Timing is Everything

“I notice that throughout the earth justice is giving way to crime, and even the police courts are corrupt. I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everything man does, both good and bad.” Ecclesiastes 3:16, 17 (TLB)

My first church was in Northern Minnesota on an Indian Reservation. In very short order, after arriving, I became frustrated that church never started on time. To make a point, I asked a board member “what time does church start?”

He replied, “Indian time.” Never mind that no native Americans attended church, the point was simple; church starts when we’re ready for it to start. I never adjusted to that way of telling time. And, I’m not wrong. Timing is important in many things. For example, if you’re a day trader, how many times have you said “I should have bought/sold that stock yesterday?” Or, how many times has a sprinter been disqualified because he left the blocks just a fraction of a second early?

Solomon reminds of this truth. Long before Pete Seeger wrote the lyrics and long before the Byrds recorded the most famous version of his song...Solomon wrote the original. He says; “there is a time for everything...”

“A time to be born; A time to die;

A time to plant; A time to harvest;

A time to kill; A time to heal;

A time to destroy; A time to rebuild;

A time to cry; A time to laugh;

A time to grieve; A time to dance;

A time for scattering stones; A time for gathering stones;

A time to hug; A time not to hug;

A time to find; A time to lose;

A time for keeping; A time for throwing away;

A time to tear; A time to repair;

A time to be quiet; A time to speak up;

A time for loving; A time for hating;

A time for war; A time for peace.

It’s kind of a big deal...Everything is appropriate in its own time. But though God has planted eternity in the hearts of men (v. 11), we still cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 

And, it is all...”God’s work.”

Verses 16 and 17 are particularly important in our world today.  Solomon says “I notice that throughout the earth justice is giving way to crime, and even the police courts are corrupt. I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everything man does, both good and bad.” Simply put, when we fiddle with God’s timing, trouble erupts on a large scale. This doesn’t suggest we do nothing about inequities around us but it does infer we should be asking “how and when” we should engage. If we fail to do this, we are no longer doing God’s work, we are doing our own...with the expected results.

It’s easy to hide behind the old meme; “God hasn’t told me what to do.” It allows us to feel content with doing nothing. But, idleness in the face of powerlessness and poverty is itself a dereliction and is sin. The book of James tells us “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to care for the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (1:27).  There are many opportunities to respond to need. For Mali, it’s 10:30 A.M. on Tuesday and Thursday, at church, providing meals for needy families in the community. However, if she picks her preferred time she will be there alone...of no value. She might even devalue the entire enterprise by her absence.

Its altogether possible the current chaos and destruction surrounding protests in our streets is less a function of apathy in our culture and more a function of poor timing by those who want change. I don’t have a clear solution for our problems but...If God was in it the results would be remarkably different. And then I realized (as Solomon reminds) that God is letting the world go on its sinful way so that he can test mankind, and so that men themselves will see that they are no better than beasts. (V. 18)

We cannot sit on the sidelines and ignore what’s going on around us. Neither can we impetuously jump in because “something is better than nothing.” Prayer and conversation and research will guide us to the point of engagement. Remember, “coulda, shoulda, woulda” is not the answer we want to give when God asks us what role we played in representing “Him” to the neediest among us.

Live boldly out there today...

The Satisfied Life

“I know this, that whatever God does is final—nothing can be added or taken from it; God’s purpose in this is that man should fear the all-powerful God.” Ecclesiastes 1:14

When Solomon says “all is vanity” he means nothing really has any substance. Everything is simply a vapor or a breath; It’s nothing new and...it doesn’t last.

He must have been a golfer...

I hit this beautiful drive with my new Callaway Epic Flash driver. It felt perfect off the club. It sailed perfectly straight...in a classic arc...and settled on the back of the green 260 yards ahead of me. I putted in for a birdie. I was euphoric. If you’re not a golfer you have no idea how long and hard a person has to play in order to experience one brief moment of exquisite pleasure on a golf course. 

And then, the next hole...

No matter how good a golfer you are, there is always the next hole and...that fleeting euphoria is “vanity”. It vanishes as quickly is it came. In the book of Ecclesiastes “vanity” describes all human endeavor on earth...pursuit of pleasure, fame, wisdom, and all unsatisfied desires or possessions. Vanity...הבל (hebel) occurs no less than 37 times in Ecclesiastes, and has been called the key of the book. It suggests everything passes away more or less quickly...and completely and leaves no satisfying result. Vanity is also applied to the worship of idols, as contrasted with the Living, Eternal, and Almighty God, and, thus, in the Hebrew mind, pursuit of purpose and meaning apart from God amounts to idol worship and is sin.

Solomon didn’t pull these thoughts out of a hat. He was the wisest man in the world and produced much of value for his people. He also tried every pleasure known to man...300 wives and 700 concubines (which makes me wonder how he had time for any other kind of pleasures)...and none of them brought satisfaction.  And so, at the end of his life he said “I’m going to die, just like everybody else. All my wealth and possessions are going to my son and...I don’t even know if he’s smart enough to keep things going so...what’s the point?” Then he answers his own question; God’s purpose in this is that man should learn to acknowledge Him...the source of the one thing we all strive for...purpose and meaning. He ended up saying “I decided that there was nothing better for a man to do than to enjoy his food and drink and his job. Then I realized that even this pleasure is from the hand of God.” (2:24) 

Most of us don’t want to take Solomon’s word for it. We want to take a spin chasing pleasure ourselves. We just aren’t very teachable.

The point is clear; if our goal is to create something that has our name on it...that has meaning...and lasts, we are in for a huge disappointment. If our goal is to let God create something through us that has His name on it...well, that’s full of possibilities.

There is an advantage to growing old. It gives a person perspective. It allows us to look back and recognize we didn’t amount to much without God doing it. In fact, when we attempt to build edifices to ourselves we sin.

So, I’m going to enjoy the life God has given me. If I enjoy it enough, perhaps he will make something out of it.

Live boldly out there today...

So, who’s the smart one now?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22, 23

I’m of the mind that every generation things it’s smarter than its parents’ generation. So, they agitate for whatever change they believe will construct a better society. My generation upped the ante by freely using violence and terrorism to make its point and precipitated our current slide to Gomorrah. Today we see a wholesale deconstruction of a society that took over two centuries to build. The violence and anger is nearly unprecedented. The desire to eliminate every dissonant voice is alarming and, if successful, will end democracy as we know it. Chaos will rule.

 I understand many believe the time for change is now. OK, take a look around. What do we imagine things will look like after this younger generation breaks everything? If we naively think their intention is to build a better society we are part of the problem. Any of us who have raised children know one character of immaturity is a tendency toward violence when triggered. Children break things, in anger, without any thought of the consequence. They never look into the future and ask what “better” might look like. This is “emotional incontinence” and one task of parenting is to train that out of our kids. It makes me think “safe spaces” are nothing more than pampers for untrained hearts and minds.

I remember my parents’ generation generally lived with self-restraint, respect for authority and attention to their reputation in the community. And, our society was not perfect but was far more stable. Surely we need change for underrepresented segments of our society but, If violence and hatred were the answer, why haven’t we seen an improvement? Maybe...our parents were smarter than we thought.

I probably should have tried to learn more  about what informed my parents’ views on how to build a better society. I’d ask them now, if I could.

I fear John Calvin was right in saying humanity is not naturally good or enlightened or thoughtful or generous or patient. We are selfish, impatient and hatefully violent toward others. That does not give me much hope for the future. Unless, of course, we allow the Christ whom John Calvin served reform our hearts and minds so we begin to think and act as He desires.

Christ tells us we will be judged by whatever standard we judge others. If I judge you to be racist I will be judged by that same standard. Sadly, I’m unaware of what a completely non-racist society looks like so, I have a problem. If I judge you to be stupid, or ignorant, or worthy of my disdain...I have the same problem.

However, if I judge you to be worthy of God’s love, grace and forgiveness even if you don’t want it well, that’s a risk I can live with. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.

Live boldly out there today...

America’s first Social Justice Warrior

Antonio de Montesinos (c. 1475 - June 27, 1540) 

“Godliness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34

In case you are persuaded the “Cancel Culture” movement is a new and novel impulse of the “woke” leftists in our country I commend to you Fr. Antonio. He is a reminder that God is always speaking to those who will listen. He is also a reminder that we will always have people who give no import to the Heart of God and, in fact, hope to silence the voices of His spokesmen. 

Antonio de Montesinos was a Spanish missionary and was the first European to publicly denounce the enslavement and harsh treatment of the indigenous peoples of the island we now call Haiti. On December 21, 1511, the fourth Sunday of Advent, Montesinos preached an impassioned sermon. He criticized the practices of the Spanish colonial system, and decried the abuse of the Indian people on Hispaniola. Listing the injustices that the indigenous people were suffering at the hands of the Spanish colonists, According to Bartolomé de las Casas, who was a witness, Montesinos asked those in attendance: “Tell me by what right of justice do you hold these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? On what authority have you waged such detestable wars against these people who dwelt quietly and peacefully on their own lands? Wars in which you have destroyed such an infinite number of them by homicides and slaughters never heard of before. Why do you keep them so oppressed and exhausted, without giving them enough to eat or curing them of the sicknesses they incur from the excessive labor you give them, and they die, or rather you kill them, in order to extract and acquire gold every day.” Montesinos proclaimed that the Spanish on the island "are all in mortal sin and live and die in it, because of the cruelty and tyranny they practice among these innocent peoples." During his sermon, Montesinos also proclaimed that he nor any of the other missionaries would allow these slaveholders to partake in confession." 

The sermon outraged the settlers and prominent citizens of Hispaniola, including the governor, Diego Columbus, son of Christopher Columbus, as well as other high-ranking representatives of the king. So, they “cancelled” the friar by sending him back to Spain. After returning to Spain, Montesinos and his supporters were able to persuade  King Ferdinand II of their righteous agenda and principles. As a result, the king convened a commission that promulgated the Laws of Burgos, the first code of ordinances to protect the indigenous people. The laws regulated the treatment and conversion of the indigenous people, and also limited the demands of the Spanish colonizers upon them. (Wikipedia)

I recently read, in Robert Morgan’s book 100 Bible Verses that Shaped America, the words of George Washington upon his inauguration as our first President ; “None can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which we have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. The propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven, itself, has ordained “

Antonio de Montesinos was a reformer And the culture cancelled him. Today the “voices of righteousness” want to cancel the culture rather then reform it. The roles have been reduced and we are unaware of the irony. I am persuaded of the righteousness behind much that undergirds our “woke” friends. Yet, I am convinced that “truth dies in darkness”. Unless this movement is willing to let the “Light of Almighty God” shine upon their efforts it will simply become a newer version of the angry culture that “cancelled” Antonio de Montesinos. They failed at the time but...in large measure prevailed across the past half millennium. And the turmoil they left behind is still with us. Today’s movement will just perpetuate the darkness.

As believers, our task is not to shut down these current justice movements. We may be successful for a season but we only perpetuate the darkness. Our task is to listen for the voice of God behind the anger...and pray that God will raise up godly leaders within the movement (possibly, even us) so it will achieve the justice God desires. Otherwise we become exactly what we despise in them.

Live boldly out there today...