Righting Wright

We’ve heard the pundits. The politicians. And Joe six-pack. Now a young pastor takes a look at what can be learned from the Jeremiah Wright controversy.

The City of Man

St. Augustine didn’t have all that many bullets in his gun when he wrote The City Of God. Everyone was pointing fingers at the Christians, blaming them for the fall of Rome. But one thing was clear to this African bishop: when the Visagoths sacked Rome, that blood-thristy army spared all those who took refuge in the Christian cathedrals. This, Augustine argued, was unprecedented in ancient warfare. This was evidence that even when the wrath of God is on display, His power is also shown in His goodness. Christianity wasn’t the enemy. But things in Kenya look bleaker. Hundreds have died over the past few days–– fifty of which were torched to death as they sought refuge in a Pentecostal church. This violent mob gave them no quarter and burnt the church––women and children included–– to the ground. It appears that in the aftermath of rigged elections, it is not so much the wrath of the Almighty we are witnessing, but the wrath of man. And here, it isn’t some invading horde that is sacking the cities, but the residents themselves. Like Pogo said, we have seen the enemy and it is us. For one thing remains true. As inscrutable as the City of God may seem, the city of man has always been the harder to figure.

Thou shalt not investigate

Republican Senator Charles Grassley is on a mission from God. He is currently heading up a Senate investigation into the financial practices of the tax-exempt ministries of televangelists Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Credfo Dollar and Joyce Meyers. But apparently—with the exception of Joyce Meyers Ministries which has complied with the government’s request—these Word of Faith organizations are pleading the fifth. Or, at least, dragging their feet and refusing to meet the sub-commitee’s six-month deadline. Which I for one find a little odd. After all, when these colorful clergymen aren’t flinging folks backwards on center stage, aren’t they faithfully proclaiming their compelling gospel of prosperity? Jesus died so we could wear a Rolex. God wants to give you a Mercedes—an evangel first proclaimed by Janice Joplin, if I’m not mistaken. So if these ministries are indeed getting filthy, stinking rich through proclaiming this salutary message of rags-to-riches blessings, wouldn’t they want the world to know? You know, give their god of Greed the glory. Send the Almighty a shout out. Right? Or is it possible that they fear that the uninitiated would not see the heavenly splendor in preachers living high on the hog while folks on fixed incomes foot the bill? Or is it that they fear that they could lose their tax-exempt status when the world sees that these so-called ministries are in no sense non-profit? Well, for the time being, Senator Grassley is going to have to be patient. Darkness has never been easily penetrated.

Thanksgiving 2007

A murder/suicide, the loss of a child, the loss of a parent, jail time, families torn apart, divorce, custody suits, chronic illnesses, lymphoma, depression, financial loss­­––More pain than we can say grace over in a month of Thanksgiving Thursdays. To some, our extended family’s growing list of sorrow sounds more like a proof text for atheism than an enumeration of God’s mysterious blessings.

 

The problem isn’t that the atheists have gotten it right or that God has somehow dropped the ball. The problem is we have all been sold a bill of goods. We have had the Majestic broad-shouldered, Covenant God of the Bible so soft peddled to us that we have come to believe that He is nothing more than some sort of sentimental, weak-kneed, jolly old deity that only wants us to be healthy, wealthy and happy. The god of good times. The god of least resistance.

 

But no matter how much we try to prop up that flabby, false and ultimately disappointing deity, the true God speaks from His Word and calls us to pull down our altar to this idol made with hands­––This false god of smooth roads, upbeat outcomes and personal happiness. So this Thanksgiving let us fall on our faces before the Almighty God of the Scriptures. The one who was made flesh and dwelt among us. Who endured sorrow, bore up under our illnesses, our pain, our sins and our prickly crosses.

 

For the true and living and incarnate God is nothing like this wobbly idol that we’ve cozied up to in our vain affections. No, He is something far bigger. Something much greater. For the True, Incarnate and Almighty God never has spared his people from pain and hardship. Never ever. Jesus never promised to help us avoid life’s storms but to be with us in the midst of them. Jesus never promised Mary and Martha that their brother would not die, but He did promise that He himself was their resurrection and their life. He never promised us that we would not hunger. But He did promise us to be the Bread of Life. This God never promised to keep his people out of the fiery furnace but rather to show up when the flames burned their hottest.

 

The Covenant God of Israel let his people be sold into slavery. Why? That He might demonstrate His glory as He lead them out. Then what does He turn around and do? He stands them between an impassable Red Sea and the relentless chariots of a blood-thirsty militia only so He might masterfully remove both of these obstacles in one fell swoop.

 

No. The biblical God, the Redeeming God, the Merciful God, the Incarnate God never said that he would save us from the storm. But He did promise to be with us through the storm. These are the covenant promises to us this Thanksgiving holiday: “I will never leave nor forsake you.” “Lo, I am withyou always.” “Let not your hearts be afraid. Believe in God. Believe in Me.”

 

And in this…in all things…we will give thanks.