quotable - things are not much different

I am reading Eric Metaxas’ Bonhoeffer.  At a mere one-fifth of the way through, I’ve been struck by two things.  First, Martin Luther’s vigorous anti-Semitism late in life.  In his final years, Luther penned one treatise in particular that the Nazi Party later used to influence the German people and the German Lutheran church to adopt its anti-Jewish agenda.  "What he wrote during this time," commentates Metaxas, "would rightly haunt his legacy for centuries and would in four centuries become the justification for such evils as Luther...could not have dreamed" (p. 93).  Second, Bonhoeffer’s observations about the state of the church in America.  At age 24, already holding a doctorate in theology but one year too young to be ordained as a pastor in Germany, Bonhoeffer studies in the United States for a year.  The date is 1930-31.  He journals the following (quoted from pages 106-107):

“Things are not much different in the church [than they were in Union Theological Seminary, where Bonhoeffer was enrolled].  The sermon has been reduced to parenthetical church remarks about newspaper events…The enlightened American, rather than viewing all this with skepticism, instead welcomes it as an example of progress…

In New York they preach about virtually everything; only one thing is not addressed, or is addressed so rarely that I have as yet been unable to hear it, namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross, sin and forgiveness, death and life. 

This is quite characteristic of most of the churches I saw.  So what stands in place of the Christian message?  An ethical and social idealism borne by a faith in progress that – who knows how – claims the right to call itself “Christian.”  And in the place of the church as the congregation of believers in Christ there stands the church as a social corporation…All these things, of course, take place with varying degrees of tactfulness, taste, and seriousness; some churches are basically “charitable” churches; others have primarily a social identity.  One cannot avoid the impression, however, that in both cases they have forgotten what the real point is.”

a city without walls

             During Bible times, walls were essential to a strong city.  When the ten spies reported to Moses after investigating the land of Canaan, they noted, “The people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great” (Num. 13:28).  Later King Solomon directed the building of the wall around Jerusalem, and Israel enjoyed the fulfillment of David’s prayer in Psalm 122: “Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together…peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.”  Then Israel and Judah rejected the Lord, and the curses of which Moses had warned them in Deut. 28 came to pass.  Nebuchadnezzar “slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age…  They burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem…” (2 Chr. 36:16ff)

                Years later, a dismayed Nehemiah hears this report: “The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire” (Neh. 1:3).  Without walls, Jerusalem was unable to defend itself from looting and the attacks of its enemies.

Likewise, the Christian who has no control over his or her emotions is vulnerable to the attacks of the devil, the world, and his or her own sinful self.  “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Prov. 25:28). 

We are quick to excuse ourselves for sinful emotions, aren’t we?  Emotions just happen, right?  Perhaps our mood swings are the fault of hormones.  Either that, or others are obviously to blame for our unrighteous anger, bitterness, envy, discontent, or unhappiness.

Unlike us, God does not excuse sinful emotions.  Rather, He wills that we be sanctified wholly – that not only our bodies, but our whole spirits and souls be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thes 5:23).  We are to be lead by the Spirit, not our feelings.

Asaph struggles with overwhelming worry and discontent in Psalms 73 and 77.  How does he combat these sinful emotions?  He meditates on the works of God.  He speaks of the Lord’s doings.  He considers the end of the wicked whom he envied.  And he repents of his out-of-control emotions. 

When our emotions control us, we become so engrossed with ourselves that we fail to acknowledge reality.  We esteem ourselves better than others, and disregard our Creator and Lord. 

Discipline of our emotions is closely tied to the discipline of our minds.  Gates are an important part of walled cities: they control what flows in and out of the city they protect.  The food and water that go in through the gates sustain the lives of the people who live within the walls.  Similarly, Bible reading and prayer sustain our spiritual lives and nourish Godly emotions.  So “Be careful for nothing [don’t worry about anything]; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil.4).

Christians who discipline their emotions can confess with the apostle Paul, “I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”  They take seriously the command to “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice!”  (Phil. 4) And they experience the reality that this is possible only by the work of the Spirit of God within them, the Spirit “of power, and of love, and a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7).

serve God with a willing mind

            When Jesus walked this earth, He dispelled the notion that one could keep the law of God by maintaining outwardly moral behavior.  “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matt. 23:27-28).  Our Lord taught that lust is adultery and that anger constitutes murder (Matt. 5:22-28).

So it was already in the Old Testament.  “Man looks on the outward appearance, but I look on the heart,” God reminded Samuel (I Sam. 16:7).  “So know the God of your father,” elderly David instructed newly-crowned Solomon in I Chronicles 28:9, “and serve Him with a perfect heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts.”

            The word “disciple” is often equated with the word “follower.”  While “follower” is a helpful synonym, the word “disciple” comes from the Latin word which means “pupil.”  A disciple is first one who learns, one who uses his mind.  So David instructed Solomon first to know God. 

It is not enough, then, that a disciple bring his body into subjection.  We are called to discipline our minds as well.

            “Love God with all your heart, soul, and strength.  And these words [God’s law] which I command you today, shall be in your heart,” declares Moses in Deut. 6.  “By the word ‘heart,’” writes John Calvin, “he designates the memory and other faculties of the mind.”  What follows is the command to study God’s Word, to engage in constant conversation about it with our children, and to meditate on it when we are at home, when we are out and about, when we lay down at night, and when we rise in the morning.  The very first Psalm affirms: Blessed is the man who meditates in God’s law day and night (Psalm 1:2).

Do you exercise your mind unto godliness? 

“Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be,” Paul writes in Romans 8.

The word “enmity” means “active hatred.”  How do we battle the active hatred of God that seeks to fill our minds?  Though we live in an earthly body, the weapons of our warfare are not earthly (2 Cor 10).  The Spirit of God is the weapon (Eph. 6) that enables us to do the will of God from the heart, that is mighty to pull down strongholds, “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10).”

Are you led by the Spirit of God? (Romans 8)  That Spirit is a Spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, a mind whose every thought is captive not to our sinful natures, but to Christ (2 Tim. 1).    

Rachel J. does it again

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quotable - don't use words too big

“Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”  ~C.S. Lewis

good morning, may

And what if it's May that storms in like a lion?