Fallout From the Polar Vortex
I am ever so thankful to God for some of the things I learned through the experience of last week’s polar vortex. Our house is well insulated. Our furnace is running well. Our car batteries are strong. These are good things to know!
But the opportunity to stay indoors, to work on things in the study, led to learning yet more things through my reading and my encounters with media, both social and news. While these things are good, even necessary to know, my initial reaction was not thankfulness.
The drama playing out in Virginia over a bill sponsored by a few of their delegates probably caught your attention, too. It did not make it out of committee, but the governor, a pediatric neurologist, was inclined to sign it should it have passed. This bill would not only allow for a child to be aborted at 40 weeks, but it would also have allowed for a child surviving the abortion to be put to death anyway, outside of the womb, after consultation between the mother and the physician. This possibility, previously labeled infanticide, but now becoming known as a fourth trimester abortion, followed on the heels of the joyous celebration in New York when their governor signed a similar bill. It allowed the same late term abortions which could be performed by people other than physicians and for any health reason (mental, physical, emotional, et al). Lord, have mercy.
In a periodical I read, in almost an aside, of the casualness of sexual intercourse on college campuses across the nation. It is so commonplace in what used to be known as dating that it has become the expectation.
And finally, in another periodical I read of the serious mental health issues and the instances of violence that appear to be connected with the use of marijuana, especially among the adolescent. Whereas Senator Cory Booker has said that “states [that have legalized marijuana] are seeing decreases in violent crime,” the states of Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon have, since the legalizing of marijuana for recreational use, seen a 37% increase in murders and a 25% increase for aggravated assault. These numbers are far greater than the national increase, even after accounting for difference in population.
However, in the midst of these dire items, there is still reason for thankfulness. Our God is still in control, and He is known for being at work through all things ( And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28).
We are called to be faithful in serving Him and trusting in Him. His Spirit will keep us as we bear witness for God and the truth (God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.1 Corinthians 10:3). These things, even more so, are good to know!
The Body of Christ
Yesterday’s epistle (I Corinthians 12:12-31) led me to emphasize our callings to serve together in the Body of Christ. St. Paul makes very strong points countering the thoughts (1) “I’m not that special, the church doesn’t really need me,” and conversely (2) “You’re not that special, the church doesn’t really need you.”
In the congregation where I first served as the pastor with complete responsibility for the members’ well-being they had a program called “Hands in Harmony.” A member named Lloyd had developed it. It divided the congregation into seven groups. One group signed up for a month’s worth of tasks: lectors/readers, ushers, providing coffee before Sunday School and Bible class, etc. Then, they would host the next month’s group at a luncheon, where that second group would sign up for their tasks in the following month. Overall there were 110 different jobs that needed to be done for the church to provide worship and other functions each month.
As I recall yesterday, here, there were people opening the doors and welcoming worshippers, people handing out the bulletins and taking the collection, serving at the Information Center, serving as acolytes, preparing the coffee/cookies/fruit to be shared after each of the worship services, teaching Sunday school, monitoring the sound and the projection of the services, playing keyboards, drums, singing and reading the lessons. Oh, and to heighten your appreciation for those reading the lessons, take a look at the names they read from Nehemiah 8:1-10!
St. Paul’s words about the Body of Christ are important for every gathering of God’s people. They are important for you. You belong, and you are deeply needed among us.
Ideology
We’re living in an age when conversations on difficult topics are more and more rare and disagreements escalate into the hurling of invectives. A video on social media becomes viral, insinuations are made, and people are demonized before the facts are checked. How did we get here? And how shall we address this?
In an article for “The Catholic Thing” in September of 2016, Anthony Esolen blamed the rise of ideology. “Ideology is an ersatz religion. It rushes into the emptiness when one no longer is open to the divine.” I’ve heard that echoed more recently. When the message of God to the people He would redeem to Himself is not heard, when His Word no longer has the final say, when His Church, the Body of Christ, is no longer a mediating influence, everything is up for grabs. Politics then becomes the battlefield for what will be declared right and wrong, sacred and profane.
Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t want to paint ideology as wholly irredeemable. It is a part of most every life. We have beliefs about what is best for our nation. We have passions about the best way to accomplish something.
But without God’s guidance, God’s call to accountability, and God’s power for sanctified change and discipleship (read “Gospel”), ideology rules the roost (and ideology is a terrible tyrant). Esolen, again: “Ideology is impatient, unkind, envious, vain; obnoxious, self-seeking, touchy; believing the worst, rejoicing in iniquity; seething against the truth, tolerating nothing; restless, without real faith or hope in God.”
A return to the Word of God is the solution. Surely, in that Word we are chastened and that’s not an easy selling point. But, in that Word we are also healed. God confronts us in our sin for the express purpose of moving us to repentance. In that repentance we will find the wondrous message of God’s complete forgiveness and never-ending love. And in that Word God Himself is at work.