When God Uses People

Recently I've been reading the Old Testament, starting with Genesis, and currently in Job. Dare I say it? Parts of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and 1 Chronicles are very repetitive: very detailed descriptions of the tabernacle, furniture, priestly clothing, sacrifices and the temple; lists of people and their positions. I have to admit it, I skimmed over those chapters this time. But the excruciating details and lists of obscure people communicate some important things.

First, the God who created everything "good" should be served with our best skills, with our full attention and With our complete respect. Second, while many of the people in the lists are obscure, unknown, to us God knew them and recognized them by mentioning what they did in His word. God won't be listing us in the Bible, but He does know us and He does know what we do. God cares about even us "nobodies"!

On another tack, encouraging and sobering, God uses those who are available to Him, flaws and all. It's comforting, because I'm certainly a very flawed person! It's sobering, because God even used some REALLY flawed people. Being used by God is no "badge" of goodness or spiritual maturity; it is, however, a "badge" of God's grace.

One of the very detailed lists of people and functions/positions is in 1 Chronicles 21. What stood our for me, though, was that this was a reorganization of people done by David in preparation for the building of the temple (which would be done by his son, Solomon). Similarly, I believe, God will prepare His people before He does significant things!

Serving God & Proper Perspective

Remember that God does not need us to do His work. Being the One Who created the universe, God is quite powerful enough. He chooses to bless us by working through us. When God works through us, the power, the wisdom, the fruit are His doing. When God accomplishes something through us, we need to remember that we may not have been His Plan A or B (or ZZ!).

Of Moral Slippery Slopes

It's better not to jump onto a moral slippery slope than it is to struggle to crawl off. Struggling and managing to crawl off is, of course, better than riding the slope all the way down.

Easter - A Debunker Debunked

One of the predictable elements of every Easter season here in Silicon Valley (and I'm sure we're not unique) has been our local newspaper publishing one or more articles "debunking" Jesus and/or the Gospels. Of course, the "experts" and "theologians" chosen as sources were exclusively (or almost so) of the viewpoint that nothing can be certainly known about Jesus, if He even existed, and that the Gospels could not have been written by eyewitnesses, but were written a generation later. Known manuscript evidence is more consistent with the Gospels having been written during the first several decades of the church, but when the newspaper story writer picks only skeptics as “authorities”, readers (and possibly the writer) won't know that.

Anyway, in honor of this Easter-Debunker Season, I thought I'd have a little fun by showing how one of the common-debunker sneers falls apart when examined. My meditation for Easter written in 2011, http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/04/meditation-for-easter-sunday.html, looks at the events of that day and its meaning to Christians and the Christian faith. Today I thought I'd go lighter.

One very common claim made to dismiss and ignore the resurrection of Jesus is that the Christian account is merely a rip-off of other religions' resurrection stories. Very well, let's consider the three pagan “resurrection stories” of which early Christians might have been aware and from which they night have been able to draw.

Osiris - Egyptian; not associated with history; key players were gods or divine persons engaged in a power and family (Osiris had sex with his brother's wife/consort) struggle; Osiris' body was dismembered and distributed across Egypt; Osiris' wife Isis found all but one part; with the help of other gods, Osiris' body was preserved and Isis was able to conceive his son, Horus, who succeeded Osiris; annual death-renewal cycle associated with the annual flooding of the Nile.

Tammuz - Mesopotamian; multiple variants of the story; vague/legendary association with history; annual cycle of descent to and return from the realm of the dead (no clear death event) associated with annual season changes (6 months' livable, 6 months of deadly heat); Tammuz was a god (or divine), as was his wife/consort Ishtar; her plea to and a compromise decision by other gods are at the core of the story; this compromise time allowed Tammuz to split time, annually, between the realm of the dead and Ishtar; mourning for Tammuz mentioned briefly in Ezekiel and condemned.

Adonis - Canaanite-Greek-Roman; vague/legendary association with history in some variants; Adonis' parentage/birth may have been divine, involving divine personages or incest; annual death-return cycle associated with spring and emergence of plants after winter; each variant involved a goddess-lover or a love triangle with goddess-lovers and a plea a goddess-lover to and a compromise decision by other gods; this compromise time allowed Adonis to split time, annually, between the realm of the dead and the lover.

By way of contrast, the account of Jesus' life, death and resurrection are set in a very specific place (Galilee and Judea) and time (the reigns of the Roman Emperors Augustus and Tiberius), and include many other verifiable historic details. The Tammuz and Adonis myths (which have similarities substantial enough to suggest the Greeks may have drawn from the Mesopotamians) - some variants, at least - are set in quasi-historical legendary “times”. The myth of Osiris is not set in history.

The course of Jesus' life and death is that of a normal human being, His death happening just once, and his resurrection being a true resurrection to life, with encounters and associations with ordinary people. In the myths of Tammuz and Adonis only one of the two clearly died, neither are truly resurrected, both return only to their lover/consort, and both have to return again to the realm of the dead. Osiris is never resurrected in any sense, but remains in the realm of the dead.

In the myths of Osiris, Tammuz and Adonis, all the players are divine personages. Those around Jesus during His life and at His death and resurrection are all ordinary people.

In the myths of Osiris, Tammuz and Adonis, Osiris, et al, are in an annual and perpetual death-and-return cycle that is tied to the regions' climate and agriculture. Jesus' death and resurrection happened once, and its timing was a particular religious festival in a particular year. Good Friday, Easter and Passover celebrations remember historical events, and are not understood as recapitulations of those events.

In the myths of Tammuz and Adonis, those mythical personages' annual journeys to and from the realm of the dead occurred months apart (according to seasons of the year), and were celebrated/commemorated as such. Jesus' death and resurrection happened days apart and are celebrated/commemorated days apart.

It almost seems superfluous, at this point, to state it in simple terms, but the myths of Osiris, Tammuz and Adonis differ so substantially and systematically from the account of Jesus' death and resurrection as to render skeptics' sneer that Christians ripped off pagan resurrection myths absurd.

As a bonus, being slightly related, I will add that the claim by some who are or claim to be Christian that “Easter” (and therefore the celebration thereof) is pagan, “Easter” being derived from the name of the Mesopotamian Ishtar is also false. The word “Easter” is of Germanic etymology, not Mesopotamian. And the name for what Anglo-Germans call Easter in Romance languages is entirely different, derived from the Latin word for Passover. Similarly, the timing of celebrating Easter is tied to the Jewish religious calendar, not the Mesopotamian religious calendar (is such a calendar even known?).

Saturday Before Easter: More on Christian Unity

I thought it might be good, on this day between Good Friday and Easter, to explore a little further what Jesus prayed for in John 17:22-23: Christian unity. I wrote about this topic at some length back in 2011:

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/06/some-thoughts-on-christian-unity-from.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/06/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/06/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in_25.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/06/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in_27.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/07/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/07/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in_03.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/07/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in_08.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/07/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in_24.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/07/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in_31.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/08/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/08/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in_20.html

http://soapypetesbox.blogspot.com/2011/08/christian-unity-and-boundaries-in_21.html

Summing it all up briefly (but barely scratching the surface), there is much common ground among Christians, and there are definite boundaries. The immediate context of the verses cited above confirm that there are boundaries - this Christian unity pertains to those who truly are Christian believers. Members of other religions are not bound by Jesus' teaching. That doesn't mean Christians should be hateful or rude to them; the command to love others applies. "Garage Christians" - those who say they are Christians because they attend church but don't really believe in Jesus or what He taught - are not bound by this either, but are to be loved by Christians.

BUT with other Christian believers, I believe Jesus' meaning is that I am obligated to accept and fellowship with another believer to the degree possible. Put another way, the limits should be the circumstances in which we meet and limits set up by the other believer. In practice, at the outset I ask and listen, and I observe. Does a person say that they believe in Jesus? What do they say that means to them? From what can be seen of their behavior and speech, are those consistent with what they say they believe? I don't do it like a lawyer questioning a witness in court, but just in the normal course of conversation and getting to know the person.

What kinds of things would lead me to conclude some one claiming to be a Christian is not, or would preclude or limit fellowship?

• Some one who claimed to be a Christian but rejects the basic teachings of Christianity is not a Christian, and there is no basis for Christian fellowship. As noted above, that's no reason to be hateful or rude; it's just an honest assessment. Depending on circumstances, I may, lovingly, try to share the Gospel with them.
• A person claiming to be a believer, but is unrepentantly living a lifestyle contrary to the basic morals taught in Christianity is some one with whom I cannot fellowship. I may try (with the same qualifications as above) to show them from the scriptures how their lifestyle is contrary to Christian belief and practice and their need for repentance (and possibly for genuine faith).
• The beliefs of a person from a group that believes they are the only true Christians prevent me from having Christian fellowship with them. They think I'm not a Christian. I may try to show them from scripture that all believers, regardless of denomination or affiliation, are Christians.
• The beliefs and pride of a person from a group that believes they are a spiritual elite or in some way better than or superior to believers not in the group place limits on our ability to fellowship. I may try to show them that their feeling of elitism is contrary to scripture.
• The beliefs of a person from a group with peculiar (i.e. special, not necessarily weird) teachings may impose, “don't go there,” or, “go there carefully and respectfully,” limits, but I try to focus on the core that we have in common.

The bottom line for me is that unity and fellowship with fellow Christian believers is not an if-I-feel-like-it option, it's an obligation. Boundaries are where scripture places them; limitations should not originate in me.

Good Friday: Why Did Jesus Do It?

I need to start this off right ... "My name is PeteS, and I am a Chronic Over-Explainer." I'm a life-long member of Over-Explainers Annoymorous, but I'm going to try to hit the key ideas briefly.

The basic answer to the title question is found in the natures of God and man. God is righteous, just and love; God is a Creator. In saying that God is a Creator, I mean more than that He created our universe. It means that the universe was an expression of God being a Creator.

God created man with the ability to choose - to obey or disobey, to love or not love - his Creator. Those choices would have consequences, and with the first man's choice to disobey that changed his and his descendants' nature from good to not good, i.e. sinful.

With that choice made, God's justice would not allow Him to allow or force mankind to spend eternity in the presence of the God mankind had rejected. God's righteousness would not allow Him to tolerate sin in His presence. As Creator and One Who loves His creation, God would not do nothing, a this would consign all His human creatures to an eternity separated from Him.

The "something" God did was Jesus. Fully human, yet still God; truly good, yet sadistically punished as the worst of criminals; Jesus life and death satisfied God's righteousness and justice for as many as believe in Him. Persons who acknowledge their need before God and put their full trust in what Jesus did are forgiven and will be with God in eternity. Jesus' life, sufferings and death were substitutionary. That Jesus was at once human and God is essential. Jesus led a sinless life while subjected to all the temptations humans face, but was nevertheless punished as if he were a sinner - human for human substitution. Jesus was also God, making the "value" of that substitution, and extending it to, as many as believe. God's love is proffered. This why why Hebrews 12:2 says of Jesus, "who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame." Believers being redeemed so that they could be with Him in eternity was the "joy" Jesus had in prospect.

Bible "Heroes"

I've been reading recently in Genesis and Exodus. People like Abraham and Moses tend to get portrayed a bit unrealistically. To be sure, they were men of faith, used by God. They were also normal human beings, with quirks and faults. Abraham was so fearful of being one household sojourning in a larger nation that he had Sarah tell people he was her brother. This led to a serious mess ... twice! Later, Isaac, Abraham's son did the same thing, with much the same result. Isaac's son, Jacob, was a deceptive, weaseling, wheeler-dealer. Two of Jacob's sons wiped out all the men in a small town in revenge for the son of the town's chief having raped their sister. Jacob's oldest son slept with one of Jacob's wives. Ten of Jacob's sons sold their half-brother into slavery. Moses was a fearful conflict avoider.

Taken together - their faults and their faith - maybe there's hope for me!