What Do YOU Say?

Here’s the Internet headline….

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear “Muhammad.”

Now of course there are two immediate observations about this whole fiasco. One, if this kind of thing took place in the U.S. with an American teacher in an American school the press would be having a field day, demonstrations would be many, and most would be screaming for a public apology and asking for the teacher’s resignation. In Sudan, they have a simple solution – kill her.  Well, the “radicals” that is. Everyone else of common sense says the Sudanese court has overreacted and this whole thing has been blown out of proportion.

However, if you look at the Pentateuch and how they dealt with idolatry, or someone who defamed the name of God. Once it was determined that the charge was accurate, that the person really did name the bear “Yahweh”, they would take them out and stone them to death. “So shall you purge the evil from your midst.” (Deut. 13) Of course God has changed his approach since then and we have become much more civilized and morally conscientious. We do not stone people and we do not get very indignant when people impugn the name of God, any god really.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. After all, I am sure it is just a big misunderstanding. How could anyone – especially a teacher — think that, being in an Islamic country, teaching Islamic children, in a country steeped in the Muslim faith, naming a teddy bear after their god would offend anyone?

Go figure?!

A Poem to Share

This poem is one I from a writers forum. It was a winning poem in a recent “contest” for a theme on preaching. I thought folks might enjoy it as much as I did.

Alvin Josiah MacRaney III
was in ministry up to his eyes.
He gave to the needy, encouraged the weak,
and responded to many souls’ cries.

MacRaney was part of a family of preachers;
the pulpit was part of their lore.
He learned the importance of loving the brethren
from his father and grandpa before.

Dear Alvin was praised by his plentiful flock
for the blessings he oft gave away.
They often sat speechless, in bounteous thanks
for the many he’d lift when he’d pray.

But MacRaney’s great passion – and his congregants’, too
was his preaching of God’s holy Word.
His pastoral fervor and “gift of the gab”
were obvious to all those who heard.

“Repent! The Lord loves you,” was his pulpit refrain.
“Each person’s a great big fat sinner.
If you do your part and let Christ in your heart,
then God will see you as a winner.”

He’d flip through his bible, taking copious notes
(that no one but Alvin could read),
extracting the wisdom he’d share with the folks
whose souls he was aiming to feed.

He shared the Word boldly with those of his flock
and closed with a rousing “Amen.”
He then put his congregants back in the toy box
and napped until “church time” again.

A Poem by Joanne Sher  Copyright 2007

The God of the Old Testament

For most of my Christian life the Old Testament has been my favorite portion of the Bible. I am not certain whether it is because it is the section most neglected by others, or because early on in my education I became fascinated with the Hebrew language and it was a logical connection. I don’t recall much of my Hebrew anymore but I cling to my interest in the OT.

Currently I am reading through the Bible again and I am in the “Law” section, in the book of Deuteronomy. At the same time I am working on an article regarding the immutability of God. It has been my contention for some time that God does indeed change His mind. That does not necessarily mean His character changes, it simply means He makes a new decision regarding some one or some thing. A majority of people really get uncomfortable with that.

This is not the venue for the detail of the article, or for a discussion of the issue necessarily, although I welcome your comments. Suffice it to say, there is one particular issue which presents a rather strong case in favor of flexibility in God’s immutability.

The issue is moral development. If mankind’s moral conscience changes so that things that were right during biblical times are now deemed reprehensible by today’s moral standards and Christian principles,  who or what changed?  *******

Getting back to the OT. It really is a wonderful ‘book”. So rich in language and word pictures. Alive with God’s interaction with His people in ways we do not see in the NT. There are times when I regret that people often make the Old Testament merely a springboard to the New, although I understand the thinking. Nevertheless, it is so much more.

God bless the reading of His word and the thought we give to what we read.

The Puzzle

Life is lived in tension. There is the “what is” and the “what will be”. The known and the unknown. The now and the then. Not always opposites, but often complimentary components sometimes pulling us, sometimes pushing us, but always stretching us. Occasionally seasoned by the past, but most often stilted by it.

It is like a giant puzzle. We know all the pieces are there but we do not have the cover of the box so we have no idea what the final picture should look like. Consequently, we struggle to see in our mind’s eye what, for all intents and purposes, cannot be seen except one piece at a time. So often we find ourselves frantically looking for the next piece, knowing that if we find it, it will get us that much  closer to the next, and the next and the next.

The Bible is God’s puzzle. Unlike our life, we have the cover of the box for this one. We know what the “final picture” looks like. So in many ways we can piece together a fairly cohesive picture of things, like the character of God for example. Many, who have come before us, have done so in a variety of ways and use a variety of terms to describe Him; omniscient, omnipresent, loving, patient, merciful, immutable, invisible, sovereign, etc.

What strikes me as unusual, is that most descriptions will seldom include any attributes that might be considered negative characteristics. For example: jealous, vengeful, flexible, impatient.  Consequently, there is a rather distorted picture of God. One that is not fully functional or fully formed. It certainly fits with what many people want Him to look like or act like, but it does not necessarily fit with how the Bible describes Him. Which is uncomfortable for some. I am not sure why, since we have the cover of the box and know what the final picture looks like, but it does.

As I continue to think about this, it could explain why so many people avoid the Old Testament. It may not be because that they do not like the genealogies, dietary instructions and laws, it may simply be, they do not like what they read about God. 

I guess half a box top is better than no box top at all when it comes to puzzles.

Thanksgiving

Another one has come and gone. But the spirit of “thanksgiving” is something that in all actuality might be best expressed on a  daily basis. At least for some of us.

My wife and I enjoy watching “The Great American Race” on television Sunday evenings. Most recent episodes have been located in Africa. Whether by design or not, the contestants have been in some of the poorest areas in the country – not the worst – but the poorest. Watching their reactions and gauging my own, has reminded me that I have a great deal to be thankful for.

I do not have to select my food from an open market and swat the flies away before selecting my fish. I do not have to walk through open sewers or garbage in the streets to get to my home or the neighbors home, if you would call those shanties “homes”.  I don’t have to barter goats or chickens, or travel by bicycle or squeeze my way onto a broken down bus, or cook on an open fire, or worry about the roof leaking when it rains, or….

Yes, I have a great deal to be thankful for. But where or to whom, do I direct my thanks?

• Is it because my ancestors made it to America and theirs did not
• Is it because my government is better than theirs
• My “job” more profitable than theirs
• Our economy more prosperous
• I am blessed and they are cursed – (they are the ones that always seem to be smiling)

Of course, they are on one continent and I am on another, so some of this whole thing is a result of pure circumstance and indeed ancestry. Nevertheless, when I look at their circumstances and I look at mine, I want to say “thank you”. 

As a theist, I can say “thank you” and my you is directed to God. But if it were an agnostic or an atheist, who or what do they thank. Perhaps their “you” is directed toward Darwin or some great thinker of the past.  Perhaps it is directed inward. Perhaps their thanksgiving is a thanks to the forces of random chance. Or do they simply say “thanks” and let it go at that? 

“Thanks” is a word that cries out for a noun or a pronoun. Whether we voice it or simply think it, I suspect everyone assigns something to it.  Nevertheless, I give thanks.