Exalting Marriage

 Young families embody the hope and dreams of our future.  Few scenes move me as much as young couples strolling through the neighborhood pushing a stroller; fathers splashing in the pool with their children while young mothers lounge in poolside chairs; children laughing in the park flying kites with their fathers, giggling on playgrounds with their mothers.

 It is this special bond that God’s seventh commandment seeks to nourish and protect: “You shall not commit adultery.”   Sex, in all of its beauty and pleasure, was given to men and women to celebrate the mystery by which human life is conceived, cradled and nurtured. According to Merriam-Webster, the strict definition of adultery is “voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than that person's spouse.”

 This year my wife and I celebrate our 58^th anniversary along with our friends who “pledged their troth” about the same time in 1968.  Marriage is worth holding on to, worth working through the difficulties, worth the investment.  The seventh commandment provides the foundation for trust and a love that lasts. It is the foundation of the family where children are born and nurtured.

 Somewhere along the way sex became recreational.  I guess this happened around the time birth control was introduced.  It revolutionized sex in the 1960s: free sex with whomever without the consequences of conception. 

 We are witnessing the consequences of the cavalier attitudes spawned over the last half-century. Women are speaking up.  Sexual misconduct and harassment is widespread. Matt Lauer, Bill Cosby and other household names that once commanded respect are gone leaving behind a trail of disgrace and embarrassment. Fallout from the Epstein files continue to dominate the news.

 But things “they are a changing.”  Gen Z, in particular, those born between 1997 and 2012 are having far less sex than their predecessors.  According to recent research by the Barna group, not only is Gen Z less likely to have sex or to drink alcohol, they are one of the most spiritually open and curious generations and they are attending church more often than older generations.

 As with other commandments, Jesus raised the bar.  “You have heard that it has been said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ but I say to you, he who looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27). That first look of lust takes root and bears its poisonous fruit.

 I like what Jeff Christopherson wrote in his book, Kingdom First, “The husband who faithfully and sacrificially loves his wife over a lifetime not only receives the personal blessing of a joyous marriage, but further, the Kingdom ripples of that union emanate through generations.  … Children, grandchildren, colleagues, friends, and neighbors are all secondary recipients of the grace experienced in a godly marriage.”

6th Commandment: The Value of A Life

 It didn’t take long to record the first murder in human history. The Bible’s first death was a homicide.  Cain, enraged with resentment, jealousy and anger attacked his brother and killed him.  Since that moment much of human history has been written in blood. 

 We are all too familiar with headline news for mass shootings, terrorist attacks and violent conflict around the world. The recent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti have sent tremors through the political landscape.  Murders occur in every city in every region.  Globally more than one person dies every minute of every day as the result of violence. 

 Most of us abhor murder. On the other hand, most of us accept the necessity of killing in warfare.  We spend billions of dollars every year to make sure our young men and women are equipped and trained to kill on the battlefield.

 But, there are exceptions.

 Desmond Doss, who served in World War II,   was committed to honor the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” He refused to carry a firearm or weapon of any kind into combat.  Instead, he served as an unarmed Medic.  Doss was twice awarded the Bronze Star for exceptional valor under fire in Guam and the Philippines.  At Okinawa he served on Hacksaw Ridge, a particularly vicious battle in which he personally saved the lives of 75 wounded GIs. He was wounded four times and survived with seventeen pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body. He became the first pacifist to be awarded the Medal of Honor.  His story has been captured in several books and a documentary, The Conscientious Objector, along with the movie, Hacksaw Ridge.

 Hacksaw Ridge was released on November 4, 2016.  It went on to receive six Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor.  It also received Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor and was chosen as one of the ten best movies of the year by the American Film Institute.

 Jesus took the sixth commandment to a new level.  He said, ““You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22).

 Jesus dug beneath the surface and unearthed the significance of the sixth commandment.  It is all about how we see another human being.  Every person is valuable. Every person deserves respect. Regardless of culture, gender, age or race, every human life is to be treasured.

 Jesus was consistent in living out what he taught.  He embraced the outcast and the poor. Every person he met was precious in his sight.  When He was crucified he prayed that God would forgive those who nailed him to the cross and promised paradise to the dying thief.  To obey the sixth commandment, we must do more than refrain from inflicting harm on our enemy, we must treat every person as a precious creation of God. 

A First Step to Health and Wholeness

As Maxim Naumov waited for the results of his figure-skating performance at the Winter Olympics, he held up a photo of himself at age 8 standing between his mother and father.  His parents were 1994 world champion pairs skaters.  They died last year in the Potomac River crash, passengers on the ill-fated American Eagle flight 5342.  Maxim stated, "I would not be sitting here without the unimaginable work, effort and love from my parents.”

 Jordan Stolz won his second gold medal with an Olympic record in the 500-meter speed skating event. His parents, Dirk and Jane, introduced Jordan to skating at age 5 on a frozen pond near their house in  Kewaskum, WI. He credits his parents, who are born again Christians, for instilling him with discipline and faith.

 Athletes in every sport give credit to their parents. Regardless of nationality or ethnicity; regardless of whether we are rich or poor, most of us have this urge to keep the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother.” It is, as the Apostle Paul reminded us, the first commandment with a promise: “that your days may be long upon the earth.”

 My father died of multiple myeloma when he was 53.  I held his hand as he drew his last breath. He never held an office. Never taught a class. He operated the elevator at our church, ran the sound system and served as a deacon.  More than 800 attended his funeral.

 I never heard him speak one word of profanity. He loved our mother and he loved us.  He was always full of laughter. I saw him choose to be wronged rather than risk wronging others.  The night before he died, he sent a get well card to a friend who was on another floor of the hospital. 

 My mother likewise loved God and sought to serve others. She lived as a widow after my father’s death for 35 years.  She chaperoned special-needs kids on the bus and sat with them at church. She volunteered at the local hospital. The day before she died my children gathered around her bed.  We prayed together and she blessed them.

 Of course, not all fathers and mothers are good.  The relationship between parent and child can be the source of life’s greatest joy as well as its greatest pain. Some live their lives haunted by resentment and anger toward their parents. 

 We somehow sense, as witnessed by our obsession with the parent-child relationship in books and movies, that this relationship is essential to health and wholeness. We hear it in King Lear’s complaint, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth is a thankless child!”  We find it in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Luke Skywalker’s discovery that Darth Vador is his father, or Ray Kinsella building a baseball diamond in his Iowa corn field to “ease his pain.”    All of these stories, and thousands more, reflect our urge to be reconciled to those who gave us birth. 

 Health and wholeness for each of us starts with the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and mother.” Regardless of past hurts, oversights or failures, regardless of our parents’ response, we are to honor mother and father. 

Rest for the Weary - The Fourth Commandment

 Somewhere along the way we reduced the ten commandments to nine. A half-century ago, businesses were closed on Sunday and sporting events recognized Sunday as a day for worship. All that has changed. Today our calendars are filled up to a 24/7 frenzy. We effectively eliminated the fourth commandment as irrelevant and archaic: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”

 A report from the American Psychological Association stated, “Chronic stress is increasingly eating away at our overall well-being.” … “The psychological and physical toll of stress in America will undoubtedly continue to snowball if something doesn't change.”

 In his book, Living the Sabbath, Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight, Norman Wirzba writes, “Put simply, Sabbath discipline introduces us to God’s own ways of joy and delight. … When our work and our play, our exertion and our rest flow seamlessly from this deep desire to give thanks to God, the totality of our living --- cooking, eating, cleaning, preaching, parenting, building, repairing, healing, creating --- becomes one sustained and ever-expanding act of worship.”

When Jesus said that man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man, he affirmed the need for the Sabbath in our lives. He underscored the importance of the Sabbath to all of us for mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health. 

In 1924 Scotland’s Eric Liddell, the fastest runner in the world, refused to compete at the Olympics on the Lord’s Day.  When the King of England commanded him to run for his country on Sunday, Liddell respectfully replied he had a higher king.  The Academy Award winning movie, Chariots of Fire portrays Liddell reading Isaiah 40:31 to a congregation on Sunday while young men stumble and fall on the mud-splattered track. “Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not faint.”  The next week, Liddell ran the 400 meter, a race for which he had not trained, won the gold and set a new world record.

Sabbath requires time for rest, silence, solitude and worship, but it is more than a day of rest. It is a way of life that is filled with wonder, worship, awe and delight. When Jesus declared himself the Lord of the Sabbath, he offered to us a better way. He said, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest to your souls.”

Tinsley's Civil War Novel, Bold Springs, is free Feb. 10-13 as an eBook on Amazon. Chosen Best Christian Historical Fiction by Reader's Favorite, 2022. 

Regarding the Refugee

 We have always thought of ourselves as a nation of courage and hope.  Few statements reflect our identity better than the quote affixed to the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.”  There is something sacred about Ellis Island, the entry point for so many who came in response to the beacon of life and liberty.  Most of us are descendants of those who came.

 I served the churches of Minnesota and Wisconsin for eight years, 1993-2001.  I watched the people of Minnesota open their arms and their homes to refugees from around the world. I came to love them for their courage, courtesy, kindness and tenacity.

 Facing severe persecution in the civil wars that swept across Liberia, thousands fled to the United States. A few years ago I attended the building dedication for Ebenezer Liberian Church in Brooklyn Park, MN.  More than a thousand people showed up.  They filled the auditorium and spilled over into corridors and classrooms.  I was inspired by their hymns, songs and testimonies to God’s goodness and grace.

 In Minnesota I met Hmong Christian leaders.  The Hmong were Animists from the hill country of Laos and close allies to the U.S. during the Vietnam War.  Following the fall of Vietnam, they fled brutal persecution and sought refuge in America.  More than ¼ million now live in the U.S. Many have embraced Christ. There are now more than 140 Hmong Christian churches in the United States, most in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California.  Their children are attending college and moving into professional ranks.

 Five decades ago I visited Vietnamese refugee camps in central Texas.  Most were “boat people” who fled persecution and poverty after the fall of South Vietnam. We picked them up with buses and brought them to our church, even though most spoke little English. A few members in our church resented their presence, but most reached out with the compassion of Christ. Today more than 1.5 million Vietnamese call America home. The largest Christian Vietnamese church has over 4,000 members and the number of Vietnamese Christians is growing.

 When Jesus introduced himself to the synagogue in his hometown at Nazareth, he infuriated the crowd by stating that God loved the Syrians. He reminded them that Elisha healed a Syrian leper when there were many lepers in Israel. They were so enraged they tried to throw Jesus off a high cliff.  (Luke 4:16-30).

 We are always afraid and suspicious of people who are different than we are. But “perfect love casts out fear.”  Isaiah says, “Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.  Let the fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer. The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.”  (Isaiah 16:3-4).

What's In A Name?

 Shakespeare’s Juliet posed the question:  “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”. Maybe so.  But we have to wonder how Marilyn Monroe would have fared as Norma Jeane Baker, Bob Dylan as Bob Zimmerman, Elton John as Reginald Dwight, Lady Gaga as Stephani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, or Adolph Hitler as Adolph Schnicklgruber.  Names can make a difference.

 Names are important to us.  When we someone calls our name we turn, look and listen. They have our attention. Nothing compels like the sound of our name. When we give someone our name, we open the door.  We invite them into relationship.

 When God commissioned Moses to deliver his people from Egypt, Moses asked, “Whom shall I say has sent me?”  God responded, “Tell them, I AM THAT I AM has sent you.”  The Israelites captured this name with the Hebrew letters YHWH.  The name was too holy to be spoken.  When they came to God’s name in Scripture, they inserted the word, “Adonai” meaning “Lord.”

 The third of the Ten Commandments recognizes that God has entrusted to us something special, something precious. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) He has invited us into relationship with Him.  He has given us His name.  We must not take this for granted. For this reason, Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name." David sang, “Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, O Lord, and I will sing praises to your name.”  (Psalm 18:49).

 Isaiah looked forward to a new name God would give us.  He wrote, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will ^[rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6).

 Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled when the angel announced the Messiah’s birth to Mary and Joseph and instructed them, “You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.”    God has chosen to redeem and transform us through that “name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).

 This is an awesome thing.  The God of the universe, who created the expanse of the galaxies, who designed the sub-atomic particles, who gave breath and life to every creature, God, who made us in His own image, has given us His name that we might know Him, honor Him and adore Him.

 How then could we possibly use His name as an expression of amazement, consternation or anger? These verbal expressions reflect a deeper underlying flaw,  at best an ignorance of God’s presence or arrogance in our self-confidence. At worst, a contempt for the Creator and Saviour who gave us life and loves us.  How can we possibly live without thought of the greatness, goodness and grace contained in His Name?

Surviving the Image Culture

 Images bombard us constantly on smart phones, tablets, TVs and laptops.  Images influence our thinking and our actions.  According to Time Magazine, an app to generate AI imaging for social media was the most downloaded app in Apple’s App store during its first week. An article by Andrew Chow in Time Magazine stated, “What was supposed to be a revolutionary medium for maintaining friendships and relationships has now become a fake content generation machine—where it’s impossible to tell what’s real and what’s not.”[i]  We have become addicted to images in the image culture.

 God wants to free us from the image-makers who seek to control our minds and distort our values. The second of the Ten Commandments states, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them,” (Exodus 20:4-5).

 Images for idol worship have always been about manipulation, attempts to manipulate gods to control our circumstances and to control others around us.  Our current image culture is no different.  We create images to control our destinies and to control others.  But God will not be manipulated.  He will not be used for our personal advancement or the control of other people. 

 The image culture invades our churches when we assume that worship requires the assistance of sound systems, amplifiers, video screens, special lighting and special effects, when we create our own Christian pop-culture complete with celebrities. We ought to be reminded that in Jesus’ day authentic worship took place on hillsides, seashores, and in houses where two or three were gathered together in His Name.

 The author of creation made us in His own image. When we know Him we are truly free to know ourselves and others as we truly are, created in His image with unlimited potential for love and good works. For this reason, God sent His Son, so that we might know the only image that can set us free. “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15). 

 This is the definition of sin: attempting to live life on our own terms in our own image and becoming addicted to our man-made idols.  N.T, Wright put it this way, “Since sin, the consequence of idolatry, is what keeps humans in thrall to the non-gods of the world, dealing with sin has a more profound effect than simply releasing humans to go to heaven. It releases humans from the grip of the idols, so they can worship the living God and be renewed according to his image.”

 When we believe in Jesus and place our trust in Him, we are empowered to become like Him.  We are set free from the image makers that lead down paths of addiction and depression.  “Those whom He foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” (Romans 8:29).