Over the past few weeks, we have been taking a look at how Jeremiah responded to Judah’s suffering at the time of the Babylonian exile, with the goal of learning lessons on how the believer can respond to suffering righteously. We’ve seen that Jeremiah weeps with those who weep, that he acknowledges the role of sin in suffering, that he trusts in God’s absolute sovereignty, and yet never finds fault with God but recognizes the proper enemy. Today we come to the final, and perhaps the most important, lesson that Jeremiah teaches us on suffering well. In the midst of his intense suffering and deep anguish, Jeremiah does not mourn as one who has no hope (1Th 4:13). Rather, he sets his hope entirely on, and rests in, the character of God. He hopes in the restoration of God’s people according to His character and His covenant.
Learning to Suffer Well: Hoping in God’s Character
Dollars and Sense
Money can’t buy happiness.
That simple fact has been clearly demonstrated time after time. Remember King Solomon? He had more money than he could possibly spend, but by the end of his life, he came to realize it was all vanity. In Ecclesiastes 5:10, he said, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.”
Other wealthy men throughout history have agreed with Solomon’s conclusion. It was Andrew Carnegie who reportedly said, “Millionaires seldom smile. Millionaires who laugh are rare. My experience is that wealth is apt to take the smiles away.” William Vanderbilt’s comment was this: “The care of 200 million dollars is too great a load for any brain or back to bear. It is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it.” And Henry Ford concluded, “I was happier when doing a mechanic’s job.” Continue Reading…
Slavery, gay marriage, and hypocrisy in the black church
In the aftermath of President Obama’s announcement that he supports redefining marriage to include same-sex couples, many news outlets featured stories that compared the desire of gay couples for marriage to the plight of the American slaves. In fact, it became a common theme that black churches who opposed gay marriage were guilty of cultural and biblical hypocrisy.
Many of these articles even expressly stated that the use of the Bible to limit marriage to heterosexual unions is tantamount to supporting the kidnapping, sale, and perpetual ownership of Africans as slaves. After all, some slave owners used the Bible to defend the institution of slavery, and some Americans are using the Bible to define marriage, so the similarities should be obvious.
Here is an excerpt from one example, titled “Is the black church guilty of spiritual hypocrisy in same-sex marriage debate?” from CNN’s religion blog:
Sanctified by Courageous
Courageous, released last year and on Netflix a few months ago, is the best of the movies produced by Sherwood Baptist Church. It tells the story of four police officers (and one day-laborer) who become friends, then have their friendship tested by death, temptation, and sin.
As far as movies go, I actually enjoyed watching it. The action scenes were compelling but not over-the-top, and to my untrained eye the acting was convincing. Obviously, the movie did have its weaknesses. The way it dealt with issues of race was frustrating (eg. in the middle of an ethical dilemma that had the potential to ruin their family, a Hispanic wife tells her husband “Have another tortilla,” as if that would make everything better). It was a few scenes too long, and had all the subtlety of a cage fight. Characters were either good or bad, angels or demons; shades of grey were not in the script’s palate.
But that was sort of the point. The theme of the movie is that there really are no ethical nuances. Lying, stealing, dealing drugs, and refusing to dance with your daughter or jog with your son are all sinful, and (in the movie) equally so.
Are you Wiser than a Miser? 6 Principles of Giving
In 1864 a young lady named Hetty Green received a bequeathal of $7.5 million and subsequently the unflattering sobriquet “The Witch of Wall Street.” Not only would Hetty mysteriously fly over the penurious years following the Civil War, but she even managed to magically swell her fortune and gain notoriety as the first woman to make a splash in the masculine shark tank of the New York Stock Exchange.
Her magic formula was a simple brew of conservative stocks, Civil War bonds, a barrel of hoarded cash reserves, and a pinch of stinginess. Hetty Green embodied the epitome of frugality; to call her a miser would be, well… generous.
Hetty was so cheap that she eschewed the use of soap for washing her hands, and likewise instructed her laundress to only clean the dirtiest parts of her dress. She wore the same black frock until it was threadbare, drove an ancient carriage, and subsisted mostly on 15c pies. She once spent hours searching her carraige for a stamp worth 2c.
When her son broke his leg Hetty took him to a free clinic for the poor but when they refused admittance she tried (free) home remedies. The boy lost his leg. Hetty herself suffered from a severe hernia, but refused to spend the $150 for her surgery.
Hetty Green died with a Zuckerbergian equivalent net worth of around $200 million (nearly $5 billion today). But she lived like a pauper, and gave nothing away. Ever.
Learning to Suffer Well: Recognizing the Enemy
Having grown up in the densely populated state of New Jersey, I learned to drive in one of the more hostile traffic environments in America. Between the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, and the occasional foray across the George Washington Bridge or the Lincoln Tunnel into some part of New York City—especially Manhattan—I’ve been in my share of close calls and quick decisions. When you add the fact that I now live in Los Angeles and use some of the busiest freeways in the country on a daily basis, it’s rather a miracle that I’m still alive. In fact, there are often times when I consciously thank the Lord while driving that I was spared from this or that potential accident. I certainly know that my passengers have improved their prayer lives while driving with me from time to time.
Because of this absolutely ridiculous…um, vehicular heritage, I often make it a point to observe the different patterns other drivers follow and decisions they make while I’m driving. Sometimes I even think to myself, imagining what I would have done if a driver lost control or decided to change lanes abruptly, or whatever. “If he made a mistake and needed to jump in front of me, could I get out of his way?” Stuff like that.
Now, some people without the NY/NJ/LA driving heritage might think I’m going a little overboard here. And granted, they might be right. But I realize that in certain situations I might have only a fraction of a second to react. I need to be so prepared with a sound way of avoiding an accident that my reactions are just second nature. Because in the moment, I won’t have time to think clearly and dispassionately evaluate my options. The craziness of the moment simply won’t allow it. At least not where I’m driving.
