We looked at Jeremiah's message of sin and sickness (chapters 5-6). You remember it, don't you? The people of God turned their backs on their creator and savior, failing to practice the justice and mercy to which they had been called. Because of this failure, their world fell apart. Compassion and kindness were nowhere to be found. Their sin made them sick.
To communicate this troubling truth so that we might really own it, I tried to state Jeremiah's thought positively by arguing that holiness leads to happiness. If rebellion against God and his ways create self-inflicted wounds, then doesn't it stand to reason that holiness leads to happiness? Rest assured, I'm not talking about drunk happy, drug happy, escapism happy, TV happy, or I'm-so-bored-I-need-an-extreme-sport happy. Rather, I'm talking about a deep happiness--lasting joy, peace, emotional health, security, and freedom. This happiness comes from knowing and serving God. I know it's not a simplistic formula. We will struggle and suffer. We will be afflicted with emotional stress and pressure. Yet, in the midst of it all, we can taste a bit of God's goodness that fills our hearts with joy and places us on a more liberating path than that of sin and selfishness.
But, we often sell ourselves short. We cheat ourselves by not letting God be God in our lives. Psalm 16.4 proclaims it clearly, "The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods." Or in the words of Jeremiah, "do not follow other gods to your own harm" (7.6) When our core identity is wrapped up in something other than the security and freedom that comes from God's infinite love, we're trading in our glory for that which does not profit (cf. Jeremiah 2.5, 11, 25). To live for something other than God is to fall short of what it means to be human; it is to trade in a dollar for five cents. It is to be sorely disappointed.
Well, enough of my words . . . Listen to how others have stated this truth:
- In response to the question why did God descend to humans, Origen says it was "to implant in us the happiness which comes from knowing him."
- "My sin was this, that I looked for pleasure, beauty, and truth not in God but in myself, and in his other creatures, and the search led me instead to pain, confusion, and error." (Augustine)
- "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea." (C.S. Lewis)
In summary, perhaps we need God to give us more faith, a faith that will empower us to trust that his ways are good, that he really does love us and wants to set us free to enjoy him and his creation.
Something to ponder.
Peace.
3 comments:
The prologue elements(Deu 6:1, 6:2, 6:3) to the
SHEMA:
(Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.)
And its postpositional elements (Deu 6:7 through Deu 6:25)
ALL these verses (the whole of texts) state in the most "positive" terms the blessed benefits "WIIFM" (what's in it for me/us) of HEARING and thus following all that The Lord has commanded us.
BUT....
As you, David, state in your summary "that we need God to give us more faith, a faith that will empower us to trust that his way is good, that he really does love us and wants to set us free to enjoy Him and his creation".
This faith, as we all know, comes from HEARING with a tender heart(internalizing, saturating our being to overflowing) The Spirit imputing with power The Word of God.
Oh! how I/we fall short of HEARING and following the Word, the Law, the Testimonies, the Ordinances, the Precepts, the Fear Of The LORD. Thank you Lord for knowing us each intimately even discerning the intent of our hearts and who rewards those who HOPE in The LORD trusting in His steadfast love, mercy, counsel, with Plentious Redemption!
I have been reading about King Josiah 2 Kings - Chapter 22 and was astonished by the historical facts during his short and brilliant reign. His obedience to the HEARING of The Book of The Law that had been discovered by Hilkiah the priest in the repairing of the Temple. This Book had been lost and therefore not been read for many years! Josiah's horror of Israels disobedience to God's Bar of Justice. His leadership in turning the faces of Israel toward God in repentance.
ie. 2Ki 23:21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as [it is] written in the book of this covenant. 2Ki 23:22 Surely there has not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah. 2Ki 23:23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josia, [wherein]this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
His actions in making a stand for the LORD and the spiritual results. (Slayed all the priests of the high places, Put away workers with familiar spirits, wizards, images, and idols and all the abominations.) that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
The bitter consequences of Israels neglect and prolonged disobedience to God's Law. And judgement for the people of Israel destined, by God, to experience the Exile.
2Ki 23:25 reveals "And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to ALL the law of Moses; neither after him arose there [any] like him."
2Ki 22:2 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
2Ki 22:19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou HEARDEST what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have HEARD [thee], saith the LORD.
(HEARING IS A TWO WAY STREET)
2Ki 22:20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
HEAR dear ones! Keep our hearts tender. Spirit melt our hardness. Spirit crack our shells. Spirit Heal our wounds. Create in us newness of Life fed moment by moment by your tender hand.
Rest in his Loving Grace.
Good words, Scott. I think it's worth exploring the spirituality of just hearing. It's not an accident that the shema begins with HEAR! What I hear, when I hear that word is make some room, carve out some space, be quiet, lean in, listen, and open up your life to me!
AMEN!
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