Peacekeepers or Peacemakers?

Sunday 7/28/2013 7:03 AM

This morning I ran at about 6:00, a little later than usual.  On a weekday there would be much more traffic but, because it is Sunday, there were few cars traversing the roads.  For part of my regular route I run down a relatively busy street that has a median and as I turned the corner onto that street I noticed a man, who appeared to be a soldier dressed in camouflage, crossing the street where there was no crosswalk.  Our culture honors veterans who have served our country in the armed forces and we thank them for “protecting our freedoms” or for “fighting for freedom.”  They are often lionized as heroes and are held up as role models for our children who are encouraged to emulate their selfless sacrifice. 

All these thoughts flitted through my head as I watched him cross the street.  There was no traffic on the southbound side of the street so he crossed to the median unimpeded.  There were two cars travelling northbound at the speed limit and I thought he would wait for them to pass but he started to cross the street ahead of them.  I assumed he would run across to avoid the cars but he continued as his regular pace causing both cars to brake in order to avoid hitting him.  I’m not sure why but I was surprised by his behavior, thinking he would hurry so the drivers of the cars could continue at their regular pace, perhaps because I thought of the selfless characteristics of those in military service that are suggested by our culture.  I thought immediately of Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”  I know nothing of the man’s motivation, so this may be an unfair evaluation of the situation, but it seemed like he was concerned only about himself without giving thought to the drivers of the cars.  It seemed like he was being selfish rather that selfless.

My pastor prays regularly for those in military service and calls them “peacekeepers.”  Sometimes I wonder about Jesus’ call for us to be peacemakers, which seems to be different to me than peacekeepers, in the same way that society’s call for us to be tolerant of others is much different than Jesus’ call for us to love others.  To me, keeping the peace implies that there is a peaceful condition that must be maintained.  Making peace, on the other hand, implies resolving a conflict.  Our society is very critical of Christianity and I think they often have a valid criticism.  Just like I expected the military man to selflessly wait for the cars to pass society expects Christians to make peace and to love others.  When we are confrontational and cause conflict it is antithetical to their expectation.  The same is true when we fail to show love to those with whom we disagree.  We defend our behavior by saying we are “maintaining a standard” or that we are “exposing evil” but, as 1 Corinthians 13 says, if we do it without love we are nothing but an annoying, clanging symbol.

Prerequisite or Evidence?

Friday 7/26/2013 8:45 AM

This week my theme has focused on the beatitudes.  Usually when I read them I am overwhelmed with a sense of inadequacy, an inability to live out any of them in a meaningful way on a regular basis.  Today I read this excerpt from A Pattern for Life, by Archibald Hunter.  “The Beatitudes are not so much ethics of obedience as ethics of grace.  They imply God as a gracious giver and man as a humble receiver.  They do not mean: you must do these things in order to deserve and win the divine approval.  Rather do they say: God gives his blessedness to those who claim no merit for themselves but, knowing their own heart’s needs, are content to rest wholly on the mercy of God.”  I wonder how long it will take before I realize fully that my obedience to God and his ways is not a prerequisite for his grace in my life; it is the evidence of his grace in my life.

Self-Similarity

Saturday 7/13/2013 6:15 AM

My psalm for the week is Psalm 104.  In it the writer describes God and his creation.  It seems that everything has its place.  Water goes to valleys, flowing through the mountains on its way and quenching the thirst of living things.  Birds live in the skies and nest in trees; grass and plants are food for men and animals; storks live in junipers, goats in high mountains, and the hyrax in the crags.  Some animals prowl in the darkness, others are active during the day, some live on land, others in water.  God sustains everything.

The other day I was sitting on my back patio and I noticed a dead bug.  There were two different sized ants that were taking pieces of the bug away, I assumed to their respective nests.  As I looked I saw an extremely small bug, like a mite, that was also feeding on the bug’s corpse.  I thought immediately of the nursery rhyme Fleas, also known as The Siphonaptera.

Big fleas have little fleas,

Upon their backs to bite ’em,

And little fleas have lesser fleas,

and so, ad infinitum.

And the great fleas, themselves, in turn

Have greater fleas to go on;

While these again have greater still,

And greater still, and so on.

Lewis F. Richardson adapted the poem to describe fractal wind patterns:

Big whorls have little whorls

That feed on their velocity;

And little whorls have lesser whorls

And so on to viscosity.

I have often noticed that nature contains an incredibly large number of examples of self-similarity.  Broccoli and cauliflower florets break off into smaller versions of themselves.  The angle at which the branches grow from the trunk of a tree are the same for the same species of tree so that if the branches were cut off and placed in the ground they would look like smaller versions of the tree.  Both large and small mountains in a mountain range will often have the same shape.  Clouds in the sky are similar for each cloud group.  Galaxies and snails have different sizes but the same shape.  It is almost like things come in families, similar to the members in the family but different from other families.

The variety of both living and non-living things is nearly uncountable but God made it so that each thing would have its own niche in which to live and thrive.  His handiwork is on display regardless of the scale from which we observe it.  How cool is that?

God is Greater

Tuesday 7/9/2013 6:26 AM

My devotional theme for the week is consciousness.  The readings for the week focus on the mind and its ability to come to God.  Abraham Heschel writes about prayer and its prerequisites in his book Man’s Quest for God.  “(Prayer) depends upon the total spiritual situation of man and upon a mind within which God is at home.  Of course, if our lives are too barren to bring forth the spirit of worship; if all our thoughts and anxieties do not contain enough spiritual substance to be distilled into prayer, an inner transformation is a matter of emergency. … One cannot pray unless he has faith in his own ability to accost the infinite, merciful, eternal God.”  I’m afraid that deep within my heart I often doubt my faith in my own ability to accost God.  My mind is too often distracted with thoughts and anxieties so that there is little or no room for God.

When faced with the reality that, on my own, I seem to be unable to begin or maintain a conversation with God it is easy to become discouraged.  This morning my assigned reading brought me hope.  1 John 3:19-20 reads, “This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”  Thankfully God is not bound by my finite ability to maintain relationship.  His abilities far surpass mine and, in his grace, he has made it possible in spite of my feeble inadequacies.  What is impossible for me is possible for God.  Thank God for his grace.

Gifts and Giving

Saturday 7/6/2013 5:57 AM

This morning I read 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, a passage that was very meaningful to me when Jaci and I were the recipients of a generous gift toward our tuition bill at a time we were in need.  I remember writing a thank you note to the anonymous donor quoting verses 12-13, “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.  Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.”  Since we never knew who had given the money toward our tuition we saw it as a direct gift from God and thanked God profusely for the gift and for the obedience of the person through whom the gift was channeled.

Jaci and I support various ministries through regular giving.  We have the funds withdrawn from our account each month so, while the funds are regularly distributed, we are not physically handing over cash or a check to the ministry to whom we are giving.  I pray for the ministries to which we give and those I know who are involved in the ministries but, other than my giving and prayers, I have no part in the ministry.

Today I read a quote from The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, by John Stott, in which he describes the thoughts of the heart when someone is in the act of giving.  He writes, “There are three possibilities.  Either we are seeking the praise of men, or we preserve our anonymity but are quietly congratulating ourselves, or we are desirous of the approval of our divine Father alone.”  When I thought about my own giving it seems that it does not fit into any of the categories.  While I receive regular emails confirming my gift has been received and thanking me for supporting the ministry, I am not motivated by that praise.  I do not maintain anonymity nor am I actively pursuing God’s approval.  I think my main motivation in giving is that I have been on the receiving end of the gift numerous times in my life and, now that I am able, I want to be able to bless others the way I have been blessed.  Hopefully those on the receiving end of the gift will thank God for his care.