ARE GOD’S JUDGMENTS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO US?

 

 

 

God’s Church needs God’s disciplines. I had been troubled by the account of Ananias and Sapphira found in the Book of Acts. Like many of the brethren, they had sold some property and had given the proceeds to the apostles for the blessing of the Church. However, even though the couple had only given half of the money from the sale—no sin in itself—they lied and said that they had given over all of the money. Peter’s response was absolutely chilling:

 

·       “Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, did it not remain thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? Thou has not lied unto men, but unto God.” And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost: and great fear came upon all that heard it. (Acts 5:3-5, KJV)

 

I was troubled by this. Such a harsh judgment from God and absolutely no expression of remorse from Peter! After all, Ananias did donate half of the proceeds. Besides, this was just a little white lie, right?

 

Then there was the matter of the way in which the apostle had spoken to Ananias’ wife. Peter’s treatment of Sapphira seemed callous to me, especially in view of her great loss:

 

·       “Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yea, for so much.” But Peter said unto her, “How is it that ye have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out.” And she fell down immediately at his feet, and gave up the ghost. (Acts 5:8-10)

 

It seemed as if Peter had given only the briefest opportunity for repentance before pronouncing judgment on this unfortunate woman.

 

However, after these dramatic judgments, both of which ended with death, here is the record of Scripture:

 

·       And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things. (Acts 5:11)

 

Well, no wonder! No one is above sin. If such a thing could happen to Ananias and Sapphira, perhaps it could happen to anyone! Who then could serve such a wrathful God? Who could continue to rejoice in Him and regard Him as their Savior, knowing that He might snuff them out at any moment? It seems that some did indeed distance themselves from the early Church because of this, according to Acts 5:13. And who could blame them?

 

Who could blame us, as members of Western culture, if we are embarrassed by such a God? Consequently, when we evangelize and share our faith, we tend to soften these harsh aspects of our God. But should we? Perhaps not! Here is the rest of the story:

 

·       The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them.  Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.  As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought… and they were all healed. (Acts 5:12-16; NLT)

 

Oddly, rather than discrediting the Church, God’s judgments were building the Church!

 

We often wonder, “To what extent has the Church been taken captive by the culture of the West and its ideas?” Have judgment and justice gone out of style? Atheist Richard Dawkins, speaking for many of the educated in the West, famously claimed:

·       The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. (The God Delusion, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006, p. 31)

 

Although most Christians wouldn’t go so far, we still find Dawkins’ words stinging and embarrassing. We therefore tend to want to make excuses for His judgments. Some have even gone so far as to proclaim that God will save everyone. Some claim that God has repented of His harsh ways. Finally, some of us would like to be able to say that Ananias and Sapphira died because of a stricken conscience, and not from the judgment of God. But saying this would be misrepresenting God.

 

Understandably, we want others to be attracted to our God, so we do everything we can to massage His image and give Him a face-lift. However, what represents an improved image in our eyes is unacceptable to Him. Instead, His blessings accompany our faithful presentation, within the context of His love, of who He really is.  

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY AND HIS UKRAINE

 

There is more to the example of the courage of President Volodymyr Zelensky remaining in his beloved country to fight for its life - more even than a Jew fighting for the many who might hate him.

 

His example is beginning to pry open the narrowed slats of our eyes to principles that our Western world has rejected, principles that might even be greater than our own lives. Why would someone put his life and the lives of his fellow countrymen at stake if this life is all that we have? How can our principles be greater than our lives, which can be snuffed in a moment? Why not lay down before Putin and become Russians?

 

There is only one possible answer to these questions. There must be another place where the principles, which stir our hearts, will be fulfilled and given their due recognition.

 

But shouldn’t “love” direct us to turn the other cheek before any oppressor or bully? Should dignity and justice demand that a nation run and hide or stand against injustice and bullying. Shouldn’t a husband defend his family and daughters against those who would grab them away into sex slavery? Even Jesus acknowledged that it is the expected duty of the husband to defend his family:

 

·       “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.” (Matthew 24:42-43)

 

Does love conquer all? It depends on our definition of “love.” Love isn’t an indiscriminate substance that you can apply equally to everything. Instead, love must start at home. A man must love his own before the family of his neighbors:

 

·       Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:25)

 

Love begins at home and then radiates out to those closest. The same principle pertains to our neighbors, neighborhood, and even to our nation.

 

Zelensky has illuminated this principle for the world to see. Love sometimes requires heroism and even sacrifice.

 

Are there causes greater than our own lives? I think that the heroic example of the Ukraine has given us a mighty and persuasive “yes.”

TO LOVE GOD

 

There are many possible ways to answer the question, “How do I love God?” The first that should come to mind are the many verses claiming that we love Him by keeping His Word:

 

·       Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” (John 14:23-24)

 

I want to address a different aspect of loving God. Some lament that although they do love God in terms of abiding in His Word, they do it without passion.

 

There were many reasons for me to be dispassionate. I didn’t feel like I was like other Christians. I was even jealous of them. They seemed to belong to the in-crowd, and I didn’t. They also seemed to be comfortable with their faith, while my faith never seemed to fit right, like a ballerina’s tights.

 

I was jealous of their comfort. While they seemed to accept the teachings with ease, I struggled. To bring them down to where I was, I’d ask them difficult questions like, “How do you know…”

 

This didn’t build fellowship. Instead, it just heightened my me-against-them feelings of alienation and brokenness.

 

Later, I began to see that Jesus had also been an outsider. He had humbled Himself to be born in the most debased manner - in a smelly fly-infested animal cave. His parents didn’t even have any clothing for Him, so they wrapped Him with the only thing available - strips of cloth shepherds used to wrap sacrificial animals prevent any bruise or fault until their sacrificial offering at the Temple, These were signs that Jesus had come for the lowest and most contemptible of people, even for me!

 

Neither was His life one of joy:

 

·       For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:2-3)

 

Then, He left us, not as a conquering hero, as those we admire, but in the most contemptible way. I began to realize that He is the Savior for even people like me, the One who had proved His love for me (Romans 5:8-10).

 

I had much to learn about this unlikely Savior. Would He accept me as I was? The more I tried the prove that I was worthy of His love, the more I saw my unworthiness. I was being stripped of the little pride I still had left - assured that if Jesus did save me, He did so reluctantly. I had never felt loved by anyone, and now this feeling of my unlovable-ness seemed to overflow from my Savior. How could I believe that He loved me if I despised myself? Without the assurance of His love, I also despised Him, even though I could hardly  admit this to myself.

 

What changed? The Gospel gradually began to reassure me that He loved me:

 

·       For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

 

Through the leading of the Spirit, through His Words, the pieces began to fall together. I began to understand God and His love for me. Paul had prayed that we would come to:

 

·       … know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)

 

To be filled with this knowledge is to be filled with God’s fullness. No wonder we are instructed to meditate on His Word, day and night (Psalm 1:1-3), which will transform us:

 

·       Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

 

To know His will is to know our Lord and how much we are beloved. It is this knowledge that has transformed many struggling Christians into powerful men and women of God, even though we might have to exercise patience.