Listen to my conscience…

Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. 
And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them. Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.” (2 Kings 7:3–20)

These four did just that. At first the king thought it was a trap to get his army out of the city where they would be vulnerable, but they discovered that the Syrians had left suddenly abandoning everything just as the lepers reported, so they plundered the abandoned camp. This had been predicted by Elisha who also said the gatekeeper would be trampled for saying God could not do this. He told that man, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate and he died.

I’ve heard people without faith say God cannot or will not meet all needs. Sadly, some who say they believe also pray as if they do not expect much in reply. What touches my heart in this account is that God spoke through the human greed of the lepers. They were outcasts in that society and skeptics, certain that no matter what they did, they would die. However, in their plundering at this unexpected miracle, God spoke and convinced them of their sin and to do the right thing; share the bounty with those who cast them out.

This is what should make Christians different. Love enemies. Do good to those who hate us. Be like Jesus when He said, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”
Sometimes others misunderstand me and I feel frustrated, even alienated. I need to remember these four, and most of all what Jesus said as His enemies drove in the nails. God not only protects me from the Syrians by driving them out of my life, He also wants me to meet the needs of those who leave me out of their lives.

Jesus, too often I get annoyed when misunderstood, or stared at as if I had three heads. The lepers did the right thing by listening to You speaking to their hearts and telling those who rejected them about the bounty You provided. Forgive me and fill me with Your grace that I can be less touchy and more loving.

I was there . . .

READ Matthew 25–28

Jesus is betrayed and crucified. He rose from the dead, yet the animosity toward Him still exists and I feel great sorrow as I read these chapters.

The parable about foolish virgins speaks of those who think they can be united with Him without being ready. The parable of the talents describes any who think He is “a hard man” who can produce profit without the obedience of His servants. Both stories describe similar attitudes today.

The separation of sheep from goats tells of those who ignore how genuine faith produces changed lives; people who love and care for others. The supreme example was the actions of the religious leaders who “plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him” — even though they told others to obey God’s laws, they were more concerned about their popularity than this One who did not sin.

When expensive ointment was poured on Him, His disciples thought it was wasted; it should be given to the poor. How many people today put ‘social concerns’ at the top of their priority list, even over the importance of glorifying God?

Judas betrayed Him, sold him for thirty pieces of silver. His greed prioritized money over doing what was right. Jesus knew betrayal would happen and told the disciples, but their concern seemed more about who was going to do it than how wrong it was. They were also told that they would “fall away” rather than stick with Him, but they denied it, especially Peter who claimed he would die with Him rather than deny Him. But when the time came, even though he stayed near, Peter eventually denied knowing Jesus for fear he would be crucified with Him. Most people today resist “whatever Jesus wants” especially if it means dying for Him.

In the garden, Jesus wanted His followers to pray with Him, but they fell asleep. I doubt there is any Christian that cannot relate to this. Our enemy does his worst to keep us from praying, especially praying with Jesus in crisis situations that seem contrary to the will of God. We don’t get it — how He can use “all things for our good” including trials to build our character? We pray to be comfortable rather than pray to be more like Him.

Jesus was betrayed with a kiss, threatened with physical harm, mocked by many, laughed at, lied about, treated like a criminal. He did not fight back. Today, He is betrayed by hypocrisy and false teachers, lied about, mocked and cursed, even treated as if He did not exist. Some say He was gay, or married a prostitute, or a deluded lunatic. Those who know Him know otherwise, yet today many religious leaders still deny Him, saying He was a mere idea, or an angel, or a special person, anything but God in human flesh.

When Jesus was arrested, bound and delivered to be crucified, His betrayer realized his sin and tried to reverse what he had done, but instead of “seeing to it” himself in repentance and seeking forgiveness, Judas took his own life. Suicide is rampant these days . . . anything to avoid facing the only One who by grace can give even the worst of reasons new life and a fresh start.

Pilate was amazed that Jesus did not fight back. He seemed to know that crucifying Jesus was the wrong choice, but he gave in to peer pressure. His wife warned him and yet he was afraid of a riot and losing his place of authority. How many people reject Jesus because of “what will people think” instead of doing what they know they ought to do?

The soldiers and the crowds mocked Him. If He was the Son of God, why didn’t He come off the cross and save Himself? That was their value system talking. Don’t suffer, save yourself. Make fun of those who give their lives to help or save others. They wanted Him to demonstrate trust in a God who miraculously saves and protects Him, just like today’s crowds who want God to fix everything and make everyone healthy and wealthy, a mockery of the very reason He came.

When Jesus died, they mocked Him yet when many who were dead came from their tombs, they could see He was what He claimed to be, the Son of God. Even as He lay in His tomb, they feared . . . “The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” And today, some still think Jesus is a fraud.

Lord, I read this with sorrow. Determined rejection of You still happens. Some have no idea who You are and what You have done, and many who claim faith in You still do not obey Your command to “Go therefore and make disciples . . . .”

Oh Lord Jesus, how merciful You are to grant forgiveness and new life to sinners such as I.

 

 

Speaking our mind without causing a riot?

Riots. The dictionary says: The practice of people destroying property, being disruptive, and behaving violently in a large group. Sometimes they are politically motivated; people are upset because their wishes are violated or extremely important to them. Sometimes they involve a group of fans upset because their team didn’t win. The cause of a riot may not be selfish but usually is.

The New Testament describes a riot. It happened in Ephesus, a commercial, intellectual and religious center. This city boasted one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the ornate temple of Diana, the goddess of the Ephesians.

An Ephesian silversmith who made silver shrines for their idol worship was upset with Paul who preached that gods made with hands are not gods. He told his workers that their trade’s reputation was in danger as was the temple of their goddess. When they heard this, they were enraged and cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Artemis is the Greek version of Diana.)

So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

The text does not tell how he did it, but the town clerk quieted the crowd. He told them, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly. (Acts 19:23–41)

The focus is on the riot and the threat to the livelihood of those who crafted the idols, but part of the town clerk’s speech fascinates me. He said that Paul and his Christian friends were “neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.” In other words, he made false statements to appease the crowd. Paul had said that gods made by hands are not gods, a definite statement against their worship, but this ‘chief executive officer’ wanted to protect these rioters from prosecution and was willing to lie to do it. Had Paul been present, he would have defended his position. He was against their idolatry and he had nothing favorable to say about their goddess. Had he talked to the mob, we can only guess the consequences.

This story says something to me about the attitude of those who are threatened by faith in Christ. If this man was willing to lie about what Paul believed and said, the same thing can happen to Christians today. We need to walk and talk in the power of the Holy Spirit and let the Lord deal with the consequences. God protected Paul from a mob that may have killed him; it was not his time to die. I must ask myself if I am listening as well as He did? Would I speak out of turn and be in danger? Would I speak up when I should and be in even greater danger?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, Christians in this country tend to think we are reasonable safe. However, the reality is that we are misunderstood, misquoted, and talked of as doing and saying things that make us appear differently than we are. The tendency is to keep our mouths shut and avoid trouble, but it seems possible that You desire that we be more like Paul.

Today’s thankful list . . .

Glad to be in a country where we can speak our minds.

Glad that God constantly renews my mind so I can say what He puts in there.

Getting to the dock 65 minutes before the 10 am ferry and told we could go on the 9 am one!

A lovely drive through the delta and into the mountains.

Meeting up with our son and his wife and two of our great-granddaughters.

Our son cooked supper for everyone.

A good visit on the deck watching the girls play in the lake.

Subway cookies and watermelon!