Spirituality Column #733

December 1, 2020

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Still Waiting

By Bob Walters

“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” – from the hymn.

It’s a wasted day when one learns nothing new, and Sunday I learned that the current Christian season of “Advent” wasn’t originally about Christmas.  Who knew?

I, for one, did not.  The church I attend, like most independent, Bible-based Christian churches, does not observe an “ecclesial” (church) or “liturgical” (doctrine) calendar as do the Catholics, Orthodox, and many mainline protestant churches.  Growing up in the protestant Episcopal church (which honestly is more Catholic than protestant but that’s a history lesson for another day), I knew that “Advent” led up to Christmas and “Lent” led up to Easter.  As a kid, Advent meant you were going to get presents; Lent meant you had to give something up.  I liked Advent better.

My current church considers Christmas, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter, and of course Sundays to be special days. However, the New Testament says nothing about observing any festivals, feasts, or holy days; none – those are all church tradition.  By the book, i.e., the Bible, all that stuff is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is with us all the time.

There is also nothing in the Bible about naming saints (it says all believers are saints) or even going to church on Sunday.  Gathering to celebrate the “Lord’s Day” commemorating Jesus’s Resurrection on the first day of the week was a custom among the earliest Christians. The rest are practices and traditions that grew over time.

Advent is one of those that began around 400 A.D.  In our church it is observed informally as a convenient way to package pre-Christmas events.  No harm done.  But just as people have a largely inaccurate perception of how Christmas has developed and been celebrated through the years (also a history lesson for another day) Advent – and I had to look it up – had nothing to do with Christmas until the Middle Ages.

Christmas celebrates the Godly truth and hope embodied – incarnated, actually – in Jesus’s birth.  Advent – from the Latin adventus, or “coming” – at first was a 40-day prep period for the “coming” of new Christians who would be baptized at the January 6 “Feast of the Epiphany,” which celebrates the Magi (Wise Men) visiting Jesus.  Around 600 A.D. Roman Christians tied Advent to Jesus – i.e., Emmanuel – “coming back” as promised to set all things right with the world (Revelation 21). 

“Advent,” now ending on Christmas Eve and covering the four Sundays prior to it, was mentioned at our church Sunday regarding upcoming charitable and service activities.  It was accurately described as a time of reflection on the past (Jesus’s birth), the present (loving our fellow man), and – new info to me – the future (Jesus’s return).

Upon hearing that, here’s where my mind went.  It took Moses two trips down the mountain with the tablets of the Ten Commandments – he dropped and broke the first set.  Israel waited centuries for the arrival of its Messiah Christ … and then killed Him.

Now, 2,000 years after Jesus went to the cross, covered our sins, initiated God’s Kingdom on earth, paved our way to Heaven, and in His resurrection established the new covenant of salvation by faith – did all that – humans still don’t have it right.

It’ll take Jesus one more trip and here we are, still waiting.  Come Lord … soon.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that the 12 Days of Christmas ("Christmastide" on the ecclesial calendar) are Dec. 25-Jan.6. 

 Spirituality Column #732

November 24, 2020

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Simple as That

By Bob Walters

“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” – John 17:4, Jesus praying to God shortly before the crucifixion.

My ears reflexively perk up when I hear someone say they are going to explain the meaning of life.  Most often, I also wind up shaking my head.

Such was the case recently when a radio talk show caller lavished praise on the host for fulfilling “the meaning of life,” which the caller assuredly defined as “having a positive effect on others.”  That’s certainly a wonderful compliment.  It’s also pretty good as a life’s goal for a person and a healthy encouragement for the larger community.

“Having a positive effect on others.” Simple.  Active.  Unselfish.  Not bad.

And woefully short of the runway.  If one is going to philosophically “land the plane” describing the “meaning of life,” all conversation will remain “up in the air” until it is incontrovertibly understood that God is in fact not only the destination airport but the plane, the air, the people, the beginning, the end, the altitude, the weather …

God is the whole ball game.  And this is where I wound up shaking my head.

The well-spoken, intelligent-sounding caller described himself as an executive who had lost his job in March soon after Covid gripped the country.  Since then he had begun his own podcast, and just wanted to tell the radio talk show host, who by the way was Rush Limbaugh, how he had been inspired by him and prayed for him (Rush has cancer).  The caller/podcaster also mentioned he had once “studied to be a priest.”

“Priest.”  We assume that means “Roman Catholic,” but it could mean Orthodox or Episcopal which also ordain “priests.” Anyway, he now spoke of philosophy, not God.

The reason I bring this up is because human philosophy will never bring us to the truth of the meaning of life.  The Greeks couldn’t do it.  The Enlightenment couldn’t do it.  And you’ll notice what’s missing from this fellow’s particular definition of “life’s meaning” is any mention of God, who actually is the truth of the meaning of life.  I found that oversight curious for someone who studied, I’m still assuming, for the Christian clergy.

Simple is good, though.  And helping others / being a positive influence on others is good, too.  That much is correct.  Jesus told us to love others; but He also told us to love God.  God told us to love God.  Those are central messages of the Bible.

In the “priestly prayer” of John 17, quoted above, notice that the work of Jesus’s life among humanity was to glorify God.  Before God, Jesus prayed this for himself just prior to his arrest, trial, passion on the cross, death, burial, and resurrection. His perfect purpose was to reveal God’s love to the fallen world in the form of hope for all humanity, our adoption into God’s Kingdom, and this demonstration of unprecedented and ultimate humility, obedience, and service to the Glory of God.  That is a life’s purpose.

In a three part series I wrote in August 2018 (search my blog here, on the right side, click on 2018, then click August, columns #'s 613, 614, 615), I went into some detail about how I think there is too much self-directed, information-demanding, and un-trusting “Me” in the “Meaning of Life,” i.e., “Explain this so I can believe.”

I think the better question is, “What is life’s purpose?”  That expresses, “I trust you, God.  What do you want me to do?  Show me how to love you and love others.” 

Jesus is our model, and the answer is simple: Life’s purpose is to Glorify God.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) is thankful for the wonder of God’s simplicity.

 Spirituality Column #731

November 17, 2020

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Don’t Miss the Bus

By Bob Walters

True story.  In the cold, pre-dawn January school-bus-route darkness along an Indiana country road, there appeared in the bus’s headlights a two-year-old child in pajamas …

Walking alone.

The unlit, two-lane road had a row of houses along one side, a stretch of field on the other, and beyond the field was a park with the child’s destination: a playground.  As her parents slept, the early-rising child opened an exterior door left unlatched when her teen brother headed to high school that morning. She made it down the driveway, across the road, and almost into the snow-scattered field. In frozen, 15-degree weather.

The child’s white-ish PJs served as the saving, noticeable beacon for the driver who conceded it was a God-thing not only that she saw the shadowy and barely visible image of the child, and but for a few seconds’ timing, didn’t run over her in the road.

The bus, loaded with junior high students, came to an immediate stop. Two sisters who lived nearby had just boarded the bus but didn’t recognize the child. At the driver’s direction, and with the bus’s red lights and stop arms flashing, the sisters retrieved the child, wrapped her in their jackets, and brought her onto the warm bus.

After several bus-to-HQ-to-police radio calls, the police took the child and knocked on doors until they found the parents, still asleep and completely unaware.

I know Denise the bus driver, and I heard her radio calls aboard the bus I drove that morning. The next year, routing changed and I had those two compassionate, life-saving sisters on my bus.  Denise and those girls saved that child’s and family’s life.

This presents something of a parable or a metaphor for how limited our view often is regarding the overall work of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.  And I don’t mean simply: “Look how Jesus saved that child!”  No, it’s bigger than that.

For the rest of that child’s life and those of his parents, the story of how many different ways the school bus saved her that morning will be an intimate piece of their shared family narrative.  They will thank God, the bus driver, those sisters, and all involved that the child didn’t freeze to death, wasn’t struck on the road, didn’t encounter the wild foxes that populate that area, and wasn’t befallen by any other calamity.

The story for the child will be: “I was saved by a school bus.”  The brother escaped a lifetime of crushing guilt.  None in the family will ever look at a school bus the same way again, nor likely give much thought to everything else the school bus does.  Saving that child was huge, but only an incidental part of the bus’s overall purpose.

In the same way, many, many Christians look at Jesus Christ and thank Him for saving “me” – my forgiveness and cleansing from sin, for heaven and eternal life – without deeply, reverently, and in awe realizing and thanking Him for the totality of what His life, death, resurrection, and obedience to His mission mean for the entire cosmos. 

Jesus initiated God’s Kingdom on earth.  He restored our created and intimate relationship with God. He gifted us with the Holy Spirit to be among us in knowledge, hope, comfort, faith, and courage.  He taught us how to live for God’s glory, and that our loving, good God is a servant to us as we are to be to others. He is truth and authority.

We kind of miss the bus if we think Jesus’s only job was securing our salvation.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com), in retirement, has driven a school bus since 2012.

Spirituality Column #730

November 10, 2020

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

‘I Want To Know What It Means’

By Bob Walters

"I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means." King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2:3

"...there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2:28

Anybody have anything troubling them these days that seems to elude prayerful peace and understanding?

I know … we are all trying – trying to pray our way to peace, to understanding, and to find a Christ-like and God-pleasing proper response and resolution to all that is happening around us.  And to keep the water as clear as possible, I am not going to be specific here about worldly, contemporary, and monumental issues that may very well change the landscape of our civic lives.

Anything I say can and will be held against me … by somebody.

That’s not out of fear, but purpose.  Political views tend to obscure Bible focus.

So, I’m curious if I’m the only one who seems to be on the inbound “Book of Daniel” hotline.  Daniel has been our sermon series at church the past few weeks.  Facebook seems lit up with Daniel posts relating to faith, leadership, and civic governance.  Random articles, Christian media references, private messages, and even a couple of texts have mentioned the Old Testament book.  My hunch is that it’s a God-wink, not just some cosmic push to teach me how to spell “Nebuchadnezzar” properly.

My mission at this moment is not to tell you about Daniel but to invite / urge you to go read about Daniel – in the Bible – and here’s why.  Spending some time in Daniel, especially chapters 2, 3, 6, and 7, may well serve to unlock your intellect to allow the Holy Spirit into your prayers, thoughts, and discernment in an especially relevant way.    

I am not a big believer that Old Testament prophecy has value beyond predicting the coming of Jesus, the fulfillment of Israel, the completion of God’s covenant, and the perfection of God’s promises.  I am, though, a stout devotee of and have no reservations about the infinite, eternal truth of the Old Testament as it pertains to the creativity and character of God, the glories and flaws (mainly flaws) of man, and Satan’s abiding threat.  I honestly don’t have any notion that it tells us who wins elections.

That said, I have a foot in each Babylonian camp regarding our U.S. presidential election.   Like Nebuchadnezzer, “I want to know what it means.” Like Daniel, I know “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.”

So far my favorite Christian “take” was this Facebook post, “If you end up with a Nebuchadnezzer as president, be a Daniel.” That was Karley Campbell, who late last week composed a wistful homily on Daniel and his friends condemned to the fire:

“… Three times a day he knelt there in prayer, thanking and praising God,” she wrote. “Their leader didn’t follow God.  Their faith and the culture they were placed in collided [but] … They were steadfast, grounded.  They were strong and determined to follow the Lord obediently regardless of the outcome!”  It was a great post. Look for it.

Let Daniel’s faith stir thoughts and prayerful discernment for today.  I did. It tuned me to “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14), and that really helped.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) urges all to keep their swords of the spirit sharp.

Spirituality Column #729

November 3, 2020

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

About Those Two Thieves    

By Bob Walters

“Who ARE those guys?” – Dialogue spoken by both Butch Cassidy AND the Sundance Kid as the posse closed in on them in the 1969 movie of the same name.

Two thieves.

No, we’re not talking about any particular candidates on this election day nor, actually, about Butch and Sundance – two thieves of the American old west circa 1900.

We are talking about the two “thieves” crucified with Jesus.  Who were they?

Nobody knows, but I do have a theory.  And there is one thing about the two thieves that we do know: there is no agreement in the Gospels (Matthew 27:38 and Luke 19:39-44) or anywhere in the Bible for that matter, that they were “thieves.”

In the (old) King James Version, Matthew does call them “thieves,” but the New King James Version translates the Greek noun lestai, as do many other versions, as “robbers.”  My NIV and other versions say “rebels.”  The ESV says “robbers,” NASB says “rebels” and NASB1995 says “robbers.”  Chalk “thieves” up to Church tradition.

In Luke, the Greek adjective kakourgon (23:39) is translated as “malefactors” in the KJV but “criminals” in most others.  Funny how the whole world came to know these two guys as thieves, but they obviously were something far worse in the eyes of Rome.

One reason we know that is because Romans did not crucify thieves; they crucified insurrectionists and murderers – those rebels and revolutionaries who threatened or challenged the power of Rome.  They crucified people like Barabbas – pardoned by Pilate and replaced by Jesus – who was to be on the third cross that day.

My long time Bible mentor George Bebawi always counsels against putting too much stock in a single word in scripture, instead being careful to consider context, themes, metaphors, allegories, and the larger truth of Jesus’s mission – e.g., He was the son of God come to fulfill Israel, initiate God’s Kingdom on earth, prove the reality of a loving and glorious God, and to hasten the gift of the Holy Spirit onto mankind.

A helpful note in the “Expanded Bible,” which George affirmed (George is a multi-lingual Bible translator), is that “robber” was a Roman term that also meant rebels, revolutionaries, brigands, and insurrectionists, i.e., people who “robbed” Roman power.

Anyway, I was preparing notes last week for the Thursday morning Bible study I teach (“Words of Jesus,” we’re up to the Cross).  Look at the “crowd” that showed up at Pilate’s to shout for Barabbas’s release; evidently separate from the Jewish leaders clamoring for Jesus’s crucifixion.  Then at the cross, there is the “crowd” that wasn’t the Jewish leaders, nor were they the few Jesus followers – Mary, John, a couple others.  But I wondered why those “other” people were there.  Did they know the “two thieves”? 

Then notice the “good” thief’s words of rebuke to the “bad” thief, “We are punished justly,” (Luke 23:41), and I got to thinking.  It appears the Romans were prepared for three crucifixions that day.  So … perhaps the thieves – under “the same sentence” (23:40) with each other – were co-conspirators, “lieutenants” in rebellion with the person who actually was supposed to be on the third cross that day: Barabbas.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that the three crosses comprised an apt, divine metaphor for the world: God (sinless Jesus) and two sinners: one who believed and one who did not.  Funny, Adam got kicked out of paradise; next man in was a thief.