Sermons and Articles

Footwashing, The Lord Gets His Hands Dirty and We Get Clean, John 13

2011-04-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

Beloved of the Lord,

I want to talk about Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. Notice all the detail. John wants to call our attention to a very simple fact. Jesus is actually washing feet. What Jesus is doing here is not just an idea, an abstraction, Jesus is taking off his outer garments, girding himself, the basin, the water, and washing the mire and the muck off the feet of his followers. So before we get to Jesus washing the feet of his disciples as a symbol, as an example, first let’s just examine the bare fact: Jesus washing feet.
In those days a real need. Many went barefoot on unpaved roads, roads with all manner of mire and gook. When you came into a hospitable house, the master would direct a slave to wash your feet. Comforting to get all the dust off, maybe blood too from the stones, caked mire...get that off, ready to enjoy the party.
And before we go on I just want to pause and notice that God was always this way. God does come all the way down. God gets his hands dirty literally. Think of the very beginning, how God made Adam out of clay, getting his hands dirty. it says in Jeremiah, a prophecy of messiah, in that day Lord, you will do justice in the clay, in the dirt, in the earth. And we see that, Jesus remember how he spits in the dirt and makes clay and puts it in the blind man’s eyes, just a few chapters ago in John 9. Does justice literally in the earth.
But I just want to emphasize one more time, that it was always so, God walks in the garden, not floating, walks in the dust, God walks in the desert with his people Israel.
Example: Geography of Jerusalem not just with maps but under our feet. Good to do, God does it.
Example: Twitter, email, facebook, it’s the easy way of connecting, but we have to use it not be abused by it. Use it to make real friendship, the kind where there is sight and smell and touch. God didn’t wash the disciples feet by remote control, he got down there, on his knees, hands on their feet, fingers between their toes and cleaned them.

Now this is a symbol, but we have to understand what a symbol is. Sym bol, throw with, it’s like the first ball of a ball game, it is a sign of the rest. Better for me, (Barth) “audiovisual”. Communion helps. John’s gospel has the washing of the disciples feet instead of the Lord’s supper, but both things are audiovisuals forever audiovisuals, both things both communion and foot washing are audiovisuals of the cross, Peter says to Jesus, “Lord, you are going to wash my feet? Jesus answered, “you do not see what I am doing now but after these things you will know. After these things, “these things” are Jesus suffering, death and resurrection. After these things, you will understand what I am doing now. Washing the disciples feet is an audiovisual of the cross, just like communion is our audiovisual of the cross.
Picture the Lord’s supper in the early church, a full meal, picture a table filled with good things, delicious roast beef, steaming mashed potatoes, hot rolls and butter, good fresh salads with tomato and avocado. Think of it the shared cup of wine that began the meal then the meal and then in the midst of the hilarity, the minister, takes the bread and gives all a touch of solemnity, this is my body broken for you and then the shared cup after the meal to close it all off, this is the cup of the new covenant sealed in my blood. This meal that I am describing is the symbol of what God has given on the cross. It’s an audiovisual of the cross. Isn’t that amazing. I am very grateful for the communion we have now
Example:(experience at Seminary....) it too is an audiovisual, it too is a symbol but maybe more like a symbol of a symbol
footwashing is an audiovisual of the cross. God comes all the way down, he not just rolls up his sleeves he takes off his shirt to slave for us, to cleanse us. And he does it. Such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified.
Pause
Now-- why don’t we have foot washing like we have communion? Peoples feet aren’t dirty. Sacrament on the margins. However, there might be some places in Africa that have real foot washing. the people come in dusty from the road in their flip flops or bare feet, maybe the elders, ready got their towels, stripped to waist, got the basin and maybe that’s the way they begin church. Beautiful I’d say were I visiting, what they’ve got going is the cross not explained in some sermon, but explained through action. The word of God not just in a sermon but in deed.

Close by saying it is an example: now we can’t do foot washing yet in U.S. Example: Benny Hinn, got down with hankie and dusted, moving, but a little misleading, not the cross,
but we learn from foot washing

God joyfully cleanses our filthy feet and he joyfully cleanse our filthy selves on the cross. This is our Messiah. And so, we need not be afraid in our churches in our denomination to be janitors
Example at my Dad’s church, dust, scrub, pick up cake crumbs, sewers overflowed my dad left with dry guck and stench. In our denomination there may be a lot of stinky things that we are called into, but God will not give us more than we can handle and he will enable us to handle the things he gives us. Presbyterians, realm of ideas, but now we may, in his grace, be called to be janitors.
Example: the terrible smell in Dad’s church’s basement: guck, he knew of this enzymatic cleaner, ate up the guck, no smell, God is going to give us enzymatic cleaner to clean up all spiritual enemies, inside and out. Fear not little children it is your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom, fear not for I have overcome ( the mire, the deep filth) the world.

Galatians 6:1-10 , On Restoration, Sunday, March 13th 2011

2011-03-17T14:02:00.001-07:00

Dear friends, brethren, saints,

Today, really, I just want to talk about the first two verses of Galatians 6. And here we have Paul giving some very practical advice. Down to earth advice that comes straight from the kingdom of heaven. He says, “brothers if indeed a man is overtaken in some transgression you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourselves that you are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Anointed.” First things first, let’s go point by point. What does that mean overtaken in some transgression? Yes, it means overwhelmed by sin, but it also means caught in some sin. I think first of all the woman caught in adultery. Her sin caught her, caught up with her. She’s been "outted", exposed.
But being caught in sin, having your sin exposed can be more subtle too. I think of Zacchaeus, the little man, the tax collector who goes up the tree to see Jesus. Remember him? Zacchaeus’ sin and treachery are certainly known but the exposure, his being “caught” is more subtle but just as clear. He has done wrong that’s why he’s trying to make up for it, by turning his life around, giving to the poor, returning four fold what he has stolen. Or another case, Peter-- Peter denied Jesus three times, and remember at the end of John Jesus asks him three times, do you love me.? Peter’s sin, denying Jesus has clearly caught up to him. If we had forgotten that Peter had denied Jesus three times, when Jesus asks him three times “Do you love me?”...at that point, we remember it.
In our own day, I can think of two prominent preachers who were overwhelmed by their sin and caught in their sin: Jimmy Swaggart, a popular evangelist, Ted Haggard, megachurch pastor, very influential. Jimmy Swaggart was messing around with a call girl or call girls back in the 80s and Ted Haggard was messing around with a call-guy and it all came out. Their sin caught up to them. So what does Paul say to do when dealing with those whose sins have caught up to them--- Real practical words but kind of a surprise to me at least. He says, You who are spiritual one should restore such a one in a spirit of meekness. Notice the details. Those are attempting to restore the person should have the Holy Spirit. You’re gonna need it.
I spoke of Ted Haggard, was a prominent minister who had done some very immoral things, James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, evangelical group, he said, I can’t do it, too much a commitment. Good for James Dobson, restoration is serious business, not for those who aren’t able to commit to it.
For instance, there are different remedies for different diseases, and you need the Holy Spirit to know 1) the different diseases and 2) the different remedies. For Zacchaeus the remedy is to give to the poor and restore fourfold, for the rich young ruler? -- sell all that you have give to the poor and follow me. For Peter, it was Jesus making breakfast, breaking Peter’s heart in the gentlest way, do you love me, Lord you know I love you, feed my sheep. Different strokes for different folks.
And look at Paul’s next sentence: more than that, Watch yourself that you not also be tempted. What does Paul mean? Counseling, the work of reconciliation takes a toll. Let’s say you are trying to restore someone who took millions of dollars and she’s describing the homes, the vacation homes, the spas, the boats, the minks. You might get to thinking, I need a new coat, maybe it wouldn’t be wrong to fudge some of those numbers on my tax return. Or you’re hearing as you do the work of restoration with someone, you hear about the depths to which they have fallen, maybe you come out of a session, you feel rotten, your mind has been poisoned with bleech. Now, when Paul says to look to yourself, he’s not just saying examine yourself. Remember that verse that says, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling because it is God at work within you”? That’s what is going on here. Look to yourself, look to God’s word within you. Look to God’s word. As the Corinthians learned, even if you are filled with the Holy Spirit you need to be in the word of God. In fact, the Holy Spirit leads us and counsels us to open this book and guides us once we are in it and unlocks the most wonderful secrets and discoveries to renew your heart, but as with the Corinthians, we are all too ready to go off on our own tangents, lean on our own strength so Paul says be in the Spirit and look to the word, as Scripture says of God, morning by morning he wakens my ear. To deal with the poisons, the dregs that are being poured into our ear as we counsel people, we need a purifier too, everyday, the word of God goin’ in the other ear. Then we’ll be able to walk tall and straight.
and this restoration is done in meekness. Think of Moses, Moses had so much of the holy spirit, a small part of his spirit was given to the 70 elders and it filled them and they were prophesying and they ate and drank before God. Moses was filled with the Holy Spirit and he was the meekest of all men on earth.
--You know I was reading on Jimmy Swaggart’s webpage.... now he’s got a ministry and he seems to be doing well but he wrote this about the time when he was caught and exposed before the whole world and it has wisdom
Aside -- this was the surprise part for me, I want to punish the well to do and the well known but for Paul, when somebody’s down and out, punishment is not what’s called for.
Second Aside-- Now there is a time not to be gentle, Two examples....man who was weary of well doing, and Mary or Mom example...when somebody’s about to throw himself off the cliff, bar the door!
From Jimmy Swaggart’s website: “When a person is down, and can do nothing to defend himself, and anyone can do any negative thing to him they so desire, and will not only not be reprimanded, but rather applauded, then one finds out just how many true Christians there really are.
When a man has been caught in some sin, and he’s down and out, can do nothing to defend himself, that’s the time for meekness and gentleness on the part of his counselors.
And we see this in Jesus.
The woman caught in adultery, how gentle Jesus' restoration of her is and yet, how piercing,
John 8--The pharisees are testing Jesus... Rabbi, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such a one. What do you say? But notice what Jesus does, he bends down and begins to write in the earth in the dust. There is a secret to what Jesus is doing.
In Jeremiah we hear this
"O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake thee shall be ashamed and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me and I shall be saved, for thou art my praise"

Do you see what Jesus is "saying" to the elders and pharisees ringed about? He makes it even clearer when he says, "he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone." And Jesus at this again stoops down and writes in the dust. And the pharisees and scribes go away... one by one... beginning with the eldest.
And Jesus straightens up and says Woman, where are they, has no one judged you? No one Lord. And Jesus replies "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more." The woman had been privy to Jesus as he wrote on the ground. Not only is he speaking to the pharisees and scribes, asking them in effect, "Are you dust and ashes, departed from the Lord, cut off from living water?" He had also asked the woman this. Writing in the dust is just the same as saying to her, "Are you dry dust?" Do you need the waters of life? And then his words, "neither do I condemn you, Go and sin no more" "God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world would be saved"." It is God's goodness that leads us to repentance and we see that in Jesus' restoration of the woman caught in adultery.

And all of the this leads to what is undergirding these verses in Galatians--restoration. For Jimmy Swaggart, there was no serious attempt at restoration... and Ted Haggard, too little an attempt, I commend the attempt, but still... too little. Fact is, we don’t care about restoring people... but not God. God is in the business of restoration. “And he shall restore the hearts of the fathers to the sons and the heart of the sons to the fathers. Mal 3:7
Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation and uphold within me a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will be converted to you. Psalm 51:10
Psalm 88 (Sept) David--restored again and again as the moon.
Psalm 67 (Sept) O God thou wilt grant to thine inheritance rain, for it was weary but thou didst refresh it.
Isaiah 1:26ff And I will return your judges as at first; and your advisors, as at the beginning; then you shall be called righteousness city, faithful town. Zion with judgment shall be redeemed and her returnees with righteousness
Jeremiah 30 For I will restore health unto thee and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord because they called thee an Outcast.
God restores Zion, the land, hearts, souls, communities, countries, creation, all things Acts 3:19ff
How is this possible?
You see the new covenant, the everlasting covenant that is given to us in Jesus is all about restoration, healing, making right.
I will restore health unto thee, I will heal thee of thy wounds
What is after all,the center of the good news, “by his stripes we are healed” restored...
Yes, the church is hospital because its leader, the church’s one pastor, is Jesus the Great Physician. By his stripes we are healed
THIS is the law that Paul is talking about in the last clause here, "thus fulfill the law of Jesus of Anointed." What is the law of Jesus? It’s the everlasting covenant. Law, covenant,-- same thing, the new covenant. Restoration is God’s business and he makes it and is making it... ours. God says I will give you the faithful pities of the David Messiah, I will give you the faith, the love...everything so you can be like Jesus, Jesus the healer, Jesus the restorer, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

_____Please note that my quotations are from the KJV, the NIV, and many times they are my own translation based on the Greek.

2010-04-30T15:45:00.001-07:00

Genesis 6: Noah and Moses

Elie Wiesel, in his book "Sages and Dreamers" sums it up this way, with the flood, God was "starting all over, another draft." God preserves Noah and his family but abandons the rest of creation to the flood. It's interesting to me then that the children of Israel refuse to be abandoned, they cry out to God, they put off all their jewelry in mourning, they plead...and...their cause is upheld by the Lord. They are original squeaky wheel that gets the grease. Israel had sinned. God, who seems to have had it up to here with them, proposes that a glorious angel will lead them to the Promised Land...instead of him. He's had enough. The people respond with a might outcry; ice cream is no substitute for true love and an angel, however glorious, is no substitute for God.
Something has changed between Noah and Moses, and the Bible wants to let us in on it. Not only will Israel not be abandoned by God, they don't even have to accept a beautiful substitute. God's faithfulness seems to be coming into sharper and sharper focus, its glory is growing. We will see the glory of his faithfulness and love most in his son, Jesus Anointed, whom he sends because he refuses to abandon the world ("God so loved the world"). Nor will he send a substitute ("God saw that there was no man...he himself brought the victory." Is. 59:16), instead "the word became flesh and tented among us."

The Wrath and Love of God and Prop. 8

2009-03-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

In Judges 2:14 we read that because the Israelites turned to other gods, “the anger of the Lord was kindled...he gave them over to plunderers who plundered them; and he sold them into the power of their enemies round about so t hat they could no longer withstand their enemies.” But then, just a verse later, we read that in response to the suffering of Israel, God in his pity “raised up judges who saved them out of the power of those who plundered them” (vs. 16). It is interesting here that instead of withdrawing the Philistines and the other enemies of Israel, to whom God himself had handed them over, he raises up both judges and kings to stand against and defeat the enemies of Israel.

This is what is happening in the encounter between David and Goliath, the story of the young shepherd boy who defeats the giant Goliath and rouses the discouraged army of Israel so that with a great shout they rise up to pursue their oppressors and drive them from the land.

And this is the background to Romans 1, a chapter that in recent days invites much controversy.
In Romans 1:18-2:3, we learn that all society is thankless, we do not count our many blessings, and so, as he did with the Israelites, God hands us over to our enemies, not enemies of flesh and blood like the Philistines, but enemies that are ethereal but even more powerful. “We fight not against flesh and blood but the powers and principalities." Paul lists those enemies in his “vice catalogue” that begins in verse 1:24: “therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts...women exchanged natural relations for unnatural and men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another.” But of course this catalogue of vices does not end there but goes to encompass envy and murder, strife and deceit, malignity and gossiping, slander and hating God, to name a few.

This understanding of Romans 1, helps me as a minister to answer some the questions that have been asked of me, especially as the debate grew heated around Proposition 8 in California.

Many have asked over the years if I thought men and women are “born that way” as ”lesbians or homosexuals.” The answer is is, yes of course that is possible. On the other there are also a large number of people, some known to me personally, who chose sometime in early adulthood to reject the opposite sex. But whether people have a genetic predisposition to it or whether they chose to go a certain way makes no difference to the apostle Paul. God can hands over ALL society even the littlest child in the womb to sins that range from passion for those of their own sex to a predisposition for deceit. Just as the littlest one in Israel was oppressed by the cruel and continual raids on Israel by the Philistines so from the littlest to the oldest we are all harassed and harried by the vices that attack us constantly.

And here I must emphasize that it is ALL society, including you and me, that have been thankless. ALL of us have been handed over to the vices that the Apostle Paul lists in Romans 1. Chief among them to be sure, is the unnatural relations between men and men, women and women. These unnatural relations stand like a Goliath above all the others but we must remember an entire army of giants is behind him! Perhaps we love and admire the opposite sex, we are not perhaps DIRECTLY oppressed by this “Goliath” of a vice, but we necessarily fall prey to one of the other giants on the list. If we are not envious, we are faithless; if we are not disobedient to parents, we are heartless; if we are not liars we are gossips. Not one of us can avoid the cruelties of the enemy that lies within and without.

But is this bad news? No! and no again I say!

When God in his anger against our thanklessness betrays us into the hands our enemies, in his pity he raises up a savior to stand against these enemies and give us the victory! God has raised up such a savior and his name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

He is our victory over all our enemies, including the Goliath of unnatural relations that we meet everywhere and know so intimately. But it is not just Goliath who is felled, but his many brethren. I can testify personally, I was, and am and would be in the power of many of the vices listed EXCEPT for Jesus. Except for Jesus I am bossy and mean to name just a few of my sins (some of which I believe I was born with), but that “except” makes all the difference in the world.

Many among my friends and extended family have told me that they believe there to be “nothing wrong” with so-called “gay marriage.” They say, “why not live and let live? No one is harmed.” I completely understand their point of view because I was once of the same opinion. But the Lord Jesus knows better. The Bible is as the theologian N.T. Wright points out “a love story.” How true that is, not just between Adam and Eve, but also between the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 and “Lady Zion” of Isaiah 54, between Jesus and his bride the church. There is no other book that cares so much about men and women liking and loving one another. In fact, the gospel itself is inseparable from the romance between God and Zion. We cannot proclaim the cross without proclaiming the love a man (God, the suffering servant) for a woman (Zion, the church).

Sometimes our troubles seem and indeed are, overwhelming. Our enemies, Paul’s entire catalogue of vice, poison our lives. But we are no different from the army of Israel standing utterly cowed before Goliath and their powerful enemies... and then comes someone entirely unexpected, a young shepherd going down to the stream to pick out five smooth stones for his slingshot. And suddenly when no expects it the giant falls flat, dead. And we rise up with a shout of victory, driving the cruel armies of the Philistines away. If it was such with Shepherd David, how much more is it with the Shepherd Jesus? The Israelites chased the enemy to their own gates, but with the Lord Jesus, even the “gates of hell shall not prevail.”

Little Poems for Little Ones

2008-11-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

The Red Sea

The Lord led Israel out to the Sea
He wanted those slaves to be happy and free.

The Israelites were scared, they thought they were stuck!
But the Egyptians instead got stuck in the muck.

The Israelites were saved! They stood on the shore!
But the cruel Egyptians were no more!

And in God and Moses they were believin’
Because of the wonders their eyes were seein’

Jonah

Jonah was mad ‘cause God was so kind
“God would forgive those Ninevites!” “Was He blind?”

So out on the sea Jonah set sail at once
“No! I won’t prophesy”
“I’m no dunce!”

But our good Lord had other plans
A storm was brewin’ to beat the band.

And the prophet Jonah was thrown into the sea
He sat in the belly of the whale
days, one two and three!

And when he got out, Jonah was sent
To warn the Ninevites, they had to repent.

And the Ninevites did, both great and small
And Jonah learned something about God’s love for us all.

The Call

Fishermen, fishing on the sea
But Jesus said, Follow me!

When they heard his voice, they followed him then
He would make them fishers of men.

Jesus Rules the Sea

The waves of the sea crashed up and down
The great storm made a horrible sound!

The disciples were scared, “We’re going to die!”
And to Jesus asleep, they did fly.

And Jesus awoke and heard their plea
They didn’t know: God rules the sea!

Then Jesus stilled the storm, made the wind cease.
And all around was perfect peace.

Jesus, Our Friend

Jesus came down to the seaside that night
And helped the disciples in their plight

No fish had they caught, they were lost indeed
Silently they prayed, “Help us please!”

And Jesus came and stood on the shore
“Cast in your net, you’ll find fish galore!”

And he gave them breakfast there on the sand
And told them all about his good plans.

That all the world might be happy and free
It all started there on the sea of Galilee.

God’s Throne

God’s throne sits on a crystalline sea
He watches over us all, for he loves you and me.

A Letter to the Presbyterian Layman newspaper

2008-08-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

Brothers and sisters,
Jesus said on the night he was betrayed, "Fear not, I have overcome
the world." That is the word for us Presbyterians in this dark night
following the actions of the most recent General Assembly.
Presbyters, elders, deacons, deaconnesses, janitors, PW members,
ministers, do not be afraid! Let nothing terrify you! Stand! Stay
in your presbyteries, resist the temptation of non-geographical
presbyteries where we can give one another false comfort, saying to
one another, "peace, peace," where there is no peace. These are the
troubles of the world today and we are not of the world but we are FOR
the world.

Remember the story in 2nd Samuel 10, Joab told Abishai his brother,
"If the Syrians are too storng for me, then you shall save me, and if
the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and save you.
Be of good courage and let us play the man for our people and for the
cities of our God; and may the Lord do what seems good to him."
Presbyterians,we must be soldiers like Joab and Abishai now. So let us
play the man, back to back, fighting the good fight. This is no time
to grow weary. I'm in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities, come and
save me from powers and principalities that are destroying it...and I
will come and with God's help, save you right back! May God do what
seems good to him!

Amy Flack, minister Ellsworth and Hager City Wisconsin

A Special Providence--Article

2008-05-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

A Special Providence

Talking with a friend the other day, I happened to ask
him how he dealt with worry. His answer was
interesting. He said, "I know that if things don't
work out in my life, God has something better in mind
for me.” A noble thought, but is there something
lacking in it? God does have something better in mind
for us always, but that “better” must include “the
fall of a sparrow.”

Think of Hamlet. What is it he says in the last act
of the play? He says, “there is a special providence
in the fall of a sparrow.” In the final scene he
goes to the fencing match with Laertes, not knowing
that the king, his uncle, has contrived with Laertes
to poison the tip of the foil. Somehow Hamlet half
senses the evil that the king means for him. But what
Hamlet has learned in the course of the play is that
in “the fall of the sparrow” too, there is the grace
of God. It is around this understanding of suffering
that the play revolves. Should Hamlet immediately
revenge the murder of his father or not? Christianity
wars with the old pagan ways. Educated by the church,
Hamlet knows not which way to turn, to the old pagan
ways of vengeance, the old way of “fairies and
witches” or to the new way begun by “our Saviour’s
birth.” (Act I, Scene I) He does not know whether to
“suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,”
or to revenge himself, or in despair to commit suicide
over his inability to do either. But I think it is
Jesus and the Biblical understanding of suffering that
is victorious in Hamlet’s heart and mind. Yes, in
open combat he does slay his murdering uncle before
dying under the poison foil; there is a time for war,
as the Bible says, but Hamlet has also seen that
sometimes the suffering and the oppression of the
enemy is the loving will of God for us, a “special
providence.” In suffering his uncle to live, in
suffering under oppression, Hamlet has played the part
of Jesus on the cross. Moreover in these sorrows he
is loved, not hated by God. God does not mean
Hamlet’s sufferings as a curse but as a blessing upon
him and his kingdom. “There is a special providence
in the fall of a sparrow;” this is a truth that comes
only in Jesus.

Let’s remember again what my friend said, “if things
don't work out in my life, God has something better
for me.” Yes, but only if part of that “better”
includes a cross. As I understand the cross in light
of Isaiah 53, the suffering and death of the man of
sorrows is not reflective of the anger and displeasure
of God, but rather his “good pleasure.” In other
words, God is not angry with the man of sorrows but
loves him deeply. God loved Joseph but sent him into
slavery and jail, that through his sufferings all
Israel might be saved. Yes, Joseph’s brothers
“meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
God meant Joseph to be in that prison cell, where he
would have his dreams, where he predict the future.
His prison cell was a necessary part of the salvation
of Israel and even the world. It is the same with
Jesus. It is the same with Hamlet and with us.
Without Jesus, we could well imagine our sufferings
are a curse, the displeasure of fate or the gods, or
of God himself. But with Jesus opening scripture to
us, then can we understand and even rejoice in our
sorrows. We do not suffer “the slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune” but rather we are Joseph in his
prison cell in Egypt, we are Abraham and Sarah in
their long wait for a son, Samson in his death, Moses
in his suffering in the wilderness, Jeremiah in his
cry of grief, Jesus on his cross; all these, these
who were at every moment delighted in, truly loved by
God. They were put into the shadow of death on
purpose and for a purpose, a beautiful purpose by the
God who so loves the world. "What eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has in store for those who wait on him."

Beauty is Truth?--Article

2008-01-29T13:15:00.001-08:00

Beauty

Did you know that scientists have discovered tiny
chips of paint on the great statues of the ancient
western world? We are inclined to think of Greek and
Roman statues as bone white, unpainted, but it turns
out the statues were definitely done up in glorious
color. And now scientists and scholars have been able
to recreate the way they looked originally. In the
new show at Harvard, we see a copy of the statue of
the goddess Athena. She is dressed in bright green and
yellow. With golden hair and determined eyes she looks
strong, wise and terrifying. A bust of the Emperor
Caligula is also recreated. In color we are able to
see the look of sheer cruelty and perversion on his
petulant yet supremely regal face.

To go into any of the temples and see these statues
must have been overwhelming. The unpainted statues
were beautiful, but painted their beauty is rachetted
up several notches, they become truly awe-inspiring.
It was the Greek belief that in the faces of these
statues one could truly experience the divine. Seeing
the restored versions, I begin to see their point.

It was a painted statue that the cruel Antiochus
Epiphanes(“The Shining One”--215-164 B.C.) put into
the temple at Jerusalem. Let’s look at the situation
for a moment from the Greek point of view. To quote
Keats memorializing this belief in his poem “Ode on a
Grecian Urn”, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty-- that is
all ye know on earth and all ye need to know.”
Antiochus Epiphanes probably really believed that he
was saving the Jewish nation through the sheer
loveliness of the statues of the gods. He believed he
was force for the enlightenment of the whole earth,
bringing truth and glory to benighted Israel. He
despised their lack of imagery, their silly rules for
the Sabbath and their strange belief that pork eating
was forbidden. He would show them what civilization
really meant, and so into the sanctuary he brought the
“abomination of desolation.”

Antiochus Epiphanes did not understand or accept
Israel’s critique of the whole notion of beauty as
something of supreme value. The Greeks and the Romans
believed that beauty was “where it was at.” It was
this belief in beauty that helped to cause so much
confusion in the ancient world. In Sparta for
instance, women were lovers of other women and men
with men, because marriage between a man and a woman
did not matter much. It was a low thing in fact. The
Spartans seemed to have believed that beauty
transcended any relationship between the two genders.
It was beauty alone in either man or woman which was
to be worshipped and adored as the pathway to truth.
We can see the same viewpoint in the great Socratic
dialogue, “The Symposium” and throughout the great
writings of the ancient Western world.

Where does the Bible stand? We find that it has
something very surprising to say on this issue.
Beauty is demoted. In what must have seemed almost
inconceivable to the ancient world, to Israel what is
of prime importance is relationship between men and
women. God puts humble Adam and Eve, Jesus and his
bride the church front and center; it is Jesus who is
“the Way, the Truth and the Life” and his first order
of business is to bring truth and life to “Lady
Jerusalem” . In his suffering and death, he carries
away our sins, and makes a sad and grieving woman
(Zion) happy at last (see Isaiah 53 and 54). The
apostle Paul speaks of Jesus and his bride the church
whom he will one day present to himself “a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any other such
thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish”
(Ephesians 5:27).
God’s critique of the sophisticated Greeks works
itself out into everyday life. We read in Proverbs
31, “charm is a delusion and beauty is vain.” It is
the woman who knows the great goodness of the Lord
that is to be honored, not the Paris Hilton
look-alike. To the pilgrim on his way to visit the
gods and goddesses of Olympus, their images might well
have caused his knees to buckle and his breath to come
short so inspiring were they, but the Bible says these
things are vanity, dust and ashes.
It is the trustworthy woman “who sees that her
business goes well, who buys a field and plants a
vineyard out of her earnings...who reaches out her
hands to the poor” that is truly beautiful. Not to a
statue of Aphrodite does a man sing praises but rather
to his loving wife (Proverbs 31:27).

In the clash between Jerusalem and Athens, and even in
the societal clashes today God is teaching us how to
see. What is truly of value is the woman of Proverbs
31; then as now, it is the not the Playboy bunny
transfixed on glossy magazine pages, but the living
breathing woman who is to be adored and cared for, a
real non-airbrushed woman not a painted image. It is
in the love and liking between men and women that we
see a reflection of God’s glory, not in the beautiful
golden, stoney-hearted Athena.

Thoughts on Saturday's Special Presbytery Meeting-- Essay

2008-01-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

I really am praising God; listening to Dr. Capetz'
answers and the comments upstairs helped me
tremendously in understanding this issue Biblically.
I didn't understand before Saturday WHY the apostle
Paul speaks the way he does in Romans 1 and 2. Paul
does not speak the way he does because he is
a)homophobic or b) relying on traditional Jewish
attitudes towards homosexuals but rather, he speaks
the way he does because he has met Jesus on the road
to Damascus!

On the road to Damascus, Paul meets the Lord God,
Jesus who had died on a cross. This fact, effectively
forces Paul to open the Bible to Isaiah 53, where Paul
reads about a suffering servant. But the direct
result of the sorrows of this God and man is 1) the
justification of "many" and 2) (and here's the kicker)
the happiness and freedom of Jerusalem who is pictured
as a woman. Basically we are getting an updated
version of Adam and Eve here. Turns out, Adam and Eve
are not only in Genesis but in 2nd Isaiah!

Where the rubber meets the road in all of this is that
far from being an issue of relative unimportance,
right relationship, indeed, healed relationship
between men and women is at the very heart of the
Bible, hand in hand with the cross itself, not to
mention justice and mercy.

I just have to say how amazing this is; in an earlier
time I was a classics student and you know, there is
simply no other book in the world that centers on
making a woman happy and free and victorious. Oy vey,
that's for sure.
Believe me, Socrates had absolutely no idea of making
any woman happy and Sappho had no idea that a man
could ever possibly do this! There is simply no
precedent in any of the ancient writings for "this
now is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone"

It was only in the car ride home on Saturday that this
all started to sink it...and there's a lot more to go.
I think we've just begun to mine all the treasures.

Letter

2008-01-29T10:58:00.000-08:00

An Appeal to My Presbytery, the Presbytery of the Twin
Cities Area

On Saturday, Professor Paul Capetz’ asserted that
affirming “chastity in singleness” (Book of Order
G-6.0106b) was tantamount to taking a vow of celibacy.
This assertion at its heart calls into question the
words of the angel Gabriel, “with God nothing will be
impossible” (Luke 1:37, RSV). As Jesus reiterated,
“with men it is impossible, but with God all things
are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
And yet, in restoring Professor Capetz as minister
member in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, we
say to the church and the world that there is at least
one thing that is impossible with God, namely,
redemption for men who desire men and women who desire
women (see Romans 1:26-27).
That “homosexual orientation” is unchangeable goes
largely unquestioned in Western society today, but God
mercifully calls into question all our
impossibilities. Romans 1 tells us that our savior,
Jesus, “the just who shall live by faith” lives in
order to save us from our enemies. (Romans 1:17). As
King David saved the ancient Israelites from the
Philistines, themselves sent as a manifestation of
God’s wrath (see Judges 2:14, Romans 1:18), so the
clear implication of Romans is that the King of Kings,
Jesus, saves us from enemies far more terrible than
the Philistines, enemies not of flesh and blood, but
the powers and principalities of this world. God’s
mercy does and must abound in his son Jesus.
Romans chapter 1 shows us the glory of just Jesus
against the black background of universal sin (all we
like sheep had gone astray). But the just Jesus is
also the justifying Jesus. Romans 1 begins with the
resurrection of the dead and this is no accident. The
resurrection of the dead is inseparable from
restoration of right relationship between men and
women (R. 1:4,17ff).
Remember the woman of the city who was “forgiven
much” and therefore “loved much” bathing Jesus’ feet
with her tears, anointing him with precious oil (Luke
7:37-50). Somewhere she had heard the word of
forgiveness and in the gospel stories we see a woman
redeemed, transformed. Jesus said of such a one,
“wherever the gospel is preached this will be told in
memory of her” (Mark 14:9). Simon the Pharisee called
this woman a sinner as her tears fell on Jesus’ feet.
One could well guess that in Simon’s view it was
impossible that this woman be anything but what she
was known to be, one whose body and soul were corrupt
But what is inconceivable and well nigh impossible
with men is more than conceivable and do-able by the
word of God. As Luther said, “the word, the word, the
word will do it.” God the father delights, “sings
with joy” over what he has done and is doing in Jesus
(Zephaniah 3:17).
But not only that, it is “these sinners” who go
first into the kingdom and in so doing provide a
shining hope for us all. For when these are saved,
those to whom salvation was accounted by church and
society an “impossibility,” then hope springs up in
our own hearts; perhaps we in the pews and pulpits
and choir lofts too can be saved from our innumerable
miseries, weaknesses, sins and burdens that have grown
to heavy for us to bear. Our heart rejoices in Jesus,
the Anointed One, anointed both by God and by the
sinner who “once was lost but now is found.” Who can
doubt that that unnamed woman is now crowned in light
at the throne of the Lord of hosts?
Beloved brothers and sisters of the Presbytery of the
Twin Cities Area, I appeal to you by the mercies of
God. Let us not be conformed to this age but
transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Amy Flack (Minister Member of the Presbytery of the
Twin Cities Area, Ellsworth and Hager City, Wisconsin)