A Tale of Two Citizens

Tragic events have a way of bringing out either the best or worst in people. Like many of you I watched the coverage of Hurricane Florence, and while it was a big storm, I was glad to see that it wasn’t as bad as we were told it would be, at least here in the Upstate. I saw two news stories run back to back that jumped out at me, and I don’t know if it was a coincidence or if we were supposed to get the subtle message.

The first story was about looting. Like with any tragedy, lowlifes come out of the woodwork to steal. A Family Dollar was broken into, and countless people were brazenly walking in and out with backpacks and trash bags filled with things they were stealing. It really is pathetic that some peoples’ first reaction to a hurricane is to grab things off of shelves; it also says a lot about their lack of concern for the people who own the store, and how much money they will lose because selfish people chose to stuff Hefty bags with toiletries and Tostitos.

The next story showed volunteers risking their lives to evacuate people in the path of Florence. An EMS crew from Nebraska left home to evacuate senior citizens from nursing homes, and local crews were making daring helicopter rescues to get people to higher ground. As soon as that segment ended, the anchor said so many people were emailing questions about how they could help, so a number was provided so that viewers can donate to the American Red Cross.

The juxtaposition could not have been starker. On one hand are people stealing items that cost a dollar apiece, and on the other hand are people giving away their own money to help people they don’t know; others were away from home risking life and limb to save people they have never met. Tragic events really do bring out the best and worst in people.

What if those news stories had been part of a quiz? Imagine if we were told one group was composed of Christians and one group was composed of atheists. Which group was acting more Christ like? A simple reading of the New Testament tells us the second group was behaving in a more Christian manner (this is not to stay Christians do not steal, or that atheists do not give to charity).

Jesus said the way to spot His followers is by their conduct, and more specifically, by their love: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35).” It doesn’t just happen during tragedies. If you are a follower of Jesus, make sure your conduct identifies you as such.   

Lending to the Lord

If Jesus needed to borrow twenty bucks, would you lend it to Him? It is hard to imagine that any Christian would turn Him down; even if I didn’t have the cash on hand, I’m sure I would exhaust every means to make it happen. If Jesus needed $20, I’d loan it to Him in a heartbeat.

What if a homeless person made the same request? A classic Christian line is, “He’s probably just going to buy beer with it, so I’m not giving him anything.” While I don’t want to use my money to invest in the alcohol industry, that line is often a copout, an excuse to make us feel better for our stinginess. Proverbs 19:17 says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.”

If we would loan (or give) Jesus our cash, but not the homeless person, there is a problem. The Bible equates the two, saying giving money to those in need is like letting Jesus borrow it instead. The next time you have the opportunity to help out someone who is struggling, think of that person as Jesus. They may never be able to pay you back, but Jesus will make sure you are reimbursed. Somehow, in God’s economy, we will be rewarded, even if not until heaven.

The New Testament weighs in with a similar thought: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2).” It may just be that the person we help was not a person at all, but one of God’s messengers. If an angel came and asked for $20, I’m sure we would hand it over, so again, we need to be generous as often as we are able to do so. Obviously not everyone is able to give away money, but if we adopt an attitude of generosity, we can all find ways to spread the love of Jesus to other people, and that is really what it is all about. Lets all look for a way to lend to Jesus this week.

Herbs and Calves

I love to eat. Food is a passion for me. Some people eat merely for sustenance, but for me eating food is an indoor sport, and on really nice days, an outdoor sport as well. I enjoy all kinds of foods, and the bolder the flavor, the better. Occasionally I will order a meal at a restaurant and the plate looks as if I ordered from a kid’s menu. I like to eat, but I prefer to be full afterwards.

Proverbs 15:17 says, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred.” Given the choice between the two, I’d take the fatted calf every time; I’d even take a skinny calf over a dinner of herbs. I enjoy a good salad, but that should be the first course, the precursor to the calf. If the proverb only said herbs are better than calves, that would not make sense to meat-eating Americans. However, this proverb is less about what we eat than whom we eat with.

The first part of the proverb reminds me of our days as newlyweds. Living in our apartment in Fort Worth, Texas, my wife and I had a weekly rotation that included chilidogs, Chef Boyardee pizza, sandwiches, and on Friday night, chicken casserole. We were poor and in love, and those simple dinners were some of the best meals I have eaten. Conversely, some live in affluence, dining nightly on caviar and fillet mignon, but with love lacking in the home. That fatted calf leaves much to be desired if it is seasoned with hatred.

The greatest thing we can do outside of loving God is loving our neighbor as ourselves. With that in mind, even if you live alone, find someone to love on and share a meal with. Even if herbs are all you can muster, serve them with a side of love, and everyone will be full.        

Why is the Bible so Bloody?

One of the strangest parts of Christianity, especially to those of us in the modern, Western Hemisphere, is the seeming obsession with blood. God commanded the slaughter of animals as part of the Old Covenant, and for centuries His followers slit the throats of goats and sheep without batting an eye. In order to appease God’s wrath, the animal’s blood was sprinkled onto the mercy seat atop the Ark of the Covenant. This was commanded and carried out for hundreds of years.

Even before the first Passover, where through Moses God instructed everyone to put lamb blood on the posts of their front door, God killed a lamb in the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve sinned and realized they were naked, they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, but God made them clothes of animal skin. The only way to skin is animal is to kill it, and it is a bloody process. While the Bible does not specify the type of animal skin, I absolutely believe it was a lamb. This may seem unsettling to some. What is with all the blood in the Bible?

The gruesomeness of the blood makes it crystal clear to us that sin is a big deal. We may be tempted to downplay sin, especially in this era of grace, but sin leads to death. Our first parents were warned that if they ate from the forbidden fruit, they would surely die. Once they ate it, the ones who deserved to die did not die, and instead, an innocent animal died in their place. That was the first death in history, and it came about because of sin. Adam and Eve would forever remember the wages of their sin.

Animal sacrifices forever looked back to that sacrificial animal in Eden. When the Israelites deserved to die for their sin, God promised to transfer His wrath to a lamb; when they offered it as a sacrifice, God was punishing their sin by punishing an innocent animal. Again, the ones who deserved to die did not die, because an innocent lamb died in their place.

That takes us to Mount Calvary. When Jesus came on the scene John the Baptist introduced Him as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).” As we noted last week in Isaiah 53, God was pleased to crush His Son on the cross, for it was “by his wounds we are healed.” Calvary was the culmination of years of animal sacrifices, and now we “are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10).” Because of the cross, those of us who deserve to die do not have to because the innocent Lamb died in our place.

Some reject the idea of the Suffering Servant; they cannot comprehend the necessity of God’s Son dying on the cross. My question is, if the Messiah didn’t pour out His blood on the cross, then what are all the sacrifices about, and why did they end? Only Jesus explains the blood; just as the sacrifices looked back to the animal in Eden, they also looked forward to Christ on the cross. The only reason the sacrifices ended is Jesus rendered them unnecessary with His perfect blood.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.