King For A Day

A while back I was reading in 2Sam 15 where David experiences some of the worst pain of his life (part of the fallout from ‘Bathsheba Gate’). David’s son Absalom has gotten it into his heart to betray and overthrow his father the king. The story unfolds with incredible drama, of course, but one aspect of the story that caught my attention as I read it again was the way in which Absalom set out to win the hearts of the people of Israel.

Here is how the passage reads:

“He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, "What town are you from?" He would answer, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel." Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you." And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice."
Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” 2Sam 15:2-6

Thus begins the horrendous rebellion of Absalom against the king that would lead to a father’s broken heart and a son’s ultimate demise. There is lots about the story, and this portion of it, that warrants our attention, but one particular aspect of this portion that I find particularly interesting is the way that Absalom exploited the people’s personal discontent. He used a classic line. He said, in effect, “If I were king, things would be different.”

The account provides some great insight into the human heart, for the truth is, we all tend to think far too highly of our own opinions and judgments. Have you ever marveled over how, with but a few words, we are quickly and easily able to solve the great problems that other people face which seem to have proven too difficult and perplexing for them? What a great place the world would be if we were king!

This scenario plays itself out over and over again. The story of Absalom is a classic example of our own attitude, so often, day in and day out, all hearkening back to the great archetype of fallen-ness, the devil himself, whose great pride was to think of himself beyond what he really was. And thus the proverb – pride goes before a fall.

I’m sure we’ve all been on both sides of it. We’re doing a job we have done for years and someone who has never done it comes along with some critical advice for us! Yeah, you’ve had it happen. But how often has that other person been us? How often have we been the ones with the ‘simple solutions’ to other people’s problems? How often do we stand outside at the gate, engaged in great talk, thinking ourselves superior to those who are busy in kingdom work?

I think George Burns expressed it quite well when he said, “It’s too bad that the people who really know how to run the country are all too busy driving taxis and cutting hair.”

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13

Peace

Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…”

It is an interesting admonition in a way. When we think of someone ruling we tend to think of forcefulness. When we think of peace we tend to think of being left alone to do our thing. The two concepts could almost be seen as being somehow in opposition to each other.

But there is a very important spiritual principle at work here. As the old saying goes, there is no peace without victory. In order for us to have peace, all opposition must be subdued. It is in fact a biblical irony (one of many). We must surrender to the rule of Christ in order to experience true freedom.

The spiritual principle is not without parallel in the secular realm. The famous ‘Pax Romana’ or ‘Peace of Rome’ existed because of Rome’s ability to crush any and all opposition to its rule of law. The result was one of the greatest times of peace and stability the world has known and the time chosen by the Father to send His Son into the world.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of Christ, The Prince of Peace, saying:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.”
Isa 9:6,7

That makes a strong connection between the peace that Christ will bring and His ability to ‘uphold’ it with His ‘reign’.

On a personal level, as those who would experience the Lord’s peace in our lives, we have to understand that the only way that this is going to happen is if we surrender to His Lordship of our lives.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Let Your kingdom come, let Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” To pray that prayer with real understanding we must be willing that God’s will be done in our hearts and lives first and foremost.

We really need to come to grips with this fact – it isn’t just peace we need, it’s His peace. And His peace is not just the absence of that which would molest, it is the very presence of God.

Abolutely

If you travel the Trans-Canada Highway in Nova Scotia between Truro and New Glasgow you will enter Pictou County. If you take exit 19 at Saltsprings onto Route 4, then take a right and travel about 5 kilometers, then turn left onto Route 376 and continue for another 5 kilometers, then turn left onto Durham Road to Scotsburn, then travel 4 kilometers and turn left onto O. MacLean Road and then travel another 3 kilometers up the rocky incline of Fitzpatrick mountain, you will come to the beautiful Stonehame Lodge. As you come into the large cleared area at the crown of the mountain where the lodge and chalets are located, if you look back over your shoulder you will be treated to the beautiful maritime panoramic view of the historic Pictou Harbour. If you look forward and to your right you will notice a very large rock. If you look close at that rock you will see a plaque set at the front of it. You might have to get out of your vehicle to actually read what it says but I will paste the text for you here.

This is how it reads:

“Howard Smith was a bachelor who farmed here on Fitzpatrick Mountain in the early 1900’s. One day he told some of his neighbors that he was going to blast a huge rock out of one of his fields, but promised that he would get help doing it. That afternoon a blast was heard by neighbors and they assumed that the rock had been demolished. The next day, July 14, 1938, his brother stopped by to see him but only found the door open to his little cottage and some of Howard’s blood stained clothes on the bed. A search party was conducted and Howard’s body was found a short distance from his barn. This is the rock that tragically took Howard’s life and is a symbol of the hardships many faced during these times. It has been placed here in his memory and the memory of all those who toiled over this land.”

As I stood in front of that rock and read those words, an old saying slipped into my mind – ‘A little hard work never hurt anyone’! The saying is generally true, but not absolutely true. It killed Howard Smith. Some things are absolutely true. Other things are more generally true. And of course, some things are just plain false. We must be careful to distinguish between what is true and what is false, but we also need to be careful to distinguish between the things that are generally true and the things that are absolute.

As Christians, we bemoan how the world refuses to recognize the existence of absolute truth. This is a great folly for sure and one that ultimately leads to destruction. However, we must be careful that we do not make the opposite mistake by not recognizing the fact that most things are in fact relative. God Himself illustrates the point by giving us the OT book of Proverbs, a collection of sayings that are generally true. Though the book of Proverbs does contain some absolute statements, particularly the ones about God who does not change, it is mostly filled with statements that are more general in nature.

Of course, the main theme of the book of Proverbs is wisdom and it would appear that a large part of wisdom is the ability to distinguish between the things that change and the things that change not, for the God who changes not, is after all, very interested in change. Make no mistake about that.

"God, grant us the serenity to accept things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

God's Job

I have noticed a tendency that we have in general to think of God and His role in our lives in a way that is woefully inadequate. It is very pervasive in our society at large and even seems present a lot of the time within the professing Christian community as well.

In some ways it is kind of subtle because we like to emphasize God’s grace and forgiveness and rightly so. However, we tend to adopt a belief system that goes something like this: I am free to pretty much live my life as I please (don’t anyone have the audacity to bring me up on it because that is just plain unacceptable), I can make all kinds of decisions without much regard for God’s word or will for my life, and should I find myself suddenly (though it really isn’t sudden at all) in a place where I don’t like to be (which is inevitable and shouldn’t come as a surprise at all) that I can then always simply call out to God, and furthermore, He is obligated to rescue me because somehow, we reason, that’s what He is there for. In our minds, God being God means that He is always there for us in our time of need. That’s just what He does. It’s His job! If you have a problem with your plumbing you call a plumber, if you have a problem with your electrical you call an electrician …

When we think this way, we have a good handle on some real truth. God is always there and He is able to meet our needs and He is more than able to rescue us. But, unfortunately, we are missing some real important parts. God isn’t just there to rescue us when we feel we need Him. He is there to direct our paths. God is looking for obedience. He cares for us, more than we realize, but He intends to save us from a lot of heartache by directing us and calling us to obey Him. We must be careful to understand that there is a difference between faith in God and presuming upon Him.

Perhaps the biggest problem with our tendency to think the way we often do is that we really miss out on the kind of involvement God wants in our lives. God doesn’t need a job. Nor does He even want one. What He does want is a relationship. When we confine God to the role of being our giant rescuer in times of trouble we are leaving Him out of so much of our lives, that in effect we are actually using Him. And God is not interested in being used. He wants a full-out love relationship with us. This is what it means when it says in the Bible that God is a jealous God. It means He wants our full love and He deserves it.

If you read the Bible you will find some characters in it that got themselves into the habit of thinking of God in this way (Sampson comes to mind) until one day God just didn’t show up!!!

Caring

The prophet Isaiah tells us that Jesus ‘carried our sorrows’. (Isa 53). I know that Jesus is the unique sin bearer and I would not want in any way to equate our personal ministry as Christians with the atoning sacrifice of our Lord. But I do believe that this idea of Christ carrying our sorrows can help us in our understanding of what it means to really care about people.

I was visiting in the home of a dear Christian lady a while back who was in a great deal of pain. I tried my best to comfort her and before leaving I prayed with her and her husband and I placed my hands on her and I prayed for her that God would intervene and bring her relief and healing. But sometime afterward I found myself crying.

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought of how closely related the two words ‘carry’ and ‘care’ are but I think it has got to be significant. I remember hearing one time that in at least one language (and I don’t remember which one) the word for compassion translates literally into English as ‘your pain in my heart’. When we care for people their pain and sorrow stays with us and we carry it around with us in our hearts.

One of my favorite passages is from Paul’s letter to the Romans where he tells us that we are to “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” Somehow, life just doesn’t seem real unless we are able to do both.

But that’s not the end of it, is it. If we were to take unto ourselves all of the hurts of others along with our own burdens, allowing them to simply accumulate, there is no way we would be able to bear it. We would sink before we made it through a day. We are instructed to ‘carry each others burdens’ and by so doing ‘fulfill the law of Christ’ (Gal 6:2), but there remains one more important thing to do with all of this. The apostle Peter tells us that we are to “cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us.” (1Pet 5:7)

Together, as a community of faith, we must learn to go to God continually and give it all over to the only One who is really able to bear up under it all.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Heb 4:16

Restoration

I had a favorite shirt that always hung by the stove at home. It was the casual, comfortable shirt that I would slip on when I was just hanging around the house and needed to add another layer. But, as it happens, over the course of time it wore out. When I showed it to Florence she took it and headed for the rag bag saying, “If I was my mother I would take all of the buttons off of it and put them in a tin.” And I remembered my mom’s button can which was really cool when I was a kid.

Back in the day, I’m quite certain that every mom had a button tin. I don’t think it’s common anymore but back then it was a given. The reason for it I think was quite simple – how could you ever even think of throwing away a perfectly good button? You never know when you’re going to need one! ‘Waste not – want not’ was the motto of the day for sure. I’m from the generation that watched my mother save the wax paper from the shredded wheat packets so she could use them to wrap our sandwiches for school. How many of you can relate?

It’s a different day for sure. Today, we live in a much more ‘disposable’ society. I know that to some degree it is inevitable. Things change and technology moves us along. It becomes cheaper to replace something than to fix it. I understand that. And I don’t really think very many of us today are prepared to say good-bye to tissue paper and go shopping for a 'hanky' instead. But I can’t help but feel that there is just something wrong with our willingness to dispose of things so readily and to just buy new. When are we being practical and when are we only capitulating to the consumer culture of convenience?

There is something to be said for the task of restoring something that’s old. I found an old jack knife in some of my dad’s stuff a few years back. It was corroded quite badly but something compelled me to go to work and see what I could do with it. I’m sure I could have purchased a new one for far less than the ‘sweat equity' I put into restoring that old pocket knife and it still doesn’t look quite like new. But I actually like it better because somehow it just means more. Not just because it was my dad’s either though that is part of it.

One of the books that I have on my summer reading list that I’m looking forward to getting into is ‘Broken Down House’ by Paul Tripp. In the book he relates how excited his father-in-law was when he bought an old broken down house. He was having a hard time understanding the man’s enthusiasm until he came to understand that his joy was found in the prospect of all he could do to fix it up. He goes on to say how much we are like that broken down house. I’m really glad that God is into restoration.

Dad

This coming Sunday is Father’s Day. Earlier this month was the anniversary of my dad’s passing. He’s been gone twenty years now and even as I write that I find it difficult to believe that it has been that long. I miss him.

Father’s Day coincides with the garden season and it is impossible for me to garden without thinking of my father. He was an amazing gardener. He loved it and he was good at it. I learned from him how to garden.

He wasn’t an agriculturalist. He was just an old fashioned gardener. An agriculturalist might instruct you to periodically loosen up the soil around the plant to allow oxygen into the soil which is vital to the root system. My dad never said that. But he did tell me that “plants like to be worked around.” I think I like his explanation better actually. Even as a young boy it just seemed so easy for me to receive and to understand this simple instruction, what some might call ‘folk wisdom’.

To all you dads out there, please take the time. I know that it might seem really difficult at times to be there but remember that you have one of the two most important jobs in the whole world.

When it was looking like rain this week I went out and took the little hoe that my mom gave me after my dad died. He always used this little hoe especially for this purpose because it is small and light and sharp and you can really work the soil with it. I worked the soil all around our tomatoes and peppers. They liked it.