We're All Gonna Die! :)

Los Angeles Rams lineman Andrew Whitworth raised some eyebrows when he spoke candidly with reporters after his team lost the Super Bowl to the New England Patriots:  "At the end of the day, you're all gonna die."  Death has a way of re-centring our perspective on what matters most.  It is a rare accomplishment to be part of a team which has earned the right to compete on a global stage, but win or lose no one can shed or wisely ignore their own mortality.  This is the natural conclusion King Solomon came to in Ecclesiastes 3:18-20:  "I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals." ¹⁹ For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. ²⁰ All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust."

Men are not animals - even if we choose to live like them - because God has created man in His own image.  God has put eternity in our hearts and also the ability to reason and communicate verbally as Andrew Whitworth did.  Knowing death is inevitable is one thing, but facing it with joy and peace is another thing.  I am grateful Jesus has conquered death and all who trust in Him need never fear death:  for disciples of Jesus it is not only an end but a glorious new beginning.  I am having a minor surgery Friday, and I am glad to say I am prepared to God-willing preach this coming Sunday or I have (unknown to me!) already delivered my final sermon.  It was a gnawing fear of death which convinced John Wesley he was not actually born again - despite his travelling to America as a missionary and his clean living.  What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

At the end of the day - and at a time we likely will not expect or predict - we're all going to die.  This knowledge will impact the way we live and is a healthy perspective to maintain.  Believers in Jesus have already died, and our life is hid in Christ because He is our life.  Colossians 3:1-4 says, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."  Praise the LORD for eternal life and the glorious future which is ours in Christ!

Nevertheless Obedience

"When He [Jesus] had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." ⁵ But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."

Luke 5:4-5

Peter and his fellow fisherman had toiled all night long for a catch and caught nothing.  These men were not casual fishermen who knew little but were seasoned professionals who knew the best times, the location of secret spots, and owned quality equipment to ensure success.  Over and over they cast out their nets only to pull them in completely empty.  Under the cover of darkness they moved the boat and tried again.  Empty.  Finally after fishing all night, they called it quits and headed back to shore to clean up.  They worked to wash the nets of debris and weeds which were caught in the net.  Then Jesus arrived at the water's edge and taught the people from Peter's boat.

After Jesus preached, He bid Peter to launch out and lower the nets for a catch.  Under normal circumstances, Peter wouldn't have bothered.  If he had been unsuccessful all night, how could the bright and hot conditions improve his chances?  Simon Peter reluctantly (but wisely!) answered after toiling all night and catching nothing, "Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."  Luke 5:6-7 describes what happened after Peter and his fishing buddies obeyed:  "And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. ⁷ So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink."  The primary lesson from this portion is not to make fishing in the heat of the day the pattern for success and fruitfulness, but to obey Jesus because He is the LORD.

A lot of what passes for Christian ministry consists of following programs and patterns which have been successful in the past.  How important it is to be led by Jesus as we minister unto Him!  Sometimes Jesus will have us do something which seems unlikely to be practical, effective, or fruitful, but because He directed us obedience to Him makes all the difference.  The children of Israel were commanded to daily circle Jericho silently, and on the seventh day make seven circuits around the city and shout:  it was not until they were completely obedient God wrought a great victory.  Naaman the Syrian was directed to dip seven times in the Jordan, and it was not until he rose the seventh time from the water he was healed of his leprosy.  Doing what Jesus asked seemed an exercise in futility, but it was an opportunity to exercise faith in Jesus - and for Jesus to prove His divine power and grace.

Are you willing to exercise "nevertheless" obedience - to do something where there seems little to no chance of success based on past experience - just because Jesus told you to?  When we obey God's Word as led by the Holy Spirit, God graciously moves in wonderful and miraculous ways.  We are not called to "hope for the best" or to "try and try again" but to trust and obey Jesus.  Wine was needed, and when Jesus directed the servants to fill large pots with water his mother Mary wisely said, "Whatever He says, do it."  That water was miraculously changed into the finest wine.  Those servants had likely filled plenty of pots in their day, but being directed by Jesus made the difference.  What would He have you do today?

Where's the Love?

Whilst ironing shirts yesterday I multi-tasked watching the science-fiction classic produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick:  2001: A Space Odyssey.  It is by modern sensibilities an incredibly slow film - I mean, who ever heard of beginning a movie with minutes of black screen?  Hearing the score took me back to when I took "music listening" in university (amazing, I know) and being introduced to "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss.

During this viewing I was struck with the "Dawn of Man" segment of the film.  Image after image shows a desolate, barren land.  Birds are heard and people dressed as primates portrays man's predecessors loosely according to Darwinian evolution.  I wonder if the writers of the film ever read G.K. Chesterton's book The Everlasting Man...but I digress.  These squatting, grunting, primates, fiercely protective of the scrubby plants they claimed, are supposedly our bone-swinging ancestors.  They had the sense, developed over time, to notice and take interest in a black obelisk which suddenly appeared near their cave.  I am amazed the fact all manner of life teems on this planet does not provoke the curiosity and awe today of sensible human beings.  We are a living, breathing, thinking type of obelisk created and planted on earth in the image of the God who created us, evidence we have been made by an all-powerful and intelligent being who speaks, hears, knows, and loves.

Yes, that is right:  loves.  In the film the savage primates hoot, shriek, gnaw, and kill - and man's violent tendencies and selfishness does not improve with time.  Man created computers who malfunctioned and killed, and man bent on self-preservation shut down all threats.  A purely naturalistic explanation of origins cannot explain how love arose from those violent savages who brutalised one another to the death in primitive turf battles.  The evolutionary worldview absolutely deifies and celebrates death, for it is the only path towards advancement.  And the film (honest men too) struggle under the weight there must be something or someone greater and more advanced than man to help the process along from time to time:  benevolent but distant; unknown to men but longed for; dangerous but to be pursued at great cost.

In the film scientists and doctors travelled great distances through space to examine evidence of extraterrestrial life, and the irony is God has revealed Himself in the Bible as transcendent of all space and time. His glory fills the heavens and reaches far beyond life on the earth, yet man largely remains unmoved at the revelation.  We search the heavens for evidence of life but we think very little of the life all around us.  In the film primate shouted in fear and shock at the unnatural black obelisk planted in barren soil and we blindly assume life on earth must have occurred without a thought.  Romans 1:20-23 speaks the truth exquisitely:  "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things."

Man has done amazing feats on land, under water, and in space - and not without help.  God has graciously helped us to live, think, know, and discover a great many things about this world He has made, and yet He remains to many unknown, unwanted, and unnecessary.  We deserve to be regarded as such in the light of God's glory, but He loves us with an everlasting love which reaches back before the heavens and earth were created.  When we glorify and acknowledge God for who He is we begin to lay hold of His wisdom and experience His love.  There is an irreconcilable difference between all other living creatures on earth and mankind, for God has made us in His image with a moral conscience, a will beyond instinct, and knowledge.  Jesus, the everlasting man of whom G.K. Chesterton and the Bible speaks, is irreconcilably beyond mortal men as God made flesh.  He is the source of all life, and He gives everlasting life to all who trust in Him as LORD and Saviour.  How good it is to be loved by Him!

Erring in All

God has purposes He will accomplish in countless ways.  One of these was a surprise to me:  the seemingly incompetence of government.  I am not suggesting decisions which are proved inept or foolish have God as a cause, but there is often a correlation between rebelling against God and people being afraid, confused, perverse, deluded, and deceived.

See what God said concerning Egypt before the Babylonians defeated Assyria and Egypt in Isaiah 19:12-14:  "Where are they? Where are your wise men? Let them tell you now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt. ¹³ The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also deluded Egypt, those who are the mainstay of its tribes. ¹⁴ The LORD has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst; and they have caused Egypt to err in all her work, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit."  This is not a pretty picture.  God determined to mingle and perverse spirit in Egypt, and "they" caused Egypt to "err in all her work."

Remarkable how God brought the folly of nations and rulers upon their own heads!  They would not fear God, so they would fear enemies who were mightier than they.  A drunken man staggering in his vomit is a horrendous simile of the ineptitude of the governors and advisers because of the mingled spirits in their midst.  How dependant this fate should make God's people upon Him - though we live in nations filled with confusion, perversion, and deception.  A drunk man struggles to remain alert and even balance to stand, and pride brings the same result upon perfectly sane people today.  Intoxicated with wealth, fame, and power, confusion and ineptitude reign.

How this brings to life the spiritual forces at work in the world today as spoken by Paul in Ephesians 6:10-12:  "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."  It is easy to point fingers at politicians, but who can oppose the perverse spirits of wickedness in the world without Jesus Christ?  He is the One who gives the Holy Spirit to guard, empower, and help believers.  Without God we would be completely without wisdom or discernment in the most basic details.

Praise the LORD He is good and His mercy endures forever!  There is hope for the nations and people today - not in better legislation, policies, or programs - but through the fear of God and obedience to Him.  It is not against flesh and blood we wrestle, but often against powers we cannot recognise without God's aid.  Without the wisdom and strength of God we too would err in all.  Only God provides the defence we need, the ability to walk in victory, and the light of His wisdom, love, and grace.