Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture

In the Book of James, the author - possibly written by the kid brother of Jesus - tells us that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above".  A woman who had lost all her fingers and toes, except for one thumb, gave me a coloring that now hangs on the wall of my home office.  It is without doubt a perfect gift, and one that came from above.

Only twice in the Bible does an animal talk - the voice of Satan coming from the serpent in the Garden of Eden and the  voice of God coming from the talking donkey in Numbers.  The great Gentile Prophet Balaam proves less godly than his donkey when Balaam proves blind to the angel in his path but the donkey sees the angel.  The angel is there to stop Balaam from doing a great evil.  Later, Balaam reverses course and speaks of his faith in God.  But even later, he waffles again, turning away from his faith.  That is how we live, our faith gaining and waning throughout our lives - and we must always be prepared to spot the angel standing in our path, warning us.

In 1st John, we learn much of the basics of orthodox Christianity: to accept Jesus as God as well as a human, to love God, to love people, and to understand that Jesus is our "lawyer" before God.  We also learn that we have been given a life in the Kingdom of God, as well as an eternal life.

Scholars count 613 laws or rules embedded in the Torah or Pentateuch - commandments by which the Chosen People lived.  These rules were tedious in many ways, but they also kept God in their lives every day - because their daily lives were controlled by God.  We do not live that way: we are far freer.  We have the great, simple Ten Commandments handed down to Moses by God on the mountain, and then from Moses to God's People.  But, as it turns out, Jesus came along and did the Torah and Moses - and even God - one better...

In Paul's letter to the believers in Philippi, he offers thanks for multiple generous gifts offered by these people, both to help his missionary efforts, and apparently to help the poor believers in Jerusalem.  But Paul expresses his deepest thanks not for money, not for his support, but for their faith in God.  That is what makes them his bothers and sisters: their shared belief.  He tells them that the Lord is near - that because of their faith, God is always with them.

There are many examples in the Bible of very simple prayers that were immediately answered in direct, positive ways.  The prophet Elisha asked God to prove to the King of Aram that God's protection was more powerful than the Syrian army.  God responded by surrounding Elisha with a mountainside full of chariots of fire.  But sometimes prayers are not answered so dramatically, and sometimes they are not answered the way we want them answered.  Jesus himself prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane to be relieved of his pending crucifixion.  God did not do this.  We see that often God answers in a way other than what we might prefer...

Today, most Christians who attend a church regularly are older.  In past generations, it was left up to younger people to pass the word on to the next generation.  Now, older believers are desperately needed: we must make sure that the faith remains alive.  As we are told in Psalm 92, the aged "still bear fruit" and "they are ever full of sap and green".  Indeed, we must be tall, strong, and with deep roots, "like a cedar in Lebanon".

A very common question that is asked of modern Christians is how we can possibly believe that a kind, respectful, gracious, loving Hindu or Buddhist would end up in Hell.  While we often focus on how to get to Heaven, and just who happens to go to Heaven, the truth is that the Bible focuses far more on how to live the way Jesus taught us, how to walk in the Kingdom of God now and for eternity.  We look at the Gospel of John for inspiration.

In Paul's first letter to the believers in Corinth (Chapter 14), he tells them that "one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them."  But he's not asking the believers there to become prophets.  He's telling us to reach for the highest standard when we witness to others, when we support people spiritually: we should strive to come as close as we can to doing what the prophets did - and that is to connect with people in a deep, meaningful way, so that they come to know God, not just know about God.

1st Peter 3:18 tells us that Jesus "never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God."  (NLT).  From the time of Anselm of Canterbury, circa 1100 A.D., who offered his "satisfaction theory of atonement", we have seen Jesus as having died physically so that we could live spiritually.  But what does this mean to us today, as modern believers?  Perhaps for us, it is Jesus' example that is so meaningful: he was willing to suffer, to give in the ultimate fashion, as a sign of his love for humanity.  What are we willing to do for each other?  For our faith?

Chapter 11 of Hebrews - a letter whose author and original audience are both unknown - is famous for its references to the oldest of the Old Testament forefathers.  The author inspires the readers - who are presumably Jewish converts to the faith of Jesus - with the courage and the durability of the ancients.  People like Noah and Abraham survived so much more than any of us will ever have to face for the sake of our faith.  Regardless of whether we accept these stories as literal history or simply as powerful faith stories, they without a doubt lift us up spiritually.

In Exodus 25, God gives Moses very precise instructions on how to build a sanctuary in which God will live.  In Ezekiel 11, we learn that God is committed to being a sanctuary for us.  We look at the Christian perspective on sanctuaries: Yes, we are uplifted when we meet in a physical sanctuary to share our faith.  But we know that God is everywhere.

We look at the Gospel of John and the story of Nicodemus, a seemingly minor character, yet a person who shows us something very important about faith.  He is a member of the Sanhedrin, the rabbinical court that ultimately condemns Jesus to death.  Through a series of meetings with Christ, he incrementally becomes a true believer, finally ending up at the grave of Jesus, offering the myrrh and aloe to anoint Jesus' body.  Thus we see that faith is not an instantaneous all-or-nothing thing, that it grows continuously over years, or decades, or perhaps over our entire lifetimes.  
 

As a chaplain, I have noticed that older patients are often far more worried about the spiritual health of their adult children than they are about their own physical health.  To a believer, it can be far easier to accept approaching death if one knows that they are right with God.  In Paul's letter to the believers in Philippi, he says that he has trouble deciding between remaining on Earth and serving God's people or "departing" and being with God.  The word he uses, depart, is "analysai", in Greek, and it was used to refer to a boat being released from the dock and setting sail.  We look at the duality of serving other believers while we are alive and knowing that one day we, too will be released to set sail.

God gave the Israelites land to live on - but it was not the most accommodating land.  The Israelites lived under the constant threat of the dangers of the "wilderness" desert.  From Moses to Jesus, biblical figures faced spiritual testing in the wilderness.  We can live in the wilderness vicariously by reading the Bible.  This can prepare us for our own wilderness experiences, so that these experiences grow - and do not damage - our faith.