I had planned to get another tattoo while home on furlough this past year.  I even had it approved by the wife.

I intended to get the Hebrew word, hesed, permanently placed on my wedding ring finger, perhaps even inside the outline of a ring itself.  My wife didn’t approve the 3/4 sleeve I wanted, and this was my second choice.  But I never got the tattoo.

I’m not sure if I ran out of time… or if I just didn’t want the tattoo all that much anyway… or if I felt that, because other individuals and churches pay our salaries, I shouldn’t spend money on a tattoo?*  I’m really not sure why I failed to hesedify my finger.  [It wasn't because of Leviticus 19:28.]

**********

A Quick List of Bible Verses Which (may or may not) Relate to the Issue of Tattoos — But Given Without Any Context or Commentary so I Remain Safe From Being Labeled a Heretic

So here’s that Leviticus 19:28:

Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.
I am the LORD.

And here’s Isaiah 44:5, which is not my reason for wanting the tattoo — though it does seem to relate to the issue in question.

Some will say, “I belong to the LORD;” 
   others will call themselves by the name of Jacob; 
still others will write on their hand, “The LORD’s,” 
   and will take the name Israel.

And God’s the one with a tattoo in Isaiah 49:16:

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; 
   your walls are ever before me.

**********

The Why of the Hesed Tattoo

My Hebrew isn’t great.**  [I took it during graduate school while working full-time and coaching a high school soccer team.  Hebrew was a night class, and we had games and practices.  I promised the teacher that, if he wouldn't count the attendance policy against me, I'd study really hard on my own from the book and would be there for the mid-term and the final.  He agreed.  I went to class three times and ended up with a 'C.'  I could kind of read Hebrew for about two weeks after the final -- and then it was all gone except knowing my alphabet and a little vocabulary.]

But if I understand correctly, hesed is a Hebrew word for which there exists no English equivalent.  It deals with God’s love, while pointing to a covenant relationship.  Hesed represents kindness, steadfast love, loyalty, commitment, and probably some other ideas of which I’m not aware.

I like the idea of a second wedding ring, if you will (or rather a first), to remind me that my commitment to Christie, our covenant of marriage, and all the loving kindness present within that relationship is built upon the foundation of our covenant with the Lord himself.  And that I can only love Christie as Christ loves the church when I’m first completely and totally in love with my Father in heaven.  [I'm of the mindset that a husband shouldn't love his wife with all his heart, as his love's probably not any good in the first place:  how i love my wife.]

One of my favorite hesed passages is in Deuteronomy 7, but I’ll give you just verse 9 (read the larger context when you get a chance):

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love (hesed)*** to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

I’m in covenant with God and Christie, and I might as well wear two rings.  That’s basically what I was thinking with the whole hesed thing.  Also, I plan, on the evening of the next full moon, to begin wearing a vial of Christie’s blood in a hemp necklace.

**********

Voice a Complaint, Show Off a Tattoo, or Teach Us Hebrew

What do you think about tattoos: good, bad, ugly?  Do you have a tattoo?  If so, what does it mean; why’d you get it?  How old will your kids be before they can have their first tattoo?  [I'm thinking I'll get Baylor a tear drop on her left cheek when she turns 3.]

And does anyone know Hebrew?  [I welcome more information about the word I want permanently placed on my hand.]

* Though I was just given some Christmas money by my mother and grandparents (who all love tattoos)…

** It’s not even mediocre.

*** Because I usually quote from the NIV, I have here.  However, the Hebrew text actually reads that God keeps his covenant AND hesed, not his covenant OF hesed.  I don’t know that the difference is great — just felt like I should say.  Anyway, I feel like this verse shows well the idea of love and kindness within a reciprocal relationship — hesed.

I may not have answers to all the questions above.  But I was reading the book of Jonah the other day and came across a verse I’d never noticed before.  At the end of the book — after Ninevah has repented and turned to God — we find Jonah pouting and complaining.

He was sitting in the hot sun when a vine grew up over his head to give him shade.  But then a worm chewed through the vine and it withered, leaving Jonah’s head exposed once again to the blazing sun.  And he wasn’t happy about it.  [He even said it'd be better for him to die than to live. Some hot sun.]

That’s when the booming voice of God enters:

You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow.  It sprang up overnight and died overnight.  But Ninevah has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well.  Should I not be concerned about that great city?

Yeah, Jonah, it’s not just the people.  They have a lot of cows there, too.

* Seriously, have you ever looked at PETA’s website?  It’s very strange to me.  I won’t say anything else about it.

** For other related posts, see jonah’s rescue and my resurrection and/or slaughter of a pig.  [If you found my blog by searching for PETA, don't go to that last link -- you won't appreciate it.  I mean that.]

Answer:  Wisdom

Wisdom is the speaker in Proverbs 8:12-36, and these are some of her claims:

• The Lord created me as the first of his works, before his deeds of old.
• When there were no oceans, I was given birth.
• Before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth.
• When he marked out the foundations of the earth.  Then I was the craftsman at his side.

This passage has presented some problems in the past.  Arius saw this text 1) in light of 1 Corinthians 1:24 — in which Jesus is described as “the wisdom of God” — and 2) in light of passages involving Jesus in creation, and he determined Jesus was a created being.

And, so, there was backlash.  Scholars pointed at the Hebrew word qanah (translated ‘create’), and carefully explained that it can also mean ‘to possess.’  ”Yeah, that’s it,” they said, “God merely possessed wisdom and Jesus in the beginning.  He didn’t create them.  Aha, we’ve proved — through our correct understand of Hebrew — that the Arians are wrong.”  [And the pendulum swings.  It seems to me, from what little I understand of the Hebrew language, that this passage necessarily is indeed speaking of creation and birth.  Why must we make words mean other than they do in order to make combat with our enemies?]

Whether it bolsters the Arian view or not, I have to admit that Proverbs 3:19-20 reminds me an awful lot of John’s description of “the word” in the first chapter of his gospel:

By wisdom, the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.

But I think there’s a much better explanation than Christ as a created being.*

The poet here is simply personifying Wisdom, in order to show that God himself is her creator — and that he meticulously employed her during his creation of the world.  God is the author of Wisdom; she is one of his eternal attributes.  Wisdom is, because God is.  And we only truly understand her in light of his good and perfect (and wise) nature.

“But,” you interject, “if God created Wisdom, how can she be part of his eternal nature?”  Two ideas on that:

1. Perhaps the fact that God was the first to have Wisdom makes him her creator, regardless of whether she was with him all along.  Because he is God, all godly attributes were birthed out of him, despite the fact that they were present for all time.
2. But I prefer to think of it this way:  Wisdom is not fully Wisdom until she is employed and acted upon.  Prior to that, she is just a pinch better than Knowledge.  When God created the world and everything in it, he exercised his intelligence, knowledge, and understanding.  The right and proper application of knowledge and understanding is, in my best estimation, wisdom.

Wisdom isn’t just knowing something,
but it’s trying that something on for size,
and finding a good fit. 

When God first moved to utter the words, “Let there be light,” he gave birth to Wisdom.  And when God looked on his creation and saw that it was good, he confirmed her existence.

* I also think it makes perfect sense that New Testament writers would employ/echo this poetic wisdom language in order to demonstrate that Jesus was indeed present before the beginning of time AND involved in creation.  This doesn’t require, though, that the Proverbs writer was speaking of the creation of the Christ in this chapter 8 passage.

Family and Life

• Theron Guild, a potential team member, visited with us in Geita for a few weeks at the end of November.
• Craig Bullington, our team’s first apprentice, arrived in Geita while we were on furlough; he is staying with the Groen family, and will be here until May.
• Jonathan and Brooklyn Sims, potential future missionaries to East Africa, have lived with Christie and I since we returned from the states.  We think of them as 1/2 apprentices, 1/2 surveyors.  They’re currently living in our house in Geita while we are in Dar, and they will be in and out of Geita over the next 4 months.
• Baylor turned two in December and had a birthday “cake” made of jello.  She’s also talking in complete sentences more (I think it’s the jello).
• Brett’s brother, Brian, came (from South Korea) for Christmas; it was nice having family with us for a special holiday.
• Christie’s last trip to the doctor revealed the amount of amniotic fluid is lessening, and Harper is not as big as they would have expected.  We go to the doctor again this Thursday (the due date), at which time they may recommend inducing.
• Brett’s sister, Brittney, moved in with us four days ago.  She has committed to being with us in Tanzania for at least four months, in order to help with Baylor and/or Harper (and with general team Geita work).  Many of you contributed money to assist her in coming, and we want to thank you so much for that.  It’s really a blessing to have Brittney with us.  [You'll notice this work report didn't get written until after she was around to help with things.]

Evangelism and Discipleship

• Our time in Geita was short (between furlough and coming to Dar this week).  But I was able to visit with local churches a few times.  The highlight for me was being in Isebya for a big Christmas celebration, at which five churches were present.  I preached from John 1 on the night before Christmas eve.  We spent that night in the village, worshiped with everyone in the morning, and were still able to be home for our own family Christmas celebration beginning that afternoon.
• No matter how long we end up in Dar es Salaam — waiting for Harper, and then waiting more for her Tanzanian birth papers and American passport — I’ve got a list of things to do that should keep me busy.  The three most important:
  • I’m writing a Swahili curriculum to teach our CPM strategy for evangelism and discipleship to local church leaders.  These churches were not begun with this method of church planting, though I’ve been teaching for a few months the principles upon which it is based.  It’s now time to share with them the strategy as a whole, either to be adopted or rejected.  If adopted, I’ll invest a great deal of my time in mentoring these churches to do CPM.  If rejected, I will continue my relationship with these churches — aiding in church maturation — but I will expend greater efforts elsewhere, in order to disciple the lost.
  • This next week I will begin my initial studies in Kisukuma, the language of the people group with whom we are primarily working.  Until now all my work has been in Kiswahili, but I feel it’s important that I know and use the heart language of those with whom I’m working.  I’m beginning with a few Sukuma grammar books, in order to gain a foundation for the language.  Upon returning to Geita, though, I will seek to take some formal classes (a little hard to come by).
  • The men of the Geita team are in charge of this year’s East African Men’s Missionary Retreat.  We’re hosting the retreat in Kenya, and the dates are February 20-24. Randy Harris (of Abilene Christian University) is our speaker, and roughly 40 missionaries will attend, representing Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Zambia, and possibly even Mozambique.  I’ll be spending some of my time in Dar working on the schedule and logistics of this event.

Development and Service

• Christie’s English class ended just before furlough, and she doesn’t plan to start another one until we get settled back into our house with Harper.
• Our demonstration farm still awaits a home.  The land granted to Neema House by the government is not yet fully in Neema House hands — though some construction has begun on site.
• In the meantime, one of the elders at Mwakiwasha church gave me an acre of his land in the village to be used as an experimental plot.  Right now we’ve planted nothing on it but nitrogen-fixing beans / ground cover, in efforts to improve the soil a bit before planting again in March.
• Also, I taught my first agriculture seminar in the village in December.  I taught on the importance of mulch, and Jonathan and I did a couple of simple demonstrations/experiments during class.  Several people expressed that they would indeed use mulch on a portion of their farms as a more long-term experiment.

Finances

• One of our sponsoring churches raised a one-time gift of $2000 to go towards our costs of living and delivery while here in Dar es Salaam.  We were blessed to find a furnished rental home for $800 per 6 weeks (more than we’d accounted for, but far cheaper than any other options).  Diesel alone ($5.50/gallon) for the round-trip to Dar is $700 more.  Basically, what I’m saying is that if you’d care to make a one-time donation to help us cover some of the costs of having a baby in Dar es Salaam, it would be much appreciated.  Let us know, and we’ll tell you just how to go about doing that.
• Christie and I reworked our budget before furlough, but failed to raise more monthly moneys while home.  [There simply wasn't enough time to visit family, friends, current sponsoring churches, AND potential new sponsoring churches.]  So we’re going to have to attempt to raise about $400 more a month by email.  Our shortfall is due to:Our 2012 budget shows our salary/living expenses at $31,200 and our work fund at $19,440.  If you are interested in a breakdown of those funds, let me know; I’ll be happy to get you a copy of our itemized budget.
  • some non-church funding lost.
  • a 500% increase in the cost of Tanzanian residency / work visas.
  • what we owe for Social Security each year.
  • the rising costs of international health insurance.

Prayer Requests

• a safe delivery and healthy Christie and Harper
• the 11 congregations with whom we’re working in the villages surrounding Geita
• teammate recruitment
• Neema House / demonstration farm lands
• one-time funding (to help with delivery and costs of living in Dar)
• monthly funding
• my ability to learn Kisukuma
• East African Men’s Missionary Retreat, February 20-24

Thank you so much for reading.  And thank you even more for your prayers.  My God bless you to be a blessing to others.

in vain:  producing no result; ineffectual; useless

It’s long troubled me that we’ve understood “taking the Lord’s name in vain” as giving God a last name that rhymes with gamut.*  Not that I’m in favor of using God’s name as an obscenity (or of frequently asking him to damn things**).  It’s just that there’s so much more to the third commandment than a forbiddance to use the big GD — or his little brother, gosh.

Which is worse?  

• A hammer-to-my-thumb-induced profanity OR referring to myself as a Christian, while living exactly like everyone around me?
• Yelling “Jesus Christ!” every time something amazing happens (without genuinely believing these are miracles, I suppose) OR showing my church bulletin to get a discount at Sunday lunch, while having no patience with, or compassion on, the waitress (and not much tip for her, either)?
• Getting so up in arms about a football game that I’m yelling God’s name at 18-year old kids on television OR getting so up in arms about a football game that I’m yelling anything at 18-year olds on television?

nominal Christianity: taking Christ’s name in vain;
calling oneself a Christian, while looking no more like Christ than before;
claiming God as king, while not acting as a loyal citizen of his Kingdom

I’ve been asking myself lately if nominal Christianity is indeed Christianity at all?

This morning I was reading in the Corinthian letters.  Paul is writing in 1 Corinthians 15 about the gospel which he preached to those in Corinth, and he explains in verse 2:

“By this gospel you are saved, IF you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise you have believed in vain.”  (capital if, bolds, and italics mine)

There’s a lot more to Christianity than believing in Jesus Christ.  And it’s entirely possible to have a useless and ineffectual belief in Christ.

“As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.”  2 Corinthians 6:1

There seems to be more to Christianity even than receiving God’s grace.

Now, don’t misunderstand me.  I’m not arguing for a works-based salvation.  But I very much am arguing for salvation-based works.  I’m not suggesting man can merit his own righteousness — but I very much am suggesting God intends to make us righteous after calling us as much.  

When we take Christ’s name as our own, his attitudes and actions should follow close behind.  The Spirit of God living in us should produce a change.  

When I believed God was Lord, accepted his grace and mercy, and was baptized, I clothed myself with Christ.  Don’t tell me I got dressed for nothing.***

---

* There are so very few words in the English language which rhyme with the obscenity conjunction of damn and it.  I kind of feel sorry for all the poets who I’m sure get stuck with that word at the end of a sentence.  If I were writing poetry and felt the need to include such strong language, I suppose I’d make sure it came at the beginning of a line.  That would also probably be good for effect.  

** Oh, the incredible power of the tiny, little comma.  [ie. "God, damn it." -- no longer a cuss word, but an appeal to the Lord to condemn to hell whatever inanimate object with which the speaker is currently dissatisfied.]  For more on commas, see my favorite animals, the oxford comma and you.

*** Me: not a fan of putting clothes on in vain.

Her name is Jane, though I still call her by the name of her youth — Janie.  You may know her as a frequent commenter here on aliens and strangers.  Or you may know her as the author of my own favorite running blog on the internet.  I know her as a friend from church camp and a fellow missionary in China. 

But she wants me to know her as my conscience.

Janie said my blog readers need an update.

And Janie’s right.  So here it is, my friendly readers — what our family’s been up to of late:

• We’ve been back in Geita now for over a week.  We’re really happy to be home again.
• But the transition between time zones did not go as smoothly as we would have liked.  Baylor had a really hard time with the changing sleep schedule (meaning Mama and Baba did, as well).
• We’ve already had some troubles with illness since being back.  Baylor got impetigo, and I had a short-lived viral infection with fever and an achy body.  Baylor’s almost finished a round of antibiotics, and her face is clearing up well; and all that remains from my little bout with a virus is a slight sore throat.  
• I should apologize to those of you who would have been interested in knowing things about our family (like those above), so that you could have been praying for us.*  I’m sorry I didn’t keep you informed; I intend to do a better job in the future of sharing prayer requests with all of you.  [More on this in an email soon to come.]
• We’ve had guests in our home since we’ve been back in Tanzania.  Theron Guild (of Abilene, TX) and Craig Bullington (of Murfreesboro, TN) were with us until yesterday.  That’s when Theron started his journey back to the states.  Craig, however, will remain with our team until around May (or thereabouts).  He is the Geita team’s first official apprentice.**
• But yesterday Craig, in a mid-season move, was given to the Groens in a trade for Jonathan and Brooklyn Sims, who have yet to wake up from their first night’s sleep in our house.  Jonathan and Brooklyn are recent graduates of Harding University in Arkansas, and are looking at a possible future in missions.  I suppose they are the Geita team’s second and third official apprentices.  They’ll be in Geita until sometime in February, and then may return again for another stint with us before going back to the states later next year.***
• The land for Neema House and the demonstration farm is once again tied up in some government issues (that are sure to be resolved, but do mean more waiting for now — you can read more details in this post by Craig).
• But yesterday, in Mwakiwasha village, we were offered a small plot of land to farm.  The land belongs to Yohana, one of the church leaders there.  I told him we didn’t need land to farm for the sake of food — that Mwakiwasha was so far from our home — but that I would be interested in doing some agricultural experiments on that plot of land.  That way if everything we try fails, there will have been no one depending on this field; and if it doesn’t, there will be extra crops that can be sold for the benefit of the local churches and the communities in which they exist.
• We also agreed to partner with a small women’s group to do some agriculture education in conjunction with this land (and with their own strip of land).  There are six ladies from the church who farm a field and use the money they make to buy dishes and “decorations” for the church.  They want to learn more about farming, so we’ve now formed our first little farmer’s cooperative.  We’ll do trials and experiments in our field, and they can use our best proven practices in their own field.  This opportunity is really an answer to prayer.

So I’ve caught you up on the last week and a half of our lives.  I realize I’ve been away for quite a long time — and I’ve told you very little about our furlough in the U.S.  Perhaps I’ll get around to that in another email.  For now, though, you can know that we left the states slightly heavier than when we arrived, incredibly encouraged, and more tired than we thought was possible.  We appreciate all of you who went out of your way to see us, or who allowed us to stay in your homes, or who pitched in to help cover some of our expenses.  God has really blessed us with great families, an abundance of good friends, and wonderful and Godly sponsoring churches.

Oh, and please continue praying for us, and for our work here in Geita.

* I should also probably apologize to those of you who became accustomed to reading my blog five days a week — and were disappointed to find that I all but stopped writing completely during our furlough.  So, to the three of you and my mom, “I am sorry.”

** Though he is technically more an apprentice of the Neema House portion of our work, we’ve all really enjoyed having Craig around.  You’ll probably hear more about him later.

*** Our team has already grown to love the Sims family, and — like Craig — you’ll be hearing more about them in the future… in a new segment on the blog titled “Ranking the Apprentices.” 

Reading then turned into a 3-column study.  And that’s what I’m sharing with you guys today.  Here is Ephesians 4:7,11-13 in my own words:

Christ has graciously given each one of us gifts to use in his church.  Some will be apostles and some prophets, others evangelists and still others pastors and teachers.  We are meant to use these gifts to prepare our communities for service.  When we encourage and help one another serve others — THAT’S when we will find Christian unity.  THAT’S when we will be spiritually mature.  THAT’S when we will truly act as the body of Christ.  (caps mine — as is the translation itself, I suppose…)

What I’ve Learned

• Grace is described in this passage not as the gift of eternal life or forgiveness, etc, but as the ability to help other Christians.
• Christ determines what specific gifts and abilities each of us receives.  This doesn’t initially strike us as being fair.  But, then again, we look at things in terms of the individual and not the group — and in terms of grace somehow being fair (which by it’s definition seems to necessarily be untrue).*
• Clearly, the point of our gifts is to encourage and build up other Christians.
• It seems extremely unlikely that any one small group (much less large congregation) would find a single individual possessing all of these gifts and, therefore, able to encourage and build up the church on his/her own.  [Yet we often seem to function (and hire people) as if this is the case.]
• We build up the church by preparing one another to serve others.  That means we serve one another by helping one another serve others.  That’s an awful lot of service, and I’m just not sure that’s what we see.
• Unity seems to be a result — in one way or another — of service.  It is NOT described as a result of a group of people believing the same things.  Spiritual maturity is reached when we live Christ into our communities by serving those communities.  [For more on the subject of unity, read this or this.]

Pastors guard.
Prophets guide.
Apostles govern.
Teachers ground.
Evangelists gather.

Your thoughts?  Why do we prefer attempting to reach unity by believing the same things?  Where is service on our list of priorities?

* Also, we’d probably do well to read the parable of the vineyard workers being paid “unfairly.”

I’ve recently been studying the glory of God.  One day I began my reading in the first verse of 2 Corinthians 4:

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.

 And I thought to myself, “Wait, what ministry?”  So I looked back in the previous chapter:

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:18 (bolds mine)

My job isn’t to advance the kingdom?  My task isn’t to save the lost?  My ministry is merely to reflect the glory of God?  And I continued reading:

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. – 2 Corinthians 4:4-6

Here’s what I’ve learned:

• The glory of God is already present in all the earth.  It is only a knowledge of his glory that is lacking. 
• I am not expected to create God’s glory in my host culture.  Neither is it my responsibility to bring his glory to the people group residing there.  I am merely meant to point others to the glory of God which is already present in that place.  I help them recognize something that is already there.
• It is only by God’s power and goodness that I have the ability to reflect his glory.  He has made his light to shine in my heart.
• Satan is responsible for having hidden God’s glory from those who do not recognize it.  Missions, then, is largely about spiritual warfare with Satan.  We do not do well when we ignore what we may be unable to see.
• Christ is described as being “the image of God.”  He is my model for reflecting God’s glory, as he is the ultimate reflection of God’s glory in the flesh.
• The glory of God is good news to unbelievers.  This is one that stands out to me.  In many ways, it’s offensive to unbelievers for me to point them to the glory of God; I’m (in essence) telling them that all they currently believe is worthy of praise is actually of no worth when compared with the God who is of infinite worth.  But, as offensive as it may be to hear that what they’ve been glorifying deserves no glory, this is the gospel message.  That God deserves all glory is the good news.  Only when we learn to properly ascribe value can we truly live.  The good news is that when and where God is glorified, life is made right.
• As a missionary, I am a servant to those in my host culture.  BUT I am a servant ultimately for Jesus’ sake — and not for those who would receive my service.  Service in which the recipient is the point and end goal is not only shortsighted, but it nurtures the recipient’s already wrong belief that he is the center of the universe.  Because we treat him as such.  Service to others is about demonstrating that only God is worthy of glory.

* Only the different culture bit makes my task any different than that of any other follower of Christ, by the way.

That’s what seems strange to me about our world’s response to his death.  We collectively mourn for a man with whom we never shared a meal, a man with whom we never had a conversation.  

I’m not suggesting death shouldn’t sadden us.  But we do this every time someone in the public eye passes away.  Are we grieving the death of Steve Jobs?  Or are we simply celebrating the technological advances he brought us — and calling that celebration sorrow, masking our love for things with tears for a man?

I am full of sorrow, though.  I recently read this article, which explains why Jobs, on his death bed, authorized a biography to be written about him.  Here are his words:

“I wanted my kids to know me.  I wasn’t always there for them, and I wanted them to know why…” 

I am sad for Jobs’ children.

And I am equally sad for a nation who praises and glorifies a man simply because he achieved much in the world of business and technology.  That’s a polite way to say it, I suppose.  Maybe it would be more accurate, or at least more pointed, to say it this way:  I am saddened that we worship a man simply because he gave us phones with touch screens.*

How I wish our society honored those men who love their families with a love that is second only to their love for God.

*Well, look on the bright side: at least we don’t place undue importance on the athletic achievements of 18- and 19- year olds.

I have been overwhelmed lately by the power we, as Christians, hold.  That we can forgive at all is remarkable.  But truly astonishing is that we have been given the responsibility of distributing God’s forgiveness to the world.  One could argue that God, in some way or another, follows our lead when it comes to offering forgiveness to a broken world.

**********

She was sleeping around, and the religious leaders caught her.  Rather than stoning her outright, though, they determined to use her to make Jesus look bad.  So they stood the lady — maybe half-clothed — up in front of everyone while they asked Jesus what they ought to do with her.  [Believing they could catch Jesus in this sort of trap (side note) requires that he had the reputation of one who forgives much.]

Jesus began scribbling with his finger on the ground.  A lot of scholars believe he was listing the sins of each person there.  I personally think he was making a grocery list, in order to appear faintly aloof.  But that’s besides the point.  What’s important is what came next.  Jesus looked up and said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Then he started in with the scribbling again.

The crowd dispersed, leaving only this woman, Jesus, and a bunch of difficult-to-read words in the dirt.  Jesus pointed out that the angry crowd had disappeared, and then he asked the guilty lady a rhetorical question: “Has no one condemned you?”  She replied there was no one.

Then Jesus said — and this is what stood out to me this morning — “Then neither do I condemn you.”

I may be reading far too much into this one English word, but my Bible doesn’t say, “AND neither do I condemn you.”  It says then, as in “if, then.”  It sounds to me like Jesus is saying, “Well if they don’t condemn you, then I don’t condemn you, either.”

We know Jesus was the only guy present that day who was without sin, making him wholly qualified to throw stones, according to his own instructions.  But Jesus didn’t withhold his condemnation that day because of his sin.  Of course, we argue that Jesus withheld condemnation because of his love and mercy; after all, forgiveness is his business.  

But I wonder if there’s not something else going on here?  Maybe Jesus didn’t condemn this lady — at least in part — because the people of God, as messed up as they were, had not condemned her.  Maybe this story is a forerunner to these words from John 20:

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now, these are just ideas.  I’m just thinking out loud this morning.  But if I’m even just a little bit right, that’s a whole lot of power we hold.*  I hope we’re using it wisely.  And with much mercy and love.

* I’d argue with great certainty that, even if I’ve got it all wrong on the story of the woman caught in adultery, I’m still right about the power we hold to exercise God’s forgiveness on his behalf.