Month: February 2022

Pray for Peace

‘He is risen, and he reigns in the hearts of the children who will love while the nations rage‘ – Rich Mullins

This morning I awoke to the news that, as expected, Russia had invaded Ukraine.  As I searched for some sort of response to this tragedy, a couple of things happened. 

The first was that I remembered the story of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20.  Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, received terrible news that an alliance of nations had arrayed against him and was marching on Jerusalem.  The Chronicler reports that he was ‘terrified by the news and begged the Lord for guidance.’  Jehoshaphat ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting, stood before his community in front of the Temple courtyard, and offered up one of the most amazing prayers in all of scripture:

‘O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven.  You are the ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth.  You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you!  O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived?  And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham?  Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name.  They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity, such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored.  We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear and rescue us.  And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing.  You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them.  Now see how they reward us!  For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, won’t you stop them?  We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us.  We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help’ (2 Chronicles 20:6-12, NLT).

In the wake of this prayer, God spoke to the people of Judah through a prophet who told the people not to be afraid, but to go out to meet the enemy, not to fight, but to watch the Lord deliver them.  The people received this news by bowing before the Lord and worshipping. 

The next morning, they marched out to meet the enemy.  At the front were neither warriors nor chariots, but a choir, singing, ‘Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!’  The moment their song began, the armies arrayed against Judah began fighting among themselves.  By the time the Judeans arrived at the battlefield, the enemy was gone.  Victory had been won without the raising of a single Judean sword, and the Lord established peace for Judah throughout the remainder of Jehoshaphat’s reign. 

Now, I know, things don’t always work out like that.  It may not in Ukraine.  But the story is nonetheless a beautiful example of what can happen when God’s people pray.  It is a beautiful example of what God’s people should do when threatened: instead of relying on their own power, or trusting in chariots, as the Psalmist puts it (see, Psalm 20:7), they should rely solely on the power of the Living God.  As Jehoshaphat prayed, when we don’t know what to do (and in all honesty and humility, we never do), we must turn to God for help. 

The second thing that happened was that I received an image from my son in Rwanda, Emmanuel, of a group of Ukrainian Christians kneeling in the snow, praying for the deliverance of their country.

I didn’t know what the picture was at first, but when Emmanuel told me, tears came to my eyes.  Here was the remnant of Jehoshaphat’s people.  Here was the Kingdom of the Lamb. 

In recent weeks, I have read reports of grandmothers and small children training to fight the Russians when they come (which they now have).  The images were startling.  It seems that many believe the answer to war is more war; to strike against one’s enemies by using their tactics.  As I’ve beheld those images, I’ve recalled Jesus’ warning in Gethsemane to Peter to put his sword away, to not meet violence with violence, because ‘those who live by the sword die by the sword’ (Matthew 26:52). 

Jesus teaches us that there are other forms of resistance, other ways to stand against the dark powers that seek our destruction.  Paul refers to these other ways in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, where he wrote:

‘For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.’

I love Paul’s use of the words, ‘on the contrary;’ he is telling us that while the weapons of the world do not ultimately work (they only beget more violence), the weapons in the arsenal of Christianity have power to achieve things.  Weapons such as prayer and love are, he is telling us, the most powerful weapons in the world.  And, more importantly, the only weapons followers of Jesus are permitted to use.  In the Kingdom of the Lamb, the only way to overcome enemies is with love and prayer. 

Jesus himself is our example in this.  As is the early church, who, when beset by enemies, gathered and prayed:

‘Why do the nations rage, and the people’s plot in vain?  The kings of the earth prepared for battle; they gathered together against the Lord and his anointed one…Oh Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, boldness in preaching your word.  Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus’ (See, Acts 4:25-30). 

We need to take the example of Jehoshaphat, the early church, and those Ukrainian believers kneeling in the snow, to heart.  We live in unraveling times.  The leader of Russia has become (likely has always been) a madman intent on building an empire.  China too is eyeing the expansion of their own.  In America, we have a former President, who may become one again, praising Putin even as he makes his power grab, and the bitter prospect of rising autocracy within our own borders.  What does one do in times such as these? 

The nations rage.  The peoples plot in vain.  Those with worldly minds, who follow the way of the dragon, strike back, meet force with force, violence with violence, hurt with hurt. 

But the children of the Lamb pray, in the snow and elsewhere.  They sing ‘Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!’  They conquer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (see, Revelation 12:11).  They pray for the redemption of their enemies, or, failing that, some other intervention by God to establish peace.  They do not live by the sword.  They live by love.  They pray.  They model peace.  They may not know what to do themselves, but they look to the Living God for help. 

Today I ask all who read this to pray.  Pray for the people of Ukraine.  Pray for the miraculous transformation of Vladimir Putin’s heart.  Pray for the transformation of all who would use violence or do evil in this world.  Pray for the dramatic intervention of God.  Pray for the establishment of peace.  Pray believing that the God of Jehoshaphat is still on His throne and still mighty to save.  For He most certainly is. 

This is the way of the Lamb’s Kingdom. 

May we walk in it.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Lessons from Forbidden Island

‘But Among you it will be different’ – Jesus, in Mark 10:42

Game night.  My family gathered around the table.  On the menu is Forbidden Island, a cooperative adventure game in which players work together to find four magical treasures before the island on which they lie sinks into the sea.  Each player picks a character with special powers to help in the quest.  It’s a great game and my family always has a wonderful time with it.  If you’ve never played, you should check it out.  It’s a terrific way to teach your family the value of working together. 

Trouble is, this time, the kids got into an argument right at the outset.  My ten-year-old son Caleb had his heart set on us searching for treasure as four particular characters, believing his combination would make the game more challenging.  My thirteen-year-old daughter, Kaeleigh, however, did not like that Caleb was choosing everyone’s character for them.  She wanted to pick her own.

Enter chaos. 

‘I want to play with these four characters!’

‘You’re being a dictator!  We should each get to pick our own roles!’

‘Mom and Dad don’t care which ones they play with, why should you?!’

‘Because I do!’

‘Okay, which one do you want to be?’

Oddly, Kaeleigh chose the very character Caleb had picked out for her. 

‘What!’ Caleb screamed.  ‘Why are we arguing!  If that’s who you wanted, what’s the big deal!  Why on earth didn’t you just accept who I picked out for you!’ 

‘Because you don’t get to choose for someone else!  Everyone should be able to pick for themselves!  Everyone should have equal rights!  Blame Dad, he’s the one who taught me about fairness and equality!’ (I was proud to hear her say that!).

And that’s when Caleb, desperate to win the argument, said some ridiculous, yet unfortunately descriptive things about the world.

‘Fairness! Equality!  What on earth are you talking about?  There’s no such thing as fairness or equality!  Think about it!  Sexism!  Racism!  Why do you think there are poor people?  Nothing’s fair in this world!  How can you talk to us about equality?!’

And there it was – a teachable moment.  Cooperative play wasn’t the only lesson my family would get that night from Forbidden Island.  I could sense my son’s pain as he spoke the words about the world he knows and has every reason to be concerned about.  I knew that deep down he didn’t believe we should mirror that world but was only trying to win the argument.  But still, there were some things that needed to be said. 

‘Caleb,’ I said, ‘you are right.  Equality isn’t easily found in the world.  It breaks my heart, as I know it does yours, but yes, there is sexism.  There is racism.  People do not share the way they should.  The world is blatantly unfair.’

‘Exactly!’

‘But both of you, listen: in this house, we practice equality.  In this house, we stand against racism and sexism.  In this house, we share.  And not just in our house.  In our church too.  Why?  Because we follow Jesus.  Jesus practices equality and wants us to do so as well.  We do if for Him, we do it for ourselves, and we do it so that the world around us, as unequal and unfair as it is, gets to see a better way.  As followers of Jesus, it is our responsibility to live this way, no matter how people around us are living.  We must live differently.’ 

Caleb didn’t like losing the argument, but he had to admit I was right.  ‘Okay.  I can’t argue with that.  From now on I’ll let everyone pick their own characters.’ 

And so the game began (sadly, the island sank on us before we retrieved all four treasures, but hey, there’s always next time). 

The next day I thought more deeply about my words.  I believe they pretty much sum up what it means to live as a citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom.  We live in a fallen world, where oh so much is wrong.  Much of which we can do little about, just as in the days of the early Church, there was little Christians then could do create immediate change in their world.  There’s was a world of inequality and unfairness.  A world of oppression and persecution.  A world of hatred and violence.  Not all that different from our own.  So what did the Christians do? 

They lived differently. 

In a world where equality was a joke, they insisted that in Christ, there were no distinctions, neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.  All were one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

In a world of violence, they refused to wage war, employing instead weapons not of this world – such as prayer and enemy love – to overcome the forces arrayed against them (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). 

In a world where the ‘have’s’ accumulated while the ‘have not’s’ wanted, they shared their resources to the extent there was not a needy person among them, choosing to consider their possessions the common property of all (Acts 4:32-37). 

In a world of hopelessness, they hoped (Romans 8:25).

In a world where the powerful lorded authority over their subjects, they followed the path of servant love (Mark 10:42-45).

In a world that was sinking, they worked together to stay afloat (Ephesians 4:16).

In a world that took up the sword, they took up the Cross (Mark 8:34). 

In short, in a world where the shadows not only existed but deepened, they insisted on being the light. 

This is still our call today.  No matter how unequal, unfair, unjust, or unpeaceable the world around us may be, we who follow Christ must live differently. We must live as citizens of the Kingdom and show the world the way things will one day be. 

Most especially when the island seems to be sinking.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

We Need to Talk About Bruno

‘I am the prophet and I smolder and burn.  I scream and cry and wonder why you never seem to learn.  To hear with your own hears, with your own eyes to see.  I am the prophet won’t you listen to me?’

– Michael Card, from the song, The Prophet

It seems everyone these days is talking about not talking about Bruno.

Bruno, of course, is one of the characters in Disney’s most recent cinematic contribution, Encanto, which tells the story of the Madrigal family and their magical house.  I’ll try not to ruin the movie much for those who have not seen it, but briefly, the members of the Madrigal family, all except one, Mirabel, have received magical gifts from their magical dwelling.  With each gift, however, comes a tremendous burden, none greater than the one carried by the unfortunately un-talked about Bruno. 

The problem with Bruno, it seems, is that he’s a bit of a downer.  As the song informs us, Bruno has a habit of telling people things they don’t want to hear.  On his sister’s wedding day, the sun was shining, and all seemed right with the world.  Bruno said, ‘it looks like rain,’ and soon enough – a hurricane!  A townsperson is told his fish will die, and it happens the next day.  One man complains about being told he would increase in girth over time and, Walla!  Beer gut!  To another Bruno points out a receding hairline, and of course is blamed when the recipient of this news eventually goes bald.  People come to fear his every ‘stuttering or stumbling,’ his ‘muttering or mumbling.’  They come to believe that Bruno is the cause of every impending calamity of which he speaks.

But he isn’t.  He’s just a seer.  An observer of reality.  A truth-teller.  If there are storm clouds in the sky, you should probably move the wedding inside.  If your fish is sick, you should take care lest it die.  If you eat too much, you will gain weight.  If your hairline is making a run for your backside, you may as well get used to the idea that you’ll go bald someday.  Bruno isn’t the cause of things.  He’s just the one who points them out. 

Which, I will reveal, remembering my promise not to ruin the movie too much, lands him in exile; hiding in the eaves and crawlspaces of his own home while his family and community do their darndest not to talk about him.

The Bible has people like Bruno.  They’re called prophets.  Seers and truthtellers.  They speak for God, sometimes in the form of divine visions, more often by simply reading the signs of the times and communicating what is wrong and where things may go if certain courses aren’t altered (all under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course).  Sometimes they tell of hopeful things (as does Bruno) but such words usually get lost in the rush of their chastisements and warnings.   Theirs is the reputation of Gandalf in the halls of Rohan.  They are seen as the harbingers of bad tidings.  Storm crows. 

God surely appreciates their efforts and rewards them, if not in life, in eternity.  But when it comes to human society, the task of a prophet is a pretty thankless job.  People don’t always (usually?) want to hear the truth.  The most common reaction to a prophet’s words is exemplified by King Ahab’s response in the wake of Micaiah warning against his plan to go to war: ‘Didn’t I tell you?  He never prophecies anything but trouble for me!’ (2 Chronicles 18:17).  Jeremiah was, among other things, tossed in a cistern and held in stocks for his troubles. Isaiah, tradition holds, was sawed in half. Zechariah stoned in the courtyard of the Temple.  No prophet had it easy.  Frederick Buechner noted that ‘no prophet is on record as having asked for the job…like Abraham Lincoln’s story about the man being ridden out of town on a rail, if it wasn’t for the honor of the thing, the prophets would all have rather walked.[1]  

But we need prophets.  To help us see when we are wrong.  To speak truth when the world goes mad.  To point the way to sanity.  Bruno, who no one wants to talk about, is exactly what the Madrigal family needs.  Without him and his ‘prophecies they couldn’t understand,’ there would be no hope for them.  Bruno’s truth-telling is what his family most desperately needs (watch the movie and you’ll find out precisely why).  Which is why they most certainly need to talk about him, to think about his words and act upon them, just as much as people needed to talk about, listen, and respond to the prophets in Bible times. 

Every generation needs its prophets.  Its Brunos.  Ours is no exception.  There is a deplorable dearth of truth in our day.  People create their own versions of it, even going so far as to label them ‘alternative facts.’  They stroll along in ignorance in self-created fantasies which harm others (and themselves).  They deny evidence of impending calamity, even as they sow its seeds.  They prefer to silence serious discussion of important matters for fear of upsetting either themselves or the people around them; like the false prophets and priests of old they cry ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace (see, Jeremiah 6:14).  Whether we are talking about political, cultural, environmental, spiritual, medical, scientific, or other realities, too many stick their heads in the sand and ignore the signs of the times.  They’d rather pretend their ‘wedding day’ will be lovely, even as a hurricane bears down upon them. 

Which is why I thank God for the Brunos in our midst.  Yes, they may be downers, they may rain on our parades, but we need them.  We dare not forget about them, sending them off to live in the eaves and basements while the world falls apart.  We need them to call us to awareness, repentance, and action. 

So by all means folks, let’s talk about Bruno. 

And, more importantly, listen and respond to what Bruno has to say.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

[1] Frederick Buchner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC, s.v. ‘Prophet.’