God’s people give back to him. There seem to be three reasons we do so.
Some people give to God to get a blessing. And there is biblical support for this.
Other people give to God out of duty. The Bible commands it; they do it.
Other people give out of gratitude and love. God has blessed them; they bless God back.
1. Giving with hope, duty, and love.
I cannot judge other Christians from any moral high ground; in fact, it would be a sin for me to judge them. I will say that I have given for all three reasons. I have given too often for the first reason; not enough for the third. If God gives me more time on the Earth, I hope to give more out of gratitude, and less out of hope of gain.
And maybe, if God continues to bless me on Earth, I will learn to give back for all three reasons: hope, duty, and love, remembering that among "faith, hope, and love", "the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13.)
2. Praying with hope, duty, and love.
Everything believers do with God has something to do with hope, duty, and love. And none of these should be despised. When I pray, I pray because God commands it (duty). I remember to thank God and honor him with praise (love). I pray for his mercy, because I have some knowledge of my own wrongfulness and inadequacy (hope).
These three reasons to pray – hope, duty, love – seem to be a continuum from selfishness to unselfishness. And yet, in this, God meets us where we are. We are selfish. And we are needy. So the Bible encourages us to pray for wisdom. (James 1:15.) What is a prayer for wisdom but a prayer for ourselves? But it is a prayer to have something that makes us more godly, something that leads to prayers of love. In this circle, we pray for ourselves, and we get so that we might give to God.
3. Not despising the prayer of hope and need.
Jesus once contrasted the prayers of two men. One man prayed a prayer of thanksgiving. The other man prayed a prayer of hope and need. Jesus favored the prayer of hope and need over the prayer of thanksgiving.
The story is familiar to those who travel the Bible. A Pharisee and a publican (the keeper of an ill house) came to the temple to pray. (Some translations have the second man to be a tax collector – a despised man in those times.) The Pharisee was a man of spiritual accomplishment. He thanked God that he was not an evildoer, or even like the publican who also came to the temple to pray.
But the publican was ashamed. He beat his chest. He could not look up. He prayed, "God have mercy on me, a sinner." Just as God honored the sacrifice of Abel, but not that of Cain, so God honored the prayer of the heart-broken publican, but not the prayer of the spiritually-accomplished Pharisee. (Luke 18:10-14.)
4. Restraint in the prayer of hope and need.
But the prayer of hope and need must be bridled. It’s one thing to pray for wisdom or love or faith to rise in your heart. It’s another thing to pray for a Mercedes Benz. Why would God want to answer a prayer that makes you love the world and not himself? Love of God leads to salvation, which is what the one-who-takes-pleasure-in-the-death-of-no-sinner yearns for all. (Ezekiel 18:23.) Love of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, lead to death.
If a child asks for a fish, no parent will give him a snake. If he asks for an egg, no parent will give him a scorpion. The Gospel of Luke assures that God is like that. (Luke 11:11-13.) James 4:3 says, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (NIV) This is a good thing. If you ask for a scorpion, or a snake, or the riches of the world, you are better off if the answer is No.
But we can and should pray for our needs to be met. "Give us this day our daily bread" is famously part of the Lord’s prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples when one of them asked him to teach them to pray. (Luke 11:3.) And there is wisdom in the prayer of Proverbs 30:8-9: "[G]ive me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." (NIV.)
5. Praying Psalms 143 & 145.
Psalm 143 is a prayer of hope and need. Psalm 145 is a prayer of love. In the past two weeks, I have been moved to learn both of them. Psalm 143 I learned in a day or two. I can pray it from memory now, though I chose not to learn the last line. I studied Psalm 145 over two days, and I am still learning it. When I pray it, I pray the parts that I know.
I was moved to learn these psalms when I retreated to the San Gorgonio mountains. And when I did not know what to pray, I could pray these in my heart and with my lips. Also, they are better prayers than my own.
I wish I had practiced learning psalms earlier. I regret that I despaired of God’s mercy for more than a decade, and that in this time I neglected God. This was sin. I am grateful to God that he has quickened me in recent times.
So today, as I pray, maybe I am both the publican and the Pharisee.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
House Burning
Civil War historian James M. McPherson write about similarities in North and South in language, religion, law, and political systems:
I don’t think each side is equally to blame in this; but I won’t dwell on that. Your might appoint blame in an opposite way from me. I will say that blame is shared.
And rather than dwell on an endless cycle of accusation and counter-accusation, I propose that we stop and ask: is this what we want?
1. The direction of America.
When did America become so Darwinian? When did we cease to yield to each other for the common good? When did we cease to be a people who disagreed, and come to be enemies? When did each victory and defeat become a booyah moment for one side and, for the other, an occasion for fresh accusations of cheating and fraud?
I wonder if some people will not recognize America in this description. I wonder if some people will say, "But of course we flail [the other side]! They’re political stenches!"
And so North and South felt about each other before the shooting started that ended with 600,000 deaths.
I’m not predicting a new Civil War. Geographically, conservatives and liberals are too enmeshed to plausibly divide. But American conservatives and liberals might be united in one thing and one thing only: together, we might dive into the pit of mutually-assured destruction.
It might not be the sudden self-destruction of a nuclear blast. But it might be. One side or the other might commit some act such as willful refusal to honor national debt already incurred. (By, for example, refusing to raise the debt ceiling.) And, if the timing is right, that could create an economic crisis that could greatly degrade America's economic power.
But if the mutually-assured destruction does not come suddenly like a nuclear blast, it could come slowly, like the nuclear-winter aftermath of such an blast. Just like plants will cease to receive light and make oxygen in a nuclear winter, political stalemate could starve politics of the cooperation that it needs to move forward in any direction.
2. The danger of paralysis.
When I was a young prosecutor, I learned to make decisions quickly. I realized that things happen in trial that you couldn’t predict or prepare for. And as a trial lawyer, I couldn’t walk out the back door of the courtroom and take the elevator to the cafeteria to sip coffee and think of the next step. I had to make an instant decision. I have often been in that position.
And sometimes I made the right decision. Sometimes I made the wrong decision. Sometimes my instant solution was good, sometimes it was bad. But in 50 out of 50 cases, the decision that I made was better than standing in the courtroom and doing nothing.
Look at Europe. When the recent economic crisis hit, Europe united in a solution. That solution was austerity. Now, a few years later, all of the richest countries of Europe except Germany have realized that austerity has made things worse. They are calling for a united pro-growth program, maybe similar to America’s stimulus, which has saved America from the steep downturn that Europe has suffered. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/world/world-leaders-at-us-meeting-urge-growth-not-austerity.html?hp
But the point isn’t to gloat that America’s response was better than Europe’s. The point is that Europe made a choice; now that it has realized that it was the wrong choice, Europe is seriously considering reversing course.
America has to keep that option. We have a political system where one side prevails or the other one does. The prevailing party moves forward with its solutions. If those sulutions turn out to be wrong, then the other side gets its chance at the next go-round. If we can’t follow this time-tested, time-honored democratic model, then we become like homeowners who let their house burn rather that quench the fire by the other homeowners’ plan.
But increasingly, we see political immobility. Increasingly we see a system of politics where one party sabotages the other rather than allow the other party to have success or move forward. And, given our interdependence, that’s like one faction in a submerged submarine sabotaging the engines. Sabotage is suicide.
If politics keeps going where it has been going, we will become a nation of political suicide bombers. In every way.
3. Solutions.
We tend to think our positions are right. But before we speak out, we might ask: is this helpful? Does this build up America? Not every thought needs to be expressed.
We tend to feel dismayed or angry or frustrated with the other side. When we do, we might ask: do I hate [name of other political party] more than I love America? We can’t love America and hate a huge part of it. If we love only part of it, let’s be honest with ourselves. Let’s say, "God bless [name of our own political party]", because "God bless America" is ashes in our mouth.
Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip O’Neill were famous adversaries, but they were also good and honorable friends. Their mutual opposition and mutual respect are a model for Republicans and Democrats today. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/17/AR2011011703299.html
Nor is the nastiness of politics today good or useful. When I was a new prosecutor, I was told: hit hard blows, but fair ones. Politics should be like that.
Common ground exists among us. Sometimes it’s common religion – in the broad sense. Christians share faith in Jesus Christ. Christians and Jews share faith in the God of Abraham and in much common scripture. Muslims share a faith in the God of Abraham.
Sometimes it’s as simple as a willed goodwill. Sometimes it’s just that we’re all Americans. Common ground should be cultivated.
The beneficiaries of hatred and stalemate in American politics won’t be one party or the other. Certainly, it won’t be the American people. It will be China. It will be Russia. It will be radical Islam. It won’t be us.
Onward.
The same similarities prevailed between England and her North American colonies in 1776, but they did not prevent the development of a separate nationalism in the latter. It is not language or law alone that is important, but the uses to which either is put. In the United States of the 1850s, Northerners and Southerners spoke the same language, to be sure, but they were increasingly using this language to revile each other. Language became an instrument of division, not unity. [Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the Civil War (Oxford University Press, 1996).]To me, these sentences indict America in 2012. Like North and South in the 1850s, American conservatives and liberals in the early 21st century speak and write to strip skin from each other. Common ground is elusive, if it is sought, which often it is not. Conversation too often is quest to dominate and destroy.
I don’t think each side is equally to blame in this; but I won’t dwell on that. Your might appoint blame in an opposite way from me. I will say that blame is shared.
And rather than dwell on an endless cycle of accusation and counter-accusation, I propose that we stop and ask: is this what we want?
1. The direction of America.
When did America become so Darwinian? When did we cease to yield to each other for the common good? When did we cease to be a people who disagreed, and come to be enemies? When did each victory and defeat become a booyah moment for one side and, for the other, an occasion for fresh accusations of cheating and fraud?
I wonder if some people will not recognize America in this description. I wonder if some people will say, "But of course we flail [the other side]! They’re political stenches!"
And so North and South felt about each other before the shooting started that ended with 600,000 deaths.
I’m not predicting a new Civil War. Geographically, conservatives and liberals are too enmeshed to plausibly divide. But American conservatives and liberals might be united in one thing and one thing only: together, we might dive into the pit of mutually-assured destruction.
It might not be the sudden self-destruction of a nuclear blast. But it might be. One side or the other might commit some act such as willful refusal to honor national debt already incurred. (By, for example, refusing to raise the debt ceiling.) And, if the timing is right, that could create an economic crisis that could greatly degrade America's economic power.
But if the mutually-assured destruction does not come suddenly like a nuclear blast, it could come slowly, like the nuclear-winter aftermath of such an blast. Just like plants will cease to receive light and make oxygen in a nuclear winter, political stalemate could starve politics of the cooperation that it needs to move forward in any direction.
2. The danger of paralysis.
When I was a young prosecutor, I learned to make decisions quickly. I realized that things happen in trial that you couldn’t predict or prepare for. And as a trial lawyer, I couldn’t walk out the back door of the courtroom and take the elevator to the cafeteria to sip coffee and think of the next step. I had to make an instant decision. I have often been in that position.
And sometimes I made the right decision. Sometimes I made the wrong decision. Sometimes my instant solution was good, sometimes it was bad. But in 50 out of 50 cases, the decision that I made was better than standing in the courtroom and doing nothing.
Look at Europe. When the recent economic crisis hit, Europe united in a solution. That solution was austerity. Now, a few years later, all of the richest countries of Europe except Germany have realized that austerity has made things worse. They are calling for a united pro-growth program, maybe similar to America’s stimulus, which has saved America from the steep downturn that Europe has suffered. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/world/world-leaders-at-us-meeting-urge-growth-not-austerity.html?hp
But the point isn’t to gloat that America’s response was better than Europe’s. The point is that Europe made a choice; now that it has realized that it was the wrong choice, Europe is seriously considering reversing course.
America has to keep that option. We have a political system where one side prevails or the other one does. The prevailing party moves forward with its solutions. If those sulutions turn out to be wrong, then the other side gets its chance at the next go-round. If we can’t follow this time-tested, time-honored democratic model, then we become like homeowners who let their house burn rather that quench the fire by the other homeowners’ plan.
But increasingly, we see political immobility. Increasingly we see a system of politics where one party sabotages the other rather than allow the other party to have success or move forward. And, given our interdependence, that’s like one faction in a submerged submarine sabotaging the engines. Sabotage is suicide.
If politics keeps going where it has been going, we will become a nation of political suicide bombers. In every way.
3. Solutions.
We tend to think our positions are right. But before we speak out, we might ask: is this helpful? Does this build up America? Not every thought needs to be expressed.
We tend to feel dismayed or angry or frustrated with the other side. When we do, we might ask: do I hate [name of other political party] more than I love America? We can’t love America and hate a huge part of it. If we love only part of it, let’s be honest with ourselves. Let’s say, "God bless [name of our own political party]", because "God bless America" is ashes in our mouth.
Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip O’Neill were famous adversaries, but they were also good and honorable friends. Their mutual opposition and mutual respect are a model for Republicans and Democrats today. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/17/AR2011011703299.html
Nor is the nastiness of politics today good or useful. When I was a new prosecutor, I was told: hit hard blows, but fair ones. Politics should be like that.
Common ground exists among us. Sometimes it’s common religion – in the broad sense. Christians share faith in Jesus Christ. Christians and Jews share faith in the God of Abraham and in much common scripture. Muslims share a faith in the God of Abraham.
Sometimes it’s as simple as a willed goodwill. Sometimes it’s just that we’re all Americans. Common ground should be cultivated.
The beneficiaries of hatred and stalemate in American politics won’t be one party or the other. Certainly, it won’t be the American people. It will be China. It will be Russia. It will be radical Islam. It won’t be us.
Onward.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Prayers for Mitt Romney
I’m a sinner. I mean that sincerely. I won’t elaborate.
But a few days ago, I had a worthy thought. I decided to pray for a man I oppose: Mitt Romney. He’s a sinner, like me. It’s right that I pray for him.
I also pray for Barack Obama. What I said about Romney and me is also true of Obama.
I pray for Obama more than I pray for Romney. But I pray for both of them. And I pray for their families.
This is for my friends who are believers: will you join me in praying for these two men and their families? Maybe you already do. And, whoever wins in November, will you continue to pray for the winner (and the loser)?
No person has the wisdom and the knowledge and the humility that it takes to preside over America. Whoever occupies the White House needs our prayers.
1. The "why".
And maybe the prayers that we don’t want to pray are more fragrant to God than the prayers that we are eager to pray. Who knows? In praying for our enemies, maybe we are helping ourselves.
In this, we would follow a man greater than any of us, who suffered more from authorities than any of us ever will. Five times he was flogged with forty lashes less one. His back from neck to waist must have been all scar tissue. He was also beaten and imprisoned (often). But his is what he told his disciple Timothy (1 Tim 2:1-32 (NRSV)):
2. Suggestions for prayer.
I suggest praying for leaders the things that we ourselves need: wisdom, humility, strength. Especially wisdom. Wisdom is keenly needed.
Many remember that that was the quality that Solomon prayed for himself. God came to Solomon and told him to ask for what God should give to him. Solomon said:
How can we possibly do wrong by praying for wisdom for somebody? And godliness? Even for our enemies? (To be clear: I don’t think Romney is my "enemy". But I oppose him in this election.)
3. Imprecatory prayers (curses).
There is deep wisdom in the Hebrew Bible. I acknowledge that, and I admit that there are prayers of harm in it ("imprecatory" prayers). King David, for example, was pursued by his usurping son. He prayed that his son’s wise counselor would be confounded. He prayed: "O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." (2 Samuel 15:31.)
If I’ve moved anyone to pray like that, I’ve done more harm than good. I will only say that if we want mercy from God, we should show mercy to others. Who among us doesn’t need mercy from God? A prayer of hatred is a somber thing, and nobody should undertake it with giddy pleasure. But that’s between every person who so prays and God.
4. Praying for ourselves and each other.
In praying for wisdom for our leaders, we might remember to pray for wisdom for ourselves and for each other. And for a spirit willing to submit to that wisdom.
The other thing that lately I have prayed for myself is humility. Pride, I now know, has been my lifelong adversary. And vanity. And conceit. They always tug at me.
So I try to think of the men that Jesus spoke of: one prayed thanks that he wasn’t like the sinner next to him. The sinner next to him prayed for mercy. The story is worth quoting:
5. Closing prayers.
God bless Mitt Romney with wisdom and godliness and a humble spirit. God bless him and protect him and also his family.
God bless Barack Obama with wisdom and godliness and a humble spirit. God bless him and protect him and also his family.
But a few days ago, I had a worthy thought. I decided to pray for a man I oppose: Mitt Romney. He’s a sinner, like me. It’s right that I pray for him.
I also pray for Barack Obama. What I said about Romney and me is also true of Obama.
I pray for Obama more than I pray for Romney. But I pray for both of them. And I pray for their families.
This is for my friends who are believers: will you join me in praying for these two men and their families? Maybe you already do. And, whoever wins in November, will you continue to pray for the winner (and the loser)?
No person has the wisdom and the knowledge and the humility that it takes to preside over America. Whoever occupies the White House needs our prayers.
1. The "why".
And maybe the prayers that we don’t want to pray are more fragrant to God than the prayers that we are eager to pray. Who knows? In praying for our enemies, maybe we are helping ourselves.
In this, we would follow a man greater than any of us, who suffered more from authorities than any of us ever will. Five times he was flogged with forty lashes less one. His back from neck to waist must have been all scar tissue. He was also beaten and imprisoned (often). But his is what he told his disciple Timothy (1 Tim 2:1-32 (NRSV)):
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.This, of course, was the apostle Paul.
2. Suggestions for prayer.
I suggest praying for leaders the things that we ourselves need: wisdom, humility, strength. Especially wisdom. Wisdom is keenly needed.
Many remember that that was the quality that Solomon prayed for himself. God came to Solomon and told him to ask for what God should give to him. Solomon said:
Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great? (2 Chron 1:10 (KJV).)God gave him that, and more.
How can we possibly do wrong by praying for wisdom for somebody? And godliness? Even for our enemies? (To be clear: I don’t think Romney is my "enemy". But I oppose him in this election.)
3. Imprecatory prayers (curses).
There is deep wisdom in the Hebrew Bible. I acknowledge that, and I admit that there are prayers of harm in it ("imprecatory" prayers). King David, for example, was pursued by his usurping son. He prayed that his son’s wise counselor would be confounded. He prayed: "O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." (2 Samuel 15:31.)
If I’ve moved anyone to pray like that, I’ve done more harm than good. I will only say that if we want mercy from God, we should show mercy to others. Who among us doesn’t need mercy from God? A prayer of hatred is a somber thing, and nobody should undertake it with giddy pleasure. But that’s between every person who so prays and God.
4. Praying for ourselves and each other.
In praying for wisdom for our leaders, we might remember to pray for wisdom for ourselves and for each other. And for a spirit willing to submit to that wisdom.
The other thing that lately I have prayed for myself is humility. Pride, I now know, has been my lifelong adversary. And vanity. And conceit. They always tug at me.
So I try to think of the men that Jesus spoke of: one prayed thanks that he wasn’t like the sinner next to him. The sinner next to him prayed for mercy. The story is worth quoting:
And [Jesus] spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. [Luke 18:9-14 (KJV).]God save you and me from pride. God grant us the gift of a broken spirit.
5. Closing prayers.
God bless Mitt Romney with wisdom and godliness and a humble spirit. God bless him and protect him and also his family.
God bless Barack Obama with wisdom and godliness and a humble spirit. God bless him and protect him and also his family.
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