'Home, Sweet Home'

An old hymn I learned in my first parish says, "I am but a stranger here, heaven is my home."

Read Charlie Lehardy's wonderful thoughts on home.

'Stranger Than Fiction'

The Narrator-as-God motif is apparently not uncommon in literature. Neither evidently is the Author-as-Real-Life-Character-with-Her or His-Creations. At least literary types have advised me that this is so.

But since most of my reading is of the non-fiction variety, my exposure to these narrative devices is pretty limited. In fact, I've encountered it only once, back in the mid-1970s, during a fit of post-college "I'm Going to Read Fiction" resolve. I started with Hermann Hesse and moved onto Kurt Vonnegut, both of whose work I enjoyed. But it was Vonnegut's then-newest novel, Breakfast of Champions, his fiftieth birthday present to himself, that intrigued me most.

In its climactic scene, Vonnegut himself appears near the scene of an automobile accident suffered by Kilgore Trout. Trout was a creation of Vonnegut's, a pornographer who had played a part in one of his previous books. Dazed, confused, injured, Trout wonders who this figure in the night is. I created you, Vonnegut tells him. He goes on to say that he's going to transform Kilgore Trout from a sleazy porn writer into a literary giant who produces works of enduring importance. All will be changed.

There's poignance in The Breakfast of Champions as its author with God-like power changes the lives of his fictional creations, but can't change his own life in the way he most wants. He can't fulfill his fondest dream. He can't be young again.

Poignance aside, the device employed by Vonnegut of entering his story and interacting with his creation always intrigued me.

Stranger Than Fiction, the film starring Will Ferrell and a fantastic cast takes the device further. Ferrell's character, Harold Crick, it turns out, also appears fully formed in the imagination of novelist Karen Eiffel, played by Emma Thompson.

In a way, this is far more complicated than Vonnegut's trick in Breakfast of Champions. Here, Crick, though imagined by a novelist, is also a real person. He becomes aware of the voice of a narrator, Eiffel, who is telling the story of his everyday life. That's startling enough.

But then, waiting at the bus stop on his way home from work, Harold hears his death foreshadowed. Naturally enough, he tries at first to find a way to change his fate and then, to live his life fruitfully and well while he can.

Along the way, Ferrell's Crick is helped by a fantastic cast of characters, most notably a professor of literature, played by Dustin Hoffman, and a baker audited by Ferrell's IRS agent, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Emma Thompson, as always, is fantastic, this time as an author struggling with writer's block, then churning out a classic only to change it dramatically in the end. Queen Latifah is effective in her role, although there isn't much substance to her role.

Ferrell gives a fine performance in a part that some might have played like Chance the Gardener in Being There. Harold, in fact, may have been a bit like Chance as this movie starts. For all we know, Harold may have appeared only as an adult, a creature without a past, a cardboard cutout without substance. But as the story moves along, the narrator and Ferrell himself make him more real, more compelling. I found myself desperately wanting this character not to die.

I won't give away the ending at this point. But I will say that this film raises a lot of questions.

First among them is why we don't see more films like this: thoughtful, not heavy-handed, with interesting quirky characters.

This was my first Will Ferrell movie. I liked it. You might like it too.

[UPDATE: Spoiler Alert...Spoiler Alert...Spoiler Alert...Spoiler Alert...Spoiler Alert

One of the most interesting aspects of Stranger Than Fiction, from a Christian perspective, comes in its denoument. Harold finds author Karen Eiffel. She gives him the entire manuscript to read. Included are Eiffel's outline of its last pages, which call for Harold's death.

Desperate, Harold takes the unfinished book to Professor Hilbert (Hoffman). He wants the professor to find a way the book can be changed so that his life will be spared.

Hilbert reads the manuscript and meets Harold the next morning. He informs Harold that this is the climactic masterpiece of Eiffel's literary career. The fictional rendering of Harold's death is essential to the greatness of the work.

In essence, Hilbert, who we learn is also a lifeguard at a local pool, someone who presumably has a preference for saving lives, tells Harold that he must accept his death sentence.

Eiffel, who has perfectly recounted the events of Harold's life to this point, must now be allowed to administer Harold's death sentence by completing her narrative. There is no alternative.

Like most people given a death sentence, whether by a jury or an oncologist, Harold tries to bargain with his fate. He weeps as he tells Hilbert he'd hoped, especially with so many wonderful things now happening in his life, that his death could be avoided. It's a bit like Jesus' Garden of Gethsemane experience in which the Savior, fully aware of what awaited Him the next day, prays that the cup of death might pass Him by.

Christ, of course, ultimately accepted the Father's will that He die in place of fallen humanity so that all who believe in Him may live forever.

After reading Eiffel's manuscript himself, Harold returns it to the author and pronounces that she must finish the novel. He's accepted his death, presumably because of the reason for it and its consequences.

Harold wakes up the next morning, knowing that in a short while, he will stand in front of a moving bus to save the life of a boy who will ride his bicycle into harm's way. Harold exchanges his life for that of another, certainly reminiscent of what Christ did for the whole human race.

This sort of self-giving love is compelling to us all. This is why Jesus is such an attractive figure, even for those who profess no faith in Him.

Of course, as a Christian, I believe that Jesus, unlike the fictional Harold Crick, was sinless and that in His death, He accepted our rightful punishment for our sin. But it seems to me that in most people we deem heroic can be seen the faint echoes of the ultimate hero, Who died for the sins of the world. Jesus is the One of Whom John the Baptizer exclaimed: “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)

For the Christian adult, Stranger Than Fiction isn't an altogether bad film to see during Lent.]

The Lady in the Park

[This message was shared with the people of Friendship Lutheran Church during worship celebrations on March 17 and 18, 2007.]

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
A Baptist congregation in Sidney, Australia became embroiled in controversy a few weeks ago. All because of a sign placed in its yard. Even the Prime Minister of Australia weighed in, condemning the church, saying, "I understand the Christian motivation of the...church. But I hope they will understand that a lot of Australians, including many Australian Christians, will think that the prayer priority of the church on this occasion could have been elsewhere."

What was that congregation's offensive signboard message? "Jesus loves Osama."

When I asked our Catechism students on Saturday if that were true, if Jesus loves Osama, one of them had a great answer. "Yes," he said. "But I'm sure that He's not really happy with him right now."

The fact is that even hell will be filled with people Jesus loves. The question isn't whether Jesus loves us. Jesus loves all the sinners of the world. That means every one of us. The question is whether we're willing to go home to Jesus or not.

Jesus talks about that in today's Bible lesson, the bulk of which is His story of the Prodigal Son, a tale the writer Charles Dickens called the greatest short story ever told. Jesus, unlike we modern-day preachers, never talked to people with a prepared manuscript or an outline. Jesus often used stories. One of my old mentors, Dr. Richard Jensen, insists that whenever we moderns preach on the story in today's lesson, we should use a story. A few years ago, Jensen, in fact, wrote a story sermon for this passage. Another pastor, Ed Markquart, revised it a bit. I've revised it a little more myself and want to share it with you now. So, here it is: The Lonely Lady of Blairstown.

George Miller and his wife moved to Blairstown in the 1950’s. George was transferred there by his company and although moving was a pain, George was glad to do it. Not only was he making more money, but Blairstown itself was a nice place.

In the center of Blairstown was a park, well-groomed with lots of flowers and trees. George walked through the park every day on his way to and from work. He even walked through it to and from lunch every day. On his daily walks, he noticed everything about the place, including an elderly woman who always seemed to be there.

At first, George didn’t pay much attention to this lonely figure. ”It’s probably just a coincidence that she seems to always be around when I'm here,” he told himself. Yet as the months rolled on, she really was always there. It started to spook George. He asked himself: “Who is she? What’s she doing in this park all the time?”

Though she was ordinary in most ways, there was longing, lonely gaze in her eyes, as if she were looking or waiting for someone. George was troubled by her, and finally asked Harold Clark, a native of Blairstown, “Who is that woman?”

“Oh, you mean the lonely lady of Blairstown Park,” Harold said “Her name is Grace Simon. She’s spent a lot of time in that park recently. She’s a lonely old soul. Her husband, Tom, died a long time ago when their three kids were still little. Now, Shirley, their oldest, runs the furniture store and Steve, the middle one, runs the funeral home, both places on Main Street. When Tom died, he left the two businesses to Grace and, years later, she gave one business to each kid.

“There was a third child. Frank was his name name. Grace learned a few years back that Frank died in an automobile accident out west. Anyway, having only two children instead of three, the businesses could be neatly divided between Shirley and Steve. Grace was a huge help to them. Without Grace, they couldn't had made a go of it. But eventually, they got to the point that they didn’t want her around any more. They became engulfed in a family feud.

“The feud started one day when Grace got a letter from Denver. At first, she wouldn’t tell anybody what was in it. But people could see that it had her worked up. She asked Steve and Shirley for some money. She had to get a train ticket to go to Denver immediately. They thought their Mom had gone off her rocker. She pleaded, ‘Steve and Shirley, I have to have a ticket! I’ve got to go to Denver!’ But she wouldn’t tell anybody why. The kids finally broke down and they got her a train ticket to Denver. Grace headed west.

“It turns out, though none of us knew it when Grace made her visit, that Frank wasn’t dead at all. He was in jail on several counts of armed robbery. He’d been too ashamed to tell his mother of his conviction. So, he had one of his buddies write a letter to his mother saying that he had been killed when his car crashed through a bridge and plunged into the river. He even had him send a clipping from a Colorado newspaper that seemed to verify the story. Anyhow, years later, Frank decided to tell his mother the truth.

"I don’t know why he did it. He should have left things the way they were. It would have been better for Grace and the family to think Frank was dead. Everybody here loved Grace and we all were pretty angry with Frank for telling his mother that he was still alive. Think about it: First he runs away from home, then breaks Grace’s heart with news that he’s dead, and then comes back into her life, a convicted felon! He put his mother through a wringer and it made all of us all upset!

“It was quite a scene in prison when Grace and Frank met. The guards took Grace down a long hallway, into a waiting room with lots of other people. Then a guard took Grace into a small room. He told her to wait. She sat for what felt like an eternity. Then she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Her heart seemed to pound in time with the approaching steps. The door opened and Grace’s eyes locked with those of Frank.

“Grace moved first; she always does. She walked over to Frank and wrapped her arms around him. She held him and began to cry. She kept on saying, ‘We thought you were dead’ She said it over and over again. At first, Frank stood stiff and lifeless in his mother’s embrace. But then, melted by Grace, he grabbed his mother and held her. He too began to cry.

”Grace visited Frank several times during the two weeks that she was in Denver. After that, she went out there every year for some years. Not long ago, Grace learned that Frank was supposed to be ready for parole any day. When Grace learned that, she told Frank that once he got out of prison, he should come home. ‘I’ve got plenty of room in the house!” she told him. “Frank, you can even be a partner in the family businesses!’

“Well, when Grace got back to Blairstown, she was all excited. She was telling anyone who would listen, ‘Frank’s alive. My boy’s alive! All that business about an accident was wrong. He’s alive!’ She told all of us. Not a word about Frank being a felon. Just, ‘He’s alive!’ over and over again.

“To tell the truth, she was about the only one in Blairstown excited because we’d never had a hometown boy stay in prison for thirty years for armed robbery. People around here weren’t too keen on the whole idea of seeing him. Frank might have been alive, but Frank was a good-for-nothing crook. I mean, what were we supposed to say to Grace, ‘Gee - I’m glad your son’s alive and in prison’? We didn’t say anything. We were just embarrassed.

“Shirley and Steve, Grace’s other kids, weren’t quiet at all, though. When Grace told them that Frank wanted to come home, to disgrace them all, and their momma – and that when she’d said that he could be a part of the family businesses – THAT was the last straw. Shirley and Steve were dumbfounded. A crook in their family businesses? In Blairstown? It just couldn’t happen! Shirley and Steve were right about that. The whole town agreed that Frank would ruin things.

“But Grace didn’t look at it that way. Frank was her son too. She argued that he had a right to be back in the family. That’s what started the family feud. Shirley and Steve had a lawyer draw up papers to rule Frank out of the business altogether. When Grace protested, they told her that it was none of her business. It was only their business and they could do what they wanted. They also told her to never to come into their businesses or to pester them about Frank again.

“I thought that was really unkind. After all, Grace had given them the businesses in the first place. She’d worked hard to help them when they got their starts. Worse than that though, is that they don’t even invite Grace over to their homes anymore. They don’t want to hear her talk about Frank. She doesn’t even get to see her grandchildren unless they sneak over to the park to see her.

“Anyway, George, that’s why Grace Simon wanders alone in Blairstown Park. The Lonely Lady of Blairstown Park, that’s what everybody calls her. She’s out there right now, watching and waiting. Of course, she’s waiting for Frank to come home. And rumor has it that he’s out of prison and coming home any day. So she’s watching that highway coming into town, watching for her boy to come back home. But, if you look at her, you can see that she’s also got her eyes on Main Street an awful lot of the time, Main Street, where her two kids run the family businesses. She’s watching for some sign of love, some softening of the heart, some sign of welcome from Steve and Shirley.”

George interrupted Harold’s story. “You’d think that she wouldn’t want anything to do with those kids,” George said. “What do you suppose Grace would do if those kids, Steve and Shirley, did have some change of heart?” he asked. Harold thought for a moment and said, “I think that Grace would do just like she did with Frank. She’d welcome them with open arms. And if they ever come to their senses, she’s going to run and throw her arms around them and give them a great big love. You know, that’s just the way she is. That’s just the way Grace is.”

And that’s the way God’s grace, given in Christ is, too. No matter how far you wander, our God of grace wants to welcome you home!

Okay, I've Defended John Edwards...

against those who said that his wealth necessarily meant that his expressed concerns for the poor are phony and, implicitly, in my reaction to Ann Coulter's recent eruption of bad taste. But this is funny.

What Day Is It?

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Here's an account of Patrick's life from Catholic Online.

Patrick is one of my heroes in the faith. For a good understanding as to why, read about him in the fantastic, How the Irish Saved Civilization. I tease my Roman Catholic friends that Patrick was so on-target in his theology that were he alive today, he'd be a Lutheran. (I'm kidding! But within the Church, he can be universally applauded, I believe.)

My colleague, Pastor Glen VanderKloot, sent out this modified version of Saint Patrick's Prayer in his daily emailed inspiration today:
I trust with certain faith:
The power of God to guide me,
The might of God to uphold me,
The wisdom of God to teach me,
The eye of God to watch over me,
The ear of God to hear me,
The word of God to give me speech,
The hand of God to protect me,
The way of God to go before me,
The shield of God to shelter me…

Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or many.

We invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Which may attack my body and my soul.

Christ, protect us today
Against every death-wound,
That we may receive abundant life.

Christ be with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ within me.

Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ at my right,
Christ at my left.
Christ in the heart of every one who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Amen
If you'd like to receive Glen's daily emails, contact him at olwf1@gliq.net and put SUBSCRIBE on the subject line.

Second Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson: Luke 15:1-3a, 11b-32

For the verse-by-verse comments on this passage go to these fine sites:
Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen
Comments and Clippings by Chris Haslam
Pilgrim Preaching by Mary Hinkle Shore
Exegetical Considerations by Richard Carlson
First Thoughts by William Loader
Gospel Analysis by Ed Markquart
Lectionary Bible Studies by Bryan Findlayson

YES!

Let's keep it going!

Go, Buckeyes!

You Might Want to Read These Posts

You may have noticed that I'm not my usual prolific self lately. Well, I have. Lent. Low energy. Not feeling inspired by public events. Anyway, here are a few places to read something interesting...

Charlie Lehardy on dignity.
Richard Lawrence Cohen on words that make him crazy.
Jan on polyamory.
Mark Roberts on the loss of a park.

If It's Almost Spring...

it must be time for a religious controversy. So says Father James Martin and I think he's right.

Letters to My Non-Churchgoing Friends (#7: Why Can't I Find a Church That Believes What I Want It to Believe?)

[This is the seventh in a series of columns I'm writing for the Community Press newspapers. They're meant to be loving responses to what my non-churchgoing friends say keeps them from being part of the church.]

Dear Friend:
Sitting in my office one day, the phone rang. When I answered, a woman asked, "Are you the pastor?" "Yes," I said. "I've been calling churches all over Cincinnati," she told me. "So far, I haven't found what I'm looking for." "What exactly are you looking for?" I asked.

"Well," she explained. "I believe in Jesus and stuff. But I can't find a church that believes in reincarnation. Does your church believe in reincarnation?" "No." She was frustrated. Here she believed in "Jesus and stuff," yet she couldn't find a single Christian church that believed in reincarnation.

In this era of hyperindividualism, many people want to create their own religions, belief systems that cater to their specific prejudices and dispositions.

I'd be lying if I claimed that I didn't find that somewhat appealing. There are aspects of Christian faith and life that I find personally inconvenient, things like the call to servanthood and giving. Or, the necessity of confessing my sins and surrendering my life to Jesus Christ. Life would be easier if I didn't try to be what the Bible calls a disciple.

But each of us is confronted with a choice: Whether to go our own ways or to surrender to the God we meet in Jesus Christ. Faithful churches insist on our common need to surrender.

When I was in elementary school, I resisted as my father and grandfather forced me to memorize the multiplication tables I was supposed to be learning. I couldn't have cared less if 5-times-nine equaled 45. Besides, why couldn't 5-times-9 equal 46 if I wanted them to sometimes? For someone as math-challenged as I was--and remain, the multiplication tables were an inconvenient truth and way more trouble than I wanted.

Over thousands of years, through thousands of people, God has revealed Himself, His identity, and His will to all of us. We have a book that catalogs these many encounters, including the ultimate encounter, when God took on flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, died on a cross, and rose from death in order to save all the lost people on this planet who dare to follow Him. That book is the Bible. Others may disagree, but Christians believe that it is, as we Lutheran Christians put it, "the authoritative source and norm of our life, faith, and practice."

Under the prompting of God's Holy Spirit, our understanding of the teachings of the Bible may change over time. And different Christian traditions may emphasize some Biblical teachings more than others. But all believe that human beings are called not to look for a God or a religion that caters to what we prefer, but to follow the one true God of the universe Who has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ. The Bible, in a way, is God's multiplication table and in the end, it does us no good to pretend that 5-times-9 equal anything but 45.

"There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death." (Proverbs 14:12) Christian faith, for all its inconvenience and challenge, promises us new life that lasts forever.

So, I pray that while you find a church where you feel at home, you never find one in which you feel completely comfortable. May you never find a church fellowship that accommodates any beliefs or inclinations you have that are contrary to God's will as revealed in the Bible.

I pray that you find a church home that challenges you to follow Jesus even when it's inconvenient to do so.

Sincerely,
Mark

[You might want to send this link to a friend. It contains the first seven installments of this series.]

First Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson: Luke 15:1-3a, 11b-32

[Most weeks, I present as many updates on my reflections and study of the Biblical texts on which our weekend worship celebrations will be built as I can. The purpose is to help the people of the congregation I serve as pastor, Friendship Lutheran Church of Amelia, Ohio, get ready for worship. Hopefully, it's helpful to others as well, since our Bible lesson is usually one from the weekly lectionary, variations of which are used in most of the churches of the world.]

The Bible Lesson: Luke 15:1-3a, 11b-32
1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3So he told them this parable:..

11...“There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. 13A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ 20So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. 25“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ 31Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

General Comments:
1. Our lesson, mostly composed of what's probably Jesus' second most famous parable, that of the Prodigal Son, is taken from a spot in which He tells three parables in a row, this one being the last and the longest. The other two, which appear in verses 3b-10, are the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. A central theme of all three is: Those who wander from God and God's will are lost; but God never tires of looking for us so that our relationship with Him can be restored.

2. I gave my own definition of a parable last week in one of these passes. Since I want to be sure to talk about what a parable is again here, I'll refrain from repeating myself and instead, give the floor to the wonderful New Testament scholar Archibald M. Hunter as he defines parables in his book, The Parables Then and Now:

The word 'parable,' Greek in origin, means a 'comparison.' We may then define a parable as a comparison drawn from nature or from daily life, and designed to teach some spiritual truth, on the assumption that what is valid in one sphere--nature or daily life--is also valid in the spiritual world...

The next point is that parable is a form of teaching--often, if you like, polemical teaching...

I'll have more to say about this business of polemic in the verse-by-verse comments and a little bit in point 4 below, because Jesus clearly told this story in part as a polemic against those whose religion prevented them from embracing faith in Him.

3. Hunter also warns us against viewing the parables of Jesus particularly as cute little stories. He writes:

When I was in my early twenties, I used to think of [the parables] as picturesque stories with morals attached, eminently suitable for teaching children in Sunday School. Forty years later [he wrote his book in 1971], these same parables seem to me more like Churchill's speeches in 1940--weapons of war in a great campaign against the powers of darkness which took Jesus to the cross...

4. The scribes and the Pharisees to whom Jesus first told this parable would have been deeply offended by it. They believed that God's blessings were earned by those who obeyed His laws and lost to those who failed to keep the law perfectly. They also believed that they kept God's law perfectly and looked down their noses on the sinners with whom Jesus associated.

For Jesus' original hearers then, this story of the sinning son who returns to the father and the self-righteous son who has always obeyed, would have called into question the entire basis of their religious system. They couldn't have helped but see themselves in the older son who, with rectitude, refuses to join in the party thrown by the father, the party clearly the Kingdom of God presided over by the Father.

To the original readers of Luke's two volumes, Luke and Acts, the implications would also have been clear. Luke believes that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jews' law and prophets. And while the first Christians were Jews, most first-century Jews who heard about Christ wouldn't accept Him as Messiah, Savior, and God-in-the-flesh. In addition, Acts is quite honest in describing the disputes and debates that arose over the admission of Gentiles into the fellowship of those who believed in Christ. The parable of the Prodigal Son also speaks against those Jewish-Christians wanting to lord it over those Gentiles on whom they could feel they had spiritual seniority.

It was in anticipation of this openness to Gentile believers to which the Holy Spirit would lead the early Christians that on the first Pentecost, Luke records the apostle Peter reciting a passage from the Old Testament:

...everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:21)

5. Theologian Helmut Thielicke was fond of saying that the name we routinely apply to this parable is inappropriate. We should, he said, call it the parable of the Waiting Father.

And that's true. In a very real sense, the star of the parable isn't the son, who simply surrendered to the father's patient charity, what we might call amazing grace. So long as the boy is still living, the father doesn't give up on the young one's return. This is just like the Father in heaven: No matter how far we wander, He eagerly awaits our return.

See 'Amazing Grace'!

My wife and I joined with some friends on Sunday afternoon to see Amazing Grace, the big-screen treatment of the life and work of William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was the British politician whose forty-plus-year commitment to bringing an end to slavery and the "reform of manners" in his country resulted in the abolition of the slave trade. It all stemmed from Wilberforce's faith in Christ and his relationship with John Newton, the one-time slave ship captain who, repentant for his participation in slavery, became a Christian and a pastor and a composer, most notably of the hymn, Amazing Grace.

This film isn't heavy-handed in its portrayal of Wilberforce and his faith. No matter where you are spiritually, you'll enjoy this movie. Nor does Amazing Grace overlook Wilberforce's faults, such as his battle with addiction to opium or his initial tentativeness to fight for what he believed was right in the political realm.

This is nothing less than a triumph of a movie, full of interesting, inspiring people and story that will stir you and make you feel good! Go see Amazing Grace.

Some past posting about or inspired by William Wilberforce is linked here.

Go to page 9 of the latest issue of The Asbury College Ambassador here to find an interesting article about Wilberforce.

Yes!

I didn't get to see the game. But I was pleased with the results.

As people who know me well can tell you, I'm an even bigger fan of Ohio State basketball than football. That all started back, while growing up in Columbus, when Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, Jim Bowman, and Dick Taylor...and Gary Brads and Mel Nowell...and others became my basketball heroes.

Frankly, I was concerned about today's game against the Wisconsin Badgers. They and the Buckeyes split two previous meetings this year. Ohio State has a freshman-dominated squad that, in spite of massive talent, sometimes has lacked focus. On top of that, it hasn't been until recent weeks that the Buckeyes have played as a cohesive unit.

That's probably because at the start of the season, freshman center sensation Greg Oden was healing from surgery on his wrist and missed a chunk of games; the rest of the squad did well without him, reeling off seven wins before dropping their first game to North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (I firmly believe that even without Oden, Ohio State would be ranked among the ten best teams in the country this year.) But it seems to have taken the Buckeyes this long to learn how to use their big man while not turning the rest of the squad into a bunch of "also rans."

Last Summer, my hope was that Ohio State would win national championships in both football and men's basketball. The University of Florida football team, whose basketball squad now has a chance to pull off the same feat for that university, dashed that dream for OSU fans in January, with their saddening--and convincing--win.

But I'm still convinced that the Buckeyes can bring a men's basketball title to Columbus this March. I'm so psyched, I can hardly stand it!

Go, Buckeyes!

Making Our Days Count

[This message was shared with the people of Friendship Lutheran Church during worship on March 11, 2007.]

Luke 13:1-9
Once there was a couple who won a prize, a two week trip to Ireland. They had a whole year to claim their trip. “Well,” said the wife, “let’s not do it this summer, because we don’t want to interfere with our summer at the lake. And we can’t go in September because that’s when the kids go back to school.” Then, before they knew it, it was late October and the husband said, “We can’t go over the holidays.” “That’s right,” his wife agreed. “Let’s wait till after the first of the year.” But somebody told them that the days were terribly short in Ireland in January and February and besides, the weather wasn’t very good. So they said, “Let’s wait till spring, when we know there’ll be good weather and we don’t have to worry about the snow closing airports in this country.” So finally they made reservations for the first week in May. The weather was supposed to be good and the days were long and it was the best time of the year to go. They admitted that they were cutting it close because their prize ran out on June 1. But they were sure nothing would go wrong. Then the husband had a gallbladder attack and required surgery. The doctors said he would be able to travel by...the middle of June.

That little story by Andrew Greeley points out how unpredictable life can be. Gall bladder attacks aren’t the only things that can interrupt our agendas. Sometimes death itself interferes. All of which leads me to a very serious question: What would you do if you knew for sure that one year from today, your life would come to an end?

My guess is that most of us anyway, faced with that certainty, would have a thought or three about how we would live differently from the way we live right now.

The question is suggested by today’s Bible lesson. In the first part of it, Jesus talks about two terrible incidents that the crowd surrounding Him was talking about. One was a massacre of Galileans who were worshiping that had been ordered by the Roman governor, Pilate, the very same person who would soon order Jesus’ execution. The other incident is one Jesus Himself brings up: The collapse of a tower at the famous pool at Siloam. There, eighteen people died.

Many people, when they confront such inexplicable tragedies so need to make sense of them or feel a need to feel morally superior, that they accept explanations which really defame God. They convice themselves and others that God is punishing people for their sins. Jesus will have none of such explanations for life’s tragedies.

Nor should we. Back in the 1980s, a new disease of which none of us had heard before began killing off, at first, only gay men. AIDS took thousands of lives and consigned thousands more to certain death. One Sunday, I told the people of my former parish that, contrary to what some were telling us, I did not believe that God was punishing gay men for their homosexuality. If God killed people because of their sins, we all would be dying horrible, premature deaths. The Bible teaches that none of us is sinless and that God sent Christ to die and rise so that sinners like us who repent and trust in Him will live with God forever, no matter how long our lives on earth may be.

After the service, a woman approached me. “Pastor,” she asked, “do you mean to say you don’t think that God is punishing these men?” “No, I don’t,” I said. Her reaction surprised me: “I’m relieved to hear you say that. I was beginning to think that maybe I’d misunderstood God all these years. These preachers who say that God was punishing these men seemed so certain of themselves. But the God they talked about didn’t sound like the God I know in Jesus.”

That doesn’t sound like the God I know through Jesus either. I don’t believe that when troubles, suffering, or challenges come into our lives that God is punishing us. That’s not the God any of us see when we consider the God of the Bible!

But how do we explain tragedy? When Jesus cites the two tragedies in our Bible lesson--one perpetrated by a tyrant, the other an accident, He doesn’t try to explain them. And He specifically rejects any attempt to paint the victims of the tragedies as being worse sinners than anyone else. As Jesus puts it elsewhere, in this imperfect world, it rains on the evil and the good. More important than trying to figure out why bad things happen to good and bad people, is learning to let God love us every day and to live each day as a gift from God!

Jesus says that unless we repent, we will die. The death He’s talking about, I think, is the death of eternal separation from God, eternal separation from human fellowship, an eternity of regret that we chose to go it alone, rather than relying on Christ for life.

To repent, as we’ve said before, is to repudiate sin and to walk toward Christ. No one can do that perfectly. But God isn’t looking for perfection in us. As the Old Testament tells us, God remembers that we’re dust.

I remember when our two children were learning to walk. Whenever they showed an interest in walking toward us, we held out our arms and praised them for every imperfect step they took, even when they fell on their seats. We wouldn’t have thought of criticizing them or punishing them because they didn’t do it precisely correctly.

The person living repentantly is taking baby steps toward Christ and even though we may sometimes fall or fail, as long as we keep walking toward our Savior, the cheers coming from God’s throne are so loud that if we were privileged to hear them, we’d have to cover our ears!

If I knew my life were to end one year from today, I hope that I would be walking repentantly, moving toward Jesus.

But, there’s a second thing I hope that I would be doing if I knew I had just one year left to live. Jesus talks about that in the second part of our lesson, in a parable--or a story--He tells that same crowd:

A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, "See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?" He replied, "Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down."

The owners of vineyards in Jesus’ home country didn’t waste precious water on young trees. Nor did they have patience for trees that occupied space and didn’t bear fruit. They simply couldn’t afford any sentimental attachments to a barren tree. So, according to the practices of the time and the scarcity of acreage and water, the landowner was right to order that the fruitless tree be cut down.

But then, the unexpected happens: The gardener begs the landowner to give the tree one more year. It’s a gift of life. If the tree doesn’t bear fruit, he’ll cut it down.

You and I are that tree in the vineyard. Every day, God allows us to occupy space. He’s sent His Son and sent His Spirit to help us grow strong in faith, in love, in courage. He gives us spiritual gifts by which we can play our part in His Church and His mission in the world. But often we just take His gifts and then just live lives that look just like that of the spiritually disconnected person who lives next door.

Christ died and rose for you and me to do more than just exist. Even here, in this imperfect world, He’s pumping the life, love, and power of eternity into us. But, I suspect that you wouldn’t know it by looking at the lives of most Christians. A Japanese poet, a Christian, likely describes most Christians when he writes:

I read
In a book
That a man called
Christ
Went about doing good.
It is very disconcerting to me
That I am so easily
Satisfied
With just
Going about.

If I knew that I had just one year left to live, I hope not only that I’d live repentantly, but that I’d also be bearing fruit, displaying evidence that I really was saved from sin and death by Jesus, that I really relished being God’s child.

I’ve told you the story before of an important conversation that Jimmy Carter had with his sister, the evangelist Ruth Carter Stapleton. It happened after Carter lost his first bid at becoming governor of Georgia to a notorious racist. His sister told him that his being governor of Georgia wasn’t as important to God as whether Carter was walking with God. By that time in his life, Jimmy Carter had already spent decades teaching Sunday School and going on mission trips in which he went door-to-door leading people to faith in Jesus Christ.

Talking cold turkey with her brother, Stapleton wondered who Jimmy Carter had done all of that for. Then she asked him, “Jimmy, if it were a crime to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

That question changed Jimmy Carter’s life. What his sister was really asking him was, “Are you leading a repentant life, a life in which you’re walking toward Christ? Are you bearing the fruits of that repentance? Can people see Jesus working in your life even though you’re imperfect like the rest of the human race?”

Those are good questions for all of us to be asking about ourselves, I think.

I hate to tell you that in fact, there are many days when I hang my head in shame over the answers which honesty compels me to give to those questions as I look at my own life.

But thank God, we follow a gracious God Who gives repentant people second chances, opportunities to so open ourselves to Him and His love that we walk confidently in that love and let the whole world see what a great, open-hearted God we follow!

Today, this week, I invite you to offer two simple prayers:

• Ask Jesus to help you walk toward Him.
• And, ask Jesus to let the investment He’s made in you--the investment of His life on a cross--show in something you say, you do, or you think this week.

Don’t put it off.

Pray those two things. Ask God to help you walk toward Christ and to let Christ live in you.

Whether you and I have one year or fifty years left to live, we can’t go wrong if we keep asking God to answer those two prayers each and every day.

[The question, "What would you do if you knew for sure that one year from today, your life would come to an end?," is one brought up in a commentary on this passage from The New Interpreter's Bible.]

Thoughts on National Get Over It Day

Today, if you didn't know, is National Get Over It Day. While apparently being promoted by the bar and hospitality industries as a way of bringing in business on the slow Friday just before March Madness begins, I think that we're such great grudge-holders these days that it's a terrific idea. Our "I'm a victim" culture needs to hear the bracing words: "Get over it!"

Speaking theologically, an interesting New Testament word is aphiemi. As I pointed out at our congregation's Lenten Soup and Salad gathering this past Wednesday night, it literally means I release. But it's used in the New Testament for I forgive!

I've always felt that that word perfectly conveys the two-sides of forgiveness:

• We release those who have done us wrong from the consequences of "their trespasses against us";
• We also are released from the debilitating and grace-blocking burden of holding a grudge.
  

This is exactly why Jesus says, in His explanation of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6, that if we refuse to forgive others, God will not forgive us. The person who refuses to forgive erects a fortress around his or her soul through which God's grace won't penetrate.

And we find it hard to have loving relationships with others when we refuse to get over it, too. People who won't forgive make themselves miserable in prisons that they accuse others of making, their own custom-made hells.

In a cyber-dialog I had with the author Richard Lawrence Cohen last year, I mentioned the song by Larry Norman, Weight of the World. [This song has been covered by such diverse artists as Lost and Found and Ringo Starr.] In the bridge, these lines appear:

It all comes down to who we crucify; We either kiss the future or the past goodbye.

When we refuse to forgive, we may think that we're crucifying others. At least that's the self-righteous buzz we're trying to imbibe as we hold on tightly to our grudges. In fact though, we crucify our futures and our very own souls.

Christ went to a cross so that doesn't have to happen to us!

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul says that our past sins and our sinful selves must be crucified with Christ in order for the new self to rise with Christ. In forgiveness, we put the past in the past and set out to live in reliance on God and His goodness, come what may.

In a sense, it's safer to rely on past hurts and injuries of the past than to step into the future. We know our past hurts (and can catalog them), while the future is a blank screen. But God is always pulling those who surrender to Him to venture into the unknown future. (Christian faith is always more about the future than it is about the past.)

It turns out that the future isn't so unknown, though. I love the part in the New Testament book of Matthew's resurrection account where the risen Jesus instructs Mary to tell Peter and the others to go to Galilee. "There, they will see Me," Jesus says.

This is one of many indicators of how Jesus pulls us from the past--along with all our wallowing and grudge-holding--and into the future where we're with Him.

"I am with you always," He told the disciples just before He ascended into heaven. If he's with me as I venture into a future in which I let go of the past, I don't want, to turn back. I want to keep resolutely pointing toward Him. (At least, some of the time I want to follow Him, imperfect human sinner that I am!)

Got a hang up? Get over it. Let go and let God take care of it. Let go and let God take you into a future.

Prayer for Clermont 20/20 Salute to Leaders Banquet

This evening, I attended Salute to Leaders, an annual event sponsored by Clermont 20/20, an organization in our suburban/rural county that fosters the development of leadership and that recognizes those whose service makes our communities better. There were about 500 people in attendance. It's heartening to note the supportive presence of our elective officials, too.

Two of the leaders recognized this evening are involved with the Boys and Girls Club of Clermont County: Lynn Baird, who works with the high schoolers, received the county wide Civic Award; Deidra Thacker, a nine-year member of the New Richmond club, received the youth leadership award.

I was honored to provide the prayer for the event:

Lord:
You’ve taught us and during this Lenten season we especially remember, that the only true leaders in the world are those who dare to be servants. They put the needs of others ahead of their own agendas. True leaders have learned that to accomplish anything of significance, they must think “we” more than “me.”

This is difficult for us to accept, Lord, and even more difficult for us to live. So, we’re grateful when we find good examples of servant-leaders like those we honor here tonight.

As we salute these Clermont County leaders, Father, help us also to thank them for being living examples of servanthood. And teach us all to be servants.

We thank You for the efforts of those who prepared our meal and those who will serve it and those who readied this room for our gathering tonight.

Thank You for the food that’s set before us. We ask You to use it to strengthen us to be Your servants.

We pray all these things in the Name of the Savior God Who dared to put us first, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

I also led the Pledge of Allegiance last night. But when I scanned the room in which we were meeting, I found that the only flag in the place was an enormous balloon-version on the wall behind the stage. I told the crowd it was a first for me, pledging allegiance to the balloons of the United States of America. (Cindy Jenkins, the always-up CEO of Clermont 20/20 said that there was supposed to be a real flag there, then told us all, "First glitch of the evening!" You gotta appreciate people with Cindy's positive attitude!) So, we said the pledge facing this balloon flag, fifty-five stars and all!

Third Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson: Luke 13:1-9

[The first two passes can be found here and here. The first pass explains what this is all about.]

Verse-by-Verse Comments (Luke 13:1-9, continued)
6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.
(1) In the Old Testament, God's people, Israel, were often portrayed as a fig tree or a vineyard.

(2) As Jesus begins to tell this parable, His listeners would probably have immediately thought of Isaiah 5. There, the prophet tells the tale of Israel as a vineyard that failed to bear fruit, in spite of all the blessings God has bestowed on His people. This is part of Jesus' message here as well. But it's for all whose lives have been touched by His grace and forgiveness.

(3) The traditional definition of a parable, as learned by generations of young people, was "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning." That's true as far as it goes.

I like to look at the original Greek word which is transliterated as parable for understanding just what a parable is. Parabolos is a compound word bringing together the prefix para, meaning along side, and bolo, which means to throw. A parable is a tale that can be read literally, but which has other meanings thrown alongside of it.

7So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’
(1) In land- and rain-scarce Judea, trees weren't watered. If the trees in a vineyard didn't grow from rainfall, a landowner would have been quick to cut them down. Landowners would have had zero patience for an unproductive tree. The reaction of the owner in Jesus' parable would thus have made sense to the crowd He addresses.

8He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
(1) Given the accepted agricultural practices of the day, the gardener's response to his boss' direct order would have been jarring to the crowd with whom Jesus is talking.

(2) What the gardener is really asking for is another year, another chance for this fruitless tree.

(3) We are called as followers of Jesus Christ to bear the fruits of repentance, in other words, to live a life reflecting the presence of Christ in our lives. Paul speaks of the fruits of God's Spirit, evidence of God living in us:

...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:22-26)

Rick Warren has pointed out that while we Christians aren't called to be "successful," we are called to be both faithful and fruitful.

The business of the Church is making disciples, of course. And the mission of every disciple is the same, which is why witnessing is of central importance to every Christian.

(3) Some people ask me, "Since the world is such a mess, why doesn't Christ come back now?" Of course, Jesus warns us against speculating about times or seasons of His return; we're simply to be faithful and fruitful until His return, whenever it might happen.

Peter writes:

Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation...(Second Peter 3:14-15)

Instead of wondering why Christ hasn't returned, we're to regard the passage of time as more opportunity to bear fruit for Christ, including reaching out to others with the Good News of Christ.

(4) As long as we still live, God is pouring His grace and mercy into our lives so that we can bear fruit.

(5) Nonetheless, life in this world will end. Jesus will come back. The question for every Christian then, "How are you going to use this day God has given to you?"

I hope to see you on Sunday at 10:00AM for worship. No Saturday worship this weekend, but we resume on Saturday, March 17, at 5:30PM.

John Reuben's Video for 'Word of Mouth'

Word of Mouth is the title track for John Reuben's latest, great CD. Here's the video:



And here are the lyrics. As always, thoughtful, thought-provoking raps from John:

I can’t hear what you’re saying
Just keep the music playing
It all sounds the same to me

Good God please have mercy
Let’s kick the machine till it’s working
Everybody’s got a great idea
Do you own the one you’re encouraging
There’s a first time for everything
After that it starts to get confusing
Hold onto your identities loosely
At least the revolution will be amusing

Word of mouth
This is what everybody’s talking about
So you can tell somebody to tell somebody
That the next new thing is the same old thing

We came and we quickly left
We took what we could get
I guess we weren’t impressed
We bored ourselves instead
What’s after what’s next
What’s left to get off your chest
Walking in circles retracing steps
How many ways can we package the concept
Mundane it’s all the same
Remind me later when nothing’s changed
Time will tell let the future explain
Until then we’ve got history to make
Trend-setters real go-getters
Closed-minded free-thinking hipsters
Instant classics adored by critics
It’s just music for the kids

Word of mouth
This is what everybody’s talking about
So you can tell somebody to tell somebody that
What’s happening has already happened again

Of course you’ve heard this before
What are you trying to figure out
Too much time on your hands
To analyze what doesn’t count
What’s wrong with everyday people
They make the best crowd
It was never that important
And the future doesn’t care about your

Word of mouth
This is what everybody’s talking about
So you can tell somebody to tell somebody
That what’s happening has already happened again

Word of mouth
This is what everybody’s talking about
So you can tell somebody to tell somebody
That the next new thing is the same old thing

Word of mouth
This is what everybody’s talking about
Familiarity breeds content
Are you content like me?

Jan is Taking an Excellent Adventure

And your life and your faith will be enriched by taking it with her. Read about its latest leg here.

Second Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson: Luke 13:1-9

[The first pass and an explanation of what these "passes" are about can be found here.]

Verse-by-Verse Comments:
1At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
(1) At that very time indicates that these remarks by Jesus continue a discussion He's been having with the crowd introduced at Luke 12:1.

(2) We have several accounts of bloodthirsty actions by the Roman governor Pilate from the ancient Jewish historian, Josephus. While there are no specific accounts of the incident the crowd around Jesus is evidently talking about, such an incident would have been par for the course for Pilate.

2He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?
(1) Jesus' question indicates that the crowd's account of the massacre holds its victims accountable. This, as I mentioned yesterday, exemplifies retributive theology, which is not Biblical/Christian theology. Retributive theology holds that when even tyrants lash out at people or, as in the example Jesus Himself will cite in this passage, the victims themselves have done something wrong and caused God to punish or even kill them.

These notions go back a long way. Job's friends, as I mentioned yesterday, tried to explain the unexplainable, all the bad things that had befallen Job, with retributive justice. Jesus' disciples too, were guilty of this bad theology.

(2) Jesus asks a rhetorical question, asking the crowd to think about what it's saying.

3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.
(1) Events like the massacre the crowd was buzzing about should cause us to contemplate the fragile nature of human life. It should incite us not to condemn others. That reaction is a way of denying reality, pretending that we are in more control than we are, or morally superior when, in fact, we are all human, all vulnerable. Our greatest need isn't to explain things, as Job himself discovered back in Old Testament days. Our greatest need is to repent--turn from sin--and believe in Jesus Christ.

(2) Those who don't repent allow a wall to exist between them and God, between them and God's forgiveness, between them and the life that God gives to the repentant alone.

(3) Brian Stoffregen has a great discussion of the implications of this and Jesus' subsequent statement. Please read what Stoffregen says carefully:

There is some truth to this cause and effect notion. I don't want to completely eliminate our human responsibilities that may cause our own suffering (or the suffering of others). Chain smokers are more likely to suffer from lung diseases. Drunks who drive drunk are more likely to suffer an accident. Our medical science assumes that there are definite causes for illnesses. In our text, Jesus does not deny that those who were killed by Pilate or the tower were innocent victims.

What Jesus discounts is: (1) God caused their deaths because they were sinners; and (2) the fact that they died in such tragedies indicates that they were worse sinners than other Jews.

Everyone needs to repent -- even pious Jews living in the holy city, or Lutherans living in Minnesota -- or even the few in California -- and the need is urgent. The "cause-effect" notion still stands; but now there is a way to avoid the (future) destruction brought about by our sins -- namely, to be repentant.

At the same time, the pain and suffering caused by human sinfulness are not all equal. The drunk who kills a family in a car accident has certainly caused more pain and suffering than the alcoholic who drinks at home; but the tea-totaller [sic] who condemns everyone who drinks is just as sinful as a murderer, even if the results are not as tragic.

4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
(1) While the massacre ordered by Pilate was a humanly-created disaster, the fall of the tower at Siloam was apparently a natural disaster, the kind of thing that happens in a fallen, imperfect world.

(2) The tower of Siloam was constructed near the famous pool of Siloam, a place where Jews thought, healing could happen. (See here.)

(3) The ways we die are insignificant, Jesus says. The fact is that we all will die and usually at a time we don't plan. Repentance is still the essential preparation for death. It won't prevent earthly death, but it will ensure that all who have repented and trusted in Christ will live with God forever.

The greatest tragedy isn't to be victimized by a massacre or the collapse of a building. The greatest tragedy is to die without having given oneself to Jesus Christ.

I hope to complete these verse-by-verse comments tomorrow.