The Power of Love

1 John 3:11-12

          We often feel that hatred is more powerful than love. Hatred shows up in the headlines. Hatred makes for better stories, feeding our fears and anxieties. When stories of love are told, we are led to believe that love is so extraordinary that mere mortals like ourselves could never be that way. Love is shown as the exception to the rule.

          But hatred is the easy option. It is the lazy man’s obedience. It is going with the flow. Our natural tendency is to push and pull our way through life. Our elbows are often our most used body part, beside our tongues. We use our power to get what we want, when we want it, and where we want it. And many people feel justified in using evil means to get what they want when someone or something stands in the way.

          But John tells us that the Gospel message is infused with a different emphasis than the one that is prevalent in the world. We are commanded to love one another. This is not optional. It is not a late addition to the message of Jesus. Christ died for our sins and this enables us to love one another. Forgiveness is followed by obedience.

          And this obedience is central to the organism over which He is the head. The church runs on love, love for God, love for one another and love for the world. Without love, we are a poorly run non-profit. We have too many retail outlets that are not used to capacity. Our volunteer to member ratio is too low with too few people carrying the lion’s share of the work.

          But the hardest places to love are often in our homes. Brothers and sisters do and say some pretty horrible things to each other. Sometimes parents crush children instead of nurturing them. Words become shackles that bind for a lifetime. Words are often more powerful than the physical wounds of abuse. The bruises heal, but he words remain.

          Cain and Abel were part of the first family on planet earth. And they didn’t get along. The character of Cain was bent on rebellion, just like his parents. He wanted to do things his own way. Abel had a bent toward obedience. He liked following directions. And these different personalities and attitudes toward authority played out as it does all too often in jealousy and anger. Cain won the earthly battle. He killed his brother. But Abel won the eternal battle.

          Love wins out. As the recent victims of Muslim beheadings pray for their executioners, so we need to learn how to as individuals act in love toward those who have evil intentions toward us. We need to practice love. We need love to reign in our families, our churches, our communities and our world. Apart for Jesus, we have no hope. But with Him, peace can reign.

          Who in your life are you having a hard time loving?

Evil’s Character

Psalm 10:1-18

      In today’s politically correct world we often don’t name evil. Our society has become afraid to put labels on people and behavior. As a result many people don’t really know evil when they see it. In our society where we have been taught that there are no moral absolutes, no rights and wrong that apply across people, cultures, and time, it can be easy to get lost in the fog. But there are rights and wrongs, good and evil. There are things that we can label.

      Our Psalm gives us a good start at understanding what evil looks like when it is acted on. There are a series of characteristics which labeled by the writer as being evil when acted upon. And at times, many of us have fleeting moments when we feel these things. But for most of us, we don’t act on them. So what does evil look like?

      The first on the list is arrogance. Arrogance is an inflated valuation of yourself. You think too much of what you have to offer. You place yourself too high in the pecking order, too high on the list of people who deserve to be at the top. Arrogant people have little time or attention for those ‘below’ them. They often exaggerate their own accomplishments and believe their own Public Relations spins about themselves.

      Arrogant people are often schemers. They are jockeying for position, looking ahead for the next move, trying to find the next person to step on in order to lift themselves up. Their schemes often involve talking advantage of those they deem lower on the ladder of social standing. They are usually pretty good at hiding their motives and plans. They can often sell their plans as something good for those they are stepping over to get ahead. But sometimes they don’t try to hide their motives at all.

      Evil often breeds evil. Once the line is crossed, they begin to boast about the next steps their hearts are scheming. It isn’t enough for them to do evil; they must boast about the wicked brew that is stewing in their heart. And as a result, their values get exposed. Their sense of right and wrong gets all twisted. They end up blessing evil and snubbing the LORD. Their support for greed rises to the surface. Te drive for most money and stuff consumes them, and they don’t care about the LORD’s values.

      Pride takes over the person who rejects moral rights and wrongs. They have replaced the LORD as the ultimate authority and taken that seat for themselves. They become judge and jury. They get to say what is right and wrong. They leave the LORD completely out of their equation. He doesn’t factor into what they do one little bit. In fact, external standards, including the LORD’s standards, are rejected.

      In his own eyes, the evil person becomes invincible. They think they alone will escape the natural consequences of their evil actions. They are different. They are untouchable.

      Then in order to support this twisted view of the world, lies become a normal part of their life. They lie not only to themselves, but they push their lies on others. They expect others to yield to their view of things. In the extreme, they eliminate the competition and those who disagree with their worldview.

      In some cases they become what we would call stalkers. Not just the creepy boyfriend, creepy girlfriend kind, but the plotting person intent on evil stalking. They don’t just have a warped view of love and attachment, they want to eliminate anyone or anything that stands in the way of them achieving what they think they deserve. They are willing to watch and wait for their moment, and when it comes they pounce mercilessly on their victim.

      What characterizes an evil person is their lack of accountability. They are not under anyone’s authority. They think they can make the rules. Often they make the rules in only a few areas of life. Every evil person doesn’t have to murder in order to be evil, to be in need of a Savior. In fact, we all are evil, evil enough to rightly deserve punishment. Some have a greater degree of evil active in their lives. But we all miss the mark. If there were a heavenly lottery, the best of us would miss the winning number by one digit. The worst would have no numbers correct. But all would end up losing. The number has to be completely correct or you lose.

      We all are in need of the Savior, Jesus Christ. We all have a bit of this evil person in us. So we don’t need to act on that evil. We can submit our hearts and our minds to the mind of the LORD.

Sorrow

Psalm 5:1-7

      Grief can be one of the most difficult emotions to handle. It can overpower us and even take away our will to live. Some people do some pretty crazy, out of character things when grief strikes. Sorrow can get us questioning our most basic beliefs about life and God. It can be a time of inner turmoil unlike any other experience in life. And everyone walks through grief differently.

      It often feels like a roller coaster ride when going through grief. The ups and downs, twists and turns come and go, often without any notice. We seem to be at peace, and OK with what is going on, and then in the next moment, the tears and despair roll in like the fog along the Maine coastline. And then without notice, the fog seems to lift.

      Our Psalm today is attributed to David and he was a man just like you and me. He experienced his share of losses and betrayals. You can hear some of this up and down, back and forth as you read the Psalm. He goes back and forth between his cries for help directed to the LORD and his struggle to understand the actions of the wicked. Putting the righteousness of the LORD together with the seeming lack of judgment of the wicked causes this tension.

      We hear this same tension expressed today in words like this. If God were a loving God, then He would do something. He would not allow cancer deaths, starving children, AIDS, incest, rape, murder, and a million other evils. If He really cared, He would do something. He wouldn’t let them get away with that.

      David goes back and forth between expressing his trust in the LORD and the actions of his enemies. He wants action. He starts by pleading with the LORD to listen and consider his words. He wants to be heard. He wants intervention that will relieve his sorrow.

      David points out that he made the LORD aware of what was going on “in the morning” and yet things still have not changed. It is difficult when the LORD works on His timetable rather than ours. We always want answers now, and the LORD sometimes makes us wait. David even seems to make the case to the LORD for His intervention. He lays out the things they are doing wrong, as if the LORD didn’t know them already. These evil people aren’t welcome in God’s presence, but David is. Come on, LORD, do something.

      Notice that David tells the LORD, and us by extension, that the wicked can’t stand in God’s presence. They aren’t allowed. David says that by the LORD’s great love, His grace, he is allowed to be in His presence. David knows that the only way he can be accepted by the LORD is because the LORD has made it so. He has poured out His love on David, thus making David acceptable.

      And as a result David is able to bow in the LORD’s presence. He assumes a humble, lowly position. He knows He doesn’t deserve to be there, so he expresses that knowledge by using a body position of humility. This is in contrast to his enemies who lift themselves up. They are trying to write their own rules of life. They are leaving the LORD out of their equation.

      So the next time your life seems to be on a roller coaster because of the evil around you, perhaps the best place to end up is on your face before the LORD. He is able to bring about the needed changes, both in our situation and in our hearts. Assume the lowly position. Give up your ‘rights’ and allow the LORD to be in charge.

Evil’s Influence

Proverbs 17:11

      One of these days, justice will be evident to all. Until then, our limited perspective can make it seem as if justice will never happen. We look around the world and it seems as if the wicked are getting away with their wickedness. Crimes go unsolved, and even those sitting on death row can sit there for a lifetime. Justice just seems almost like a cloud, seemingly real, but hauntingly rare. The more we grasp for it, the less it seems able to be grasped.

      Our proverb gives us a glimpse into one aspect of evil. Evil actions and attitudes are rebellion against God. They are rebellion against His authority and dominion. They say, in essence, that God doesn’t exist, or that He doesn’t have the ability to punish me. Or maybe even that His existence doesn’t matter, that He is so removed from us that I can do what I want and He won’t stop me.

      One evil person tends to collect and influence other people to follow their example. You rarely see a singular evil person. They always seem to have groupies. They cluster. Evil rarely inspires righteousness.

      Some day the reality of God’s justice will be evident, the scales of justice demonstrated to be accurate. Until then, we will continue to live in a world where justice often eludes us. And it is easy during those times of pain and sorrow to wonder if there really is such a thing a justice. Take heart. Justice is coming.

Plots

Proverbs 16:27-30

      As we watch the news, we witness the result of people plotting evil. Even when we take mental illness into account, plotting took place. What terrible things can happen when plotters get going!

      But sometimes everyday normal people plot. I know I do, and I can bet that you do also. I rarely carry out the plans that rise in the dark corners of my soul, but they sometimes bubble and churn. They often rise out of hurt feelings, or misunderstanding. If I were to begin to believe them, they could take over my life.

      Our proverbs give us a hint at how plots begin to get carried out. The first place we usually notice plots is when they begin to be spoken. We share the details of our pain and the plan to make things right by telling someone. We do this to get more people on our side. We color the facts so that we come out looking like the one in the right, the one justified in what we are plotting.

      We stir up support and a greater number of people involved in the plot. We don’t want to be alone in our thinking. We continue to spread our story of injury and their wrong doing.

      Then we trick the other person into walking down a path that will lead them into our trap. We pretend to be on their side, as we walk them to the point of attack. We play on their weaknesses. We have done our research and we know how to trip them up.

      Then comes the moment of execution of the plan. We signal to our coconspirators that now is the time. We probably don’t wink, but eye signals, even the momentary changes in the face, give us away, if anyone is watching. We write the message on Facebook. We tweet. We give the person a negative review online. We make a public statement aimed at them. We tell their boss. We inform the spouse about what we saw. And so it goes.

      You don’t plot good things. You can plan good things. Surprise parties take planning. Anniversaries, birthdays, special occasions all take planning. But the outcome of this kind of planning is blessing, not hurt.

      Next time someone comes to you with a plot, bring it into the light. Don’t let it stay hidden. Call the person out and stop the plot in its tracks.