A QUICK WORD ON AUTHORITY

What is the worst thing you can do to someone: other than nasty physical tortures, fingernails on the chalkboard or making them watch endless hours of Barney the Purple Dinosaur?  How about giving them the responsibility of accomplishing something without giving them the authority to make it happen?  What might even be worse is having someone do or say something, but not recognizing their authority to do or say it.

I used to be a pretty good golfer, when I had the time and money to play.  When I was in high school a friend and I went on a Saturday morning to play a local course.  We were dropped off and went into the pro-shop to pay where we were informed that because we were under 18 years of age we could not play until after 4 pm (it was only noon).  I looked at the guy behind the desk and with great indignation said, “Do you know who I am?”  I was shocked when he did not and offended when he said he didn’t even care!  When I informed him that I could undoubtedly beat anybody else on the course at that moment (not an empty boast since the week before I shot a 33 [that is two under par and pretty good for you non-golfers] on the same course) and there was no reason to think that we would hold up any other players, he just pointed to the door and said, “Come back at 4 pm.”  I think my challenge to play him for a dollar a hole just made him even more apathetic to our plight.

What does this have to do with authority, and more importantly the seventh chapter of John?  Jesus taught with an authority that did not come from man and was way beyond His perceived level of education.  But the judgment of men has never been the determining factor in the value or weight of the words of Jesus.  He made it clear that His authority was not His own, but came from His Father in heaven. 

It is not uncommon in the world today to find men and women respond to the teachings of Christ with apathy or anger; “I don’t care what it says in the Bible…who are you to say what is right or wrong?”  The authority of the Bible does not come from me or any other human who may teach the Truth…it comes from the One who gave us the Truth.  If you want to argue about it you will have to take it to the top!

How important are words?

Mind your P’s and Q’s!  I did a little research and found a variety of origins and applications for this phrase.  Some sources mentioned the printing world; as a reminder for those using the old-style type-set printers not to confuse the P’s and Q’s as they set the type.  Some sources mentioned the area of manners; reminding us to pay close attention to proper etiquette at the table or while we were in social settings.  One source pointed to the origins of this phrase as being from the world of English Pubs, as the barman would keep track of how many pints (P’s) or quarts (Q’s) a customer had consumed (often marking it on a chalkboard).

A large portion of the written word in our society bears more resemblance to the spoken word and “common usage” than it does to any measurable standard.  It is not uncommon to read an article or blog and have it come across in your mind more like a spoken monolog than a thought-out or carefully composed piece of literature.  Our carefulness with the English language has deteriorated to the point of teachers finding such things as: u, r, w/o, etc. in term papers in place of real words!

Historically, we find the basic structure of communication was far more complex than it is today.  Paul was not afraid to challenge our minds with long, longer, and very long sentences (cf. Ephesian 1) that are logically ordered, but require our attention for us to digest their meaning.  The Reformers wrote long and layered sentences with many supporting clauses so they could convey the heart and soul of Biblical doctrine.  We are fortunate in our day to get one clause in a news article sentence, and even more fortunate if an electronic communication we receive uses the correct punctuation or even capitalization! 

The words we write or speak and the way we present them have real meaning and importance.  Why is this so important?  Because our Heavenly Father has chosen to reveal to us His Son through the written word – and God never wastes words!  In generations past He chose to reveal His will through dreams, visions, prophets and finally His Son.  We now have the written Word of God in the form of the Old and New Testaments which are the most carefully documented manuscripts of any ancient writings of their age.  Are they trust worthy?  Secularly speaking they are the best.  Spiritually speaking they are the words of eternal life.  Mind your P’s and Q’s!  More importantly mind the words of eternal life!  

The sermon of August 14^th deals with this.  Download it off the church site or from iTunes – this last little bit is strictly shameless self promotion!

DO I NEED A DEBT CEILING INCREASE?

I know, I know…everybody is tired of talking about debt limits and spending cuts.  Everyone is sick of political posturing; hearing the same talking heads on every news program say the same thing: If those on the “other side of the aisle” would just see the light then the catastrophe could be avoided; I’m the only adult in the room when it comes to solving this problem; our children and our grandchildren will be paying for our recklessness; why don’t we tax the rich; don’t balance the budget on the backs of working families; it’s time to march on the White House and demand our own way!

The subtleties of increasing our national debt limit are beyond my area of expertise.  That does not mean I don’t have an opinion on the topic, but everybody has an opinion just like…well, you know.  What I am most concerned about is my own debt, not my fiscal responsibilities, but my spiritual debt.  Yes, I know, that the classic hymn tells me, “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.  Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.”  But yet, I go on sinning; as does everyone else I know (even those who think that those who are truly saved no longer sin).  Do I need a debt limit increase on my sin?  It appears I need a new one every day.  For those of you who are brighter than I am, you have already jumped to Romans 5:20, “but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”  Or perhaps if you are really smart you have made the leap to Bunyan or Romans 7 and Paul’s struggles.  Wherever you are in your understanding of God’s grace as it is bestowed upon we who continue to sin I urge you to remember the words of John Murray, who said of the believer, “sin remains, but it no longer reigns.”  We who have been saved are now slaves to righteousness (Romans 6); instead of being chained to our sin we can be chained to Christ (and therefore free).  I know that may not make sense that you can be a slave to Christ and yet free, but think of it this way: only when I am bound by the grace of Christ can I be free to live as He empowers me to live.  Do I still sin, unfortunately yes, but that sin does not rule my life.  Sin remains in our lives no matter how saintly we appear, but the nature of saving grace is that there is no limit to it.  Well, if there is no limit to God’s grace then should I go all “Rasputin” and sin boldly so God’s grace may be better demonstrated in my life?  I don’t think so; that would only go to show your heart has not been changed and you are still a prisoner in your sin.  Do not doubt that every believer struggles with sin every day.  How is your debt ceiling?