It's A Trap! Reflection on Psalm 43

Image By: Rishabh Mishra

It was recess and I was standing guard while the ladies were enjoyed the swing set.  I should explain.  I was standing guard because it was the habit of boys at my school to chase the girls during recess.  It was all in good fun, but the arrangement bothered me; to my superhero-loving 8 year old mind the boys seemed like bad guys.  So, as only an 8 year old can I resolved to oppose bad guys wherever they might be.  I declared myself the girl's body guard; when a boy would run at a girl I chased him away, kicked him, and yelled, “Don’t chase girls!”

While I stood guard that day a friend of mine yelled over from the play structure, “Hey David!  Come over here!”

“No!”  I had a job to do.

“I wanna show you something cool!”

This particular boy, we'll call him Jack, was good at catching cool bugs, however; I thought this could be a trap.  As I considered, he yelled, “I promise it’s not a trap.” That might seem a suspicious declaration to you, but it neatly dissipated my suspicions at the time.  I was not the smartest kid; I assumed he was bound by his promise to me.

“It was a trap!” Jack shouted once I had climbed to where he stood.  Two boys blocked my retreat route and four others came out from various hiding places.  I was surrounded.  No one hurt me.  This game was too fun for either side to ruin it that way.  I ran through the crowd and dove heroically down a slide.  Their plan was clever.  My escape was daring.  Everyone won.

           

            This is the greatest extent to which anyone was ever lain in wait for my blood.  I’ve been blessed; I have not been oppressed by an enemy, but sometimes circumstances can be bad enough without enemies.  I’ve hunted for jobs without finding them.  I’ve been hungry.  There have been difficult obstacles.  I’ve asked God what he thinks he’s doing much like David did in verse 2.  I love how the Psalms let us see the weakness of David.  Apparently it is OK to be weak sometimes.  Crazy right?  I think if there's a right way to deal with our weakness David nails it in 3-5.  He calls out to God; he steels himself against despair, and resolves to hope.  Sometimes that's all we can do.

Challenge:

            Call out to God today.  Whether you’re in a time of comfort or a time of hurt, take time today to ask God to guide you, increase your joy.  Praise him and resolve to hope.  Then, if you can, go hang out with someone who loves you.  God Speed.

RE: A Call To Conscience Chapter Ten

By Dick DeMarsico, World Telegram staff photographer, via Wikimedia Commons

It’s refreshing to dive back into the words of Dr. King, and surreal to dive into this particular speech.  It was delivered at the 11^th annual convention of the Southern Christian Leadership Council.  I attended the 100^th annual convention of the LCMS Michigan District this month, and King’s address follows the pattern of a good convention speech.  With no offense to anyone who spoke at the LCMS convention, King may be a superior writer.  True to convention-time speeches it is long and informative, boasting of grand accomplishments, warning of great obstacles, and doubling the courage of all who hear it. 

           

At their 11^th convention, the SCLC had changed the shape of the United States forever, and yet there was much work to be done.  I cannot imagine the elation convention attendees felt, knowing that their actions over the past decade had struck down so much injustice.  Still, King outlined the bleak state of race relations honestly:

“Half of all Negroes live in substandard housing. And Negroes have half the income of whites. When we turn to the negative experiences of life, the Negro has a double share: There are twice as many unemployed; the rate of infant mortality among Negroes is double that of whites; and there are twice as many Negroes dying in Vietnam as whites in proportion to their size in the population. (Yes) [applause]In other spheres, the figures are equally alarming. In elementary schools, Negroes lag one to three years behind whites, and their segregated schools (Yeah) receive substantially less money per student than the white schools. (Those schools) One-twentieth as many Negroes as whites attend college. Of employed Negroes, seventy-five percent hold menial jobs. This is where we are.” – King 1967

 It is disheartening to read these figures from decades ago and know that similar disparities endure:

This prison population is disproportionately black and brown. As of 2006, the United States. penal population was 46 percent white, 41 percent African American, and 19 percent Latino. In practical terms, by 2001, about one out of every six African-American males had experienced jail or imprisonment. Based on current trends, over one out of three black men will experience imprisonment during their lives. – Manning Marable

As recently as the 1990s there have been “scholarly” attempts to prove the inferiority of black students, and thus excuse racial achievement gaps.  It feels discouraging that although so much time has passed so much injustice and ignorance remains; I’m sure conference attendees brought reasons to feel discouraged.  Fortunately, King was a champion of courage.  That enviable courage was drawn from a deep rooted faith in the all-powerful and loving person of Jesus Christ. This shows through as King paraphrases 1 Corinthians 13:

“And I say to you, I have also decided to stick with love, for I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. (Yes) And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn't popular to talk about it in some circles today. (No) And I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love; I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. (Yes) For I have seen too much hate. (Yes) I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. (Yeah) I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate, myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities, and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. (Yes, That’s right) I have decided to love. [applause] If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we aren't moving wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. (Yes) He who hates does not know God, but he who loves has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.

And so I say to you today, my friends, that you may be able to speak with the tongues of men and angels (All right); you may have the eloquence of articulate speech; but if you have not love, it means nothing. (That's right) Yes, you may have the gift of prophecy; you may have the gift of scientific prediction (Yes sir) and understand the behavior of molecules (All right); you may break into the storehouse of nature (Yes sir) and bring forth many new insights; yes, you may ascend to the heights of academic achievement (Yes sir) so that you have all knowledge (Yes sir, Yes); and you may boast of your great institutions of learning and the boundless extent of your degrees; but if you have not love, all of these mean absolutely nothing. (Yes) You may even give your goods to feed the poor (Yes sir); you may bestow great gifts to charity (Speak); and you may tower high in philanthropy; but if you have not love, your charity means nothing. (Yes sir) You may even give your body to be burned and die the death of a martyr, and your spilt blood may be a symbol of honor for generations yet unborn, and thousands may praise you as one of history's greatest heroes; but if you have not love (Yes, All right), your blood was spilt in vain. What I'm trying to get you to see this morning is that a man may be self-centered in his self-denial and self-righteous in his self-sacrifice. His generosity may feed his ego, and his piety may feed his pride. (Speak) So without love, benevolence becomes egotism, and martyrdom becomes spiritual pride.” – King 1967

Loyal to the word that in God’s strength nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26), King ended his address with a call to unconditional love, and a divine dissatisfaction with anything less:

“Let us be dissatisfied (Yes), and men will recognize that out of one blood (Yes) God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth. (Speak sir)

Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout, "White Power!" when nobody will shout, "Black Power!" but everybody will talk about God's power and human power. [applause] . . . and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights (Well), let us remember (Yes) that there is a creative force in this universe working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil (Well), a power that is able to make a way out of no way (Yes) and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. (Speak)

Let us realize that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Let us realize that William Cullen Bryant is right: "Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again." Let us go out realizing that the Bible is right: "Be not deceived. God is not mocked. (Oh yeah) Whatsoever a man soweth (Yes), that (Yes) shall he also reap." This is our hope for the future, and with this faith we will be able to sing in some not too distant tomorrow, with a cosmic past tense, "We have overcome! (Yes) We have overcome! Deep in my heart, I did believe (Yes) we would overcome." [applause]” – King1967”

Challenge:

What always amazes me about Dr. King is his optimistic idealism.  Although he lived in a time of darker trials than I can imagine, his words ring with hope.  Take a moment today to ruminate on Matthew 19:26; begin to imagine a world transformed by God's unconditional love.  We can create that world only if we rely on God's strength instead of our own.  Ask God to work through you today.  The possibilities are endless.

RE: Psalm 37

I struggle with whether or not to read the news. It is of course best to be as informed as possible so one can make wise decisions, but on the other hand I don't trust the information, almost as a matter of principle. I grew up reading 1984 and Brave New World; I learned psychology, sociology, and statistics in college. As a result I know a lot of compelling reasons to not trust politicians, reporters, first hand accounts, surveys, or even my self. Trusting no one, when I do read the news I'm left with the vague awareness that much in the world is horribly wrong, worse even than I'm being told, and yet I have no idea what to believe when it comes to assigning blame or approaching a solution. If ignorance is bliss, it is also irresponsible, but what can I do to help this world if I cannot know what is true?

I needed this psalm today. I needed to be reminded of what I do know is true: God prevails; love wins. There is incredible evil in the world today; people die of hunger, thirst, and many other preventable causes, and my skin crawls with rage because I don't know what to do about it. I don't know who to punish, and I don't know who to trust to help the poor and afflicted. In this moment of feeling powerless, God speaks through this Psalm:

Photo by Alex Proimos

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret —it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. -Psalm 37:7-9

May you take heart today, whatever your situation is. Hope in the Lord and be renewed because God can and will use you to accomplish his eternal purposes.

RE: A Call To Conscience Chapter Six

Photo By: David Dixon

Eulogy For The Martyred Children is the shortest speech yet included in A Call To Conscience, so if you haven't read any of of King's speeches, I encourage you to at least read this one. King delivered this eulogy at the funeral service of three children who fell victim to the bombing of a church. I have never been to the funeral service of a child.  A classmate of mine took his life when I was in high school but I'm certain that I cannot imagine the pain a parent feels at the death of a child.  King understood that no words could properly console the families after so great a loss and kept his message short.

Although it was brief, the eulogy was thick with the strong and unyielding hope that King wove into all of his sermons. While condemning the actions of hateful men he exhorted listeners to hold tight to hope, saying:

“We must not become bitter (Yeah, That’s right), nor must we harbor the desire to retaliate with violence. No, we must not lose faith in our white brothers. (Yeah, Yes) Somehow we must believe that the most misguided among them can learn to respect the dignity and the worth of all human personality.”(King 1963)

His unyielding admonishment to cling to hope, even in the wake of these racially motivated murders is astounding. I am not that good a person. I know that I become bitter and can harbor a desire to retaliate with violence when I feel powerless. I believe the secret to King's endurance was that he absolutely depended on God to be the one to work out a final victory. That kind of dependence is something I'm still learning; I pray I get there. I pray we all get there.

Photo By: slagheap

“And so my friends, they did not die in vain. (Yeah) God still has a way of wringing good out of evil. (Oh yes) And history has proven over and over again that unmerited suffering is redemptive.” (King 1963)

RE: Psalm 30

While sitting at my desk I got an unexpected and alarming phone call. My father-in-law was calling me to inform me that his car, which he'd given Beth and I the use of, had been towed and was quickly accumulating a staggering load of fines. I almost cried after I hung up the phone. I had been planning on paying taxes that day, taxes we could barely afford to pay off. I had no idea what we were going to do, and I was in no mood to pray, or to reflect on how God has always provided, nor was I inclined to remember the scripture I had just read about God's promise to provide. I didn't want to act wise or self-controlled; I wanted to punch things and yell. Thank God my boss noticed something was wrong and prayed with me before I had time to embarrass myself.

Photo Credit: HAWK Takahashi

Things worked out splendidly and I've no intention of explaining how.  I will say that God provided and that a few things which were at least as unexpected as an impounded car helped save the day. Right now everything is fine, situations are resolved and the song in my heart is Psalm 30, but next time I find myself in what appears to be a hopeless situation, I pray I can remember the lilies of the field.

RE: Psalm 25

No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. -Psalm 25:3

During times of doubt and struggle I have read and reread this verse until the words echoed in my head for days at a time. At times the world is an oppressive and bewildering place to live. At I do not even feel that I understand my own life. In these times Psalm 25 is of particular value. This psalm is simply a promise that God is worth the faith we've put in him.

There are many little proverbs that we use to encourage one another, sadly I do not usually find them encouraging. Truisms are well meant, but I can't buy into them. It would be better to take the encouragement wherever I can find it, but God reaches out to me, even in my cynicism, and offers Psalm 25.

What do you put your hope in?

Easter Sunday

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” -John 20:19-21

Dear Friends,

Today is Easter; Jesus is risen and the dramas of lent are over. I'm not perfectly sure why you're reading this because today is not the day for solemn reflection; today is a day for parties! Find a party and get started immediately; make it a party befitting the royalty God has made you. Celebrate like a convict who's been released early; rejoice like a soldier who's long final battle has been won. Today is a day to grin like an idiot and hug people because your many sins are completely and finally forgiven; they are taken away and will never be revisited by your saving lover, Jesus Christ.

Challenge: You're still reading? Get out of here and get to a party! This day has been given to us to remember God's magnificent victory over the sin, death, and the devil; so stop reading and go dance, laugh, and eat with your many brothers and sisters. Rejoice! Death is swallowed up in victory!