Recalculating

Travel in the last two weeks has been one navigation challenge after the other.

First, I had problems with Google Maps. My phone kept dropping the map and forgetting to give me directions. This wouldn’t have been a problem if I had not become dependent on lady google alerting me to my next exit or turn.

On the way home both my husband and I missed the turn off to Highway 2 and ended up driving from Missouri to Lincoln, Nebraska by way of Omaha. I think I was expecting Paul to remind me about the exit and he was expecting me to, well, pay attention and drive.

Because of these events I borrowed my father’s GPS to navigate my way around Detroit. I had a navigation issue just finding the car because they were painting the lot and the attendant handed me the key telling me to keep pressing the button until a car winked at me with its headlights. I kid you not, the very first turn outside of the rental car lot I heard the GPS say “recalculating.”

I must have been tired because later that night I took a wrong turn in my hotel room and walked into the closet. Then, when I got back to the Omaha airport the shuttle driver tried to convince me that a white Toyota was my car. When he saw the confused look on my face he immediately recalculated and checked the slip of paper he got from me and realized he was in the wrong lot. At least this navigation error was not my mistake.

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him – these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. I Corinthians 2:9

We have a God much more effective than a GPS. He built us a perfect world, created us to live in it, and immediately recalculated when Adam and Eve took the first wrong turn toward sin. The snake made this choice seem reasonable, but God knew where they were headed and He had a better plan.

Just as I was certain I knew the correct way to head on the interstate in Detroit, I also tend to think I know the right way for my life and ministry decisions. Even wrong decisions seem to make sense – at the time. I might be certain I will be working for a particular institution but my efforts find serious road blocks. Even as I am making the wrong turns, God is recalculating my life for me. He knows in what direction I should be traveling and gets me there in spite of my faulty reading of the map. There is no promise that the route He chooses for me will avoid construction or traffic jams. There is no promise that I will arrive in the place I think I should go. When God is your GPS the promise is His wisdom and care. We cannot imagine what the journey will present, but we rest in the hope that God is our planner, our guide, and our fixer.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8: 26-28

When I think about the paths my thoughts follow I realize I can get myself so lost I might not even know what questions to ask. My desires, my assumptions, and my mistakes lead me in so many bad directions that it is a wonder I have not been lost in my own head.

When disappointments lead me away from my faith I am as lost as when I am traveling the wrong way on an interstate. When my assumptions about how things should work do not come to pass it is as if I turned a corner and found a road closed sign with no detour directions. When my sins cause me trouble I sit and fret and wonder what to do.

But God knows. He has the plan. He has the recalculations. He even sends His Spirit to pray for me and take me out of my confusion and grief. He gives me the faith and the strength to follow Him.

No matter how many times He has to recalculate my journey the destination remains the same. In the righteousness that comes from faith, all roads lead to God.

You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more. Psalm 16:11

Lessons from Ireland: Trust

One of the most fascinating things we got to do in Ireland was to take a boat ride out to an island called Skellig Michael. On this island is the UNESCO world heritage site of a Gaelic Augustinian Monastery circa the 600’s. (Yes, you read that right -- the 600's)

To get to the site you must climb up the side of a cliff using a staircase built with dry set rocks. On occasion I review the trip on this clip because all I remember from my hike up and my hike down was watching my husband’s shoes a few steps ahead of me.

Apparently I have issues with 1,400 year old staircases offering precipitous, possibly fatal falls. Who knew? Here is the only photograph of the climb I had the courage to take.

In my defense, we started this ascent shortly after reading the sign below -- note the phrase "fatalities have occurred."  

Six huts, a chapel, a graveyard, a garden, and an intricate cistern system make up this monastery.  Here the monks were left in peace to worship, pray, study, protect scripture and suffer for their faith. Even in this hard to access fortress at least one Abbot was known to have been captured by the Vikings.

Not even on the top of a barely accessible island mountain can we protect ourselves from the sin of our world.

But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt you know no God but Me and besides Me there is no savior. Hosea 13:4

I like this verse for describing the monk’s knowledge of God because my study Bible tells me that the meaning for “know” in this instance is an “evidential, experimental knowledge.”  The monks that lived in this monastery up through the 12^th century not only saw daily evidence of God’s power, but likely experienced God’s presence in ways we cannot understand.  They understood our Savior as a deliverer in a very real and present way. God provided for their needs and their protection just as He provided for their Salvation. There was no government, no medical organization, no police, fire, rescue crew, no military – not even a storm warning system. They were in God’s care, alone. They had the law of their harsh existence and they had the grace of their fellowship with each other.

Think for a minute, about how different our view is. We are blessed to have all of the protective systems that the monks lacked, yet instead of being grateful we turn from trust in God toward trust in the protection of our own making.

The left-hand kingdom (government) will do what it decides it will do. We are to be an influence on the government but we are not to allow ourselves to be lost in it – or lost because of it. We are wrong to store the treasure of our faith in the government of man. We must not only remember – but live in a way that shows we do not put our trust in guns, walls, repeals of laws, politicians, government programs, political party platforms, or SCOTUS picks.

We are not democrats or republicans, conservatives or liberals, rich or poor, citizens or immigrants. We are children of God. Our trust must be in Him, alone.

So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continuously for your God. Hosea 12:6

Luther tells us that the word “love” in this verse can be seen as goodness in action -- grace. Because the monks knew God’s love, protection, forgiveness, and grace they were able to share these things with each other. When we are able to share the same it is evidence of our trust in God. A trust He gives us, that becomes something so easy for us to ignore when we pretend we can build a fortress of any type to protect ourselves.

Here is one more poignant verse from Hosea. God speaks to us through words intended for the Children of Israel who had ignored the gift of trust to worship other gods, make alliances with other countries, and depend on their own might for protection. We are not so different.

Take with you words and return to the LORD. Hosea 14:2

“Take with you words” In other words – confess.

Take that confession and return to the LORD, our Protector and Savior.

Lessons from Ireland: Justice

So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God. Hosea 12:6

This is a picture from Kilmainham Gaol a former prison located in Dublin, Ireland. The prison was in operation from 1796 until 1924 and housed many people from rebellions including the Easter Rising of 1916. Touring this museum was a fascinating and sobering experience.

Justice can be a difficult thing to determine in the case of rebellions. Some of those housed in this facility had murdered or plotted murder. Some came back later as part of the new government. When you are on the wrong side of the ruling party it can be hard to distinguish right from wrong.

But, there must be some laws that should be broken under no circumstances. Surely stealing is always wrong, isn’t it?

While the Kilmainham Gaol is quite famous for its political prisoners it was also in high use during the Great Potato Famine of 1845-1850. When we toured the museum we saw where children as young as seven were housed after being convicted of stealing something as inconsequential a loaf of bread. The conditions for incarceration were horrible – sleeping on stone floors with little protection from the elements. It is hard to think that children were condemned to prison for simply answering the pangs of hunger. 

When humans, or their children, are hungry or unsafe these conditions become more important than the law. We can see this when we realize that in the case of incarcerating starving  people  for the theft of food, punishment did not deter the crime. In fact, it may have encouraged it as children realized that even with the horrible conditions in the prison they would at least be fed for the duration of their sentence. They could find no other help for their hunger.

Millions of people died or emigrated during this famine. Beyond their suffering the most horrible realization was that Ireland was producing enough food for its people, but the price of the food was kept prohibitively high due to laws that favored absent landlords. These same landlords, when faced with the requirement to help pay for relief simply evicted tenants to avoid the tax. They burned houses and watched children cry as their families were left with nothing. There were no laws to stop these actions. Even the government relief agency felt that the famine was judgement from God to teach the Irish a lesson. They crafted relief regulations that left the poor with nothing and at the same time condemned them for being idle. 

It would be nice to be able to say we humans learned our lesson from the atrocities of this famine.  But, we are steeped in sin and insist on repeating those same sins – with impunity – as we protect ourselves and attempt to justify our actions.

When we turn to scripture to find the right recourse for fellow humans who suffer poverty and violence we find no specific solutions, but instead a strong directive: God wants justice for the poor.

I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. Psalm 140:12

The tough part is we don’t always know what justice looks like. Which political party is truly concerned with justice? Who knows how to provide justice effectively? Is it about health insurance? Job opportunities? A fair wage? A stronger police force? A visa, green card, or a path to citizenship? I suspect the answer is different for each kind of poverty or hurt.

Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Isaiah 1: 17

The Irish did not have justice because the laws, tariffs, and policies of the day prevented them from escaping poverty. They were highly vulnerable even before the potato blight. When the law was used to persecute them it was not used as a curb, a guide, or a mirror – it was used as a club. This use of the law is ineffective.

No, scripture does not give us the answer to poverty or violence. God does not tell us what to do, but He does tell us what not to do. We cannot hide behind man-made law when people are suffering for lack of justice.

Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing  oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! Isaiah 10:1-2

We should not turn our eyes away from suffering. We should not allow laws, policies, rhetoric, or politics to favor the “haves” at the disastrous expense of the "have nots." We should not use those who suffer as pawns in a political game. We should not be a part of further trauma for people who are helpless and hopeless for reasons beyond their doing. We should not let people suffer and then blame the law or hide behind it.

We should not turn away from the need for justice – or the need for grace. 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Matthew 23:23

We do not currently have a potato famine, but we do see people, all over our world – including our country – who are forced to desperate measures in order to find food or safety for their children. God does not tell us to give welfare to the poor or to grant asylum to everyone who asks. He tells us to be concerned with justice. We are compelled to ask: What keeps these families from providing for their children? What can we do to help and how can we avoid making the situation worse? When the law brings justice it implies there was a legitimate choice for behavior.  For the Irish during the famine, keeping their children from starvation was obeying a greater law than man’s law.

Correct me, O Lord, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. Jeremiah 10:24

God grants us justice and grace because He knows us, He loves us, He sent His Son to die and rise again for us. The justice we deserve is not what we receive because there is no stronger empathy than agape love. 

If we are to know what constitutes justice in the case of the poor, for those who live with violence, who just want safety for their children, we need to stop thinking we know the motivation for their actions. We need to think about their needs and pray for the wisdom to find justice and the courage to ask for it. We need to stop making fear, politics, or the law into a false god. 

We need to stop using the law as a club and move the world toward grace because only grace changes things and only grace heals.

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24

Instead of hiding behind the rationalizations of politics, instead of posting, retweeting, or fuming in anger, I will stop, pray, love, empathize, and look for a way to bring justice.  

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

Lessons from Ireland: Truth

Dublin, Ireland May 2018

My husband and I recently returned from a glorious week spent with good friends in Ireland. The week we were there was the last week before a national vote to repeal an amendment to their constitution designed to give equal status to both unborn children and the mothers who carry them. The amendment resulted in restrictions that sent those seeking an abortion to neighboring countries.

All over Dublin we saw signs that said NO (to keep the amendment and prevent abortion) and YES (to repeal the amendment in order to make abortion on demand legal.) Given we were not plugged into the media the debate was quiet and persistent. The signs gave various reasons to vote in one direction or the other, but were for the most part polite.

One day as we walked from a National Museum to the National Art Gallery we came upon the demonstration pictured in the above photo. The NO side was standing on a public sidewalk with large pictures of infants at the typical gestational age of abortion. They were not shouting or condemning, just standing with the pictures.

People from the YES side were also in attendance. As you can see from this photo they wore large wings and attempted to stand in front of the photos to keep people from seeing the pictures. These were not pictures of an aborted fetus, not pictures of tools used for abortion, or of a baby born alive after an abortion – they were simply pictures of a developing infant at the typical age of abortion. They were not designed to manipulate – just to inform.

The pictures were truth, and the opposing side was working hard to hide the truth. Think about that – they weren’t defending anyone’s rights; they weren’t asserting opinion or defending a stance. They were quietly and persistently hiding the truth.

I don't care which side of any issue you are on - hiding truth throws up a red flag of major proportions.  It just simply cannot be good.

Our brains really want to write our own truth. Once we develop a misconception we hold on to it with all of our strength. We pick through information to find what supports our bias and we conveniently ignore what we find difficult to believe. 

I know I do these things and if I want to understand a difficult issue like abortion I must work hard to avoid any actions of truth hiding. I must work hard to have empathy for the people on the other side of the issue so that I can see all of the truth involved. It does no good to honor the life of the unborn if I cannot honor the life of the mother who carries that child.

But no matter how complicated the issue, we must face the truth that all life is to be valued.

The truth can be hard to accept.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” John 8: 31-38

It is not in our nature to seek truth. It is in our nature to sin and then seek a “truth” that brings us a false sense of comfort. We want to believe we are right and others are wrong; that we are on the side of goodness and morality and those who oppose us have only evil intent.

Truth tells us we are all sinners. We must abide in His word and ask Him to show us the truth of salvation earned on the cross. Then, and only then, will we be free, indeed.

Pray for the truth.

Pray for Ireland as they now battle with their laws to decide when life is to be valued.

Pray for our country as we seek the truth on this and many other issues. 

And in the face of truth let us pray for forgiveness and abide in His word.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

"Wood and Nails"  by Keith Watts, Isaac Wardell, and Madison Cunningham