Desire

Revelations 18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit...3 For all nations have drunk [3]the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.
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14 The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!”
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It is on verse 14 that I would like to meditate for a moment. For those who fall in with Babylon, basically buying into the lie that this present life, with its physical pleasures, is the be all and end all; they will find out in the end that their desires - the fruit for which their souls longed - are lost to them. C.S. Lewis argues in The Weight of Glory that our desires may be a clue to certain supernatural objects for which we were designed. The Persian mystic, Rumi, wrote of this aspect of human nature when he said that like a reed cut from a river bank, "Who's from his home snatched far away, Longs to return some future day." Pascal, interestingly, referred to us as reeds as well: “Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed”

And in his Pensees described us thus:

"What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself."

Our longing points us to God, but many will perish because they settle for less.

Good Kings

2 Kings 18:1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. ... 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). [1] 5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered.
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From looking at the kings it seems that the true test of godly leadership is whether one removes the high places. That means doing a thorough search of one's kingdom for competing gods and removing all idols. This has an obvious application for our own lives, for our hearts are like kingdoms which we have a bit of leadership over. We do well when we search our hearts and actively "remove the high places" - the various things that crop up as more important than our love for God and others. The best, and really the only, way to do this is to lay down your crown and let Jesus be king of your heart!

Activists and Politicians

1 Peter 3:13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
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I think the hardest thing for anyone to do is hold fast to righteousness when the tide floods against us. I admire those idealistic souls, like Don Quixote, who pursue the highest good despite the world's claim that they are a bit impractical. I've been accused of that. There are politicians and then there are activists. This is not to say that all politicians are corrupt. Jesus ate with tax collectors and prostitutes. His cousin John, on the other hand, sequestered himself to the desert like a monk. Which was more righteous - well Jesus of course! So what does activism do for you with regards to righteousness, or perhaps the better question is, is it possible to be an activist in a thousand different ways? Is it possible to live in a bureaucracy and remain an optimist? It is a tall order, but I think possible with the hope that God gives us.

Faith, Fear of Man and the Journey Ahead

I Kings 19:1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
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If you recall, Elijah has just finished the whole contest with the prophets of Baal and proven God's power in a profound way. Who could deny God after that? Surely after that great sign Elijah could have no doubt of God's will! But Elijah is human, like John the Baptist, his antecedent, and he confesses to God that he is no better than his fathers (or those after him).
He his weak in his faith for the moment, but he is humble about it. What does God do? He sends an angel with some food and drink. In other words, he sends a spiritual messanger with physical "daily bread". Interesting, eh?

Faith and Knowledge: The Epistemalogical Continuum

Hebrews11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
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6 And without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
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9 By [Abraham] he went to live in the land of promise, ... 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. ...
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13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ...16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

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Pascal's Pensees #72

"For, in fact, what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison with the Infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a mean between nothing and everything. Since he is infinitely removed from comprehending the extremes, the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hidden from him in an impenetrable secret; he is equally incapable of seeing the Nothing from which he was made, and the Infinite in which he is swallowed up. What will he do then, but perceive the appearance of the middle of things, in an eternal despair of knowing either their beginning or their end. All things proceed from the Nothing, and are borne towards the Infinite. Who will follow these marvelous processes? The Author of these wonders understands them. None other can do so." - Blaise Pascal

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In my own mediations regarding the relationship between what is known scientifically and what is known through faith, I have arrived at a similar, albeit less profound, concept. I call it the Epistemological Continuum and i am sure that serious philosophers and theologians would scoff at me for taking myself so seriously. But I don't really. Anyway, here it is.

In our pursuit of truth we find ourselves somehow inserted in the middle of things. As Pascal says, between the nothing and the infinite. What can we know from this position. Science relies on a number of basic assumptions in order to prove new things. Scientists like to think that they have proven something empirically, but this is ultimately impossible because every fact is somehow dependent on another fact in an eternal regression until you get to something for which we have to just believe. That's why all science is based in scientific theory. Philosophy, on the other hand, often examines premises ad nauseum never believing that it has found an adequate definition for anything. The two modes of truth testing have their own bear traps to fall into. Convine yourself that everything is provable, definable and under your control and you may find you've summited the tower of Babel only to be humbled. Scientism in my opinion, may lead to egocentrism. On the other hand, philosophy which completely unravels every basic assumption will, in the end, cause despair and perhaps nihilism. The best way of pursuing truth then, in my opinion, is humbly, from the middle, testing some assumptions and trying to push forward using the scientific method within reason. But human reason has its limits and those limits fall short of the reality of truth. Knowing this, in fact, having faith in this nature of Truth [read: God], we trust, like all the saints, that our knowledge is good enough (if we are healthy in the head) for whatever God wants from us. We can then test and approve his will is good.

Leadership & Love

1 Kings 12:4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” 5 He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away. 6 Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7 And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. 9 And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10 And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. 11 And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
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Solomon, at the beginning of his reign, seems to engage in some rather Machiavellian acts, killing those who oppose his rule quickly and violently. Later acocunts of his great wealth and wisdom seem to obscure the fact that many men were required to do the work for such great success. Rehoboam, assuming his father's throne, has an opportunity to learn from his father's example. His willingness to seek council is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, everything goes downhill from there. The advice of the old men to Rehoboam, to be a servant leader and to, in a sense, love the people more than himself, is an encouragement towards Christ-like leadership. The young men, on the other hand, encourage a secular leadership style which would, in many situation, help a dictator maintain power, but may over time embitter the people and cause destruction. Machiavelli didn't believe in love and certainly didn't see love as an essential virtue for princes of states. What he didn't know/believe is what the old men of Rehoboam's kingdom knew: that's God's Kingdom is not of this world, and earthly, political stability is not the be-all-end-all of [P]eace. A King who loves and serves his people is a better king, even if it weakens the country because eventually we all return to dust and when we do, we will have to account for the way we lived.

Copies of the True Things

Hebrews 9:23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
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"Copies of the true things" calls to mind C.S. Lewis' Great Divorce, in which heaven is depicted as a world of truer nature. Everything there is denser, harder, more vivid and real. By comparison, we are the ghosts. This is an interesting paradigm to have in mind when reflecting on Jesus' resurrected miracles. He walked through walls, and yet also ate fish! What kind of body did he have? Perhaps he could do whatever he wanted because - He is God. But perhaps these are clues to how the copies of true things relate to the things themselves. While I don't really know what it wouold mean to say that Jesus was a copy of God, I think I do understand and affirm the idea that if Jesus was something like God's zerox, he was different from our sense of what that would mean. We are imperfect copies of a perfect idea - the ideal person you or I was created to be. Jesus, on the other hand, is the perfect representation of his father even though he is in the shape of imperfect man. We imitate him in this aspect so that we might enter into a great likness of God, and therefore of our truer selves.

The Order of Melchizedek

Hebrews 5:5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

“You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;
6 as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever,after the order of Melchizedek.”

7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus [6] offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
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There is something quite mystical about the link between Jesus and Melchizedek. I wonder how Melchizedek came into an undertanding of his identity as priest so long before the recorded establishment of the priesthood system in Isreal. Perhaps he knew he was a priest in the same way that Jesus knew he was God. I think many of us would like to have that kind of life, infused with purpose. But there are many for whom this type of calling might seem restrictive and limiting on personal freedoms. Did Jesus have free will? It certainly seems so at Gethsemane when he actively submitted his will to his father's. A Call sets us on a path which rescues us from selfish acts of the will, allowing us to saddle our wills in the holy chariot race. We are freer with God's bridle than ever before because we run the fastest and for the most gain. All other freedom is short lived and nonproductive. I pray that you would all find your call and know the joy of that life as I do.

The Form and the Power

2 Timothy 3:1 ...in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
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The part from this passage that I frequently return to is the idea of assuming the appearance of godliness while denying its power. What is the power of godliness other than the resurection power, and are we not all guilty of denying that power in our own lives? Are we not all guilty of having faith much smaller than a mustard seed? Are we not all guilty of the litany of sins listed above? I am wary that I may be always learning, in an attempt to know and better myself, only with the effect of avoiding the truth. Jesus is the truth and everything else is just details.
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16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God [8] may be competent, equipped for every good work.
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I would love to do a word study on the word "scripture" and see what we are referring to here. It seems that the word of God in John is Jesus himself. It seems that the 'sword of the scripture' is the Old Testament and portions of the New Testament as they were canonized at the time of writing. It seems as though the early church had faith that the portions that selected to be in the biblical canon was in fact the word of God. And it seems that there are many gnostic works which claim, but are not the word of God. So what is the "scripture" in this verse? I have heard teachings on the Rameh and the Logos, but don't have time to dig back into that wonderful distinction at this moment. Maybe I'll return to it a bit later.
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4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound [9] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
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6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
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More good stuff....need more time to chew on it...

Love & Knowledge

1 Timothy 1:5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
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Acquired knowledge, with all of its benefits, also conveys pride. In contrast to the cosmic library, our encyclopedic minds are relatively small. Mine is certainly small.
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1 Corinthians 8:1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge.[a] Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God.
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Love should be the backbone and spine connected to the mind. Then we would feel, will and stand strong in the knowledge of God's love.