Panda

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8

There was a news item earlier in the week about a panda cub that died in captivity at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.  A fact about the death took me by surprise.  No, its not what you think – I understand Pandas are threatened and very difficult to propagate in captivity (or anywhere else, apparently). What surprised me was that they called the Panda a ‘bear.’  A bear?  Really?

When I took college biology 345 years ago, Pandas were classified as sloths.  We were especially told that they were not bears, and that calling them ‘Panda Bears’ was a complete misnomer. Except suddenly I discover in 2012, after all, Pandas are indeed bears.  They are not sloths.  I am crushed.

I get a little kick out of people that insist that science is the only way and the only truth that there is to be found out there.  Not that I am anti-science, I enjoy studying botany, and had I not gotten a D in high school chemistry, I’m certain I’d be a geologist by now.  But.  Science changes.  Things that were taught as scientific facts when I was young (345 years ago) are no longer facts.  The reality is that most science is basically theory that is taught as fact.  Even before I became a Christian, I used to challenge my biology teacher about his teaching theory as fact.  Oh how I would love to find him now and rag on him about the Pandas.

My point is not to downplay science, but to just point out that science, as neat and explanatory as it may seem to be, is mostly theory.  And theory changes.

Scripture says that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Jesus is something that has not changed since the beginning (big bang anyone?) of time (visit John 1:1).  You can count on Jesus being the same Savior now as when you were a child.  And he’ll be the same as we drift  into old age, 345 years from now.  The fact that the very Son of God came, lived, went to the cross and rose from the dead, was a basic summary of the belief of the early church; it remains the basic belief of the contemporary church today.  Jesus is what you  can count on every day, at any moment.

And Pandas…well, I’m not so sure.  Just bear with it.

Peace

 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  - Hebrews 10:30-31

Wait a minute!  Just when I’m thinking that our God is just a love and grace producing machine…I run into a verse like this.  Sobering, but truthful.  No one can love anything unless you know –and experience the opposite.  God is love, but God is just. 

My current favorite Christian thinker, Tim Keller, would remind us that verse like this is what makes Christianity such a peaceful faith.  When we’ve been wronged, we will count on the justice and vengeance of our God, and not the justice, vengeance and anger that we can harbor.  That is why you’re generally unlikely to see followers and trusters in Christ rioting and taking angry vengeance when there is a movie or cartoon that is seen as insulting to our faith.  There will be vengeance, but God will have that final word. As for us, we’re just likely to sigh and think, “Again?”

Isaiah 9:6 calls the Messiah “The Prince of Peace” for a reason.  He is.  But that descriptor includes justice.  His.  Rest in that friends. Peace. Out.

Confidence

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36

What do you have confidence in?  If you are like me, we have confidence in a lot of different things.  I’m confident that my car will get me to the church this morning; I’m confident I’m prepared enough that the funeral I’m officiating this morning will go well.  I’m confident that today is going to be another beautiful fall day in southwest Pennsylvania.

Confidence.

The writer of Hebrews has to remind his readers not to “throw away your confidence….”  Which gets to a point that may be a little hard to see, especially if we have much confidence.  Because we can have confidence in the wrong things, and in doing so we lose confidence in the one right thing.

Even as a pastor I battle this.  My days frequently are busy, perhaps too busy.  In my busyness, I rely (have confidence) on things (cars, personal preparation, weather) that can supplant the one thing I need to always have confidence in.

Jesus.

The passage says that we remain in his confidence, we will be “richly rewarded.”  So as we start a new week –where is your confidence?  Where is mine?  May it be in the One, who knit you together in your mother’s womb.  May it be in the One who wants to give you “what he has promised.”

Jesus.  And be confident.

Happy Birthday

Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many - Proverbs 4:10

I mentioned several weeks ago that I am getting old.  As I consider another birthday, it is hard to imagine that I am on the slide towards 60 years.  How in the, uh, world, did this happen?  Just yesterday I was 21 years young and wondering how life was going to turn out.  Now, I’ve been retired from my first career for over 12 years and have been in full time vocational ministry since.  Guess I’m still wondering how it’s going to turn out in a sense.

I just need to thank the Lord for the years he has given me.   They have been many. And maybe I’m just fooling myself, but I can’t shake the feeling that the best is yet come.  Although I’ve  always felt that way.  But the feeling that the best ministry yet is just around the corner pervades. Being a Christ follower and truster always assumes that great things are coming. Something about the temporal momentary troubles of life paling in the light of eternity. (visit 2 Cor. 4:16-18)

This I know.  I had a birthday some 32 and a half years ago that sealed my fate.  The Bible calls it being born again.  I call it living life with a purpose and having a future that is secure.  No matter how many or few years the Lord gives.  The best is yet to come.  I pray you can see that in your life too.

Happy birthday!

Bite My Tongue

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” - Ephesians 4:29

Well. Ahem. The apostle Paul is calling out some church members for their words. What I don’t understand is that when I read the apostle Paul, it feels as if he is speaking directly to me.

Let me paraphrase what Paul is saying: “If what you have to say isn’t helpful – bite your tongue. But if you have something helpful to say in a certain situation, go ahead.

Sounds like common sense. Interesting that Paul has to remind his readers – me – to use common sense. I guess being a believer and truster in Christ doesn’t always mean that I have to share every last thought that comes to mind. Nor does it always mean that I am to have the last word in everything. Oh, how I wish political candidates would follow what is written here. Then they would surely…. Oh, there I go again.

Bit my tongue….