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Here is a quote you’ll probably recognize:
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2, NIV)
That biblical injunction to forgo judgment speaks to our tendency to judge others harshly while begging leniency for ourselves. I have no quarrel with the sentiment, but I can think of another reason we should not judge: We are terrible at it. We know too little of the hearts of our fellow men and women.
This week, I learned that a lifelong friend is a child molester. I’ve known this man since I was a child, myself, and I never had any suspicions of this sort. When we met, I was 10 years old, which I suppose placed me on the edge of his target group, but he never took advantage of his friendship with me. He was my parish priest. He taught me how to ring the bells at mass. He taught me how to hold the prayer book during the service. He taught me to be reverent around the altar.
So many wonderful things he taught to me, but demons must have been chipping away at his resolve behind the scenes. William Casey’s demons urged him to much more malignant activities. According to the local press, he eventually succumbed to some horrible demonic whisperings, and he admits it.
“Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’” What a sad state of affairs when those who profess to represent Jesus on this earth forget to keep His love at the forefront of their minds! So many broken trusts…so many broken lives! How can we not judge this sort of news?!
I was going to rant against a celibate priesthood and quote Matthew 19:10-12, but I think I’ll leave that for another day. Today, I’ll just stick with the thought that we should not judge. We know neither the worst nor the best of the human heart. We’re not well suited to judgments, and we miss the mark more often than we come close. Instead, let’s pray for those who have been harmed by this scourge on our society. Let’s pray that victims will heal and that perpetrators will harm no others. Let’s pray for an end to child molestation. And let’s pray for the strength to live by God’s word while leaving judgment for the one who knows what He is doing.
Sincerely,
Mister Hippo
I realize I’m a few days behind the news, but I must comment on Pat Robertson’s recent remarks about Haiti. According to Mr. Robertson, Haiti’s tribulations stem from their own folly. By making a deal with the devil back in 1804, he says, Haiti invited a couple hundred years’ worth of poverty and misfortune to their island nation. Let’s take a look at this logic.
Suppose a country were to make a deal with the devil. Would it make sense that such a deal would be so horribly devoid of enticements? Isn’t it more likely that the selling of a nation’s soul would lead to riches or prosperity or something? Honestly, who makes a deal involving forfeiture of soul only to achieve an increasingly difficult reality? That just doesn’t make sense to me.
There is another problem with the idea that bad things happen as punishment. Tragedies like 9/11, the New Orleans Disaster, and this recent earthquake all impacted both “good” and “bad” people. Believers and heathens alike were hurt by these disasters. Are we to believe that God’s judgment of sinful behaviors applies no matter what we do? Of course, we are all sinners, but I thought Jesus died for our sins. Hmmm…
Joel Osteen and the prosperity gospel aside, there are no promises that life will be easy. “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Lots of Christians suffer and die right alongside their heathen neighbors every day. That is just the way of things. I think it is wrong to assign responsibility to God.
Now, don’t get me wrong. It is right for us to examine our lives, considering God’s perspective. How else can we minimize sinful behaviors and maximize more Christ-like attributes? It is appropriate to ask whether some of the problems in our own lives aren’t a result of our sinful ways, but it is another thing entirely for us to begin assessing our fellow men, assigning blame and judgment, and labeling acts of God as vengeance.
“’Vengeance is mine,’ says the Lord.” “ Judge not, lest ye be judged.” “I will not destroy the city for the sake of a single righteous man.” You may have heard these quotes? They are all from the bible.
For the most part, none of us ever makes a deal with the devil or with God. We don’t earn the good things in our lives and we don’t deserve the bad, either. Our reward for faith is not to be expected in this life. Regardless of the depths of our devotion, we will each have ups and downs before we die. Is everything going just peachy for you right now? That doesn’t mean God is happy with you. Or maybe everything is going terribly, instead. Good news! That doesn’t mean God is angry at you, either.
If we were to be punished for our sins, we would all be wiped away. Fortunately, God sent his Son Jesus to sacrifice himself on a cross for our sins. There will be a day of judgment, and on that day, God will call us to account for our sins, but that day has not come, yet. It was not God’s judgment on 9/11, it was not God’s judgment in New Orleans, and God has not judged the people of Haiti.
Bad things can and do happen to good people. Think about the early church founders. There are several martyrs in that mix. John the Baptist was beheaded, and according to Christian tradition, Paul was separated from his head, as well. Would Mr. Robertson characterize their untimely ends as the result of a wrathful God intent on judgment? Or perhaps he thinks they made deals with the devil. Of course, I don’t know what Mr. Robertson thinks, but I think he is just plain wrong on this Haiti thing.
Sincerely,
Mister Hippo
I apologize to readers not affiliated with the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as this topic is somewhat obscure if you are not part of this particular denomination. Indeed, it is somewhat obscure even if you are a member of the LCMS. But as they say, ‘when we labor to be brief, obscurity follows,’ so let’s see if we can cheat the adage while briefly covering this issue:
About four years ago, the Synod created a task force to look at Synod structure and governance. This appropriately was dubbed The Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance. You may have seen in cited as the BRTFSSG, which is not an acronym since you can’t pronounce it as a word—although I encourage you to try. (I’m trying to be more of an encourager this year).
Anyway, the Task Force has now published its final report and disbanded. The report includes 21 recommendations, and yes, a name change is one of them. All 21 recommendations will be considered at the 2010 Synod convention where they are almost certain to be the focus of lively debate. I wish I could be there to see for myself, but sadly, I am not a delegate.
Here is the name change recommendation to be considered at this summer’s convention in Texas:
Recommendation #20: Adopt a Process Leading to the Renaming of the Synod
For the sake of confessional mission to an unchurched society, the Synod shall be renamed. Previous studies of this matter will continue to provide guidance as we move to reach consensus regarding a name that best serves the Synod’s mission and ministry.
So as you can see, an actual name has not been selected, but there are several historic recommendations in the final report (starting on page 43). For more on this and other task force recommendations, I direct you to the actual report, which can be found on this page:
http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=15930
Happy reading!
Sincerely,
Mister Hippo
This year, I resolve to:
- Pray.
- Be nice.
- Study the Bible.
- Walk or jog at least one mile a day – every day.
- Pursue self-actualization.
- Organize the garage.
Sincerely,
Mister Hippo
God sometimes uses the worst of situations for good. I believe that. Like Job of the Old Testament, we must accept a little bad along with all the good that life offers. Despite the fact that Job’s afflictions were not punishment for bad behavior, however, I find it nearly impossible to suffer hard times without searching my own behavior for a cause. Could this be punishment? Fortunately, my theologically unsound belief in cause and effect often leads me to a more energetic search for God’s Will, so maybe there is good to be found in my unhealthy attitudes.
Lately, I’ve been reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which is, of course, an indictment against slavery in America. As I looked back, I searched for good to cull from that horrible institution. I settled on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book as one possible answer. Ms Stowe made a powerful statement about the equality of all mankind, but she also spoke clearly to the problem of professing Christians who bend the Word of God to their own purposes.
Neither Job nor Uncle Tom could have demonstrated his heroic faith in God outside of the context and adversity of his story. But we wonder at the need for such noble people to pay such high costs. Loss of comfort, family, health and even life awaits us all. If times are good right now, as they are for many of us, some day we will face tragedies. We should thank God for the heroes of our faith. Their example can help us to accept life’s difficulties when they come to us.
Through the characters in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, we see what to do and what not to do. We see those with their eyes clearly set on Heaven doing what must be done to resist evil in our world; we see those with eyes set on worldly gain doing just the opposite. Both sides use the bible as their support, but to my reading, only one side’s interpretation rings true.
We are wrong to accept evil because it is convenient or legal to do so. The laws we make must be right or we must change them. In this case, Harriet’s book helped good to come from bad, and we can repeat the pattern. When we see evil, we should examine it, compare it to God’s word, and do something against it. If we can do that, we can help to find good in any tragedy.
As we face a new year in an old world, culling good from bad sounds like a pretty good resolution to me.
Sincerely,
Mister Hippo
Americans tend to be less and less religious, but despite our growing secularity, we love Christmas as much as ever. For those of us who believe, this day commemorates a miracle.
We’re told God created us in his image, but in most Old Testament theophanies, God rarely appears similar to us. After our ejection from the Garden of Eden (for severe rules violations), we see God more often as a cloud or a burning bush, but then Jesus comes along. Before Jesus, “God fearing” was the way of things. After Jesus, things are different.
Jesus spoke of a personal “father in heaven,” who cared deeply about each of us. Jesus taught us to have a personal relationship with God. Jesus taught us to bring our concerns to him in prayer. For Christians, Easter is often proffered as the bigger miracle. We recognize that Jesus’ resurrection marks him as the true Son of God, but without the miracle of his birth, the resurrection would never have happened. It is impossible to have one without the other. So Christmas is a big deal. It marks the beginning of a new covenant between God and Man. It marks the beginning of a truer understanding of our loving God.
I hope you got everything you wanted this holiday season, and I pray that what you wanted was a better relationship with your Father in Heaven, who loves you very much. Merry Christmas!
Sincerely,
Mister Hippo
To follow Jesus is to love. I’ve read story after story about Jesus’ life and teaching, and no message comes through more clearly than the message of love. Jesus taught love above all else. Sinners like me tend to forget that simple lesson, and as a result, we quibble over rules and such. For us, it seems as though the message of love is sometimes too simple. We want to dig down into the fine print. We want to exploit a loophole or two to ensure our salvation. We want to complicate things.
Jesus didn’t establish a lot of rules, really, but people liked to ask him about them anyway. If Jesus were here today, I am sure there’d be a long line of people with questions about rules. Times haven’t changed all that much over the centuries. Simple rules are still simple, and simple people are still complicating matters.
A couple thousand years ago, the Pharisees were the big rule keepers. They loved rules! Back in the day, a Pharisee asked Jesus about the “greatest commandment in the Law.” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40).
Isn’t that simply perfect?! Jesus says the most important thing we can do is to love. Why is that so hard for me? Why must I be so hard hearted that such a simple commandment causes me so much trouble?
Show of hands, now, how many people want to be like the Pharisees? “Bonnie?! Moses?! Do you want to be like Pharisees?!” I guess not. No one ever wants to be a Pharisee, but we all like to pretend our rule following skills might somehow earn us a spot in heaven. Since the most important rules are to love God and love one another, perhaps we should focus on those for a change.
When a man sought to do good deeds to earn eternal life, Jesus asked, “Why do you ask me about what is good? … There is only one who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” When asked for further clarification, Jesus listed these commandments: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (See Matthew chapter 19).
The man wanted more details, so Jesus spelled it out for him, but ultimately, the simple answer was all the man needed. It is all any of us needs. Jesus simplified things for us. He told us to love God and one another. If we can do those two things, won’t the rest of the rules be easy to follow?
The commandments prohibit loveless acts. Murder, adultery, theft, and lies are the bitter fruit we produce when we do not love our neighbor. They are selfish acts; they damage others. It is impossible to care about people and victimize them at the same time.
Today, maybe we could try the simple way. We don’t have to live like a Pharisee. Maybe we could try to love as Jesus loved. Maybe we could turn away from details and rules for just a minute or two and let love be our guide.
Love,
Mister Hippo
Since it may not be entirely obvious based on the title, let me clarify for the record: This post is about the movie “Funny People” starring Adam Sandler. If you don’t want to learn more about this movie, STOP READING NOW!
Those looking for laughs should probably skip this movie. It isn’t all that funny. The movie does include a joke here or there, but it focuses more on the lives of comedians than on their stand up routines. They fret over various challenges, but to my mind, they struggle most when they pursue acceptance and approval from those closest to them.
As in life, there is a superficial quality to many of the relationships in the movie. The comics effectively spin themselves up for performances, but the rest of their lives struggle to match that emotional high. Adam Sandler’s character is famous, and as a result, he can afford to purchase a thin veneer of happiness for his life. Only when Adam is told he is unlikely to live through a recently diagnosed illness does he begin to recognize how shallow the water of his life has become. The store-bought veneer is no longer able to obscure an ugliness that hides just below the surface.
A search for meaning leads to efforts to rekindle old relationships. The prospect of death diminishes the happiness previously found in consumer pleasures, and Adam is driven to find something deeper. With the end looming ever nearer, he turns to love, and appears to be making a heavy handed go of it until he unexpectedly gets a clean bill of health. In short order, Adam relinquishes the gains he made during his health scare. Like a pearl diver who runs out of air, he leaves his pursuit of depth and swims for the shallows. Sadly, Adam’s return to the sea level of his life comes before he finds a pearl.
And isn’t that just the way of things. When we are young and healthy, we think of nothing but ways to fritter away our days. We care little about deeper meanings or more meaningful relationships when times are good. But just let the bottom fall out of things and watch us correct our course. All of a sudden, we are seekers of the pearl, but we’ve wasted so much time. Our air is running out. We should have sought a true treasure while the seeking was good.
Sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes we have time to correct things. Adam’s character in this movie assumes he will have more time, so he doesn’t look in earnest until it is too late. There is a glimmer of hope at the end when he makes overtures toward a friendship that matters. Perhaps there is a chance that this health scare has really changed our star after all.
Sometimes a health scare or a near miss can help us to catch a glimpse of our mortality. Such a gift, yet we look at it as we do so many real world gifts. That was not what we wanted at all! Sometimes we get what we need and not what we want, however, and those can be the greatest gifts of all.
In this holiday season, let’s focus on improving relationships. Let’s wipe away the veneer and see what is beneath. I’m pretty sure true happiness requires a deeper look.
Sincerely,
Mister Hippo
Recently, we’ve considered the idea that all authority comes from God. We’ve talked about respect and reverence, and we’ve heard it suggested that sometimes irreverence may be a good thing. I’m not sure how to reconcile the ideas, but I have to concede the point: Sometimes you just have to balk.
Let’s consider Rosa Parks. On this day (December 1st) in 1955, Ms. Parks defied the “authority” of a white bus driver and kept her seat. Today, as we look back on that incident, we see history smiling on her while simultaneously scowling at the driver, James Fred Blake.
Commenting on the event years later, Blake stated, “I wasn’t trying to do anything to that Parks woman except do my job. She was in violation of the city codes, so what was I supposed to do? That damn bus was full and she wouldn’t move back. I had my orders.” Hmmm…He had his orders.
That reminds me of the experiment where they proved that people will follow orders or instructions even if it means killing another person. You remember the one. They set up a shock system and tell one guy to shock another guy whenever he gives a wrong answer. Consecutive wrongs get progressively higher voltage until the proctor is doling out lethal ranges of electricity. The proctors keep cranking that dial and zapping the buttons even though he knows it will kill the other guy. It is amazing what people will do when they believe they are right.
But Mr. Blake wasn’t right in the big sense of things. What he was doing was wrong – even though the law was on his side. As you may already know, he was never fired for his behavior. In fact, he worked another 19 years at that job before he eventually retired. By all accounts, he was a fairly normal guy for the times in which he lived. He fought in the war, he drove a bus, he was a member of the greatest generation…and he was very, very wrong about how to treat his fellow human beings.
On this anniversary of Ms. Parks’ defiant ride, let’s remember that there are times when resistance is necessary. Let’s pray for God’s help as we strive to analyze our behaviors and thoughts. Let’s compare God’s word to the prevailing opinions of our times. And let’s remember to stand up (or sit down) for what is right. If we can do that, our ride may not be easy, but at least we’ll be on the right bus.
Sincerely,
Mister Hippo
Irreverence and disrespect are frequently aimed at God and religion, but those are certainly not their only targets. Negative attitudes cut a swath across our entire society.
I remember an old cartoon featuring two men, one older and one younger. The older man was wearing a button that said “don’t trust anyone under 30” while the younger man’s button said “don’t trust anyone over 30.” I think that about sums it up. We don’t trust anyone who is not just like us. And this lack of trust leads to a lack of reverence. We don’t respect anyone. Reverence is dead.
To be fair, we have reason to question authority. Scandals among politicians, corporate executives, priests, and athletes run the gamut of violations from pedophilia to performance enhancements to violent sex crimes. Nowadays, we pause before investing our trust because we’ve been burned before. Is it any wonder if we’re a bit jaded?
Our currency says “In God We Trust,” but in practice, we trust only in ourselves. We don’t trust people and we don’t trust God. I know an easy way to rationalize our behavior: Let’s just blame our lack of trust on bad pastors, politicians, athletes and corporate executives. Then we can do whatever we want. “It’s their fault!” If that sounds a bit too easy or if it sounds like a cop out, you and I may be on the same wavelength.
We would do well to remember the words of Paul as he wrote in his letter to the Romans. “There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Romans 13:1) This is not to say we must blindly accept poor leadership. There are appropriate responses, such as prayer like this one from Psalms: “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.” (Psalm 109:8)
We are responsible for ourselves. We are responsible for what we say and what we do and how we act. We can try to rationalize our bad behavior, but as we mature, we realize we’re not fooling anyone. God knows and we know. We have a choice.
My choice today is to be respectful. I will show respect for the president and the church and God. I will show this in how I address them when they are near and how I refer to them when they are not. If I am unhappy, I will pray for positive and constructive ways to make changes. I will pray for guidance and a positive attitude.
Sincerely,
Mister Hippo
