Love Is Not Self-Seeking

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Bob Bjerkaas

love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-steady-wish-for-the-loved-persons-ultimate-good-as-far-as-it-can-be-obtained-3

A rather clunky but literal translation of this phrase from Paul’s famous definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 would be, “love does not seek her own things.”  This month I want to invite you to break the ice and dive deep.  It is an easy thing to merely skate across the surface of this scripture and suppose that, “Yeah, yeah, loving people aren’t self-centered…”   It is more difficult to comprehend and imply the revolutionary statement the Holy Spirit gives us in these few words.

In the first place consider the subject.  A few definitions into this well-known love passage we start thinking that the subject is the person.  For example, we read “It is not rude” and understand that “the loving person is not rude.”  In point of fact, this scripture is primarily telling us what “love” is – not what loving people are like.  Yes, loving people will more or less be qualified by all of these same terms.  But it is love itself that is in view here.  And this scripture teaches us that love does not seek her (love’s) own things.

Then in the second place, consider what qualifies love as being a biblical sort of love: what does it mean that this kind of love seeks not its own?  Well, for one thing, this truest kind of love does not have as its object itself.  In other words, love does not concern itself with itself.  Love does not look to, ask after, or seek ways to perpetuate its own interests or being.  Love looks outward.  This leads us to another thing. Because love does not concern itself with her own things, it concerns herself with other things: love seeks the things that are not her own!

Let me illustrate this.  When we are struggling to love another person, typically we find that the cause, or at least one of the causes, is that that person is either doing something that we experience negatively or is failing to do something that we would experience positively: “I can’t love my spouse because he/she keeps doing x, y, and z or never does a, b, or c.”  Whenever we find our feelings reflect this thought, the problem is not that we are struggling to love them.  The problem is that we have forgotten what love is!

Love DOES NOT look to its own things.  Love in no way, shape or form depends upon the actions of others for it to either exist or thrive.  While it may be easier for us to love someone who treats us exactly how we would like to be treated, this is no better a form of love than the most secular humanist can muster up!  Jesus taught us and commanded us to LOVE even our enemies.  Enemies is a strong word in the scriptures.  We can only do this if we embrace the radical idea that love does not look to her own things.

Love looks outward and cherishes and pursues what is best for another – whether they love us or hate us; however they feel about us or treat us.  This love can still be “tough” and still be love.  But it cannot be vindictive, or petty, calculating, or judgmental in any way.  In fact, love’s ultimate concerns are the agenda of its object.  Love occupies itself with what has the best effect upon another.  Love is not concerned with what has been done for it lately, but always wakes up wondering what it can do for the other today.  This is, after all, precisely how God in Christ has loved you.

Who do you need to love better this month?  Who do you need to release from your judgment and begin loving purely for their own sake?  How can you love your spouse in this way more intentionally?  We all reflexively know how we can be loved better.  Our lesser loves naturally consider their own things!  Do we also know how others can be better loved by us?  Are we willing to unilaterally commit ourselves to loving others on God’s terms?

Your Pastor,

Bob Bjerkaas

Posted in 1 Corinthians 13, Christian Living | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Boundaries of Knowledge

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Bob Bjerkaas

12186041-the-concept-of-producing-knowledge-man-Stock-Vector-knowledge-brain-motivationWe all spend much of our lives attempting to discover, move, accommodate, or ignore boundaries.  Toddlers want to see how many times Daddy will pick the spoon up off the floor.  Children wait to see what will happen if they make Mom call their name one more time.  Teenagers push against deadlines and curfews as hard as they can.  As adults we are often absolute masters of manipulating boundaries to our personal advantage – expert at framing issues and events to our own greatest good.

But whatever our outlook on boundaries or the contexts in which we experience them, we all have boundaries in our relationships, in our careers, in our talents and abilities, and even in our lifespans.  We are a bounded species in every sense of the word.  Moses understood how important recognizing boundaries was; he leads us in asking God to “teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12).  In the same way, we need to become aware of our boundaries in other spheres of experience and activity.

Not the least, we need to know the boundaries of knowledge itself.  What can we know – about ourselves, our universe, and ultimately God.  In suggesting an answer to this broad question, I want to offer you three voices: one scientist and two theologians.

Francis Bacon, in his Novum Organum, introduces the subject of philosophy with a rather bold statement:

“Man, as the minister and interpreter of nature, does and understands as much as his observations on the order of nature, either with regard to matter or mind, permit him, and neither knows nor is capable of more.”[1]

William G.T. Shedd, the noted nineteenth century theologian, reiterates this with respect to what the Christian can know about God.

“Man, as the minister and interpreter of revelation, does and understands as much as his observations on the order and structure of revelation permit him, and neither knows nor is capable of more.”[2]

In both cases, the point is made that we are essentially interpreters of what ‘is.’  We do not create reality, rather we describe it.  And our descriptions of what ‘is’ can never outpace our observations.  And so the boundaries of what we can know are in fact set by what actually ‘is’ and by what we can observe.  Our skill in interpreting what we observe will determine how closely our knowledge reflects reality.

This invokes a real limitation to what we can know.  For instance, speculating on parallel universes that are by definition beyond the reach of empirical validation is, in a word, silly. It makes for good science fiction, but the emphasis must fall on the ‘fiction.’  If we could in any way observe them or otherwise positively demonstrate their existence using scientific methodology, they would therefore be a part of this universe.  But acting as if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what your spouse’s or neighbor’s motivation was in not saying “good morning” yesterday is actually just as silly!  You see, whenever we live as if our capacity to know and our knowledge itself is unbounded, this creates a terrible mess in our lives, our families, and our communities.

It also creates a mess in our relationship with God.  In Deuteronomy 29:29 Moses writes, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”  There are things about God that we cannot know.  While we do have true knowledge about God, that knowledge is always bounded by what he has revealed concerning himself.   We know about God those things that are necessary to our relationship with him.  It is certainly not the case that we know everything about God that there is to know – or that we might want to know about him.  If we should choose to let our imaginations run wild with theological speculation concerning the person and work of God in a manner that goes beyond his revelation of himself in scripture, we will have found the quickest route to idolatry.  We may be sure that we are worshiping a God we ourselves created rather than the God who created us.

Do you want to “know better?”  Stop mere speculation with respect to the world, other people, and God himself!  Start observing.  Listen to your spouse, spend time with your kids.  Study nature.  And with respect to God, immerse yourself in his Word.  I am in complete agreement with something John Calvin insisted upon in the definitive edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559):

“The best limit of sobriety for us will be not only to follow God’s lead in learning, but, when he sets an end to teaching, to stop trying to be wise.”[3]

Your Pastor

Bob Bjerkaas

 

[1] Francis Bacon, Novum Organum, Aph. 1.  Cited by Shedd

[2] William G.T. Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1893), pp. 2-3.

[3] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.21.3.

Posted in Academic, The Bible, Theology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Love Is Not Rude

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Bob Bjerkaas

 

mr. rudeI wonder if we as a culture have forgotten what rudeness is.  Fortunately for us, Wikipedia remembers!

Rudeness (also called impudence or effrontery) is a display of disrespect by not complying with the social norms or etiquette of a group or culture. These laws have been established as the essential boundaries of normally accepted behavior. To be unable or unwilling to align one’s behavior with these laws known to the general population of what is socially acceptable is to be rude.

I would like to pose a question: do we really believe that rudeness is in fact incompatible with God’s definition of love.  Here in 1 Corinthians 13, we have a rather bald statement: “Love is not rude.”  But what exactly does that mean? Could the Bible be referring to what Wikipedia described as ‘rudeness?’ I can well imagine many of us thinking that since societal norms (even in a society like a church) are culturally arbitrary and inherently transitional, therefore we can and should be and do precisely what makes us feel most comfortable and authentic.  We have a tendency in culture today to think that compliance to norms is a greater sin  than communicating disrespect by refusing to comply.  Isn’t our newer, hipper ethos what the Bible actually teaches and shouldn’t we redefine what “rudeness” means to justify our personal desires to be and become whatever we think God is calling us to – regardless of whether or not others may be offended?

The word used by the Holy Spirit in giving us the first phrase of 1 Corinthians 13:5 is aschemonei.  Literally this word breaks down into the negative prefix and a word we should recognize: a-scheme.  Love does not, according to the Spirit of God, “break scheme” or flout conventions for the sake of personal authenticity (more on “seeking self” next year – look ahead to the next phrase!).  Three examples of this “a-schematic” or “rude” behavior are given in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  In 1 Corinthians 7:36, a man is convicted of “acting improperly” (aschemonei – same word for rudeness!) towards his fiancé – he is not honoring his social commitment to marry her.  In 1 Corinthians 11, New Testament scholar Gordon Fee finds two more examples.  In verses 11-26, women are “contentiously” (v. 16) flouting societal conventions with respect to their hair in such a way that they are causing scandal.  In verses 17-22, folks are arriving to Lord’s Supper celebrations at whatever times are convenient for them and refusing to wait for those who cannot arrive until later.  In all three cases, we find examples of rudeness that cannot be reconciled with Christ’s command to love.

But what will you do?  Are there ways in which you conduct yourself rudely in your relationship with your spouse, your family, your colleagues at work, your church?  Do you work hard at graciously being a part of the world and the relationships into which God has embedded you?  Are you committed to identifying the cultural expectations that inform your life context and doing everything you can without disobedience to God, fulfilling those expectations and abiding by the “scheme.”  The iconoclastic impulse in much of society today is, frankly, antisocial and rude.  It must be considered whether or not God’s definition of love prohibits such conduct.

The nineteenth century theologian and Princeton president Charles Hodge summarizes this biblical condemnation of rudeness well:

“Love doth not behave itself unseemly; it does nothing of which one ought to be ashamed.  Its whole deportment is decorous and becoming.”[1]

May our love for one another be obedient to the Spirit in this way – may we never be rude.

Your Pastor,

Bob Bjerkaas

 

[1] Charles Hodge, Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1959), p. 270.

 

Posted in 1 Corinthians 13 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What Makes a Sermon Great? Lavater’s Answer

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Bob Bjerkaas

Johann Kaspar LavaterSeveral years ago I reached a point at which I can now say that I have been a preacher for over half of my life.  At the age of nineteen I preached my first sermon at a Sunday night revival meeting at the Long Reach Church of God.  Ten years later, after three internships and nearly constant Sunday evening pulpit supply from Virginia to New York, I was ordained and have preached at least weekly since then.  That is a lot of sermons – and I rather suspect that they varied tremendously in their overall quality!

Needless to say, the questions that surround the subject of preaching have occupied my attention for some time.  In studying this critical aspect of my calling, I have come across many descriptions of what makes a great sermon, or, what makes a sermon great.  Typically one comes across answers that are theological: a great sermon faithfully teaches what is in a biblical text.  Sometimes the answer includes more structural elements: a great sermon has a good introduction, clear and memorable points, and a good conclusion.  Sometimes great sermons are identified by the experience they produce in those who hear them: a great sermon inspires, encourages, unites…   Sometimes, like on Super Bowl Sunday, a sermon is great in correspondence to how long it is.

There are other legitimate ways to evaluate sermons in addition to these, and it should be noted that theology and structure cannot be overlooked in crafting sermons.  But in the category of considering the experiential effects of great preaching, I am not sure that I have come across a better description of what makes a sermon great than that penned over 200 years ago by the Swiss preacher and poet Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801).  Lavater wrote:

“To make a sermon that pleases a great crowd, that is admired, imitated, bruited about, that is of very little account of itself.  But a sermon that really edifies, really interests the heart and penetrates it with its warming power, while it illuminates the understanding, a sermon that leaves a lively searching sting behind it, that follows the hearer and in the hours of temptation, long after the sound of it has died away, comes up as it were dancing through the heart, a sermon that does not please, that stirs all the flesh in revolt against it and yet pleases, that cannot be kept out of the mind, nor refuted, openly found fault with perhaps, but cannot be otherwise than approved by the heart, that is the work of the wisdom, the spirit and the power of Christ.”[1]

How many sermons have you heard that sounded like that?  If I am your preacher, would that it were far more!  What do you consider a great sermon to be?  One that merely pleases you?  Or one that “leaves a lively searching sting” yet “comes up dancing through your heart?”  Pray for your preachers.  Ask that God would give them the courage and the wisdom to preach this kind of sermon.  In a day and age in which we are so often like those folks who prefer preachers who “say whatever our itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3), develop a keen taste for sermons that please in this way.

Your Pastor,

Bob Bjerkaas

[1] Oehler, “Zeitschrift für Pastoral Theologie,”” 4 Heft, 149, 1887.  Cited by Lewis Orsmond Brastow, The Modern Pulpit: A Study of Homiletic Sources and Characteristics (New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 1906), p. 44.

 

Posted in Homiletics/Preaching | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Importance of Christmas – In a World of Terror

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Bob Bjerkaas

christmas-starMartin Luther is remembered for his sometimes quaint but often penetrating dinner table anecdotes and maxims.  One of the things his students recalled him saying frequently was, “Et multiplicata sunt mala in terris” – “And evils were multiplied in the world.”[1]  This Latin expression was a part of Luther’s German dinner time conversation.  He used this phrase in much the same way that we might borrow “C’est la vie” from the French language in order to express our reactions to troubling news.

Over the years, I have noticed that as a society we have a tendency to discount the possibility that there is in fact a multiplying evil in the world.  When terrible things take place, it seems that we bend over backwards to try to define such things as being the predictable results of socio-economic systems that drive people to engage in certain anti-social behaviors.   The assumption appears to be that people are basically good and, if only we would create social systems in which they had opportunities to enjoy meaningful work and obtain an acceptable standard of living, terrible things would not happen.

In as much as it exists and prevails in certain worldviews, this idealistic optimism is not new.  In fact, it was, by and large, the view of the informed class of Western civilization at the dawn of the twentieth century.  Social Darwinism provided the rationale and the Enlightenment provided the hubris for the new man, homo intelligentsia, to confidently expect the end of everything from religion to warfare and a new era of unprecedented peace and unlimited progress.  This confidence was not to last.  Writing in 1955, English historian and theologian J. S. Whale offered the following retrospect on the dawn of his own century:

“Serious people in the twentieth century have found themselves forced to reckon with the paradox, so offensive to their predecessors, that man is evil as well as good, contemptible as well as admirable: that he is not only the soaring idealist capable of heroism, self-sacrifice and even sainthood; there is also something mysteriously, radically and permanently wrong with him; he is capable of pride, envy and all uncharitableness, of appalling brutality and degradation.  The pilgrim making his way to the celestial city (homo viator) is also a wolf to his brother man (homo homini lupus), and at no time in human history was it more true than now that man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.  The experience of the twentieth century leaves little room for the sentimental optimism which supposes that sinful man can discover within the actual system of his civilization the saving power which he needs.  As we look back to the opening decade we see that we were claiming most confidently to save ourselves just when there was least evidence of our ability to do so… Modern man is discovering the truth of Nietzsche’s dictum that his culture is ever in danger of destruction by the very instruments of culture.”[2]

As I consider the opening decade-and-a-half of our new century, I find Whale’s thoughts to be apropos.  There is as little evidence as ever that mankind can resolve its paradoxical malignancy through its own societal systems.  And, as offensive as it may be to many of us, we need to acknowledge the mala mulitplicata – the ‘multiplying evil’ that inflames human hearts and incites us to indefensible action, which actions include the misuse of every ‘utopian’ system we could conceive of!  Only then can we truly appreciate and carry with us into this new year the hope of the Messiah’s birth.  The message of Christmas calls us to place our confidence in and ground our actions on a Savior from heaven:  one who has not been stained with the evil that so ‘mysteriously, radically, and permanently’ mars each of us as individuals and, by necessary extension, our societies as well.

Ultimately, it is not societal structures that cause bad things to happen.  Fallen people will perpetrate evil regardless of the societal systems we implement on this side of heaven.  Fundamentally, humanity’s problem is spiritual, and our inherent failures will persist in socialist and capitalist states, in theocratic and atheistic states, in democracies and monarchies alike…   In this I agree with Nietzsche: culture is in danger of destroying itself by the very instruments of culture.  When we as a society put our trust in the constructs of society, those constructs, be they free or regulated markets, a free or censored press, political correctness or institutionalized bigotry,’ Statism’ or anarchy… such things will always carry with them the very seeds of their own destruction.  History proves that there is no good gift that humanity will not abuse through pride, envy and general uncharitableness.

This year the news will bring terrible and alarming reports of continued atrocities.  We have come to expect it.  We will also experience frustration with the politicians and other notables who seem unable or unwilling to do what is necessary to address the world’s wrongs – regardless of our political orientation.  We will continue to think that if only this or that were done, or so-and-so were elected, then we might have peace.  Our solutions will differ but our sentiments will be the same.  And in thinking these things, we will simply be the latest in the long march of people throughout history who have put their hopes in humans and in culture.  It is really quite sad.  Such hopes have always proved to be misplaced.  Our problems are in no sense created by the absence of the best societal structures.  Our problem is the very real presence of evil – even in our own hearts.

As this new year begins, do you acknowledge the problems in this world and in your life as being fundamentally spiritual in nature?  Do you recognize your need for a Savior who does not share in the ruin of our sinfulness?  Have you heard that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes on him might not perish but have everlasting life?” (John 3:16)  May the favor of God rest upon you and be your peace as you continue your celebration of the Savior’s birth throughout this new year.

Your Pastor,

Bob Bjerkaas

[1] See Carl P. E. Springer, Trans., Acta Conventus Neo-Latini Upsaliensis, p. 1052.

[2] J.S. Whale, The Protestant Tradition: An Essay in Interpretation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1955), pp. 13-14.

 

Posted in Christmas, Culture, New Year | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Clones, Droids, and Sith – Oh My!

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Bob Bjerkaas

 Star-Wars-Force-Awakens-Logo

This December, many wonderful things are happening.  A week ago my son Timmy turned thirteen years old, two days later my daughter Maggie turned fifteen.  As a church, we will be celebrating the birth of our Savior with our annual banquet, our Christmas Eve service, and the carol singing in Sunday morning worship – all of which are highlights of my year.  Many of us will be visiting family or have family visit us.  Worship, family, friends, good food, music, gifts…  What could make this December better?

On December 17, 2015, “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” will be coming to a theater near you.

The arts, especially literature and film, are often overlooked in Christian circles unless they are explicitly Christian.  I think that in many respects this is unfortunate.  Although there is definitely literature and art to be avoided, it is also the case that even the worst of the worst cannot escape the meta-narrative of the universe – the grand story that God has written into the very fabric of our being.  And echoes of that grand narrative find their way into even the most secular of art forms.  This is in part due to the fact that all art, in particular art with a storyline, requires at least some degree of a mutual recognition of “should.”  The hero should live.  Evil should be destroyed.

There is an ancient Hebrew word that conveys this common sense of how things should be; the word olam generally means eternity, perfection, or completion.  This word describes the intuitive way in which each of us feels things should be ‘good’ forever.  And, as Ecclesiastes 3:11 puts it, God “has set olam in the hearts of men.”  It is because this ‘olam’ has been set in our hearts that we have trouble understanding how things listed in Ecclesiastes 3:1-10; things like ‘tearing down,’ ‘weeping,’ and even death, have a part to play in our lives on this side of heaven.  These things do not conform to the sense of how things ‘should’ be that God has placed in our hearts.  And it is in relation to how well our sense of ‘how it should be’ is fulfilled that we experience contentment and peace.

Consider how it is that a storyline, whether in a song, book, or movie, actually moves us.  All of us have some idea how the story ‘should’ end – and the story always moves us in relation to how it ends relative to the way we innately know it ‘should’ end.  Thus we have genres like “tragedy” or films described as “tear-jerkers.”  And these categories appear to be supra-cultural!  A movie with a sad ending is universally held to have a sad ending.  When the credits rolled after the first screening of The Princess Bride, there was not a fifty-fifty split between those who thought the movie was happy or sad.  And when that movie was screened in Eastern Europe it was still a ‘happy’ movie.  In this we observe the powerful, gravitational pull of grace.  Despite the story characters’ failures and the tensions in the subplots, we want what is good and just for our characters and are moved by the ending in relation to how that ending either conforms to or fails to conform to our spontaneous or ‘innate’ desires for the goodness and justice we want the main characters to experience.

Here is where clones, droids, and sith come in.  In various parts of Star Wars these are the “lions, tigers, and bears” that pose great difficulties to the party of star-faring heroes.  In each encounter, we hope for and in fact anticipate the victory or escape of the “good guys” even despite terrible odds against dreadful opponents.  Art imitating life!  We too face clones, droids, and sith in different guises – and we too long to defeat and escape them.  This is a part of the pervasive echo of the redemptive story line of the universe – the “yearning of all creation” described in Romans 8:22.  We find that it and it alone accounts for the power of the imagination and the effect of story on our minds and hearts.  We want the story to end right.

Will you be watching Star Wars Episode VII this month?  If so, listen for those echoes.  And after an hour and a half of being entertained by imaginary tales from “long ago in a galaxy, far, far away,” get back to real life!  Consider your own life.  God has set olam in your heart that it might confront you with the fact that things are not as they should be.  And remember that the birth of Jesus is God’s great redemptive act in which he untangles the tragic and sometimes horrible knots that twist the plot lines of our own lives.

Remember what happened not so very long ago in a small town on this very planet: “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”  Luke 2:10-11.

Your Pastor,

Bob Bjerkaas

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

God’s First Gift?

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Bob Bjerkaas

Thanksgiving-Dinner-image-holiday-2012-W

Time for a theology pop quiz!  Question one: What was the first thing we are told God gave to man in the book of Genesis?  Fortunately, there is just this one question.  Unfortunately, given the fact that most of you answered either a wife or the job to take care of creation, it is a very difficult question!  Both are good answers – but not, properly speaking, the correct answer.

Review Genesis 1:27-30 and Genesis 2:5-18.  Do you see the answer?  Yep, the correct answer is “food.”  Look again at Genesis 1:29, the first time the Bible says God “gave” anything: “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.”  Again, in Genesis 2:16,  God says to Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden,” except, of course, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In America, we think about food and gifts quite a bit in November and December. On Thanksgiving we are grateful for all that God has done for us and we eat well.  In December we give gifts to others, we remember Christ – our greatest gift – and, once again we eat really well.  The trouble is, that as Christians, we rarely connect these two ideas properly.  Too rarely, I think, do we truly rejoice with gratitude to God for food.

As Christians we often consider food a “guilty pleasure” of sorts.  If a meal is wonderful we might call it “decadent.”  If a chocolate mousse is just perfect it is “sinful.”  Why should Satan get the credit for such things?  The chocolate was God’s creation.  The five star restaurant is evidence of God’s goodness and common grace.  If our attitude towards food is that it is merely a temptation, or that some puritanical God would prefer us to take only as much sensory delight in our food as a horse in his feed bag, are we really grateful for this first gift of God – who gives us, explicitly in Genesis 1:29 – a huge and all-inclusive menu – and expands it yet again in Genesis 9:3.  To what other creature has God given such wide ranging tastes and culinary license!

The trouble with being human on this side of heaven is that we can take any gift of God and make it the object of our devotion and worship rather than keeping our devotional focus on the Giver himself.  We can worship our houses, sex, music, our careers, another person, etc…  But let’s not allow sinful tendencies to remove a biblical gratitude for a genuine gift.  In Psalm 136, the great “Thanksgiving Psalm,” the final item well reflects God’s first gift: “To the One… who gives food to every creature – His love endures forever.  Give thanks to the God of heaven.  His love endures forever.”

During this season of feasting and giving, be grateful to God for his gift of food.  The great delight that we take in the cranberry salad and the turkey or ham done just right – this too is the gift of God.  To begrudge the gift is an offense to the Giver.  And let these simple pleasures be the most meager of all appetizers as you come to the very table of God to partake of the body and blood of Christ Jesus himself who is of course, the greatest gift God has given us.  At that great Table, in the words of Psalm 63:5, “Our souls will be satisfied as with the richest of foods!”

Your Pastor,

Bob Bjerkaas

Posted in Christian Living, Thanksgiving | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Even Asaph: Real Christians Suffer Too!

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Bob Bjerkaas

david-ark-domenico_gargiulo_david_bearing_the_ark_of_testament_into_jerusalemRecently a woman wrote to me in response to a radio show and shared a thought that I have heard many times from many people: “As a Christian I have felt so guilty about not having enough faith in God.” The context of her comment involved a life of suffering in which she experienced a lot of anxiety.  The anxiety in turn produced a lot of fear and doubt. The next step in this traumatic chain was guilt: if I were a better or more mature Christian, I would have more faith and my troubles wouldn’t bring me so low…

The feelings of guilt over a weak or vacillating faith can be truly horrible. Those feelings can compound our difficulties and take us to some very dark places. But are those feelings legitimate?  Are they grounded in truth? In large part, I think not.

Often when we think of great Christian men and women, we assume that they were stalwarts in the faith – they never had doubts. They never let anxiety get the better of them.  And when they refer to or wrote about their struggles, they were writing about “sins of their youth.” After all, don’t we as mature Christians reach a point where we are more or less unflappable in our pursuit of holiness? The answer to this question must be a resounding “NO!” It is often the case that men and women who have been used by God to accomplish great things and who have had great faith also have great struggles – even after many years of faithful service. Asaph is a clear example of a seasoned saint experiencing deep doubts.

In Psalm 73, Asaph gives us an autobiographical Psalm in which he describes a very dark time in his own life. And it was not during his youth. Read the Psalm for yourself and reflect on the doubts and fears he experiences – the way in which he conducted himself like a “brute beast” before the Lord.  And then consider this one short phrase in our English translation of Psalm 73:17: “till I entered the sanctuary of God.”  This verse offers the only significant chronological marker in this Psalm.  It indicates that the Psalm was written after Asaph began his ministry in the sanctuary!  This Psalm was then written after Asaph was chosen as one of the three Levites to lead the procession of the ark of God to Jerusalem and at some point after King David appointed the Levites who would minister before the ark, of whom “Asaph was the chief.”  (1 Chronicles 16:4-5).  The sanctuary is the one first described by Moses in Exodus 25:8 where he relates to the Israelites God’s command to “make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.  Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.”  There can be very little doubt that when Asaph refers to entering the sanctuary he is referring to the ministry that David appointed him to: he was referring to his responsibility to be the chief worship leader of God’s people before the ark of the LORD in the tent David had set up for it in Jerusalem.

Did you catch that?  Asaph is not a young, untried, novice Levite when he entertains despairing and betraying thoughts.  No, when Asaph experiences thoughts and feelings about God that were both  beastly and brutish he was the chief worship leader of the people of God.

I have often in my ministry counseled with Christians like my radio correspondent – Christians who feel guilty about how much suffering they feel.  On top of their actual suffering, they are burdened with a false guilt that whispers to them, “If only you were a better Christian you wouldn’t be feeling so intensely about this or entertaining such horrible doubts about God’s faithfulness.”   Understanding that even the “Asaphs” among us have some very dark days in the calendars of our lives should go a long way towards dispelling the myth that “real” Christians don’t struggle with their suffering like we do.

As you walk with God through some of the darker valleys on this side of heaven, know that you will have some fears and doubts as well. But in this you are not the first and you are not alone. And spend a lot of time in the sanctuary of God – say with Asaph, “But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”

Your Pastor,

Bob Bjerkaas

The illustration above is David Bearing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem by Domenico Gargiulo, a seventeenth century Italian painter.

Posted in Christian Living, Psalms of Asaph | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Grandparents’ Bibles

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Bob Bjerkaas

DSC00615I have inherited two books that I consider priceless. One is an old, black, leather bound King James’ Bible embossed on the front cover with the name Margaret Egstad. On the presentation page it notes that it was given to her by “Mom J.” My Great-Grandmother Johnson gave this Bible to my Grandma Egstad long before I was born. The other is a book that is far less impressive on first sight. It was obviously rebound by a practical yet amateur book binder in order to keep it in one piece. It is my Grandfather Jay Bjerkaas’ well used pocket New Testament and Psalms.

For many years now, old family Bibles have become increasingly valuable sources of information for the growing interest in genealogical research. They often have pages in the front that list family births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. To many people, these inherited books help us to look backwards. They show us who has come before us and tell us brute facts about when some major events transpired in their lives. Too many people mine this information from the first pages of their old family Bibles and then donate them to Goodwill or give them to a local used book store. Sadly, the really valuable information in these priceless books goes unnoticed.

My Grandmother did not write in her Bible. But my Great-Grandmother wrote her a note on the backside of the presentation page. It reads as follows:

A Christian life is like a good watch – An open face, busy hands, pure gold, well regulated & filled with good works.  Phil. 4:19 – But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

My Great-Grandmother’s God was  able to supply the righteousness we need for a good life – the open face, pure gold, busy hands… – through Christ Jesus! Our sanctification, that process by which we are made holy, is one in which God himself is engaged working in us those graces we need if we would have an open face and lives with good works. And my Grandma Egstad was just like that “good watch!”

Unlike my Grandma, Grandpa Bjerkaas wrote all over his New Testament.  And when he marked something he intended for it to be noticed! Bible verses are surrounded with heavy lead or ink lines and the margins are annotated with a spidery script that draws attention to key events, topics, or doctrines that interested him. Heavy arrows cut from the corners and tops of pages to draw your attention to particular verses that he wanted to be able to find in a hurry. The blank pages at the end are covered with handwritten text running both horizontally and vertically to use all of the space. He was a farmer, and his last personal note on the last page of his New Testament is a collection of four Old Testament references under the word “GRAPES” written out in his large, capital, block letters. If he was intrigued by a topic, whether it was the second coming of Christ or the life of Paul, he would write out a list of the scriptures he found helpful in understanding what the Bible taught about it.

What I love most about both of these old books is that anyone who picked either of them up would instantly realize that both books were extremely well used. The pages are feathered at the edges and dog-eared at the corners from years of turning. The bindings fall flat to any page. The books are not just broken in, they are worn out.

This is the real value in these books.  Both Ezekiel (Ezek. 3:3) and John (Rev. 10:10) are commanded to “eat” God’s word – to take it into themselves – to internalize it – to digest it. In Psalm 119: 103, we read, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”  And just a few verses later, in vs. 111: “Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.” There is no heritage more precious than that of a taste for God’s word and a life that demonstrates it – which is the best proof of a chewed up and digested Bible.

What have you received from your Grandparents? What will you pass on to your Grandchildren? May our lives and our Bibles demonstrate a love for God and for his Word! And about old family Bibles?  Let’s use them to look upwards, not backwards.

Your Pastor,

Bob Bjerkaas

 

Posted in Christian Living, The Bible | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

A Kind Word

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Bob Bjerkaas

interview-typographyFrom time to time we all struggle with anxiety.  By anxiety I don’t just mean the clinical diagnosis as defined by the American Medical Association.  I mean the everyday anxiety, the fears and cares that give us heavy hearts when things are not going as we had hoped.  We all suffer from this kind of anxiety.  Even the Apostle Paul, who wrote “Be anxious for nothing” in Philippians chapter four, refers to his own anxiety in that very letter!  In chapter two he wrote to the church in Philippi that he needed to send their messenger Epaphroditus back to them, in part so that Paul “might have less anxiety.”

Too often the world’s wisdom, and even much of the church’s advice, focuses on the anxious person and what they can do to resolve their anxiety.  The Bible’s treatment for anxiety involves more than just the anxious person doing the right things, saying the right prayers, following a proper diet and getting the right amount of sleep.  It also involves friends.  Proverbs 12:25 says, “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”

Do you ever find yourself sitting with a friend over a cup of coffee at Starbucks, listening to their troubles, and wishing you knew just what to say or do?  I have been in conversations like that many, many times.  And as often as not, I don’t have just the right thing to say that will make the cause of their anxiety disappear.  But even when you or I are in that situation and simply can’t resolve our friend’s troubles all at once – or even at all, we can give a kind word!

The word “kind” in Hebrew is a word you probably know.  It is “tov” – perhaps you have heard it used in “Mazel tov.”  Tov can mean good, beautiful, proper, right, jubilant, gracious, festive… you get the idea!  In this proverb, the “kind word” doesn’t resolve whatever problem our anxious friend has, but it does cheer him up.  As we have opportunity, let’s be good friends to one another – and offer kind words as often as our friends have heavy hearts.  “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life.” says Proverbs 15:4.  The Old Testament knows no higher comparison.  As we seek to “add to godliness, brotherly kindness,” (2 Peter 1:7), let’s ask God to give us the grace and wisdom to know when to simply offer a kind word to an anxious soul.  Who knows how God might use a moment of cheer in a difficult situation?

Your Pastor,

Bob Bjerkaas

Posted in Christian Living, Proverbs | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment