Reflections for July 8.15

I am playing catch up on my Chronological bible reading plan. I usually listen on my phone through my earbuds while I work around the house, but the jack on my phone broke so I am trying to create new habits. Anyhow, so I was reading 2 Chronicles today and a definite pattern emerged. Ecclesiastes sums up what I observed in Chronicles well,

“Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to seewhat will be after him?”  –Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

It reminded me of the lyrics to a song that I used to dance to when I was in a Christian ballet company as a teenager, “The kings of the earth and the kingdoms built by man rise up in their glory then go back to dust again.” When the rulers of our country rebel against the one true God, we, His people, know it is only for a moment. Take heart and do not be discouraged. Continue to rejoice in the good work God has set before you. Keep the big picture in mind and do not be afraid. Our situation may seem bleak from where we stand, but joy comes in the morning. 

Later, I read through Jonah. There is so much to meditate on in this book. Jonah is a complex character, he is the master of fox-hole prayers. In the dark belly of a whale, right there with rotting fish, surrounded by death, Jonah reminds God of His promises. Basically, Jonah tells God, I may be wretched, but I’m praising You. If you kill me now, what will people think of that. Salvation belongs to God so prove it and get me outta here! It is a pretty ballsy prayer. Anyhow, after that, when Ninevah listens to Jonah’s warning and repents, Jonah, God’s prophet, gets a stinky attitude. He got angry and I think God’s response is highly relevant to our reaction to current events.  God says, “Do you do well to be angry?” (4:4). We know that anger in of itself is not a sin, we are even commanded to be angry and not sin in Ephesians 4:26. But we can sin in our anger. When Jonah still doesn’t get the message, God gives him a much more concrete demonstration of the point He is making.

“Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.  But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.  And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” –Jonah 4:5-11

 

Consider your attitude towards your congressmen. Consider your attitude against gays (no, not the polite ones that you wouldn’t mind having over for dinner. Consider how you feel about the really noisy and rude ones). Are they not worthy of our love and compassion? These are the people that we are supposed to be testifying to about the Gospel so that they might hear and repent. We are supposed to tell the truth, that homosexuality is a sin because it brings death. We tell them this so that they might obtain life, salvation through Jesus Christ. If we are sinning in our anger against them (as Jonah was), we are not being honest about who the Almighty is. We are trampling the Gospel underfoot. If we are sinful in our anger, we are blaspheming when we should be proclaimers of Truth. If we are sinful in our anger, we are sinning against God and those we are supposed to be helping.

So we need to ask ourselves: How much time are we spending dwelling upon injustice in contrast to how much time we spend praying, meditating on scripture and praising God? If our children repeated what we say about the president, political leaders, or homosexuals in Church, would it be appropriate? We must ask ourselves, do we do well to be angry? Is our anger righteous, the kind that brings life? Or is our anger motivated by pride and indignation?