Pastors' Blog

My heart is burdened for my homeland today. With the rest of the nation we await the Supreme Court decision on gay marriages—do gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry and can state bans against same-sex marriage remain in place? Thus far 37 states in our nation have legal provision for same sex marriage, with the other 13 states banning gay marriage (although in 8 of these states [including Michigan] gay marriage bans have been overturned and appeals are in process). What will the Supreme Court decide? While most prognosticators are predicting that the Court will rule in favor of same sex marriage, past reality is that the nine justices have shown the capacity to surprise the nation.

And so we as Adventists, as American Christians, intercede before God on behalf of our homeland. Does the course of this nation matter to God? Someone gave me a recent book by the Messianic rabbi Jonathan Cahn, The Harbinger, in which he builds a startling case (through a fascinating narrative), claiming Isaiah 9:10 predicts God’s judgment on this nation. And while I don’t subscribe to his premise that America today (like Israel of old) is God’s chosen nation and thus the inheritor of the ancient divine promises for Israel, I do concur with the thoughtful notion that America is morally accountable as a recipient of Heaven’s unprecedented blessing. Jesus declared, “Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given” (Luke 12:48 NLT). Ellen White herself once observed, “The Lord has done more for the United States than for any other country upon which the sun shines” (Maranatha 193). In God’s judgment much will be required of this nation abundantly blessed—that is clear enough.

And while we are not a constitutionally-defined Christian nation, I came across this observation while reading the Great Controversy on this day of special prayer for our nation and the Supreme Court. In the chapter, “The Pilgrim Fathers,” our early history reveals: “The Bible was held as the foundation of faith, the source of wisdom, and the charter of liberty. Its principles were diligently taught in the home, in the school, and in the church, and its fruits were manifest in thrift, intelligence, purity, and temperance. . . . It was demonstrated that the principles of the Bible are the surest safeguards of national greatness. The feeble and isolated colonies grew to a confederation of powerful states, and the world marked with wonder the peace and prosperity of ‘a church without a pope, and a state without a king’” (296 emphasis supplied). The point isn’t that America must be declared a Christian nation—too many well-meaning but mistaken evangelicals have resorted to that sort of revisionist history. But Ellen White is clear that the principles of the Bible—its foundational ethics and morality—were the catalyst for “national greatness.”

But I fear that those Bible principles are now being abandoned across this nation. Yes, we must continue to stand for the constitutional principle of minority protection and thus defend the personal rights of the LGBT community to enjoy every constitutional provision possible. But does that require our faith community to reject the biblical definition of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman?

On October 17, 2012, the Executive Committee of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists voted the document, “Same Sex Unions,” that included this statement: “We reaffirm, without hesitation, our long-standing position as expressed in the Church's Fundamental Beliefs: ‘Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship.’ Though ‘sin has perverted God's ideals for marriage and family,’ ‘the family tie is the closest, the most tender and sacred of any human relationship,’ and thus ‘families need to experience renewal and reformation in their relationships’ (An Affirmation of Family, 1990).  God instituted ‘marriage, a covenant-based union of two genders [male and female] physically, emotionally, and spiritually, spoken of in Scripture as “one flesh.”’ ‘The monogamous union in marriage of a man and a woman is . . . the only morally appropriate locus of genital or related intimate sexual expression.’ ‘Any lowering of this high view is to that extent a lowering of the heavenly ideal’ (An Affirmation of Marriage, 1996).”

Interestingly enough, yesterday in Columbus, Ohio, the Southern Baptist Convention voted: “What the Bible says about marriage is clear, definitive and unchanging. We affirm biblical, traditional, natural marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The Scriptures’ teaching on marriage is not negotiable. We stake our lives upon the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Consequently, we will not accept, nor adhere to, any legal redefinition of marriage issued by any political or judicial body including the United States Supreme Court. We will not recognize same-sex ‘marriages’, our churches will not host same-sex ceremonies, and we will not perform such ceremonies. . . . We also believe religious freedom is at stake within this critical issue – that our first duty is to love and obey God, not man.” (http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/southern-baptists-statement-opposing-gay-marriage/nmfLH/).

Neither statement abandons the church’s commitment to be a loving, healing community for all, irrespective of sexual orientation. But both statements clearly define the church’s stand on the biblical foundation and precedent for marriage. As we await the decision of the nation’s highest court, let us all “watch and pray.” For hasn’t God promised: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14)?

Now there’s a thought! Ben Carson, the Seventh-day Adventist pediatric neurosurgeon of Johns Hopkins fame, announced to the world on Monday that he is running for the office of President of the United States (POTUS). At a carefully choreographed campaign kickoff rally in Detroit, Dr. Carson returned to his boyhood home for the media event. His book, Gifted Hands, describes his inner city boyhood providentially turned around by a praying single-parent mother (with a third grade education)—a mother who challenged her son to aspire to his God-given potential. It was the impetus he needed. Carson eventually was graduated from Yale University and the University of Michigan and went on to become globally renowned for his surgical separation of twins conjoined at the head. His political catapult came at the February 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, where—with President Obama sitting beside him on the dais—Carson publicly challenged the President’s health care bill. Heralding his political hutzpah, the movement to elect Ben Carson as POTUS launched with a flourish. And the rest is political history. So what are the political prospects for this Seventh-day Adventist one time local church elder and Sabbath School teacher? Google his name and you’ll find a plethora of prognostications to choose from. While it isn’t the purpose of this blog to handicap Ben Carson’s chances of becoming President of the United States, his announcement this week does provide our community of faith the opportunity to reflect on two realities. First, it will be intriguing to observe the reaction of the press to an active Seventh-day Adventist in personal quest for the nation’s highest office. Huffington Post immediately wrote, “5 Faith Facts about Presidential Candidate Ben Carson,” in which fact #1 states: “He is a twice-baptized Seventh-day Adventist” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/04/ben-carson-faith_n_7206050.html). (Turns out young Ben requested a rebaptism at the age of 12.) Huffington’s other four facts include his practice of praying before surgeries. However, it doesn’t take a degree in political science to anticipate the media and press treatment of Carson’s publicly stated moral stances, including his position on LGBT issues facing the nation. And how will his faith practice be defined and depicted in the press once familiarity breeds its usual “contempt?” Will Ben Carson’s brand of Adventism become a portrait or caricature of the rest of us? We will see soon enough. A second reflection from his candidacy is the matter of Seventh-day Adventists in political public office. The often heralded stories of Joseph, Esther and Daniel (and perhaps even Moses)—whose belief in God remained firm in spite of their political offices—are commendable examples of believers in “high places.” What is often overlooked, however, is that none of these campaigned or ran for high office—all were appointed by a monarch. Does that preclude Adventists running for political office? Should the Seventh-day Adventist Church align its support with a particular candidate, especially an Adventist one? Anticipating Ben Carson’s run for the presidency, the North American Division of S.D.A. this week released a statement of guidelines that includes the following: “While individual church members are free to support or oppose any candidate for office as they see fit, it is crucial that the Church as an institution remain neutral on all candidates for office.  Care should be taken that the pulpit and all church property remain a neutral space when it comes to elections. Church employees must also exercise extreme care not to express views in their denominational capacity about any candidate for office, including Dr. Carson” (NAD/Michigan Conference email 5-4-15). Perhaps the most proactive stance for our community of faith is the practice enjoined by the Apostle: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4). Then let us pray for the POTUS Barack Obama and for all our political leaders, along with those who campaign to replace him one day, including our own Dr. Ben Carson.

On April 29, 1865, 50,000 people stood in line to pass through the Ohio Statehouse rotunda to pay their last respects to the recently slain Abraham Lincoln. As America mourned the assassination of its President, Ohioans reflected the gratitude of this country in that outpouring of affection. Hanging overhead in the Statehouse was a banner with an excerpt from Lincoln’s second inaugural address: “With malice toward none, with charity for all.” To commemorate the 150th anniversary of his death, the Statehouse in Ohio today has hung a replica banner high overheard for all to read: “With malice to no one, with charity for all.” It is an admirable sentiment, but as you quickly note it is not the correct rendition of the line President Lincoln spoke in that address. But if you were to call the Ohio Statehouse and protest this inaccurate quotation, they would be quick to inform you that in fact the words on the banner are “historically faithful to the one hung on the building on April 29, 1865” (South Bend Tribune 4-22-15). As it turns out the creators of the original banner 150 years ago got it wrong—and with no Google to fact check their quotation, they hung up an inaccurate rendition of (what would become) Lincoln’s immortal line! Do you suppose this has something to do with “the sin of the parents” being passed down “to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 20:5)? Probably not what God had in mind. But the truth is, it really isn’t that difficult—is it?—to repeat the mistakes of those who have gone before us. Honest-hearted mistakes, to be sure, but mistakes nevertheless that we unintentionally pass on to the those who watch us, who become behind us—mistakes they in turn honest-heartedly repeat. Children are renowned for their uncanny ability to mimic our behavior. When I get it right, they get it right—when I get it wrong—oops!—they get it wrong. That may be closer to what God had in mind in the 2nd Commandment of His Decalogue. Perhaps Michael Horton, in his new book Ordinary, has something to teach us: “If staying with the familiar (no matter how bad it may be) is the tendency of a conservative temperament, the ideal of creativity and novelty—as an end it itself—becomes destructive of long conversations. At the end of a term a student discovered the professor’s evaluation explaining the poor grade: ‘Your paper is original and creative. The parts that are creative are not original and the parts that are original are not very good.’” Horton concludes: “The best changes are slow, incremental, and deliberate. Instead of cutting their own path, they extend the ancient faith into the next generation” (Ordinary 64-65). Extending the ancient faith into the next generation—that is the mission of both the Christian academy and the church. To the extent we do it faithfully and we do it well here at Pioneer and Andrews, may God be blessed and His Kingdom on earth expanded. The campus-wide Day of Prayer that the university administration has called for this coming Monday is a collective/corporate opportunity for us to join our minds and hearts and blend our intercessions on behalf of this institution we love and serve. In the words of the ancient prophet: “I have heard all about you, LORD, and I am filled with awe by the amazing things you have done. In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as you did in years gone by. Show us your power to save us. And in your anger, remember your mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2 NLT). And so we pray.

Our Jewish friends and neighbors are celebrating Passover this week—from the sundown that welcomed Sabbath (April 4) to the sundown that concludes Sabbath (April 11). Included in their festivities will be the solemn but joyous celebration of the Seder. Replete with candles, the unleavened matzah bread, the maror bitter herbs, and a sumptuous dinner, this annual ritual Seder gathering of family and friends around the supper table is unlike any other Jewish celebration. And of course it is for them a powerful, emotive reminder of God’s epic midnight deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt long ago. The Passover Seder’s fifteen steps—from the opening Kadesh to the concluding  Hallel and Nirtzah—not only serve as a symbolic union with the ancient faith community, but also as a collective expression of hope that God will even yet bring ultimate deliverance for His children scattered across the earth. As one Seder website testifies: “We recognize that despite our freedom we still live in a fractured world where things are less than perfect. We hope, dream and sing of a world redeemed as we conclude this year’s Seder, and commit ourselves to being part of this unfolding narrative” (http://www.aish.com/h/pes/t/si/The-Passover-Seders-15-Steps.html?s=show&tab=y). I like that—“We hope, dream and sing of a world redeemed . . . and commit ourselves to being part of this unfolding narrative.” Don’t we all—Jews, Christians, Seventh-day Adventists alike? “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). So wrote the rabbi and apostle Paul. But I’m not thinking of the ritual meal (whether it is the Seder or the Lord’s Supper). I wonder instead about the hope that the meal is intended to nourish, the hope of the yet-to-come Exodus deliverance of the people of God at the Second Coming of Christ. How vibrant is that adventist hope these days? The hotly contested nuclear accord with Iran, the Islamic State meltdown in the heart of the Middle East may distract us from the chronic entropy with which the rest of the planet struggles—the leakage of economies large and small, a crumbling of moral foundations, the demise of genuine social progress or even spiritual hope. The hype of our entertainment and sports frenzy notwithstanding, there is a collective, almost palpable longing for some Moses figure to rise up and shepherd this broken civilization toward healing. From my humble perspective we really can get there from here, without a multiplication of complex moves. In fact just a short step lies between here and there. But before we get there, there is this promise: “‘ . . . and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.  The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you’” (Exodus 12:12-13). In the final Exodus, those who are passed over (i.e., delivered by the Almighty) are those who take refuge “under the blood,” the scarlet sign of the Lamb of God. That the Pharaoh’s of earth will refuse the blood is obvious. But not all citizens will share that rejection. The Exodus narrative declares, “Many other people [Egyptians] went up with them [the children of Israel]” (Exodus 12:38). In that midnight neighbors, acquaintances, even strangers turned to the God of the Israelites, seeking refuge with them “under the blood,” thus inheriting with them the promise of the Promised Land. Evangelism isn’t an obsolete program of the church. As in the Exodus, it is the opening of our homes and hearts to millions who will yet find in Christ the only Deliverer from a disintegrating world. And the good news is they live next door.