​THE POLITICS OF HEAVEN

None of them will have to teach his fellow citizen or tell his fellow countryman, "Know the Lord."  For they will all know me, from the least of the greatest.  Heb. 8:11, T.E.V.


The assignment was to decide on the most ideal form of government.  Our college history professor, with a faint twinkle in his eyes, was arguing for a benevolent dictatorship.  "After all," he said, "you don't have to wait for the people to go through that cumbersome process of deciding what to do.  You trust the good intentions of your leader and do what he says."

Several students, however, were stoutly affirming that the best form of government was a theocracy.  "This was the form God chose for Israel," they argued, "and this is how it will be when we get to heaven.  God will be the unquestioned leader, and the redeemed will simply do what He says."  There was no twinkle in their eyes.

Before you cast a vote, may I raise a few questions?  Why would God go to such lengths to teach His people how to make moral decisions here on earth if in the new earth we won't need to make decisions any longer?  Is the most important type of decision the Christian can make one of simply saying Yes to God's power?  Does a decision to submit to authority represent the highest expression of Christian maturity?

Or is God seeking to get His people intelligently to align their minds with the great principles of His universe?  Does He not wish for us to become mature?  Paul says that the mature are those who "have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil" (Heb. 5:14. R.S.V.).  To become mature, then, means that people must have opportunity to struggle with important moral choices and to bear accountability for their own acts.

A democracy is a slow, cumbersome, and inefficient form of government.  It's not the recommended approach if people want to get a project done in a hurry.  But Christians have cherished democracy because they realize that getting a task done isn't as important as what happens to the personhood of the citizens in the process of doing the task.

Since a democracy assumes the right of all people to be involved in making moral choices, to accept accountability for those choices, and to defer to the needs of the larger group, it often prepares people well for the loving, responsible freedom of heaven.

KEEPING UP WITH GOD'S GOODNESS

"If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?"  Jer. 12:5, R.S.V.


We "work up" to things.  We take algebra before calculus.  We try the beginners' ski slope before the more challenging course.  Many times, as in the case of young children, just growing up helps.  In a similar way God first invites us to walk with Him before He challenges us to run.  It is only when we allow everyday circumstances to hinder us that we begin to lag behind.  It happened to Jeremiah.

God called Jeremiah to plead with Judah to turn from their corrupt practices that were ruining the nation.  He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Babylonian invaders.  However, the people ridiculed him, believing that God would never allow Jerusalem to be destroyed because the Temple was there.  The worst of it was that these idolaters were prospering!


Worn down and confused, Jeremiah spilled out his complaints to God.  In essence he said, "Why are You blessing these people?  Why don't You shake them up?  You told me to tell them they're doomed, and then You prosper them!  I feel like a fool!  It only makes them mock You" (Jer. 12:1-4).  In response, God gently chides him, "If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?"  In other words: "If you can't keep up with Me now, how will you catch up later?"

Jeremiah had lost sight of God and His methodology.  He's become bogged down by seeing God bless apparently unworthy people.  He had forgotten that God has a better way to reach people.  "Let him who glories in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight" (chap. 9:24, R.S.V.).

God tried to help Jeremiah understand that in showing Judah kindness and tolerance, He meant to lead them and the neighboring nations to a change of heart (chap. 12:14-17; Rom. 2:4, N.E.B.).  "I bound all Israel and all Judah to myself, says the Lord, so that they should become my people to win a name for me, and praise and glory; but they did not listen" (chap. 13:11, N.E.B.).  Consequently, the surrounding nations that might have been blessed by them became instead their destroyers.

Jeremiah might have looked to the Lord and never gotten weary (Isa. 40:31)!  May we learn this lesson. 

SAVED BY FEAR?

[Noah] and his wife, and his sons and their wives, went into the boat to escape the flood....Seven days later the flood came.  Gen. 7:7-10, T.E.V.

For more than a century Noah had been pleading for people to flee from the coming Flood and enter the ark.  They had known for 120 years that it was big enough for them and that the door was open to them.  Preoccupied, skeptical, peer-captured, they would have none of it.  Even the stunning animal procession, in the end, could not move them.  And when an unseen hand shut the big door and locked it, they went on with eating, drinking, and planning weddings.  They were only mildly curious.

Until the rain came.  Suddenly startled, they watched in mounting terror as the waters rose around their ankles.  They began to pound desperately on the doors of the big boat, begging entrance.  All at once they genuinely wanted to do the very thing that Noah had wanted them to do for all those decades.  They wanted in!

But it was too late.  Noah couldn't open the door, and God wouldn't open it.  Had He changed His mind?  Or was He simply aware that a motive of frantic fear is not a saving motive?

If God could save people who come to Him out of fear, then He could have reopened the doors of the ark and welcomed them in.  He could have saved Achan as the stones began to fall, or Korah and his friends as the earth opened to swallow them.

But while fear is a great motivator, it is a very poor teacher.  While it tells us that there is great pain in living apart from God, it does not describe God.  It pours adrenalin into the heart, but not love.  It terrifies, but does not win.  The dripping people outside the ark were impressed with the rising waters but not with the One who had so graciously provided them a way of escape.  Any selfish person would just as soon not drown.  But salvation is not the avoidance of drowning; it is adoration and trust of the Savior.

God did not send the Flood in order to scare people into salvation but to stay in touch with the bare handful of those who were still open to Him.  "Believers" were an endangered species, well-nigh extinct.  And He moved boldly to create a new "reserve" in which they could once again prosper and grow.

A LESSON IN FRUSTRATED COMPASSION

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem....How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings; but you would not let me."  Matt. 23:37, N.E.B.


I had no intention of bringing home a kitty.  But there she was, curled up into a tiny ball in a box in front of the Lucky supermarket, two little points of ears distinguishing her head from the rest of her.  I paused.  She was mostly gray with little streaks of gold.  I knew how much my kids wanted a kitty...

We called her Lucky, not only because that was where I found her but because that's what she'd have to be in order to survive with all the various dogs in our neighborhood.  And survive she did, with spunk and coyness.  Barely eight months later she had her first batch of kittens.  Though she was a particularly good mother, only three lived.

Midsummer I began to notice how painfully thin Lucky had become.  When I discovered that she was still allowing her kittens to nurse from her, I began to take measures to discourage them.  Soon after, she looked fatter but became somewhat bad tempered.  It wasn't long before I realized that she was pregnant again.  Her weight gain was strictly around her girth.

The chill of fall was in the air.  Lucky refused to eat much.  I prepared a place for her, as I had the first time she'd had kittens.  One day she reappeared, thin again.  Her kittens were nowhere to be found, and she showed no signs of going to them.  I finally located them in the old deserted doghouse.  They were scattered and dying.  Every effort I made to save them was to no avail.  Lucky wanted no part of them.  It made me think of today's text.

Lucky couldn't understand how much I wanted to help her and her kittens.  And though, of course, her situation did not accurately parallel that of Jerusalem, it did give me an awakened sense of frustrated compassion.  It made me realize, if only fractionally, how God must feel when we get ourselves into deep trouble, yet will not permit Him to help us.  To force His goodness upon us would only produce terror and resistance.  How heaven must marvel at His divine restraint!

The next time someone wonders out loud, "Why doesn't God do something?"  I think I'll tell him about Lucky.

MORE THAN MY SALVATION

If a man's building stands, he will be rewarded; if it burns, he will have to bear the loss; and yet he will escape with his life, as one might from a fire.  1 Cor. 3:14, 15, N.E.B.

Some very interesting names are registered in the Faith Hall of Fame.  We're not at all surprised to see the names under the portraits of Abraham and Enoch.  We would expect to see Noah, Moses, and even David.  But as we walk down the hall of Hebrews, chapter 11, we are surprised to see a sketchy portrait of a burly looking fellow with long hair and deformed eyes.  His name is Samson.

Samson--the God-selected deliverer of Israel, who seemed to spend less time fighting Philistine men than he did flirting with their women.  The physical giant and the moral pygmy, more apt to swing jawbones than to lead men into prayer.  The champion of freedom who died in chains under a pole of Philistine-carved temple stones, who destroyed more of the enemy in his death than in his whole life.  What a strange incongruity that he should be selected as a great man of faith.

We must realize that we are dealing with two somewhat separate issues: salvation and effectiveness in witness.  Though Samson came to a saving trust in God, his usefulness in bringing others to that same trust was, at best, a very mixed report.  And while we have cause to believe that Samson will be saved, it is certain that Samson died in deep chagrin that his life had been so essentially wasted.

Before we are too hard on Samson, however, we should ask whether our own spiritual life is fixated on our own salvation, or whether--with that issue settled--we are enthralled with the bigger issues!  What could be more satisfying than to learn to live beyond just our own salvation.

In these final days of earth's history, the giants of faith will not be those who will be "barely" saved, as though out of a fire.  Our Father is longing for people who will stand tall in a turbulent world.  At a time when every earthly means of support shall be stripped away, when there is a time of trouble such as never was, only those who are sure of God's attitude toward them, will be able to take their minds off themselves and help others reshape their attitude toward God.

THE BANNER OF THE LORD

Who is this that looked forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army with banners?  S. of Sol. 6:10, R.S.V.


One of the most fascinating biblical portrayals of the bond between God and His people is found in the Song of Solomon.  The narrative is rich with expressions of mutual delight that the bride and the Bridegroom find in each other.  And when the bride experiences the torment of separation from her beloved, she expresses no doubt in their relationship.  "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine," she says confidently (S. of Sol. 6:3, R.S.V.).

Her statement is most revealing when the preceding circumstances are understood.  The Bridegroom had come to her in the night, asking to be allowed in.  Incredibly, her response reflected feelings of being inconvenienced at his request!  "I have stripped off my dress; must I put it on again?  I have washed my feet; must I soil them again?" (chap. 5:3, N.E.B.).  Putting his hand through the latchhole and finding the door bolted, he departed, making no further demand.

Hastening to open the door, she went out into the night in a desperate search for him.  She was beaten and wounded by the watchmen of the city walls, who took away her veil, the symbol of her respectability.  It should have been enough to make anyone give up!  But something comforted her and gave her the confidence that he would return for her--even though she was aware of her disappointing behavior toward him: she trusted the quality of his love!

Her bridegroom was a king.  He, like other monarchs, had an emblem that represented his power and dominion.  As a banner, it was carried into battle for a rallying point and went before his army when they victoriously marched back into the city.  Reminiscent of this, the bride described the king's posture toward her by declaring, "His banner over me was love" (chap. 2:4, R.S.V.).  When the Bridegroom returned for her, he rejoiced in her understanding of their relationship.  In spite of her feelings, he saw her as a returning, victorious army carrying high his banner!

Though we have not always been consistent in our response toward God, we can be sure that His attitude toward us is unchanging.  We are His, and He is ours!  "May we shout for joy over [our] victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners!" (Ps. 20:5, R.S.V.).

​TWO LOOK-ALIKE HOUSES

He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the river burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.  Luke 6:48, N.A.S.B.


Now, if I had been telling this parable, I would have given it an entirely different treatment.  Instead of telling about two houses built near each other on the river's edge, as Jesus told it, I would have pictured only one house.  I would have told about one man building a magnificent edifice with the finest craftsmanship, and about the other man refusing even to lift a hammer.  After all, when it comes to religion, you either have the real item or you have nothing at all, right?

But it's a good thing that Jesus didn't leave it to me to compose His parable, because--as usual--He had something much deeper and more pointed in mind.  Jesus told of two look-alike houses, each claiming to be fit for human habitation.  In each case, as His hearers painted mental pictures to match His words, they saw people moving into these homes, settling down, and feeling secure from the threatening elements. And then, with consternation, they imagined the human casualties as the foundationless home crumbled under the press of the flood.

Tragically, the people didn't know the secure home from the fragile home until the time of testing came.  The edifice looked safe enough--if one didn't inspect the foundation!

From the point of view of outward actions, many religious people look strikingly similar.  They speak the same words, go to the same church, and sing the same hymns.  Each would seem to have a religious experience of adequate security, for each has settled down in its apparent comfort.  Listening to Jesus' parable, however, warns us that unless one's religious experience is rooted on the right base, it will crumble under pressure.  And someone will get hurt.

When Jesus says that He is the foundation stone (1 Peter 2:6), He is not speaking a cliche.  Those whose religion is a personal adoration of, and fascination with, Jesus Christ have a foundation, a root motivation, for their whole spiritual life that is powerful and unchanging.  They are not depending on fellow Christians (who may prove to be false); they are not resting on a creed (which they may find to be inadequate); they are not building on feelings (which often change).  They are grounded on the Changeless One.  And they will not fall.

CONVERTED FROM INTROVERSION

This people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them.  Acts 28:27, N.I.V.

I'll never forget the first time I looked through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars!  Instantly, everything looked miles away.  It was especially startling since I had expected just the opposite.  Later, I got to thinking about it: many people view life in a similar way.  Their relationship with others evolve from a sheltered self-centeredness.  Consequently, everything has a smallness about it.

It's like having part of your perception shut down.  Instead of seeing more, your horizons become pinched.  A kind of deafness sets in; you tend not to hear what others are really saying.  The more people demand from you, the less capable you feel you are of giving.  You become more and more protective of yourself until your heart seems frozen.  What can be done to remedy this frustrating state of affairs?  How can you learn to see things differently?

God has a way!  We read Romans 12:2, "Let your minds be remade and your whole nature thus transformed" (N.E.B.).  And how is this accomplished?  "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed [transformed] into his likeness from one degree of glory to another" (2 Cor. 3:18, R.S.V.).  We call it conversion.

Looking at life from a self-centered point of view is like looking through the wrong end of a telescope.  "Beholding the glory of the Lord"--the character of God lived out in the Son--has a transforming effect on the mind.  In the first place, the reasons for self-centeredness begin to drop away in light of the affirming message of God's acceptance and healing forgiveness.  A larger view of life becomes evident as the pageantry of the great controversy between good and evil comes into focus.  The eyes begin to see and the ears hear; the calloused heart is softened and revived.

How God desires to do this for each of us!  But we are turned inward, afraid and self-protective.  For this we are not condemned.  As our text today conveys, it is only if we refuse to accept His healing that we are bound to live out the consequences of our spiritual introversion.  For if we allow Him to, God will love us into wholeness!

​THE RISKS OF BEING RIGHT

You, sir, why do you pass judgment on your brother?  And you, sir, why do you hold your brother in contempt?  We shall all stand before God's tribunal.  Rom. 14:10, N.E.B.


It would be hard to imagine that, among all the people reading this book, there would be a one who would wish to be found on the side of wrong.  Virtually all of us want to understand and live by the principles of right.  To think otherwise would be to deny all that we hold as real and vital as Christians.

Yet to be on the side of right has some very real risks.  Consider, for example, what happens when you put a person who is "in the right" into a relationship  with a person who is clearly "in the wrong."  There will likely be two distinct sets of unenviable feelings.

The one who is in the wrong will likely feel, I've been a real fool.  I feel embarrassed.  How can I hold my head high in the presence of this person who can so readily tell me what I've done wrong?  I'd escape if I could.  Am I of any real value?

The one who is "right" also runs the risk of certain feelings.  He may be thinking, "I'm so glad that I'm right.  Being right is the fulfillment of my goals, the foundation of my self-esteem.  I'm greatly relieved that I am not among the wrong!

This relationship would not likely be pleasant or enduring.  It would be rife with intimidation and avoidance.  Yet Jeus walked this planet as one who was constantly, absolutely right, and He mingled daily with those who were clearly wrong.  To our amazement, the Bible reports that sinners heard Him gladly and found Him to be a favorite dinner guest.  For Jesus not only spoke the message "I don't condemn you"; He lived it.

The one who is wrong cannot make the first peaceful move toward the one who is in the right.  He is too intimidated.  So Jesus' first goal was to break down the "I'm up, you're down" interchange, so that all of us who are in the wrong might let Him become our friend and transform us into those who love and do the right.

The more "right truth" a Christian grasps, the more essential it is that he have the "right spirit" as well: genuine compassion toward those who are in the wrong.

BECOMING PART OF THE DEMONSTRATION

Therefore, my brothers, I implore you by God's mercy to offer your very selves to him: a living sacrifice, dedicated and fit for his acceptance, the worship offered by mind and heart.  Rom. 12:1, N.E.B.

Thumbing through a magazine, I came across a classic "before and after '' advertisement.  On The left side of the page was a picture of a very large woman.  To the right was pictured the same woman, considerably thinner.  "I was overweight for twenty years!" went her testimony.  "But with-----I lost sixty-three pounds!"

People who are sales promoters admit that two very successful means of convincing the consumer of product worth are visual demonstration and personal testimony.  Demonstration alone may leave the viewer apprehensive, but when endorsed by an everyday person, the claims become more reliable.

Two thousand years ago God sent His Son as a demonstration of Himself.  The Scriptures offer human testimony: "We have seen for ourselves, and we attest, that the Father sent His Son to be the savior of the world....Thus we have come to know and believe the love which God has for us" (1 John 4:14, N.E.B.).

Christ's life revealed the truth about God: He is tangible, loving, responsive.  He's a forgiver, a healer, a teacher.  And He accepts us.  We no longer need to be afraid.  He assures us that He is able to make all things right and that we are of utmost value.  Taking our sins--the evidence of our separation from God--upon Himself, Christ died at Calvary, thus exemplifying that God is our only life source.

The witnesses of Christ's day left their testimony in the writings of the Bible.  Each succeeding generation of believers has the privilege of bringing confirmation to that confession of faith.  In addition, we have been given an invitation to become a part of God's magnificent demonstration.  We may become a "living sacrifice," offering our whole selves--body, mind, and heart--to God, so that He might cause "his light to shine within us....We are no better than pots of earthenware to contain this treasure, and this proves that such transcendent power does not come from us, but is God's alone" (2 Cor. 4:6, 7).

As God's children, we can be tangibly lovable and responsive, forgiving and accepting.  And by this we not only tell our world today that God accepts them and considers them of utmost value, but we demonstrate it.