Stephen
Terry, Director
A Message Worth Sharing
Commentary
for the September 19, 2020 Sabbath School Lesson
"For you have spent
enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do-living in debauchery,
lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are
surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they
heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to
judge the living and the dead." 1 Peter
4:3-5, NIV
One of the most
important rites of passage for a teenager in the United States is being able to
drive a car. The young man or woman who has passed the necessary exams to
obtain a driver's license is no longer dependent upon Dad, Mom, or older
siblings to get around town. The liberating feeling of being able to go alone
to visit friends and to eventually own one's own vehicle is so important, we
are often reluctant to surrender that privilege, even when advanced age, slowed
reflexes, and diminished sight tell us we should. Some learn to drive through
driving schools that teach specifically to be able to pass the driving exam.
Even having someone we do not know in the car is a simulation of having the
driving examiner in the car with us. Others, with parents or other relatives
who are already licensed, may be taught by close family members who will not
only teach driving fundamentals, but may also share tips based on their
knowledge of the new driver's overall skill and temperament as well as safety
information they have learned by experience.
Unfortunately, this
can cause problems if the driving examiner is not aware of that information.
For instance, I taught my son to always lock the doors before putting the car
in motion. When he took his driving exam and the examiner got in the car with
him, she told him to pull out onto the street. Naturally, he locked the door
before moving. She unlocked the door. He locked it again. As a result, she
failed him, and he had to take the exam again later with another examiner. The
second time, he passed without a problem and became another newly licensed
driver.
When I learned to
drive in a driving school offered by my high school, I struggled to get enough
driving time to do well as my father would not allow me to practice with the
family car. As a result, I made many mistakes as I tried to follow the
instructions of the teacher, and at times it may have been scary for him and
the other students in the car. But I had no opportunity to develop the skills
outside of class as the other students had. For instance, what may seem obvious
to those with more experience, I did not know that while driving, I was supposed
to look down the road to keep the car on a straight path. Instead, I was
looking directly in front of the hood. When a driver does that, they must
constantly correct their course with short, jerky movements of the steering
wheel. You can imagine what this meant when driving in four-lane traffic during
rush hour. I was terrified of all the cars moving so fast and so close around
me. The instructor, who had assumed that everyone had already had some
experience with the family car, was concerned about my lack of skill and as
soon as he could, placed another student behind the wheel. Because of my poor
performance and because the school district only funded one course of driver's
education per student, I was unable to get licensed until I was eighteen. Fortunately,
I went into the Army at seventeen. The Army did not require a driver to have a
state driver's license to drive their jeeps, trucks, and armored vehicles
during the Vietnam War era. Consequently, I had lots of driving experience by
the time I turned eighteen and easily passed the state licensing exam.
Sometimes, as
Christians, we become like I was driving. We do not look down the road to
remain on course. Our faith can become an automatic reaction to whatever the
hot issues of the moment are. We know we must stay on course, but we do so by
making quick retorts to the threats we see around us. Fearing that a failure to
respond will cause our spiritual car to crash and hurt ourselves and others as
well as derail our journey, we end up endangering a successful trip more than
helping it. If we are familiar with the Bible, we know well the God of wrathful
justice portrayed in the Old Testament. With knowledge of our own shortcomings
we are uncomfortable with a God who is like that. If his justice did not spare
those who made poor choices in the past, what will he do about our poor choices
now. I doubt any of us could manage to tread water in a deluge for forty days
and nights. Even though God provided a way out with the Ark, few people found
their way into that vessel. There are so many examples like that of God's
justice in the Old Testament that it is unsettling to our modern sensibilities.
We are far more comfortable with the inclusive message of Jesus, where those
who made bad choices were welcomed into his presence. The New Testament
profoundly speaks of the loving character of God. And just like God, we should
all be loving to one another. This has exchanged the God of justice for God the
social warrior. Everything, socially, politically, spiritually becomes a matter
of whether it is based on empathy, compassion, and love for others. So, we try
to emulate that in our lives. We often do not do it well. But when we fail,
there is grace to see us through. For many, this means we can forget about the
punishment of the wicked that is so much a part of the Old Testament. Surely,
Jesus would not do the kinds of ethnic cleansing that occurred back in
less-enlightened times. As a result, we tend not to take seriously issues of
obedience to any of those passé requirements. That is what grace is all about,
right?
But there are hints
that some of that attitude may be based more on presumption than reality. For
instance, Jesus said he did not come to abolish the requirements of the law.[i] Some read this as meaning
that Jesus didn't abolish the law but fulfilled it so that we don't have to and
the law no longer is necessary. But Paul, who was probably the most educated of
the apostles, saw a problem with that view. He believed that without the law,
we cannot see our need of repentance.[ii] Elsewhere, he makes clear
that being under the law shows our need for grace but once we receive grace we
are no longer under that condemnation.[iii] However, so many who have
laid claim to that grace have failed to emulate Christ's character, believing
that because he was obedient, we don't need to be. This is like a person who is
pardoned for a crime and then feels that since they were pardoned once, should
they continue in crime, their pardon is assured no matter what. But this is
where looking further down the road helps us to remain on course. The Apostle
Peter told us we need to look further down the road in his second epistle.[iv] If we look down that road
literally within the Bible, we see in the Book of Revelation that the God of
justice portrayed throughout the Old Testament returns and is the same Jesus we
have presumed upon overlooking our transgressions. When he comes and the blood
of the wicked flows for 300 kilometers at the depth of a horses bridle from the
winepress of his wrath,[v] we may remember that our
being forgiven was not a "get-out-of-jail-free" card.
We, who have been forgiven,
have become debtors to God for that forgiveness and the only way to honor that
debt is to extend similar grace to others. But instead we point to their debts
and demand that the penalties of justice be paid for their sins to the last
farthing. Jesus, the one we cite as loving, compassionate, and always forgiving
has little tolerance for this. The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant[vi] is often overlooked, but it
is Jesus' warning that grace is limited. He, repeated similar warnings
throughout his ministry, even including it in the prayer we refer to as the
Lord's prayer where we ask God to forgive as we forgive.
Somehow, we have
gotten off track. We are too often ready to go to war with one another over
issues never mentioned in the Bible. We eagerly point out the lack of
compassion, empathy, and a sense of justice in the hearts of others and forget
that in doing so, we are partaking of the same poisonous fruit. Evidence can be
found in our demand for retribution over compassion. Like the unmerciful servant,
we want justice, we want it now, and we want it to the last drop. We take too
lightly that the blood of those we so accuse will be on our hands, and that
blood will be required of us in kind should we make the effort to look down the
road and see it. Even more reason that we should be building up stores of mercy
for that day. It may not be as far off as we think.
