A Watery Gospel

A few weeks ago, I wrote this post outlining 6 ways Christians should deal with the topic of abortion.  A good friend, whose thoughtful insight I respect, responded to my social media wall, in part:

“One problem is that we have watered down the gospel message to make it palatable to the non-believer as opposed to letting the Holy Spirit change the hearts of people. Jesus called for repentance of sin (Go and Sin no More), yet our churches talk about love being sufficient…Though there is no need for hate speech, preaching the true gospel as Jesus did, is not hate speech and unfortunately it seems to be labeled by the world AND A LARGE PORTION OF THE CHURCH as such.” – Jason Laurie, of School of Fish {www.schooloffish.wordpress.com}

I then read this post by Rachel Held Evans, and have been ruminating on the pendulous views of these two believers; for I see therein the scope of contemporary Christianity regarding abortion.  Thus I return again to the topic, for clarification, for those who may not yet have the courage or ability to speak, and for those who simply aren’t sure what to say.

                   

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD…

There is no price for which I would kill my only son.  There is no price for which I would sacrifice my only daughter.  Frankly, should you all be damned, I will never sacrifice my children on your behalf. 

                Thank God I’m not Him.   

But God, in His love, sent His Only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you and for me.  Yet before Christ was sentenced to death, He sought out people who were ravaged by sin, so mired in it, so broken by it that the religious people of their day would have nothing to do with them.  And He saved the lost.  He healed the broken.  He restored the sinners.  Jesus, Divinity incarnate, sought out these people not to demand repentance of them so that He could heal them; Jesus healed them so that they could repent.  And when Jesus admonished the adulteress woman to “go and sin no more,” it is only after her accusers have dispersed (John 8:2-11).  It was a moment shared between only God’s Son and this sinner.  Meant for her heart – not for public consumption.  Meant to work out her salvation in her, meant to form her spirit, meant to protect her from the further evils of which each human being drawing breath is capable.  Repentance is not a clarion call the religious folk are told to make prior to offering God’s Grace – it is Christ’s, it is the Holy Spirit’s, it is God’s.  For each one of us is filthy and decrepit and worthless.  Each one of us is a condemned sinner.

                                                BUT FOR THE BLOOD OF JESUS.

  Of the 75 times the Bible calls for repentance, 48 are in the books of the prophets.  These men issued the call for repentance to the Nation of Israel because she had abandoned her primary role of caring for the “least of these” (Jeremiah, Daniel, Matthew 24).  Effectively, most Israelites were leaving those who had no standing in the patriarchal society that was bent on keeping the outcast, foreigner, single woman, and orphan from the promised blessings of Yahweh (land, generational proliferation, relation to the messianic kingdom) to fend for themselves.  Abandoning those who, without assistance, would never be able to be free from their poverty, station,  or un-cleanness.  Forsaking these people so that they were without hope, without protection, without help.  Yes, the call to repent was a call to return to Yahweh; but that return required behaving as Yahweh had instructed: to care for these who could not care for themselves and who were just as loved by the Almighty as those who brought fellowship offerings out of their abundance.

In the contemporary context, one must admit that the unborn must be among “least of these.”    

But what about the women, pregnant and frightened, who feel they have nowhere else to turn – that they have no one other than the friendly folks down at Planned Parenthood to trust?

 If women in crisis feel their only hope lies with the Kermit Gosnells of this world, what would God say to His church in light of this?

 

Dearest one, let me be perfectly clear: Love is not accepting or tolerating or enabling sinful behavior.  Love is recognizing that not a single person is free from sin – save JESUS CHRIST, Himself.  Love is the truth that every person ever is guilty of sin unto death.  Be it murder of the unborn or self-focused pride.  Every single one of us deserves death.  I, beloved, deserve to die.  As do you. 

                                                BUT FOR JESUS. 

Jesus first healed, restored, and saved people from their illnesses, demons, and sins, because no person can come to the Lord righteous and clean without this work of Christ first.  Jesus didn’t require public repentance, didn’t first demand righteousness from those in need of Him.  He knew that He was their only hope.  As His followers, should we not emulate Jesus and seek these people out where they are – to find them in their hurt, to minister to them in their confusion and brokenness, to go ourselves into the sinful places so that we might bring this hope and light with us?  

One wonders – How many Christians have sat in the waiting rooms of Planned Parenthood – ready only to hold the hands or catch the frightened tears of those in line to exterminate their babies?  How many Christ-followers are there now, wanting only to show love to these lost and broken women? 

Yes, that is an extreme thought, but dial it back a bit: HOW MANY CHRISTIANS HAVE EVER EVEN CROSSED THAT THRESHOLD?  Or stood outside, not in angry picket lines, but with a tender smile and the offer of a cup of coffee over which to talk and a listening ear, not to preach, but to know – to witness – the hurt and fear of the woman struggling with this life-ending choice?   

It’s safer to sit behind our computer screens and pass judgment, to meet in our coffee shops and blast the lost for being deceived, to smugly pat ourselves on the back for not being one of those.  Or, worse, to posit such ambiguity and confusion regarding the topic of abortion under the guise of I-don’t-know-what-to-do that we are left impotent and useless on a national stage. *

I’m going to suggest, dear one, that until we as a church can say that we have done this, until we’ve taken a deep breath and ventured into a Planned Parenthood Clinic {dear, God – WHY are they most prolific in the poorest neighborhoods?!  What does this say about whom we as a society value—the richest, the whitest, the most suburban of all children?}, we cannot sit self-righteously in condemnation.  For the propensity of this evil lives in each one of us: we are all capable of murder.  Jesus said thus in his Olivet Discourse.  We are all guilty of murder in our hearts.  And only God is righteous to judge. 

Friends, we must remember that it is not our place to accept anyone into the kingdom – that honor rests solely with Almighty God, for it is His Kingdom, and His alone.  We are the adopted children, filthy sinners, who have been invited in and covered in His Son’s clothes of bloody righteousness.  We are not the arbiters of who’s in and who’s out.  And the moment we forget this, we become the Pharisees.  We have been given the distinct privilege and honor of sharing the Gospel, and of rejoicing with the angels when this truth is rooted into another life.     

Because, as capable of evil as every human is, Christ followers -- empowered by the Holy Spirit are capable of the most beautiful light.  We have the power and ability, through the resurrected Christ and the Holy Spirit indwelling us, to alter this world for good.  To change one life at a time.  To save one baby.  To rescue one mother.  To restore one father.  To advance the glorious kingdom of Almighty God, for the good of all humanity and creation, by the power of Grace within us.    

May we ever be amazed by the Lord’s Grace.  May it never cease to be as magnificent as when we first received it.  May we, like a fount, overflow it into the darkest places in our fallen world.  For the coming of Christ and the Kingdom of God. 

~Amen.

 

*{This article by Rachel Held Evans and all the comments thereto are a tragic example of what contemporary “progressive” Christians think about abortion.  I am compelled to clarify that I generally admire Ms. Held Evan’s work on behalf of women, and advocate for her views thus.  But as this article and its comments show, an entire generation of Christians (and non) have absorbed the lies spouted by the abortion industry, yet try to hold this view in conjunction with their faith and end up with a discordant struggle because the two are necessarily, mutually exclusive.  Confusion of the issue, as Ms. Held Evans presents here, is exactly why we are a nation in desperate need of truth – both in their realm of science (no self-respecting embryologist would claim that life begins at any point other than at conception) and in our churches.}                

 

Formation in 5 Books

I once again find myself in the tension between having the formation of a post stealing my sleep, and the end of the semester breathing down my neck (3 papers, 1 quiz, and 2 finals remain).  The post that is consuming my waking, non-study time is one I want to address with appropriate thoughtfulness and research, as it is in response to a comment about my previous abortion post.  I will return to it later this week; yet , for today, it sadly has to yield to my assignments.    

In its place, I offer a list of the five most formative books I’ve read since I’ve been in seminary.  Three of which have also provided me with the distinct pleasure of studying under the authors; and to which I return most frequently.  I know these may seems cumbersome because they are textbooks, but if you desire to love the Lord your God with all your mind as we are commanded to, I highly recommend these: 

Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey

 by Dr. Craig L. Blomberg

From Pentecost to Patmos: An Introduction to Acts through Revelation

by Dr. Craig L. Blomberg

 

Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith

by Dr. Douglas Groothuis

 

 

 

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us

by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

 

 

Discovering Biblical Equality: Complentarity without Hierarchy

edited by Ronald W. Pierce and  Rebecca Merrill Groothuis

 

 

What do we do about abortion?

At just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
{Romans 5:1-11}

I have sat in many rooms, amidst many people of God, and heard many of the same messages preached over and over and over again, in so many different ways.  I have felt the blows of Truth pummel me with guilt and shame, in the name of righteousness’ sake.  And I have felt the waters of Truth wash over me, for the sake of love. 

Because of my story, I have been asked: how does a Christian, particularly one with a platform, address abortion?  For don’t we all yearn to see the end of abortion in our country?  Shouldn’t we?     

 

Roe v. Wade

After 40 years of this unrelenting Supreme Court decision, I have to ask – where have our angry slogans gotten us?  What about all those ugly words spewed from pulpits and the mouths of those who claim to have lives marked by Love?  And of those horrifying photos circulating social media and e-mail in-boxes; where have they gotten us?  Honestly, Christian, are we any closer to ending abortion?  Have our legislators budged on the policies our nation has so vocally requested?  Has the highest court in our land seen the reason or logic in our arguments?  Have congregations been moved, through our proclamations of fire and brimstone to storm the polls and vote for truth?  Has any of our name-calling, picket lines, or chanting saved any of the 1,600 babies aborted every day?    

            Have we saved the 54,000,000 lives lost to abortion?

The answer, beloved, is simply: NO.    

                Of course, the question that follows, is – why?

For that answer, I turn to Scripture and I look at life of the Incarnate Christ.  So that I can model my behavior after His, I ask: when, and with whom, was Jesus ever angry?  In the gospels do we see that He was furious with Zachaeus for stealing from the Jewish people while collecting their taxes?  Or was Christ livid with the money changers in the temple, the people who were a part of the religious order in that day?  Did Jesus rail against all adultery when a woman was brought directly from her tryst to his feet?  Or did he rebuke her accusers, the religious leaders?  Did Christ proclaim the thieves on the crosses next to him as deserving of their fates, or did he invite the one who believed into his kingdom that very day? 

The prevailing theme of Jesus’ life is so precisely summed up in Romans 5:8 ~ God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Jesus didn’t loudly and crudely demand that the laws of taxation, or prostitution, or even Pater familias for that matter, be changed.  Rather, Jesus spoke truth: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father but through me” (John 14:16). 

1.        We have to teach truth. 

Not the just the truth that abortion kills infants; or that life begins at conception.  Not only the truth that less than 1% of abortions occur as a result of rape or incest combined.  {I’ll say that again, because it’s a favorite of the proponents abortion – LESS THAN ONE PERCENT of abortions are a result of rape or incest COMBINED.}  But the truth that the mothers are left so psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually damaged that  were it any other medical ‘procedure,’ it would be banned by governing medical organizations.  The truth that abortions are so horrific for the mother, they experience post-traumatic stress remarkably similar to that of our veterans returning from war.  The truth that we’ve been wrong for 40 years – abortion is the opposite of caring for women.  It is a means of destroying them.    

2.        We have to know to whom we are speaking: The Women.

1 in 4 women between the ages of 15 and 60 has experienced one abortion. 50% of these have experienced multiple abortions.  Of this quarter of the female population, 70% are in our churches.  Right now.  They are your mothers, sisters, wives, friends.  We are pastor’s wives and daughters, youth leaders, women’s ministry leaders, children’s ministers, worship team members, pastors, and congregants.

3.        We have to know to whom we speak: The Men.

It takes two.  We must never assume that the women who choose abortion have done so all by themselves.  Nor can we presume that each was pressured to have one.  Let’s just be honest about the numbers for a moment.  If 1 in 4 women have experienced abortion, it stands that there at least as many men who have experienced it as well.  Statistically speaking, however, the number of fathers is likely higher; for of the women who have had an abortion, 50% have had multiple abortions.  These multiple abortions are rarely with the same father.  We can be certain that for every baby missing, there is a father carrying around a gaping wound in his soul, as well as a mother.    

4.       We are called to be ministers of reconciliation. 

I say this because every time you open your mouth to speak about abortion to a group of at least four people, statistically, you are addressing at least one person who has an abortion in their past.  And what you say can drive them further from the love and grace and forgiveness of Christ.  Ugly, hate-filled speech reinforces the lie that abortion is unforgivable; that post-abortive people are unlovable.  Or it can be full of truth, while driving them into the arms of Jesus.  We can be Pharisees, or we can be fishers of lost and broken people.  I have seen how Christ dealt with both – and I find as a redeemed sinner, it’s best if I recognize that I have no righteousness outside of Christ, and I extend his grace to those who are sinners, just like me.             

5.       To end abortion, we have to step up – not merely speak out.

We have to make it ok to show up at church pregnant and unwed.  We have to befriend and love and support single women who are pregnant.  And we have to continue to be their friend and support them after the baby arrives – whether they choose adoption or raising the child.  We have to teach our children, and their friends, and our friends the truth about embryonic development: that life begins at conception, and by the fifth week of pregnancy, a fetus can feel pain.  We have to financially support Crisis Pregnancy Centers.  We have to volunteer there as well.  We have to hound our nation’s leaders to change this horrific law; and not give a single vote to any legislator who supports – or won’t oppose – abortion. We have to fight the lie that is embedded in our culture that abortion is a right, and refute the falsehood that says abortion is a tool for women’s health care.  Every single day.  We have to pray that abortion will end.  And we have to love those in our midst who carry within them this deep and abiding hurt, so that they can receive the love and forgiveness and healing available to them only through Jesus Christ.     

6.       We have to be prayerful, winsome, truthful – but mostly loving.

I return to Romans 5:5^[b]-11 ~

God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.  You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.  {emphasis mine}

 

Thus, who am I to condemn?  Through the grace of God and love of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, I am forgiven my sins.  I am set free to minister this grace to my fellow sinners, by speaking truth with love – knowing that for those who are still captive to their sins, Christ gave His life.  And I cannot purposefully thwart His work by spewing hate or cruelty or judgment, even if it is in the name of truth and righteousness.  Rather, I must extend the love and grace and forgiveness extended to me.    

 

For the glory of God and the coming of His Kingdom.

 

The Hot Wife {an interlude}

I read two articles this week on the increasingly popular trend of Christian men publically discussing or complimenting their wives’ hotness.  Men who tweet about their wives’ taut bottoms, sexy-in-spite-of-having-2-kids figures, or overall physical beauty that makes him think Song of Solomon-y thoughts. 

And here’s where you’re likely to assume that I’m an old fuddy-duddy prude {let me assure you, I’m completely okay with that}: the issue I take, like the authors of these articles, is not that Christian husband and wives are enjoying one another’s bodies, but that they call attention to it. 

                On  Twitter.  Or Facebook.  Or Instagram.  

Now to be clear, I find what Zach Hoag and Mary Deluth address to be different from a “good morning, beautiful,” written on a spouse’s Facebook wall; though, not so far removed from plugging one’s wife on twitter by saying, “read my beautiful wife’s article on X.”    The key difference being: the first is a personal greeting to the wife, the second is a public declaration about the wife. 

                So much of life is in the prepositions.

Mr. Hoag says that most guys [of the non-Driscoll variety] are simply trying to fit in.  To belong in a world where sexiness is one’s most valuable commodity; and where Christians often feel that they have to reclaim sex inside marriage.  That they are singularly responsible for letting the world know that, yes, even Christians like having sex – they just like doing it with their spouses. 

While this in and of itself isn’t bad, and certainly I would agree that sex does need to be reclaimed and restored to its original design, the way it is being done is actually doing more harm than good.  Lauding your spouse’s beauty and sexuality to her/him, in private, is a good thing.  Doing so in a public manner, using a public forum, corrupts the relationship and diminishes the spouse to little more than chattel. 

We are called to be a people different from the world.  So where the world reduces women to body parts, and objectification, we cannot imitate this lead.

How insignificant it makes the wife – a sum of her parts.  A beautiful person, made in the image of Almighty God, reduced to breasts, a butt, thighs and calves, lips, hair.  So that she becomes merely a catalogue of physical traits, surgically reproducible, and her standing as the apple of her husband’s eye able to be usurped by the next pair of legs/breasts/lips to catch his fancy.  Doomed by her ever changing body {Sorry, young Mr. & Mrs. Pastors, the female form is in constant flux; from perky youth to motherhood to menopause}, and the certainty that one day she’ll be old, droopy, and wrinkled.   Will this mean that her beauty is gone then, that her ability to delight her husband a memory?  That her worth as wife exists only in past?

Further, to assume that she requires this kind of affirmation, belittles not only her identity as an image bearer of God, but also her personhood.  This kind of public attention drawn to her body is the equivalent of strangers whistling at her while she walks down the street, calling out what they’d like to do to her so that their peers can devour her body with their eyes, too.  Because, gentlemen, when you draw attention, publically, to her body – or parts thereof – you’re inviting others to appreciate {and to an extent take mental proprietary benefits} what was intended only for you. 

                Much like Xeres did with Vashti in the book of Ester.    

How base this type of praise makes the husband – who thus appears capable of only surface appreciation.  Unable to see his wife’s inherent value as a person, or to know and be known on the soul-level that is meant to depict the Trinity’s relationship with one another.  He is reduced to an overwhelmed being unable to reign in his appetite for flesh. 

                Less Neanderthal, more Werewolf. 

And oh! how cheap it makes their marriage bed – their appreciation for one another’s form on display, as if an already too-voyeuristic world needed more fodder.  Look at my wife’s rack in that sweater!  See my husband’s six-pack while he takes a swim!  Suddenly, the other’s body becomes property to be displayed, admired, envied – the personhood of our mate obliterated by our prideful declarations of “that one’s mine!”  There is nothing tender or appreciative or even loving about it. 

It’s all for show – for the benefit of people outside the marriage.  It brings other’s opinions, ideas, voices, judgments into the bedroom.  Where there should be no one but husband, wife, and God.

For Heaven’s sake: yes, enjoy one another!  Exclaim over one another’s bodies when it’s just the two of you.  Delight and be delighted in.  But don’t let this fallen world dictate how you do so.  Be accountable first to God, then to your spouse – because, honestly, no one else’s opinions in this area remotely matter.         

Husbands, stop bragging about your wife’s body like it’s some really cool car you bought.  You, gentlemen, did nothing to earn it.  It is a gift, given willing out of love; meant to be cherished by you and you alone.  Stop bringing the world into it. 

Wives, stop finding your worth in your physical beauty.  You are more than a (hot or not) body, meant only to bring physical pleasure to a man.  You are an image bearer of the Lord of the universe.  Beautiful because He made you so; worthy because He deems you thus.  Stop letting a broken world tell you where your value lies.   

Christians, look on one another with the love of Christ.  And act accordingly. 


 

The Truth about Sin and the Redeemed

Evangelicals are fond of the ideology that everything is covered by the blood of Jesus.  There’s no sin that his sacrifice can’t atone for.  And this is a good thing, because it’s true.  We evangelicals know that the wages of sin is death; and the death of Jesus, offered once for all, is the payment accepted on our behalf.  The Scriptures abound with this truth.  What I don’t find is a sliding scale of which sin is worse than another.  I find no formula for:

Sin X requires 3 drops of the blood of the Lord, while Sin Y requires 2 whole pints. 

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation ~ Colossians 1:21-22 {emphasis mine}

I cannot find this prescription in Scripture because it is not there.  The truth is that each and every sin is first and foremost an act of rebellion against Almighty God; secondly, it is an act against His creation (self, other person, or nature) of which He has all proprietary rights.  I say this, because what follows is going to bother some people.  Some folks who have worked very hard to maintain as righteous a life as they could, sinning as absolutely little as possible; people who may truly be able to say, “follow me as I follow Christ.”*  But the truth is that no matter who you are, what you or have not done:

Each. Sin. Cost. Precisely. the Same. 

Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.  Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. ~1 Corinthians 6:9-12 {emphasis mine}

 Each one cost the very life blood of God’s Only Son, Jesus Christ.  All of it.  Whether you’ve taken a stapler from work, or you’re the head of Enron.  Whether you’ve held anger in your heart towards your parents/spouse/child, or you’ve committed serial murder.  Whether you’ve only looked at the Sport’s Illustrated bikini models that one time, or your internet stable would be Solomon’s envy.  Whether you’ve stared at the ground trying to ignore the homeless person asking for help, or you’ve stocked piled humanitarian supplies to sell on the black market to the highest bidder.    

Any shade of sin cost Christ everything. 

And He paid it.  For Love.  For Hope.  For Healing.  For Restoration.   

If you have not accepted Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf, dearest one, I pray that you that do.  For there is nothing that you can do; no benevolence great enough to erase the sin-DNA coursing through all humanity, no deed good enough to tip the scales of righteousness in your favor.  There is only the blood of Jesus.

If you have accepted this gift, beloved, I am rejoicing for you.  For as one prone to fallenness, but for the grace of the Father, the love of the Son, and the presence of the Spirit, I am so delighted that you and I have been saved from ourselves and our sins. 

From here, followers, we must remember that every sin cost Christ the same.  So that we when look at others, we cannot call them by the label their sin mars them with.  For in Christ, there are no murders, no thieves, no fornicators, no liars, no abusers, no drunks. 

In Christ, there are only the redeemed saints. 

Saints who, while rejoicing in their new identities, must always recall from whence they came. 

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.  You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.  He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.  All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. ~Ephesians 2:1-3 {emphasis mine}

An abortionist, forgiven by Christ, is the same as the little boy or girl who gave their lives to the Lord at 4, only  ever lying to his/her mom.  A terrorist, redeemed by Jesus, is the same as the missionary, bringing God’s Word and love to people the world over.  A pimp, a prostitute, or a john, saved by the Lord, is the same as Chuck Swindol, Beth Moore, or Billy Graham.

At the foot of the cross, we are all the same – sinners, in desperate need of our Savior.

This truth, dear friend, frees us to minister with Love.  Because we know, we are intimately familiar with, the sin ghetto in which all humanity struggles – until accepting Jesus’ rescue.  The truth of who we were, joined with the truth of who we are now lets us embody our new identity as made-righteous-in-Christ, so that we may shower His grace and love upon the lost and hurting in this dark world.  It allows us to use our hands, our words, and our hearts on behalf of God’s kingdom in the lives of the people He came to save.  The people who are the same as you and I were, not so very long ago.  The only thing that separates us now is our acceptance of the grace and love of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  May we bridge that gap with our outpouring of His love into the desperate and hopeless world, to which we have been called as ministers of Christ’s grace. 

~Amen

 

*{Before venturing further, I will say that I am so very thankful for people who live this way.  May you continue to be a beautiful light pointing to the Christlikeness towards which each of us should strive!}

 

 

A Labrador's Last Lesson

The nine year old pressed hard into my side.  She had occupied my lap short hours before, clinging to my neck as her hot sobs shook her still tiny frame; but left it vacant now because she understood the need of her brother for its immediate comfort.  He was inconsolable.  Sliding from my lap onto the floor, his sobbing broken with the words, “When Oso died, Daisy came over to take the sadness away.”  Face up-turned, the finality of his statement took me aback, “but now there’s no one to take it away.” 

My first reaction, reader, was to contradict him.  Contradict the little one, racked with grief so that he could only lay in the floor – how arrogant.  To give him the Sunday school response: Jesus would take the sadness away.  But I didn’t say it.  I wrestled, my tears matching his, as I bent over the little boy who just lost his truest companion.  I know Jesus came to take away our pain and suffering for eternity; but how could I look my son in the face and say that Jesus would take away this pain in this moment – when I knew that would not be true.

It isn’t true because my children were facing the aftermath of death on a Saturday afternoon.  And even death made Christ weep.  True, my little boy was mourning his beloved Labrador and Jesus had been mourning a dear friend; but in the heart of a seven (and nine, and yes, even thirty-four) year old, the two are synonymous.  Though quite unlike Jesus, my children couldn’t resurrect their beloved pet.  The finality of her absence swept over them in waves, pounded them as high tide beats the shoreline: the wagging of her tail that constantly knocked things over, her tap-dancing excitement on their return from school, the good-morning snorts issued to rouse lingering slumberers, her absolute, whining despair at being excluded from a trip to the bathroom – all of these things they’d taken for granted when they bedded down the night before, were suddenly and forever taken from them.  And each one hurt. 

 

Yes, God is a big God.  Yes, He is our ever-present comfort.  Yes, our tears matter to Him. 

But we must also admit that death is so counter to His design, the pain etched on our hearts cannot be poo-pooed away, that there is no consolation for this kind of loss while we tarry on terra firma.  That but for the resurrection of believers, the propitiation of Christ for our sins, the substitution of Jesus for our guilt, death wins.  Permanently.  But for the sacrifice of Jesus – His life for our sins.  So that we might spend eternity with God the Father.  Yet, even this sacrifice – God, incarnate, on a cross, dying for the sins of the entire world --  didn’t wipe death from the face of the earth.  Every living thing must still die.  And with death comes swooping grief.     

And so, my minis have once again encountered the truth that sometimes, Jesus doesn't take this pain away.  What He (and the Father and Holy Spirit) will do is be with us in our sorrow.  God is ever-present; God weeps at death.  God desired that it not happen in the first place.

But we, humans, we mucked it up.  We continue to muck it up.  We pick rebellion and sin and death, over and above life and joy and peace.  We choose, with our whole beings, the ways of darkness – so that all that we love is destroyed in the aftermath. 

And God weeps.  For us, for our loss, for our hurting hearts.  And He offers a way through death, a way to find hope and eternal life and love.  He offers Jesus, His Son, instead of eternal death.  And though this sacrifice does not eliminate the pain surrounding death, nor even physical death itself, it is far, far more than we sinners could ever deserve.     

Friends, I have to say that if ever a dog were permitted into heaven [and don’t go toe-to-toe with me on this one, because all of Genesis and Revelation will be brought to bear], my beloved minis’ Daisy and Oso will be happily panting in the presence of the Almighty Lord and His Glorious Son and the Holy Spirit.  In fact, I have a feeling one of the playful Three has been tossing a ball, or creating streams into which a particularly playful lab has ventured, for one of His more loving, selfless, and gentle creatures.

But, I will concede, that if marriage does not exist in heaven, then my treasured canine companions might be absent.  In which case, I am grateful to the Creator for their brief appearance here on earth.  And I am confident that whatever heaven may encompass, so long as I am in the presence of the eternal and Almighty God, there will be nothing that I miss.

I pray, beloved, with all that is within me, that you and I might know the boundless, accepting, and perfect love of the Father, through the sacrifice of His Son, and the anointing of the Holy Spririt.  That you and I might see one another at the Feast of the Lamb. 

 

Daisy Boo

Beloved friend and dearest companion

canine theologian if ever there were

August 2002 - April 2013