Try a Little Kindness

 

Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? --Romans 2:4

One of the first prayers we learn as children is this: "God is great; God is good.  Let us thank Him for our food.  By His hands we are fed; thank you, God, for daily bread."  This simple rhyme stays with you, even if you turn away from God as an adult.  On an episode of Big Bang Theory, Sheldon's mom reminds him of this prayer that he learned long before he became a theoretical physicist and an avowed atheist.  Even though Sheldon professed disbelief in Providence, he remembered saying grace over meals like his mother had taught him.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me," is a phrase found in Psalm 23, verse six to be exact.  This Psalm is recited quite often in funeral services, even if the deceased was not a Christian, or even a very good person.  In the Psalm, David describes the struggle of life--walking through the shadow of death, having no fear in a scary world.  It even describes living among and having discourse with one's enemies, eating and drinking before them.

Christopher Reese wrote this:

No Psalm is more beloved by believers than the 23rd, and none has exercised greater influence in popular culture. Christians frequently look to Psalm 23 for encouragement in the face of trials, and for comfort when encountering death. The Psalm is also frequently quoted or alluded to in modern movies and music. In the movie Titanic, for example, a priest reads it aloud as the ship sinks. Musical groups and artists including U2 (“Love Rescue Me”), Pink Floyd (“Sheep”), and Kanye West (“Jesus Walks”) have all referenced Psalm 23 in their music. These are some of the reasons Psalm 23 is so popular.  (reference cited:  https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2022/04/god-is-our-shepherd-meditate-on-the-23rd-psalm/)

The point I am trying to make is that at the beginning of life and at the end, we try to find goodness.  We crave love, joy and peace, which we discussed last week in our comparison between the nature of God and the fruit of the Spirit that we are encouraged to incorporate into our daily lives.  Today I want to continue in that same vein, focusing on the fruit of the Spirit known as patience, kindness, and goodness.  These are the next three characteristics or virtues found in Galatians 5:22.

Patience or Longsuffering

The Greek word used in Galatians 5:22 translated "patience" or "longsuffering" means endurance, perseverance, constancy, and steadfastness.  It can also mean slowness in avenging wrongs.  This is a description of God's nature, and how He acts in the world.  Exodus 34:6-7 says: 

The Lord passed before him [Moses] and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the 3rd and 4th generation'.

God shows patience to everyone for a time.  He gives everyone an opportunity to repent, to seek forgiveness for our sins, to seek His face and turn from our wicked ways.  When the early Church complained about the hardships they were enduring, some were asking why Jesus didn't come back sooner.  They longed for His return, just as we do today.  2 Peter 3:9 says,  "The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."  God is being patient with us, and we should be patient with Him.

Even if we face persecution, God is still good.  The exhortation to be patient in the New Testament most often is given to those who face persecution.  In this world you will have trouble, God said, but hold fast to my word.  Isaiah 30:18 says, "Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you.  For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are those who wait for Him." Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:4-6, 

But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; (emphasis added).

You may be familiar with the phrase, "the patience of Job."  It is a reference to James 5:10-11:

 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast.  You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Ephesians 4:1-2 says, "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love."  We forget when Paul wrote some of the most encouraging words in all of Scripture, that he was writing from prison.  Was he bitter? No.  Would I be?  Probably.  That's why we are encouraged to approach life's struggles and hardships with patience.  Colossians 1:10-11 says, "So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him; bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;"

Kindness, or Gentleness (also translated Goodness)

Remember the children's prayer we opened with?  "God is great (all-powerful, ever-present throughout time and space), God is good (gracious and kind, gentle in His dealings with us.)  Nowhere is this more evident than in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Ephesians 2:7 says, "So that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."  Paul writes in Titus 3:4-5 

But when the goodness and loving kindness of our God and Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit.

We are His ambassadors.  Therefore we are called to mirror His goodness and kindness to the world. Colossians 3:12-13 says, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."

There is a time when God's patience runs out.  We cannot deny God's goodness when people disregard His pleadings and die in their sins.  Romans 11:22 says, "Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness.  Otherwise you too will be cut off."

We see this warning in Romans 3:12: "All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."  This is a direct quote from the Psalms.

Psalm 14: 1, 3 "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'  They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.  They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one."

Goodness

There is a different Greek word used in Galatians 5:22, the word translated "goodness."  As we have seen, the word translated "kindness" can also mean "goodness" or just "good".  This other word translated "goodness" in our text may be a synonym.  It is used three other times in the New Testament.

Romans 15:14 says, "I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another."  Ephesians 5:8-10 says, "For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of lights is found all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." 2 Thessalonians 1:11 says, "To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good [goodness] and every work of faith by His power." 

Way back in 1977, when I was in high school, singer Glen Campbell released a song written by Curt Sapaugh and Bobby Austin.  This song made it to number 1 on the Country & Western charts, and was in the Top Twenty for all popular music.  It gives a practical interpretation of our Scripture today.  

Try A Little Kindness

… If you see your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he sowed
And if you see your sister falling by the way
Just stop and say, "You're going the wrong way"

… You've got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets

… Don't walk around the down and out
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way

… You got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets

… You got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness

Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets 

Between birth and death, between life's hardships and joys, while we are living out the struggles of Psalm 23, let's remember to have patience, kindness, and goodness.  These are characteristics of God Himself, and the manifestation of His Spirit through our lives. 

By their fruits you will know them

 

Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  --Matthew 7:20 NKJV

I have found that it is good for my prayer life to list the attributes of God and thank Him for who He is before I bring my petitions to Him.  This practice gets my mind focused on Him instead of making my prayer sound like a grocery list.  It is much better to acknowledge who God is before we bring our petitions to Him, as it gets the focus off of ourselves and gives us reason to praise Him.  

Psalm 22:3 says, "But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel."  Other translations say, "He inhabits the praise of His people."  To me that means the more I praise Him, the easier it is to submit to His lordship, to put my own needs second after He is worshiped and adored.  He must increase; I must decrease (John 3:30). 

This week as I began my prayers with acknowledging who God is, it dawned on me what it means to be filled with the Spirit.  God is love (1 John 4:8).  He is our peace (John 14:27).  He is patient with us (usually translated "long-suffering", from the Hebrew word chesed; see Lamentations 3:22-23).  The more I prayed the attributes of God, the more I was led to Galatians 5:22-23.  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Having grown up under the law, I always thought that the metaphor of fruit meant our works.  "Actions speak louder than words" is the trite way of saying what we do speaks more loudly than what we say.  However, if we are fruitful Christians, it is not our works that will be remembered.  What sets us apart from the world is how much like God we become.  This is our mission, our purpose, and hopefully our legacy.

God is love; the fruit of the Spirit is love

We all know John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  The love of God is vast, unmeasurable, and deep.  Tim Keller said, "To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial.  To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.  But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God."

By the same token, if we belong to God in Christ, then the Spirit of God will produce in us the same selfless love.  John 13:35 says, "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.  1 John 4:16 says,"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

Paul writes in Ephesians 3:14-19:  

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (emphasis added).

Paul told the church at Colossae to "put off the old self with its practices."  A bit later in Colossians 3:14 he says, "And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."  Jesus said:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

If we love God, we will love other people.  Loving others is one way we can manifest the fruit of the Spirit.

The joy of the Lord is my strength; joy is the fruit of the Spirit 

Nehemiah 8:10b says, "And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." 1 Chronicles 16:27 says, "Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in His dwelling place. (KJV)"  Wherever God lives--in heaven, in the Tabernacle (Church), in our hearts--there is abiding joy.  

There seems to be a connection in the Old Testament between strength and joy.  God is all powerful.  Isaiah 40:31 says, "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."  This is something to rejoice in. Psalm 16:11 says, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!"  The word rejoice means to feel or show great joy or delight.  Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."  If we are filled with joy, we cannot help but rejoice.  When the joy of the Lord bubbles out in our words and our actions, the world cannot help but take notice.

Of course we are to feed and clothe those in need, for that is a commandment of Scripture.  The point, however, is not just meeting physical needs.  Romans 14:17 says, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

The peace of God is unmatched; the fruit of the Spirit is peace

C.S. Lewis wrote, "God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.  There is no such thing."  Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication s with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (emphasis added)."

John 14:27 says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not  your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."  Bible scholar and commentator J. I. Packer writes, "The peace of God is first and foremost peace with God; it is the state of affairs in which God, instead of being against us, is for us. No account of God's peace which does not start here can do other than mislead."  If we are filled with the Spirit, we will have this peace that passes the understanding of the world, and the world will be drawn to Him because of the perfect peace within us.

Isaiah 26:3 says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."  Colossians 3:15 "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful."

Jonathan Edwards said, "God's love is an ocean without shore or bottom."  According to the children's song, "I've got peace like a river...Love like and ocean...Joy like a fountain."  We can't have any of this without God's Spirit indwelling us.  These are attributes of God, and of us when we abide in Him and are bearing fruit.  When I begin my prayers listing God's attributes, I am encouraged to exhibit the same qualities in my own life.  That's one way to help get my wishes and desires in line with God's will for my life.  After I let my requests be made known to God, I end my prayers praising Him for his grace, goodness, faithfulness, and mercy.  Next week we will continue our study of the fruit of the Spirit and the overlap with God's qualities and attributes.

Trip down memory lane

 

In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.  --Ephesians 1:11

I was feeling nostalgic today, so I decided to dig around the roots of my family tree.  In 1891, during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany, my great-grandfather Wilhelm Heinrich Gustav Kroll immigrated with his family to the United States.  He was only 12 years old when they reached the port of Galveston.  Wanting to fit in, and probably to avoid anyone teasing him about having the same name as Kaiser Wilhelm, he "Americanized" his name and said he wanted to be called Willie Henry.

Texas was a premier destination for many German immigrants, as it had lots of land and relatively few people (as opposed to the port of New York, which had tons of people and very little land for sale.)  The Kroll family bought some land in central Texas and became ranchers.

On Christmas Day in 1904, Willie Henry married Charlotte Pauline Wilke, who was known by the nickname "Lottie".  Lottie was born in Texas after her parents had emigrated from Germany.  Lottie and Willie had nine children and lived together until his death in 1967.  Lottie would live alone until she died in 1981.  

One of Willie and Lottie's children was Leona, who was born in 1916.  Leona, my grandmother, was an impressive woman.  Her name means "lioness", and she certainly lived up to her name.  She outlived three husbands, learned principles of accounting, and made several prudent investments that our family is still reaping the benefits of, even though she died in 2009.

As I was doing my daily Bible reading this week, it struck me how we tend to gloss over the stories of the people involved.  My reading is in Genesis, where I see that Abram and Sarai left the land where they met and married and emigrated, along with Abram's family, to the outskirts of Canaan.  In time, Abram and Sarai took on new names, and became known as Abraham and Sarah, as God had commanded them.

Like my great-grandparents Willie and Lottie, Abraham and Sarah did not go by the names given to them at birth.  Like the Wilke and Kroll families left Germany to take up residence in Texas, Abraham and Sarah followed their families from Ur of the Chaldees to settle in Canaan.   I know about my family history from listening to my grandmother's stories over the years and from talking with my mother (filling in some of the dates from the obituaries posted online).  For example, I know that "Lottie" is short for Charlotte, and "Willie" is short for Wilhelm, and that's why my great-grandparents were known by those names.  I know from history that there was a mass migration in the late 1800s away from Germany.  Reading about Kaiser Wilhelm II, he was kind of a jerk.  So politics and economics probably had a lot to do with my ancestors' decision to move to a different country.

Did you ever stop to wonder why Abram's family moved?  In hindsight, we know it was the will of God.  We even say God told them to move.  If we knew more about the religion, economics, and politics of the region at the time, we might understand it a bit more.  For example, the Chaldeans were known for their practice of astrology and the magic arts.  When Nebuchadnezzar had a dream in Daniel chapter 2, he called "the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans" to tell him the dream and its interpretation.  Abram was called out of Ur of the Chaldees so that he would not be influenced by their culture.  

What about their names?  Why did Abram change his name to Abraham?  When God made a covenant with him, God used Abram's name to underscore His promise to make him the father of many nations.  In Hebrew, Abram means "exalted father", which is a term of respect one might use for a mighty man, whether he had children or not.  God called him Abraham, which in Hebrew means "father of a multitude."  Similarly, Sarai means "princess", which sounds like a term of endearment.  On the other hand, Sarah means "noblewoman; exalted lady".  God told Abraham to call her that after Hagar had given birth to Ishmael.  Sarai was feeling down and depressed.  It was she, after all, who had convinced Abraham to go in to Hagar "so that perhaps God will give me children by her." (Genesis 16:2).  After Hagar gave birth, however, Sarai thought that she made a huge mistake.  God soothed her heart as if by saying, "Listen, Princess (Sarai), you are still number one (Sarah, exalted lady) in Abraham's heart and in My plan."

A generation after Lottie came Leona, who made her mark on the world with lasting benefits for her children's children and beyond.  A generation after Sarah came Rebecca, who manipulated her twin sons' destinies so that the prophecy would be fulfilled "the elder shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23; Romans 9:12).  It was Jacob's name, not Esau's, that was changed to Israel.  (Again with the name change!)  Romans 9:13 says, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."  God's will was worked out in Rebecca's manipulations.  I'm not saying that Israel would not have become a great nation blessed and favored by God if Rebecca had been less conniving, but we clearly see how "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28).

We get so caught up in the day-to-day activities of life that we often do not realize how God is working out His plan in us.  It is only by remembering and reminiscing that we can slow down and see God's hand in everything.  When we look back at our family history, we probably see things a lot differently than they looked when the events were happening in real time.  That's because God's ways are not our ways, but He does use us to accomplish His will.  In the grand scheme of things, God sees the big picture.  That, for me, is comforting.

Rescued from the brink of death

 

And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. --Jude 22, 23

My grandparents had a house up the hill from the Blanco River, about 50 miles north of San Antonio and 50 miles west of Austin.  You could see a dam in the river from their back yard.  The dam was not very wide (maybe 12 inches), and went across to the other side, maybe thirty feet long.   If I was careful, I could walk to the other side of the river without falling in (it always seemed to me like walking a tightrope, one foot in front of the other).  My father, who loved to fish, would often take his fishing rod down to the river whenever we visited.

There was a time when our extended family was all there together, including my cousins and their kids, who were all about my age. My cousins on my dad's side were much older than I was; I was only five years old at the time.  The adults of the group gave us kids a stern warning not to run along the slippery riverbank.  If I was caught running, I would get a spanking.  As the day went on, my father went upriver to fish, and the other adults were sitting in lawn chairs shooting the breeze.  I forgot the stern warning my father had given me, and I began to run and laugh with the other kids my age.

Sure enough, I slipped and fell in.  Water engulfed me, and I immediately began sinking toward the bottom.  I remember opening my eyes, seeing some large fish-shaped shadows and thinking that my dad should have brought his fishing gear here instead of leaving the group.  Above the surface of the water, things were getting a bit chaotic.  My mother was standing on the bank screaming my name.  My oldest cousin, thinking fast, ran to the dam and was able to balance beam to the middle of the river.  She could see that the current was bringing me toward her, and she reached into the water, grabbed me by the belt, and pulled me to safety.

There was a lot of rejoicing after that.  Since I was only five, I did not fully appreciate the danger of drowning or the peril presented by the slippery river bank.  Even after I fell in, I was not particularly scared.  Even so, when I was sent back to the house to dry off and to get out of the wet clothes, my dad arrived and gave me a spanking for disobeying him.

There are times in the Bible where God directly intervened in the lives of certain people, "snatching them from the fire".  In the case of Abraham's nephew Lot, we see where God's grace extended to him by literally grabbing Lot by the hand and dragging him out of his house to avoid the coming destruction.

Lot was a wealthy man, with many servants tending his flocks and herds.  When he and Abraham parted ways because the land could not sustain them both, Lot looked toward Sodom and found it appealing.  Genesis 13:10 says, "And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of [Sodom]."  He went from looking toward Sodom to pitching his tent toward Sodom (Genesis 13:12).  By chapter 14, Lot was "dwelling in Sodom" (14:12).

Sodom was not a great place.  In fact, it was a wicked city.  God told Abraham that there was a great outcry in heaven against Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin was very grave.  He went on to tell Abraham, "I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me.  And if not, I will know." (Genesis 18:21).  Sensing some wiggle room, Abraham starts to intercede for the city.  Knowing that Lot and his family lived there, he started bargaining with God.  He asks if God would show mercy to them if he found as few as 50 godly people there? How about 45?  Maybe just 40?  Abraham kept going, and God kept giving assurances.  He would show mercy if only 30 righteous folks were found, then 20, then just 10.

When the angels arrived in the city, they found Lot sitting at the city gate.  In ancient near-eastern culture, this signified that Lot was an elder, a man with some authority in the city.  He may have been the only dissenting vote when the elders of the city planned their erotic festivals.  He may have been the sole elder accusing the men of the city of sexual crimes, if they were ever brought to the council for their sinful activities.  We do know that Lot knew enough about his neighbors to warn the angels, who appeared to be men traveling from afar, that it was dangerous to consider spending the night in the streets.

Lot showed them hospitality, taking them to his home and preparing a feast for them.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.  And they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them."  Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly."  (Genesis 19:4-7)

Three quick points here.  First, Lot was the only righteous man found there. "All the people to the last man" demanded to debase the strangers in Lot's house.  Second, this meant that God's bargain with Abraham was null and void, because 10 good men could not be found in the whole city.  Third, despite Lot's virtuous nature, he attempted to compromise with them.  Notice that he called them brothers.  In verse 8 he proposes that, should any of them feel strongly that they simply could not refrain from sensual pleasure, at least find a female to have relations with (giving his two virgin daughters as an example).  It appears that Lot was trying to classify varying levels of sin: instead of engaging in same-sex lust, at least lust in a heterosexual fashion; instead of accosting a total stranger, at least have relations with someone local, someone you know.  As ridiculous as that may sound to us today, he may have been trying to talk them out of their sinful ways by encouraging them to engage in a more socially acceptable sin.  The problem with compromising situations is they invariably lead to more socially acceptable sins.  The problem with socially acceptable sins is that they lead to more egregious sins, and these men had already passed the point of no return.  This is why God wanted to destroy them.  They were irredeemable.  

Lot was no saint, as we see here and will see more later on, but God would count him as righteous.  2 Peter 2:7-8 says, "He (God) rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)."  

The angels sent by God rescued Lot three different ways.  In verse 9, the men turn on Lot.  "This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge!  Now we will deal worse with you than with them."  The men of Sodom would have killed Lot, but the angels (probably using supernatural force) opened the door and physically pulled Lot inside the house.  That was the first rescue.  The men surrounding the house would have surely torn the house down, brick by brick, in their rage.  The angels struck all of the men blind (this time I'm sure it was supernatural force.)  This was the second rescue.  The men were still trying to tear the house down, but they couldn't see, so the Scripture says they wore themselves out groping at the door.

The third rescue came at dawn the next day.

As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city."  But he lingered.  So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they set him outside the city.  And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life.  Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley.  Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away." --Genesis 19:15-17

It is interesting that God sent two angels disguised as men to rescue Lot and his family, where one would have certainly had the power and the authority to complete the task.  I believe the reason is that God knew Lot would linger, and that his wife would yearn for their former life.  He knew that Lot would need to be dragged out of town, kicking and screaming.  As Spurgeon pointed out, "Lot and his wife, and the two daughters—well, that was four—the angels had only four hands, so they did all that they could—there was a hand for each. You notice the text expressly says, they took hold of the hand of Lot, and the hand of his wife, and the hand of his two daughters. There were no more persons, and no more helping hands, so that there was just enough instrumentality, but there was not a hand to spare.”

Had efforts been made to save more people?  Yes.  Verse 14 says, "So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, 'Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.'  But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting."  God extended a message of mercy to these two men, the ones betrothed to marry Lot's daughters, and it was rejected.  Even after these men were among those who had demanded that Lot send out his house-guests so they could "know" them.  Even after the sons-in-law were struck blind, and wore themselves out groping for the door--even then, they laughed at the message of redemption offered by Lot.

Psalm 34:22 says, "The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned."  Romans 8:33-35 says, "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?  It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?"

But if that offer of redemption is rejected, then woe to those who rejected it.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); the the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passions and despise authority. --2 Peter 2:4-10a 

Jude 5-7 says, "Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.  And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day--just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."  God will have mercy on whom He has mercy, but if we reject Him and prefer to dwell in darkness, then we will get what we deserve.

I don't know why God chose to save Lot.  Maybe it was because Abraham prayed for him.  Maybe it was because Lot sought God, despite his circumstances and surroundings.  Lot lingered, because he knew that his home and all his possessions would be burned up.  God showed mercy, as the angels' final admonition was to "escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there" (verse 22).  1 Corinthians 3:15 says, "If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."

When I disobeyed my father by running on the slippery banks of a river after he had told me not to, I deserved punishment.  When I slipped into the river and sank like a stone, I deserved death.  It was by God's mercy that he sent my cousin to pull me out by the seat of my pants, and I am fortunate that I only got a spanking out of it.  If by God's mercy you have escaped death, please don't be like Lot's sons-in-law and laugh in the face of God.  God doesn't expect perfection, but we cannot ignore His command to repent.  It is not His will that any should perish.  There will surely come a time when God's mercy runs out, and you will either get mercy or you will get what you deserve.

Peripatetic pilgrims, peregrine people

 

By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.  --Hebrews 11:9 (ASV)

 What comes to mind when I say the word peripatetic?  For me, it's the song in "A Chorus Line" called One.

One singular sensation, every little step she takes
One thrilling combination, every move that she makes
One smile and suddenly nobody else will do
You know you'll never be lonely with you-know-who

One moment in her presence and you can forget the rest
For the girl is second best to none, son
Oooh! Sigh! Give her your attention
Do I really have to mention she's the one

She walks into a room and you know she's
uncommonly rare, very unique
peripatetic, poetic and chic
She walks into a room and you know from her
maddening poise, effortless whirl
(One thrilling combination, every move that she makes
She's a special girl)
strolling

It means a person who travels from place to place.  As an adjective, it means travelling from place to place, in particular working or based in various places for relatively short periods.  So the girl described in the song One was probably a performer in a travelling show, breaking hearts wherever she went.

The word could also describe Abraham, the Patriarch of the nation of Israel.  We first read about him in Genesis 12, before God changed his name from Abram.  "Now the Lord said to Abram," verse 1 says, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you."  The narrative follows Abram, with his nephew Lot, from Haran toward Canaan.  They entered Canaan (the Promised Land) from the north and traversed the entire country, north to south.  God promised to give Abram the land, and he built an altar to the Lord at Shechem in the north, Bethel in the central hill country, and the Negev to the south.

When a famine struck the land of Canaan, Abram and his entourage traveled to Egypt, but they were asked to leave.  They journeyed east and north again to the Jordan Valley, where Lot and Abram separated because their flocks and herds were too great for the land to support.  Lot went toward Sodom, and Abram traveled back toward Bethel.

Here is where I want us to take up the narrative.  In Genesis 14, the kings of five city-states in the region (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar) formed an alliance and went to war against a foreign invader.  Lot and all his flocks and herds and servants were caught up in the melee.  The coalition lost, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and Lot, Inc. were captured as spoils of war.  Verse 13 says, "Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram."  Abram and his friends went off in pursuit, caught up with the marauding army, and rescued Lot, et al by force.

Very exciting stuff.  But I want to camp here on this verse, especially on one little term used to describe Abram.  It is the first time in the Bible this term is mentioned.  Abram was called "the Hebrew."  The term hebrew literally means "one from beyond (the river)."  It can also mean "one who has passed over" or "one who has traversed" meaning traveler, nomad, or pilgrim.  It came to refer to all the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), then by extension to all of their descendants.

Abram (Abraham) the Peripatetic

We first read about Abram in Genesis 11, after the nations were disbursed at Babel, in the lineage of Noah's son Shem.  Abram was in the 10th generation after Noah, and his father's name was Terah.  Terah settled in Ur, a Chaldean city.  Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran fathered Lot, but then Haran died.  God called Terah out of Ur, so he took Abram and Lot as far as the city named for Abram's brother Haran.

God called Abram to keep on moving.  Terah and Nahor may have built a city in honor of the dead brother Haran, but God called Abram to go on to Canaan.  When he reached Canaan, God showed Abram the entire area--north, south, east and west.  When famine struck the land of Canaan, Abram went to Egypt, but God wouldn't let him stay there.  God led Abram back to Canaan, where He promised to make him a great nation.

We all know the story of the angels visiting Abram, promising a son.  This seemed ridiculous on several levels, not the least of which was Abram's age, and the fact that his wife Sarai was "past the age of childbearing."  Another (minor) consideration must have been the fact that Abram and his wife Sarai were living in tents, following their flocks and herds.  Can you hear the discussion over the campfire that night? "Even if by some miracle the barren wife could bear a child, how can they make a nation of their descendants? They don't even have a place to call their own, nor a place to lay their heads."

Hebrews 11:8-13 says,

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.  And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.  By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.  Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.  These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

The father of the Hebrew people was himself called a Hebrew, because he was a pilgrim, a sojourner, an exile in a foreign land.

The Hebrew People Were Peripatetic, Too

God did give the land of Canaan to the people of Israel, but not before they had spent 400 years as exiles and refugees in Egypt.  When God called them out of bondage, He led them for 40 more years through the wilderness.  Once the kingdom was established, the people became too comfortable in their sinful homes, so God sent them into exile no fewer than 4 times. 

"The prophet Daniel had a vision that subtly hints to the four exiles of the Jewish nation:

I saw in my vision by night...four great beasts…The first was like a lion...and behold, another beast, a second one, similar to a bear…Afterwards I beheld, and there was another, similar to a leopard…After that, as I looked on in the night vision, there was a fourth beast—fearsome, dreadful and very powerful

In Daniel's prophecy, each creature symbolizes an exile that the Jewish people were to undergo. The first was Babylon, the second Media/Persia, the third Greece, and finally Edom, commonly identified as Rome." (Chabad.org, Discover the Four Exiles of the Jewish People)

When David, king of Israel, was taking up a collection for the Temple of the Lord that his son Solomon was to build, he said, "For we are strangers before you, and sojourners, as all our fathers were.  Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding." (1 Chronicles 29:15).  David, as you well know, was no stranger to a nomadic life.  Raised as a shepherd, he was anointed king even before his predecessor, King Saul, had died.  Saul chased David all over Israel trying to kill him.  David even spent some time in the land of the Philistines before returning to take the throne.

David wrote in Psalm 39:12, "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears!  For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers."  From the foundation of the nation of Israel to the diaspora, the people have been ever moving.  If you have ever seen the musical Fiddler On The Roof, you have seen the plight of the Hebrew people.  Rev Tevya and his family were Jews living in Russia, but were forced out of their homes to travel to another village, another town, another city that was more hospitable.

God has used the migration of His people to spread the knowledge of His laws far and wide.  The faith that was forged in the crucible of persecution is not just localized in Jerusalem, but has spread to all corners of the earth.

We, Too, Are Peregrine People

Of the world's 10,000 bird species, about 1800 of them are migratory.  One species of falcon, called the Peregrine Falcon, is found on every continent except Antarctica.  The word "peregrine" comes from the Latin peregrinus, which means "wanderer".  It can describe people as well.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives this example: "Birders are peregrine by nature, typically travelling to distant destinations in pursuit of their hobby."

Jesus Himself was peregrine by nature when He was on this earth in the flesh.  Matthew 8:19-20 says, "And a scribe came up and said to Him, 'Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.'  And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head'."  He calls His followers to go "into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." (Mark 16:15).  The Great Commission tells us to go, and as we go, to share.

Christians are called sojourners and exiles in this world, because our permanent home is in heaven. Ephesians 2:19 says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." 1 Peter 1:17 says, "And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile."

As citizens of heaven, ambassadors of Christ's kingdom on this earth, we are called to a higher purpose, and held to a higher standard.  See 1 Peter 2:11-12: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.  Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the Day of visitation."  Note that he did not say, "If they speak against you," but rather "when they speak against you."  The world will always try to find fault, which is why we are to live above reproach.  In this world there will be persecution against Christians; part of that persecution may be forced relocation.  Our job is, wherever we are, to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the nations.

Man, that's so RIGHTEOUS

 

For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  --2 Corinthians 5:21

In the 1930's jazz sub-culture, some people began using the word "righteous" to mean excellent, smooth, or cool, as in "that artist is righteous."  The term continued to be used in the 1940's by listeners to swing music.  In the 1960's, the term gained new life in the hippie culture, when it was used to mean genuine or excellent, as in "that dude is righteous."  The term was resurrected again in the 1980s by surfer dudes, who used it to describe things other than music or people.  An example might be "that wave was righteous."

In the study of theology, we know that only God is truly righteous.  That is, He is utterly holy and without sin.  In Romans 3:10 Paul quotes Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 when he writes, "None is righteous, no, not one."  This is the curse of Adam, who communed with God face-to-face, but traded that innocence for the knowledge of good and evil.  Once evil was introduced, man could no longer fellowship with God.  Sin separates us from a holy God.  Since God dwells in a state of holiness, and we abide in a state of sinfulness and separation, our only hope is in God. 

Fortunately, God loves us enough to bridge that gap.  Psalm 136:23 says, "It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever."  In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself to a chosen few, one of whom was Abraham.  Romans 4:20-25 says, "No unbelief made him (Abraham) waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.  That is why his faith 'was counted to him as righteousness.' But the words 'it was counted to him' were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also.  It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."

Here is an immutable truth: faith leads to righteousness.  It was true under the old covenant as written in the Old Testament, and it is just as true under the new covenant as seen in the New Testament.  Romans 1:16-17 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith'."  This is the gospel.  This is good news.  The word gospel literally means "good news."

What could be better news than this? Bible commentator Murray Harris wrote, "Not only does the believer receive from God a right standing before him on the basis of faith in Jesus (Phil 3:9), but here Paul says that 'in Christ' the believer in some sense actually shares the righteousness that characterizes God himself."  Charles Spurgeon wrote, "What a grand expression! He makes us righteous through the righteousness of Jesus; nay, not only makes us righteous, but righteousness; nay, that is not all, he makes us the righteousness of God; that is higher than the righteousness of Adam in the garden, it is more divinely perfect than angelic perfection."

Earlier we gave a definition of the word gospel.  Not to be too pedantic, but I want us to learn another vocabulary word that is not used very often outside of theological writings.  That word is imputation.

im·pute

/imˈpyo͞ot/

verb

1. represent (something, especially something undesirable) as being done, caused, or possessed by someone; attribute.

   "the crimes imputed to Richard"

   Similar:

   attribute

   ascribe

   assign

   credit

   accredit

   chalk up

   connect with

   associate with

   lay on

   lay at the door of

   pin on

   stick on

   • FINANCE

     assign (a value) to something by inference from the value of the products or processes to which it contributes.

     "by imputing the interest rates they potentially introduce a measurement error"
   • THEOLOGY

     ascribe (righteousness, guilt, etc.) to someone by virtue of a similar quality in another.

     "Christ's righteousness has been imputed to us"

RC Sproul said this: 

At the heart of the gospel is a double imputation: my sin is imputed to Jesus. His righteousness is imputed to me. And in this twofold transaction, we see that God, who does not negotiate sin, who doesn't compromise His own integrity with our salvation but rather punishes sin fully and really after it has been imputed to Jesus, retains His own righteousness. And so, He is both just and the justifier, as the Apostle tells us here. So my sin goes to Jesus; His righteousness comes to me in the sight of God.

Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'."  Remember the curse of Adam?  Jesus took it on Himself.  1 Peter 2:22-24 says, "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.  When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.  He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By His wounds you have been healed."

A lot of people see the word "healed" in this verse in 1 Peter and in the Old Testament passage Peter quoted from Isaiah 53:5, and they think of physical healing.  I think it is much more than that.  Isaiah 53:11, from that same passage, says, "Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the Righteous One, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities."  This is the divine healing we so desperately need, not a physical healing.  Which is more important, whether God will take away our illness or injury in this life, or if he will take away the curse of sin from us in the next?

One of my favorite hymns was written by Stuart Townsend in 2003:

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

It defies all human logic, but there it is.  1 Corinthians 1:27-30 says, "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.  And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

If my friends want to call me righteous, meaning excellent or genuine, I will be honored.  However, if God looks on me and sees His righteousness, I am humbled.

As I Live And Breathe

 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. --Lamentations 3:22-23

I woke up this morning with a song on my heart.  It is an old hymn, written a century ago, and it is a commentary on the truths found in Lamentations 3:22-23.

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be. 

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me! 

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. 

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

As I meditated on the hymn text, I was encouraged.  The same God who spoke creation into being, who breathed life into mankind, still speaks life over me.  Psalm 102:25-28 says, "Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.  They will perish, but You will remain; they will all wear out like a garment.  You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but You are the same, and Your years have no end.  The children of Your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before You."

Creation declares the goodness of God.  Psalm 36:5 says, "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds."  Romans 1:19-20 says, "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have clearly been perceived, ever since the the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse."  The heavens really do proclaim His goodness to us, even when we sin against Him.

Malachi 3:6 says, "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." God is forever forgiving, and will not destroy those of us who are called by His Name.  Numbers 23:19 says, "God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind.  Has He said, and will He not do it?  Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?"  God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son as a sacrifice for us, so that whoever believes in Him will be saved.

We get so caught up in the current culture that we often lose sight of who He is, and whose we are.  American author and English professor David Foster Wallace told this allegory in a 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College:

There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys.  How's the water?"  And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?"

Chad Bird writes, "The cultural waters in which we swim are so natural, so ever-present, so much a part of the fixed reality of our lives, that we rarely pause to ponder, 'What the hell is water?' What are these wet assumptions soaking our skin? What are these 'truths' that form the sea in which we live and work and play?" (Bird, Upside Down Spirituality: The 9 Essential Failures of a Faithful Life, 50-51).  Too often we as Christians ride the current, following the crowd like a school of fish.  We should be swimming the other way.  Our lives should be counter-cultural, in a way.  We don't need to be so influenced by current culture that no one can see we are any different.

This culture that so permeates our lives, through which we slog incessantly and often immerse ourselves within, is fickle.  It changes from one generation to the next, from one decade to the next, from one pervasive idea to the next.  James 4:14 says, "Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."  David Foster Wallace didn't have a fixed point of reference even after observing the cultural winds, as he committed suicide at age 46.

We must remember that we are in this world, but not of this world.  We may be covered in the muck and mire of this world, but we need a daily cleansing, an immersion into the Water of Life.  God does not change, and that is why we are admonished in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Job 7:17-18 says, "What is man, that You make so much of him, and that You set Your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment?"  We are not the newest and best versions of humanity, on our way to being the dust of history.  We are made in the image of God, who is faithful, who never changes.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Let us not lose sight of His goodness and faithfulness, so that we can be a beacon on a hill for Him for eternity.