But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. – 2 Peter 3:5-6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 7, 2015): 2 Peter 3

The north eastern coastline of the United States and Canada has suffered through a hard winter. Massive amounts of snow have fallen on the West side of the Atlantic Ocean, and the temperature has stayed well below freezing for long stretches of time. At about this time of the year, eastern people are beginning to pray for global warming.

But we don’t talk about global warming anymore. And there is a reason why the terminology has changed from warming to climate change. Global warming brings with it the idea that the whole world will get warmer more or less in a uniform way. In the part of the world where I live, that kind of warming has some attractions to it. I would love to experience milder winters and hotter summers, although on the latter I realize that I am in the minority. But in my area of the world, temperature rarely gets up to the 90’s on the Fahrenheit scale (only a handful of days over 30 Celsius). And the fewer days we reach into the -30’s during the winter, well that has to be a positive.

Unfortunately, global warming or climate change doesn’t work that way. And for some scientists, this is the explanation for the bitter eastern winter. They argue that the warming of the arctic has caused a slowing of the jet stream that flows high above the North American eastern coast, and this slowing has allowed more cold air to reach farther down the eastern coastline of North America than is usually possible. If this is true, and science fiction writers have been arguing this exact scenario for a couple of decades, then maybe it is time to realize how fragile this blue planet of ours really is – and not only that, but how interconnected it is. This can no longer be consigned to the possible effects of climate change on the planet. This is now actually happening. And what we do next does not just effect us, it effects people that we don’t even know around the world. The environmental decisions that we make are long reaching both in space and in time. And God has given to us the key to controlling that aspect of our future – the only thing left is for us to become wise enough to use the key.

Peter understood this fragile nature of the world in which he lived. His understanding of the world was that it was a three tiered universe. And on the top of this universe – above the lights that were placed in the sky, was water. The ancients believed this because the water on earth and the water in the sky were both blue during the day and dark at night. So water was on top. The next region was the living place of humankind. It was a fragile place in between the water that was above, and the water below. And God had gathered together that water that was below into pools so that dry land appeared on which the human race could live and grow. But the water gathered below, and the water gathered above were being held back by the very will of God. At any moment he could decide to stop protecting this fragile place that we inhabit and the water would come crashing back. And this was exactly what happened during the great deluge – during the days of Noah. God stopped holding the water back.

And God might be doing the same thing today. Oh, we understand that it is not water that is above, but our planet is no less fragile than the one that Peter believed existed. And right now it is in trouble. And we have a choice. We can continue to ask God to hold back the deluge that we call climate change, or we can live up to the job description that God gave to every member of our race and truly become the protectors of this planet. Personally, I think God is in heaven cheering on the second option, but if that is to happen, it is going to take a real change in the way that we live on behalf of all of us.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jude 1

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment … - 2 Peter 2:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 6, 2015): 2 Peter 2

In Greek mythology, Tantalus entertained the gods with a grand banquet. But the main course that he offered to the gods was the body of his son, Pelops. According to the story, Tantalus cut Pelops up and then boiled the meat, after which he served him as the main course in a meal that was given to the gods. But the gods that attended the banquet were not fooled – and neither were they amused by Tantalus’ actions. Only Demeter, the god of the harvest who was preoccupied at the time of the banquet, tasted the meat that had been set before them. Demeter ate the shoulder of Pelops before he realized what the meat really was. The gods were appalled, and greatly angered. And so they consigned Tantalus to Tartarus, the mythical Greek version of hell. There he was condemned to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree for the rest of time. But every time he grew hungry and wanted to taste the fruit of the tree that stood above him, the branches would raise just enough so that they were out of reach of Tantalus’ outstretched arms. And every time he grew thirsty and would reach down to the pool of water at his feet, the water would pull just outside of his reach. In fact, it is in this experience of Tantalus in Tartarus that we find the root of the English word “tantalize” – to be teased by something that is just out of reach.

As Peter writes this passage, he begins to give examples of divine judgment, beginning with the angels. But as he talks of the angels being banished to hell, and being put into chains of darkness where they will await judgment, the word that he uses for hell is “Tartarus.” In the entire breadth of scripture, this is the only time that “Tartarus” is used to describe hell. But because Peter is writing to Greeks, it makes sense that he would use terms with which the Greeks would be familiar.

But there also might be a message about the kind of torture that the angels suffer in Tartarus. Consider that we often consider angels to be emissaries of light, and Peter describes their experience in Tartarus as being “chained by darkness.” These beings who existed only to be in service to God, now are spending their time awaiting the Day of Judgment in the absence of God. The agony of the angels that had been sentenced to Tartarus may not have much different from the pain that was experienced by Tantalus. In some ways there would seem to be a parallel between the story of Tantalus in Tartarus and the fate of the angels that have been sent there.

Peter’s central point is that even the angels who have opposed God have been condemned, so why do with think that we will be immune when we oppose God. It is a question that we need to consider carefully, in the shadow of Tartarus.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 3

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Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble … - 2 Peter 1:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 5, 2015): 2 Peter 1

All of the viewers that tuned in for the series finale of “Two and a Half Men” were treated to a bizarre final episode. The finale hovered around one premise, the possible return of Charlie Harper (a role played by Charlie Sheen for the first eight years of the series until his own strange behavior got him booted from the show). But, I’m sure to the disappointment of many, Sheen never appears on the episode. Chuck Lorre, the show’s producer, wants fans to know that Sheen was offered a part, but he turned it down.

In Sheen’s defense, the entire show seemed to be one long joke at the expense of Sheen and his character, and some have openly wondered if the Sheen and Charlie Harper aren’t the same in the first place. For eight years, it just seemed that Charlie Sheen was simply playing himself on the sitcom. So maybe the idea that Sheen turned down the part is not all that surprising. Lorre wanted Sheen to walk up to the door of the house his character had once owned, and then turn to the camera with a rant about drugs and his own invincibility before the piano that was being flown back in to beach front property was ‘accidently’ dropped on his head. What Sheen wanted was a heart-warming reunion between Charlie and his brother, Alan Harper (played by Jon Cryer), setting up a possible spin off show entitled the Harpers – or maybe more appropriately titled “Two and a Half Men Part 2: Under New Management (NOT Chuck Lorre).” Lorre was not about to give Sheen what he wanted, and Sheen was not about to give Lorre what he wanted. And so in the final moment of the series a Charlie Sheen lookalike walks up to the door but does not turn around – and a piano falls on his head. The camera then pulls back to reveal the director Chuck Lorre sitting in his director’s chair, and he does turn to the camera before a second piano falls on his head, proving, in the words of Lorre, that no one gets out of the show alive. Whether or not you respect the decisions, you have to respect that both men knew exactly what it was that they wanted, and they stuck with those desires, even though the outcome was not the one that the fans wanted to see – the return of Charlie Sheen.

Peter in the opening of his letter makes this strange comment - make every effort to confirm your calling and election. The strangeness is in the two terms that are used here, calling and election. The truth is that in modern society we do not talk much about either of these things. Calling simply means that you have been employed and equipped to do a certain task. We most often use the word calling in religious circles, but it doesn’t have to be just used in that arena. But, whatever it is that we are called to do, we need to recognize that calling. If God has called me or equipped me with the necessary traits to be a salesman, than I need to do my best in that arena of life. The reality is that we are called to a different tasks, and equipped to do those tasks well. Our job is really to discover that calling and make the most of it (and don’t worry about the areas in which you are not equipped – we will always make the biggest difference in areas where we are naturally strong. Discovering and sticking to your calling is simply another way of saying “work toward your strengths.”

The second idea is the concept of election. To be honest, there has been a lot of unnecessary noise over the idea of election, but it basically just means recognizing that you are a child of God and that you matter. Peter’s message to his readers is simply this – find your strengths and know that you are a child of God, and then don’t let anyone push you off of that path. Do this and you will succeed, although the road may take some unexpected turns, you will be okay.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 2

Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. – 2 Timothy 4:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 4, 2015): 2 Timothy 4

The Rwandan genocide continues to be a nightmarish example of the recent condition of the human race. We question how something as bad as the Holocaust could take place under our noses. Between 1941 and 1945, 67% of the Jews in Europe were wiped off of the face of the earth. The enormity of that disaster still boggles the mind. It is almost unbelievable, which is probably why we have people today who insist that it never happened, in spite of all of the evidence that we have saying that the Holocaust is a very ugly reality. But in Rwanda, it might have been even worse. In Rwanda, over a period of a little more than three months, 70% of the Tutsi people were executed. Neighbors turned each other in to the roaming execution gangs – or they just killed their neighbors themselves. And when it was all over, just stopping the killing was not good enough. Rwanda had two people groups that somehow had to be reconciled to each other. If that did not happen, then there could be no future for Rwanda.

Anglican Bishop John Rucyahana seems to have understood that. In his book “The Bishop of Rwanda: Finding Forgiveness Amidst a Pile of Bones” Rucyahana wrote -                        

I knew that to really minister to Rwanda's needs meant working toward reconciliation in the prisons, in the churches, and in the cities and villages throughout the country. It meant feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, caring for the young, but it also meant healing the wounded and forgiving the unforgivable.

I knew I had to be committed to preaching a transforming message to the people of Rwanda. Jesus did not die for people to be religious. He died so that we might believe in Him and be transformed. I'm engaged in a purpose and strategy that Jesus came to Earth for. My life is set for that divine purpose in Jesus Christ. I was called to that--proclaiming the message of transformation through Jesus Christ.

As Christians, this is the ministry to which all of us have been called – a ministry of reconciliation. And the truth is this – sometimes the big reconciliations are actually the easy ones. As hard as they are and as impossible as they may seem to be, the Rwanda’s and the Holocaust’s are easier than some of the other reconciliations in our lives - partially because deep inside of us we understand that there can be no future for us as a race if reconciliation in the big items cannot be made a reality. But what we miss is that the little reconciliations in our lives are just as important. To move forward as a race we must be reconciled to each other, no matter how big or small the issue is that separates us.

Paul not only writes about the importance of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5), but he also lived it. Paul had been in a conflict with Mark. The conflict was serious enough that it ended the missionary partnership between Paul and the man that might be best described as his mentor – Barnabas. Barnabas ended up going with Mark, while Paul teamed up with Silas.

But there is evidence here that Paul and Mark had reconciled. And more than that, now Paul saw Mark as being someone who was important to his ministry. Something that Paul would have never seen before. Paul’s relationship with Mark highlights an important factor of life. Unless we are reconciled to each other, we will never understand how important the “other” is to our own life and our own purposes. Paul needed Mark, and because the two men had been reconciled, Mark was in a position to help Paul. And this is exactly what Rucyahana means when he writes that “Jesus did not die for people to be religious. He died so that we might believe in Him and be transformed.” That transformation cannot be just for Rwanda, it needs to be available for all of us as we are continually reconciled to each other.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. – 2 Timothy 3:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 3, 2015): 2 Timothy 3

The Ukraine continues to gather allies, not for a public relations war against Russia, but for a military one. They are seeking countries who are willing to supply them with both the lethal weapons that will be needed for such a conflict as well as the training necessary on how to use them. Anyone willing to supply the weapons should contact the Ukrainian Home Office. And no, I don’t mean to make light of the deadly situation that is growing in Eastern Europe. But the lack of a solution in the struggle between the two former Soviet Union powers is disturbing to all of us who believe in peace, who believe that the God of peace can work through us, even in the midst of those who crave violence, and that God works best through us when we are weak. For the casual observer, it is easy to get caught up in the rhetoric and lose the reality. Most of us don’t even know what the reality is. We know what the two sides are trying to tell and the case that they are building for a future war, but admittedly our reaction to the speakers is dependent on which speaker we trust the most. Where I live, I have more friends of Ukrainian descent than I do Russian. So it is the Ukrainian position that I hear the most. I also have a predisposition as a child of the cold war against Russia. (However, I also have more Russian readers than Ukrainian, so please forgive me.) But admittedly, none of this makes a case for truth on one side or the other.

With regard to the false teachers and people who oppose the truth (and specifically in this passage it is the truth as declared by God) it is interesting that Paul refers to the story of Moses and Jannes and Jambres. Jannes and Jambres (this is the only biblical mention of the names of the men, although a portion of their stories can be found in Exodus) are traditionally the names given to the magicians who opposed Moses in the house of the Pharaoh early in the exodus story. These were the men that tried to recreate the signs of Moses as he argued with the Pharaoh over the issue of the release of the Hebrew slaves, and these magicians did so with at least some success. But Paul reminds Timothy that their success was not because they were on the side of truth. They had been so warped by their culture that they could not see the truth of God (this is the basic meaning behind the idea that they were men of depraved minds.) And because they were the enemies of the truth of God, they were rejected from the standpoint of faith. 

But it might also be important to notice that Moses and Israel did not actively move against either of the magicians, or the nation and the Pharaoh that they represented. That was left for God. In the end, it was God that performed the miracles that Jannes and Jambre could not replicate, and could not overturn. It was an act of God on behalf of a people that could not defend themselves against the superpower of the day. All that Moses could do was to speak the word of the Lord.

For Ukraine and Russia, my prayer is that somehow they are able to find a way through the maze of politics, which I recognize is much more complicated than any of us standing on the outside realize, to a place of peace. My prayer is that the people of both of these great and important nations will somehow be able to recognize the truth of God before this goes too far. And that they will be able to lead the rest of us into the ways of peace. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 4

Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. – 2 Timothy 2:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 2, 2015): 2 Timothy 2

Mom said it. “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all.” Too bad old mom didn’t understand the way that our world works. Sometimes you just have to put people in their place. We need to be able to stand up for ourselves, and say the things that just need to be said. And, sometimes, that means that there is no room to “be nice.” At least, that is what I am frequently told. It is the reality in which we all need to live. We are not supposed to be door mats, just letting others run over us. We need to stand up for what is right.

Except that maybe mom was right. The problem with our quarreling is that it often settles nothing. It just drives a stake between people and keeps the distance between us ever widening. And when we are in the midst of the quarrel, we also know something else – we often say things that we really don’t mean – words that we never intended to say. I am told that that is somehow in the definition of “venting” – the saying of things that aren’t even necessarily true.

Paul warns Timothy to make sure that this is part of his teaching – tell them not to quarrel, especially over words. The problem is that we haven’t heard the words well. Church history is filled with quarrelling, and we seem to do it over everything – some important issues, and some not so much. And sometimes it is just the language that we argue over. The reality is that this is image that most of the world has of the church – in their eyes we are a group that is continually fighting within itself. I stand within a tradition that the world identifies as Baptist, and within our tradition is the idea that every congregation was the right and the responsibility to discover what God would have them do – and what God would have them believe. And yet, even within my tradition, we are divided, divided and divided again over, sometimes, some very silly things (just do an internet search on the words Christian and boycott.) And often the words are all that we are fighting over.

The message that as Christians we seem to miss is that we can get a lot further by encouraging each other to do good, then to condemn them for their failures. And only when we talk with each other will we come to understand the meaning of the words that we use. My prayer is that we will learn to dialogue, even over the hard issues. We have much to say and much to learn about each other, and the world would rather hear us talk, than fight.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3

Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. – 2 Timothy 1:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 1, 2015): 2 Timothy 1

It’s the moment when we begin to evaluate how well we have done as parents. Our child, who we have protected and guided through life up until this point, finally gets to make decisions on their own. It is the moment when the baby bird is being kicked out of the nest, and all that mom can do is hope that the baby figures out this flying thing before it hits the ground. And the major problem is that we know they are not ready. Experts tell us that our brains do not reach maturity until we are at least halfway through our twenties – and for some of us that moment is even later in life. But long before they have reached that point of maturity, they are already making their own decisions. They all make their mistakes, but they make us proud too. But, those first few steps send a flutter through every parent’s heart.

Paul seems to know that the end is coming. His career is edging toward a close. There is no way that he will die a natural death, and Paul knows it. So he looks at this church that will soon have to function without his encouragement and wonders whether it will survive the traumatic times that are most likely ahead. One of the people that he hopes will carry on after he is gone is a pastor named Timothy. Timothy was probably just over a decade younger than Paul, but spiritually Timothy is Paul’s son and disciple, and Paul is his mentor. And Paul’s hope is that Timothy is ready to take the reins.

So Paul tells Timothy to guard the good deposit that was entrusted to him. The good deposit was the gospel message that Paul had entrusted to Timothy, and Paul tells him to guard it with the active help of the Holy Spirit. This was a pivotal point in church history. If Timothy, and the group of younger pastors with him were unable to make the good decisions, and guard the good deposit, then the faith would die. But at this point the baton was being passed, and Paul could only hope that this group of younger pastors were ready for what laid ahead, hoping that they were going to be able to make the right decisions.

Timothy would make the right decisions. He would rise to the position of Bishop of Ephesus, and he would end up being martyred, he was stoned to death by a mob, in 97 C.E. And that was the moment that Timothy would know just how it was that Paul felt in this moment, as he would have to pass the baton off to the generation that followed him, and trust them to guard the good deposit that Timothy had deposited with them. And that moment has continued down through the ages, as every generation passes the good deposit off to the next generation.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2