On Lament and Lamentations (pt.2)

Lament has been called a "lost art" and it seems to be a spiritual practice we have largely neglected in modern Western Christianity. For the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the key spiritual truths that the book of Lamentations has to teach us. They are lessons and truths that we might otherwise miss if we try our own shortcuts past suffering.

Last week we worked through how Lamentations shows us that it is ok to complain to God in our misery. Another general theme emerges when we read through the book of Lamentations:

God is a strict judge of unrepentant sinners.

We are given the freedom to complain to God, but make no mistake - Lamentations does not try to excuse the predicament they are in. Lamentations does not deny that they deserved punishment. It accepts this punishment as just: 

“The Lord is righteous,

    yet I rebelled against his command.

Listen, all you peoples;

    look on my suffering.

My young men and young women

    have gone into exile. (1:18)

It still hurts of course. Their reality was still disastrous and no less horrifying.

Lamentations 3:42-48:

“We have sinned and rebelled 

and you have not forgiven.

43 

“You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;

    you have slain without pity.

44 

You have covered yourself with a cloud

    

so that no prayer can get through.

45 

You have made us scum and refuse

    among the nations.

When we work through this book we would do well to remember that God is not a wrathful God at his core. God is not, by nature, one who takes pleasure in punishment. It is something he does when his hand is forced. Something he does, not the core of who he is.

But Lamentations records the aftermath of events at a time when his hand was forced. Over decades and even centuries, Judah was unfaithful to their covenant. Over and over again they refused to follow what God wanted. Instead they pursued other false religions and the false promises of political alliances to try to achieve their own ends.

And finally, God had to strictly judge them. It was fair and deserved, but it was also harsh and painful. 

When we relate to our Creator, we should not conceive of him as a displeased authority just waiting to strike us down at our first misstep. But we also should not imagine him as a cuddly teddy bear Santa Claus who only ever nice. He will judge when rebellion and wickedness call for it. But the one who is Judge is also our hope...and that will be where we camp out next year.

 

King David and the King of Pop: What 1-2 Kings can teach us about God's favor and the flawed people upon whom it rests (Part 2)

Last month, I led a breakout session at our denomination's annual national conference. Below is my presentation that was inspired by the 1-2 Kings commentary I co-authored. I am breaking the entire presentation up into three parts, to give emphasis to each kind of flaw and flawed leader. This is part 2.

Hezekiah is our next example and is one of the few Kings after Solomon who is given an overall positive evaluation by God. In case you aren’t part of the Hezekiah-hive, when he was in his mid-twenties, he leads much-needed spiritual reform in the nation of Judah. He demonstrates faith in God, the Law, and the Covenant.

After Hezekiah had seen God miraculously deliver him from Assyrian invasion and a serious illness, he unwisely welcomed a Babylonian envoy and let them see all of Judah’s resources. It was an arrogant and foolish decision and God calls him out for it (2 Kings 20:12-20).

So, while he's a rare example of godly leadership in Kings, Hezekiah is not above foolish and unforced errors.

His mistakes are ones that we often see repeated in our modern world. Billy Graham had to publicly apologize after Richard Nixon’s secret Watergate tapes became public because Graham was revealed to have had some unflattering and untoward conversations with the President in the Oval Office. This past June SW Baptist Theological Seminary revealed that an internal investigation had found that their recently resigned President, Adam Greenway had improperly spent $1.5 million of the institution’s money on largely personal expenses. What made it even more egregious was that it came during a time of financial cutbacks and shortages for the school in general. Too many Christian leaders take advantage of the unique aspect of American Christianity that allows men of God to afford a lifestyle of affluence.

Different situations involve different factors and judgments of course. But Hezekiah offers slightly different lessons than Solomon. His legacy speaks to how foolishness can tarnish a legacy, but it doesn’t necessarily ruin a leader’s legacy.  Hezekiah’s life is not covered in shame as the narrative unfolds. His flaws are evident, but his overall impact is a positive one. He makes foolish mistakes, but his heart was faithfully devoted to God – and that’s what mattered most in the end. Billy Graham’s reputation endured well through the rest of his life, one would hope that Dr. Greenway would learn the same lessons for himself.

 

King David and the King of Pop: What 1-2 Kings can teach us about God’s favor and the flawed people upon whom it rests. (Part 1)

 

Last week, I led a breakout session at our denomination's annual national conference. Below is my presentation that was inspired by the 1-2 Kings commentary I co-authored. I am breaking the entire presentation up into three parts, to give emphasis to each kind of flaw and flawed leader. 

There’s an old Dave Chappelle comedy sketch where he imagines himself in jury selection for several different high-profile celebrity trials in the 2000’s. One selection Chappelle lampooned involved the trial of Michael Jackson, the so-called King of Pop music. Lawyers question Chappelle’s character about whether, with all the evidence they had, Jackson was guilty of criminal charges. Chappelle’s character incredulously responds, “No man! He made Thriller. Thriller!” (If you are not familiar, Thriller, was Jackson’s chart-topping 1982 album that won a record eight Grammy awards stood at #3 on Billboard’s all-time album chart in 2015.)

While everything about the actual subject matter was serious, Chappelle was playing for comedic effect how so many people will excuse serious wrong-doing in favor of something they love, be it great music or achievements or power. It’s probably been fifteen to twenty years at least since I first saw the skit, and I remember it was one of the first times being confronted with the tension of separating an artist from their art. The question being, can you support one apart from the other?

 For a while, the tension about how to handle a flawed person and the great entertainment they produced – remained a pop culture issue. But in recent years, it has spilled over into Christian spaces. Over and over again, Christians have had to wrestle with fallen leaders and abusive church structures making headlines. Two years ago, one of the biggest podcasts in the world was The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, which had the stated purpose of trying to figure out how we reconcile God’s transformative life-changing work that happens as toxic leaders are overseeing the ministry.

Whether it is Michael Jackson or Mark Driscoll, we can no longer ignore this kind of dissonance. How are we to respond when abounding success grows from patently depraved soil? Theologically, how do we wrap our minds around these instances where God seems to bless such corrupt individuals? How should we process the disappointment when one of our spiritual heroes is exposed as a fraud?

Well, the good news is that we are not actually experiencing a new theological conundrum. Scripture does speak to these kinds of situations. In particular, I want us to consider 1–2 Kings and what it can teach us about God’s favor resting on flagrantly flawed people. I can’t promise to give you a bunch of ironclad, foolproof solutions. But there is some helpful guidance, which is what this presentation will try to unpack.

I want us to look at three - technically four - kings featured in 1–2 Kings which exemplify different kinds of heroic leaders who get exposed for flaws and failures. And as we study these leaders, I think we can draw out some important lessons for ourselves, our churches, and the leaders we follow.

Let’s start with:

David/Solomon

David and Solomon are the central figures in the beginning of Kings, as the first chapters describe how David hands over his crown to Solomon.

David might be the ultimate example of a spiritual hero who egregiously fell when he sexually assaulted Bathsheba. But it is his action and involvement in the first chapters of 1 Kings that I want to focus on.

1 Kings begins with Queen Bathsheba securing David’s approval of Solomon as his successor. And as David grows weaker and nears death, he passes on some kingly wisdom to his son.

This advice starts out admirably, with David saying,

“So be strong, act like a man, ³ and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses.” (1 Kings 2:2b-3)

That's all good, right?

Well, as the chapter continues, he gives Solomon a list of people to favor and people to judge, including some with whom he had promised not to harm. As the co-author of my commentary states, “David preaches fidelity to the covenant at the same time he encourages questionable actions aimed at silencing some of his enemies.”

David’s advice takes a divided tone, and one can see some foreshadowing in how Solomon’s heart will later become divided.

Now in many ways, Solomon exceeds his father’s positive royal legacy in the beginning of his reign. He expands the kingdom and ushers in a time of national peace. Where David drew up plans for a temple to the Lord, Solomon actually built it. David governed well; Solomon was granted divine wisdom to rule.

The fact is, both Solomon embodied the ideal godly King at times in his life. Yet both failed to live up to that ideal by disobeying God’s Law. Thus, David’s exhortation to “keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations as written in the Law of Moses” (1 Kings 2:2-3) carries greater weight in this narrative.

 In Solomon’s case, his failure is directly related to the first of the commandments. Of course, he’s notorious for amassing chariots and horses, hoarding wealth, and taking 1,000 wives and concubines. But those are simply out-workings that stem from the fact that “his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God” as 11:4 concludes. Polygamy wasn’t Solomon’s biggest failure, a divided heart was.

Solomon stands as an example for our day. Our Christian culture gets obsessed with platforming and enthroning popular preachers and authors. Christians conferences market their lineups of ministry experts based on book sales and name recognition. Solomon legacy reminds us that we shouldn’t make idols out of anybody. Even the best authors and wisest theologians are capable of serious sin.

 Beyond being capable of sin, the last few years have revealed how many are actually guilty of serious sin. Ravi Zacharias, Bill Hybels, James MacDonald, Matt Chandler, Bryan Houston, Carl Lentz, John MacArthur have all been exposed in recent years for a variety of misdeeds. I’m not equating all of them and their situations necessarily. It just serves the point: don’t make idols out of anybody, no matter how good of a speaker, writer, or thinker they happen to be.

Music Monday

At the conclusion of a service I was participating in - but hadn't planned out, the worship team played this week's Music Monday selection.

It is a classic hymn that didn't just speak to me personally, but also professionally. 

The particular reasons as to why aren't important, but don't the simplest Gospel truths make the most profound impacts on our hearts. Praise God for the grace that is greater than your, than mine, than all our sin.

Music Mondays

Our current sermon series is a study on the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. Yesterday we looked at Hosea. 

Hosea was a prophet of God called to marry a woman who God promised would break their marriage vows and cheat on Hosea. God asked Hosea to do this because it signified Israel's spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness towards their Lord. 

And as the story unfolds, once his wife has left him, Hosea goes and takes her back. Why would he do such a thing? Because it is a picture of how God loves Israel so much that He will redeem them. 

The entire book is an astounding object lesson about the love of God and our awful sinfulness. 

I became enthralled by the book and its story in high school when I heard the song "Gomer's Theme" by Third Day (Gomer being Hosea's wife). It is off of Third Day's second album and powerfully summarizes the book of Hosea while speaking to our own condition and predilection to go astray.