From Anxious Millionaires to Hungry Souls

Yesterday we walked in the early morning, part of our daily routine. These early spring days are perfect for walking, for gazing at newly built mansions. Slowly passing by, we comment on the delicate stone work, spacious lawns and two-or-three-car garages. I'm happy for people who can afford the mortgage needed to move into a house on one of these Toronto streets. Our hour's walk completed, we arrived home.

We have many close friends who live two kilometers in the opposite direction. Most live in crowded government-sponsored housing. One special friend occupies a dark, one-room basement dive. I talked with G, asking about his brother. He said he would get in touch with T. An hour later the phone rang. T has spent two days without any food. He was hungry. His leg and back ache; actually they are worse now than before. Snow removal is over and summer lawns aren't yet crying out for someone to cut the grass. He has no money.

That's the spread of life experiences over a distance of less than four kilometers! Thinking about our morning and evening walks as I ended the day, I asked lots of questions. How many  people, those visible to all who drive by, are afraid that their mortgages won't be paid? Do they fear their businesses going bust? What do they thirst for? 

At the other end of the spectrum are people like T. He's mostly invisible to society. Two days ago, he ran out of all the supplies he needs to live. And it isn't even the end of the month, when his remittance from the government should be arriving. To me, he's like the lamb in Ephesus that lost its mother one time. Wandering around where there's little pasture. A hungry soul.

I've been walking with Habakkuk these days. My mind goes back to his words as I turn out the light. Great fear across the world has been inspired by a tiny virus. This prophet's anxiety arose as darkness brought complete disgrace within a broken, corrupt society. 

Consider the symptoms he listed. First, a society addicted to self-promotion, alcohol and greed. (2:4,5). Second, a growing cycle of theft, extortion (scams?), plundering and murder. (2:6-8). Third, unjust wages, high living and self-assurance all built on a foundation of plotting the ruin of others. (2:9-11) Fourth, murder-motivated enrichment. Building many buildings after a crime spree. (2:12-14) Fifth, pornographic lust for naked bodies aided by offering endless "free" drinks. (2:15-17)

Sounds familiar? Surprisingly, this prophet set his course by a different compass! His country was about to be at war! His society was more corrupt than ever! Worse, a locust plague was destroying the food supply!

Wow! What would be our response be to such events?? Fear? Depression? Dropping out? Consternation? But here is Habakkuk's understanding about the future. "... (T)he nations exhaust themselves for nothing. For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." 

Habakkuk knew God was at work. (Psst! He's still at work.) He had not abandoned his people. (Hint! God hasn't abandoned us.) He gave songs to sing. (PTL! We have so many great songs in hymn books, on CD's, through You Tube and social media. Maybe even old cassettes!)

Even in the midst of our day of calamity, the LORD, JHWH, Jehovah, is making His ways known. And the glory of the Lord will be spread around the globe. "As the waters cover the sea."

Thank you, Habakkuk, for walking with us down lovely streets lined with majestic trees and sparkling with robin-covered lawns. Thank you for supplying T., and so many others, with food. And for making your glory known to all people at a time of national and international crisis. We are all hungry souls. We all need your love, faith and hope, Habakkuk.

When you know a war is coming ...

When you know a war is coming, what questions do you ask? Should you ask? Do you talk to others about your fears? Or do you go directly to God? Or both?

One of my favorite prophets is Habakkuk. One day he got terrible news, a worrisome conviction. Hoards of soldiers were coming to conquer his city, Jerusalem.

"Violence!" he cried out.

"God, why do you make me look at injustice and tolerate the wrong things they are going to do to us?" He foresaw destruction and violence, strife and conflict. Wickedness would be a daily reality. There would be no justice in the land.

I think his fear of the future was something like we are experiencing right now with the explosion of Covid-19. Death, sickness and health scars span almost every nation around the world. Habakkuk sensed fear and dread. He described the coming tragedy in great detail. (See chapter one of his short book as he describes in vivid detail the arrival of Babylonian soldiers.)

What would your response have been with "a cavalry coming headlong, galloping towards us?"

Unbelievably, it was in the middle of these fears that the Lord gave an answer that we need right now.

We are facing unknown situations: illness, health complications, social dislocation, unemployment, a possible recession.

The Lord's response to Habakkuk's question speaks to us today. "See, he (the Babylonian soldier) is puffed up; his desires are not right, but the righteous will live by his faith..." 

Imagine!Listen to this! It's a lesson at the heart of our Christian faith! Being given even as soldiers are marching against you?

The righteous will live by his faith..." is quoted three times in the New Testament: Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38.

In moments of serious crisis God speaks to us in profound ways. 

How do you face a plague?

Locust by the billions: 2020 invasion in Northern Kenya.

How does a person stay faithful to God during a plague?

I love to read Habakuk. He faced three tragedies. One of them certainly was a plague. Probably caused by locusts. As a Grade 4 student in Africa, I watched in horror as these small insects ate anything and everything green.They wiped out farms. Nothing was left for humans or animals to eat.

Habakuk records such a scene with these words: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in God my Savior." (chapter 3:17,18)

Looking at this terrible scene of calamity, hunger and distress, you can see the progression.

Photos from BBC Article on locusts

First, the food source dries up: the fig tree is stripped of its leaves and buds. Then the crop essential to society for food, medication and soap, olives, disappears. As if that's not bad enough, animals die from lack of food. First the small animals, the sheep, and then the cattle.

People in general are having a more and more difficult time. Like those days of Habakuk, we are going through a time in which social situations are gradually getting worse. People are presently losing their livelihood, their jobs and for many,even their houses.

How did Habakuk face the future? What can we learn from him? He has a willing spirit. He depends upon the Lord. May we, like him, say the same thing. "Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

May we in our day, like his situation 2,500 years ago, rest in the Lord.

Christians in an age of Coronavirus - Part 2

This is the stream where Lydia was baptized in Philippi, Greece.

Early Christians, those who lived in the first three centuries of the Church, faced terrible plagues. Their actions and attitudes endeared them to many others. They were willing to help the sick and that was at a time when no one had health care - as we understand it today. Their actions ring down through the ages. Christians could look back at the church in Philippi, which was known for generosity, and they wanted to share what they had.

Our local church has cancelled all week-day activities for two weeks - committee meetings, prayer and Bible studies, outreach and drop in center and youth meetings. We rearranged ourselves on Sunday morning. For the first time ever, we sat 5-6 feet apart yesterday. Attendance was way down.

We will have volunteers helping seniors who need supplies and they will shop at stores to pick up what seniors and the ill need for their day-by-day meals and needs.

Just a quick update about the seriousness of this disease. The flue has a record of killing about one person in 1,000 which is a fatality of 0.1%. Coronavirus has affected 162,000 as of this morning, with about 6,000 deaths. That makes 3.7%, or 37 times more deadly than the flue. In the USA about 18,000 die annually from the flue-often among those who already have some form of lung disease. or weakness. If this virus is not stopped, the number of people it could kill in North America and around the world will be much higher.

Many jurisdictions have set a limit of 50 persons in a gathering. Here in Ontario, the limit is 50 persons. It was 250. Just now, it seems the limit has been dropped to 10 persons in a group. Our subways are packed everyday, so I'm not sure what this means for the spread of the virus, or for people going downtown for work.

Schools in some places are being closed for eight weeks. In Alberta, cay care, schools and colleges and universities are closed with no end in sight. Roman Catholic Churches, Anglican churches, Protestant churches, Orthodox churches, mosques, temples and synagogues are all closed for the next while. Also affected: day care centers, libraries, gyms, museums, community centers, sports halls.

It appears that the rates of increase of the infection in Canada are now doubling every three to four days. People are coming back to North America from Europe since Canada and the USA have cut out flights from most countries.

As of this afternoon, a Phase One trial has been with an initial injection that may lead to a successful cure.

As believers, we listen to the calming words of the Lord Jesus Christ whose voice of calm rings down through the ages: "It is I. Be not afraid."

In the midst of tension, stress and high emotions, perhaps we can learn to ask our neighbors: "What can I do to help?" Let's continue to be faithful witnesses, even when we might not want to be. 

Christians in an Age of Fear - Part 1

Plagues throughout history have wiped out great proportions of a population. Cities suffered greatly.

This was the case in the Roman E. Sicknesses were common. Most people lived in squalor. Tenement apartments were crowded. Overcrowded, more like it. Decent plumbing was enjoyed by less than 10% of the population. When a plaque arrived, great numbers died.

How did Christians react? What did they do when neighbors became deathly sick?

Perhaps the greatest compliment was that given by an enemy of Christians. Emperor Justinian, who was trying to get pagan temples to be prominent again, wrote this in AD 361.

"The pagans need to equal the virtues of the Christians. Recent growth in the Christian sect has been caused by their moral character and by the benevolence to strangers. I think that when the poor happen to be neglected and overlooked by our priests, the Christians see this and devote themselves to benevolence. And what is worse, the Christians support no only their own poor, but ours as well. Everyone can see that our people lack support because of this." 

Christians didn't look to die. They helped the sick, taking them in, buying food, visiting them and comforting them, all the while sharing the Gospel. They didn't want to die. They didn't want to get sick. But they believed in eternal life. They had hope in their hearts. And this hope gradually won over more and more people in the corrupt, plague-ridden, Roman Empire. 

Foundations for Faithfulness - 3

What motivates a person to remain faithful to his or her values? Why should a man remain faithful to his wife? Why should a wife remain faithful to her husband? And why should parents keep the faith with both their aging mothers and fathers, as well as with their children?

The Hebrew word for faithfulness cannot be easily translated into English. Our vocabulary doesn't contain a word that combines "faithfulness" with love, or goodness, or mercy. The best we can do is to add an adjective to a noun. Even then, the true meaning of the Hebrew is not made clear in English.

First, faithfulness implies an a quality of character. Faithfulness is what we

understand as we come to know God. He is committed to every word he has spoken. He will never change. He is trustworthy in everything he does or says. He can never lie. God will never begin something and end it. His purposes remain and he tells us what they are. Because the Lord is faithful, we can accept that he is unchanging.

Secondly, faithfulness is unending. Deeply treasured values made known in the past unending-ly into the future. "Unfailing love" communicates more than just "love". "Steadfast mercy"indicates unending and immeasurable grace. It indicates continuity.

Thirdly, faithfulness can only be known in the context of testing and trial. Every thing that comes our way tests our character and our steadfastness to what we believe and live for.

This blog focuses on and will continue to ponder the meaning of faithfulness. We will continue to examine the lives of people whose character shows this wonderful quality.

(Pomegranates and other fruits remind me of faithfulness. Buying any kind of fruit, I expect the same taste I've enjoyed in the past. Lord, help us to reflect in our daily lives the qualities people expect to find in followers of our wonderful Savior.) 

Foundations for Faithfulness - 2

What kind of news do we listen to? I find it interesting to hear that "the news" almost always refers to the most recent calamity, (like the the endless plight of Syrian refugees), or the plunging stock market, or the arrival of the novel disease, the Coronavirus, named Covid-19.

There's a much better definition and in the Hebrew language the word is habsorah. Good news. 

How about this for impact! "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings habsorah, who brings Good News!" Isaiah 52:7.

It's good news about everything: love towards God; marriage; relationships between fathers and sons; relationships between mothers and daughters; harmony between in-laws; the use of money; the care of the poor; the use of our resources; support for widows; teaching the young; breaking down barriers between racial divides; healing of body, soul and spirit, and the use of the gifts given to us by the Spirit of God.

The Good news that comes to us has so many adjectives and descriptions: Reconciliation with God, Peace with God, forgiveness, redemption, salvation, justification, sacrifice, healing, mercy, grace. That's just a start. There is so much more.

Wow! so much in that little Hebrew word: habsorah.  

Foundations for faithfulness - 1

Every great attribute of a person is rooted in the healthy soil of character. The roots go down deep into a rich and abundant source of nutrition. We don't see the sap running up the bark of a tree, but we do enjoy the fruit. We pick it and take home for our meals.

The Hebrew language has a word that is like the richest soil you will ever find or want to find to plant the tree of our lives. V'ahavta  means "You shall love". It is the summary of the 613 laws of Moses and it joins the Old Testament as well as the New. Leviticus 19:18 says, "But you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus, in responding to a crucial question in Jerusalem, said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". Matthew 22:37-39.

All Christians who want to obey the Lord will find the roots of their lives going down deep into V'ahavta. 

Here's a couple of questions: What passes through my mind when I hear the word V'ahavta? Does it make me want to love God more? Does it inspire me to show love to my neighbor in a practical way?