Veterans Day Thoughts 2013
So many dead men. You just wouldn’t believe it.
– Donald Sutherland as Christ
Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
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For Veterans Day this year, I watched an anti-war movie. I figured this was a fitting tribute to those who have fought and died in wars. For what they and all of us want most is that we will never again have to send our children or grandchildren into harm’s way on some godforsaken battlefield.
I first saw this movie in 1972. It is Dalton Trumbo’s film version of his controversial novel, Johnny Got His Gun. It tells the story of a young American, Joe Bonham, wounded on the final day of World War I. A bomb fell near him after he had buried the body of a dead comrade. So severe were his wounds that he lost both arms, both legs, his face and all ability to of hear, see, and talk. However, Joe’s brain still functioned, keeping him alive, enabling him to move his head a bit, and, unbeknownst to the doctors, carry on a conscious inner monologue. It became his fate to simply lie there in darkness, thinking and dreaming.
This is the absurdity of war.
The anti-war message of Trumbo’s film does not come in didactic speeches, but in the story of this one unfortunate man. In vivid color, we enter Joe Bonham’s dreams and relive the past with him, delighting in the richness and complexity of his youth and relationships. In contrast, his current condition is rendered in stark black and white. To guard him from curious onlookers, he is cared for in a locked, bare utility room with windows closed. Then a caring nurse breaks through and human communication becomes possible once more for the helpless soldier, only to be stifled by those in authority. The room fades to black as Joe cries, “SOS! Help me!”
One recurring theme in Johnny Got His Gun is that of a carnival sideshow. The young man comes to feel that he should be placed in one. People should come and look at him. They should be amazed that “a piece of meat” can live.
Sometimes I wonder if our war veterans feel a little bit like that too. In Slaid Cleaves’ song, Still Fighting The War
Men go to war for a hundred reasons,
But they all come back with the same demons.
None of us who have escaped our nation’s veterans’ experiences on the battlefields can ever truly relate to what they’ve seen and known. We pin medals on their chests, honor them with annual holidays, put them on public display at ballgames, and wax poetic about their sacrifices. No doubt many of them are proud of their service and grateful for the recognition. However, I wonder if they think the rest of us are just spouting a lot of public patriotic bullshit when we so often forget about them in private, where such a great number of vets are homeless, jobless, fighting PTSD and countless other war-related debilities, going through divorces, battling alcohol and drug abuse, and at high risk for suicide. It must make a person feel freakish when he or she can’t attend a patriotic fireworks display because the explosions are too jarring, too upsetting.
I have so many mixed feelings on Veterans Day.
The Homily
“I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment” (Ezekiel 34:16, NASB).
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12: 9, 10, NASB).
This morning in churches all across America, preachers will be telling their listeners just how great their lives can be. They will be told that God wants to bless them in every area of their lives, that God has only their best interests in mind. Prayers will be offered imploring the Lord to make us “the head, and not the tail.” Anyone with any needs will be told God is here to meet those needs with abundance.
These preachers are not preaching the Gospel of Jesus.
This morning there will be many who will teach “biblical principals” that will help you be better parents, have better and more fulfilling marriages, increase your finances, even have better sex. These principals will be given as bullet points, referring to verses of Scripture that these teachers say show that God wants all of these things in our lives.
These teachers are not teaching the Gospel of Jesus.
I hate to be the bearer of reality, but not everything in this life is going to go your way. Even more to the point, God does not have your best interests in mind. God has his own best interests in his mind. And at times, his interests make our lives miserable. You want an example? Look at Job. God wanted to prove to the Accuser that Job would still praise God even if all of his “blessings” were taken away. God’s glory was on display, not Job’s comfort or prosperity. Do you want another example? How about Mary? God chose this young, engaged-but-not-yet-married girl to bring his Son into the world. How did that “bless” Mary? Her life was forever changed from what she had most likely envisioned.
The Gospel of Jesus does not guarantee us to become winners. As a matter of fact, Jesus championed losers. In his parables, he presented God as one who is constantly seeking after what has been lost. A lost coin. Lost sheep. A lost son. Jesus came, he said, to seek and to save the lost, not the found, not the blessed. Not the winners.
As a matter of fact, Jesus said the greatest loss we could ever experience would be if we sought to save our lives, to become winners. Luke tucks an interesting verse into Jesus’ teaching on his second return: Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. Winners become losers, and losers become winners. The 1970s Christian band Daniel Amos said it this way in their song Losers And Winners:
Now, clubs and cliques, they choose and pick
And they make their interviews
Screen the undesirables
And turn down clowns and fools
But Jesus died for sinners
Losers and winners
Yes, it’s proven by His love for me and you
St. Paul tells us that God’s power is perfectly seen in our weakness. And that when I am weak is when I am truly strong. So I will rejoice in my sicknesses, in my distress, in my despair. I will rejoice when things are not going my way, when my life is turned upside-down by unforeseen circumstances. When I realize I am a loser, then I can take comfort in knowing Jesus has come to seek and to save me. This is the Gospel of Jesus.
This morning, remember that God is focused on his glory. And as hard as that may be to understand, and even harder to accept (for we are a very selfish lot), we are to be focused on God’s glory as well.
Let us pray.
Saturday Ramblings 11.9.13
It has been a fun week here at the iMonastery, dealing with light topics like our salvation and how to pray for our leaders. Easy stuff. Now it’s Saturday, and that’s when we do our heavy lifting, dealing with the serious stuff. Yes, we call it “rambling,” but don’t mistake that for any easy-going stroll through the tulips. Or TULIP, for our reformed friends. No, we are all business on Saturdays. So, if you are ready for us to give you the business, shall we ramble?
First of all, a bit of site news. When I got home from work last night, there were 202 messages in our spam filter. (There were also a ton of leaves and some spiders in my pool filter, but that’s another story.) Four of those messages were legit. I had to delete all of the others to get to the good ones. So please forgive us if your comments don’t show up right away. We are not blocking you, I promise.
And it’s that time again, time for me to ask you very kindly if you would consider donating to iMonk. It costs us about $150 a month to keep this site going, and we are nearing the end of what we have received for this from your generous contributions. Also, I would really like to buy some kind of Christmas gifts for our writers who give of themselves all year long. But don’t tell them I said that, ok? I want to make it a surprise. If you want to give, you can do so conveniently by using the PayPal button to the right.
Ok, on to the fun stuff.
Is your church attendance on the decline? Here’s an idea. Why not offer craft beer? Why yes, this is a Lutheran idea. And yes, it’s being tried at a place called Church-In-A-Pub in Texas. But if your, um, nether regions get a bit chilled sitting in the pew, perhaps it is England you need to consider for your next church visit. Hot cross buns, anyone?
For those who just really don’t have time for church in the first place, why not try speedfaithing. All the benefits of an artificial spiritual experience in ten minutes or less. Then you can get on to more important things, like …
My Response to Mayor Rob Ford
By now you have probably heard of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. For those who haven’t, let me give you a quick time line.
In November of 2010 Rob Ford was elected as Mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was elected as a “cost cutting” mayor, someone who would bring fiscal sense to a city whose budget was in the eyes of many was out of control. Introducing Ford at his inauguration was Don Cherry, a Canadian Hockey commentator who concluding by saying: “He’s going to be the greatest mayor this city has ever seen, as far as I’m concerned, and put that in your pipe, you left-wing kooks.”
There were some hints that there would be trouble brewing. He admitted to drinking and driving prior to being elected. He was photographed reading while driving not long after elected. He was ordered out of office for fundraising for his football team using city resources, but that was overturned on appeal. There were allegation of intoxication at a gala dinner in February of this year. Then came the video…
In May of this year two newspaper reporters were shown a video that allegedly depicted Mayor Ford smoking Crack Cocaine. It was denied. Shortly after that a photo was released that showed Ford posing for a picture with known drug dealers. His response, “I take lots of photos with lots of people.” Two of the men with were arrested in June for drug offenses, the third was identified as a man who had been shot dead in April. By August, all searches for the video had turned up empty.
There were further questions about Ford behavior at a popular street festival, and allegations that he was again under the influence. In October his occasional driver is arrested for possession and trafficking marijuana.
October 31st, the other shoe dropped. Toronto police chief Bill Blair announced that the police were in possession of a video that was consistent with earlier reports in the media. Events have escalated since then. On Tuesday of this week Ford admitted to smoking Crack Cocaine about a year ago “while in a drunken stupor.” Yesterday another video surfaced showing Mayor Ford acting erratically while swearing profusely and yelling loudly. Ford said he had been “extremely, extremely inebriated”, that he was embarrassed by it, but it was business as usual as far a running the City of Toronto.
The media and the pundits are of course going wild with this. Colbert and Stewart among others have done segments. I have heard it called funny, embarrassing, disgusting, and shameful.
I have another word for it. Sad. I am sad that the Mayor of Toronto has inflicted so much pain upon himself. I am concerned for his mental health at this point in time. To quote my Pastor: “The Bible says we are to pray for those in authority. If anyone ever needed prayer, it is Mayor Ford.”
Please join me in praying for Mayor Rob Ford. I also want you to think of those who are in positions of government authority over you whether at the Municipal, State, or Federal level. Next time you think you might be tempted to post a negative comment about one of our political leaders, why not take a moment and pray for them instead.
Update: Our apologies, a number of comments are getting getting caught in the spam filter. They have been approved but the spam filter has not yet released them.
kyle on “sexy christianity”
Each generation has its version of “sexy Christianity.”
Kyle Donn has issued a thoughtful warning about the current style, the rage of his own generation, in this post on the subject.
Kyle’s “About” page reflects the ethos of today’s young believers:
my name is kyle.
i want to change the world.
for jesus.
Note the lower case, the clipped statements, the radical simplicity, the cool way of emphasizing jesus, the expressed passion to make a difference.
Kyle writes:
My generation of believers loves the idea of radical Christianity. It’s edgy, compromises everything, it’s dangerously transparent, and it’s simple. Phrases like “I just want Jesus” are its slogan – its very breath. Verses are tattooed on our backs, and Greek words are penned into our wrists and biceps. Our sweatshop-free clothes are ripped and dirty. Our coffee is fair-trade. Our books are doctrine-heavy and well worn. And maybe we’ll even have a drink or a cigar here and there over a deep theological conversation. Today, most of us have made our pilgrimage to an African orphanage or held the hand of the dying somewhere in the third-world. We are not like our parents – who worry themselves that our bold-faith is going to leave us homeless and maybe dead.
He describes hip bloggers in coffee shops, surrounded by stacks of heavy theological books, pecking away on their MacBook Pros, tweeting about injustices and raving about the latest bands. Bicycling beanie-clad girls quaffing chai. Folks in skinny jeans who speak with intense passion about loving homosexuals and rage against all forms of bigotry, abuse, and hypocrisy.
Kyle is concerned that this appears so culturally cool that it becomes easy to love the idea of loving Jesus more than actually loving Jesus himself. He warns that this “radical” Christianity, this missional activism, this humanitarian advocacy, this social justice promoting, beer drinking, Kingdom speaking, tattoo displaying may be about seeking approval, human praise, the approbation of our peers, and headlines in our small-town newspapers.
…when Radical Christianity is popular, as it is becoming for my generation of Believers, then we must ask ourselves: “is the sense of abandon I have for Jesus costing me anything, or actually just making me more popular in the eyes of the people who I would like to be perceived by as more popular?”
Good questions, Kyle.
In every generation, it seems that we try to find a way to look good, to find our place of acceptance, to gain respect, to be vindicated in the eyes of others. And it is always the poor, the mourners, the meek, and all those on the fringe whose voices aren’t heard, who are embarrassing and a pain in the ass to be around, who can’t afford to be cool that challenge us.
Not the ones with whom we pose for photo ops.
The hidden ones, the ones we ignore, the ones hanging on crosses on hills outside the city.
Trashing a Treasure
On the nature, worth, provenance, and cessation of New Testament tongues, much is obscure and must remain so. Various interpretations on key points are viable, and perhaps the worst error in handling the relevant passages is to claim or insinuate that perfect clarity or certainty marks one’s own view. The texts (Acts 2:4-11; 10:46; 11:17; 19:6; 1 Corinthians 12-14) are too problematical for that.
– J.I. Packer
Keep in Step with the Spirit
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Update: Michael Newnham has also responded. Read “Dousing a Strange Fire.”
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Cheerleaders for the anti-charismatic “Strange Fire” conference keep challenging people to theological pissing matches. The latest bullying comes from Dan Phillips at Pyromaniacs as he throws a well-respected brother, Dr. J. I. Packer, under the bus in the name of defending truth.
Phillips calls some of Dr. Packer’s statements about tongues-speaking, which he has cherry-picked from his book, Keep in Step with the Spirit
What makes Dan Phillip’s silly post distressing and maddening is that Packer is remarkably conservative in his approach to matters of charisma, and those at Team Pyro and the “Strange Fire” conference are in agreement with perhaps 95% of his interpretation of the Bible on this issue. However, because the irenic Dr. Packer actually believes what Scripture says about showing loving patience and generosity toward our charismatic brothers and sisters, even when views differ and may be in error, Phillips is willing to trash his whole study.
Phillips forgets that the one book in the New Testament which deals with this issue, 1 Corinthians, approaches the subject in much the same way Packer does, and not as the dogmatists in the really-Reformed-right-and-righteous camp do. Paul is exceedingly gracious, patient, and forbearing toward the Corinthians, affirming and praising their faith and even their possession of many charismatic gifts, while at the same time rebuking them where necessary, refining their understanding where they weren’t thinking clearly, and trying to help them take a more mature approach to gifts and the Christian life as a whole. He does not forbid speaking in tongues. He does not deny the signs and manifestations they were claiming and with which they were childishly enthralled. As a wise and patient pastor, he sought to bring some order and wisdom into the discussion. He loved them. And he encouraged them to focus on love above everything else, as the greatest gift and the one they most needed.
Simply Living
A man knows when he has found his vocation when he stops thinking about how to live and begins to live.
– Thomas Merton
Thoughts In Solitude
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Most of my life, I’ve been waiting to live.
The pattern has been like this: seasons of thinking about what it means to live and waiting to live and hoping to live, interrupted by moments of living.
I’ve spent most of my days thinking about life, pondering what will enable me to live. Hoping for that break that will allow me to live. Counting on that change that will lead me to circumstances in which I can live. Afraid that if I commit myself to living now, I will miss out on the real living that might have been.
Then, every once in awhile, life breaks through.
I hear my grandson giggle uncontrollably, and I know my place in the world: I am like Abraham, the father who laughs, and the promise is in the seed. I live in my family.
I sit in a living room with an octogenarian, while her demented husband lies drooling on the pillow in his hospital bed next to her. Though we have known each other less than an hour, she entrusts some of her deepest feelings and fears to me. I live in her tears and whispered confidences.
A line in a sermon I am preaching catches me off guard and deeply moves me. I pause. I catch my breath. I hear myself speak more softly and personally, and the people in front of me are my friends. We connect. In the word on my lips, the Word that did not originate from me, but came like an unexpected breeze, I live.
Driving down the road, I sing along with a favorite tune. It surprises me when my voice breaks and my eyes tear up. There’s some kind of life in that music, life that swells in my chest, life that carries me away. I live in the song.
The greenest groomed grass, immaculate raked soil marked with white chalk, the shape of a precious diamond, the smell of oiled leather, and smack of honed wood on cowhide. A leisurely day in the sunshine. Narrative and tradition emanating from a radio speaker. I live in the game.
And this is my vocation — to simply live. Having found life and having actually experienced living, I find I am much less anxious to search for it, to think I must change my circumstances, do something different, pursue some new interest, gain some new insight, achieve some new status. As Merton says,
Suppose one has found completeness in his true vocation. Now everything is in unity, in order, at peace. Now work no longer interferes with prayer or prayer with work. Now contemplation now longer needs to be a special “state” that removes one from the ordinary things going on around him, for God penetrates all.
I would not claim that this describes me, or that I am anywhere near “completeness in [my] true vocation.” Heavens no! But I would testify to a bit more contentment, a bit less anxiety; a bit more acceptance, a bit less restlessness.
A bit less thinking about how to live, and a bit more living.
What are you waiting for?
Writers’ Roundtable—Salvation
There is a chill in the air, the leaves are falling, the days are shorter … and there is a sudden gathering of iMonks at my kitchen table. Somehow they think I have leftover Halloween candy. What a surprise for them to learn all I have are some Dum-Dums and Smarties, plus some floss the dentist down the street hands out. But not wanting to disappoint, I ran out to the store and procured a bag of candy corn and a can of salted peanuts, poured them into a bowl, mixed them up, and there you have it—instant PayDay bars.
We have gathered to have a fun and friendly discussion of a topic most of us refer to every day of our Christian lives, but perhaps don’t really think through very often. The topic I’m referring to is salvation. In the circle where I grew up in the faith, as long as you could answer the question, “Are you saved?” in the affirmative, you didn’t really go any further. I wondered if that was the case with my good friends here at the iMonastery, so we have gathered to discuss what we each mean by some common terms and phrases.
Gathered ’round the table are two Catholics (Martha of Ireland, Damariz Zehner) and two Protestants (Lisa Dye, Adam Palmer). And then there is yours truly, a ‘tweener. This should prove to be a fun and lively discussion—especially if the treats hold up. Let’s begin.
JD: Thanks for being here, especially Martha, who swam across the sea. I thought we would talk about salvation today.What are the first thoughts that come to mind when you hear the term “saved” in a Christian sense? Lisa?
LD: “Saved” wasn’t a term I was familiar with until after I became a Christian. I grew up going to various churches, but for the most part I was in a Presbyterian church when my family attended or in a Catholic church when I spent the night with my best friend. I never heard that term in either of those places. I went to church for a long time before it dawned on me that one could have eternal life. I thought the name of the game was being good and not sinning and having God like what you were doing while walking around on earth. Whether innately or due to the reverent atmosphere in both of those churches, I knew deep down that the God with whom I had to do was holy and perfect and I felt a distance from him that I longed to close.
When I finally was given the Gospel very directly by my stepsister, she told me that I needed to make a decision about Christ. Did I believe he was God in human flesh? Did I believe he came to save me from my sins and give me eternal life in Heaven? If so, I needed to “receive Christ.” Yes, the word “save” was in there, but the term that stuck was “receive Christ.” At the time I was fourteen and a girl who always tried hard to be good and mostly was, but I felt lonely for God. Salvation for me was getting to have Christ live in me. It wasn’t until later that I became aware that I wasn’t just saved “for” something, but I was saved “from” something … my sin, my self and my selfishness. Gradually, the naivety of youth wore off and consciousness that I had a nature bent on opposing God took me by surprise. I needed to be saved. That conviction only intensifies with each passing day.
DZ: My thoughts are complicated by the fact that I’m an English professor. First I think of verb tenses: I was saved, I have been saved, I am saved, I am being saved, I will be saved. In some sense all of these tenses express part of the truth of my relationship with salvation. I was dead in my sins, and at the call of Jesus’s voice I was saved from death. Having been released from the tomb, I am now in the midst of the battle, so day by day I am being saved. On the Day of Judgment, by God’s infinite mercy, I will be saved to eternal life.
Second, I think of prepositions: saved by, saved for, saved from, and saved to. Some Christians consider saved at a particular time or place very important. Although I experienced a time of choice and overflowing delight in God when I was sixteen, salvation to me seems too complicated to pin down to a single time or place. Perhaps I was saved from death only once (although I’m not sure I know when that was), but each day I am saved by grace and saved for the good works that God has prepared in advance for me to do (Eph. 2:8-10).
Third, I think of the meanings of the word saved: “rescued” is the first meaning, and that equates with I was saved from death; “preserved” is the second meaning, which equates to the ongoing work of God, or I am being saved for eternal life.
The Perils of Wisdom
Here is the conclusion to the lesson I taught Sunday to the adult class at church. We looked at the Wisdom Psalms, those psalms that are didactic, admonishing believers to walk in God’s ways.
There is, of course, a variety of wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible, including entire books, such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. The themes of wisdom are pervasive throughout the Bible, and are instrumental in the final shaping of the Book of Psalms.
The specific text we examined was Psalm 37:
Depart from evil, and do good;
so you shall abide for ever.
For the Lord loves justice;
he will not forsake his faithful ones.
The righteous shall be kept safe for ever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land,
and live in it for ever.
The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
and their tongues speak justice.
The law of their God is in their hearts;
their steps do not slip.
– Psalm 37:27-31, NRSV
Here is what I said to both encourage the use of these psalms and warn about ways “the righteous” sometimes abuse them:
Wisdom psalms reflect a kind of “bottom-line” teaching about the nature of life. Because God is the Creator, there is a cosmic order, a moral “way,” and a providential oversight that is fundamental to life. Therefore, these have been called psalms of orientation: they orient us to the basic facts of life in a created universe and how we ought to speak and live as moral beings.
But we must be careful with wisdom teaching. It tends to be black/white, right/wrong, good/bad, life/death, blessing/curse, do this/don’t do that. If we are truly wise, however, we know that life does not always come to us with such clear definition and direction. Thus, for example, Job’s friends were unable to bring comfort to their suffering companion because their perspective was too limited. It didn’t allow for mysteries or ambiguities, or factor in that God’s ways might be past understanding. Too heavy an emphasis on wisdom teaching can lead people to practice a narrow, moralistic, and fundamentalist kind of religion. As delightful, right, and helpful as much of it is, it ultimately reflects God’s law and not the Gospel. Its chief value is that it gives us a foundation upon which to build our faith.
Above all, wisdom cannot explain Jesus, who became King by means of a cross (1Cor. 1:18-25).
I wonder what you think about this type of Scripture and the way it is taught in the Church today.
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