Faith Challenges: It Ain't All Comfort

“We know that Yahweh your God rules heaven and earth, and we’ve lost our courage and will to fight.” Joshua 2:11 We serve the Creator, the All-powerful God, the Ruler of the Universe. We speak of God's greatness, majesty, and authority. We know there is nothing impossible for God. We sing these claims. We quote Scriptural claims of the same. We offer prayers in recognition of God's power, yet in times of distress, we too often look elsewhere for words of comfort, hope, and courage. That is what happened here in the story of Joshua's spies sent to Jericho. A generation before, Joshua had been one of two spies to report confidence in the victory of Yahweh as the people made their way into the land promised to Abraham. He had been one of two spies reporting in contrast to the fear and anxiety of ten others who called the nations of the land giants against whom there was no hope. The nation listened to the words of fear, instead of faith. They spent forty years wandering as

“Jesus asked, ‘What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? He will come and kill those renters and let someone else have his vineyard. You surely know that the Scriptures say, “The stone that the builders tossed aside is now the most important stone of all. This is something Yahweh has done, and it is amazing to us.”’” Mark 12:9-11 When Jesus’ words sound harsh, they seem directed not at unbelievers, but at those who call themselves God's people. They are the ones he criticized most strongly. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and other religious leaders were too comfortable with their standing before God. In hanging onto those things they held dear, they were forgetting about serving God according to God’s plans. They were overly focused on being right, on belonging, on holding onto a tradition, heritage, and promise. Jesus did not mince words. He painted a bleak picture of those self-righteous religious leaders. It was not that they didn't have a good set of answers. It w

“Yahweh said, ‘Gideon, your army is too big. I can’t let you win with this many soldiers. The Israelites would think that they had won the battle all by themselves and that I didn’t have anything to do with it.’” Judges 7:2 To start with, the odds weren’t too good for Gideon. Sure, Gideon had a force of 32,000, but the enemy numbered over 130,000. One to four odds in a battle of personal confrontation doesn’t strike my fancy as very good. When Yahweh whittled Gideon's force down to 10,000, the odds were one to thirteen. God still did not like those numbers. Sure, it would definitely be a stretch for them to win, but if they won with those numbers they would be proud of their heroic prowess, bravery, skill, and stamina. When Gideon was left with 300 men, God was finally pleased. One man up against 433 was simply impossible odds. There was no way they could claim credit for a victory in those conditions. They did not have superior weaponry with which to mow down their enemies at

“Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him: ‘When you give a dinner or banquet, don’t invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.’” Luke 14:12-13 What a strange way to thank a host for inviting you to a meal! Why didn’t Mary teach Jesus some decent manners? Then again, manners may be exactly what Jesus was addressing as the problem. We follow the prescribed norms of interacting with people to make sure that we are greeted in a favorable light. We teach our children to be pleasant and ingratiating, specifically for selfish interests. If they put on a nice face and make people feel good around them, it is the most self-serving thing one can do—and you can get away with it along with everyone’s praise! You’ll get yourself invited back, and that will be one more free meal! Well, we don’t talk about manners in th

“Hatred stirs up trouble; love overlooks the wrongs that others do.” Proverbs 10:12 We desperately want to believe that hatred centers on the other person—the one who has wronged us or those we love. Perhaps we extend it to some who have insulted God or the patterns of our religious convictions. At heart, however, hatred is a personal issue. It is a private world that revolves around our own response to a lagging sense of worth and self-protection. Our libraries shelves, movie theaters, and even our children’s cartoons are full of stories pointing out that those who are the most filled with hate are the villains of meanest character. They are the arrogant, self-serving, narcissists who hate those who provide a critique to the value or self-serving interests of the one whose hate is most evident. They are the troublemakers. When we look at our own hatred, however, we blot out what we naturally know about hatred. We ignore the wisdom of our vast entertainment literature, as well as

“You know the commandment which says, ‘Be faithful in marriage.’ But I tell you that if you look at another woman and want her, you are already unfaithful in your thoughts. If your right eye causes you to sin, poke it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to end up in hell.” Matthew 5:27-28 We would much rather compare ourselves to the standards of the society around us than the standards of Christ Jesus. It is much easier to compare our failings with the worst examples we can find around us. Jesus just does not allow for that kind of evaluation. We like to grade sin. We have our scales for things like genocide, murder, abortion, homosexuality, adultery, pre-marital sex, pornography, slavery, racism, intolerance, theft, greed, and degrading others. There is some validity to the scale in that there is greater harm from some actions than from others. Perhaps we should say there is more direct or visible harm from some than others.

“I know all about my sins, and I cannot forget my terrible guilt. You are really the one I have sinned against; I have disobeyed you and have done wrong. So it is right and fair for you to correct and punish me.” Psalm 51:3-4 Sin. We are not very comfortable dealing with questions of sin. Well, our own sin, anyway. We are much more comfortable dealing with the sin of some unidentifiable mass of people without names or those whose actions have personally offended us. We can easily decry an unknown, unidentifiable mass who systematically kill unborn babies. We can decry the destruction of the family and the way divorce has damaged so many lives. We can paint sin out most any way we choose, especially when we are removed from the individuals struggling with hard choices. When we identify the face of a friend or family member in crisis, issues suddenly take on a different hue. When hard choices come down to my life, my situation, and my family, circumstances suddenly look vastly differ

“‘Don’t be afraid,’ Elisha answered. ‘There are more troops on our side than on theirs.’ Then he prayed, ‘Yahweh, please help him to see.’ And Yahweh let the servant see that the hill was covered with fiery horses and flaming chariots all around Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:16-17 Things are not always as they appear. It seems I have heard that refrain in some form repeatedly in various books, movies, and TV shows. Though we use the idea with fiction and imaginative fantasy, it is also a deeper reality of the physical and spiritual world in which we live. Political mantras and rhetoric do not always follow the realities they claim to define or interpret. Those we believe to speak truth may themselves be deceived. Our pet understandings of science or history may indeed prove to be false on closer inspection. Gaining a clear grasp of reality is not a simple exercise. We are not omniscient creatures, nor are we gifted with a simplistic portrayal of all truth in the Scriptures. Rather, here we ar

“Jesus answered, ‘Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I would be in my Father’s house?’” Luke 2:49 What do our habits say about us? Jesus expected his family to know where to find him. Even as a child, a pattern was laid for his character, identity, and concerns. The routines of his life spoke of who he was and fashioned a mold of what one might expect of him. His parents missed the cues of what to expect, possibly because they were too wrapped up in their own established patterns of routine. Apparently, they had not paused long enough to think about where Jesus would be, and what he would be doing. Early on, Jesus’ life had a pattern. From his bar mitzvah, this celebration event at which he became a son of the covenant and regarded as an adult before the law, a pattern was already set. He could already expect his parents to know where he would be and what he would be doing. His character and habits were established around his identity and relationship with God.

“But if you don’t want to worship Yahweh, then choose right now! Will you worship the same idols your ancestors did? Or since you’re living on the land that once belonged to the Amorites, maybe you’ll worship their gods. I won’t. My family and I are going to worship and obey Yahweh!” Joshua 24:15 Joshua again! This is only one verse later than what we read two days ago. He was pretty emphatic with these people. In the same context, he will tell them that he does not believe they will be faithful, regardless of their cries of fidelity to Yahweh. He knew them too well. They were too enmeshed in their way of life to let God change them in any meaningful way. They knew all the right answers to Joshua’s cry for commitment, but their words were empty. If we went back, we would find Moses giving the people pretty much the same challenge a generation before. We would have heard about the same response, too—all the right answers, all the declarations of fidelity to Yahweh, and all the same

“On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, ‘We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.’ But I will tell them, ‘I will have nothing to do with you! Get out o my sight, you evil people!’” Matthew 7:22-23 Ouch! These are definitely not the words of Jesus that we expect. We are perhaps too lulled by Jesus as presented in the hymn, Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling to see Jesus in the force of these words. Nonetheless, this is an aspect of Jesus we need to hear. Along with God’s tremendous love poured out for us on the cross of Christ, we must recognize the call to committed discipleship. We would hardly allow for a marriage partner to assume the goodness of our love would ignore any sense of responsibility and commitment on their part to the relationship. We would think little of one who claimed to love a spouse who consistently neglected and abused them. We would call that an abusive and faulty relationship. L

“Then Joshua told the people: Worship Yahweh, obey him, and always be faithful. Get rid of the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt.” Joshua 24:14 Joshua's words did not come at the beginning of his ministry. He is not speaking to people to whom Yahweh was a new name, a new understanding of God. This was a people who had already lived under the leadership of Moses. They had been rescued from Egypt under Pharaoh, crossed the Sea of Reeds, and been lead to victory over kings during their wilderness wandering. God had fed them with manna, given them water in an arid land, and entered the Promised Land on dry ground amid the waters of the Jordan River. They had seen the victories Yahweh had granted them. Regardless of all this, they were still not wholeheartedly serving Yahweh. We may often be surprised at how long it took this nation to trust Yahweh and Yahweh alone. Too often, however, we fall into the same trap. As

“You, Yahweh, are my shepherd; I will never be in need.” Psalm 23:1 As the psalmist reflected, God as shepherd cares for our needs. All too often, however, we live and talk as though our needs are provided by some other means—those means we can measure, quantify, and compare in a modern economy. We teach our children that it is through hard work, diligent preparation, and a persevering struggle to get ahead that our needs will be met. This is the message of our society, yet it is not the message of God. With the fluctuations of markets, the closing of corporations, rising costs of healthcare, and the pressures of foreclosures, we are tempted to believe the message that God has little to do with the provision of our needs. We are tempted to read the names on paychecks as the sources of our provision. It was perhaps easier in an agrarian society to understand one's dependence upon the God who sends rain, bring fertility to the flocks and crops, and makes the sun to shine. Yet w

“Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8 Writing from prison, Paul addresses issues of joy, peace, and contentment, as he calls on believers to focus their attention on the goals of the Christian experience. Our minds are to be focused on the very characteristics of Jesus Christ, the goal of our call. If we are to become Christ Jesus to the world, we are to live as Jesus himself lived. We are to become refashioned into the character of Christ Jesus. From Paul's perspective, this begins by refocusing our minds and attention on the character of the One we have been called to love, emulate, and express to the world around us. As we focus our attention on Christ, we must likewise take our attention and focus off the world. Those things which are not Christ-like must be removed from the focus of our attention in order that Christ J

“Listen, Israel! Yahweh our God is the only true God! So love Yahweh your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Today's text, the Shema is the emblematic summary of the commandments which the Hebrews pinned to their clothing and attached to the doorposts of their homes as visible reminders of the uniqueness of Yahweh, God of Israel, and their duty to honor and serve Yahweh alone. While we honor God as the only God and the only one worthy of our worship, our lives and allegiances are still too often divided. We serve the gods of wealth, fame, prosperity, comfort, and tradition. We bow to the dictates of media messages, even as we decry and repudiate their influence upon the larger society in which we live. We still struggle to honor Yahweh, God of Israel, incarnate in Jesus Christ as the only authority in our lives. We pay homage to wealth, power, success, and the latest consumables heralded as worthy of our wealth, time, and attention. Singing praise