The Land Transgression???

Hi my friends,
I've taken some time off over the last month from writing, primarily just to take a break - a writing vacation - but the summer is fleeing quickly, and it's time to get back to writing.

At the beginning of May I began reading the Psalms and Proverbs - a chapter of each day.  This of course means I'm in my third reading of Proverbs, and about 2/3 of the way through the Psalms.  I have found this to be one of the more enriching times in scripture I've had in a while.

Today I read from Psalm 90, and Proverbs 28...here's an interesting verse that made me stop and ponder a bit.
Proverbs 28:2 (ESV)
²  When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue. 


The "land"???  How does the "land" sin?
Some other translations may or may not help clarify the statement:

Proverbs 28:2 (NIV)
²  When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order. 


Proverbs 28:2 (NRSV)
²  When a land rebels it has many rulers; but with an intelligent ruler there is lasting order.

Proverbs 28:2 (NLT)
²  When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability. 


Proverbs 28:2 (NCV)
²  When a country is lawless, it has one ruler after another; but when it is led by a man with understanding and knowledge, it continues strong.  


Confusing?  A Bit...yes.  "a land", "a country", "a nation"???  The Hebrew word is erets which is overwhelmingly translated "land" or "earth".  It is also translated "ground", "soil" and "country".

The other confusing thing is "transgression", "rebellious", "rebel", "moral rot"!!

It causes me to stop and muse a bit.  The land itself cannot sin.  There can be weather and climate problems, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, etc...  Yet the context suggests that what can happen is from the people who are in leadership.  Rulers, government, are the real issue.
It leads to a simple observation - when a nation's leaders ignore, willfully or passively so, God's word, it places itself on a path of destruction.

People will always blame God for calamities, problems, division, and violence.  Yet perhaps the need is for our leaders... the President, Congress, Supreme Court Justices, Govenors, Legislators...all those who are meant to be leaders in our nation, to examine whether or not they care about God's word... Just musing.

Peace

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Musing about Ryan Braun

Yesterday, Major League Baseball handed down a 65 game suspension to Ryan Braun, effectively ending this year of Baseball for him, and for the Brewers and their fans.  I don't know Ryan Braun in any personal way.  I am a casual baseball fan, not an avid fanatic.  I watch Brewer's baseball 5-10 times a year, and it's been 2 years since I've gone to a game.  Part of the reason for not going to games is the cost, and part of it is that I'm not the kind of person who loves to be anywhere where there are 40,000 people.

That being said, my friends and family know that I am two things (among a few others):
1.  I am a Sports fan in general, with my great love cast to football.  But I love sports...basketball, hockey, soccer (sorry my English friends), and yes Baseball.  I pay attention to standings, watch for major stories... I watch Mike and Mike almost everyday for the latest news.  SO, put me down as a lover of all things sports.

2.  I am a Christian.  A follower of Jesus, and even though I am well aware that I "miss the mark" in so many ways; I take seriously the call to follow Him...and His ways.  Being moral, acting with Christ's character of honesty, love, truth, faith, hope, self-control, are all part of what it means to have Integrity...to be legitimate when it comes to sharing who Jesus is to others, and why I strive to be a disciple of his.

I love many other things besides sports, but this particular musing has to do with Sports and Ryan Braun's suspension.  I was not shocked by the suspension, it has long been coming, and anyone and everyone who follows sports in general knew he was going to be suspended.  The evidence was incontrovertible and he had been caught.  Yet, he is from My team...and that made it hurt a bit more.  I felt saddened, and angry.  Embarrassed and Disgusted.
I am saddened that he did not just confess to it when it first occurred.  I am angry that he didn't confess to it when it first occurred.  Now he joins a long list of former baseball players people genuinely question whether or not they have any legitimacy at all in what they have accomplished.  I left Baseball (emotionally - that is with any desire to follow it closely) after Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa broke the home run record and it was discovered they were "juiced" with human growth hormones.  I don't have time for professional wrestling because its not a contest, but a show, and its rigged, and I hate being duped by anyone.  I was disgusted by Ryan's response to the suspension...no mention of the lies, the cover-up, the willingness to use someone else as a scapegoat to escape his own responsibilities.  Why cover it up.  As a Christian, we have this obligation - "Confess your sins...ask for forgiveness...seek to be reconciled..."
I am equally disgusted by the Brewer's response... "We're glad Ryan is taking this bold step."  What bold step?  They have a guy who brings people to the stadium and they want their cash cow back.
Speak the truth...someone please.

Is it the money?  Sure it is!
That leads me to another question:  Do you throw away your values, honesty, integrity because of the dollars? I remember the story of a man who asked a preacher if he would sleep with a woman for $1000.  He said in a rather righteous way - "Absolutely not".  The man then told him he was a billionaire and he would give him $1 Million dollars if he would sleep with his wife (he wanted an excuse for divorce).  The preacher didn't respond...he didn't say "No", he didn't say anything... he was thinking.  And so the man looked at him and said, "So it's not about the values, it's negotiating the price!"

Yes, I'm sad and angry...but I end this with some questions to think about.  Is it just Ryan Braun we're focusing in on?  Well, today, Yes...but there will be more to follow.  The pull of the big bucks is so tempting that the apple on that tree is too tempting to let go.
And...Jesus said, "Whoever among you is not guilty of sin, cast the first stone."
There are lots of people who I heard today express their righteous indignation.  Yet they can throw their stones without asking if they have a moral high ground.  Let me ask:

• Money doesn't enter into my decisions when it comes to truth, honesty and integrity?
• I wouldn't say a lie to someone when asked to do something, or come to something, just because I don't want to say the truth?
• I'll speak the truth and confess my sins to those I need to rather than hiding and pretending that if no one finds out no one is hurt.

We live in a society of people who have learned that from their teachers...in colleges and universities...that their is no truth, that truth is relative, and those who claim to have the truth are narrow bigots.
We live in a society where politicians can speak the political speak and never tell the truth to the citizens who elected them - because they value their power and money more than their integrity.

OK...time to get off my moral high horse.

Ryan...apologize...genuinely...honestly...forthrightly.
Maybe they won't forgive you, but I will.

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Day 12 - Going Home

We're headed off to the airport in a little while. If all goes well we'll be back home by tonight - late - but I'd rather be home.

I mentioned all of the various elements, people and places that were involved in the Reformation tour. One thing I didn't mention was the people we went with.

Of the many things you can get out of a tour like this, one of the more lasting ones is new friends. This tour had some amazing people on it who came because they loved the Reformers, and want to see the church reclaim its legacy of being a Reformed Church. Linda and I had some great conversations over meals, in the bus, while touring, listening, looking at the sites and places.

A real deep appreciation was there, by all, for Doug and Cheryl Bond. Doug is a high school teacher who has been taking people on tours since 1996, and unless one either goes on a tour and watches his work, or has been on his side as an organizer and leader (I have been), you cannot understand the amount of work that goes in to arranging, directing, leading, and sometimes worrying about all that is going on.

We had to deal with a quite a bit of sickness that spread on our bus over the 11 days. Like an airplane cabin, we all tended to share the same air over and over again, and pretty soon - day by day - someone new would come down with a bug. I did. Doug and Cheryl made sure that people who needed some medicine got it, and we made adjustments to the schedule to accommodate the needs. This is the part of the tour one does not schedule - it just needs to be dealt with.

Linda and I met some great people...to give lists of names would run the risk of forgetting someone, so I'll just say "Thanks" to all of the folk who shared the journey with us.
AND, once again.

A Big thanks to Doug and Cheryl Bond! If you ever get the opportunity to go on one of his tours...jump at it!

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Day 11, The Journey continues at Home

The journey to visit the land of the Reformation comes to a close today. It's a happy/sad day. We came to Geneva yesterday morning. The ride along the Swiss valleys was beautiful. We worshipped with a English speaking Scots Presbyterian Church in the chapel next door to the great Cathedral.




I genuinely missed worshipping back home yesterday. It's great to worship with people, but when you know them personally it makes such a difference.
This Scottish church of believers welcomed us in and gave us a fellowship meal after - a nice hospitality of believers to believers. Not unlike the stream of strangers that came to Geneva in the era of John Calvin's leadership in the mid 16th century.

Geneva is a beautiful city. Our last place on this journey is significant because it was in Geneva that John Calvin came to lead the full character of the Reformation - the Spiritual Worship and Spiritual living of the people of God. When the Reformation began to spread in Europe, there was backlash among Catholic countries to those who accepted the doctrines of Grace. Persecution broke out in Italy, Spain, France, Belgium and Holland, as well as England and parts of Germany. Refugees - whole families - fled the persecution and many of them streamed into Geneva. The church we worshipped in yesterday was a church for refugees, and a group of Scottish Presbyterians who would have first met there under the leadership of John Knox still worship there today.

Geneva became a melting pot of Reformation followers, and the affect of people coming to a place who sought to live through the Gospel - by Grace through Faith - had a profound affect upon everything. Geneva over time was reformed!
Gone was poverty (there were no beggars in the streets of Geneva while Calvin was here because the poor were brought in to places of shelter and fed).
Gone was unemployment.
Education was for all, and despite what I've heard from secularists and even some who believe -
Women were given a status unheard of in Europe at the time.

None of the good occurred because people were forced into submission. The modernists who hate Christianity and despise the fruit of the Gospel have written negatively about Calvin without ever analyzing the fruit of what occurred in his leadership time.

Even in Calvin's day, John Calvin was not liked by all in Geneva. Those who opposed him were not burnt at the stake or driven out of the city. Calvin cared about the Gospel, not his own personal reputation.

John Calvin spent his life in Geneva - he also died here. No one knows where he is buried because like Moses he did not want a shrine to his dead body, and so Calvin is buried in some unmarked grave in Geneva.

What a Journey these last few days has been. The journey of the Reformation was a story...
> The early attempts at Reform by men like Savanarola, Jan Hus, John Wyclif and the early martyrs who paid with their lives because of their unwillingness to give up the Gospel of Grace. (Remember Place Maubert)
> We saw the Reforms that began with Martin Luther - the German pastor and theologian who would not back down from Papal threats of excommunication and bullying, even desiring to kill him because he preached a Gospel of Grace.
> We visited the Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli, who lead the Cantons to embrace the Gospel of Grace and lost his life fighting to maintain that.
> We started early in Calvin's life, at his birthplace, then his education in Paris, and then the early days of leading in Strasbourg; but we end in Geneva, where his leadership brought the Reformation solidly on Europe's ground.

Yesterday, as our journey came to an end, we visited the Reformation wall...a picture that speaks a thousand words:




There they stand - a Mount Rushmore of the Genevan Reformation. But more than that. The sign in Latin from one of the wall to the other that in English reads, "AFTER THE DARKNESS LIGHT".

Next to the Reformers of Geneva stands two further depictions. It's difficult to capture the etchings on camera, so let me tell you what they say. The first is an etching in the wall of a Mayflower person - maybe John Bradford. It has next to it the words of the Mayflower Compact. The Mayflower Compact was a group of Reformed believers who sought to establish a place for the heralding of the Gospel - America.

Right next to that is a etching of our Declaration of Independence. This is Switzerland, but even here those who wanted to commemorate the fruit of the Reformation recognize that America came into being because of those who sought to live out the Gospel of Grace in a land free of prejudice and persecution.

My journey in the Reformation - our journey - is not over with. The Church still needs the message of Grace through Faith...God sovereignly working His will in a creation that is Fallen through Sin, separated from the goodness of God, and separated from each other by that Sin. We will not bring about a world of goodness and Justice, that alone is God's to do. Our task is to simply live for the Grace and Mercy of God, trusting in His working in us to do all things for our good and his glory.

Glad you could read along with me in this trip - wished you were along also.

Peace

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Day 10, Luther and Zwingli

We've arrived in Zurich, Switzerland...it's a drab, dreary, rainy day, so thus far Switzerland looks anything but stellar. The ride from Coburg in Germany was long, and it was rain all the way!

The trip to Zurich is to visit the home of Ulrich Zwingli, the leader of the Reformation in the German speaking Swiss Cantons, chiefly centered around Zurich. Of the three Reformers, he, by far, gets the least press.

Luther and Calvin dominate the Reformational scene, but Zwingli should be recognized for the significance of his bringing reform to the Swiss.
He was born two years before Luther, in 1481, and trained classically to be a priest. He eventually became the head of the church in Zurich. As a Catholic priest, he found himself - like Luther - opposing the sale of indulgences (those pay-your-way-out-of-purgatory certificates sold by the church). But, perhaps, what most affected his "re-looking" at Catholic doctrine was in witnessing the deaths of 1000's of Swiss soldiers who were bought by the Pope to fight his wars.

By 1519, two years after Luther's 95 theses were nailed to the church door in Wittenberg; but before Luther was tried at Worms, Zwingli was leading a reform movement in Zurich.

Zwingli had a sort of awakening when he was struck with the plague in 1520. Nearly two-thirds of Zurich's population died (before the plague it was a city of 12,000 and after, only about 3,000 remained). Zwingli somehow survived and after he recovered, he fought for a simple theology:

"If it can't be found in the Bible, don't believe it and don't do it."

He decisively began to reform. He broke the traditional Catholic laws on Lent, having a Sausage party for his students. He took the statutes and paintings of the cross and Mary out of the churches. Eventually he abolished the Mass and replaced it with a simple service that celebrated Communion and the preaching of the Scriptures. He said,

"For God's sake, do not put yourself at odds with the Word of God. For truly it will persist as surely as the Rhine follows its course. One can perhaps dam it up for awhile, but it is impossible to stop it."

The reform in Switzerland took hold as he led the churches in Zurich. Eventually, like the other reformers, he married - a widow with three children, and then went on to have four more of his own.

Two significant events shaped his life, and the reason why He is often forgotten in Reform circles.

1. Phillip of Hesse, the German Prince who saw in the Reformation a cause to defend, felt that the German Reform under Luther, and the Swiss Reform under Zwingli needed to unite. Hesse was certain the Papacy would eventually strike back to seek to take Reform lands by force if need be (and he was right, they did). Hesse called a "colloquy" - a meeting to discuss - matters that pertain to the two reform movements in Margburg, Germany. Zwingli and Luther met at this place and agreed on 13 of the 14 articles. They could not agree on the meaning of the Lord's Supper, and it divided the two movements.

Luther believed Christ's words, "This is my body" meant Jesus was actually present during the sacrament of communion. Zwingli said the phrase meant "This signifies my body", so that the bread and wine were only symbolic. They had agreed on many other doctrines during the conference, from the Trinity to justification by faith to the number of sacraments, but they could not come together on communion. Luther reportedly refused to shake Zwingli's hand at the end of the meetings.

2. The second event is shaped around Zwingli - the ardent Swiss nationalist. The Reformed movement spread among the Cantons (Switzerland is a confederation of small states); but not in all of the Cantons did it take hold. Zwingli decided to put pressure on the ones that wouldn't change and eventually a war broke out. The end result was that Zwingli was killed in battle - it was 1531.

We visited the Church Zwingli preached in, in Zurich.




The rain was falling and yet this simple Protestant church gives testimony almost 500 years later of Zwingli's faithfulness to the Gospel.

Peace to you

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Day 9, Wittenberg & Luther's Teaching Ministry

We went to Wittenberg yesterday, what a great day it was. As we arrived, I could see the tower from the original castle, and the Castle church that was right next door.


As we left the coach, we were directly in front of the Castle Church door. It's been replaced since Luther's day, and now has a Brass door with the 95 Theses embossed.



In 1517, Martin Luther nailed the "95 Theses" - a series of statements that were meant to be debated by theologians and Bible teachers. He wanted to start a public debate about the use of indulgences - he ended up beginning the Reformation!

Luther went to Wittenberg at the invitation of the Elector - the Prince in charge of the territory which was Saxony. The Prince had wanted to build a university and wanted Pastors and Theologians to give the best theological education. Luther came as a young Augustinian Monk with his Doctor's degree in Theology. Eventually he would be joined by a young man named Phillip Melanchthon on the faculty, and he also became the Parish priest - they all preached.

Luther usually preached down from the Castle church. The Church still stands, and is being restored over a 5 year project. Still, the outside looked liked this:




We went inside and I walked around, and noticed the pulpit Luther preached from. I couldn't help but walk up the steps to stand where Martin Luther stood some 500 years ago.


Luther was a remarkable individual. He didn't start off thinking he was going to reform the church. His goal was to check the insane practices of selling indulgences. This money raising gimmick was used by Catholic hucksters to raise money for Rome's building of St. Peter's Cathedral. When the Catholic priest name Tetzel came to Wittenberg, he promised the people that if they threw money into the coffers, their loved ones would get years taken off of purgatory. (Sadly, indulgences have changed, but the principle is still taught in the Catholic Church). It incensed Luther, and the reason why was because of the changes in his understanding of the Gospel that had occurred over the last few years.

When Luther began to teach and preach he started with teaching through Psalms and then Romans. When he got to Psalm 22, he read:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?"

An Augustinian monk, and doctor of theology, he had only known that Jesus died, but not that he had substituted his life for ours. He wondered, how could the Jesus say these words from the Psalm. Why was he forsaken? Why did God not come to save him? He couldn't understand as of yet what God had done, because he was steeped in a system of "earning" one's salvation through the merits of the church. He had become a Monk almost ten years before because he was convinced he would not be saved without practicing the holy orders. "If anyone was to be saved by monkery, I was him".

In 1516-17 at Wittenberg, in his study at the Monastery, teaching in the classroom, and in the Parish church preaching, the light began to come on. When he arrived in Romans it became clear. He read Romans 1-3 and the words began to sink in.

"...as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12 ESV)

No One, Martin read.
No One is righteous in and of themselves...
no one has the ability to come to a righteous God on the basis of their merits - no matter how many of them they have accrued.
There can never be enough to satisfy the righteous character of God. He read and concluded with Paul...

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26 ESV)

The truth came in as light streaming through a darkened window, and Luther was giddy with joy. No longer did he feel condemned, even hating God's righteousness. Now he felt the freedom of the Gospel.

He said later of this time, "I felt like I was born again"... He was.

As the Parish pastor and theologian he took on the task of challenging the indulgence practices, and the church condemned him. He stood his ground and when 5 Papal Bulls (letters of condemnation) were issued...in fact, he burned them right here.



The Reformation spread like a wild-fire. It spread all over Germany, and into Switzerland and France, and then on to England...and we know it's kept going since then.
As Luther preached the righteousness of God by Grace through Faith, people saw that the merit system of the church was false. One of those institutions was the practice of celibacy. When Priests realized they didn't have to be celibate, they began to marry. Nuns began to leave convents and marry. Luther arranged for 13 nuns to escape a nunnery, and they came to Wittenberg. One of those Nuns wouldn't marry any of the arranged marriages being sought for her. Luther discovered a spunky woman who was not afraid of him, and who he discovered he loved. He married her and I got to see where he lived with his wife Katherine.





The house is a museum of the life and times of Luther in Wittenberg. What a great and memorable day it was.

I'll catch up more later....peace

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Day 8, Eisenach and Luther's Ink!

We travelled several hours into the heart of Germany to the village of Eisenach. There is the castle called Wartburg. Luther spent almost two years here, and from the time here translated the scriptures into his native German language.




The story that goes with this is interesting. Luther was tried at the Diet of Worms for his writings. There he said, "Here I stand, I can do no other" when asked if he would or would not recant of his writings. He had been given safe passage by the Emperor to appear -which meant no matter what the outcome of the trial, he was allowed to return home to Wittenberg. But Luther and the Prince were suspicious of the Emperor's safe passage, and well deserved to be so. Jan Hus had been given safe passage and after he was tried he was arrested and burnt at the stake.

So, as the trial ended, Luther was declared a heretic of the church. He was condemned and made an outlaw, subject to death if caught. On the way back to Wittenberg his party was set upon by masked men. Luther was even roughed up to make it look like he was being made a captive. They wisked him away, and took him to Eisenach and the Wartburg Castle.

Here he became Junker George. Here he lived for the next year and some months. During that time he translated the Greek text in a little over 11 weeks into the German New Testament. Besides that he wrote numerous hymns and treatises. It was here that Luther declared, "By my ink I have driven away the devil".

From Eisenach we coached to Luther's birthplace - Eisleben.




Now a landmark, and museum of all things Martin Luther, it is in a small town in Central Germany that this humble German got his start. Raised in a miner's family, his father prospered as an owner of a mine. He wanted Martin to be a lawyer, but God had other plans. The city has a marvelous square - near our hotel with a statue of him.




The picture was taken in late evening after we arrived. It is a tribute to this man who did so much for God. Today we are off to Wittenberg where it all began.
Peace

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