Randy Greenwald

Sometimes the most brilliant observations are the most obvious. Like the day I realized that my children’s fears though irrational, were nevertheless fears, and should be approached as such, and not brushed off.

Recently, I’ve seen this principle at work in my study of the Bible, and in my wrestling through life. The other day, for example, I realized that Matthew 6:34 followed – are you ready for this? – Matthew 6:33. It was that obvious. It hit me over the head like an apple from a tree.

Anxiety wants to be my best friend, my constant companion. But, really, he’s not very much fun to have around. But somehow, I tolerate and, at times, welcome him. But frankly, I’d like him to leave.

Jesus tells us that Anxiety is not good company in Matthew 6:34.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Read in isolation, this is an exhortation to simply show Anxiety the door. But like the battered wife, mysteriously, I often lack the will to walk away from my abuser.

But read in context, while Anxiety still finds plenty of access to my heart, I find that there is a way to minimize his appeal.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=mat+6.33)

The question is always the attachment of my heart. With my eyes longing for the glory of the kingdom of God, with my arms hanging on to the shepherd for my sheepish life, Anxiety’s influence dims.

But I can’t do this alone. It was a friend in my church who spoke to me about the impact of Matthew 6:33 in his life which reminded me of Matthew 6:34. It is the weekly worship with God’s people that redirects my attention and hunger to Jesus. It is the woman whom God gave me whose hugs and acceptance reminds me that God gives what I need even when I’m unworthy.

In the pantheon of brilliant observations, this is near the top.

Some say that there is no such thing as bad publicity. If that is so, then, it has been a good few weeks for the Bible.

But maybe not.

First, except for those living off the grid in a cabin deep in the Montana wilderness, we all know that certainly (probably? maybe?) the beginning of the end comes this Saturday, at 6:00 PM, New Zealand time. Harold Camping has often been wrong and never in doubt. But he always hedges his bets. His earlier prediction was detailed in a book 1994? with its carefully placed and distinctly ambiguous mark of punctuation. Now he ratchets up his precision (though some in his ‘camp’ say his math could be wrong – there always seems to be an ‘out’). The Bible, his followers say, is always right, and so we wait.

Then, recently, the Presbyterian Church (USA) reached a milestone as the tally of those presbyteries supporting a change in the church’s constitution which would allow actively gay clergy reached the total necessary for approval. This was not unexpected and generated much media conversation about what the Bible does and does not say about homosexuality. The religion editor for the Orlando Sentinel quoted a scholar who, while having the integrity not to try to deny the Bible’s opposition to homosexual sex, nevertheless dismisses such opposition as hopelessly colored by the primitive times in which those prohibitions were written.

Finally, Stephen Hawking has declared that heaven is no more than a fairy tale for those who are afraid of death. In the wake of that claim, which should come as no news to anyone, media has been all over actor Kirk Cameron’s Facebook response and relatively silent on the response of Bishop N. T. Wright (a fairly smart man in his own right) which was respectful and reasoned.

The media loves a tussle, because we love a tussle. But if we are not careful in all of this, there will be serious collateral intellectual damage. The great temptation for any of us once we get hold of a book which possesses authority is that we will want that book to say what we want it to say. If WE believe that communism is right, or capitalism, or whatever, we will want the Book to side with us and we will begin to read it that way.

And for others, hearing people argue passionately opposite sides while claiming the same authority will cause many to determine the book itself has no value. If the book can be made to say whatever its handlers want it to say, then it says nothing at all. If you can prove anything from the bible, then you can prove nothing, and the book is worthless.

As a pastor all of this makes me very cautious in my approach to scripture. We all need to come to the text with deep humility, aware of our own biases and weaknesses and of the ease with which we could slip into error. My prayer, and the prayer that I hope others pray for me and for other pastors, is that when I speak with the Bible as my authority, that I will do so with care, speaking clearly that upon which the Bible itself is clear, and with restraint upon every other thing.

Both challenging and encouraging is this from Bill Mills, founder of Leadership Resources International. Most of you have never heard of Bill or of the mission’s organization he founded, but his servant’s heart and passion for grace oozes from this summary of the husband’s and wife’s role in marriage.

“There is no insight that will change a marriage. There is only one thing that will transform our lives together, and that is the heart of a servant. Only the heart of God pouring through us to one another can give life to a relationship. If all of the competition in our marriages was in trying to outdo one another in being each other’s servant, if all of our fights were over the towel and basin — trying to be there first to wash one another’s feet — there is nothing else we would need to learn about marriage. If God would give us the heart of a servant toward one another, our relationships would overflow with His life and His glory.”

This comes from Bill’s book Naked and Unashamed: Recapturing Family Intimacy available here.

Rarely does my first open of the newspaper in the morning produce such surprising news as this morning when the headline announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed. This had been so long in coming and so often frustrated that I never imagined anything ever happening.

My initial surprise then bled over into reflections upon what the proper response to this should be, particularly among Christians.

I find that I cannot be a fan of death in any of its forms. Death is in this world as a judgment, a curse; the Bible teaches that death is an enemy. I am appalled at the aberration of human thinking that leads to the murder of 3000 innocent men, women, and children simply going to work ten years ago. I’m appalled at the twisted thinking that leads those trained to save life to determine that that unborn child is not life and qualifies for termination. Death is the enemy of what it means to be human.

And yet, death is an enemy which in this world has to be mustered to our use. It is in this broken world the currency of justice, and a weapon given to those who rule for the cause of peace.

“For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:3, 4)

I have said before that because of the possibility of misusing this weapon that the government should take great care in, if not abandon, its use. But it is a just weapon which has its place and I would be loathe to suggest that the government had anything less than a calling to find this man and bring justice to him.

But somehow I find the celebrations to be unseemly. Death is death. No matter how evil is the one who has received justice, death is still an awful thing in a broken world.

Several Twitter posts helped bring this to a sense of perspective for me.

Author and critic Jeffrey Overstreet rightly challenges the sentiment which may underly our celebrations:

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him. (Proverbs 24:17-18)

Challenging words for those who honor the God in whose book they reside. Death should not be the catalyst for a party, should it?

And yet, there is a desire to celebrate. Musician Derek Webb pinpoints the proper context for that celebration in his short post:

dont celebrate death, celebrate justice

In celebrating justice we celebrate an attribute of God which his kingdom brings in increasing measure. Justice is something to cheer, albeit inwardly. And our celebration ought to be focused upon the God in whose hand is justice.

Finally, I was encouraged as well by the thoughts of minor league pitcher Dirk Hayhurst (aka @TheGarfoose):

While I understand the God Bless America sentiment, how about God Bless every nation terrorism has caused senseless pain and suffering?

Such encourages us to subdue the nationalism and recognize that an enemy of something greater than our country has been brought to justice. And this is good.