally pressing in on every side. I am praying for the wisdom not to react out of ego and emotion, but to respond through the Chain Reaction of Praise.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Psalm 42: 5 (NRSVCE)
I was in a mentoring session with a client. I had coached this individual for a number of years when he was a front-line agent. Now he was in his first managerial role. He’d just received his first annual performance review as a manager and was spiraling downward into full emotional meltdown. Why? Because his boss had rated him a “4” out of 5 in overall performance.
It was obvious to me that my protégé needed to vent. The review had been given a few weeks before our session and I was aware that he had been waiting for our session to get things out. In the emotional flood of anger, frustration and shame that followed I was noticed a few things. First, it was clear that my protégé knew his weaknesses, and admitted there were things he could have done better. Second, the monologue rabbit trailed into childhood memories, family system issues from adolescence, and then projected issues in the current workplace. Third, we had been here before.
The emotional monologue began to wane after about thirty minutes. I then asked if I could ask a question and make an observation. My question was: “If I was your boss, and you freely admitted to me this handful of areas you know needed improvement, then why on earth would I give your performance a five out of five? Given the things you told me you needed to work on, I think four might be a generous vote of confidence!”
There was no immediate answer.
I then proceeded with my observation. Back in the days when I first coached my protégé on the service quality of his phone calls, there were times that he would be emotionally distraught when our team had marked him down for service skills he should have demonstrated, but didn’t. At one point, I remember tears being shed out of the intensity of emotion, and the exclamation “Every call should score 100!”
My protégé laughed as led him on this trek down memory lane, and my point was obvious. There was something within him that expected, personally demanded, a perfect score on any test, assessment, or evaluation that drove him to illogical and emotional ends despite cognitively recognizing the quality of his work didn’t match.
“Why do I always do this?” he asked.
Now, we’d gotten to the question the might lead to real improvement.
The chapter-a-day journey kicks off with the second “book” or section in the anthology of ancient Hebrew song lyrics known as Psalms. The section begins with songs written for a choir called “The Sons of Korah.” They were a family choir with the Hebrew tribe of Levi whom King David had appointed to sing in the temple. Those who compiled Psalms began the second book with seven songs that were ascribed for this choir. Seven, by the way, is almost always a significant number in the Great Story. It’s a metaphor for completeness.
Today’s song is a personal lament. The writer is struggling with “Why?” they are in such a funk, and why they can’t get out of it. They are singing the blues and struggling with why their soul is in the pit of despair even as they repeatedly choose to keep singing, keep trusting, and keep seeking after God. The song begins with the proclamation, “my soul thirsts for God.”
And, that’s what struck me this morning. It was the “thirst” for God that motivated the singing, praising, trusting, and seeking after the “Why?” It was the “thirst” for God that allowed them to not fall over the edge of despair but to keep seeking the answer to “Why do I feel this way?” even as they were in the tension of feeling it so acutely.
In the quiet this morning, I thought of my protégé finally getting to his own version of “Why do I always feel this way?” As a mentor, my next question is “What are you thirsting for?” If it’s an easy stamp of approval to deceitfully appease your need for perfection then you’re never going to mature. If you’re thirsting after an understanding of who you are, why you’ve got yourself tied up into emotional knots, and what needs to happen within to stop this repetitive and unhealthy emotional pattern, then there’s hope for progress toward maturity and success.
“Based on the evidence of my own life, actions, words, and relationships am I really thirsting after God? What am I really thirsting for?”
“Am I holding the tension of choosing to praise, trust, seek even as I wrestle with my own versions of despair and my own questions of ‘Why’?”
Those are the questions I’m personally asking myself as I head into this day, and I’m going to leave it here.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:17-18 (NRSVCE)
As a young man, I was asked by a friend to accompany him to a friend’s wedding. I didn’t know the couple getting married, but my friend didn’t want to go to the wedding alone. “Tom? Do you know what a young, single man is at a wedding?” he asked me. I shrugged, wondering where he was going with this. “A carcass,” he answered as though bestowing his wisdom upon me.. “Every single, unmarried woman at a wedding sees you as nothing more than the piece of meat who might be the one to marry her.”
It was then that I realized that my egotistical friend, who happened to be engaged, asked me to be his wingman to help ward off the single women he assumed would be flocking around him. Arrogance and cynicism aside, I have attended and officiated a lot of weddings along my life journey. From what I have observed, there is a thread of truth beneath my friend’s hubris. When you’re young and unmarried and all your other friends seem to be getting married, it’s fairly common to wonder “What about me?” And then you start dreaming of a story in which you met “the one” at your friend’s wedding. Come on. We’re all human. It happens.
Jesus told a story about a wedding. In the Hebrew tradition of His day, weddings were at night. The groom and his entourage would arrive at the bride’s house where the bride and her virgin, unmarried bridesmaids waited to escort the wedding party to the groom’s house where the wedding would take place and the marriage consummated. Keep in mind there were no street lights in those days. The bridesmaid’s job was to carry an oil lamp or torch to illuminate the wedding party’s trek across town. The lamp/torch served a dual purpose. Not only did it light the way for the wedding party, but it also illuminated the bridesmaid herself who was an unmarried virgin looking for a husband. You just never know when one of the groom’s unmarried friends might “see her in a good light,” shall we say, and decide he wants to marry her. If a virgin bridesmaid was unprepared and missed the entourage or didn’t have enough oil in her lamp or on her torch to make the entire journey it would be considered a disgrace and a bad omen, but she might miss out on winning the eligible groomsman lottery.
In Jesus’ story. The bridegroom was waylaid. He and his entourage were taking forever to arrive. Some of the bridesmaids got distracted and felt like they had plenty of time. They didn’t have their lamps oiled and ready to go. The groom shows up suddenly, the unprepared bridesmaids ask to borrow some of their fellow bridesmaids oil, but no virgin bridesmaid is going to freely hand her ticket for the eligible groomsman lottery away. Besides, the less competition the better the odds. Are you with me?
So the unprepared bridesmaids run to the local Walmart for some oil. By the time they get back, the wedding has taken place. The reception is in full swing and the DJ has the whole crowd dancing to Love Shack. The groom’s servant at the door takes the young bridesmaids for wedding crashers and won’t let them in.
That’s the story. So, what was the point of the story?
Jesus was very adamant that someday He would return from heaven in what will be the climax of the Great Story being told from Genesis through Revelation. Jesus didn’t just hint at it. He was very clear about it. In fact, after Peter saw the risen Jesus ascend into heaven, there were angels who said to him and the other disciples: “In the same way you just saw Him ascend, someday He’s going to come back.” Peter, Paul, and the rest of Jesus’ original followers were convinced that Jesus could return at any moment. In fact, they fully believed it would happen in their lifetime even though Jesus said that even He didn’t know when it would take place. The original Jesus followers used a Greek word, maranatha, meaning “He’s coming back” as a salutation when greeting and parting with one another.
Of course, we’re still waiting 2,000 years later.
Today’s final chapter of Peter’s letter to Jesus’ followers, Peter addresses the issue of Jesus’ return for two reasons. The believers who were raised in Greek culture didn’t have any kind of developed understanding of apocalypse, eternity, or a judgment day that had developed as part of Hebrew and Christian teaching. So, the Greek believers struggled to understand it. Second, there were cynics who were like, “You keep talking about Jesus returning, but it isn’t happening.”
In essence, today’s chapter is Peter addressing the bridesmaids in Jesus’ parable. They were acting as if they could do whatever they wanted and there would be no accountability for their choices. Jesus wanted His followers to behave as though today is the day that He will return and settle accounts on a grand, eternal scale; Not being so foolish as to not plan for the future, but being wise enough to live each day with the understanding that tomorrow is never guaranteed.
With that, I head into day 19,890 of my earthly journey. I’m going to do my best to do it well.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
The First Step … One More Time (CaD 2 Pet 2) –
Wayfarer
They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” 2 Peter 2:19 (NIV)
The first step in The Twelve Steps is to admit that you have become powerless over an insatiable appetite, and because of it your life has become unmanageable. The Twelve Steps originated with an alcoholic and Alcoholics Anonymous has helped countless lives, but The Twelve Steps has worked with almost every human appetite that erodes lives when they are relentlessly indulged. Along my life journey I’ve attended meetings of Gamblers Anonymous, Debtors Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Sex Addicts Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous. You might not know this, but many people working through The Twelve Steps will go to any local Twelve Step meeting, even if it doesn’t match their particular problem appetite. That’s because the pattern of addiction, or out-of-control appetite indulgence, is the same as is the path of The Twelve Steps.
I recently had a conversation with a veteran pastor who is at the point in his own journey where he reflects on what he would do differently if he had to do it all over again. He told me that if he were a young man shepherding his first church he would spend the first two years of his tenure focused on taking his congregation through The Twelve Steps.
In yesterday’s post, I focused on the opening premise of Peter’s letter in which he explains that corruption springs from lust. While lust is often thought of as sexual, the broader definition is that of any human appetite that we indulge to excess.
In today’s chapter, the reason for Peter bringing this up becomes clear. The early Jesus Movement was messy. There were no churches, no strong central authority, there was no New Testament, and very little organization. Jesus’ followers met in homes for communal meals. They pooled resources and made sure everyone was cared for and had their needs met. They welcomed everyone. When you’re charitably giving out food, money, and other resources you’re going to attract those who are in it for the free stuff motivated not by a spiritual desire to follow Jesus, but out of a desire to feed their appetites for free. Jesus encountered the same thing. After feeding thousands of people a couple of times, He calls out the crowds following Him for having the wrong motives. You can read about it in John chapter 6.
Decades later the Jesus Movement is experiencing the same problem. People have come into their midst with selfish motives Because everything was new and the teachings of Jesus were mostly communicated and passed along orally it was easy for some scrupulous individuals to con the followers of Jesus into thinking they were teachers and preachers with divine authority. Then they’d tell the local gathering things like it being perfectly okay to get drunk on Communion wine and frequenting the temple prostitutes at the local Roman or Greek temple was no big deal.
So, Peter writes a letter intended to be copied and passed around to all the local gatherings of Jesus’ followers. In today’s chapter, Peter calls out these charlatans and con-men. He warns the followers of Jesus to be wary of them. Jesus told Peter and the other disciples that “you know a tree by its fruit.” Peter passes this same principle along. He tells his flock that they’ll know who these bad apples when you see them indulging their out-of-control appetites and teaching that it’s okay.
Along my own spiritual journey, I’ve observed that Jesus is often quoted saying, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Never do I hear anyone quote the sentence Jesus said right before He said those words: “You are truly my followers if you do what I tell you to do. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
What did He tell me to do? Surrender. Die to myself and my own self-centered appetites in order to love and serve others. Following Jesus is a path of emptying in a world that ceaselessly tells me I need to fill my life with more.
In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me,” right after they first met. Three years later, after Jesus rose from the dead, Jesus and Peter once again find themselves together on the seashore and Jesus once again says to Peter, “Follow me.” I’ve learned along the way that following Jesus is a process that repeatedly leads me back to being called to take that first step.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Of Corruption and Cravings (CaD 2 Pet 1) –
Wayfarer
Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. 2 Peter 1:4 (NRSVCE)
I ran across a quote yesterday by the Roman stoic, Seneca. He said, “all cruelty springs from weakness.” What fascinates me about this quote is the fact that Seneca was an advisor and tutor to the Roman Emperor, Nero, who was perhaps the most cruel of all Roman Emperors. It was Nero who burned followers of Jesus alive around his garden to provide light for his parties.
Certainly, Seneca had plenty of opportunity to witness cruelties we can scarce imagine in today’s world. It would appear that he failed in his tutoring of Nero. Nero eventually demanded that Seneca commit suicide, a cruel request to which Seneca stoically complied.
I decided to take a quick break from the chapter-a-day journey through Psalms and to finish this week with Peter’s second letter to followers of Jesus. The date of this letter is the subject of much scholarly debate, but in today’s chapter Peter claims to know that his death is soon in coming, and it is generally believed that Peter (and Paul, btw) was executed during Nero’s cruel persecution of Jesus’ followers whom he used as a scapegoat for a massive fire that burned much of Rome in 64 AD. Ironically, Nero’s subsequent scapegoating and persecution of Christians in coincides with Seneca’s ordered suicide in 65 AD. The playwright in me finds an intriguing storyline there.
“All cruelty springs from weakness.”
The quote came to mind once again this morning as I read Peter’s words “the corruption in this world because of lust.” My brain immediately paraphrased it as a parallel to Seneca’s observation:
“All corruption springs from lust.”
Corruption is everywhere. It’s particularly visible at this time as it is during all elections. Politicians and power brokers (on both sides of the aisle and in every arena) obfuscate, deceive, stretch truth, speak in white lies, and hypocritically change positions with the prevailing winds of circumstance and poll numbers. All of those dark ads with ominous tones and carefully chosen photos intended to make their opponents look like criminals as the ad itself bends the truth out of context to make it look as damning as possible. All of the bright ads making themselves look like saviors, and shining examples of goodness and light. It’s corrupt and it springs from lust for power, position, and money.
Along my life journey, my perspective about sin has changed. When I was a child I thought it was simply about rules and obedience. Between parents, school, church, and community I was taught a list of rules to follow and a fairly strict guideline for right and wrong, good and bad. As I got older, I found that I broke some rules religiously no matter how hard I tried not to. I also found that if I keep certain (easy) rules in public where others could see them, then it blinded others to the “ugly” rule breaking I did in private and outside of the public eye. That’s corruption, too. It’s a personal form of the same hypocrisy and corruption found in politics on a much grander scale.
This is what led Paul to write to Jesus’ followers in Rome: “Everyone sins and falls short of God’s glory.” Or, as Bob Dylan sang it in his modern psalm quoting Paul quoting the Sage of Ecclesiastes:
“Ain’t no man righteous. No, not one.”
I began to realize that the problem wasn’t the rules, the problem was my appetites. Some appetites were easy for me to control, but other appetites were seemingly insatiable. An appetite out of control is a craving, a lust. Appetites are natural, but an unchecked lustful craving of that appetite which leads to indulgence will always end in corruption of some form.
It’s easy for me to point to the unbridled lust for worldly power, wealth and prestige found in Nero and present day politicians. But, that only diverts your attention to easy targets and away from me. It is my out-of-control appetites which wreak havoc on my life. My appetite for rest turns into slothful passivity. My appetite for food turns into gluttony. My appetite for sex turns into pornographic proclivity. My appetite for security turns into greed and an insatiable desire for more of everything. My appetite for safety turns into a never ending quest to avoid all pain and suffering.
In the quiet this morning, as I ponder these things, I return to Peter’s letter. My rule-keeping self saw faith and salvation as the end result of obedience. By being obedient to the rules, I thought, I would arrive a place of being good enough to be acceptable to God. But that’s just the opposite of what Jesus, and Peter after Him, taught:
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 2 Peter 1:5-9
Faith in Christ, salvation, and the cleansing of sin is at the beginning of the journey. It is the motivation. It is the spiritual catalyst that pushes me forward into increasing measures of goodness, knowledge, and appetite control. Not because I’m trying to earn something with my goodness, but because I’ve received something priceless in the gift of forgiveness, grace, and mercy that Jesus freely offers.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me. Psalm 41:9 (NRSVCE)
He was a friend. I really believe that. There was a time when we connected on both a personal and spiritual level. We understood one another, and I had all sorts of empathy and understanding for those parts of him that others misunderstood to the point of rejection. When I first saw the signs of betrayal I confronted him, but he denied it and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I shouldn’t have, but hindsight is always 20/20, as the saying goes. Ultimately, it was revealed that he had been betraying me for some time in, and with his betrayal he wreaked havoc on many lives.
Today’s chapter, Psalm 41, is the final psalm of the first “book” in the anthology of ancient Hebrew song lyrics that is the book of Psalms. It is another song of David. It is another song written in a time of extreme illness when his political enemies were begging for his death. It is a song written from a position of loneliness and isolation. As the saying goes, “It’s lonely at the top,” and as I read the chapter in the quiet this morning I could almost feel David pouring out his heart as if God was the only friend he could count on.
The one element of today’s song that is unlike David’s other songs of lament in sickness is this glaring declaration of betrayal that sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the words and themes that I’ve already heard a number of times in the lyrics of his other works:
Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.
My mind immediately jumped to the prophetic. Jesus quoted this very verse as he dined with His closest follower on the evening of His arrest, calling out Judas on the plot he had already hatched with Jesus’ enemies. At the same time, while it is a prophetic utterance, it is not confined to that. In my podcast on the books of prophecy in the series Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story, I pointed out that God uses the language of metaphor precisely because it is powerfully layered with meaning. It is, once again, a “yes, and.”
Personal betrayal is as old as Adam blaming Eve for talking him into eating the forbidden fruit, and Cane killing his brother Abel. Betrayal is a part of the human condition and is present in all of our great stories. It is Iago plotting against Othello. It is Saruman the White leading the White Council while plotting his own power grab. It is Edmund betraying his siblings for one more helping of Turkish Delight. It is Peter Pettigrew plotting with Voldemort against James and Sirius.
Who has not experienced betrayal?
In the quiet this morning, I find myself unable to stop there. It is easy to play the victim card. I can wail in lament with David as I recall those who betrayed me like the person I described earlier. As I meditate on these things, however, I also hear the echoes of those who might easily accuse me of betrayal. Relationships are messy. As I let my mind wander across my entire life journey I have to confess that I am not spotless when it comes to acting and speaking treacherously out of my own pain, fear, envy, and insecurity. I have been a victim of betrayal. I have also been a perpetrator.
And so, I find myself whispering a familiar prayer this morning.
“Forgive me my sins, as I forgive those who sin against me.”
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
