After-Birth Abortions

I recently read a disturbing article in the UK Telegraph. You can find the link below.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9113394/Killing-babies-no-different-from-abortion-experts-say.html

This article is from a couple of medical ethicists associated with Oxford University. Their premise is that since newborn babies are “morally irrelevant” that ending their lives is no different than aborting these babies while they are in utero. 

They argued: “The moral status of an infant is equivalent to that of a fetus in the sense that both lack those properties that justify the attribution of a right to life to an individual.” Rather than being “actual persons”, newborns were “potential persons”. They explained: “Both a fetus and a newborn certainly are human beings and potential persons, but neither is a ‘person’ in the sense of ‘subject of a moral right to life’.”

 “We take ‘person’ to mean an individual who is capable of attributing to her own existence some (at least) basic value such that being deprived of this existence represents a loss to her.”

Now I understand the need to debate beliefs to determine what society believes but this seems to be seems to be similar to arguments used by the discredited German ethicists during the 1930s and 40s. Revisiting flawed and failed policies of the past seems to be a recipe for repeated failure in the present or the future.

Unfortunately, some well meaning people have threatened to kill the authors of the article. While this might sound ironically appealing to some, it lowers our moral position down to a similar level that they are on. We who claim to love life are willing to take a life because someone disagrees with our belief system. People who are only discussing an opinion, people who have not acted out their suggestion are threatened with death. Hummm sound suspiciously like conquerors who demand of the defeated “convert or die.” Very high moral ground to stand on, isn’t it?

So as a follower of Jesus what should our reaction to this discussion be?

First, Jesus is interested in children as seen in Matthew 19:14 where He says “Let the little children come to me.” The fact that he encourages the littlest ones to join him says that they matter to Him and to God the Father.

Second, God through the Psalmist tells us that God is intimately involved in the creation of a person while in the womb.

¹³ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV)

When one looks at a DNA helix one can see how the writer with poetic license could say that we are knit together. And remember this was written 1000s of years prior to mankind discovering DNA!

God knows all and has recorded not only our past but also our present and future in His book. Prewritten prior to our creation. This would indicate that not only does God care about people who are persons (according the journal article) but that he cares about us and knows our potential long before we are “viable humans!”

So glad I was not only fearfully but also wonderfully made…exactly the way God intended!

Pastor Val

Getting Even Pt 4 (Giving When the Going Gets Tough)

My final post on Getting Even is based on Matthew 5:42

⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Matthew 5:38-42 (NIV)

This admonishment of Jesus seems to be best understood two ways: first we are commanded to live open-handedly and second we are commanded to be willing to give or lend to those who persecute us but to treat it as a gift.

Yeah I admit I’m not real crazy about that second one either – but more on that in a bit!

If Matthew’s fourth example deals with the request of the beggar, then the called-for openhandedness is in line with the long Jewish tradition of almsgiving. There is no precise definition for this kind of behavior that is called for, but, as with the other examples, it involves responding appropriately to an initiative taken by another.

Here there is a request apparently from a person of poor means or the second tier from the bottom when a loan is requested. In this instance it is no longer a matter of response to mistreatment, or even to forced conduct, but a straightforward request for help. This teaching seems to relate to the Pentateuch’s teaching on generous living.

⁷ If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.
⁸ Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8 (NIV)

Jesus calls his followers to give to those who ask and not turn away from those who would borrow. He presumes that the needs are genuine and commands us not to ignore them, but he does not specifically mandate how best we can help. As Augustine stated in his comments on this passage “give to everyone that asks,” and not “give everything to him that asks.”

Now if you are like me you are wondering, “Does this mean we are to give to every freeloader and panhandler who comes our way?” I do not think so. If we practiced this we would not be good stewards of God’s funds. People could abuse our generosity and we could even end up bankrupt. Jesus is not recommending that his followers give to every open hand, though, of course, he calls us all to deep generosity.

What then does he mean? This is where we seem to come to the second meaning I suggested at the beginning of this blog. Jesus means that the righteous are to give to those who are attempting to hurt them through borrowing. Luke refers to this kind of persecution when he says,

³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back

Luke 6:35

To understand this second possible meaning I think that Jesus’ advise is for a specific situation in which the persecutor is demanding a loan with no intention to repay. Jesus never says how many times one is to loan to his persecutors. Nor does he mention the restraint that love will impose on one’s generosity. As Alexander Maclaren (a British pastor of renown in the 19^th and early 20^th century) wisely said:

If turning the cheek would make the assaulter more angry, or if yielding the cloak would make the legal robber more greedy, or going the second mile would but make the press gang more severe and exacting, resistance becomes a form of love and duty for the sake of the wrongdoer.

Jesus’ advice is not a set of mechanical rules, but rather principles for addressing personal wrongs that come to those who follow him. In the matter of loaning, the Lord wants his followers to reject being tightfisted, and penny-pinching. Instead of saying, “This is mine and I’ll never share it!” why not say, “Lord how should I respond to this request, this need?” Will honoring this request bring you glory or advance your Kingdom?

I have to say that some of Jesus’ teachings are hard to live out. I always find it interesting that many Bible literalists struggle with teaching and living out Jesus clear literal teachings. It is something that I struggle with as well. And yet if we are going to be fully devoted followers of Jesus – we must live out our lives in obedience to His commands and not our predisposed interpretations of His teachings.

Still trying to pry my hand open

Pastor Val

Getting Even Pt 3 (Going the Extra Mile)

⁴¹ If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 

Matthew 5:41 (NIV)

The issue addressed here is one of compelled service. For more than 600 years dating back to the Persians the idea of compulsory service has been reality of life for many people throughout the Middle east of the time.  We have no specific knowledge of the forms in which this was practiced in Roman Palestine, but since Persian times impressing people and animals without notice for temporary service to the authorities had been customary and legal; the practice has been well documented. The Persians were the first to create a kind of Pony Express in which the mail-carrying rider simply “borrowed” horses along the way.

The hostility that the 1^st Century Jews had for their Roman masters made this even more distasteful. Whenever a Roman official or soldier could ask (compel) anyone within the Empire to carry a burden a mile, that person had to do it regardless of who he was or what the circumstances were. Almost all Jews had been subject to this, and they hated the very mention of it. It is suggested that this compulsory service was the reason behind Simon of Cyrene being forced to carry Jesus cross to Golgotha.

 This recommendation to generously and ungrudgingly comply with this law would have the power to turn an exaction into genuine public service, that was generously given to a representative of the government who has ‘need’ of it. Compulsory and often unpaid or poorly paid public service has not been uncommon in America. Think the draft that has plagued us as far back as the mid 1800’s. The Israelis require a couple of years of compulsory armed service and the Swiss do something similar. With tax season quickly coming upon us a case could be made for taxes being a form of compulsory service.

Does this mean that Jesus is endorsing the practice of impressments? No. In a situation in which changing the rules is not a possibility, the proposed response will have the capacity of turning the nature of the transaction from one in which both parties felt worse about each other after the encounter to one in which positive human interaction might become possible.

So how should we react when forced to serve our country? Well if we can’t affect a change via the polling booth we need to comply with good grace.

It has been suggested that this choice to rejoice even in the midst of discomfort, displeasure and duress was effective in the Gospel sweeping across the Roman Empire and ultimately bringing about the Christianizing of the Empire.

Learning to go the extra mile and liking it!

Pastor Val

Getting Even Pt 2 (Coals of Fire)

In my last blog I discussed living like Jesus who resisted the temptation to retaliate against his enemies. We specifically looked at His teaching from Matthew 5:38-ff.

In this blog I want to continue looking at this passage from Jesus most famous of sermons the “Sermon on the Mount.”

⁴⁰ And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Matthew 5:40 (NIV)

 In this teaching it is easy to conclude several things. One there is a case against the defendant. Two, since the suit is seeking the person’s tunic we can assume the defendant presumably poor. Obviously if the defendant had more possessions the plaintiff would ask for something more substantial. Three notice that the suit does not ask for the defendant’s cloak. This is his outer garment. You see the plaintiff is literally seeking the “shirt off the back” of the defendant.

At first glance this looks a bit odd to a twenty-first century person living in the west. It isn’t until we understand that a person’s cloak was the most important piece of clothing a person owned. It doubled as a coat or a means to carry grain or heavy objects by day and a blanket or even pillow by night.

One has to admit that the taking of the very clothes of of a debtor’s back is rather callous at the least and perhaps against the law.

²⁵ "If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest.
²⁶ If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset,
²⁷ because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
Exodus 22:25-27 (NIV)

While this seems so unfair and unreasonable to us, we only have to look at some of the laws and judgments handed down in this country to see how possible this scenario is. The stripping naked of this poor person graphically reveals the destruction of human dignity, in which the plaintiff is engaged in. Notice that Jesus taught that the plaintiff’s demands are not to be resisted, instead He teaches us to exceed their unjust demands. In the process the plaintiffs are unmasked for what they are. The end result is to heap coals of fire on their head.

²⁰ On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
Romans 12:20 (NIV)

Still learning to give it all away

Pastor Val

Getting Even!

Have you ever been cut off by someone on the road and you want a little payback so you ride their bumper or race to get in front of them so you can return the favor?

Your friend stabs you in the back and you wait in the tall grass until you can repay the favor.

Or your coworker or boss has you spend a ton of extra time on your own (weekends and evenings) doing a project only to have them take all of the credit, glory and more than a few attaboys form those higher up!

Life seems to be full of events that just beg for payback!

Have you ever considered God’s position on paybacks?

In the Old Testament the concept of “an eye for a eye” seems harsh in today’s culture but actually it was designed to stop the escalating of retaliations like a head for a eye. Reflecting over some of the famous feuds in fiction as the Montagues and Capulets of Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet or history like the Hatfields and the McCoys of the southern hills of the United States points to how long lasting feuds and their consequences can be.

Hammurabi was one of the first rulers to codify the limiting of retribution as well as some 281 other laws. Some have suggested that the Old Testament writers used this code to help them codify the laws of the Old Testament while others claim that the oral traditions of the Jewish law existed prior to Hammurabi. Regardless of which side you fancy the truth still remains that the law existed to limit the scope of reprisals.

So when the Law teaches us an eye for an eye it is talking about proportionate reprisals. Unfortunately today we still tend to often go for the nuclear response for a minor infraction. We have morphed the proportionate reprisals into a principle of aggressive protection of one’s own interests!

So Jesus comes along and says:

 ³⁸ "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'
³⁹ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
⁴⁰ And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
⁴¹ If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Matthew 5:38-42 (NIV)

The words “I tell you…” creates a whole new way of looking at getting even. He starts with our being struck on the right cheek that is most likely is caused by a right-handed person backhanding. This is not about a beat down but rather a personal insult! How do you and I respond being insulted? Usually we retaliate but Jesus suggests that we continue to be vulnerable and allow God to stand up for us.

¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
Romans 12:19 (NIV)

Jesus himself modeled this for us while he was here

²³ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
1 Peter 2:23 (NIV)

So we are encouraged to imitate Christ and not to seek retribution.

A pretty BIG challenge - especially for me! How about you??

I hope to continue this theme in the next blog or two

Learning to understand suffering

Pastor Val

Confession

 

I admit that I am fascinated by church ads for pastors. Often I read them and end up amazed at the variety of different doctrinal belief systems fond in different denominations or even individual churches.

One church was adamant that to be saved a person DID NOT have to confess totally ignoring just a few verses like Matt 10:32; Luke 12:8; Acts 19:18; Romans 10:9; Romans 14:11; Phil 2:11; 2 Tim 2:19; James 5:16; 1 John 1:9; 1 John 4:15.

I admit that I have a hard time with this church and their misunderstanding and misapplication of Scripture to come to this conclusion.

Recently I was teaching a men’s Bible study and the subject of confessing sins after we are saved. I used 1 John 1:9 to explain how even after we have made a profession of faith and become a follower of Christ that from time to time after sinning we needed to reconnect with God the Father. That seemed to satisfy the guys at the study at least for the moment.

After our Christmas break the question came back up because one of the men had been poling a number of pastors. At least one was of the opinion that since Christ died for all of our sins past, present and future that we never had to confess again.

I was asked about it again and I gave a good answer at the time but I thought I would flesh out my answer in this blog.

I guess we need to start with: “What does the word “confess” mean in the original language?” It simply means to “say the same thing.” In other words we agree with God’s assessment that our actions and attitudes were wrong and we are agreeing with His assessment of our situation. This means we admit that we were in rebellion with God and His commands and we need to not only admit our wrong doing but we also must change our direction (this is the meaning of repentance).

The book First John was written to believers who were already followers of Christ. It to these believers that John says:

1 John 1:8-9 (NIV)
⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Now could this be referring to our original confession? I don’t think so because the author goes on to say

1 John 2:1-2 (NIV)
¹ My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

The fact that this is written in the present tense to believers means that believers do sin after they have come to know Christ. Our conclusion to these passages has to mean that 1 John 1:9 is referring to the present.

Additionally, James 5:13-16 tells us to confess our sins to the other believers as a way of holding each other accountable. First Corinthians chapter eleven tells us to examine ourselves so that we can correct our lives so that we will not be judged or undergo correction from the Lord.

Jesus also speaks to the need to our responsibility asking for forgiveness as we forgive others. (See the Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6:9-13) We are taught that our relationship with God and His forgiveness of our sins is predicated upon our forgiveness of others.

Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

¹⁴ For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

In the Gospel of John after the Last Supper Jesus take a basin and a towel and washes the disciples feet. When He comes to Peter after explaining why He is doing this Peter asks for Jesus to give him a complete sponge bath. Jesus tells him

John 13:10a (NIV)
¹⁰ Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean."

In the 1^st century because people walked over dusty trails and streets a person needed to wash their feet upon entering a home. Think of the way many people want you to rinse your feet off prior to getting into their pool to keep extra dirt out of the pool. The implication of this teaching is that while we are cleansed from the sin of the world occasionally we need to rinse off our feet from the pollution of the world.

Trying to keeping my feet clean,

Pastor Val

How Shall a King Come?

We are in the time of Advent in the church calendar. Advent is when we look expectantly to the coming of the Lord. Since his first coming believers have been expecting his return. During this season we long to experience Christ in a new way in our lives. One of the ways we can experience Christ’s presence is by helping and caring for the vulnerable.

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus says I was in need and you took care of me and the people said when have we seen you in need and he says when you have helped just one of these you have helped me.

⁴⁵ "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
Matthew 25:45 (NIV)

 Who are the “these” in Matthew 25:31-46? Who are the hungry and the thirsty (think homeless and kids), the stranger (think immigrant or alien) and those without clothes (think homeless) the sick (think shut-ins, hospital patients, or nursing homes), or prisoners? These are the vulnerable the ones we are called to care for. In the Old Testament they were referred to as immigrants, poor, widows and orphans.

⁹ "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.
¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'
Zechariah 7:9-10 (NIV)

This Zechariah is one of many passages (Psalm 146:7-9, Deuteronomy 10:17-19; 27:19, Proverbs 31:8, Jeremiah 22:3; 22:16) that give us specific instructions of how to show our love for others. These instructions include care for the needy, the poor, immigrants, orphans and the widows.

To be more specific Micah speaks to this

⁸ He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 (NIV)

The Hebrew word we translate mercy is hesedh and means God’s unconditional grace and compassion. (BTW grace means God giving to us that which we don’t deserve as compared to mercy, which is when God withholds from us what we do deserve.) The Hebrew word for justly or justice is mishpat and means to treat people equitably. 

I guess you could think of it this way mishpat is the attitude behind the action. It means more than punishing wrongdoers it means giving people their rights. It really is worship in it’s second emphasis (loving others as much as you love yourself). Scripture deals with four categories of vulnerable or needy people: poor, immigrants, widows and orphans. Today I would includes the elderly in this mix. Since women tend to outlive men this would include widows and so many of today’s elderly would be considered poor, hence my inclusion of them in this list.

⁹ "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.
¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'
Zechariah 7:9-10 (NIV)

Tim Keller in his book Generous Justice speaks of two forms of justice found in the Old Testament. The first is mishpat or “rectifying justice.” The second is tzadeqah, which refers to our day-to-day relationships with all that we come in contact with in family and society as a whole. This form of justice is referred to as “primary justice.”

It would seem that if each of us practiced tzadeqah or primary justice there would be no need for rectifying justice.

¹² because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
¹³ The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.
¹⁴ I put on righteousness (tzadeqah) as my clothing; justice (mishpat) was my robe and my turban.
¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
Job 29:12-17 (NIV)

See also Job 31:13-28

In scripture, gifts to the poor are called “acts of righteousness”

¹ "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
² "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
Matthew 6:1-2 (NIV)

So I guess we could postulate that not being a generous giver would not be miserly or stingy but rather unrighteous and as such sin!

Reading Ezekiel 18:5, 7-8a seems to teach the same thing. By not living openhandedly with the material possessions that have been entrusted into our care we are living unjustly and in reality robbers of God’s possessions.

¹⁸ He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
¹⁹ And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:18-19 (NIV)

⁶ "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Isaiah 58:6-7 (NIV)

The Isaiah passage is one of my favorite in understanding that fasting which is considered one of the ways that we worship God includes more than simply depriving ourselves of sustenance. It means action!

So during this season of Advent when we are longing for Christ to visit us let’s not forget that perhaps Christ is already visiting us in the form of those in need. How are we doing with caring for Him?

Excuse me while I go serve some of my fellow men in need. Who knows maybe if I look real close I’ll see the face of Christ shining through them

Have a great Advent season

Pastor Val