A few of us were recently discussing the probability of the universe coming together by chance. Musing on this I asked, ‘I wonder what proportion of eminent scientists who say we exist by chance purchase lottery tickets?’
William Lane Craig in chapter 2 of his Reasonable Faith (1994) points out that This is a wager that all men must make—the game is in progress and a bet must be laid. There is no option: you have already joined the game…’
‘The choice should be made pragmatically in terms of maximizing one’s happiness,’ Craig notes Pascal saying. ‘If one wagers that God exists and he does, one has gained eternal life and infinite happiness. If he does not exist, one has lost nothing. On the other hand, if one wagers that God does not exist and he does, then one has suffered infinite loss. If he does not in fact exist, then one has gained nothing. Hence, the only prudent choice is to believe that God exists.’
In the last section of Luke 12 we read Jesus’ words about God’s impending judgment. Some who were listening to him asked him about an atrocity committed by Pilate. Apparently he had mingled the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices (13:1), perhaps at Passover time. Jesus’ answer is clear but his words are tough: “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did…” (13:2-3).
Jesus is saying, ‘You are all guilty before God and justly deserving death. Be warned: men and women are out of step with their Maker’. Every earthquake and flood, every conflict and war is testimony to that. Life is unpredictable and temporary. We need to wake up to this and turn back to God while we have time. One day there will be a world without pain, but it will have to be a world without sin.
CHOICES
Jesus tells us that the choice we have is not only difficult but vital. To underline his point he told a parable about decisions gardeners have to make at times – to get rid of unproductive trees or to wait and see. Wise gardeners wait. They feed a plant, prune it and fertilize it. Only when it fails to respond do they pull it out: “Let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down” (13:8-9).
Our family experienced this back in the 1980s when a couple of large eucalyptus trees, growing on land adjacent to our house, were apparently dying as the result of prolonged drought. I began watering around the roots, setting up sprinklers every evening. Gradually, as the water soaked into the ground and was absorbed by the roots, the trees regenerated and produced new growth.
There are times when we are tempted to think that Jesus will never return. But we should not confuse ‘patience’ with ‘indifference’. The fact that God does not intervene in a situation of injustice does not mean he is indifferent. Rather, as we read in 2 Peter 3:8-9, he is being patient.
ETERNITY
For many of his hearers that day, there were two critical events that would touch their lives – the first, his crucifixion and resurrection; the second, the fall of Jerusalem (see also 13:34-35; 19:41-44).
Jesus is saying that a third crisis is yet to come which will affect the whole world. For centuries the Jewish people had been waiting for the dawn of the age of the Messiah. ‘Well,’ says Jesus, ‘it is here; you are standing on the threshold of the new age, the edge of eternity.’
Jesus asks us the same question today: ‘How is it that you do not see the signs of the times in which you live?’ None of us can predict the future, but we can know for sure that one day Jesus will come again – it will be truly ‘the return of the king’. The second ‘coming’ will be very different from his first, for it will not be a hidden event seen only by a few, but will come with great fanfare and seen by everyone.
If we are tempted to doubt Jesus’ words we should note that the first two of his predictions have occurred! The probability of his third prediction happening is extraordinarily high.
Life can be so messy. Why doesn’t God step in now and bring to justice the perpetrators of wars, injustice and evil? These are real questions for us and for people we know.
SEASON OF ADVENT
The season of Advent is a good time to reflect on Jesus’ words about a day of reckoning (Luke 12:35-48). “You must also be ready, for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour,” he says (Luke 12:40). And, “…From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded,” we read in Luke 12:48.
Two metaphors speak of an end-of-time day.The first is a picture of a wealthy man away from home at an important wedding. The man’s servants, Jesus says, must be ready for his return no matter how late the hour: “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him when he comes and knocks” (12:35-36).
The second is a picture of a homeowner whose mud-brick house is broken into (12:39). ‘The thief could not get away with his crime,’ Jesus says, ‘unless he had chosen an hour when he caught the homeowner unawares; if the owner had known, he would have taken precautions.’ Watchfulness is the overriding theme.
While some debate the precise reference of ‘the coming’ to which Jesus referred, either his death and resurrection, or his coming in glory, the dominating theme is the latter. With Jesus’ return, God’s judgment will be complete. Jesus’ words about justice and the temporary nature of wealth and possessions about which he has just spoken (Luke 12:1-12 and 12:13-34), will be shown to be all too true.
The two word pictures suggest three elements to the timing of his coming. It is imminent,the master could return at any time; there is delay, the master seems to be taking his time. We see this in 12:38 where Jesus said that it may be the second or the third watch in the night, that is, the early hours of the morning, when the master returns. And there is a third element: it will come as a surprise. In 12:39 the householder does not know when the thief will come.
It’s easy to miss the force of these pictures. Jesus is saying we need to live with the tension of imminence and delay. In the same way the servants needed to be ready for the return of their master – which could happen at any moment – we need to be ready for the return of Jesus.
Our problem is that we tend to ignore this reality. After all, two thousand years have come and gone and nothing has happened. We let ourselves drift into spiritual complacency. Yes, some who claim to follow Jesus Christ are constantly looking for signs. Some even set a date and, as occurred in May 2011, dispose of all their material possessions. But they ignore Jesus’ words: ‘When the day comes, it will come as a surprise. You won’t know when to expect it.’
Jesus wants us to balance the elements of imminence and delay. We make a serious mistake if we think we know the time of his return. Jesus said that not even he knew the time (Matthew 24:36).
ANGLICAN ADVENT
In this mean-time we need to get on with life, going to school or work, keeping on top of our expenses, and living in a way that reflects the reality of our relationship with Jesus. The return of the king will surprise us all. So we need to live with the expectation of it in our hearts.
And with that expectation we can be comforted with the assurance that justice will be done – all wrongs will be perfectly addressed. The question is, ‘Are we ready?’ for we too will be called to account. (1)
Note 1: My ‘Word’ this week is adapted from my commentary, Luke – An Unexpected God, Aquila, 2012, p.183f
Throughout this week, ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ will echo across the land from New York to San Francisco. The principle of ‘Thanksgiving’ has its origins in a non-sectarian expression of ‘thanks’ to a loving, merciful and generous God.
While Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations are usually related to a special moment in the American story – as when Presidents Washington, Adams, and Lincoln made their Proclamations – the principle of a day of Thanksgiving continues. For example, in 1789 the first President, George Washington commended that a Day of Thanksgiving be held on Thursday, November 26 of that year. Thanksgiving this year (2015) again falls on November 26.
Washington’s 1789 Proclamation stated: Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:
When we think about it, Thanksgiving is a very Judaeo-Christian theme, for we find it both in the ‘Law, the Prophets and the Writings’ (Old Testament) as well as in the New Testament.
The Book of Psalms, bubbles throughout with the theme of Thanksgiving, often setting this in the context of God’s goodness in forming the creation, and his mercy towards his people even when they fell away from their wholehearted commitment to him.
For example in the opening lines of Psalm 103 we read: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Ps. 103:1-5).
What is interesting here is that King David, the song-writer, is not talking to God as he usually does in his songs or psalms. He is talking to himself – to his soul. In fact he continues a conversation with himself through the first five verses.
BACKSLIDING INTO THANKLESSNESS
He is telling himself things he knew he needed to hear. He knew enough about himself to realize that he could slide into being a thankless man of God. And so it is, as he considers afresh who God is and what he has done for him, he reflects on the goodness of God. He identifies God’s many blessings, lest in times of disappointment or backsliding he forgets the source of his prosperity and success and take God’s grace for granted.
It’s an exhortation we all need to hear. We ought to treat God with great honor, for He is so good to us in a thousand different ways. He is never over-indulgent. He disciplines us when we need it, and, for our good he doesn’t give us everything we want when we want it. Yet his kindness is vast – often giving us unexpected good things.
The sad reality is that most of us simply forget to thank God for all his goodness. We take it all for granted. Like nine of the ten lepers Jesus once healed, we don’t even offer one word of thanks.
Paul the Apostle in the New Testament urges us to pray with a sense of thankfulness in our hearts: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God…(Philippians 4:5-6).
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Ps. 103:1-5).
The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer so many of us have known since childhood. Because it is so familiar to us, do we see what a big, exciting prayer it actually is? A prayer for the honour of God’s name and the triumph of his cause; looking to the great day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’.
But the prayer also acknowledges that God’s kingdom has not fully come. We await the day of the return of the king. And while we wait, are to pray for our present situation: ‘Give us today our daily bread’ or, ‘Give us today the bread of tomorrow,’ we pray. Daily breadmeans food for our physical bodies but also food for our souls.
But notice, there is something else we need to pray for – forgiveness. “Forgive us our sins or, trespasses, as we forgive those who sin against us,” Jesus taught (Matthew 6:12).
AM I STILL WITHHOLDING FORGIVENESS?
Have you ever paused at these words and reflected: ‘Who haven’t I forgiven?’ And then someone comes to mind. What do you do with thought?
There is a sting here, for Jesus is saying that if we expect God to forgive us, we need to know deep down that we have forgiven those who have wronged us.
And in case we miss the point in the prayer, we can’t easily overlook Jesus comment in Matthew 6:14: ‘For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.’
Chilling words! If we are not willing to hold out forgiveness to others, God will not forgive us. In Colossians 3:13 Paul the Apostle puts it this way: Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgives you (Colossians 3:14).
God has every reason to be hostile towards us. In our natural state we are his enemies. We flout his law, and we ignore him. But what has God done? When Christ died on the cross he took into himself the pain that we caused. If God has been willing to make that kind of sacrifice for us, shouldn’t we also be prepared to find it in our hearts to forgive those who have wronged us?
It is said a friend once reminded Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, of a particularly cruel thing someone had done to her. Clara Barton didn’t seem to remember it. ‘But you must,’ her friend said. ‘No’, was the reply, ‘I distinctly remember forgetting it.’
To hold out forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation. For in the same way we need to turn to Jesus Christ with an honest, repentant spirit, so anyone who has wronged us also needs to repent. It’s true in church, in a marriage, in a family, and the community.
WILLING HEARTS
But the starting point needs to be a change of heart within us – a willingness to forgive. Forgive as the Lord forgave you, says Paul. Put on love which binds you all together. Paul knew how easy it is for us to be divided. He knows the corrosive effect of wounded feelings. But he also knows of one force that can heal and enable us to grow into maturity – Love.
Love is patient and kind, he writes in 1 Corinthians 13. Love does not insist on its own way.
Love is not irritable or resentful. Love bears all things, endures all things, and hopes all things. Love is optimistic. The idea of division and resentment is too painful where love operates. ‘Put on love,’ he says. ‘It is like a supernatural glue.’
This is where God’s people, as individuals and in our churches, should be so different from the culture. The New Testament insists that the church is the one place where the ethics of heaven ought to prevail — the ethics of love and mercy, of loving our enemies, of being reconciled with one another rather than taking revenge or personal retribution. God expects us to go the way of grace rather than demanding strict justice. As God’s people we should be able to function on the principle of turning the other cheek.
Consider those who have wronged you – those you resent and feel angry towards. ‘Pray about your attitude,’ says Paul. Can you forgive them? Do you care for them? Above all will you love them?
In Albert Camus’ play, Caligula, the Emperor Caligula said: “This world has no importance and whoever recognizes that wins his freedom. And that’s just it—I hate you because you are bound. I alone am free. Rejoice, for you finally have an emperor to teach you freedom…”
Did the Roman Emperor Caligula represent true freedom? History tells us that he used his power in extravagant self-indulgence, no matter how cruel, how disgusting, how insane.
RESTRAINT
In every age many have defined freedom in similar terms. They view it as the ability to do whatever you want, without any external restraints. For the terrorist it means putting your own stamp on the world. For the capitalist it means freedom from market controls. For the hedonist it means the license to explore a multiplicity of sexual partners.
Camus’ Caligula seemed to be able to do anything. But was he really free? As the play concludes we see Caligula facing his murderers with these words: I have chosen a wrong path, a path that leads to nothing. My freedom isn’t the right one…. Oh, how oppressive is this darkness!
As many have observed, ‘Freedom is not the absence from all constraint, but submission to right constraints.’ Where then can true freedom be found?
In Matthew 11:28-30 we read Jesus’ words: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. And in Galatians 5:1 Paul the Apostle says, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
HOW THEN SHALL I LIVE?
As Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount unfolds we discover the highest ethical standard ever set. Live out these words, and most people are agreed that we will find freedom. As we plumb Jesus’ teaching we see he is not simply setting out a list of do’s and don’ts. His words go to the heart of our lives – our attitudes and values, not just our words and actions.
So, in Matthew 5:21 we read:“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.”
The command, ‘You shall not murder’ is the sixth of the Ten Commandments. To bring anyone who commits murder to a court of law and consequent judgment is written into another part of the Mosaic Law. But consider what Jesus goes on to say: “But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment (5:22).
Usually hatred and anger are emotions that lie behind the act of murder. Here Jesus is saying that our thoughts of hatred and anger issues are a problem. He is speaking not just about the act of murder but the harboring of murderous thoughts against others. All are subject to judgment.
And not content to stop there, he continues: “If you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.
If anger is forbidden so is contempt. ‘Raca’ is an Aramaic expression meaning ‘empty’. We could translate the word, ‘fool’ or ‘idiot’. Harboring such attitudes towards others leads to judgment. The ‘Valley of Hinnom’ is where perpetual fires burned the refuse of Jerusalem. What a striking metaphor for the eternal separation from God and from all that is true and good.
We may not literally have blood on our hands, but what about those thoughts we have or the words we say when someone blocks our plans and aspirations? ‘Get out of my way…’ Or what about those times of family argument when we storm out, slamming the door?
Jesus’ words take us behind the simple meaning of ‘murder’ to the deeper meaning of the commandment – anger issues. Judgment that we reckon to be reserved for the literal murderer also hangs over those who are angry, bitter and contemptuous. Who is not guilty?
IF I HAVE ANGER ISSUES, WHERE DO I START?
The starting point to finding true freedom is to turn afresh to Jesus’ words. None of us lives up to his standards. We need to cry out for mercy and for the inner strength to live his way.
We live in a culture where attitudes and behavior are increasingly shaped by political correctness. If we don’t conform we are marginalized. It is an outcome of society’s rejection of God.
The Greek philosopher Protagoras and the modern-day Carl Sagan both insist there is no God. We are alone in a vast universe. It’s a scary yet exciting idea. It offers us a freedom to think and do what we want, for there is no final accountability.
So, someone wanting a million dollars will decide to rip off a bank, a company, the government – without getting caught. Still others, experiencing an unwanted pregnancy see termination to be the solution. Others, finding themselves in a marriage that is coming apart, view divorce as the only option. Because there is no external moral order, we can shape our lives as we want.
GOSPEL FREEDOM
Centuries ago when there was the same desire for ‘freedom’, Jesus said: “I have not come to abolish the law and the commandments, but to fulfill them”(Matthew 5:17).
Matthew uses the word ‘fulfill’ in the first four chapters of his gospel to make it plain that Jesus fulfills a range of Old Testament prophecies. In chapter 1 an angel points out to Joseph that everything about Jesus’ birth was to ‘fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet’. The same idea is echoed in the following chapters.
Jesus was saying that everything in the Old Testament points to him. He was not working against the law and the prophets. Rather he was bringing them to fruition. Far from being abolished by him, they find their continuity in the way they are worked out in him.
Imagine that all the law and the prophets are like light waves. They are traveling towards the same focal point – Jesus. Having reached the focal point, the light waves are now filtered: some come to an end; others are given a new shape; still others continue on just as they were.
So, the specific laws concerning sacrifice for sin are now perfectly fulfilled. Jesus’ death was the one, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for human sin. The legal principle of the need for a sacrifice for sin continues, but there is now no longer any need for further sacrifices for sin.
WHAT IS EXPECTED
Furthermore, the specific laws concerning our relationship with God and with one another – the Ten Commandments – also find their fulfillment in Jesus. However, the requirements of those laws continue. For Jesus, in setting out the commands of the kingdom, gives us insight into the meaning and practice of the Ten Commandments. He expects us to live them out.
So we read in 5:19: “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” What we might call ‘gospel freedom’, is not the license to do as we want, but the liberty to do as we ought – defined by Jesus.
Jesus has become the lens through which we view the Old Testament. What he teaches about the law has now become the requirement of the kingdom. He is God’s king instructing us how to live. His teaching includes all that he has been saying about our mind-set and behavior in the Beatitudes. It includes what he has yet to say about murder, about adultery, about love, about prayer and possessions, about self-righteousness and hypocrisy.
Jesus gives us clear instruction as to how the law, which will not pass away, is to be understood and applied. His words are not a sentimental do-goodism. He is forthright, clear and punchy! The standards of goodness he expects of those who want to follow him are high.
We won’t reach God’s standards in this life. However, Jesus expects us by his grace and through the power of his resurrection, to work towards them. He wants the expectation of the new heaven and the new earth which he holds out to us, to be shaping our lives now.
