Monday, November 25, 2013

An Interlude on Faith

"These were commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised."  Hebrews 11:39

We Interrupt this life...
By Rev. William Dohle

What has interrupted your life lately?

Good or bad, interruptions come to all of us, disturbing us and challenging us, moving us in ways we never expected.

Some interruptions are good.  A newfound love where love wasn't expected.  The surprise birth of a new child.  The interruption that comes when family arrives for the holidays.

And other interruptions aren't so good.  These we wish had never come because, after the interruption happens, life is never the same.

That was my day last week...and the week before that day as well.

It all started with my son saying loudly in the narthex: "There's a tornado warning!"  And it all ended with the news that a large tornado had hit the communities of East Peoria, Pekin, and, most of all, Washington, Illinois.  As pictures appeared, the worry started.  Who was affected by this tragedy?  How might they be handling it?

That, in retrospect, wasn't the beginning of the interruption but rather the continuation of it.  It began before the tornado when we heard news that a member of the congregation lost her two infant twin girls.  It began when I heard how she and her family held their two little girls in their arms until they passed away later that evening.  The interruption began with that sad news.

And like all interruptions...it disturbed the routine.  Coming to work on Monday after the tornado seemed ridiculous.  How could I continue to work as if nothing had happened knowing that others were suffering just miles away?  Writing a sympathy card, being supportive, seemed hard for me as well.  What could I say to this family that would help?

I really struggled with the interruption.  "Why, God?" I prayed.  "Why has this happened now?  Who is affected by this tragedy?  How will they cope?  What will this do to their faith?"
Of course that does nothing but exasperate the interruption, for interruptions thrive in such questions.  Why questions fuel the interrption's power over our life and immobilize us.

Often we try to answer these questions with our own personal prosperity gospel.  If we are faithful and good enough, (and we always think we are) God will be good to us and nothing bad will happen in our lives.  I've already heard their voices and the estimation of the tragedy has just begun.  I've already heard of the family who cries to the heavens, "I can't pray or believe in a God who would do this to us!"

That's the prosperity Gospel at work there.  That's one answer to the question.  We all have a little bit of that.  It's truly a human response.  We all want some sort of resolution or answer to our problem. Someone to blame always gives us just that.

But that way doesn't lead to any resolution.  It only leads to despair.  The only way to face the interruptions in our life is, not to ask why they happened to us, but how we can get through.  And the only way to get through is through faith.  Our faith may not protect us from all of life, but our faith can carry us through.

The book of Hebrews speaks of faith this way:

"And what more shall we say?... Women received back their dead, raised to life again.  Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.  Some faced jeers and flogging, while others were chained and put in prison.  They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword.  They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated--the world was not worthy of them.  They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.  These were all commended for their faith."  (Hebrews 11:32, 35-39a)
What these verses are saying is:  Faith doesn't guarantee life.  Some were stoned and sawed in two and put to death for their faith, not because they didn't ask to be released but because, sometimes, that's where faith gets you.  Sometimes the end result of a faithful prayer is the same as it would have been had you not prayed.

Two people experience a tragedy.  One has faith.  The other does not.  Both have experienced the same thing, but each looks at it in a completely different way.  One looks beyond the tragedy.  One focuses solely on the event.  One sees the country ahead.  The other looks solely at the country they are in.  One deals with the present.  The other strives for the future.

That's faith.  Faith gives you eyes to see beyond your current situation.  Faith is the means by which you patiently hold out for something you cannot see or experience or taste or touch, but something you know is more real than the tragedy you are experiencing.

Faith is what Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego had when they responded to King Nebuchadnezzar this way: "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods..."(Daniel 3:17-18)

Do you hear what they said, "...even if he does not."  That's faith right there.

Faith realizes that sometimes prayers are not answered in the way we think they should be answered.  Tragedy comes upon us all.  And yet, faith asserts that, despite the evidence at hand.  Despite God being quiet, we will still worship.  We still still hold on.  As one amazingly faithful mother said upon the death of her twins, "God is good."

May God grant us such faith that we too might, even in the face of death and destruction, might boldly say, "But still we shall live!"

Faithful God, you have surrounded us with such a cloud of witnesses who held on to you in life and death.  Give us faith that we might trust, not in what we see, but in who you are.  Amen.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Being There

"See I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way to bring you to the place I have prepared."  Exodus 23:20

Being There
By Rev. William Dohle

They say the greatest gift you can give someone is your presence...and I think they're right.  The most treasured thing we have, the one thing we must give away some each day, is time.  It is our greatest treasure.  Those we spend our time with we hold in the highest esteem.  They mean the most to us.  Those we spend less or none of our free time with don't really matter in our lives.

Sadly I believe many people forget this fact.  Especially couples.  Time is precious and what we spend that time on matters.  Of course, we must spend some time apart.  Work and other obligations must be met.  But our free time is ours to do with as we choose and sometimes even that is misused.  The time we have is precious and we must treat it as such.  In my ministry, I have seen many couples choose to spend their free time in separate places, away from each other.   One leaves for a weekend without the one here.  The other goes away for a weekend without the other there.  One decides to vacation at this place.  The other that place.  It isn't long before the two of them are living completely separate lives which, unfortunately, often leads to divorce.

The same thing goes with our children too.  As parents, we only have a short time with our children to be with them in the home.  The goal of parenting is to raise independently minded, loving, faithful adults, but the time we have to do that is so short.  It saddens me when parents too will spend so much of their free time alone or apart from their kids.  They are only here for a short time.  We need to treasure that.

Thankfully, God knows the value of time.  In fact, we are told in Scripture, that God never leaves us.  He doesn't go away from us or abandon us.  He doesn't go off and do his own thing for a weekend someplace else leaving us to our own devices.  Instead, God is here with us the whole way.

In the center of Exodus, right at the heart of God's law, comes the promises that God will be with Israel...and likewise us.  God is with them, not in some detached way, but in a real, active way.  Here's what God is going to do...

...I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way...
...I am preparing a place for you...
...I will wipe out your enemies...
...I will take away sickness from among you...
...I will give you a full life span...
...I will will make your enemies turn their backs and run...
...I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the [other nations[ out of your way.
...I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines(from Ex 23)
 These are all God's actions for God's people.  This is the result of God's being there.

We can look at that list today and marvel at what God did for the people of Israel then.  And we can look at that list and see what God does for us now.

Few of us know or can even comprehend what we are protected against.  We just don't see it.  When we claim God has left us, sometimes I think it is our perceptions that are at fault.  We just don't see what God is doing.  That's how good he is.  Like an expert magician, God hides much of what God does for us.  He just does it!

In the course of the day, God protects us from all kinds of evil.  He heats our homes and warms our hearts.  He opens our eyes to the needy and gives us the courage to reach out to those who are wanting.  God convicts us our sins and forgives us of them too.  He loves us through our friends and family and strengthens us along the way.

That's only a small list.  God does so much more too!  God is constantly at work all around us, doing what he does unseen, all because he's here.  Because God doesn't take a vacation away from us, his family, he is able to walk with us, beside us, on every step of life's journey.

God never leaves us nor forsakes us.  Maybe because God knows how precious time is to us.  After all, we are like the grass which is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the fire.  Maybe God knows this...

But I think it has something to do with how much God loves us.  God loves us so much that he sent His Son to live, die, and live again all for us.  God loves us enough to say, in effect, life isn't long enough with my people.  I want them with me forever.

May we spend our time with our families as God spends his time with us.  Lavishing what little time we have with them on them.

I am on earth but a short time.  Give me wisdom that I may count my days and invest them wisely in those around me.  Amen.

p.s.  If you are struggling with time management, particularly in your relationships, talk to someone, a pastor or a councilor.  Someone who can help.  Silence is the quiet killer of relationships.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Not So Cut and Dry


"Be careful to do everything I have said to you." Exodus 23:13

Not So Cut and Dry
By Rev. William Dohle

There's a song I just loved growing up.  It has the most familiar tune to it too and sometimes, if you've had even just a smidge of Sunday School, you'll sing right along with it.  It's words go like this...

Jesus Loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him be loved
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.

I love that song!  It really hits at the heart of our faith as children.  Jesus loves me...so all can be right with the world.  And I know it because the Bible (and most of the time Mommy and Daddy and that nice guy or gal who stands up front in church) tells me so.

That simple faith, based on the Bible, can be found too in a popular Fundamentalist bumper sticker too.  It reads:


"God Said it.  I believe it.  That settles it!"

Unfortunately, read through that book called the Bible, the book we claim God wrote, and we come across a number of things that we don't believe and, quite frankly, don't follow at all.

Take, for instance, some of the laws we find written in the book of Exodus.

Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death. (21:15)
Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. (21:17)
If a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death. (21:14)
Do not allow a sorceress to live. (22:18)
Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed. (22:29)

All of these have the penalty of death attached to them.  No exception.  If we are to do what the Bible says.  If God said it and we believe it and that settles it, shouldn't it also settle that we are to kill our children if they attack us or even curse us?  Shouldn't that settle most murder cases?  Take them out and kill them, according to this reading of Scripture.

Of course, even if you agree and say we should follow these statements, there are still other politically charged statements to consider like...

"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt."(22:21...concerning immigration)
Or...
"Do not take advantage of a widow or orphan."(22:22...concerning possibly welfare?)
Or...
"Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people."(22:28...even if you disagree with them?)
The list goes on and on.  How do you handle these statements if "God said it...I believe it...that settles it?"  It's hard to reconcile an unwavering, uncritical view of Scripture with these statements that we clearly do not follow.

There is, though, another way of looking at it.  One described in the graphic above.  That way involves taking the text and interpreting it.  Here you take what is written and ask yourself, "What am I hearing in this text?  How does it speak to me?"

For example, the rabbis of old would often interpret the texts concerning capital punishment this way.  If the Torah(Bible) said it once, it was a warning.  If it said it twice, it meant that punishment should ensue if the commandment was broken.  And every(or nearly every) instance of capital punishment could be resolved with a monetary fine.

Christians often do the same by ignoring the sections of the Bible that don't speak to them.  We dismiss them as ancient laws and rules of a by-gone era.  We hold the first ten sacred, but fall off when it comes to following the rest.  Martin Luther interpreted Scripture through Christ.  A "canon within a canon" was what he called the pieces of Scripture that spoke of Christ the clearest.  The rest could be discarded if need be.

So, how do you read Scripture?  What do you do with these texts?  Instead of coming up with a iron-clad rulebook, I think it might help if we follow a process.  First we read what is written.  Not what we think has been written.  What is actually there.  Then we read before and after it to take in into context.  We look further into Scripture to see how others have interpreted this passage.  Then, with tradition and the words of the saints, you work through what you feel this passage might mean now for you.  Not for others, but for you.  You apply the words you read first to yourself and your life.  Then you turn to the community of faith, the church, to ask them what they think of your interpretation and what modifications need to be made.  And then you apply said interpretation, bring these words to life through your example.

If we're honest with ourselves and really attempt to follow what God in all of Scripture has taught us, through the Holy Spirit we may slowly become more loving, graceful, and forgiving of others.  We may work for justice for the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the foreigner in particular.  We may see God's big plan for the world being, not condemnation, but benevolent salvation.  And, ironically, we may begin to look more and more like his Son, Jesus the Messiah.

Just a thought as you are reading through the best library of religious writing ever compiled.  The one and only Bible!

I am confused, Lord, most of the time I open Scripture, and yet I come to you with an open heart, asking you to speak to me through the words written so long ago.  Amen.