Mom’s Well-Worn Bible (September 25, 2005)
Quite by accident today I spotted my mother's Bible on one of my bookshelves. I thought I had lost it. I looked for it months ago when I wanted to use it in a sermon illustration, but somehow I must have scanned right past it. Maybe I missed it then so that God could spring it on me today when I was most in need of a token of his grace.
Mom's Bible is well-worn and full of marginal notes, and leafing through it reveals a thousand insights into a life spent pursuing the wisdom of God. Here are some notes from a single opened page:
- Proverbs 18:12: Haughtiness comes before disaster, and humility before honor. Mom noted, "Hindu word for humility is 'the dust' - Their proverb - 'You can walk on the dust forever, and it never answers back.'"
- 19:6: Many will entreat the favor of the liberal man, and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts. Mom quoted from Harry Ironside, former pastor of Moody Church: "How different the Spirit of Him who was charged with receiving sinners and eating with them, who sought not the smiles of the great nor feared their frown!"
- 19:11: Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense. Mom personalized this verse, crossing out "a man" and "his" and replacing them with "me" and "my."
- 19:13: A self-confident and foolish son is the multiplied calamity of his father, and the contentions of a wife are as a continual dropping of water through a chink in the roof. Mom wrote, "A foolish son and a contentious wife are very likely to be together - wife dismissing her husband's authority and taking sides with children in opposition to his proper discipline. Children will despise father's authority and defy mother's correction when she does attempt it."
- 19:17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and that which he has given He will repay to them. Next to this Mom wrote "Jehovah - patron of the poor. Fred and Gloria - R & G $100." I'm pretty sure she was remembering a charitable gift from her friends Fred and Gloria to my sister and brother-in-law.
- 19:25: Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove a man of understanding, and he will increase in knowledge. Mom commented, "The truth itself is of greater value in the eyes of him who has understanding than his own dignity."
- 20:3: It is an honor for a man to cease from strife and keep aloof from it. Mom jotted down "2 Chron. 35 Josiah's slip" - a reference to good King Josiah's ill-advised foray into King Neco's war.
So it is on page after page as Mom took the Scriptures to heart by commenting on them, posing questions, quoting from literature and sermons, cross-referencing other verses, rebuking herself(!) and matching Scriptural wisdom to current experience. How many people have had the privilege of being raised by a parent with such a godly
devotion to the Word?
I know that Mom wrote those notes for herself, not for me. But by his mercy God used those notes to help me recover today from a mostly sleepless night and a morning steeped in melancholy. I find that grief still hovers about me, and threatens to render me forgetful of grace and contemptuous of duty. But God nudges me with reminders of the goodness I have known, the holiness I have seen, the spiritual
benefits I have tasted. May he do the same for you, and gladden your heart with glimpses of goodness on days that loom dark.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Sunday, September 18, 2005
“You Fill My Cup” (September 18, 2005)
My sister Grace held a Bible study in her home last week with about a dozen women from her church. They all had to bring a mug that meant something to them, and the theme had to do with the filling of our spiritual cups. At one point Grace (whose name, like Jacob or Nabal in the Bible, is providentially matched to her character) told each of the women present how they filled her cup.
Mary does it by talking to Lilliet, Grace's adopted Down Syndrome daughter. Grace said to Mary, "I know that Lilliet is not easy to talk to, but every Sunday at church you go up to her and greet her and ask her how her week was. That fills my cup."
Beth does it by making sure Grace is not alone on a day of grief, like Annie's birthday. Annie was Grace's other retarded adopted daughter who died a year ago of heart failure. "Beth, you visited me on Annie's birthday. That fills my cup."
Jane, Ruth and Nancy do it just by coming to church! Jane has a 6-month old and a 2-year-old, and Grace knows from experience how hard it is to get little ones ready for Sunday worship. Ruth has scoliosis and lives in constant pain, but somehow that does not keep her from church. And Nancy has been hit so hard by life's woes that it is a wonder she can stand at all. She is 23, was raised by foster parents, and has three children - the oldest of which is 4. Seven months ago Nancy's step-father-in-law murdered three people before taking his own life. Three months ago Nancy's husband also committed suicide, and so she moved back in with her foster parents. Grace said, "When you walk into church on Sunday mornings, that fills my cup."
A characteristic that I share with my sister is that I too draw spiritual sustenance from those who persevere in the Lord despite grave sorrow and setback. Like my friend Hosea (not his real name). Some time ago I emailed him the following quote from C. S. Lewis:
"The husband is the head of the wife just in so far as he is to her what Christ is to the Church. He is to love her as Christ loved the Church...and give his life for her (Ephesians 5:25, emphasis original). This headship, then, is most fully embodied not in the husband we should all wish to be but in him whose marriage is most like a crucifixion; whose wife receives most and gives least, is most unworthy of him, is - in her own mere nature - least lovable."
What I didn't know at the time was that Hosea's own marriage was "most like a crucifixion." His wife has run up $74,000 of credit card debt, she curses him and the children with unspeakably foul and hostile language, she has threatened to kill him, she has alienated their mutual friends. And yet Hosea continues to serve the Lord, honors his vows, seeks to do what is right, has ministered frequently to me with words of wisdom and grace in the midst of my own pain. That fills my cup.
A few days ago I turned off a local Christian radio station in disgust as some idiot (forgive me) bragged about the methods he used "to make my good marriage a GREAT marriage." Yeah, right. Look, moron, how hard is it to have a great marriage when your wife is pleasant and godly and loves the Lord? You don't have anything to say to me, and you sure don't fill my cup. Hosea does.
My sister Grace held a Bible study in her home last week with about a dozen women from her church. They all had to bring a mug that meant something to them, and the theme had to do with the filling of our spiritual cups. At one point Grace (whose name, like Jacob or Nabal in the Bible, is providentially matched to her character) told each of the women present how they filled her cup.
Mary does it by talking to Lilliet, Grace's adopted Down Syndrome daughter. Grace said to Mary, "I know that Lilliet is not easy to talk to, but every Sunday at church you go up to her and greet her and ask her how her week was. That fills my cup."
Beth does it by making sure Grace is not alone on a day of grief, like Annie's birthday. Annie was Grace's other retarded adopted daughter who died a year ago of heart failure. "Beth, you visited me on Annie's birthday. That fills my cup."
Jane, Ruth and Nancy do it just by coming to church! Jane has a 6-month old and a 2-year-old, and Grace knows from experience how hard it is to get little ones ready for Sunday worship. Ruth has scoliosis and lives in constant pain, but somehow that does not keep her from church. And Nancy has been hit so hard by life's woes that it is a wonder she can stand at all. She is 23, was raised by foster parents, and has three children - the oldest of which is 4. Seven months ago Nancy's step-father-in-law murdered three people before taking his own life. Three months ago Nancy's husband also committed suicide, and so she moved back in with her foster parents. Grace said, "When you walk into church on Sunday mornings, that fills my cup."
A characteristic that I share with my sister is that I too draw spiritual sustenance from those who persevere in the Lord despite grave sorrow and setback. Like my friend Hosea (not his real name). Some time ago I emailed him the following quote from C. S. Lewis:
"The husband is the head of the wife just in so far as he is to her what Christ is to the Church. He is to love her as Christ loved the Church...and give his life for her (Ephesians 5:25, emphasis original). This headship, then, is most fully embodied not in the husband we should all wish to be but in him whose marriage is most like a crucifixion; whose wife receives most and gives least, is most unworthy of him, is - in her own mere nature - least lovable."
What I didn't know at the time was that Hosea's own marriage was "most like a crucifixion." His wife has run up $74,000 of credit card debt, she curses him and the children with unspeakably foul and hostile language, she has threatened to kill him, she has alienated their mutual friends. And yet Hosea continues to serve the Lord, honors his vows, seeks to do what is right, has ministered frequently to me with words of wisdom and grace in the midst of my own pain. That fills my cup.
A few days ago I turned off a local Christian radio station in disgust as some idiot (forgive me) bragged about the methods he used "to make my good marriage a GREAT marriage." Yeah, right. Look, moron, how hard is it to have a great marriage when your wife is pleasant and godly and loves the Lord? You don't have anything to say to me, and you sure don't fill my cup. Hosea does.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Suicide And Hell (September 11, 2005)
Do people who commit suicide go to hell?
I was asked that twice last week, so I thought I'd use a Pastor's Page to respond. My short answer is "Not necessarily." My long answer is more complicated.
Suicide is sin because it is murder, a violation of the commandment "Thou shalt not kill." The Bible does not specifically condemn self-murder, but that should not surprise us because the Bible often connects its rules with penalties for their infractions. Suicide renders those responses moot. You can execute a man who has killed someone else, but there is not much you can do to penalize the corpse of a suicide.
There are several suicides in the Bible, and they tend to involve privileged men who went bad. Samson was the original suicide bomber (or rather, suicide building-collapser - Judges 16:28-31). King Saul fell on his own sword to keep from being slain by Philistines (1 Samuel 31:1-6). Ahithophel took his life when Absalom would not take his advice (probably assuming that Absalom’s rebellion against David was doomed to fail - 2 Samuel 17:23). Zimri burned his house down around him (1 Kings 16:18). Judas hung himself after betraying Christ (Matthew 27:3-10). In all these cases the Bible just tells what these men did without telling us whether it was wrong. Of course, they all did wrong things that led to their suicides.
Though suicide is a kind of murder, I think it is the least bad kind. In fact, I actually recommend it to hell-bent fiends who would otherwise kill the innocent - like mothers who smother, drown, or stab their kids (Marilyn Lemak, Susan Smith and Tonya Vasilev, respectively). In such cases I wonder, "Why couldn't you just kill yourself, you demon freak?" Think how many lives could be saved if sick murderers and murderesses would just direct all their lethal hostilities inward.
Does suicide damn the soul? Not by itself, I would say - though suicide is the kind of thing that damned souls do. We are saved by faith in Christ, and no sin but apostasy can take that away. Some believe that suicides go to hell because they die with unconfessed sin (unless, I suppose, they die slow and confess before losing consciousness), but that argument never convinced me. We all have unconfessed sin, all the time, and will die with a million of those on our record. I've already sinned today by not loving the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and it's only 9 o'clock in morning.
I imagine there are good and faithful servants of Christ, who, in moments of weakness, or suffering from brain chemicals gone haywire, take their own lives. I see no reason why God, who knows the end from the beginning and who takes all things into account, might not have mercy on their souls and receive them into his presence. A friend of mine, a Korean War vet who suffers from tinnitus, told me that one time the ringing in his ears suddenly blasted louder than a freight train for several seconds before dissipating back to its normal level. He said that if that ever happened again, and the noise did not stop, he would definitely kill himself. I thanked him for telling me. If I ever have to conduct his tragic funeral I can tell people what probably transpired. But whatever happens, I know my friend is a believer whose name is written in the Book of Life.
I was once asked the suicide-and-hell question by someone who (I did not know at the time) was suicidal. That is where the question is really dangerous. The last thing I want to do is encourage a depressed person to think, "If I kill myself I get to go to heaven." Heaven forbid. Though it is true that even murderers and adulterers can get to heaven - King David did - we still don't want to encourage murder and adultery. I don't ever want to be guilty of tempting a depressed person with the promise of a happy hereafter. If you are suicidal, (A) Don't do it, and (B) Get help. Take that as an order from God.
Do people who commit suicide go to hell?
I was asked that twice last week, so I thought I'd use a Pastor's Page to respond. My short answer is "Not necessarily." My long answer is more complicated.
Suicide is sin because it is murder, a violation of the commandment "Thou shalt not kill." The Bible does not specifically condemn self-murder, but that should not surprise us because the Bible often connects its rules with penalties for their infractions. Suicide renders those responses moot. You can execute a man who has killed someone else, but there is not much you can do to penalize the corpse of a suicide.
There are several suicides in the Bible, and they tend to involve privileged men who went bad. Samson was the original suicide bomber (or rather, suicide building-collapser - Judges 16:28-31). King Saul fell on his own sword to keep from being slain by Philistines (1 Samuel 31:1-6). Ahithophel took his life when Absalom would not take his advice (probably assuming that Absalom’s rebellion against David was doomed to fail - 2 Samuel 17:23). Zimri burned his house down around him (1 Kings 16:18). Judas hung himself after betraying Christ (Matthew 27:3-10). In all these cases the Bible just tells what these men did without telling us whether it was wrong. Of course, they all did wrong things that led to their suicides.
Though suicide is a kind of murder, I think it is the least bad kind. In fact, I actually recommend it to hell-bent fiends who would otherwise kill the innocent - like mothers who smother, drown, or stab their kids (Marilyn Lemak, Susan Smith and Tonya Vasilev, respectively). In such cases I wonder, "Why couldn't you just kill yourself, you demon freak?" Think how many lives could be saved if sick murderers and murderesses would just direct all their lethal hostilities inward.
Does suicide damn the soul? Not by itself, I would say - though suicide is the kind of thing that damned souls do. We are saved by faith in Christ, and no sin but apostasy can take that away. Some believe that suicides go to hell because they die with unconfessed sin (unless, I suppose, they die slow and confess before losing consciousness), but that argument never convinced me. We all have unconfessed sin, all the time, and will die with a million of those on our record. I've already sinned today by not loving the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and it's only 9 o'clock in morning.
I imagine there are good and faithful servants of Christ, who, in moments of weakness, or suffering from brain chemicals gone haywire, take their own lives. I see no reason why God, who knows the end from the beginning and who takes all things into account, might not have mercy on their souls and receive them into his presence. A friend of mine, a Korean War vet who suffers from tinnitus, told me that one time the ringing in his ears suddenly blasted louder than a freight train for several seconds before dissipating back to its normal level. He said that if that ever happened again, and the noise did not stop, he would definitely kill himself. I thanked him for telling me. If I ever have to conduct his tragic funeral I can tell people what probably transpired. But whatever happens, I know my friend is a believer whose name is written in the Book of Life.
I was once asked the suicide-and-hell question by someone who (I did not know at the time) was suicidal. That is where the question is really dangerous. The last thing I want to do is encourage a depressed person to think, "If I kill myself I get to go to heaven." Heaven forbid. Though it is true that even murderers and adulterers can get to heaven - King David did - we still don't want to encourage murder and adultery. I don't ever want to be guilty of tempting a depressed person with the promise of a happy hereafter. If you are suicidal, (A) Don't do it, and (B) Get help. Take that as an order from God.
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