A Burden to Carry – or Not?

A Burden to Carry – or Not?

by | Apr 19, 2015 | Difficult Scriptures, Service, Updates

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“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ … for each one should carry their own load” (Galatians 6:2-5).

On the surface, these two statements of the apostle Paul – only a few words from each other – certainly seem contradictory, but are they? 

First, we should recognize that ancient literature often compares and contrasts opposite situations – just as in the biblical proverbs that say “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him” (Proverbs 26:4) and “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:5).  The two thoughts are complementary, each giving part of the story. Paul frequently uses this same technique of contrasting opposites in his epistles (for example, Philippians 2:12-13, 2 Corinthians 6:8-10, 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Corinthians 12:10), and what Paul states in Galatians 6 is complementary in the same way.

When Paul tells us we should carry each other’s burdens then that we must carry our own loads, he uses two slightly different words. The first word, translated “burdens” in verse 2 (Greek baré), always connotes the weight of the burdens and stresses the “burdensome” nature of what is carried. The word translated “load” in verse 5 (phortion) was often applied to the pack carried by a soldier on the march. It can connote something heavy or light, whatever has been assigned to the individual. It is the word Christ used when he said “My yoke is easy, and my load is light” (Matthew 11:30) and when he spoke of the heavy loads the Pharisees placed on their followers (Matthew 23:4).

We see what Paul had in mind regarding the load each one must carry when we look at the immediately preceding verse:  “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else” (Galatians 6:4).  Paul shows here that rather than comparing ourselves unwisely with others, we should look at our own situations and “test” or check our own standing, because we all stand alone before God in terms of His assessment. Paul is stressing – as he states next – that each person has individual responsibilities that no one else can carry. We must prove own standing before God, as no one can perform our religion or fulfill our beliefs for us.  That is the “pack” assigned to us for our march. On the other hand, life has many difficulties and problems that weigh us down, and Paul reminds us that these are burdens we can help each other with. 

So, Paul’s meaning is clear.  We are all given the responsibilities of our faith to bear in life and these are things we must shoulder and bear willingly as good soldiers on the route march to which we have been called. Yet, if we are walking with God and not entirely by our own strength, as Christ showed, those loads need not be oppressive or heavy.  On the other hand, every one of us carries the weight of personal problems and difficulties which are just part of life. We can certainly look to God for extra help in times when those burdens become oppressive – and one of the ways He answers that prayer is through help given us by fellow believers. 

We all have a burden we are expected to carry, but the more closely we walk with God the lighter it seems – and the more we are able to help those who need help with their own burdens.

Preparing for Battle

Preparing for Battle

by | Apr 15, 2015 | Updates, Warriors of the Way

Scripture: “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31.

Something to think about: As with so many biblical proverbs, we can see a number of aspects to this saying as we turn it in our minds. First, the verse clearly reminds us that regarding many things in life, whatever preparations we may make,  ”the race is not always to the swift,” and the final outcome is, of course, in God’s hands. But the verse also reminds us that we have to do our part to “prepare for battle.” These are the same two principles we see in Nehemiah 4:9 “…we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.”  Preparing for any difficulty means we do what we can do physically as well as asking God’s help. It’s a basic but important principle to remember – whatever the problem, we need to do our part as well as asking God to help. 

The Three Things that Define Us

The Three Things that Define Us

by | Apr 9, 2015 | Knowledge & Wisdom

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Some people are defined in their own eyes, and in the eyes of others, by their accomplishments, others by their relationships, others again by their education or experiences. There are clearly many things that serve as defining aspects in our lives. 

Yet, sadly, a great many people in this world would answer the question “What three things most define  individuals?”  in a remarkably similar way: “appearance, possessions, success.”  Although many are not so shallow, of course, hundreds of millions of people would agree that these are perhaps the three physical things that “define” an individual in the eyes of others more than anything else.  

But the Christian realizes that these three things are ultimately meaningless, and that in the long run – at the end of our physical lives – our looks, money, influence, and all such things will certainly not define who we are in the eyes of God. So what qualities do affect how God sees us?

The answer is a surprisingly simple one and is found repeatedly throughout the Bible. The three things that define us in God’s eyes are our attitudes, our actions, and our words.  We see this many times in scriptures such as this example in the Book of Proverbs in which God, in the personification of Wisdom, states: “… I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech” (Proverbs 8:13B) – in other words:  attitudes, actions, and words.

What is especially interesting about this particular verse is that it does not say that Wisdom hates “evil thoughts,” in addition to evil behavior and evil speech, but elaborates on the area of attitude by singling out the example of pride and arrogance.   The verse makes it clear that the God who looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7) particularly dislikes a proud attitude – something which is underscored by many other verses in Proverbs and elsewhere (Proverbs 16:5, etc.).  In fact, if we study the many biblical verses that deal with our thoughts and mental state, we find one of the most commonly mentioned problematic attitudes is that of rebellious pride that puts itself before God. 

This is worth thinking about.  It is considerably easier to be aware of the problem when we have fallen down in deed or in word than it is when we have slipped in the area of attitude.  Secondly, there are many possible failings of attitude – selfishness, self-pity, lack of concern, etc. – but perhaps none is so hard to see in ourselves as pride.  And this is an important thing to remember. Pride has been called the worst of all sins by Christian thinkers from Augustine to C.S. Lewis and beyond. The fact that pride is so bad and yet is the hardest attitude to detect in ourselves may well be the reason it is singled out so often in Proverbs and elsewhere in the Bible.

But why is pride so bad? From a biblical perspective, pride is often an “invisible” form of hate itself, the very opposite of love. In fact, we find in the apostle Paul’s great “Love” chapter, 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is kind… it does not boast, it is not proud” (1 Corinthians 13:4).  These are in fact, examples of the very opposites of the qualities hated by Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs: Love is kind – actions, love does not boast – words, love is not proud – attitude.  It is clear that if we are to follow the way of Wisdom, the Way preached by Paul and found throughout the Scriptures, we must remember that the three things that truly define us are – our actions, our words, and our  attitudes. 

First with the News

First with the News

by | Apr 4, 2015 | Updates, Women of Strength

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Even in this age of the near-instant spread of news on social media, it still matters to journalists to report news first – especially if the news has long term significance. “Scooping” a big news event is still vital  for newspapers and news networks, and a big scoop can bestow great prestige on the reporter. 

Being first with the news conveys the fact that the news bearer knows what is going on and is a trusted source of news.  That has always been the case, and it can be seen as far back as some 2,000 years ago, when a woman who would soon become one of the world’s most famous reporters was first to break an incredible story:

“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb… she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her… “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her” (John 20:1-18).

And so it was that Mary Magdalene broke the news to the assembled disciples and was the first person to report one of the most important events in biblical history. The amazing thing is that given the social strictures of  Jewish society at that time, the person entrusted with carrying this news was, incredibly, a woman. And not only a woman, but viewed from the religious perspective of the day, a woman with a highly questionable past (Mark 16:9).  Yet despite the perspective of that age, God clearly knew what He was doing in giving the story to a woman – even this woman.

It is surely significant that in releasing the world-changing news of the resurrection, “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27). In choosing someone viewed as an insignificant member of society, God turned human society upside down. In choosing a person with a questionable spiritual background to report His story of redemption, He also turned human religion upside down. News was made in more ways than we might immediately realize, yet the implications of the story and its reporter were doubtless not lost on the disciples.

This had been, after all, the stress of Jesus’ work throughout his ministry – to bring the good news of God’s working with humanity to the weak and the broken (Luke 4:18) – so it should not be surprising that one of those same people was chosen to deliver the first report of what had been accomplished.  The news Mary Magdalene announced was not only that of the resurrection – amazing as that story was – but also that she herself, as the reporter, was proof of a new structuring of the world that God was effecting. It was proof that previously denigrated individuals such as women and the socially undesirable were on an even footing with the powerful and socially favored (Galatians 3:28). 

Mary Magdalene, as reporter, broke the news that was not only of unparalleled spiritual importance for all humanity, but also – as the one chosen to deliver the message –  a message of special significance for the  downtrodden and spiritually broken who would eventually hear the news and be transformed by it.

The Blood and the Water

The Blood and the Water

by | Apr 1, 2015 | Difficult Scriptures, The Life of Jesus

Scripture in Focus:  John 19:34  

“… one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water” (John 19:34).

This small but graphic detail of the crucifixion of Jesus carries more meaning than we might presume, and there are both historical and scriptural reasons why we need to understand it.

John’s account makes it clear that the Roman soldiers wanted to make sure the crucified individuals did not continue alive into the Sabbath day. When they came to Jesus, they found him apparently already dead – so one of the soldiers pierced his side, doubtless with an intent to puncture his heart,  to make sure he was no longer alive (John 19:31-33).

John’s account of the event is important in our knowing that Jesus was truly dead and that the imaginative reconstructions of those who surmise Jesus was perhaps not killed by his crucifixion are not based on fact.  But what John records is important in another way.

First, we should understand what the blood and water were.   Anyone mercilessly whipped by “flogging,” as Jesus was, could go into hypovolemic shock caused by loss of blood. The medical symptoms of this condition are exactly consistent with John’s description of the crucifixion. For example, the victim could collapse due to low blood pressure (John 19:17); the kidneys could shut down and the victim would experience extreme thirst as the body could not replenish lost fluids (John 19:28). 

There is also another symptom of the body’s natural reaction to the extensive laceration by flogging that we should understand.  The hypovolemic shock Jesus inevitably experienced would cause sustained rapid heartbeat and fluid would gather within the pericardium, the membrane forming a sack around the heart.  This gathering of fluid, called “pericardial effusion,” explains why, after the soldier thrust a spear through Jesus’ side to reach his heart, blood and water came out as John recorded (John 19:34).

But the significance of this careful recording by John goes beyond establishing that Jesus was, in fact, dead.  The Book of Hebrews tells us, regarding the establishment of the Sinai covenant between God and ancient Israel:

“Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people…”  (Hebrews 9:15-19).

The scarlet wool and hyssop branches were not sprinkled on the congregation.  They were the instruments – symbolic of sacrifice and cleansing respectively – used to sprinkle the blood and water on the people. It was the sprinkling of the blood and water that ratified the Old Covenant.  In the death of Jesus, the blood and water that flowed from his side were the manner in which the new covenant was inaugurated – a covenant made not just with one nation, but with all of humanity.