New Thoughts (01/18/10-1/20/10)
By way of entering gently into what looks to be a potentially painful study, I find I am taken with the word translated as ‘hold to’ in this passage. Looking at the derivation in Greek, it seems as though it ought to mean quite the opposite of this. It is anti, which we easily recognize as indicating opposition. It is echthra, which is a matter of hatred and hostility. Nothing in that sounds much like holding to, much more likely to be holding away from, or throwing violently away from. But, there’s another word for that as I recall.
When I read what Thayer’s has to say on this word, though, a different picture emerges. It speaks of holding somebody directly opposite oneself – thus the opposition. That holding, however, is done firmly. Now, I have to admit that I don’t see where the hostility translates in that image. However, it is one of those interesting arrangements of God that I should have looked at this definition yesterday morning, and then heard the sermon I heard mid-day. Our Dr. Chip was speaking on the issue of marriage, and doing it quite well, I might add. One point he made, though, had to do with how so much of modern entertainment would have us seated side by side and looking anywhere but at one another. The video games, the movies, and so on: We are together so far as proximity can measure it, to be sure. But, we are still individuals, still totally wrapped up in our own perceptions and interests.
He was contrasting this to the good old board game or card game where one would be seated directly opposite the other player, where one could not help but see and perceive the other player. As he noted, we lose a lot of potential inter-personal communication when we trust ourselves to these sorts of entertainments, and when we reduce ourselves to communicating solely by electronic means. You can’t read the emotional context of an email or a text message, as just about anybody who has used that format will attest. You cannot see the body language that backs the message. Eventually, our capacity to even understand that body language atrophies for lack of use.
All of this comes back to me as I consider this matter of holding to, cleaving to. It’s holding directly opposite, where one can look at its every nuance. It is the position of romance and desire. You know, when sweethearts go to dinner together, they do not generally sit side by side. They sit opposite one another where they can gaze into each other’s eyes. I recall the seats that were on display down at the Museum of Fine Arts, which were designed such that two people could indeed sit side by side and be looking each other in the eye as they conversed. Marvelous improvement over the standard couch, although it would admittedly require more floor space to accommodate.
But, the point is clear: directly opposite, where the eye can drink in every detail: This is the position of communication, and thus becomes the position of romance. But, more importantly in the context of this verse, it is the position of desire. One places the object of one’s desire where it can be looked at and enjoyed most thoroughly.
Let me turn the picture just a bit so we can see another aspect. The goal that we truly wish to reach is the goal we will keep before our attention. We know ourselves well, and we know the distractions that life brings. If we do not keep that goal before us, we will never get around to achieving the goal. We will busy ourselves with other things until it is far too late. Anybody who has ever sought to develop a talent, to strengthen a muscle, to win a contest knows this. You cannot develop the talent without practice. You cannot strengthen the muscle by lifting less each day. You cannot win the contest without competing earnestly and giving it everything you’ve got.
You know, I’m not a big fan of sports analogies, but let me use one anyway. If I look at the football field, there is a goal at either end. They are in opposition. If I am a player on that field, even if I am the only player on that field, I can never run in such a way as to reach both goals simultaneously. I am either approaching one or I am approaching the other. It is not even physically possible that I should approach both. This is a great picture of what Jesus is saying here. At one end we have the goal of God. At the other we have the goal of riches and self-security. We can’t run towards both of them. We are either pursuing one or the other. If we think it is otherwise, we are fooling ourselves. We are not. It’s impossible.
Quite some time ago, I had printed out a question to put on my refrigerator. It reads, “How’s your focus? Where’s your hunger?” Now, one might suppose I put that there as a reminder for dieting or some such, but thankfully I have thus far avoided any reason to concern myself with dieting. It’s simply that the refrigerator is where one can hang things like this, and where one is likely to see it – at least until it grows so familiar that it becomes mentally invisible. But, this passage brings the point back. Perhaps I could reverse the questions a bit, but it’s the same issue: “How’s your hunger? Where’s your focus?” That’s what we are being called to check in this verse. What is it I am really pursuing, because that will tell me what I really desire and what I truly serve.
In the preceding study, I was looking at that great statement, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21). But, as I see it here, we need to look at the picture in reverse and discover where our heart is. That will answer the questions of focus, pursuit and desire. Where I find my heart, where I am putting my efforts in those moments when I have what we call free time, that’s where I’m storing up my treasure. Is it worthwhile treasure, or that sort of treasure that will only welcome me into an eternity of woe?
Oh! How I would love to avoid these questions! How greatly I desire to just ask them here, and move on leaving them unanswered. For, I know the answers are not as they ought to be, and it’s not something to be proud of. I must, however, look honestly at the case else I can never hope to see it change. I cannot run to the goal of God if I refuse to stop going full tilt towards the goal of self-sufficiency.
There can really be no question, however, as to which answer I must give. My focus? Granted, I see to it that I have time for prayer and study in the morning, mostly study. And yes, there are those nights of the week when I make certain, as best I can, that I am out in time to be at church on time for this or that in the evening, preferably with a full stomach. But, focus? Where’s my focus? That’s harder to lay squarely on the kingdom. No, over the years, responsibility has taught me to focus on the funds, much as have preferred not to. Over the most recent years, necessity has led me to focus on them more closely, and to hold them more closely. Or, so I have told myself.
But, just look at that defense! Responsibility. Necessity. See? The fact that I have turned to myself and become more carefully self-sufficient is a good thing, right? But, it’s not! It’s a screaming declaration that I really don’t think my God is going to provide this time. It’s evidence that I am convinced I may not only be able to out-give God, but may have done so already. It all just proves the point Jesus is making. I can’t do it any more than anybody else ever could. I cannot be all wrapped up with making sure I have not just everything I need but everything I want, and still be all wrapped up in making sure I am all for God. I can keep going through the motions of a holy devotion, but the reality is far removed.
Who do I serve? Me, mostly. Where is my focus? On my leisure. What do I pursue and desire? No demands upon me, all my time for my own pursuits and amusements. Frankly, were I to be terrifyingly honest, I pursue and desire a different life than the one I lead. So many, many years I could look back over my life, even the worst mistakes in it, and praise God for it all, knowing that all of what had been had brought me to who and where I am today. I could not be me without those things. But, more recent years have been years of seemingly endless sacrifice. I say seemingly, because I am not fool enough to suppose it is truly that way. But, it does seem that the vast majority of my time goes to doing what others want done, what others need of me, until I feel utterly poured out and spent. By the time I reach a moment for myself, I have nothing left to give me.
Now, I’d love to pat myself on the back about all this, and say that this just proves my focus and devotion is as it ought to be: on others. But, the spirit in which the deed is done matters more than the doing, doesn’t it? If God loves a cheerful giver, He surely desires a cheerful doer as well. This, I cannot claim. Why, I am one of the least cheerful doers I can reasonably imagine! I do. I do, and I do. But, I don’t like it, and I don’t particularly care who knows it. I resent those who don’t. I am Martha griping in the face of Jesus about those who are on the Mary path. And, all the time, my thought is on, “You have me doing this, but you know my heart is to do that. You don’t value me.” Every time I do, it feels like another knife cutting in. It is doing in pain and sorrow. It is a dogged devotion to a duty I have absolutely no joy in.
Is this the cross of discipleship? Perhaps. Is this the way it must be? Perhaps. Is this the final destruction of pride? If so, pride is a stubborn cuss, to be sure! He is not taking destruction lying down.
But, if this is what is happening, oh my God! Let me become a swifter study, for this death of pride by a thousand paper cuts is wearing, and I would not have my love for You become the less for the pain. Lord! Open my eyes to see what You are doing through this. Soften my heart to respond to Your doing. You have promised joy in the morning, yet it seems I have been in a long night of mourning. So much hurt and so little to show. Oh, I know. As I set it over against what You endured, it is nothing. If I cast it beside the eternity You have set before me, it is less than nothing. But I am not You and I am not there. I am me and I am here and I am hurting. I know that You must change my heart, o God, but I pray You change it such that I might remember how to rejoice.
Listen, I am not a great fan of navel-gazing, as we tend to call it. But, we must. We must look to where the questions lead. We must give ear to what the Spirit is saying to us about ourselves, else we shall never be free, we shall never be able to take the yoke of our Lord and Savior upon ourselves. There is that terrifying response to Elijah that we read in 1Kings 18:21. “But, the people wouldn’t answer.” They were being brought to the crisis of faith. They were standing there, facing the stark, unavoidable contrast of world order and heavenly order. God or Baal, folks. Last call, and no sitting the fence. There are no neutral parties in this conflict, and you must declare. Who are you going to believe? Who are you going to follow? “But, the people wouldn’t answer.”
Why is that? Well, because the stark facts of the situation would not permit even the dimmest light among them to suggest that Baal had proved himself. Yet, the desire to get along, the desire to prosper and be wealthy in their own sight would not permit them to admit that God had proved Himself. To admit God won would require a total departure from pursuit of wealth. It would require sacrifice in this life. It would require an end to the profit motive. Ouch! How can it be? God! Look at the world we live in! Everything is built on the profit motive. Life without money is made impossible. And, you would have us set that aside in favor of You?
Look, we see that You have shown Yourself utterly superior to that profit-driven worldly order, but it’s the profit-driven worldly order we know. We can see it. We can touch it. I mean, just look at these folks who follow Baal instead. Sure, the priesthood doesn’t seem to have much to suggest itself as a fine pursuit. But, for the rest? They’ve got stuff and plenty of it. They’re not hurting for food or for clothes or for jewelry or for any such thing. And us? We’re scratching out a living from the dirt. We’re the poor country cousins, by comparison. Is this what You want from us? I’m not sure we can do that.
But, you just can’t say things like that to a God who has just been shown so very, terribly real. So, you say nothing. Nope. Not gonna do it. Can’t make me. I know nobody has ever yet figured out how to serve God and Baal simultaneously, but I’ll find a way. Stands to reason He doesn’t really expect such total devotion from me, anyway.
You see, many, upon hearing that demand to choose see nothing more than a choice between a life of privilege and ease and a life of asceticism and want. But, that’s not what He is saying. Not at all. The choice is not between having and not having. The choice is between self and God. Who will we set upon our throne? Who will we turn to in an emergency? Who will we praise in victory? Who gets the credit? All these other gods that compete for the place He alone can rightly occupy are nothing but disguises wrapped around our own egos. There are only two in the competition. However we dress up the other, whether we call it Baal or Allah or America or Capitalism or any other name, it’s all about Me. Me on top. Me in charge. Me in control. In a world that was created to enjoy the relationship of “You and me, God”, we have made it, “You. And me God.” We have turned Eden into a western movie, and told God that there’s not room enough in this town for the both of us. We have, I suspect, failed to hear Him saying, “You’re right.”
The truth of our condition is that God and mammon are both set before us. As Christians, it shall ever be thus, that both are in sight, and both catch our attention. But, it will always be the case that one is our desire and the other but a tool towards obtaining our desire. We are not commanded to foreswear all association with money, or even with wealth. We are not commanded to take a vow of poverty. What we are called to do is to subject such wealth as we may have to the purposes of God. If our desire is truly for Him, then we will make use of our proceeds and our talents in such a way as to draw closer to Him, to be more pleasing to Him.
Sadly, it is often the case that the situation is reversed, and God is made no more than a tool towards obtaining riches. It’s not just the disease of the televangelists. It’s a disease common to mankind, and many succumb to it. It’s not just a problem for those who make their living by the Gospel. It’s also a problem for those who benefit from their labors. It is there when we rob God. How have we robbed Him? By withholding our tithes and becoming stingy with our offerings (Mal 3:8). We have robbed Him whenever we have ceased to trust Him to provide. And, what other reason can we have for keeping these things for our own use? Oh, I understand that there are churches into which we would not choose to place our tithes, for their untrustworthiness as God’s representatives is plain. But, then, we ought not be anywhere near such places, so it ought not be a problem. Apart from that, the command is clear. Put your profits to work in the kingdom.
Neither is it only the money. What of talents and time? The issue is the same. You have been given these things by God, and He desires a return on what He has entrusted to you. Are you generous with your time, willing to do what you can for His kingdom? Are your talents being put to use for His work, or are they all for you?
Which is the desire and which is the tool? As with the other questions I have asked in this study, this one is also critical to answer honestly. If in any way we are making the kingdom a tool towards our own ends, then we are putting ourselves at mortal risk. We may as well be taking communion under false colors, and thereby drinking our own death. Yes, it really is that serious. Those who would make the Church a tool towards their own ends are indeed establishing their own end, but that end will not be pleasing to them when it comes.
Consider the point made but a few verses prior to this in Luke’s accounting: If you can’t be faithful in how you use these worldly goods, how can you expect to be trusted with real riches (Lk 16:11)? If you can’t be bothered to set these fleeting things to work for Him rather than hording them up for yourself, why would He ever consider putting eternal matters under your stewardship? If you can’t be bothered to care about the brother you can see, what makes you think you care about God whom you cannot see? It’s all of a point, isn’t it?
Tithing is but a step in the growth of an appropriate arrangement of the things of this life and the things of God. It is training. It gets us to stop thinking of the paycheck as something we have done for ourselves, and to remember that it is something He has done for us. Nothing required Him to give us the skills for the jobs we hold. Nothing required Him to so move upon our employers that they might choose to hire us. Nothing requires Him to maintain our substance whatsoever. Who is it that would command God, and on what grounds? There is no one! But, He trains us so that He can trust us. He works with us in the little until we are able to command our base desires as regards the little. Then, as the exercises increase our ability, He sets more under our control. Oh, you can bet that we will stumble under the new load, make new mistakes or even repeat the old ones as our circumstance changes. But, it’s training! Of course we make mistakes! Were we perfected already, the training would be unnecessary. So, He trains. He exercises. And slowly but steadily, we make progress towards becoming trustworthy children of the house of God.
Thanks be to You, Lord, that by Your own right arm You do these things! Thanks be to You that You are so exceedingly patient with such as myself. That You graciously repeat the lessons until we grasp the meaning, that You continue the training until we pass the test. How far I feel from Your standards! How terribly I fail to measure up against such longsuffering. I, who am impatient of my own child, who will not gladly suffer fools apart from myself. Yet, Your forgiveness abounds even towards me! Yet, your patience is without end, even towards me! I am humbled by Your ways, Lord, as well I ought to be. And yet, that pride… But, this, too, I know You will address – and as often as it takes. Lord, make of me a quick study, that I might grow in obedience to Your ways. I do not seek recognition or title. These things are of little note in Your economy. I do not seek even reward, at least so far as I can restrain my old ways. I just want to be more like You would have me to be. Would that it didn’t require so much process, but You are all wise. You know the best way, and so I submit myself to Your ways. I pray You find me ready and willing, and I know that You shall see to it that I am able.
This is what it all comes down to. God is Good. We say this, and so long as things are going well, we even believe it. But, when trouble comes, the truth is God is still Good. When times are lean, the Truth is that God still provides. He is your Provider! These two things are as unchanging as God Himself, for they are essential aspects of God Himself. He is Good. He is the Provider. He is both simultaneously, even as I have said before of other essentials of God. He is all that He is simultaneously. He doesn’t swap hats moment by moment, deciding to be good in this moment, just in the next, and maybe providing the moment after that before moving on to a moment of wrath. No! He is all of these and He is ever and always all of these! So, if He is Good and He is your Provider, He is your Good Provider, and what He provides is necessarily good. Period. Whether it is much or little that He sends your way, it is good, and it is the best good that can be provided you.
This is where that contentment abides that we looked at in the previous study. Contentment will evade us until we have finally settled in ourselves that this is how it is: God our Good Provider, Providing not just what is good for us, but what is best. He alone knows us better than we know ourselves. He along has the understanding to realize to what degree we can handle ourselves, to what degree we can be entrusted with things. He alone knows the degree of temptation we can withstand, and He alone knows how to speak to us such that we will withstand. He is that Good! His Provision is that finely tuned. He is Perfect. Perfect in Goodness. Perfect in Provision. Perfect in Wisdom. Perfect in Foreknowledge, for all of time is but a moment in His sight. He knows, and He has already set in motion all that will be necessary. He set all that in place before the dawn of time, and nothing, no power in heaven or hell or in between can disturb what He has set in motion. So, be content. Rejoice in your lot, whatever your lot may be, knowing that as you are today, that lot is the best lot that could ever be laid out for you.
