Friday December 31, 2004

Actions of a Christian ( Knight: Serving the King – Part II )

     And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah:  “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’

     “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears.  They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry.

     ” ‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty.  ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’ ”

— Zechariah 7:8-14 (NIV) —

Notice, the word of God came to Zechariah first. If the people of God are not immersed in the word of God, is it reasonable to expect to hear God? If I am seeking enlightenment, I’d expect lots of meditation. If I am seeking meaning, I would be studying philosophy. If I am seeking fun, I’d expect to be found in a club or at a bar. If I am seeking fellowship, I’d be with my friends and family. So if I want to hear God and follow His will, where should I be? (Don’t you just love sarcasm? ;-))

When the meaning of God’s word becomes clear, this is what Zechariah hears from God. “Administer true justice” !!! When I read this, I have an idea of courts and judges… cruel & unusual punishment… social justice… but how the heck does someone give TRUE justice? And this doesn’t come as a nice suggestion, it comes over as a command. God’s not playing around with you. He’s asking for obediance.

He even clarifies this idea of “true justice” for us: “show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” So no mistake about it, He’s talking about how we treat each other, fellow human beings.

1st, mercy. Mercy is very similiar to forgiveness. We are asked to take something essentially evil from the other person and give them back something good. For any christian, it can be central define as a sinner who is an enemy of God, is given the gift of life (MERCY) from God in the form of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. As God has mercy upon us, so we are called to give mercy to others around us. When we are right and the other person is wrong, we are called to give up our “right”, take off the mantle of judgement, and come down to the level of the one who has wronged us. Without sin and a clear idea of right/wrong, mercy cannot exist.

2nd, compassion. Are we stirred to action by someone else’s needs? Compassion requires to know pain, to be acquainted with it and a sincere wish to heal it. Each one of us has had past hurts, past hardships, broken hearts, bouts of depression, times where we feel like we’ve hit rock bottom… but how many of us has taken this pain, taken it to God and asked why He has brought it to us? Why this thorn is in our side? Simply, we can easily reach those when we’ve walked in their shoes. Jesus shows us this. He knows of pain, of betrayal… and the path of the cross. He knows because he has walked it… and He doesn’t just command us to meet people’s needs. He met them himself and asks us to follow Him. God’s heart is for the broken… who wish to be fixed. Do we have God’s heart and desires in mind? and do we put our money where our mouths are? (or is it nothing more than lip service?)

3rd, oppression. Don’t do it to widows, fatherless, aliens or the poor. What does it mean to oppress? I looked it up on dictionary.com and got back 3 definitions: 1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority 2. To weigh heavily on AND 3. To overwhelm or crush. But here’s the interesting thing… poverty by itself can oppress people. If you don’t have much, you can feel limited in your options, like nothing you do can make a difference. What can we do to avoid oppressing people by our own inaction? I can’t claim that I am innocent of oppressing others. Far from it, I’ve passed by plenty of beggars, pretending I can’t see them. I can see the need to serve those who are powerless or defenseless. The question is, will I answer God’s call to serve? And I’m not serving someone who can help me, but the underdogs and supposed dregs of society. Single mothers and fathers, widows are slightly different now.. but how about immigrants? What kind of job can you get if you can’t speak english proficiently? And the homeless or families on wealfare? If we should not oppress them and God asks for us to love our neighbor… surely we have work to do in helping those least among us.

4th, do not think evil of each other. At first I thought, this meant evil intentions toward one another. To wish evil on something… like wishing someone would see God’s judgement/die/get sick/get hurt or something messed up like that. But it’s thinking evil OF each other. So I think it means to give the other person the benefit of the doubt… when someone is doing something that seems questionable (think about Jesus chilling with sinners) don’t automatically assume that they are doing evil. Cuz that’s messed up. It’s like judging someone before you’ve let them have their say. It’s like in the court of my own mind, you’re presumed guilty and have to prove yourself innocent. How messed up is that?

If we fail to hear God, then we are going to be a people of condemnation and apathy, taking advantage of the weak and defenseless and even our friends may as well be enemies. When God commands something, we can choose to obey or we can choose to rebel. God being the loving one that he is, chooses to speak truth even to those who choose to rebel. Verses 11-12 describe the rebellious.

“They refused to pay attention.” It’s not that we can’t hear God… it’s that we refuse to obey Him. How can you tell if you’re rebelling? It’s spelled out for us… I will turn my back on God. This is the exact opposite of repentance. I am right, God… and you are wrong. It’s like denial of a sort. Then “stopping up their ears”… after turning my back, I will then proceed to cut off the voice of God in my life, whatever it may happen to be. Whether I am drowning out whisper of the Spirit of God within or just plain old avoiding the words of God in the bible, stopping up your ears is like avoiding hearing something that you already know. I’ve never stopped up my ears to hearing lies, I can just discard them. But if I don’t want to hear truth or want to deny it and my own logic turns against me, I can only stop up my ears.

And then drowning out the Spirit. We have been recreated with a heart by God. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But those who don’t have this or rebel against these gifts from God. When we are no longer accepting and learning from God… instead of getting a new living heart… we receive “hearts as hard as flint” What good is a heart of stone? But if we are not moved by God and we choose to go the wrong way, what else can we expect? The wage of sin is death, but it never said how it would be paid. It seems like a piece of us will die… one day at a time… one decision at a time. A heart like a stone is definitely dead to me. Random thought, but if the heart is like flint, doesn’t it spark when it strikes other hard surfaces? So instead of sharpening iron against iron… we have sparks flying all over the place?

Last 2 symptoms of rebellion: Ignoring the words of God’s Law and the words of God’s Spirit. When I smack you with a verse from God’s word, nothing happens. When I see you doing wrong, and I tell you of God’s Spirit talking to me, nothing. Like it goes in one ear and out the other. Your heart will no longer respond. Your mind blocks out what it knows to be true. God is IGNORED. Giving the Big Man Upstairs the cold shoulder is a bad idea…

My least favorite part. But truth it is. WRATH. Refuse to sow good… and you will reap what you sow. God is slow to anger, but do you really wish to test His patience? God’s blood flows for you, but justice cries out. If you fail to accept something of grace and of mercy, what else can you expect? If God speaks to you… and you refuse to listen to Him. Then when you reach out to Him, God will not listen to your cry. There is a time comming, when the time of mercy and grace will be over… and people will be cut off from God forever. Don’t think otherwise, this is a limited time offer. I don’t know the expiration date, but why cut it close? It’s only your soul… and your eternity.

“scattered them with a whirlwind”… so nonchalant. This is not a God to be messed with. God truly gives and takes away. Who else is praise-worthy? almighty? just? loving? faithful? Bring on all the armies of the world… there’s no contest. God will win. It’s not a question. The question is… are you on God’s side? or do you just have a deathwish? God will grant it for you. Just hope you know what it is you are asking for.

The rebels will eventually be strangers in a strange land. I can see this even in myself. I’m like an alien in my own home. People who don’t even know who I am. I want to go home. I sick of the land of rebellion. Tired of being a sinner, tired of this messed up earth. Isn’t this what sin ultimately does? Breaks relationships. Causes pain and suffering… I don’t want to be a sinner any more. Don’t you want to come home too? Repent and turn to God… You will find glimpses of home of a place where everyone knows your name… and where you can be yourself. Forever. Keep rebelling and walk slowly down the path to death and destruction. God’s chances are limited. Grab a ticket home while you can. The price is free, but the ride home is … interesting. 🙂

The land where the rebels were… “so desolate behind them that no one could come or go” I have a hard time imagining it. But I think it is a barren wasteland. Maybe a place where a meteor struck… where dust blocks out the sun… and everything dies a slow death. A cursed place. When people refuse to be salt and light to the world… what can we expect? We are the caretakers of this place. When we fail this, the land will show this. The sin in the land will bring the world to it’s knees eventually. We cannot proceed at this pace forever. This world is in it’s death throes… can you see it? Just like Jesus dying upon that cross, slowly but surely, the end is comming. But the question is, when everything is revealed, like Jesus is revealed for who He was, will the resurrection and comming on the new world order upon this place take you by surprise? Instead of rebirth… anguish. Instead of mercy… judgement. Don’t get me wrong, we are all deserving of death. But when you examine life, you realize, that if heaven and hell do exist, nothing we do makes us worthy of heaven. The price is paid, but taking a hold of that ticket will take nothing less than our entire life.

Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Somalia, Indonesia… These places remind me of desolation. A place where truly no one can come or go. I’m not saying that God’s judgement rests upon these places. But we do need to wake up to God’s call. Don’t be caught sleeping while life passes you by. God’s cause is worthy and the leader is unmistakable. But don’t take my word for it, find out for yourself. Prepare to bleed for a promised victory. Put your money where your mouth is. This bible study has come to life for me. I hope it brings life to you as well.

Dad, we know of the evil in this world. But we also know of your awesome goodness. And your thirst for justice. May it be filled on earth as it is in heaven. I pray for those who are suffering. This disaster came to those expecting a place of peace and vacation. It struck down the rich along with the poor. You give and you take away. May we learn to fear and respect You in all that we do, more than the powers of this world. Thank you for your protective hand upon your servants in these countries. I pray that people would see your glory, even through this horrible disaster. Let us never tire in loving our neighbor, because you never tire of loving us, no matter the circumstance. Let me to learn better the way of the cross… to bleed for those you love. Thank you for friends, for another year, for much growth and learning through both good and bad situations. For those lost, I pray that their souls may rest in your eternal peace. In the name of the innocent who died and threw open the door to home, Jesus. Amen.

<News>

Good News (Congrats Japan)

Witnessing News (1st Hand Accounts)  

Wretching News (Punch in the gut)  

Hopeful News (Bringing us together)  

Sick News (Stay away from NY and HI )

</News>

<Random> Envelope, online romantic manga short </Random>

== EDIT ==

If you want to bleed.