Christmas Thoughts on Literary Devices and Why Jesus Came

Christmas Thoughts on Literary Devices and Why Jesus Came

“And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction (oppression), yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher (God).

Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but (then) let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, may glory dwell in our land. (When) steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.” (end quote)

Note: (parentheticals and underlining are mine)

As literary works, these ancient passages from the Old Testament, also called in Hebrew “Tanakh” pronounced [təˈnax]; helped me learn more about writing tools:

·         metaphor, a substitute for perspective;

·         metonymy, a substitute for reduction;

·         synecdoche, a substitute for representation; and

·         irony, a substitute for dialectic.

The metaphor of bread and water represent synecdoche for the bare essentials needed for sustenance. Jesus instructed in the NT that in this godless world, we’d continue to experience difficulties, which indicates to me that tribulation is a basic component of life. But the next sentence from Jesus is an encouragement: “Take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

During the season of hope that Christians call “Advent”, where hope’s coming to the world is celebrated; the promises of God can be found by listening to God through his Word (metonymy). After this good news above, the prayer is that we’ll not turn back to the folly of the “rat-race” which is the world, then and at this time.

These passages can be used as metaphor in order to gain perspective and not as a tired, dying cliché; like a tutor showing the lesson by using a word picture to bring home the point. I’m encouraged that the Teacher (metonymy) is not hiding, that my eyes have been opened to see God through his Word.

It is a fearful and wonderful thing to be taught at the feet of God, simply by opening his Bible and allowing its glory to shine light into one's circumstances. This is the intersection where steadfast love and faithfulness meet.

The metonymy of such large concepts: righteousness and peace embracing for a kiss, reduces meeting of truth to something loving, human, and simple to conceptualize. Picture the metaphor of the intimate closeness, and the kissing: it’s a story of relational love!

The apostle Luke wrote about Jesus and said, “then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and (Jesus) said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’” 

Jesus' clear instructions are that to hear from God, to learn about the gospel (metonymy), one must try to understand what is written in the Bible about his coming, his life & death, and the meaning of the resurrection; and it should be proclaimed to all nations. As we seek the light of the Scripture, shining into our land, bright with God’s glory; the gospel is the climax of the story, bearing witness to Jesus and his work. This is where the steadfast love of God meets the faith of believers. Merry Christmas. ##

©Mark H. Pillsbury

Reformation Day: 500-years after Wittenberg

After Wittenberg: The Reformation 500-years from Luther

^{1 John 2: 15-17}

^15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. [MSG]

¹⁵ Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God; ¹⁶ for all these worldly things, these evil desires—the craze for sex, the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance—these are not from God. They are from this evil world itself. ¹⁷ And this world is fading away, and these evil, forbidden things will go with it, but whoever keeps doing the will of God will live forever. [TLB]

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, ¹⁶ because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever. [NET]

¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. ¹⁷ And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. [NLT]

¹⁵ Do not love the world [of sin that opposes God and His precepts], nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world. ¹⁷ The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever. [Amplified Bible]

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. [NIV]

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. [ESV]

15 Love not ye the world, nor the things in the world; if any one doth love the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16 because all that [is] in the world -- the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the ostentation of the life -- is not of the Father, but of the world, 17 and the world doth pass away, and the desire of it, and he who is doing the will of God, he doth remain -- to the age. [YLT]

(My thoughts):

Pride, arrogance, ostentation, confidence, isolation, independence, longing, self-reliance, desire, lust, ambition, pretention, worldly pursuits; these things are not from the Father. Loving the world usually begets desires for worldly priorities such as these. It’s like the difference between light and darkness, or white and black. However, those who do what God wants—His will—they are the ones who carry out His desires, and not those of man. Worldly pursuits eventually fade away, Godly works remain with Him forever, they have eternal worth.  These two systems are incompatible. They were incompatible 500-yrs. ago when believers paid the church “indulgences” in order to buy their loved ones out of purgatory. The Reformation started a move away from the worldly system into an age of the Gospel.

Broken people usually give up on the worldly success they once thought was their destiny. Brokenness develops humility and groundedness not usually found in the kinds of ascending, ambitious, successful, worldly “superstars” described in these three verses. The cravings of the flesh (e.g., gluttony, dissipation), the desire for that seen by our eyes (e.g., pornographic images, greed), and our pride in life (e.g., status, class, success) are very natural, as easy as taking in the air we breathe or the food we eat. But these verses are a simple mathematical computation. One does not equal the other. You cannot live in both realms; the Bible tells us. The world and the gospel do not mix.

As a believer it suggests to me another question: “How do I keep all that is going on in the world, and my human reaction to it, from overwhelming me and squeezing the life out of me?” Can I let go of the worry that keeping up with these worldly goals causes me? Will there ever be enough? Matthew 6:25. I believe that in this world which is filled with so much pain, dissension, injustice, violence, and oppression, it is the weak people who can become a source of renewal and salvation, for the world and those who serve them. This is a difficult place better done in community, which is life-giving, but also a place of pain and sacrifice. Many do not want that, but it is a place of truth and growth.

Or deeper, “how do I replace the natural desires of any man, with the willingness to do his good works (which God prepared in advance for us to do), aka, the “Will of God,” instead of pursuing my own priorities? In so many endeavors, like a new job, new relationship, or moving to another town, we don’t know what we don’t know. But in the case of the Bible, these things are clearly told us so that we do know what God wants. This is a blessing. We know what we need to know about the eternal things of God because he shared these with us in His word. He tells us directly that the great commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22: 34-46. That is the beginning of all wisdom. (Paul would tell us as we look not to worldly things seen, but to things that are unseen, that the worldly things that are seen are transient; however, things that are unseen are spiritual, and eternal).

Conclusion:
I was fortunate enough to be taught the logic of the Reformation, in that justification (being declared right with God), by faith alone, is an essential point of the gospel. I learned that the real gospel was what Jesus did for me by his work on the cross, that I could not earn or buy for myself. These magnificent truths became clear over a long period of time, by going to church, sitting at the feet of good teaching, and Bible study. Since then it is clear: a church that doesn’t put this doctrine front and center, even if accompanied by good discipleship, music, outreach, and/or fellowship, is not where I want to invest time. Unfortunately, if one rejects justification by faith alone, and seeks after worldly pursuits, they’ve rejected the gospel, and that strategy will fail in the end. Church growth, like our own growth, is dependent on a gospel-centered life. Celebrating the beginning of the Reformation today, is celebrating gospel truth, the triumph of the people’s church not the Pope, and the importance of recognizing what God did for us, and by doing his will.

Thesis No. 62, posted by Martin Luther, October 31, 1517:
"The true treasure of the Church, is the most holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God." 

##

©Mark H. Pillsbury

Art Musings: What’s the Best Kind of Art?

The universal language of jazz, with healing in every riff.

One listens, absorbs, worships; contemplating life’s what-ifs.

A globule of oil, smudged or smeared, shaped into a lily,

Subtle strokes, airy blue hues, I wonder at such reality.

Translucent watercolor bleeds slightly over a boundary of pencil,

Underpinning the delicate pigment, lines serve as stencil.

Gelatin-silver, contrasting black & white images reflect off of shiny puddles, dotted with raindrops,

The suit, jumping shadows, almost purple-black, at one moment the shutter stops.

Rusting iron soldered at incongruent joints, splayed upon St. Augustine fields, baking in the sun.

Industrial art coexists with the elements, size and shape imbalanced, abstract, gargantuan.

Splattered, sprayed, sprinkled paint, explodes over a gigantic canvas,

Pollock expressed his colors wildly, understood by few of us.

Cerise mud, spun, fired, glowing in the furnace, glazed, painted, and shaped, still copper-red like the earth, The potter’s hands held the clay for what seemed a generation, gently letting it whirl away like a child growing up.

Words can seem scrambled, but go higher and deeper than any of the art you see or I saw,

I’ve read twice the number for pleasure, than I ever studied at law.

They spark with creativity, discussing many forms of art,

These media mentioned move me, but don’t go as deep into my heart.

Words bless, or harm, inform, enlighten with a mysterious power; but they can’t be taken back,

Sharp as a cutlass, pointed as a sword, plunged into flesh whether launched from defense or attack.

Comprehension or translation are lost on a wispy breath of the wind:

“Certains l'aiment chaud” they say, or
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” 

Can you tell me that again?

Formed together in poetry, words escape the prison of definition;

Sometimes they flutter and sparkle in the dark, fireflies of cognition.

Do they bounce, echo, drift like shadow, lying through their teeth,

Poetry flows to the ocean of truth by the river of deceit.

Visual art as described above, takes the mavens to different places,

Fascination, imitation, contemplation; you can see it in their faces.

Reading a paragraph so skillfully crafted, its contention ringing true in my ears,

“Listen to this,” I’ll say, reading it aloud, truth’s reverberation bringing me to tears.

Pages layered into plot as rings inside a tree, hardened bark covers the story;

A book opens a thousand doorways, using myth, truth, and allegory.

“I am an invisible man, called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and it was the worst of times,”

These snippets remind me of some of literature’s best opening lines.

Active, alive, and useful as a lamp unto my feet, the Bible.

I smell it like warm bread, knowing there is nourishment when I eat.

That place in my heart where the stockings are hung.

Warm, encouraging words are there; reading it I feel accepted, some call it “home.”

Opening this ancient text is, “Sursum Corda” meaning to uplift,

Dr. Luke's words tell of Christmas, and the most important gift.

Expounding more is wasting time, the art speaks for itself;

I will always look to get mine, from the dusty book shelf.

##

 Poetry 2016©Mark H. Pillsbury

Justice: why don't we talk about justice in church?

Why don’t we talk about justice in church?

Gary A. Haugen, Attorney, and president/founder of International Justice Mission, suggests (3) three reasons why the church is reluctant to preach justice:

  

1.   Pastors are reluctant to preach justice because it’s perceived to bring politics into the pulpit. Partisan politics has no place in the pulpit.

The central focus of preaching should be the gospel not the voting booth. There are many churches that get involved with electoral politics, pursuing candidates from their neighborhood to make changes in oppressive, unjust political systems. However, the purpose of a sermon is to exposit the biblical truth of Jesus and his resurrection, not that Justice and Jesus are exclusive of each other. It takes a pastor who can weave into biblical exegesis Jesus’ desire that humans would be free from the guilt, sadness, anger, confusion, and harm resulting from their sin; instead turning from things like injustice and following him to the cross. 

Jesus had to take for form of a sacrificial lamb in order for true justice to be wrought on humanity through him. Jesus embodies justice and mercy together; his blood paid the ransom for our sin, and makes peace with everyone possible, including God. This amazing mercy was the antithesis to justice although it does not lessen the severity of the justice required to conquer sin. Pastors who talk about social justice in the present day sometimes miss this point about biblical justice in the person of Jesus Christ. The trouble with bringing politics into a sermon is that Christians of both political parties are trying to do the right thing. Maybe the first thing we should do with any candidate is ask them to define their vision of “justice,” and to see that they act wisely in practical matters.

2.   Justice is not always connected to the felt needs of those in the pew. For largely middle-class congregations of North America, injustice is a subject read about in the news, not lived daily.

Big churches like one I can think of in Houston, deal with self-improvement from the pulpit as much as they do anything like “justice.” The pastor I’m thinking of acts as encourager-in-chief not the head of missions. Focusing on the outside world takes commitment, organization, passionate volunteers, and a network of global organizations. Thinking about justice, and acting upon it even in the smallest neighborhood way is more gritty and granular than discussing self-worth, and positive mental attitude. Supporting just causes requires a level of interaction that some churches abhor. They would rather do things within their own congregation than actually have to fellowship with Christians or non-Christians that don’t believe how they do. It gets messy!

Comfortable, middle-class Americans don’t spend much time thinking about justice until it affects them! The idolatry of “comfort” is pervasive in the modern church, so this disconnect is not surprising. For the conversation to turn to justice, our hearts must change. Christians must be so struck with the injustice in their own hearts and what Jesus did to change them that they want to help those who are the victims of injustice, or to right those maladies in the world that are unjust. Progress will come from the inside out, beginning with an awareness of severe problems in the world on more than a conceptual level.

"Here is one choice that our Father wants us to understand as Christians – and I believe it is the choice of our age:  Do we want to be brave or safe? Gently, lovingly – our heavenly Father wants us to know that we simply can’t be both."  — Gary A. Haugen

  

3.   Talking about justice opens the door to despair in our world. The overwhelming quantity and depth of world problems leaves us feeling fatigue and/or paralyzed.

I tend to bounce off that perspective, not because it is incorrect but the larger view is that there is injustice because of the nature of the fall (Genesis). Even though I think Mr. Haugen is accurate, I would argue from a larger idea that injustice is rooted at the foundation of brokenness between each human and God. It is spiritual poverty that causes the relationships in our lives not to work. This is something the North American church is not comfortable admitting! One of the biggest problems in the promotion of justice is that the people who don’t think about justice are actually working through a God-complex. These poor souls are perfectly fine with the concept of justice as long as they are not mistreated themselves; and further that any contribution to injustice begins with looking outside their own hearts for the culprit.

Many Christians tend to think that justice is a problem for someone else, that alleviating injustice (or poverty for that matter) is not an exclusive task of the church. That begs the question, however; who will take up the cause? The government?

If God’s two greatest commandments are to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds; in other words, our whole being. And secondly, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (see, Matthew 23 for this restatement of Old Testament commandments). Surely the great commission flows out of this kind of revolutionary love: demonstrated through acts of kindness, compassion, and justice. The mission of God to love his people through us certainly requires that we seek justice in all facets of our life.

The spread of the kingdom of God is to be carried out on earth by His Church, as they have been commanded in the Bible. Through the power of the Holy Spirit within us, having sincere hearts dedicated to justice; Jesus’ followers are to take up the task. Even though it takes work, we are not to sit by idly and give up. The people of God are to reclaim and redeem the world for Christ. “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (Jesus’ command in John 20:21)

©Mark H. Pillsbury

What does Christmas mean?

Photo credit: ACTA

What does Christmas mean?

In a world where weakness is pitied, morality is what works, materialism grabs our attention, and the motive power for many is gaining just enough happiness to feel good; the story of Jesus Christ astounds with unlikely messages. For believers, it turns “strength” upside down, and causes assessment of modern thinking.

God himself steps off the multi-universe throne to inhabit a virgin’s womb, borne in a middle-eastern cow stall, with only a few witnesses; quickly travelling a great distance with his poor parents to avoid doom? The eternal Son of God took on humanity — two natures, one person; such an outrageous tale seems poorly written if it were merely a story.

The Lord Jesus Christ appears as a helpless baby; his final destination is destruction on a cross? Not a powerful metaphor for a coming King, but essential in the context and purpose of his life. He lived a perfect life of obedience because we cannot; he died as a ransom for our sins. I know it is presumptuous of me to characterize the Christmas story this way, but in the minds of many this season, passing by without concern, there is no need of absolution. The national Christmas tree at the Capitol has no ornaments about Jesus or Christmas; in some circles, He is not relevant.

Nevertheless, the baby’s birth in the tiny city of Bethlehem changed the course of world history. His life of service, humility, and righteousness was a glorious example of sacrificial love. Dismissing it as myth or impossible, is to lack the fidelity to Jesus necessary for belief in the whole Bible. Christians must face the fact that a denial of the virgin birth is a denial of Jesus as the Christ.

John Sartelle says, “In the incarnation, the creating Son came to redeem and restore His creation. His miracles were designed to prove His divine identity. With each miracle He was declaring, “So that you may know I am the eternal Son.” He made the blind to see, the paralyzed to walk, and the dead to live. His miracles also demonstrated His purpose to redeem and restore His creation. Everywhere the creator Son saw the effects of the fall on His creation, and He repaired the wounds and injuries, and pushed back the darkness.”

His entry is unconventional? His life not regal? Death at the hands of Romans tragic and untimely? Jesus came as the pure Lamb of God in order to be the sacrifice prophesied in the Old Testament, in a blatantly supernatural way. Indeed, the Christmas story is at the beginning of a long theological journey through the New Testament, leading to the passion of the cross. As unlikely as it seems, what starts on Christmas leads to Easter!

Immanuel, meaning God is one of us, was the real son of a real mother. The virgin birth is the starting point of the gospel. During this time of year, when so much of Christmas is shiny, glossy, new, liberal and modern; why not take some time to look back to historic Bethlehem, to an obscure little family ordered to return home for the census?

Incarnation is a big word, but it means that God decided to become one of his enemies, salvation coming through menial condescension; in other words, God decided to lower himself and enter into the lives of sinners, posers, liars, and the fallen human race. It seems bizarre?!

A little baby, born to walk a life of obedience toward the calling set out before him; agreeing with his Father that amazing grace would take an astounding work on the cross. Christmas is the beginning. It ends on hill with a crucifixion. That is the real meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown.

As with every birth, every gift of life, there is hope! We don’t have to rely on our own works; Jesus did the work required to stand in our place. Why must a perfect man be convicted of sin he did not commit? Why Jesus makes the exchange for our sin, becoming man in an act of love and understanding? These are mysteries as perplexing as the virgin birth in Bethlehem. These are things to ponder as you look out into the dark winter sky.

©Mark H. Pillsbury

Praying for young people and Revival

Every year at HC, the faculty and staff pray that God would revive us again; that the teachers would be facilitators of joy among the students, so that they might rejoice in God, draw near to God, seek his kingdom, and his righteousness. 

With all this prayed over, there is then a peace that all the things of the coming school year would be added to them as it progresses. Everything will work out fine. In August every year the train leaves the station and picks up speed as it roars to the graduation ceremony in May. There are nice “rest” stops along the way but so much is accomplished that a fatigue builds up due to the “labor” of the school year. We started out this year well, breaking in the new principal, hosting numerous events, football and volleyball games, a capital campaign moving "Forward in Faith," new athletic conference announced [“SPC”], recruiting next year’s freshman, and many other tasks. It is a busy place, but a hopeful place!

Pray for Revival

I recently heard a Yale professor David H. Gelernter speak about the possibility of religious revivial starting with our young people:

"The next great American religious revival will start, my guess is, on (high school or) college campuses —and it will start fairly soon. The need is great, for they are the driest timber I have ever come across. In a spiritually dried-out land where “careers” alone are holy, the thirst is acute. Mostly they know little or nothing about religion; little or nothing about Americanism. Mostly no one ever speaks to them about truth and beauty, or nobility or honor or greatness. They are empty--spiritually bone dry--because no one has ever bothered to give them anything spiritual that is worth having. Platitudes about diversity and tolerance and multiculturalism are thin gruel for intellectually growing young people."

Gelernter thinks that "someone will start preaching." 

Maybe it is an ordained pastor from RUF? (www.ruf.org) or a high school chaplain like Drew Zeiler?

Audiences will be small at first, but young people want to hear this message:

‘Forget your career and think about your family.

Forget your rights and think about your duties.

Forget your bank account and think about your country.

Forget yourself and think about your God.’...

"(S)omeday soon some sympathetic disciple of the founding fathers will compose the indispensable companion to our Bill of Rights...a Bill of Duties that conveys the exact same truths in terms of responsibility, instead of entitlement." (Gelernter continues...)

"Let the right person speak to them, and they will turn back to the Bible with an excitement and exhilaration that will shake the country. In reading the Bible they will feel as if they are going home--which is just what they will be doing. Nothing would do America more good than a biblical homecoming."  (David Gelernter)

At Houston Christian ["HC"] students are exposed to a biblical world and life view. Many are "un-churched" or merely "seekers" of the ways of Jesus. But at least they get to hear from this important book, see how other Christians live out their daily walks with Him. In addition to great Bible teachers at HC, they have access to peer-to-peer discipleship groups after school, if they want to talk about their questions and walk with fellow students as they grow in spiritual maturity. It is my hope that God will send out leaders from HC who will help other college students (even the ones at Yale, prof. Gelernter) to see there is a higher calling in life than just materialism, consumption, power, money and lust. I hope that they feel responsible for the next generation of American exceptionalism, and that God will be important in their lives. If this happens then all these things will be added unto us.