Loving Much, Loving Little

And He Himself is the propitiation [atonement] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

Jesus saved us from our sins.  I’ve said it hundreds of times since 1972 when I discovered that breathtaking news. But the longer I walk with Him the more I wonder how well I really understand what that means – not  what He did, but what I did.

I wonder how well I understand the depth of our sins. Its horror. Its unrelenting and unspeakable evil – evil so foul that by itself alone heaven convulsed. Evil that spit in His face. Lashed him with whips. Nailed Him to a cross. Our lies. Our thefts. Our immoralities. Our pride. Our idolatries. Our . . . our . . .  our. 

It was all ours.

So often I speak so glibly of our salvation without thought. Without reflection. Like those at a dinner table discussing the weather – “Oh yes, I am a sinner. Pass the biscuits, please.”

But if I took the time, time after time, to ask the Holy Spirit to convict me anew, again and again, of sin, righteousness, and judgment, if I took the time to contemplate the truth that my conversion in 1972 was not intended by God to be simply a one-time event, but an ongoing, day after day recommittal of my life to Him, then I would not wonder as I sometimes wonder, at Isaiah who, when he beheld the Lord, cried, “Oh God! I am a man of unclean lips and I live among people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:1-7).  I would not wonder as I sometimes wonder, at St. John who, when he saw the risen Jesus in all His wondrous glory, fell on his face as a dead man in recognition of who he was and who Jesus is (Revelation 1:17).  I would not wonder, as I sometimes wonder, at St. Peter who begged of the Lord, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8), or St. Paul, who writhed in agony over his continuing sins and wept, “Who will deliver me from the body of this death?”  (Romans 7:24).

But what I do wonder is why I remain so insensitive to what I did – and to what I do – all of which resulted in what Jesus had to do on Golgotha.  Why am I sometimes so casual with others about the Cross and the brutal death of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ that purchased our salvation?  How do I forget what Jesus said of the harlot who washed His feet with her tears: “He who is forgiven much loves much. He who is forgiven little loves little” (See Luke 7:47).

Oh, Lord! Open my eyes! According to your mercy and to what I can bear, show me the sin – my sin – that sliced open your back and hammered nails into your limbs. I want to know – really know –what it is for which I am forgiven. I want to see it in all of its evil as you see it. I want to know even as I am known, that I may love you the more for your great and ineffable forgiveness toward me.

Amen.

 

 

 

Why Do We Say It?

I posted this to my blog late in 2011. The question remains relevant to me. Perhaps also to you.

 

Therefore Pilate . . . summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” (John 18:33-34)

Why do we believe Jesus is King? And Lord?

Because our parents told us it’s so?

Our teachers? Pastors?

Books we’ve read?

Homilies we’ve heard?

Or do we believe Jesus is King,

and Lord,

because we’ve met Him.

Because we know Him.

Because we speak with Him.

Believing in Jesus is not the same as

believing Jesus.

Trusting in Jesus is not the same as

trusting Jesus.

Which is why

what the Lord asked of Pilate

He asks also of you

and me:

“Do you call Me King,

and Lord,

on your own initiative?

Or because of what others have told you of Me?”

The Church is Full of Hypocrites! Oh, Really?

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ . . . . (Romans 8:15-17)

If you’ve attended church for a while and often invited others to join you, you’ve probably heard some dismiss your invitation with the response, “The church is full of hypocrites.”

I’ve heard that accusation more than a few times. And because I know humans attend church, and all humans (like myself) are sinners, I have found myself agreeing with their accusation – if only because I didn’t know what else to say in defense.

But is it true that the church is full of hypocrites? Of course it is not true, and here is why:

Any dictionary will define the word hypocrite as a person who, for example, says one thing but routinely acts to the contrary. In other words, hypocrites do not even attempt to walk whatever it is they talk. And as one might expect, Scripture is not silent when it comes to addressing hypocrites. For example, St. Paul warned Titus to beware of those in the church who “profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.  (Titus 1:16).

The Lord Jesus also warned us to beware of hypocrites. He called them ‘tares’ among the wheat. (Tares are a type of grass whose seeds have a strong sedative effect known by modern medicine as a hypnotic. Tares look very much like wheat and cannot be easily distinguished from the good grain until the harvest). Christ speaks of them this way:

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.

The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’

But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:24-30; See the Lord’s further explanation in verses 36-40).

Christians must be careful to not let the ungodly label us with the grossly inaccurate term hypocrite. Rather, we – like all humanity – are sinners (which is bad enough), but sinners trying to learn and do what is pleasing to God. We are not perfect, but our desire is to imitate Jesus. We often stumble and fall on our faces as we try to walk a holy lifestyle, and when we fall we feel dirty. But we repent, confess our sins, get washed again in the blood of Jesus . . . and get up again. That does not describe a hypocrite. That simply describes a sinner saved and kept and carried by the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God through periodic moral failures.

Christian, words mean something. If we let the world define us, if we let it label us, we might easily lose heart and demand of ourselves a sinless perfection unattainable in this life. Let’s instead let God define us. He calls us his beloved children, children who daily need His power and mercy and forgiveness to overcome our moral failures and grow in our relationship with Jesus.

How do we grow in that relationship?  How do we mature in our ‘walking the talk’ to the point where we more fully overcome our bent toward moral failures? The Holy Spirit answers the question multiple times throughout Scripture, but His answer can probably be synthesized into one overriding theme. St. Paul addresses that theme in his letter to the Colossians: 

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  (Colossians 3:1). 

In other words, keep seeking Jesus. Fix our eyes on Jesus. Intentionally walk more closely each day with Jesus. The more we gaze at Him, the more we become like Him (see 2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

The church is not full of hypocrites, although one can find hypocrites – or tares – in every congregation. Rather, God’s Church is full of sinners on a faith journey like you and me, sinners who hate sin and long to be holy, even as Christ is holy. So the next time you invite someone to attend your church, let him or her know your parish is full of sinners – but sinners seeking to learn how to walk like our Lord.

Wings of Angels

I posted this in early 2011. I thought it good to bring it forward again.
-------------

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17).


The Lord's temptation in the desert provides us an important lesson when our own life falls out of control. You remember what happened in the Jordan. John baptized Jesus as the crowd watched. Then the Holy Spirit appeared as a dove, rested on Jesus, and a voice thundered from heaven: This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

One might have thought, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

But in the next verse, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert.

For 40 days, nearly six weeks, the beloved Son of God, the One in whom the Father was “well pleased” endured severe trials. Alone. Hungry. Cold. Tired.

And then Satan showed up to add to His struggles.

The Temptation lesson is an important one, especially for us who endure our own loneliness, loss, hunger, and heartache. Although Satan will use those things to try to fool us into thinking God is angry with us, that God has forsaken us, or God is unaware of our struggles, yet it is those very struggles – severe as they may be – that give us a chance to imitate what Jesus did. With each lie, Jesus entrusted Himself to His Father whom He knew loved Him.

How did Jesus know He was beloved? He’d just heard it at His baptism. And He believed it.

Armed with that knowledge of the Father’s love, Jesus could wield Scripture like a razor-sharp sword against each sly demonic attempt to pull Him from the path leading to our redemption.

Jesus said, “It is written” (verse 4).

Jesus said, “It is written” (verse 7).

Jesus said, “It is written” (verse 10).

Many years after His resurrection, Jesus showed St. John a vision of the Church’s future, a future in which Christians would endure great suffering and death at the hands of Satan and his followers. Through the entire book of Revelation, but specifically in chapter 12, verse 11, St. John tells us Christians would overcome Satan, “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and that they did not love their lives even when faced with death.”

How can that be? How can Christians withstand such an onslaught of evil? Because we know God loves us. How do we know that? We heard it at our baptism. We hear it in the words of Scripture each time we read it or hear it.

And we believe it.

Jesus was not led into the desert because the Father was angry with Him. God led Him there to model for us the behavior that will overcome Satan’s deceptions in the midst of our own deserts – to do as Jesus did: entrust ourselves to the Father who loves us, defend against Satan’s lies with God’s word . . .  and wait patiently for the deliverance that will surely come on the wings of angels (Matthew 4:11).

What Does Scripture Really Say About Judging Others?

Do not judge so that you will not be judged (Matthew 7:1).


On April 3, 2014 LifesiteNews.com reported Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois supported a priest in his diocese who refused Holy Communion to a Catholic politician. The politician publicly supports abortion which, according to the Catholic Church, is gravely contrary to the moral law.


When I posted the article to one of my social network sites someone asked me: Is this not judging?


Perhaps one of the most often cited Scriptures used to ‘prove’ Christians have no right to judge others is that text (above) from Matthew 7. But is that what this text is really saying? After all, what would societies look like if no judged the actions of another? Courts would close and prisons would empty its prisoners back into our communities because no one could pass judgment on murderers, rapists, thieves, and other criminals.


A society without authority to judge others would descend into complete anarchy. That is why St. Paul refers to governments as having been “established by God” for the protection of its citizenry (Romans 13:1-6).


But what about individual Christians? Are we commanded to avoid passing judgment on others, especially in the Church? A superficial glance at the Lord’s statement, “Do not judge so you will not be judged” seems to indicate the answer is yes. Yet what does the context of that verse reveal? And what clarification do we find in examining the rest of New Testament scripture? Let's look at that context:


Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)


The Lord Jesus is saying more than a simple “Do not judge.” Rather, He warns us to avoid judging without first examining our own lives. The Holy Spirit further clarifies Jesus’ point through St. Paul: Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things . . . . But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? (Romans 2:1-3)


Thus, if we are to judge the actions of others, we must first ensure our own actions are moral and will stand up to the scrutiny of the Lord who knows all things.


Looking back at the Matthew passage, the Lord Jesus continues in verse six: Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine. . . . In New Testament language, dogs and swine referred to non-practicing Jews and Gentiles who did not follow the Law of Moses. Unless Jesus’ disciples ‘judged’ the actions of those who live contrary to Jewish law, this commandment in verse six does not make sense.


But the Lord was not yet finished. In verses 15-16 of the same chapter, He warned: Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. If Jesus intended verse one to be a ‘stand alone’ commandment, then His warning about false prophets is meaningless since we would not be permitted to judge the fruit of others to know of whom we should be wary.


The Father of evil – Satan – ever strives to distort God’s truth by introducing false teachers and false Christians into the Church. That is why the Holy Spirit warns us through St. Paul: For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness . . . . (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).


Unless we judge what others do, we cannot protect ourselves or others against Satan’s schemes. An example of why such judgment is necessary to protect the flock is found in St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. One of the men in the congregation was sleeping with his father’s wife, and St. Paul passed swift judgment on him: For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.


Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven . . . . I wrote you in my letter not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. . . remove the wicked man from among yourselves. (1 Corinthians 5:3-13) 


(By the way, besides protection, another purpose of Christian judgment is the rehabilitation and reconciliation of the sinner. We find this is what occurred with this man because by the time Paul wrote his second letter to that church, the offender had turned his life around and had been restored to the Christian community – 2 Corinthians 2:1-11).


We could examine many other New Testament texts that instruct Christians, for their own safety and the safety of others, to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). But for the sake of brevity I will cite only a few more texts which, if Matthew 7:1 was intended as a ‘stand alone”, would not make sense – and why that passage must be read in context with the rest of Scripture:



1 Corinthians 15:33-34:  Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Unless we use Biblical principles to judge the company we keep, we risk our own morals being corrupted.

2 Corinthians 6:14-15^: Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?  Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?  To avoid being “bound together with unbelievers” one must make judgments.

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15: If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Once again St. Paul instructs his Christian readers to judge the actions and words of others.

1 Timothy 5:9-10: A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. How could the church put such women on “the list” without judging their lives?

1 Timothy 5:19-21: Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. How could church leadership rebuke those who continue in sin without judging their actions?

2 Timothy 3:1-4: But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. How could we avoid such men unless we judge their actions?

In St. John’s gospel, the Lord Jesus tells us: Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). Righteous judgment means taking the log out of our own eye before we get busy taking specks out of someone else’s eye. It means approaching our brother or sister in love, and not in a spirit of condemnation – but approaching them nonetheless for their correction. What God said to the prophet Ezekiel is apropos to that point. This is my paraphrase from Ezekiel 33:1-7: If we warn the rebellious of the eternal danger they face, and they do not repent, their blood is on their own head. But if God tells us to warn the rebellious to turn from their sins, and we do not warn them, they will die in those sins – but God will require their blood of us.

When Bishop Paprocki supported his priest’s refusal to permit rebellious Catholics to receive the Holy Eucharist, he did so in full obedience to the Holy Spirit’s command to judge the sins of others and warn them of the eternal consequences of those sins. The bishop did nothing less than speak with the authority Christ gave the Church to protect the flock from wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15).

 

And individual Christians do nothing less than obey Scripture when we, in love, make judgments of the actions of others and warn them of the eternal danger they face if they continue in willful sin.

 

Where was God?

Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said . . .  ‘Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? (Job 40:6-8)

Every now and again when I share my faith with self-professed atheists, or I read comments on social media sites written by those who hate God, arguments against faith in God often focus on news reports such as school shootings, or roadside bomb attacks, or of planes flying  into buildings.  “If God exists,” they challenge, “then why does He permit those things to happen?”

Frankly, I do not understand the reason for the question. We remove God from our public schools, colleges, and universities, and are shocked when evil fills the void. We remove God’s laws from our culture and cloak sexual sins and perversions with the garb of normalcy, and are shocked that we produce adults who rape children and pornography tears millions of families to shreds. We reject God’s commandment about murder and proceed with the slaughter of 1.3 million babies in American abortion chambers each year – and then are shocked when teens and young adults randomly kill others for fun.

And atheists have the shamelessness to ask, “Where is God?”  As I said, I do not understand the question. Yet even as far back as the first century, St. Paul provides an answer to those with ears to hear and a heart humble enough to receive instruction. In his letter to the church at Rome he wrote:

Professing to be wise, they became fools . . . .  And just as they did not see fit^]to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:22-32)

Where is God? Is it really fair to blame Him for the evil around us when it is we ourselves who invited evil into our homes, communities, and our nation -- and God simply has given us over to our own sin?

And yet, even to this very day as you read this, through the mercy of God alone, anyone – atheists, agnostics, even the Christian in the pew – anyone who honestly desires truth can still learn from what Jesus prayed:

Father, Lord of heaven and earth . . . You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. . . . Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30)

Will we come? Are we willing to change?

Or shall truth remain hidden from us?

The God of Good For

 "Moreover, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter?  You slaughtered  My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire" (Ezekiel 16:20-21).

And because of their tireless and stubborn slaughter of the innocents, within a generation God sent devastation across Israel and dragged His Chosen people into more than 70 years of captivity and slavery.

We do not now sacrifice our children to idols of stone or wood. Instead we slaughter them on the altars of less tangible gods –gods of Me and My, of gods we call:  

Good for Me.

Good for My career.

Good for My happiness.

Good for My comfort.

Good for My convenience.

Good for My pleasure.

Good for My finances.

Good for My plans.

Good for My  . . . .

In the last generation Americans slaughtered 55 million innocent children to those gods, children whom God gave us, children we sacrificed on altars of unfettered self-indulgence.

Do we really believe we will not face our own disaster unless we repent?

But what would happen in America if every bishop, every priest, every pastor, every deacon who calls Jesus Lord stood before congregations next Sunday, and every Sunday until the slaughter stops  -- what would happen if they warned their congregations that to support politicians who support abortion is to share in their murderous practice, and therefore place themselves in mortal danger of sharing their eternal damnation?*

What would happen in America if every Christian in every pew in every church across denominational lines would tell their bishops and priests and pastors and deacons – stand with us against the slaughter to the idols of Me and My?

As God’s warning remains ever current, so does His promise:  “If My people, who are called by My name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins, and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

* 2 John verses 10-11