The prophet Jeremiah, who was not prone to warm fuzzies, wrote:
“From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.
Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
Rather like today, but instead of “peace” the watchword is “joy.” Which can be quite hard to find when you can’t afford to pay the bills, put gas in your car, or groceries in your kitchen.
It’s hard to be faithful when the world is crashing around you and so-called “leaders” lie to your face about the world in which we live. Nevertheless, we must not abandon our faith and trust in Jesus to get us through this messy world.
The new episode of Cephas Hour talks about this and related matters. You can listen to the podcast on-demand at its website, or through whichever podcast aggregator you use as long as it isn’t Spotfify, because as usual they don’t get it. Hope you enjoy it.
There’s an interesting passage in the first chapter of Mark’s gospel.
A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.
Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”
But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.
The phrase capturing attention is “moved with compassion.” God moves and works far above our ability to understand. As He said to Isaiah:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
When God does not do what we want and ask Him to do, neither unwillingness nor inability on His part comes into play. Instead, He knows better, and we need to trust Him. Frequently, this is far easier said than done. But we have to give it our best.
Faith isn’t always a get-out-of-jail card. It’s also trusting Him when you don’t know what the next die roll will be or in what place or space you will land. Although we do know what the last land will be.
Referring back to leprosy, something I didn’t know about it until a few years ago is that its primary symptom is the inability to feel pain. This leads to its victims suffering horrible self-inflicted injuries because they lack the warning system the rest of us enjoy when it comes to pain serving a necessary purpose.
Depression is, at its core, the inability to feel or accept love. It is a tough nut to crack, even for the believer presented with the reality of Jesus’ love for us as embodied by the bloody cross and the empty tomb. There are no magic words to open someone to love who believes they are unworthy of love. All we can do, be it for someone else or ourselves, is continue to love and trust in love.
In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome he wrote:
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Regardless of what you may think your feet look like, remaining mute and not proclaiming the Gospel is never an option for the believer.
It’s interesting to note what God considers important. It ties into His passionate desire to forgive sin if only we will ask, making full use of the redemptive power of Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross, followed by His destruction of death’s hold on humanity when He rose from the dead.
Take, for example, Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute. At the risk of her life, she hid the two spies Joshua sent to Jericho. In thanks, Joshua saved her and her family’s life when he destroyed Jericho. The Gospel of Matthew notes that she was the great-great-grandmother of King David. Does this mean God condones prostitution? No. But Rahab was used by God, so much so that both Joseph and Mary could trace their lineage directly to her.
I mentioned King David. There is no need to rehash the depth of his sin involving Bathsheba. But the same David also wrote the 23rd Psalm and was called by God a man after His own heart. Does this mean God condones adultery? No. But David was used by God, so much so that both Joseph and Mary could trace their lineage directly to him.
And we think God cannot possibly use us because of our sins and shortcomings?
How embarrassingly small our God is if we think this way.
