Well it is Sunday, and jetlag recovery is a blessing.
I was wide awake at 0630, and should make the morning service at Grace Presbyterian at 0900 easily[1]. Which is kind of important. I have missed church due to travel for about three weeks, and I need to fellowship [2].
The Psalm today was set to music by Michelle Shocked, and (given the amount of hatery Michelle has had after she converted from the feminist alpha bulls who used to adore her and feel betrayed) almost all her music is down [3]. How it resonated with me is that God breaks our heart and allows us not to be stone, but to be something that will grow, and bear fruit.
For rock is a desert. And this is not our doing.
When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.
What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?
O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs?
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
If you pay attention to this world, at all, you are aware that things have not improved over the last decade. It does not matter how you measure this: the number baptized in the West, the life expectancy, birth rate, number of queer bashings or rapes — or the median family income: in the West things have at best gone sideways and frequently have got worse. The tribalist (now disguised as NRx) tells some truth: we tend to cope as a society if we share the same traditions and habits of living. I’d add that these things do matter: they can be functional (Germany and Austria: Korea and Japan) or quite dysfunctional (the Levant and Greece: Much of Africa and many indigenous communities). I can understand why Putin is popular, for (despite his many faults) he is resurrecting within the Russians a sense of pride in being Russian, and a celebration of the many good things that have happened in Russia and its culture.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with celebrating the good and beautiful in your culture. In fact, you can share it and you will be honoured for this: there is a glory in Germany, in France, in Russia, there is much glory in Venice, or Rome, or Florence or Madrid. TO disavow this is stupid [4].
But things are wrong, and our more sensitive artists know it.
We know that something is wrong, and if we have any sensitivity to our own actions we know that the problem is not the other: it is us. We may deny there are laws of behaviour, but we have to live that way to have any kind of civilization: if you think that the rules around usury in the Torah are detailed, consider the rules around academic fraud now: if you dislike the Torah’s rules around sexual behaviour and assault (yes, they exist) then the modern rules are far less just to all parties.
But no one can keep the law: no one can build a ladder to heaven. Instead, we are given Christ. If we confess his name, we are saved: on this promise is our faith built. (Not just Lutheran or Reformed faith: this is shared).
At this time we need to attend our churches. It is a witness. We need to preach the gospel. It is a witness.
Both actions will be considered hatery by the elite. But we can see the consequences of the policy of the elite, weigh them, and find them wanting.
Including the current fashion of considering that your speech is valid if you are of a minority and invalid if you are not. In Christ, we all have an equal need for salvation, for we are all morally responsible for our actions. To deny that moral agency and the consequences of our actions is to make us less than in the image of God, and to imply that we do not matter.
So… we need to deny all this micro-aggression and privilege and discourse on racism. The very suppositions of such discussions are to lump people by the colour of their skin or their disabilities or their bad habits. When all of us struggle with our sins, all of us need Christ, and Jesus transcends even the tribes of Israel.
Follow Christ, not them.
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1. Even though it is only 500m away horizontally, it is the 100m vertical drop that means I may drive: The temperature is negative and that means black ice on the hill.
2. And my usual congregation is in recess over the school holidays.
3. I have put a link to itunes. And I despise Apple almost as much as the Borg of Gates.
4. Yes, that list is Eurocentric. I could add Kyoto to that list: much of ancient China is buried under concrete now. But Europe has a great culture and the idea that we should not glory in the beauty and truth it is wrong because dead white male is stupid when you say this to a mean live white male.
