Paul Hawkens in his "green" book, Blessed Unrest, tells of an old rabbinical teaching that if we hear that the world is ending and the Messiah is coming, we must first plant a tree and then go and determine if the story is true or not. For Seventh-day Adventists, who champion the seventh-day Sabbath as God’s creation memorial and who celebrate the return of the Creator one day, planting a tree isn’t such a bad idea, is it—Earth Day or not? Consider for a moment this "green" declaration of Holy Scripture: "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. . . . We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now" (Romans 8:19, 22 NRSV). It’s true, isn’t it? For millennia now our creation has suffered deeply under the effects of our very human rebellion. Can you imagine the latent longing within the "green" natural world for the promised deliverance? But until then, how shall we live, we Sabbath-keepers of the Creator’s flame? Why not begin by "green" eating (as in "greens")? That’s right—vegetarianism would diminish the number of animals raised and killed for consumption, and thus reduce the one-fifth of earth’s greenhouse gases livestock produce! We can turn off the lights in the rooms we exit. We could inflate our tires and save two billion gallons of gas a year, some say. We could shorten our showers by two minutes, saving twelve gallons of water. We could recycle. We could save a few trees by skipping the receipts at ATMs and gas pumps, saving by one estimate 3 billion feet of paper. We could use our own thermos bottles and quit drinking bottled water, since a one liter bottle requires 5 liters of water to cool the plastic, thus resulting in six liters of water for each bottle! Lists of "green" or environmentally friendly ways to live (like these from Ashleigh Burtnett in Andrews University’s Student Movement) are all over the web, and you can make your own. The point? As Creator-worshiping, Sabbath-keeping, nature-preserving friends of Jesus, shouldn’t we be at the forefront of ecological conservation and environmental care and protection? Truth be known, God himself planted a tree once upon a time to save this creation. "To the death of Christ we owe even this earthly life. The bread [our farmland] we eat is the purchase of His broken body. The water [our rivers, streams] we drink is bought by His spilled blood. . . . The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every water spring" (Desire of Ages 660). Given the infinite cost of planting that tree, shouldn’t we join him in saving his creation?
Pastors' Blog
By Pioneer Pastors
Did your parents ever say to you, "Don't let the Cimex lectularius bite!" Probably not. After all, a bed bug is just a bed bug, isn't it? Not to the federal government that convened this week in Arlington, Virginia, the first-ever National Bed Bug Summit! Topics included: "Bed Bug Perspectives," "Bed Bug Basics," and "Government Response to Bed Bugs." Never mind the Somali pirates and the Afghan terrorists—apparently we're under a bed bug attack! But why all this fuss about an insect barely the size of an apple seed with a painless bite and not known to spread disease? Because it appears that though eradicated fifty years ago, the little parasite is making a debut reentry into American life. CBS radio reported this week on a New York apartment dweller who was so overrun by bedbugs he hauled his mattress out on the side walk and burned it! Tenement houses, high rise apartments—apparently these itchy, scratchy blood-sucking pests are no respecters of persons, wealth or domiciles. And they're back with a vengeance! Reminds me of another species of small, pesky, life-sucking pests—who also hide from the light and come out in the dark—and who, too, can go weeks, even months, without attacking us, only to return eventually to penetrate their miserable way back under our skin. Who doesn’t know the scratchy, painful discomfort of tiny little sins? Not the big ones, mind you—the ones that are duly castigated in our proper, spiritual circles. I’m thinking of the small sins, those some call "venial," the moral bed bugs that we can’t quite seem to eradicate: gossip, criticism, prejudice, envy, impatience, intemperance, unkindness, shadiness, stinginess, thoughtlessness, two-facedness. Ironic, isn't it, that the longest list is for our "smallest" sins (if any sin can be called small)? But, as the proverb observes, it is "the little foxes that spoil the vines" (Song of Solomon 2:15), the little bed bugs that infect our lives. So how can we fumigate our souls of these vexing parasites? Wikipedia recommends the application of hot water (120 degrees F) to the bed bug bite for relief from the itching pain. The gospel remedy for sins—both small and great—is the application of Christ's Calvary sacrifice to the infected heart: "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Divine pardon for our sins comes instantly when we ask him (I John 1:9). Divine power over our sins comes over a lifetime as we keep on beholding him, God's Lamb who died to take away our sins (Heb 12:1, 2). For it is in that beholding—that looking to Jesus day after day in the gospel story of Scripture—that we are imperceptibly but surely transformed by his Spirit into his likeness (II Cor 3:18). Good news (bad news) for all our afflicting "bed bugs"—heaven's Orkin Man is on our side! And because of his friendship, we don’t have to let the bed bugs bite.
As the London Guardian wryly observed, "Whatever faults Maria D'Antuono may have, wasting time is not among them." The 98-year-old woman was one of the few survivors to be pulled from the rubble of the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck central Italy this week. For thirty dark and interminable hours she lay trapped beneath the ruins of her home, not far from the L’Aquila epicenter. But they found her! And as the elderly woman was carried to safety amidst the cheers of the onlooking crowd, someone asked her what she had done to pass the hours while waiting and hoping for rescue. "Why, crochet, of course!" Her world comes down around her—but the 98-year-old matriarch survives with a hook, a ball of yarn and a heartful of hope. Not even an earthquake can bury hope! "There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it" (Mt 28:2). His enemies could have piled a thousand Mt Everests on top of the garden tomb of Jesus—but it would have made no difference. For not even an earthquake can bury hope. And when Christ came striding out of that quake-shattered crypt and declared over the pre-dawn rubble, "I am the resurrection and the life!" then at last humankind’s last hope was made forever secure. Death may bury us. But in the power of the risen Savior hope can still be resurrected.And is it any different for debt? Truth is that for too many debt and death are much too similar, leaving both life and hope entombed. Emotionally, financially you may feel buried right now in the rubble of this economic crisis. No way out of the collapse, no hope of rescue, no promise of resurrection. But don’t repeat the computation error of the eleven disciples, who neglected to calculate the power of divine omnipotence into their crisis. For only afterwards did they discover that no matter how heavy the stone that entombs us, the risen Christ can yet roll it away.So put your finger on this Easter promise and face your financial future with new hope: "God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams" (Eph 3:20 Message). So why not ask him . . . and crochet while you wait . . . and hope?
What's the difference between the G-20 and the A-100? The G-20 are meeting right now in London in a gathering of the leaders of the top economic powers on earth. Mission? Seek to build a global consensus strategy regarding the economic crisis that belts the planet. Probability of success? If media prognostications are indicative, the U.S. push for stimulus packages from the rest of the G-20 will be rejected by them, as will their push for the U.S. to join them in greater regulatory control of financial institutions. Bottom-line—the G-20 leaders will seek to at least agree to provide greater funding for the International Monetary Fund, in a show of unity in this time of economic uncertainty.
And the A-100? Those are the nearly one hundred nations that are represented here on the campus of Andrews University. And on this International Student Weekend we recognize the mosaic of giftedness that God has gathered here from around the globe. My friend Najeeb Nakhle, director of International Student Services here at the university, gave me a breakdown of where our 835 international students hail from. Arranged according to the thirteen divisions of our world church, they come from: East-Central Africa 39; Euro-Africa 35; Euro-Asia 12; Inter-American 199; North American 120; Northern Asia-Pacific 127; South American 80; South Pacific 11; Southern Africa-Indian Ocean 45; Southern Asia 16; Southern Asia-Pacific 28; Trans-European 37; West-Central Africa 41; citizenship not listed 45. And so today Pioneer joins in celebrating the young adults of the church who are citizens of the world!
But how different the mission of the A-100 from the G-20! True, their assignment is just as global. But how radically different their quest, as depicted in the messianic Psalm 110: “Your [Messiah] troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor your young will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb” (v 3). I love that promise—on the day of earth’s final battle the young of the world will pour into the Messiah’s army for his endtime mission! They will be as pervasive and extensive as “dew from the morning’s womb.”
It reminds me of that prediction: “With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might end come—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin!” (Education 271)
So let the G-20 be about their business. International Student Sabbath today is a clarion reminder that the Father’s business is banking on the investment of these bright young scholars for Christ. Then with joy let us celebrate the God who has already called them and who is even now mobilizing the young for his final mission!
“Even now hedge fund titans rake in billions.” A friend sent me this piece that appeared in the business section of The New York Times on Wednesday. The headline would catch anybody’s eye, given the massive economic downturn that we and the rest of the world are enduring right now. The article was accompanied by a photo gallery of the top ten hedge fund managers and their estimated earnings for 2007 and 2008. While the markets were melting down, apparently the earnings of these ten men were still mounting up. The top three: James H. Simons, head of the Renaissance Technologies fund, earned $2.5 billion last year; John A. Paulson, “who rode to riches by betting against the housing market,” earned $2 billion over the same period; and George Soros, a familiar name on the wealthiest Americans lists, accumulated $1.1 billion from his hedge fund. Total take last year for the top 25 managers—$11.6 billion (half of the $22.5 billion they earned in 2007). “The managers’ compensation, which was breathtaking in the best of times, is eye-popping after a year when hedge funds lost 18 percent on average, and investors withdrew money en masse” (www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/business/25hedge.html). The populist hue and cry this past week over the AIG bonuses, along with this report of the top hedge fund managers’ earnings, is one more reminder of the age in which we now live. In fact there is a New Testament passage, with language so strong I am choosing not to quote it here, that links what is often called the “obscene” accumulation of wealth with the meltdown of human society and the return of Christ. James 5:1-6 specifically identifies financial hegemony at the expense of the hapless laborer and the downtrodden poor. A century ago the words of James’ were prefaced with this comment: “The Scriptures describe the condition of the world just before Christ’s second coming. Of the men who by robbery and extortion are amassing great riches, it is written . . . [James 5:3-6]” (9T 13, 14). But James turns upbeat with hope for the economically disenfranchised and the socially marginalized: “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. . . The Judge is standing at the door!” (v 7, 9 TNIV). I.e., economic injustice between the have’s and the have-not’s will have its day in court, when the Judge returns. So how then shall you and I live—we who will never be ranked in any top ten or 25 or pick-the-number listing? With our meager finances, how shall we survive what is portending to be the coming economic earthquake? Join our new mini-series (at worship, on television, podcast and radio) with four financial secrets on how to survive these tough economic times. Come to worship. Download the podcasts. And share the promise that “my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). After all, his hedge fund is out of this world!
“Sex discrimination is destined to continue in the scorching fires of Hell, according to a study approved by the Vatican which suggests that men are most likely to commit lustful sins whereas women are beholden to pride.” The headline to this report on the London Times website last week would catch anybody’s eye: “We’re all sinners but the gates to Hell are marked His and Hers.” Who would’ve thunk it! (www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5755481.ece) Because our three-part miniseries, “The Truth about Hell,” ends today with “My Journey to Purgatory (and Back),” perhaps it is fitting we note this latest Vatican study, since purgatory is a trade-marked teaching of the Roman Catholic church. The Times online report goes on to quote Monsignor Wojciech Giertych, personal theologian to Pope Benedict XVI and the papal household, who told the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that when it comes to sinning there is “no sexual equality.” And thus it is that men’s souls in hell are “pelted with fire and brimstone,” while the souls of women “are more likely to be broken on a wheel.” What does the Bible teach about hell, the most somber subject between its covers? Does the Word of God detail separate and diverse punishments inflicted by God upon men and upon women, punishments that—according to the majority report of Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians—are divinely executed upon hell’s hapless and suffering victims forever and ever (which, of course, means there will never be a full and final execution—just one interminable “almost but not quite there” pain-tortured partial execution)? In “The Truth about Hell” (now available in podcasts at this website), we have candidly examined what exactly the Holy Scriptures do teach about this much caricatured subject. Could it be that for all these years we’ve been living with a portrait of God that simply is not true? A friend and colleague of mine, Tony Bueno, has paraphrased the beloved John 3:16 to fit the dominant caricature of hell that many still embrace: “For God so hated the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever does not believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life . . . in Hell.” It is amazing the forced conclusions one must make if the doctrine of an eternally-burning and tormenting hell is accepted. What else should one conclude from such a doctrine, but that God hates those who do not believe in Jesus and will torture them forever in hell, thus rendering the gift of eternal life not exclusive to those who believe in him, but extended also to all who do not believe? Over and against such a notion stands the towering testimony of Calvary’s love. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38, 39). Turns out the His and Her gates lead to him!
If the 19th century sage Ralph Waldo Emerson had a page on Facebook, perhaps his “favorite quotation” would be his own words: “Events are in the saddle and tend to ride mankind.” So wonders Jonathan Alter in the latest Newsweek cover story on President Obama, “America’s New Shrink” (March 2, 2009). Events really are in the saddle these days, aren’t they? Listening to the President in his primetime address to Congress and the nation this week was an exercise in checklisting— ticking off one by one the immense challenges facing our nation and our world. “Events in the saddle” indeed!
But the ancient prophets perennially reminded their audiences and readers to remember the Someone else who is also in the saddle. Stepping into that midnight palace of inebriated orgy, the elderly prophet Daniel interpreted to the petrified (and now sober) king the mysterious handwriting on the wall: “‘The Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses. . . . The God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified’” (Daniel 5:21, 23). Hardly had those words been uttered, then the mighty empire of Babylon collapsed in the wee hours of that very morning. “Events are in the saddle”—but so is God!
And that is why I’m convinced we can face the future with confident hope and quiet assurance. The economic meltdown that is draining away the financial might of this civilization isn’t worth fearing. If God chooses to restore our financial viability for the sake of his kingdom and his mission on earth, then he will. If on the other hand, he chooses to allow the monetary hemorrhaging to bleed away our economic vitality for the sake of advancing his kingdom and mission on earth, then “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.” Knowing his will is done on earth “even as it is in heaven” assures the one who trusts God that in our very present circumstances God is still achieving his ultimate purpose, and that all things are working together for good. “ . . . the complicated play of human events [“in the saddle”] is under divine control. Amidst the strife and tumult of nations, He . . . still guides the affairs of the earth.” (Education 178)
Then let us take both heart and courage! Christ reigns. And he is returning. There is room in the saddle for hope.
What do Alex Rodriguez and Roland Burris have in common? They’re both in the headlines. Rodriguez—the superstar, multi-millionaire third baseman for the New York Yankees—is the youngest player to ever hit 500 homeruns and is considered one of the all time greats of baseball. Burris is the junior senator, appointed by disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich to fill Barak Obama’s senate seat. But both have made the headlines because of mounting charges of dishonesty—for Alex, lying about illegal injections of performance-enhancing drugs; for Roland, lying about fundraising contacts as quid pro quo for his appointment to the senate. Guilty? The courts will render that decision. But the fishy smell in our collective nostrils is a somber lesson regarding integrity.
In his celebrated Sermon on the Mount, Jesus put it plainly: “‘But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No.” For whatever is more than these is from the evil one’” (Matthew 5:37). I.e., equivocating, hedging, nuancing—“it depends on what you mean by ‘is’”—is contrary to the life Christ calls his followers to live. When you’re asked, let your simple, honest response be “Yes” or “No”—for anything else (how did Jesus put it?) is from the devil, who “‘when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies’” (John 8:44 NIV).
Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, that little classic on the Sermon on the Mount, observes: “Everything that Christians do should be as transparent as the sunlight” (68). No cloudy obfuscation or shadowy truth-bending for the man, the woman who follows Jesus—rather an integrity and honesty “as transparent as the sunlight.” But what a refreshing burst of light such transparency is in our age of white-lied denials.
But is it easy to live such radical honesty? Read on: “Yet it is not a light or an easy thing to speak the exact truth.” Then what hope of honesty is there for the likes of shady you and me? “We cannot speak the truth unless our minds are continually guided by Him who is truth” (Ibid, emphasis supplied). No wonder the last generation of Christ’s followers on earth are described in two ways: “These are the ones that follow the Lamb wherever He goes . . . . and in their mouths was found no deceit” (Revelation 14:4, 5). Clearly, living a life without deceit is the fruit of a life that follows after Jesus. Every early morning, alone with the Savior, brooding over another gospel story, meditating on Him whose transparency and integrity can become ours, as “by beholding we become changed” we trust him to provide the divine power to change us from the inside out—isn’t that what it means to follow the Lamb in the third millennium?
Truth is, in a world hungry for new headlines and a new transparency, your friendship with Christ will be a welcome burst of sunlight.
They’re calling it the “mother of controversy!” And of course, the whole world is watching. After all, it isn’t every day that a 33-year-old woman gives birth to eight implanted embryos. Octuplets—the word is so unusual my Word spell check wants to change it to “couplets” (perhaps a more reasonable proposition for a mother wanting babies). While the initial news story was on the level of “miraculous births”—the unfolding details have shifted the headlines from “hallelujah” to “bizarre,” since now it’s been learned Nadya Suleman was already the mother of six children under the age of eight. That makes fourteen youngsters for this college-educated single mother to rear, living at home with her parents in Whittier, California. According to her newly hired publicist, million dollar proposals are being offered for rights to “scoop” the story of the young mother’s feat. “‘My client is a wonderful woman, she’s smart, she’s bright, she’s well-educated, and she has a wonderful sense of humor,” crowed PR consultant Joann Killeen. ‘She’s looking forward to being the best mum she can possibly be to all her children. She looks at this as a blessed event.’” (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2009/02/05/2003435302)
Fourteen children under the age of eight certainly qualifies as an “event”—but “blessed”? But lest we indulge too quickly in sanctimonious judgment, we can only imagine the collective astonishment of the universe over its own multiple-babies headline long ago: “Creator spares fallen first couple—grants them permission to procreate sinners across the earth.” Can you imagine the universal shock over divine grace’s decision to populate this planet with earth-bound sinners? Was God “having babies” for the fun of it? And what kind of Parent could possibly provide for so many children at once!
“‘Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made’” (Isaiah 43:6, 7). Multiple sons and daughters from the ends of the earth—and all of us, each of us, willed into existence and created by God for his own glory—you’ve got to admit it’s an astounding destiny for us multiple birth children!
A destiny in glory that begins here on earth—that’s the premise that underlies our Black History Sabbath today. For fallen though we all are, the divine grace that chose us to be born promises to shape our multiple-birthed complexities and diversities into a single, united community where Christ’s love is the most compelling and contagious reality. “‘By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’” (John 13:35). Octuplets, sextuplets, quadruplets—never mind the numbers—Jesus has called this academic community to be Family for a world hungry to be loved, even if only for a lifetime. And who needs a publicist for that?
How important is getting the words exactly right? On Tuesday in front of over a million witnesses on the National Mall (and tens of millions of observers nationally and globally) Chief Justice John Roberts of the United States Supreme Court administered the Constitution-mandated thirty-five word presidential oath of office to Barack Obama. The sun beamed down in all its glory in the chilled air. The tiered dignitaries and guests of state, along with the nation, held our collective breath for that carefully choreographed and historic moment.
The oath of office is: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." But when the Chief Justice recited the oath for Obama to repeat, Roberts inadvertently transferred the word “faithfully” to the end of the clause and substituted the word “to” in “of the United States.” Who doesn’t understand the nervous energy that would be flowing mightily at that moment? “Constitutional law experts agree that the flub is insignificant. Yet two previous presidents—Calvin Coolidge and Chester Arthur—repeated the oath privately because of similar issues” (South Bend Tribune 1-21-09). If that were the case this time, then the public never witnessed the actual constitutionally-correct swearing in on Tuesday!
But really, two little words—what’s the big deal! In the grand scheme of things, those transpositions won’t make an iota of difference, to be sure. But in the great and cosmic war described by Holy Scripture, words make all the difference in the world. All he did—“that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan” (Revelation 12:9)—was insert a single word, twisting God’s warning, “you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17), into Satan’s deception, “you will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). One small word—but its injection has reaped a baleful harvest of deception and woe, as the ensuing deaths of Eve and Adam and an entire human race have more than proven.
Words matter. But none more than the three words of the promise: “Whoever has the Son has life” (I John 5:12). “Has the Son”—do you? We’ve cheered a new leader into office this week. But it is the divine Leader who alone can save the human race. Having the Son means choosing the Lifegiver—and choosing Christ daily is daily choosing eternal life as our destiny. Yes, we’ll all die one day. But as “The Truth about Death” (the podcast miniseries at this website) makes dramatically clear, for the one who “has the Son” death is but a momentary sleep from which we’ll be awakened at the resurrection. And that’s a word worth getting right, right now!
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