How Could I?

You don't have to admit it. I already know. Every Christian faces temptations. You can't stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.

It's that second part that recently interested me. Let's say you are tempted to take a bit of food that doesn't belong to you, because you suddenly realize that nobody would ever know. Ponder which of these two internal reactions is better:

1. "Why should I consider stealing that? God has so richly blessed me that I have plenty of food and to spare."

2. "How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" (cf. Genesis 39:9) 

They may both result in successfully resisting the temptation, but is one better than the other? Why, or why not?

Here's what our catechism says in question 93: "How should we guard against the sin of coveting? We should guard against the sin of coveting by learning from God's Word that, while the earthly things we are tempted to covet will pass away, we by faith in Christ already possess the riches that will never pass away."

And Question 74: "What should be our attitude toward money and goods? We should be content with what we have and remember that God, our Creator, provides us with all we need for this life because of His love for us in Jesus Christ."
Maybe you could add to those questions.

Dorfnarrs in Command

Scan of actual 2008 Zimbabwe monetary note

Christ is Risen! In celebration of that fact, try this little pop quiz, assuming normal conditions:

1. Is it a good idea to spend money you don't have?
2. Is it morally correct to obligate other people to debts that they cannot pay?
3. Is it wise for the leader of a nation to do things that harm the economy of his nation?
4. If you find yourself in debt, with too little income to pay it off, will it help you to borrow more money?

For some time now, politicians in the United States have answered these questions with a "yes." How about you? Do you know what happens if you write a check for more than what's in your bank account? Do you want to avoid that? Yet, it's been happening for quite a few years now, with the only exception being during the boom years of the nineties. I suspect that was an accident caused by a stock market bubble in a time when the US economy was still revved up from the Reagan years, and Cold War expenses had dropped substantially. Overall, the direction our fearless leaders have been taking us is a 4-letter word: debt. School House Rock called it "Tyrannosaurus Debt."

There is one thing that a sovereign nation can do when its debt becomes too big to manage, but only when its currency is a fiat currency. (More than an Italian automaker, fiat is Latin for "Let there be...," as in "Let there be light," or "Let there be a hundred trillion dollars.") A nation can abuse its sovereignty by simply printing the money needed to pay the debt, supposedly creating it out of thin air. The scanned image at the top of this post is a good, recent example of that. If it were a U.S. Treasury note, that one hundred trillion dollar bill would be enough to pay off the whole national debt of the United States, with change left over. It is real money, but not American money. If it were, then put yourself in the shoes of those to whom the United States owes its debt. What would you think of being paid with such new money, hot off the presses? I would think I was being robbed.

As Christians who live in a society led by dorfnarrs who are running the nation into slavery as fast as they possibly can, we have a particular kind of cross. Where do we place our trust? What does that trust look like in our actions?

Since the second Roosevelt, our government has promised its citizens something like this: contribute your part to the Social Security (and Medicare, etc.) program, and the United States will take care of you when you need it. Should Christians trust such a promise? It may seem that we have no choice, because we are required to participate. But no, we are not required to trust; only to participate financially. It's really a tax owed to Caesar, which Caesar will use as he sees fit. Our trust should be in the God who became man to die for our sins and rise again for our justification. Our trust should be in Christ.

Does trust in Christ mean that we don't care what the dorfnarrs in charge may do? Does it mean that we won't prepare for famines, floods, or other such problems? No. We can care. We can prepare. But even so, our trust should remain in Christ rather than our preparations. And our lives should demonstrate God's love for our neighbors, beginning with the household of faith.

It seems Ben Stein, who knows a lot of things, is now also warning us against the current inflation problem. That Zimbabwe note is an extreme example of it. Let's hope hyperinflation doesn't come here too, though given the nature of politicians, we should count on it. Meanwhile, trust in Christ, care for your neighbor, pray for those dorfnarrs, and prepare. It's just another cross.

Injury

There's a lot of work to be done. I've got plans for the house and property that extend well past next year, with some definite "make-it-or-break-it" goals for this Summer and Fall. A lot of this work is physical stuff: digging, carrying, shoveling. A lot of concrete, some carpentry, and of course, gardening.

But now, the Lord has reminded me that it all depends upon Him. My strength and my health are not really my own. A week and a day ago, I experienced what is probably a cracked rib. Ouch. At this moment, it doesn't hurt, and any pain medications should have worn off. That's good. But last night I was fetching a box from the basement by balancing it together with another one on the same shelf. They tried to fall outward (part of the plan), and I caught one in each arm (also part of the plan), but they were heavier than expected, and it was like cracking that rib all over again (not part of the plan). I couldn't even lie down until long afterward. Boy, does that hurt.

People are injured all the time. I've got some epidermal slices from just this morning! But like most injuries I've had, they will probably heal completely in just a few days. The rib will not. So my well-laid plans and deadlines for this summer are thrown completely upon the mercy of God. That's exactly where they should always be.

God can use our state of health or injury for our good, and He does. Jesus wants us to trust Him above all things, including our own strength. Especially our own strength, even in matters temporal.

In matters eternal, it may (or may not) be easier to realize that everything depends upon God and His gracious work. No matter how hard I try, I can't live a perfect day. I can't even live a perfect hour. I can't even pray properly, without being distracted or rambling or forgetting what should not be forgotten. So in spiritual matters, I find it easier to remember that I need God's help. (But do I usually live as though I need more than God's help? Do I usually realize my total dependency on God? I should.) I thank God that He has redeemed me from my guilt through Jesus' death, and has clothed me in Jesus' righteousness through Baptism, and feeds me with the remission of sins when I receive Jesus' body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.

Jesus endured physical pain, using it to rescue me from death. Now, He uses my own physical pain to make me mindful of His Word and to keep my priorities in line with reality.

Thanks be to God for His holy cross, and for mine.

Crosses

The cross of Jesus is both terrible to contemplate, and the source of my salvation.

It was His suffering and death upon His cross that I deserve for every last one of my sins against the will of God. Public or private, large or small: those distinctions don't matter. Each transgression is sufficiently evil to require death.

A cross is a simple thing, but like a gas chamber, an electric chair, a gibbet or headsman's axe, the meaning behind it is death. In fact, those other things are meant to minimize suffering in one way or another, but a cross is meant to extend and magnify it. As a symbol of suffering and an instrument of pain, a cross is worse than most alternatives.

The Son of God gave His life on a cross because He wanted to obey His Father and redeem me from the guilt of my sins. That's what it took. That's what He did. When I contemplate the horror of the cross, I naturally think, "Lord, have mercy!" When I contemplate the use and meaning of the cross, I see His mercy in action. He did not spare His Son, so that He might spare me. Jesus' cross was the price for my life, for my forgiveness.

Since I have been given a new life through Jesus' death, my life has been shaped according to the cross. Each day is an opportunity to live in thankful joy for the grace of my Lord Jesus, my Redeemer. Yet within me are still the old tendencies to sin, the old evil addictions of the flesh, the old rebellion against God's will. So I, too, have a cross to bear. I must crucify my sinful flesh, an agonizing experience. I must put it to death through repentance, through confession, through utter reliance upon the power and grace of God that I find in His promises to me.

My cross is horrible. It may not be as terrible as Jesus' cross, but it's still awful. Yet it is also precious to me, because through its destructive power, I am constantly reminded of my need for the cross of Jesus. I am brought ever more to lean upon His strength, as I recognize the weakness in myself.

This blog will be a place to contemplate the many manifestations of the cross in a Christian's life, to put them in a salutary perspective, and to appreciate them as gifts of grace. I may invite others to participate by writing posts. We'll see where we go from here.