Image courtesy of Michael Elliott at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
A lot of Christians seem to believe that America is the new Promised Land – that somehow the blessings and promises God gave Israel that are recorded in the Old Testament somehow have carried over to us. It’s not true, but I’ve run into that line of thinking a lot.
Israel was called as God’s people group – called to represent God to the world. Part of that calling was the promise of land and blessing. That promise is not for us because we are not part of Old Testament Israel. In the New Testament the Apostle Paul, a good Jew, declares that being part of God’s people is no longer about ethnicity but about faith.
I bring this up because many people in the United States seem to confuse faith and patriotism, as though they are interchangeable. If one is a patriot one must be a good Christian. If one is a Christian one must be a good patriot. Our military men and women almost take on demi-god like status on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and the 4th of July. On these special weekends many churches seem to forget what our real object of worship is supposed to be. Jesus gets put on the back burner for the American flag, patriotic songs, and pomp and circumstance (not all churches, I know, but some do).
In the Old Testament there was a mix between the nation and faith. In fact, when Joshua led the Army around Jericho the priests led the way!
The Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its fighting men over to you. March around the city with all the men of warm circling the city one time. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry seven ram’s horn trumpets in front of the arc. But on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the trumpets… (Joshua 6:2-4)
Chaplains lead the way!
But that’s not who God’s people are any more. We’re not a nation looking to take the land God has given us. We are a people of faith in Jesus. That faith is what brings us into community, not land or birthright. What I do as a Soldier is not because God has called America to be His nation. This is not His nation (any more than England, Russia, New Zealand, etc.), and the whole “If my people will turn…” is not a promise to Americans.
So why do I serve?
I have long felt a call to service and to ministry. I had considered the police department. I had considered being a military pilot. The idea of serving the community and/or country greatly appeals to me – to be part of something much bigger than myself, to contribute to the general welfare. But that would not allow me to carry out my calling to minister to people. But being in ministry wouldn’t allow me to fulfill my calling to serve.
So for me the Chaplaincy was a perfect fit. I get to exercise both aspects of my calling: to minister to people and to serve the nation. Not because this is God’s nation, but because I believe in the ideals of a democratic republic – because I affirm with Winston Churchill:
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.
On this Veterans Day I want to say “Thank you!” to everyone who has served or currently serves in any element of the U.S. Armed Forces, Active, Reserve, and Guard. This country is what it is because of men and women like you.
And, while this nation is not blessed because of our special relationship to God, I think it’s a pretty great place – and I wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
In a recent blog post I made the case that, contrary to some extreme Evangelical positions, Barack Obama is not the AntiChrist. You can read the original post here:
Quick summation: The President has publicly claimed that he is a Christian. The Bible makes the point that the antichrist will be self-promoting and deny that Jesus is the Christ. The end result is that, while people may be unhappy with the president and his policies, we are in no position to judge his faith.
What really got me was one of the comments someone left on that post. Someone asked:
How can a real Christian support abortion?
The question really made me stop and realize that this country needs to have an honest conversation about what makes a Christian. No, not just about what makes a Christian—about what makes a REAL Christian. It seems that some people have a belief that there is a difference between a real Christian and a fake Christian and that it is possible to discern the difference based on the political and/or ethical positions one does or does not support.
So what makes a Christian?
The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Simply put, it is our faith in Jesus Christ that restores us to right relationship with God (that’s what Evangelicals mean when we say “saved”). Left to ourselves we end up breaking our connection to Him. Our faith in Jesus restores that relationship. What makes a Christian? Someone who has faith that Jesus is the Christ (the anointed one).
For millennia the Christian Church has held to the Apostles’ Creed, the set of beliefs that unifies Christians regardless of denominational differences. The Creed contains the “biggies” that unite us despite our differences. The Creed states:
I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Under Pontius Pilate, He was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Did you see it? The part in there about real Christians vs. fake Christians and politics and ethics? No?
That’s because it’s not there. It’s not in the Bible. It’s not in the Church’s historic Creeds. Salvation is God’s gift of grace through our faith – it’s not something that can be earned by doing the right things or by avoiding the wrong things.
Dang. This means that salvation is much broader than we would like it to be! This means that we can’t throw derogatory labels on others simply because they hold to positions that we think are wrong.
Don’t misunderstand me – I personally believe that life (inside or outside the womb) is precious and should not be taken lightly. I don’t favor abortions. At the same time, we should be highly uncomfortable labeling someone as a fake Christian simply because we disagree with them on matters of politics or ethics.
Good Christians with good intentions can still disagree with each other. We get too caught up on what a real Christian looks like that we stop acting like Christ towards those with whom we disagree! Even in disagreement we can remain civil and behave decently towards each other.
C.S. Lewis once wrote that it is not possible for us to look at another Christian and judge their faith based on their behavior. At the MOST all we can say is that we don’t believe their behavior aligns with that which we consider to be Christian behavior. We give in to un-Christian impulses when we say, “Real Christians don’t support….” It’s not about ethical positions.
Because in the end the only position that has eternal consequence is our position before the cross.
Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Once upon a time God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey…. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife.
Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and saw behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.” Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, ” By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore….
What a story! It is fantastic and horrific at the same time. Fantastic to hear the unfolding of human faith and obedience and divine provision and promise; horrific to even think that God could make such a request of Abraham and to think that Abraham would even think about carrying it out! Many of the stories from the Bible have characters whom we should imitate; their faith, their actions, their motivations. Not this one! This isn’t a story you want to imitate. Even as bad as your kids may get from time to time you would never do anything like this to them. What if you thought God told you something but you weren’t actually hearing Him?
My wife and I are fans of American Idol. One time we saw a contestant who claimed that her voice was a gift from God and that the Holy Spirit told her that she should audition for the show, that God gave her a voice. When she stood in front of the judges she belted out the worst racket you have ever heard! It was so bad that Simon quipped, “Does He have a return policy?” We must be careful before we assign our behavior to God’s directive.
But we are told that Abraham received a directive. How could a good God, a God of justice, righteousness, and mercy, ask such a barbaric thing from a believer? What makes it even worse is that God seems to be breaking his own promise to Abraham. When Abraham hears from God for the 1st time (Genesis 12) God says:
Get up, leave your homeland and your family behind, and go to the place I show you. I will make your descendants into a great nation.
And now God is “contradicting this promise with a command to kill Isaac before Isaac even had a chance to beget any [children]. …God was not simply testing whether Abraham could love God above all else. The heart of the question was whether he could reconcile the contradiction of God’s word and continue to trust that God would remain faithful to keep his promise. “Not only was Abraham’s faithfulness on trial but so was God’s faithfulness.
But why is Abraham’s faithfulness on trial? Abraham never fully seems to connect with God’s promise. In fact, as Abraham and Sarah are passing through different countries, Abraham tells Sarah to pretend that she is his sister and not his wife so that other men will not kill him to take her. If Sarah had been taken by another man it would have thrown a major wrench in the machine! Fortunately God intervenes and Sarah ends up back with Abraham. Later on, as Abraham and Sarah are getting older, Sarah pushes Hagar on Abraham in order to produce an heir to the estate. Again, we see humans trying to force God’s promise to come to fruition. And what a mess Hagar and her son, Ishmael turned out to be! In fact, the whole life of Abraham could be called “How not to trust the promises of God.” And at every turn God says, “I have promised this – I will accomplish it. Why do you intervene? Why do you try by your own power?”
The sacrifice of Isaac almost seems to be God saying, “This is the last straw! Either you’re in or you’re out. What’s it gonna be?” And so God says, I want you to sacrifice your son. “What Abraham’s trial shows is that the world in which we live is full of spiritual trials behind which God hides himself.” Is Abraham “able to trust in the faithfulness and benevolence of God even when God appeared utterly untrustworthy and even antagonistic toward him.”
Have you ever been in a situation where God seems invisible? Or worse, have you been in a place where God seems to be against you? But is God ever really against you? Are you ever really cursed by God to suffer? Does it matter if you can’t see Him or what He has in mind?
And so God says, “Take your son….” You can almost hear Abraham involved in dialogue with God:
God: Take your son Abraham: I have two sons God: Your only one Abraham: This one is the only son to his mother and this one is the only son to his mother God: The one you love Abraham: I love them both God: Isaac!
However the conversation went, Abraham decides that he will listen to God’s direction at this point. And so the journey begins, towards a mountain in Moriah. For 3 days they’re on the road. 3 days Abraham has to wrestle with this decision. As they see the mountain in the distance, Abraham tells his servants to wait while he and Isaac worship God. Note the language that Abraham uses: “We will worship and return….” This has led some to believe that Abraham knew that God would not take Isaac. Or perhaps, even if Isaac did die, God could raise him back to life. But this most certainly cannot be what Abraham was thinking. If Abraham had full certainty that God would intervene then there is no real test, is there? Abraham would just be going through the motions – there is not real faith without the real fear that Abraham will never again see his son, never see Isaac grow, never see Isaac marry, never see grandchildren. No, Abraham thought that this was the end, and that’s what makes this story sickening – the fact that a cruel God would ask for such a sacrifice.
We see echoes of Calvary here in this story. The fathers have to sacrifice the sons, the only sons, the ones they love. Both sons are children of promise; Isaac the promise for future generations and Jesus the promise of salvation. Both sons know that they have a role to play in God’s plan. Jesus was no fool – he knew the call upon His life and knew how it had to play out. Thus He prayed, “Let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but Yours.”
Similarly, Isaac is no fool. As they make their way up the mountain he asks Abraham, “I see the elements for the sacrifice, but where is the ram?” And Abraham, mustering what faith he could, can only reply, “God himself will provide the ram.” Yet the next thing you know, Isaac is bound hand and foot and is placed on the alter about to be killed. Think about this – Isaac is a young teenager. Abraham is over 100 years old. Is there anyway that Old Father Abe could have subdued, bound, and hoisted Isaac up onto the alter if Isaac was struggling? It appears that Isaac, like Christ, was a willing participant, knowing that following God’s call and will is the highest good.
Think about the feelings of abandonment and agony Jesus faced when he realized that this was the sacrifice God required. Have you ever felt abandoned by God? Have you ever felt that what He is doing isn’t what he should be doing for your best interest? This is what Jesus knew: the power and purpose of God were working through the evil and cruelty of the men who would kill of him. So many times we want God to take away the cruelty, to take away the hardship. Even Jesus wanted this. He prayed, “God, if it’s at all possible, let this pass me by!”
Would Isaac have felt any different as Abraham says, “This is what I need you to do?” When’s the last time you prayed for a difficulty or obstacle to be removed? Often we want all the difficulties and evil to be removed, but sometimes it is the difficulty that reveals God’s power and purpose. So Isaac ends up on the alter…. Sometimes it is necessary to make sacrifices in order to hold onto the promises and purposes to which God has originally called you.
As Abraham lifts the blade to strike the fatal blow, what’s going through his head? “God, you made a promise to me decades ago. We prayed for a child for so long, and just when you’ve given us what you promised, you’re making me sacrifice him!” And he lifts the blade and is stopped. God speaks and says, “Don’t strike. You’ve proved yourself.” And he looks up, and there in the brush is the ram. Abraham had told Isaac, maybe prophetically, maybe in hopeful desperation, “God himself will provide the ram,” and sure enough – there is the ram. In the end, Abraham rightfully decides that withholding from God is not something he can do.
Abraham’s act of obedience does not earn him the reward of the promise, but his wholehearted trust allows the promise to remain in God’s hands and so to be fulfilled by the only One who has the grace and power to bring about its fulfillment. Isaac may have lived if Abraham had disobeyed God, but the security of the promise would most certainly have been undermined. His choice not to try to control his son’s destiny, even while nearly slaying him, ensured Isaac’s place in the history of the promise.
Sometimes it seems that God is absent or even against us. The end result of the testing, of the sacrifice, is a deeper faith and a recommitment to the purpose and promise God 1st gave us. Our faith, like Abraham’s, requires that we let go of whatever we hold most precious, whatever we desire to control or protect, especially the gifts and promises of God.”
Chris Linzey 