A point I sometimes have difficulty remembering

I love politics, I love the intrigue, I like to follow the exploits of my favorite politicians. I have a friend who lives in Tennessee, we haven't seen one another in almost ten years, yet we talk on the phone weekly to discuss the latest goings on in Washington D.C. I like to read the New York Times and listen to NPR's political coverage. From time to time, I call or write to my elected representatives to express an opinion.

As a person who has opinions, I sometimes have trouble separating my thoughts about a law or policy from my thoughts about its proponents. God uses politics, and politicians. The Bible is filled with examples of God using both godly and ungodly leaders to benefit His people. I've been reading the book of Ezra recently. Ezra starts out with King Cyrus deciding to rebuild the temple to God in Jerusalem, and sending Ezra to oversee the project. Now, it's important to note that this King Cyrus was not a follower of God. He was hoping to gain political power, and what we would call "karma" for being nice to every god he could find. From his perspective, the people of Israel may have been a cheap nation to please, because unlike their neighbors, with only one God, they had only one temple to build. Similarly, the book of Nehimiah tells about King Artaxerxes allowing, and even funding the construction of a wall around Jersualem, much to the consternation of Jersualem's neighbors. In these two instances, God uses a pagan king to benefit his people.

Politics has a terrible way of fracturing people. It seems like every year we move farther away from respectfully disagreeing with the opposition, and closer to disdaining them. This may have been why Jesus decided not to get into politics. The crowds, who followed Jesus several times intended to make Him their king. In the political sense. Jesus chose instead to run away (John 6:15).

As Christians, our response to people around us is in part, influenced by these two verses:

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18
"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34

Personally, I sometimes have a hard time in applying those to the politicians I so like to watch, but even harder than that, I can have a hard time remembering this. No matter their party, and no matter their political or religious outlook, God has placed that person in that role. Moreover, God has placed that person for my benefit. Here's what I mean, Paul writes in his letter to the Romans,

"The authorities that exist have been established by God" Romans 13:1c
"For [the ruler] is God's servant, to do you good." Romans 13:4a

As I continue to grow in Christ, I'm working hard to remember that. When I'm shouting at the radio, or laughing along with the Daily Show, it's sometimes tough for me to recall that God has put politicians into their roles for my benefit, and that this extends to those who I don't agree with as well as to those I do. This also demands a response. As christians, it is our job to pray for our leaders, both for those we like, and those we dislike. It's in this spirit that I'm trying to look at politics through a new lens, approaching it not through outrage, but through prayer.

A more common sort of provision

Sometimes, I read the bible and think, "Where are all the miracles today?" Now, I know, there are miracles every day, some are the big obvious kind we read about in the four gospels. I think that most of God's provision isn't through miracles. I think that mostly it's through a quieter sort of intervention. God exercises a quality which is lauded in the book of Proverbs. Planning.

In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

God sometime provides though big miracles, but God regularly provides through good planning. Take for instance the story of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, but God had a better plan. God planned to put Joseph into the second highest position in Egypt, and through him, preserve the nation of Israel during a 7 year famine. Here, we see Joseph talking telling his brothers what has happened to him.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed, and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you... God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Genesis 45:4-5, 7

My two favorite books in the Bible are Ezra and Nehemiah. I like them because I can identify with the main characters. Ezra and Nehemiah are both young men, who are good at management and administration. I am a young man who is good at management and administration. I also like them, because though God's hand is clearly at work in both stories, there aren't any obvious miracles. Instead, God planned to put each of them into the right place, at the right time. He also gave them the talents they would need to succeed.

In Ezra's case, his mission was to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. The temple had been destroyed when the Chaldeans invaded. This was a common practice. There were two benefits to destroying a temple. First, temples, including God's temple in Jerusalem, were constructed using valuable materials. The temple had gold inlaid between the stones, as well as man gold articles within. There was also a psychological component. The invading army was saying that they not only conquered a nation's military, they also conquered a nation's gods. This demoralized the local people, and tended to decrease the chances of a revolt.

A few years after Ezra began work on the temple, some men came to Nehemiah, and told him that the wall around Jerusalem was badly broken, and that as a result, the people of the city lived in constant fear. At the time, a city's best defense against attack was a good strong wall. The wall would have gates, where commerce could be conducted, but at night, the gates would be closed. The wall protected the city from invading armies, and from bands of robbers who might want to come in at night and do harm. Without a wall, there was nowhere safe in the city, though the outlying houses were more vulnerable at night. There was also a psychological component here, the city could look at the wall, and think, "We have a good wall, and so we'll be safe." Without a good wall, the city would be a laughingstock to its neighbors, an object of ridicule, unable to defend itself. Hearing that the city wall is in ruins, Nehemiah prepares to go to the king, and ask leave to go fix it. He prays to God, calling on the promises God has made, that if His people will turn from their wickedness, that God will restore their homeland. Nehemiah ends his prayer this way.

'O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayers of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.' I was cupbearer to the king. Nehemiah 1:11

Note that last line. Nehemiah notes, after his prayer, that he was cupbearer to the king. A cupbearer wasn't just someone who carried about the king's cup. It was a deeply trusted position. The cupbearer was in charge of what the king drank. He was tasked with ensuring that no one poisoned the king by slipping something into his drink. The cupbearer literally held the king's life in his hands, and as such, was a very close official. The cupbearer, because of how often he was called upon, was always near the king, and was privy to all sorts of secret information. God had put Nehemiah into a lofty and trusted position, and Nehemiah intended to use that position to further God's kingdom.

Nehemiah is successful before the king, and obtains not only permission to go to Jerusalem, but also the king agrees to supply the raw materials for the wall. Nehemiah encounters other difficulties throughout the wall rebuilding process, and I encourage you to read all about them. The point here though, is that God's provision came not in the form of a big miracle, but instead through placing the right person in the right position. In our lives, God's provision also takes this form. That's not to say that God doesn't perform miracles for us, but it is to say that if you're looking for a miracle, and don't find one, that's no reason to think that God isn't working. At the same time, this begs a question, understanding that God has gone through the trouble of planning to put you into your position, be that executive, doctor, social worker, or janitor. What does God intend you to do while you're there?

[Image Credit: Meknes, Morocco City Gate]

Coming home to work

Now, you know that I like to work. I got out of the army, and I headed for home, just waiting to get a job and get to work. I got home, and after a little bit, my father, your great grandfather, came to me, he said, "There's a guy on my crew, he got hurt, and the crew is going out to cut some wood on his land. He heats his house with a wood stove, and since he can't cut the wood himself, we're going to make sure that he has enough to get through the winter. Want to come help?"

So, I said, "Sure pop." Now, what you have to know, is that my father was a lumberjack up in Canada before he came down here. He used to work in the lumber camps, with his brothers, and the come home only a couple of times a year. After he had done that for a bit, he taught himself how to read blueprints. He only had a fifth grade education, and he taught himself how to read blueprints, he was no dummy. He got a job working as a foreman, in marine construction.

Well, the day came, and we went out to the guy's land. It was me, my father, and my brothers, along with the rest of my father's work crew. Now, I was young, in good shape, I had just got out of the army, and so I said to my old man, "Pop, today, I'm going to show you how to work." So, we went to work. We took a two man cross-cut saw and started on the trees.

"Two man crosscut saw?" I asked

Yeah, it's a big saw, so big that you need two people to use it, one guy on each end, pulling back and forth. We didn't have chainsaws back then. So, my father and I went to work with one, him on one side, me on the other. Well, we went on for a few hours, and it came time for lunch. I was tuckered out. I don't think I've worked that hard in a long time. I flopped out on the ground exhausted, figuring that I'd rest up during lunch, and then get back to work. Well, I looked up from the ground, and there was my father, handling that saw on his own. He just looked at me and laughed. He said, "You just go ahead and show me how to work." That old man could work like nobody else.

[image credit: fine-tools.com]

God's version of multiplication

God uses "different" math. It seems that God's plan for us doesn't so much include addition, as multiplication. Recently, my wife and I read through the book of Ruth, where I was struck by the way in which God responded to Ruth's commitment. Here's a quick synopsis of Ruth:




There was a famine in Israel, a man named Elimelech took his sons and his wife Naomi to the neighboring nation of Moab, because Moab had food. The sons married women from Moab. Elimelech and his sons died, leaving Naomi with her two daughters-in-law, one of whom was named Ruth. None of them had jobs, and so none of them had food. Naomi decided to go back to Israel, because the famine had ended. Ruth went with Naomi, saying:

"Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." Ruth 1:16b-17

Naomi lets Ruth comes with her, they settle in Bethlehem, which is where Elimelech's family lives. They're poor, and so Ruth goes out to the fields gathering grain, where she meets Boaz, who eventually is so impressed with the kind of woman she is, that he marries her.

Now, that's a very quick summary of the book of Ruth, and I strongly suggest that instead of the cliff-notes version, you go for the real thing. It's quite short, only four chapters, but too long for me to reproduce the whole thing here. That being said, God, like Boaz, seems somewhat impressed by Ruth. When Ruth and Naomi are living in Bethlehem, all the people of the town are impressed by Ruth. She doesn't complain, she works hard. She takes care of her mother-in-law, because she thinks that's the right thing to do. Moreover, she has decided that she will follow Naomi's God.

This is the kind of commitment God is looking for, and when he finds it, he acts. In the short term, God acted in Ruth's life by introducing her to Boaz. Boaz is a good man. Boaz sees Ruth working in his field, and asks the foreman about her. Having heard a good report about her, that she works hard, that she doesn't steal, Boaz says to Ruth:

"My daughter, listen to me, don't go into another field, and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you, and whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled." Ruth 2:8-9

To quickly take this apart, Boaz says to Ruth, you can stay here, nobody will hurt you, this was a serious concern, a woman alone, out in the fields, was open to all sorts of things happening, from an accident to an assault. Second, he says, my protection will extend to you when they're done with this field, you should follow my workers to their next worksite, and you'll be able to continue to gather food there. Also, when you're thirsty, you can have some of their water.

At lunch, Boaz offers Ruth some food, and tells her that she's welcome to the company lunch that he provides. It's important to note two cultural things here. First, Ruth didn't work for Boaz. She wasn't an employee, and what she gathered from his field wouldn't benefit him economically, instead, she was taking the "gleaning", the stalks of grain that the harvesters missed. She would be taking the grain home and either eating it, or selling it for household necessities. Second here is that eating together is a serious thing in the middle-east. It's not like having coffee here, it's more like staying at somebody's house for the weekend. Boaz is saying to Ruth that even though she's not there to benefit the company, she can be part of the company for all other purposes.

A quick update on the score. Ruth has given her life to God ("your God will be my God.")

God has provided Ruth with a safe place to gather food.

God has also introduced Ruth to Boaz, who has provided daily lunch and cool water.

Ruth heads home from her day's work, having gathered a large amount of grain (about 5 gallons), Naomi is impressed, because this is more than would normally have been expected. (Boaz had told his workers to leave a bit more grain than usual in the fields, so she could gather it.) Naomi asks whose field Ruth worked in, and is happy to hear it was Boaz, he's a relative of Elimelech's, and he's known in town as a good man.

A little time passes, Ruth continues to gather grain in Boaz's fields. Enough time has passed in fact that they've moved on to a new crop, and they're harvesting Barley. While I'm not a farmer, I understand that Barley is harvested after wheat. Naomi tells Ruth that she should ask Boaz if he's interested in marrying her. Boaz is single, Ruth is single, Boaz might like Ruth. So, Naomi tells Ruth to get dressed up, and sneak up to the place where they're threshing the barley, and have a chat with Boaz. Ruth does everything Naomi tells her. 

"I will do everything you say," Ruth answered. Ruth 3:5

It works, Boaz is totally into her. But, there's a little problem, see, there's another relative, who is ahead of Boaz for the right to buy Elimelech's property. The property carries the family line, and it's owner will be expected to marry Ruth, and with her, produce an heir for Elimelech. This gets a bit complicated, but it was important that a person's name not dissapear from the history of the Nation of Israel, and the way that was organized, was to ensure that a person's name was always on his property, even if he was dead. So, Boaz heads into town the next day, and talks to the guy. The guy is interested in the property, but not interested in Ruth. He doesn't want any kids he has with Ruth to get his property, because he already has kids, who have their eye on the family farm. So, Boaz and Ruth are in the clear.

Boaz and Ruth get married.

Score update: Ruth gives her life to God.

God gives Ruth an income.

God gives Ruth a good reputation in her town.

God introduces Ruth to Boaz.

Ruth and Boaz get married, meaning that Ruth goes from being poor, to being rather rich.

Boaz and Ruth get pregnant (I think Ruth handled most of the being pregnant part of this), and they have a son. They name their son "Obed" (This name won't be in the running when I become a parent). Obed grows up and has a son (again, mostly his wife's doing), named Jesse. Jesse grows up and has several sons, the youngest of whom is named David. David grows up and becomes King of Israel, and is remembered today, something like 3,000 years later, as the greatest king Israel ever had. David has sons, who have children, who have children. One of those children, several generations later is named Jesus. Jesus is also God. Jesus grows up and dies for our sins.

Final Score: Ruth has given her life to God. In turn God has improved Ruth's immediate circumstances by putting her into a relationship with a loving husband. God has also put Ruth into the lineage of his own son, Jesus. This is a pretty huge honor (I can't imagine one bigger). Ruth's great grandson becomes King. Several generations later, one of her descendants is the King of Kings. In my opinion, God didn't so much as add to Ruth's life, as multiply it.

Home is where the heart is Part 4: The guts of a house

I did a lot of things myself on this house. I went down to [local lumber company] and picked out the cabinets. They had a set that somebody had ordered, but then didn't want, so I picked 'em up for half price. Pretty good deal too, I had to cut a couple down to size, but that's no big thing. So, I got the cabinets. But, the real work was doing the plumbing and the electrical for the house.

Now, plumbing's not that hard, you just have to know what you're doing. It's a lot easier to do when you put in all the pipes before the walls are covered in drywall, that way, you can see everything you're doing. So, that's what I did, I ran the pipes, and did all the soldering. I put them all in, so that when the walls were up, I could just connect up the sinks and shower, and I'd be all set. Now, the plumbing, it's not so hard, you just make sure that the pipes don't leak. But, the electrical, that's another trick.

I didn't want to do all the wiring, because I didn't really know what I was doing, and I didn't want the house to burn down. So, what I did was I talked to my brother the electrician. He told me that I should run all the wires, and that he'd hook them up. So, that's what I did, took me a couple of days, but I ran all the wires through the house, got them where they needed to go, then he came down one day, and checked my work. He said that they all looked good, and he hooked them up to the fusebox. By the time I built my garage, I was good enough that all I needed him to do was check my work, I did all the hooking up myself.

on Thirst

I had the flu this weekend. There is little in life I hate more than throwing up, but almost worse than that is the thirst. The dangerous part of the flu is dehydration, which I got to experience, but, thanks to God's grace and my wife's care, not to a dangerous level. The problem of course was that I couldn't drink much, because I couldn't keep it down. So, instead, I had to endure the thirst. It made me think of this verse:

"On the last, and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.'" John 7:37

No one in the crowd should have been physically thirsty. It was the last day of a multi-day feast. People had been eating and drinking as much as they could manage for several days. There was no reason for anyone to need anything more, yet Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty..."

Jesus describes himself several times in scripture as "living water," He tells people that if they drink of him, that they will never again thirst. By this he means spiritual thirst, not the physical sort I was enjoying. In that context though, I was thinking about Jesus choice of that metaphor, when I was so thirsty, there was nothing that occupied my mind so much as the thought of drinking a glass of cool, clear water. I couldn't stop thinking about it, I was consumed by it. In the same way, I think, Jesus is pointing out to a thirsty world that even though they don't realize what they want, they're looking for Him. This morning, with my breakfast, I drank several cool, delicious glasses of water. They were wonderful. Sitting on my table, illuminated by the sunlight coming in through the front window, the water looked beautiful. I think that's how Jesus wants us to see Him. That He is able to quench our thirst, that He is pleasing to the eye, and good for the body. Better yet, unlike the religions that the world offers, He is alive, and once you've had Him, you'll never want for anything else again.

Speaking of which, I'm off to have another glass of water.