HITCHED!

A venerable “dawg” got married yesterday. Ashish, aka Canis conditor—the founding “dawg.” (For more on the erstwhile “Dawgs” at the University of Aberdeen, see here and here.) To add my humble barks to that canine’s celebration, I, Canis medicus, made a day trip to San Antonio.

In the guest book, as I scratched in my name, I noticed a column for “comments.” I couldn’t resist. My sage remark was, I confess, a plagiarism.

“It is not good,” I wrote, “for the man to be alone.”

Persnickety scholars of Scripture will immediately point long and bony fingers at my theft; the Lord, Himself, uttered those words long ago as He went about creating humankind.

"It is not good
for the man to be alone;
I will make him a helper
suitable for him."
Genesis 2:18

Why, then (they invariably ask me), did you decide to remain alone?

Because (I invariably answer them) I was born single!

But ...

By all means marry.
If you get a good wife,
you'll be happy.
If you get a bad one,
you'll become a philosopher.
Socrates

Seriously …

Mine is not vocational singleness (for professional reasons), ideological singleness (for philosophical reasons), biological singleness (for physiological reasons), provisional singleness (for practical reasons, single until …), etc. It is ecclesiological singleness—by choice, for life, unto Christ, in community.

Does that sound too extreme? It wouldn’t have, to Paul … or Jesus, for that matter! Or to Jeremiah, John the Baptizer, Augustine, Aquinas, or Francis of Assissi; or to Handel, Isaac Watts, Amy Carmichael, or John Stott. All singles. And I am proud to be a midget in the company of these giants—a single.

This is not a screed on marriage! Not at all! According to Paul, either state is a gift:

… each person has
his own gift from God
one in this manner
[to be single],
and another in that
[to be married].
1 Corinthians 7:7

They are both valid and valuable platforms for fruitful ministry unto God. The question is: What is your gift?

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7, does highlight the advantages of lifelong singleness for ministry.

But I want you to be
free from concern.
One who is unmarried
is concerned about
the things of the Lord,
how he may please the Lord;
but one who is married
is concerned about
the things of the world,
how he may please his wife,
and his interests are divided.
The woman who is unmarried,
and the virgin,
is concerned about
the things of the Lord,
that she may be holy
both in body and spirit;
but one who is married
is concerned about
the things of the world,
how she may please her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:32–34

It is true, there is an unusual degree of freedom a single person has: freedom to focus on the body of Christ, freedom from co-scheduling with family, freedom to suffer, …. For those reasons, I decided, about two decades ago, to forego the preoccupations (and pleasures) of family life. My personality, my passion for ministry, what profit I had witnessed as God used me—all led me to that momentous decision.

And what will I lose, you ask? Nothing!

No good thing
does He withhold
from those
who walk uprightly.
Psalm 84:11

No good thing is beyond the grasp of any of God’s children, whether single or married … as long as they walk uprightly. Our God is a faithful God, a providing God.

So what will you choose for His glory? Marriage … or singleness? What is your gift?

ARISEN!

A few years ago, to celebrate the 500th anniversary of King’s College at the University of Aberdeen (King’s is in the background—the building with a crown atop it), award-winning Scottish sculptor Kenny Hunter was commissioned to do a piece. Youth with a Split Apple it is called; it now adorns the campus of our fair alma mater.

Supposedly, the work represents one of the fundamental poses of the human form in classic art—the reclining figure. It has, however, always reminded me of someone just waking up, heavy lidded and drowsy. (The raucous cackle of gulls in coastal Aberdeen is enough to wake anyone up, even a bronze artifact!)

And the sculpture base looks, to me, suspiciously like a coffin. And, yes, this reclining youth does hold a “split apple,” though for the life of me I can’t figure out what he is doing with a split fruit in that rather awkward horizontal, somnolent position.

Maybe Mr. Hunter was thinking of Adam and apples, and death and burial, and about waking up some day. If he had actually been ruminating about such serious matters, he’d have been on the right track theologically.

While the “wages of sin” is, indeed, death, …

… the free gift of God
is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

In other words, there is hope for those of us—all of humanity—stricken with the terminal disease of sin. The price of sin has been paid, fully and finally.

… He [Jesus Christ] Himself
bore our sins in His body
on the cross,
so that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness;
for by His wounds
you were healed.
1 Peter 2:24

Thus, for believers who have placed their trust in Christ for salvation, there is no more “death.”

Jesus said …,
“I am the resurrection
and the life;
he who believes in Me
will live even if he dies,
and everyone who lives
and believes in Me
will never die.”
John 11:25–26

This death that believers in Christ escape is, of course, not physical death—part of the curse we are afflicted with, after that deplorable affair of a bitten “apple” long time ago. The life that Jesus promises is eternal life in the presence of God after our days here on earth. In fact, that this will happen is so certain that Paul calls the death of believers “sleep.” They will wake up!

For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again,
even so God will bring
with Him those who
have fallen asleep in Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:14

And all of this is guaranteed by the resurrection of the Lord who died for us.

… now Christ has been
raised from the dead ….
For since by a man came death,
by a man also came
the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die,
so also in Christ
all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:20–22

One man started it all. One Man will end it all. Indeed, He already has! The victory has been won!

Christ, the Lord, is risen today,
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done,
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King,
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save,
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led,
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise,
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Charles Wesley, 1739

Happy Easter!

FIRE!

I’m scribbling this from Pittsburgh, where I’m visiting friends. Today, it was cold, dreary, cloudy, and wet. Reminded me of Aberdeen in bonnie Scotland. (No wonder Texas always looks/feels good!)

Anyhow …

One good thing (among many) about the abode of my friends was the blazing fire in the hearth. Ban the cold, I say. Away with temperatures below 80˚F (27˚C). A pox on winter. Fire. Cosy and comfortable. Balmy and blessed. Good fire.

But the same entity that provides bright bliss also is the agent of dire distress. Wildfires. Arson. Conflagrations. Bad fire.

Good and bad fire. And so it is, even in the Bible.

A “bad” fire is on the horizon.

But who can endure
the day of His coming?
And who can stand
when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire ….
Malachi 3:2

But thanks be to God! Believers have been saved from the fiery wrath of God by the sacrificial payment of their sins on the cross by God incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ.

… there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1

Yet there is a fire for believers—in this world—a fire that purifies, a fire that refines, a fire that disciplines. A “good” fire.

In this you greatly rejoice,
even though now
for a little while, …
you have been distressed
by various trials,
so that the proof of your faith,
being more precious than gold
which is perishable,
even though tested by fire,
may be found to result
in praise and glory and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:6–7

This “good” fire we can expect. It will come. Sooner or later. A strengthening fire. A stretching fire.

Beloved, do not be surprised
at the fiery ordeal among you,
which comes upon you
for your testing,
as though some strange thing
were happening to you.
1 Peter 4:12

This “good” fire will also test our works for potential rewards.

Now if any man builds
on the foundation
with gold, silver,
precious stones, wood,
hay, straw, each man's work
will become evident;
for the day will show it
because it is to be
revealed with fire,
and the fire itself will test
the quality of each man's work.
If any man's work
which he has built on it remains,
he will receive a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:12–14

And, one day, the fire of God’s judgment will signal the end of time, the Bible teaches.

But the day of the Lord
will come like a thief,
in which the heavens
will pass away with a roar …
and the earth and its works
will be burned up.
But according to His promise
we are looking for
new heavens and a new earth,
in which righteousness dwells.
2 Peter 3:10, 13

Peter assumes that if the end is coming this way, soon and very soon, there is a mandate for the kind of life we ought to be leading.

Since all these things
are to be destroyed in this way,
what sort of people
ought you to be
in holy conduct and godliness,
looking for and hastening
the coming of the day of God …!
2 Peter 3:11–12

The fire’s a-comin’. The end approacheth. Look for it. Hasten it.

Therefore, since we receive
a kingdom which cannot
be shaken, let us show gratitude,
by which we may offer to God
an acceptable service
with reverence and awe;
for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:28–29

“Good” fire … and “bad!” So … holy conduct and godliness, reverence and awe.

HANDS!

If you noticed something strange about those hands playing the Steinway, you did good. There is something strange. While those hands—right and left—share genes, they don’t belong to the same body. No, I haven’t been up to any Photoshop tricks. I did this the old-fashioned way, getting a ten-year old to wiggle his arm through the shirt of his forty-year old Dad, and having them contort themselves to create the illusion of one pianist with two hands—two different hands. (Thanks, Philip and Rick!) While the youngster is, himself, a budding musician, Dad’s got a doctorate in the field. One dabbles; the other produces and performs (and “professes”) music. The humble endeavors of one are augmented and transformed and complemented by the “musicmanship” of the other.

Grace for the believer is like that! After all, there ain’t much (read: “anything”) we can do with which to please God, without His prevenient (“going before”) grace. Grace is absolutely necessary if we are to continue in a relationship with God. In other words, it is not only essential for our justification (being set right with God), but we also cannot be sanctified (grow in holiness) without grace. We need help in every way, being hopelessly incapable and inadequate for these things. I need a hand! And a hand, God gave. In fact more than a hand. Paul proclaims:

Christ lives in me ….
Galatians 2:20

Grace! A helping hand.

Therefore let us draw near
with confidence
to the throne of grace,
so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help
in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16

It is grace that enables us to be what we are.

But by the grace of God
I am what I am,
and His grace toward me
did not prove vain;
but I labored even more
than all of them, yet not I,
but the grace of God with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10

It is grace that gives us the perspective and incentive for a godly lifestyle.

For the grace of God
has appeared,
bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us
to deny ungodliness
and worldly desires
and to live sensibly, righteously
and godly in the present age.
Titus 2:11–12

It is grace that manifests God’s power through us.

And He has said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is
perfected in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9

It is grace that prepares for us the good works we will do.

For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus
for good works,
which God prepared beforehand
so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10

It is grace that helps us perform those good works.

And God is able to make
all grace abound to you,
so that always having
all sufficiency in everything,
you may have an abundance
for every good deed.
2 Corinthians 9:8

It is grace that gives us spiritual gifts.

But to each one of us grace
was given according to
the measure of Christ's gift.
Ephesians 4:7

And of course, grace is also operative in our glorification—the full conformation to the image of Christ.

Therefore, prepare
your minds for action,
keep sober in spirit,
fix your hope completely
on the grace
to be brought to you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:13

Without His helping “hand,” we would remain lost in our sin—unjustified, unsanctified, unglorified. His helping hand—what amazing grace!

’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
John Newton, 1779

Amen, it will!

BOATS!

Something strange about them in the Gospel of Mark. Not the best place to be; not the safest way to travel. Always a complication. Storms. And tests. Particularly tests. Tests of faith in boats in Mark. Maybe the sea ain’t a good place to be. It’s always a test of faith in a boat on water.

And those poor disciples. They don’t do to well on those quizzes in water. Surprising: “Fishermen fail sea tests!” They do! In all three major boat dramas in Mark.

The first vignette. Jesus is in the boat with them on a stormy sea. The irony: the carpenter sleeps; the fishermen panic. Though, of course, this was no ordinary card-carrying, labor-union-belonging worker of wood. Anyway, Jesus calms the sea in a trice. And asks the stricken disciples:

“Why are you afraid?
Do you still have no faith?”
Mark 4:40

“How come you aren’t believing yet?” You see, in the first four chapters of Mark, they had already seen Christ healing various diseases—nothing seemed too difficult for Him to cure, not even a mother-in-law! The disciples had seen Christ drive out demons. Indeed, they had themselves been given the authority to cast out demons. They—simple, unsophisticated Galilean fishermen—were waging spiritual warfare. This Jesus was no mere spiritual teacher. No prophet had ever done the things he did. Why, He was even going around forgiving people! Now who could do that but God? The disciples had seen it; they had heard it; they had experienced it—the power and presence of God in Christ. They should have put it all together—He was God. But … they had forgotten!

Then, two chapters later, another boat complication. Jesus, not with the disciples when they commence the journey, shows up walking on water, in the middle of their perilous journey in the thick of another storm. And there they go again—they’re scared.

… they all saw Him
and were terrified.
But immediately He spoke
with them and said to them,
“Take courage; it is I,
do not be afraid.”
Then He got into the boat …
and the wind stopped; and
they were utterly astonished,
for they had not
gained any insight from
the incident of the loaves,
but their heart was hardened.
Mark 6:50–52

Just before this incident, Jesus had just multiplied five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand. Nope, they hadn’t learnt anything from that.

Two more chapters later. Another vessel episode. No storm though. But these dudes begin to fret. They had only brought one loaf aboard with them and they had 12 +1 people to feed. What were they going to do for food? Oh, dear! They just might starve to death. On a boat. In the water.

And Jesus, aware of this,
said to them,
“Why do you discuss
that you have no bread?
Do you not yet see
or understand?
Do you have a hardened heart?
Having eyes, do you not see?
And having ears,
do you not hear?
And do you not remember,
when I broke the five loaves
for the five thousand ….”
Mark 8:17–19

The path of discipleship—Mark’s theme—is strewn with ship situations. Indeed, these watercraft examinations are part and parcel of our lives—our own journeys of discipleship. How will we respond? With faith, trusting in God’s presence, His power? Remembering what He has done? Responding in anticipation of what He will do?

… for we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7

And not just walk. We pilot our boats by faith as well.