What are you living for?

By the title I don't mean, "What are you doing still alive?" I mean what is your purpose? As you see it, why are you here on Earth at this time? Everyone has a purpose, yet probably most of us just drift through life, unaware of anything bigger than ourselves. People who give up their lives, martyrs are aware of a purpose larger than themselves. This is not only Christian martyrs, we see this in the soldier who jumps on a grenade to save his comrades; he is aware of something bigger than himself. Of course, on the negative side, we see this in the daily suicide (murder) bombings in Afghanistan or Iraq. The the person blowing themselves up, they are just serving Allah; and they will be rewarded for their efforts (Paradise, 70 virgins etc.) The Christian Martyr also believes that they are serving God; and they will be rewarded. Yet, Christian Martyrs give of themselves without taking others with them. They only sacrifice themselves for the sake of their God. Martyrdom has been a part of church history since Philip the Deacon in the book of Acts. Their were more Christian Martyrs around the world in the 20th century than in all the centuries before. These people knew what they were living for. I repeat my question, "What are you living for?"

Sunday, as a part of our Reading the Bible in 90 days, we considered the story of Daniel in the Lions Den. This is a familiar story, but it can illustrate something about finding our purpose in life. Daniel was a Jewish captive in Babylon. The served the king of Babylon and had been elevated to high position; he was to be the number two man in the kingdom. Only the king would be greater. Needless to say, this made many of the other leaders just a little jealous. Daniel had never compromised his beliefs as he moved up in leadership; in fact he was blessed and progressed because of his beliefs. The other leaders knew that they would never be able to catch Daniel in some kind of scandal; the only way to get him was through his adherence to God and his principles. They set a trap. They went to the king with the proposal that he make a law that people could only pray to him (the king). This sounded good to the king; he had a strong ego. The anti-Daniel faction then sprung the trap. The told the king to write it down as a law. The laws of the Medes and Persians could not be rescinded. The penalty for disobedience was to be cast into the den of lions.

Daniel heard about the law, so he went home and prayed openly to his God in front of the open windows. He could at least had hidden! But, Daniel was a man of principle who would not compromise. Of course his enemies saw him and reported him to the king. The king was upset. He didn't want to kill Daniel, but what could he do. He threw Daniel into the den of lions, with the words that he hoped the God of Israel would deliver him. After a sleepless night, the king went to the den of lions. "Are you still alive, Daniel." Daniel announced that an angel had shut the mouths of the lions and that he was delivered. Now the thing we must realize is that, even though Daniel was not martyred, he didn't know that he would live through this event.

Earlier in the Book of Daniel, his three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were sentenced to burning in an oven for a similar offense. When given an opportunity to recant their worship of God, they responded with, " . . . the God we serve is able to save us . . . But even if he does not . . . we will not serve your gods . . . " Their belief in God was more important than life itself.

Why was Daniel willing to risk everything to pray publicly? We really need to start at the beginning of the book and see what really made Daniel tick. First, he resolved to obey God in every circumstance. In chapter one he along with other sharp young exiles were set apart by the king to be groomed for leadership positions in the government. They were to be given the finest food. Daniel knew that some of that food wasn't on the list of authorized foods for a Jew, so he pleaded to fed a vegetarian diet. Of course, God caused Daniel to flourish and in a little while all of the young men were eating the same diet. In chapter 2, we find that Daniel was accustomed to praying during a crisis. The king was going to put the "wise men" to death if they couldn't describe his dream and interpret it. Daniel prayed and received the answer from God. In that same chapter, we find that he also acted on what God said. In short, he developed a godly character. There were certain things that he did because he was a man of God.

It has been said that if there is nothing important enough to die for, there is really nothing important enough to live for. Daniel knew this. He was willing to die for his faith. Because of this, his faith was important enough for him to live it out.

What about us Christians? What does it mean to be a Christian? Is it having the right beliefs? Well, beliefs are important. We should have the right beliefs. But, James says that even Satan has the right beliefs -- and he is not a Christian. How about being a regular church attender? This is a good practice, but it doesn't make one a Christian. Baptism? There are different theologies on baptism, but certainly, for all practical purposes, baptism doesn't make one a practicing Christian. Bible reading and prayer? I know of many scholars that really know the Bible -- as literature -- and are not believers. A lot of people pray in a crisis, but don't live the life.

We are called to be disciples of Jesus, not members of a church. The normal invitation that Jesus gave to those who became his disciples was, "Follow me." When a person becomes a disciple of someone, the mentor becomes the model for the life of the disciple. Jesus is meant to be the model for our lives. How do we know him? How can we be disciples? Well, we must:

• Read his words, read the gospels, read theologies -- get to know about him and who he was/is through our reading
• Pray -- regularly -- engaging in a conversation with him
• In our prayers we listen -- and we learn to recognize his voice
• When we hear him, we must obey him -- in our practice we get to know him better
• In all of this, we begin to develop a Christ-like character

Galatians 5:22ff list the fruit of the Spirit. It seems to me that these are really characteristics of a Christ-like character. When we develop this character, we begin to live for God -- not ourselves. We find something worth living for; worth dying for.

How to Keep Going When You Feel Like Giving Up

What do you do when everything seems dark and hopeless? How do you keep going when you feel like giving up? I like the way the US Marines put it, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." The problem is that most of us aren't Marines and most of us don't see ourselves as tough. I tried to deal with this issue in last Sunday's sermon. Of course in a sermon you can only crack the surface. I used the prophet, Jeremiah as my example. We are a little over half way through the Read the Bible in 90 days program; we are currently reading Jeremiah. The Biblical text used was Jeremiah 1.

Jeremiah lived a life that seemed hopeless. He was called by God to be a prophet during the last days of Judah. He was told to give a message that was hopeless, and ignored by most people. He faced persecution, imprisonment and even death to present his message; being a prophet was not always the safest way to live. In this first chapter, God makes it plain that He had called Jeremiah as a prophet; in fact, he had appointed Jeremiah while he was still in his mother's womb (I wont go into a discourse on abortion at this juncture). Jerry told the Lord that he was afraid to speak, "I am only a child." Now we don't know how old J was when this discourse was taking place, but I think that most of us can identify when given such an overwhelming task
that we feel like a child.

God told Jeremiah that He would give him the words to speak and that He (God) would be with him always. He showed a vision to Jeremiah that signified that God would back up His words by action; this was a promise. Then God showed Jeremiah a vision that boded ill for Judah. The word that Jeremiah was to speak was one of destruction on the people if they didn't repent. Finally God told Jerry not to be afraid of the people. In fact, if you want to be afraid, be afraid of me, "The fear of the Lord is the begging of wisdom."

If we read the entire book of Jeremiah, we find that the prophet was faithful in word and deed. When the going got tough, Jeremiah got going. How?

1. He knew who he was in the Lord. He had encountered God in a real way.
   
2. He knew his purpose. God had made his task very plain.
3. He heard and believed God when He said, "I will be with you." He was not alone.
4. He knew God's message; God had told him.
5. He believed that God would do what God said He would do.
6. He believed that God would protect him from the people.

Can we find some principles for ourselves in this lesson from Jeremiah. I think so. When the going gets tough, we can keep going if we have the following:

1. Believe that God has a purpose for your life; know that purpose.
2. Let Jesus be Lord of your life (Lordship means that we obey).
3. Accept the fact that you have been forgiven and that you are a new creation; I am not bound by past failures.
4. Let the Holy Spirit empower you. As Paul said, "when I am weak, I am strong."
5. Listen to God. The problem is not that God doesn't speak, the problem is that we rarely listen.
6. Do what God commands.
7. Believe his promise, "Lo, I am with you always."
8. Believe that he always has your back.

I know that we can be paralyzed with fear. I know that we can suffer depression. I believe that things can keep us from going on. I also know that sometimes we need the Psychologist or Psychiatrist. We may also need help from others. But, these principles go a long way toward helping us to live victorious lives. Remember, courage is not lack of fear. Courage is doing the right thing even though we are afraid.

Is It Ethical for a Theologian to Believe in God?

I enjoy reading the Religion in American History Blog. I don't usually agree with most of the posts, but there is usually something of interest there. But on July 28, I read the following article. I am not arguing against Randall Stephens, but against K. L. Noll's "The Ethics of Being a Theologian."

Noll discusses the pure academic quality of Religious Studies. I don't really have any problem with that; I am sure that he is correct. My son was a Religious Studies major at UCSB -- and I think that he would agree. My problem stems with his statements about theologians:

It would be reasonable to begin every theological discussion with the disclaimer "the god described in this sacred text is fictional, and any resemblance to an actual god is purely coincidental." This is not an outsider's dismissive opinion, but the reality, and theologians have an ethical obligation to teach that truth even if they also want to believe and teach, as is their right, that a god exists.

Noll seems to believe that he has the only real understanding of knowledge and what we may know. It seems like he believes that a theologian, even if they believe in God, has an obligation to tell the students that the Bible (or Koran etc.) is pure fiction. First of all, isn't a theologian, by definition, someone who teaches the knowledge of God. Just because Noll doesn't believe in God doesn't mean that God doesn't exist (and believe in Noll)! People do have a right to believe as they desire. Noll has a right to believe, teach and write about things from his perspective, but I think he is over the top when he says that anyone who disagrees with him (believes in God) is obviously mistaken; they should warn students in advance that their views are wrong.

Of course, I believe in God. I know God. I trust God. He exists. He loves me. He loves the world. Anyone who doesn't believe and who doesn't agree may do so. It is their right and may be "their reality". There is more than one way of knowing. Everything is not academic or scientific. There is the spiritual. I have quoted most of the post below (including all of the quotes from Noll).

Randall Stephens

A provocative essay appeared in yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education. K. L. Noll offers up prickly ideas about the nature of truth and knowledge all the while distinguishing religious studies scholars from subjectivist, loopy theologians. The essay reminds me of that great piece that appeared in Lingua Franca years ago titled "Is Nothing Sacred? Casting out the Gods from Religious Studies" (Nov 1996).

Highlights from K. L. Noll's "The Ethics of Being a Theologian"

Most people do not understand what religious study really is. Professors of religion are often confused with, or assumed to be allies of, professors of theology. The reason for the confusion is no secret. All too often, even at public universities, the religion department is peopled by theologians, and many of those theologians refuse to make the distinction that I am about to make....

Theologians who do not think of themselves as unethical nevertheless sell their pew-sitting laity a bill of goods. The failure of theologians to remind the members of their churches and synagogues that the Bible is an anthology of ancient literature composed by ancient people in an ancient culture has consequences. The laity are entitled to know that any god described in a biblical text is an ancient god, a byproduct of the ancient culture that produced the text. The god of the Bible is the sum total of the words in the text and has no independent existence. It would be reasonable to begin every theological discussion with the disclaimer "the god described in this sacred text is fictional, and any resemblance to an actual god is purely coincidental." This is not an outsider's dismissive opinion, but the reality, and theologians have an ethical obligation to teach that truth even if they also want to believe and teach, as is their right, that a god exists.

Am I trying to imply that theology is without value? Certainly not. I do not presume to tell theologians how to be theologians, and I will not attempt to define the value of theology. I simply request that theologians fulfill basic ethical obligations, such as the affirmation that theology is not knowledge and must position itself apart from those academic disciplines that try to advance knowledge, such as history, anthropology, religious study, and (perhaps especially) the natural sciences.