PlayNtheGray

Conviction comes in an assortment of flavors to suit even the strangest appetite. I read through Jonah and had to check myself. This will be short. We all know that game of hide and seek that he decided to play with the Lord. However, at the end of this tale his maturity seemed to have drowned in the sea that previously engulfed him. The Lord relented  from bringing calamity upon Nineveh  after Jonah proclaimed divine warning and the people changed. “But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is this not what I said while I was still in my own country?…I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love and ready to relent from punishing. And now take my life from me for it is better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 4:1-3 NRSV. Unless I am reading this wrong, the prophet would have been pleased with punishment for the people of Nineveh. Jonah stuck out a full bottom lip to God’s grace to “others”. It’s almost laughable. As ministers don’t we desire repentance and restoration for our congregations and communities? Most likely…but what about other countries or people groups that are our deemed our “enemies”. When we pray for them and are aware of their misdeeds and the consequences to follow do we really want them to experience God’s grace after they turn to Him or would we rather that God “stick it to them” and show them who’s boss? Oh, dear church we are all a moment away from falling. We were all one painful instant from denying Christ as Lord. In our sin we were all His enemies. He relented from bringing calamity and destruction. By the love present in His life, death and resurrection we are called friends of God…sons and daughters. Have mercy.

The bliss of sweet ignorance has no place in seminary. I had to leave it at the door in August 2008. Sometimes I miss it dearly…when I am listening to a sermon at church, ministering alongside others and especially when I read scripture. The prophets…oh the prophets. I just do not know what to think of some of them but I will say this much; I am grateful that God is willing to use us in all of our imperfections and odd proclivities. Now that I have a better grasp on the historical context of ancient Jewish culture I can see the nuances of personality and experience peek out in scripture. Hosea puzzles me though. I will have to read this book a few times before I can reconcile with the purposed use of prostitution as a demonstration of the nation’s condition by the prophet himself. In the NRSV Hosea 1:2-3 says, “When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, ‘Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.’ So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.” Gomer bore 3 sons for Hosea giving them names of significance that spoke directly to the Israelite nation. Hosea 3: 1-3 says, “The Lord said to me again, ‘Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.’ ²So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of barley and a measure of wine.^{* 3}And I said to her, ‘You must remain as mine for many days; you shall not play the whore, you shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I with you.’”.  As the NRSV reads it seems as though these are 2 different prostitutes/adulterers. Forgive me but the whole idea of  a prostitute being purchased by a prophet (or sequestered if you like) renders me uneasy and a bit disgusted. It is against God’s law. You know that whole one man, one woman marriage thing and how God detests sexual immorality; yeah, that. Leviticus 19:29 says this of the law of Moses, “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land may not become prostituted and full of depravity.” Therefore, why is prostitution and adultery on the side of Hosea (a man) justifiable? Easy…”God told him to”. Case closed. The Book of Hosea has been romanticized and I am not sure why…at least entirely. There is some great stuff in it. Chapter 8 and Chapter 11 are moving and veracious. Books like “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers come to mind and I am befuddled. (I love that book!) Hosea just seems like a prophet who also had a thing for prostitutes and was able to use that to preach from. At the end of the day prostitution and adultery are still vilified but Hosea gets off scot-free. Of course I’m sure this would never be accepted in today’s pulpit (insert sarcasm here).

The prophets, though brillant and creative, could find no perfect metaphor to translate God’s emotive language from their ears to Israel’s. No amount of exegetical work is enough to relay the depth of his love and heartache. Isaiah is replete with metaphors and you hear this tone of “Don’t you people get it?!!!” from the Lord to his people. In Isaiah 8:17 the prophet says, “I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob and I will hope in him.” This is one of those sayings like, “hardened their hearts” that I don’t quite get. My dad is a Vietnam Veteran, Inactive Marine. Tall, dark, deep voice, professional raised on the southside of Chi-Town, the Windy City. He is a hustler through and through but an business entrepreneur by trade. I love this multi-faceted man. His description may paint the portrait of an intimidating man but he is such a teddybear. Truly! He loves, adores, (you sill in the blank) his family and is passionately in love with my mom. He gushes over each of us to any willing ear and still kisses my 35 year old brother on the forehead while calling him babybear. He is a huge reason why I am able to embrace God as Abba. When I was young my older sister got caught up in her own web of deceit and broke my parent’s heart. I heard them yell at her sometimes. Other times I would hear dad say, “we can’t protect her forever so we’re going to have to leave her alone.” This is when he sounded the saddest. Although, he never stopped protecting her name. She was his first born…his flesh….his honor. There were those occassions when my dad would retreat to his room early (they never went to bed early) and chat with my mom for hours. I think that he was hiding his face…Maybe he didn’t want us to see just how hurt they both were beyond raised voices of reprimand. Was he crying behind those doors? I’ll never know. I really don’t want to know. I couldn’t bear it. Just what is the Lord doing when he “hides his face”? I am the baby of my family. A lot of stock was placed in my future at a young age (unspoken though). I made it through most of my 20′s without losing my mind. Chap 9 speaks of [the child that is to come, Wonderful Counselor who shall bring endless peace]….this golden child (in all due respect) hope for a better generation. (In no way am I comparing myself to the Lord, Jesus Christ…no way!) And yet, God still holds onto Israel as my dad did for my sister. “But the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel and will set them in their own land.” Isaiah 14:1. God is so good…and there’s still no metaphor strong enough.

I know Job and lo and behold I think I know Solomon too. I spoke to him on the phone last night as I read and chuckled because his insights have new life.  I have always read and heard Ecclesiastes in pieces. Granted, these words were delicately “exegeted” and passionately preached but I sense that Solomon’s not-so tacitly jaded attitude has been overlooked. He is one bitter individual with no hope for the future. He practically despises his wisdom that God granted. Well at least it seems to read that way in the beginning. I feel him though. “For in much wisdom is much vexation and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.” 1:18 (enter: Adam and Eve). For the sake of consistency I’ll consider the wise King Solomon as the author of this lackluster commentary on life. EVERYTHING IS VAIN!!! Really? That statement, which frames his every tangential discourse, seems so absolute, unbalanced, terse and hyperbolic. I have felt this way many days in my 20’s (here at Truett)…asking myself, “What’s the point?” He says, “Then I said to myself, ‘What happens to me also; why then have I been so wise?…” 2:15 Fools and Wise men have the same fate, therefore, all indulgence and toil is futile and VAIN. Solomon even estimates our fate to be no better than the family dogs…goodness! I know, we all return to dust (a funeral classic), we aren’t all that and we shouldn’t hold onto life’s treasures with a clenched fist. To be colloquial I’ll sum it up this way, we ain’t all that anyway. However, Solomon chops it all up to inevitability. I’ll give him credit he does say to take a risk and try God but life has more to offer than the benefit of lucky coin toss. Our congregations must know that righteousness and wisdom render eternal blessings, the affects of which lance our souls and bleed out pure joy, utter bliss, meaning and worth. We are not just creatures, we get to commune with God, toil for Him, live for Him and die to be with Him. There may be nothing new under the sun but praises are owed to God who makes all things new and exciting each time we encounter Him. Without God all is meaningless but with Him there is no room for a modicum of mundane speech. What happened to draw this out of Solomon? Where is the passionate love-possessed man of Song of Songs? Good news is I think he eventually caught on. So many young men (and women, though rarely culpable *wink*) don’t ever understand. Living, truly living, is not the antithesis of serving God. Boredom in God is a slanderous statement. The Maker of ALL THINGS waves an ecstatically welcoming hand calling us to remember Him and go play.

FAQ’s (my apologies if they aren’t good or wrong)
1. What language is the title? “Ecclesiates”? (A: Greek)
2. What is the original Hebrew name (A: Qoheleth)…which means? (Preacher)
3. “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion as fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame.” (A: S of S 8:6)
4. What is the name of Ruth’s husband and 2 sons? (A: Elimelech, Chilion and Mahlon)
5. Where were they from? (A: Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah)

Christians are so kind. We don’t always have answers to feed the hungry and defend the oppressed but let tragedy come and we can spout off scriptures and prayers of providence, hope, trust and repentance like none other. I usually think “there’s helping and there’s hurting and right now you’re not helping”…I am a chaplain.  It’s my job. I am a chaplain. It’s my identity and my call. I know the Word (or at least parts 1 and 4) I love the Lord and trust Him completely but sometimes life truly does suck. Verbosity is irrelevant in dire situations. Life can feel crappy and unrelentless. Case in point: I well know a 50 something year old couple with a beautiful son, paid off mortage and 3 cars. Lest you are quick to judge them for living the “American dream”. They serve the Lord and labor in prayer with their community as they seek to serve more and be used by God. They know the fear of the Lord. Here is what the past 2 years vomitted up. Her son decides to depart from the way in which he was raised up. Her sister dies of aggresive breast cancer. The husband looses his job of 20+ years. Shortly after this she is diagnosed with the same breast cancer that plagues the women in her family. Oh yeah, and her son who recently gave his life to God is murdered senselessly leaving behind a young grandson. I know Job. She needs silence. She needs moments of laughter. She needs the freedom to question and doubt and be angry. She deserves that much. Often times in my “pastoral moments” when I am wearing my chaplain hat I struggle with this freedom. When do you mourn with others? How far do you let them go? Especially when you know that they know the Lord. When you mourn….Heck, when you just have a bad day the mention of God’s good will is enough to truly irrate you. We just want to be validated in our frustration. Job said it best after his friends issued their remedy. He spit out the teaspoon of their elixir and exclaimed, “Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends for the hand of God has touched me! Why do you like God pursue me, never satisfied with my flesh?” 19:21 & 22. It’s difficult to even type this as I am still frustrated and yes even angry with God for allowing their son to die. Oddly enough my anger stems from the love, knowledge and trust that I have in my Savior. It’s a conumdrum wrapping in an enigma served with a puzzle on the side. This is a new side of the Lord that I have to adjust to. I will say this; I was comforted at the funeral not by songs of praise that were sung (as they should be, I guess) and not seeing the throngs of people that share in this loss (which was great to see) and not even by the words of hope read from scripture (which I’m sure will minister to me in due time). Rather, calm came in the words of my pastor who simply said, “This is not right that a father a mother should have to bury an only son. It is unnatural. So if you are weak, hurt, confused and angry know that God can handle it for He is still a loving God.” Maybe that’s we should say to Job from the jump so that he doesn’t feel so insane and alone.

                The Book of Proverbs doesn’t make for a awe-inspiring bedtime story but I like it…a lot. Its clever and “quipy”; like listening to the “not so random” random nuggets of truth from the wrinkled lips of your possibly senile granpa. Some of the things he says don’t make complete sense at first. He can see this quizzical look in your eyes but he just winks and says, “you’ll get it when you get home”. You want to ask him to elaborate but you probably would be better off  ignorant of the seedy tale that lies behind his wisdom. It may reveal that Grandpa is not as sweet and feeble as his old body shows him to be. He has lived and lived to tell it. 
               Truth be told “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got” (Proverb brought to you by Mom’s Mabley) I love this piece of advice found in Prov. 4:7 that says, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get Wisdom and whatever else you get, get insight. The idea of “getting wisdom” is curious to me. Wisdom seems come with life’s experience. It’s like going on a blind date with twin sisters, Wisdom and Folly. Which one will you pick? What man wouldn’t want the seductress who’s gonna give it up at the end of the night? I’m betting that grandpa has dated her more than a few times. Solomon (and friends) say to choose Wisdom, she is good to you and faithfully tried and true. That vixen Folly is just no good. I wonder if Solomon compares wisdom and folly to woman because of his involvement with women or because of his dad or both. I guess you wax poetically on what you know best. The whole Book sounds like an assortment of journal excerpts full of non-sequitors.. I like that…Unfortunately, I journal and write like that and it is the death of me when Dr. Jacober has her red-inked axe in hand.
                                                                                                    PReGuNTaS
1. Is there more behind the idea of “the fear of the Lord” other than a reverent awe and respect?
2. Who are King Lemuel (and his mother) and Agur?
                                                                                                       SoMe fAvs
“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without good sense “11:22~good one

“Those who till their land will have plenty of food, but those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.” 12:11

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” 13:12

“The field of the poor may yield much food but it is swept away through injustice.” 13:23

“By wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. “24:3&4 (Be nice if this was read before building the new Temple, or if our church planters and missionaries read this)

“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.” 25:6-7

“Doing wrong is like a sport to a fool.” 10:23…never heard that before.

I do not know the correct way to respond to the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. I am not sure if a “right way” exists. I’ll preface my thoughts by saying that I am currently bent towards criticism of the church and its priests who bear God’s word. I am not arrogant enough to believe that I am not included in this assembly which is why I am so judgmental. We have to do better. That being said, I’ll continue. Genesis 12:2 is one of my most favorite verses. Summing up the call of God’s people, it says, “I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.” We have lost sight of this calling as we get caught up in our hype. The songs that we write, the prayers that we pray, the lessons that we teach and the buildings that we erect begin as vehicles to glorify God. Then, somehow we lose sight of Him in self-aggrandizement as if by following Him we deserve a standing ovation. I understand the hearts of these returning exiles. I sense the burden of Nehemiah and Ezra in re-establishing and keeping the law. In Nehemiah 8 the people are encouraged to rejoice and not weep. Verse 12 says that “they had understood the words that were declared to them.” They even spent a fourth of a day in confession and worship. How awesome would it be if the word of God convicted the people of God in such a way on a Sunday morning or some random Friday afternoon; when the people really do understand the gravity of God’s Word? However, in an attempt to be found right by God Ezra and Nehemiah both encourage that the people be purged of foreigners. These foreigners were the wives and children of Israelite men. After all, it is the law. I read that and thought, “What a great time to decide to follow!” Nehemiah even argues with and beats some of them concerning their unclean, unholy, foreign families. Ezra 10:44 says, “All these had married foreign women and they sent them away with their children.” Where are these women and children supposed to go? What kind of inside-out double exilic punishment is this; the will of God? It is heartbreaking, unfair and just plain wrong. It doesn’t sound like God to me and I cannot mesh these actions with call of service in Genesis 12:2.