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| It is one of the largest problems in philosophy. It is the tagline for professors who boldly profess “There is NO God.” It is the most common reason given for those who snub God and live life however they want. It is the problem Christians often avoid or mask because they are not at peace with the situation. How can Christians claim to follow a God who is just, right, and all powerful when the world looks as it does? How can Christians say that God is Just or stands for Justice with so much evil in the world?
We (or perhaps our children) phrase it, “It just isn’t fair. It just isn’t fair.” But what is fair? We all can usually recognize when something is “unfair.” For instance, we often see this fella. (Slide of a referee) He is bound by the statutes and regulations of the game to be “fair.” He is to be balanced and unbiased. He makes calls and deals out punishment or consequences that are earned by the participants. The problem is, those guys are just never fair to Columbus Teams!
Last year the Blue Jackets made their first playoffs appearance. When fans were counting on the referees make accurate calls, the team was penalized harshly, for what is judged by virtually all who observed a non fallible offense, and it cost them the game and prevented them from going further in the tournament. Everyone screams when the Buckeyes are called for “roughing the passer” when we all saw it was momentum that carried the linebacker. Two weeks ago at Crew stadium the referees were not only missing penalties committed by the opposition, but the center ref called a penalty kick when he was looking the other direction! I know that he was because he was looking at me! Here I am in the stands after the call. (Slide of a lion roaring) The Beijing Olympics saw a couple of girls who were supposed to be at least 16 who were most certainly 14 years old. The Chinese Govt. presented passports, but everyone knew it wasn’t fair.
We hate that don’t we?! Our sense of Justice and fairness is upset and we get angry. That’s just not the way it is supposed to be! Most of the time sports are not the gravest signs of injustice. We see celebrities get “a stern talking to” for a crime while others get the full or maximum sentence. Sometimes we see people go unpunished all together. What we want is Justice. Fair and balanced Justice. And we want a God who is Just. We don’t want Justice to be blind. We want Justice to have both eyes wide open.
When evil and injustice are personalized we have an even higher cry for Justice to be served. When it is you who has been wronged unjustly, fired without cause, gossiped about, cheated out of something that you thought was owed you, lied to and taken advantage of… When it is you who was raped or abused by fists, bats, belts, or wicked words—Justice is personal. You don’t just want justice…you need it.
If evil and injustice are given free reign over entire countries or regions like in the former Soviet Union under Stalin who falsely accused millions of being spies and condemned people to death or banishment to Siberia, then we want Justice. If Hitler blames all the problems faced by the modern world on Jews, gays, gypsies, the disabled, and the elderly, then we want…no we need Justice. If warlords in Africa steal the much needed food bound for hungry villages, kidnap children 9 years old and up to be brainwashed and forced to kill other children along with adults, then we need Justice. God, if He is a God that is powerful and just, then He needs to do something about it.
What do the scriptures say about God being a Just God? Does He love Justice? Does He want to deal out the punishment that has been earned by the evildoers?
First let’s look at the term itself…Just. What does the word mean? In English we used really two words to describe what the Jewish people understood as “justice”. The core meaning for justice is...“loyalty to what is right.” When the translators began translating they would use two words in English to describe the fuller meaning. They would use “righteous or righteousness” interchangeably with “just or justice.” In ancient Phoenician and Old Aramaic the root of tzedaqah has to do with how loyal a servant was to the King. The King in any case was always right…regardless of the situation at hand. Does anyone hate that?
Who has ever been employed in retail, the food service industry, or in sales? Who remembers this phrase: The customer is always right. That is the battle cry for all those industries! How stupid is that?! I remember writing down orders from a table, double checking and repeating back the order, and when the food arrived the guest saying, “I didn’t order this.” “Oh, did you say that you wanted the Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo?” “Yes, that is what I ordered.” “This is the Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo.” “No it isn’t. I know what Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo is, and this isn’t it.” You never want to say, “Oh, I am sorry, I’ve only worked here for over a year and served Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo 2,000 times before seeing you this afternoon. What is this dish? Perhaps this is Lasagna. That would explain all the Fettuccini noodles and Alfredo Sauce topped with Chicken.” When you return to tell your manager the situation he says, “The customer is always right. Do they want the Lasagna?” “Yeah, just call it Fettuccini Alfredo when you deliver it.” Are you kidding? Are we living in ancient Babylon when we enter through the Olive Garden door? “Welcome to Olive Garden where you are the King of Ancient Mesopotamia. No matter what you say, including if you wish to insist on calling Rudy, Ruby you may do so for the duration of the evening.” Okay what were we talking about? Ah, God’s Justice.
Do you feel me? Are you tracking with me so far? What about God? Does He know when Justice should be served? Is He doing what He can to make the world and our lives reflect justice?
Psalm 11:7 says, “For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.” It says that God “loves” justice. He loves it! Psalm 145:6-7 says, “They (all generations) will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.” The word there is justice. Generations are to be singing about it and celebrating it! Later in that Psalm it declares that God is “Righteous or Just in ALL His ways!” Psalm 89:14 says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.” So why does the earth work like it does? If God is so just, then why is there suffering, injustice, and unpunished evil?
The Psalmist sees this reality and does not hold back, “The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.” In Psalm 73, “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” Has that been you? Have you seen the one who harmed you, your family, your reputation, your bank account, flourishing? Have you thought, “How can this be?! This isn’t fair. This isn’t justice!” Or worse, you think, “If they can be sinning how I know they are sinning and they still get a raise at work, then why am I being so good/just anyway?!” In other words, “If God isn’t going to bring justice to this person, then I don’t know if me being righteous is really worth it.” The Psalmist sees it too! “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.”
In other places God assures the people that He will bring justice. The Psalmist calls out in Psalm 98, “Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.” Isaiah says a day will come when the Lord Almighty will be “A spirit of justice” who sits in judgment. One chapter later in chapter 29 of his book the prophet says that God will come to make sure the innocent ones are not deprived of justice. But is that what we really want? Do we want God to come and weigh our deeds and wickedness on the scales of justice? Do we want Him to be fair? How righteous do you have to be to escape the wrath? How just do you have to be to miss the fire of His furry?
The Jews knew all about being just and righteous. They had a long list of things that God required of humanity to be found righteous. Most people have heard of the 10 words, or by their common title, “The Ten Commandments.” Those are difficult enough to keep straight. But God added another 633 requirements on top of those. God demonstrated to the Jews that no matter how hard they tried, no matter if they obeyed 600 of the 643, they were not righteous. He told them that if they even touched a dead corpse, whether animal or human, they were unrighteous. If they took away life they were unrighteous or unjust. Death is, in a way, “wrong”. It is the opposite of life and even touching it made you the opposite of just. You were in effect “disloyal to the right.” If God must ensure loyalty to the right (what is true and just), then He would have to deal out justice/judgment. With the Law of God displayed in the Old Testament, God revealed to human beings that what He considered to be “right” and “just” was far above what they may have imagined. Because God defines Himself as love and life, anything, and I mean anything, that was not love of God, love of fellow human beings, and full of life was wicked, unrighteous, and going to be punished.
A great Pharisee who followed Jesus of Nazareth named Paul said this, “For in the gospel a righteousness is revealed,…The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness…” That means all of the injustice of the world will be met with the wrath of God. God has been offended and will punish all injustice whether from the heart, the mind, the soul, or your own deeds.
In his book Evil and the Justice of God, N.T. Wright says,
“Evil isn’t just a philosophical problem but a practical one…God’s justice is not simply a blind dispensing of rewards for the virtuous and punishment for the wicked, though plenty of those are to be found on the way. God’s justice is a saving, healing, restorative justice, because the God whom justice belongs is the creator God who has yet to complete his original plan for creation and whose justice is designed not simply to restore balance to the world out of kilter but to bring to glorious completion and fruition of the creation, teeming with life and possibility, that he made in the first place…”
The season that we are rapidly approaching is when we celebrate the birth of a man named Yeshua bar Yoseph. We call Him Jesus. Jesus called Himself the Messiah. The Jewish people knew full well what that meant. The Messiah was to set all the injustices right. He was to punish all the wicked who had hindered, murdered, and crucified the chosen people. He would raise up and army and fight the enemies of the people and judge justly from that point on. Isn’t that what we want! When we say, “That isn’t fair! It shouldn’t be this way! You made the wrong decision! This isn’t what I deserve!” We want Messiah to rush in and make the wicked pay for what they have done. We want a Ninja Jesus to jump in karate chop anyone who interferes with us! Bring justice to them! Heeeyah! We want the scales to be balanced… sometimes we want it in our favor no less.
But Jesus’ idea of justice was perhaps a little different. He was not going to deliver the people justice in such a limited temporal way. He was after true justice. He was after life and love. Remember how unclean and unrighteous you were if you had anything to do with death or not loving God? Jesus lets us see what righteousness/justice looks like by never allowing death in His presence. Look through the gospels, and find one instance where someone died His presence. No one yelled, “Unclean!” when he touched a leper. When he touched the leper life was restored. Holding a dead girl would have made him unclean and disloyal to God except her blinking eyes and breathing chest. He might have been called unclean or unrighteous for touching them except for the life that streamed from His fingertips.
His entire recorded journey was nothing but life and love of God. He demonstrates that this is the justice God was working on earth. In the final move of living justice this Jesus, God Himself, took the wrath of God for the unrighteousness and all the injustice the world had known or would know. “God made Him who had not sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:19 Peter puts it this way, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous (just) for the unrighteous (unjust), to bring you to God.” 1 Peter 3:18
Neil, his wife Carol Anderson, and their four children lived in a remote village in Papua New Guinea for 20 years. In the book “In Search of the Source” Neil writes about a ritual with the Falopa people. It was common, before the Papua New Guinea government put a stop to it, to have revenge killings to even the score amongst rival tribes. If someone accused another tribe of putting an evil spirit curse on their grandfather who died, then the men of the offended tribe would retaliate and murder several members of the rival tribe. To make things even the wounded tribe would have revenge killings to keep the balance. There had to be equity and fairness with death. But what if the cause of death was unintentional?
Neil and Carol were coming to the end of translating the entire Bible into Falopa. There were several Falopa who had given their lives to Jesus and were key in helping the translation process. One such Christian named Hapele was helping Neil translate Mark 10:43-45. Neil couldn’t think of a Falopa word for “ransom.” Hapele wondered if Neil meant a revenge killing, but that wasn’t right. Hapele continued,
“We do have something like that,” he said. “It’s not quite the same. It was never used with an enemy, but we do use it between clans. It’s duputapo.” I knew the word (Neil thought). It means “trade.” “Tell me about it,” I said.
“You know,” he said. “Things have to always be kept even. But sometimes you can’t keep them even, not perfectly, when your own people are involved. It is like what happened with Wotale,” he said.
“What happened with Wotale?” I asked. “Well,” he continued, “not long ago we were making a new garden and Wotale was cutting one of the big trees. Just down the hill from him a woman was working sago. They knew of each other’s presence and Wotale kept warning her to move, but she wanted to get a little more done first. She knew it was going to take a while to get that big tree down, so she kept working. When Wotale finished the undercut he yelled to her again but she still didn’t leave. Then suddenly—and earlier than either of them expected—the tree groaned and began its fall. He yelled and she ran, but there was no way to get clear. The tree fell right on her, crushed her skull and she died.”
“What followed was a terrible uproar. Wotale got out of there as fast as he could, hiding himself in his men’s house and all the clansmen of the dead woman immediately went for their bows and arrows and axes. As one body they marched up to Wotale’s longhouse and stood outside yelling and shouting and demanding justice. They were calling for Wotale’s life for the life of the woman he’d killed.”
“But it was an accident,’ his clan brother protested from inside the longhouse.”
“It doesn’t matter. He did it, ‘they all shouted back.
“But he warned her!’ they yelled out.
“That’s no matter!’ they yelled back.
“Wotale never came out, but after awhile his clan brothers did, and they brought things with them. They began spreading objects out on the ground, starting with pieces of bark cloth, kino ‘abalone’ shells, red cloth, axes, bush knives, salt. They were all valuables, things they would never give up except under great duress. They also drove stakes in the ground and tethered pigs to them.
“As the stock of goods kept growing, the woman’s clan didn’t subside their yelling threats, and Wotale’s people were doing a lot of yelling back. It was all bargaining and bickering for how much it would take to pay for a life. It went on and on at high pitch until somebody from the woman’s clan yelled, “Supo!”
Supo means “Enough!”
When all of the injustice from Adam to the end was counted, all the torture, death, stealing, lying, betrayal, cheating, gossip, abuse, aborted children, hard hearts of stone, wars over land, wars over drugs, innocent men and women placed in prison, guilty men gone free, what you do in your mind in secret, what I do in my mind in secret, what your enemy does in secret, it was all put on Christ. Isaiah says that God Himself pierced him with his sword. And with the final spear that pierced his bloodied side God’s justice was served and the Father said, “Supo.” Enough! Justice has been served. The due has been paid. It is fair. (Prayer)
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| I recently heard a Pastor give a message to students graduating entitled, “Ask the right questions.” He gave 5 negative examples on questions that you should never ask yourself and 5 positive examples on questions you need to be asking yourself. If you want to know advise he gave, and you probably should, then be conscience of Brian Vinson’s blog. He will post soon. Among those we should never ask: Can I get away with it? Just because it is available should I do it? etc. Among the five we should ask: What would happen if everyone saw what I was doing? Does this benefit others as well as myself? etc. A dear friend of mine has had a bad “track record” with choosing guys. She always seems to pick the guys who are in need of fixing or who are just selfish. Perhaps asking: "Are you good enough for me?" or "Am I settling?" are good starting points, but I would offer to a few questions that might be helpful when picking a guy to seriously date. (As if there is anything other than sharing yourself whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual.) Questions not to ask: 1. How long can I delay before I have to introduce him to my family and friends?-- If you are asking this question...he probably sucks. 2. When will he commit to me?-- Men who are just looking for a fun, intelligent girl to make out (or more) with are like flies on a fresh pile of dog poo. You get the picture. If the boy is not a man you are wasting your time. 3. Should I hope he starts to follow Jesus instead of just being a person of "faith?"-- You are not supposed to carry a man on your back spiritually. He should be leading and walking with you. Your role is to support a Leader that will one day Lead your children. (Even if children are not a factor--that is the kind of guy you want.) 4. Can I change him?-- No you can't. The Holy Spirit changes hearts not you. He has a hard job of it, so what chance do you have? (none is the implied answer) 5. Is he ever going to stop treating me this way?—If you are asking this question, then RUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN! He won’t. Trust me. There are no, “maybe if I…” Get out. Questions to ask: 1. Will this guy be with me when my life is sour and sad?-- If a man will walk the road of lonely with you and keep quiet when he should, then he might just be worth your time. 2. Does he make me want to be a better woman?-- Not better skilled at aiding his ridiculous antics/bi-polar disorder, but to improve my mind, skills as a musician/artist/professional/etc., devotion to my family and friends. 3. Does he extend mercy, forgiveness, and grace to his friends, family, and enemies?-- If he withholds due punishment for someone who has wronged him, wants the best for anyone he encounters, and gives generously to even those who never return the favor, then he is a keeper. 4. Does He push me to love the God of my faith?-- If the answer is a resounding yes then the other good qualities listed above will most likely be there. 5. Does he have ambition to be a servant?-- Ambition is a tricky thing. Some have ambition to be "great men." A great man is someone who loves God with his mind (never stops learning or neglecting the mind God gave him), heart (is passionate and never satisfied with his current status morally or ethically- he wants to be righteous/honest/good even though he knows he isn't), and strength (will spend his last ounce of strength defending his God, his wife, and his children). A noble and ambitious man could be picking up your trash and a man running a fortune 500 company could be a total loser. Know your definitions. This is no tirade. The best guy in the world will never be perfect. But if he hopes to win your love and devotion girls, then he had better show his worth. Ask the best questions to yourself. Evaluate your answers objectively and follow your head. Leave emotions for bi-polar boys who abuse themselves and others. | | |
| There are at least three Christian movements alive today that believe that human beings can become sinless in their volitional actions/thoughts while still here on earth. The first notable movement would be the one started by John Wesley. John Wesley believed that Christians would follow Jesus until a “crisis moment.” This crisis moment would be similar to when the disciples knew Jesus would be crucified (culminating in His burial) and they abandoned Him (save John). If one holds fast to the faith after this crisis of faith, then he/she would enter into a special “Second Work of Grace.” In this state humans view sin as repulsive and no longer commit sins of the will. Similar movements would be the Keswick view of sanctification and also the Holiness movement which started in the late 1800s. Proponents include Charles Grandison Finney, Francis Asbury, Phoebe Palmer, and Catherine Booth (co-founder of the Salvation Army). Does this make sense? Can we really be sinless in this life? Matthew 5:48 says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Would Jesus give us a command that we could not accomplish? The context and analyzing the Greek word used in Matthew will help. (Jesus is in the middle of His most famous public speaking monologue known as, “The Sermon on the Mount.”) The Jewish culture was constantly holding the Laws of God that were delivered to them by Moses as supreme in their lives. These religious laws permeated their social structures, their family structures, and even their political structures. The people of Moses’ day struggled to keep these commands and laws faithfully until God sent a massive judgment on the people. After civil wars and invasions from Assyria the once grand kingdom of the House of David was reduced to the southern Kingdom of Judah. In 597 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar conquered what was left of the people of God. King Zedekiah led a failed rebelion that resulted in the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and ultimately the Temple of Yahweh. These events propagated a resurgence in devotion to the Lord. Synagogues and religious leaders developed an advanced Law that included many “safe guards” so as not to offend God. If you were not allowed to “work” on the Sabbath, then the new safeguards would limit the number of steps you took on the Sabbath, etc. The Jewish people set up a system that would ensure acceptance and approval from their God. When Jesus the Galilean began his ministry to the people in Jerusalem, the new system had been in place for hundreds of years. What ensued was three years of controversial and radical preaching. Jesus ignored many of the “safe guards” that the people had put on themselves. He began a campaign of the heart that challenged much of what was considered acceptable in God’s eyes. In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus illuminates what it means to fulfill or keep the Law. He heightened keeping the law to the state of the heart. The result? Keeping God’s Law about murder has its route in keeping yourself from hating anyone. The Laws about Adultery/Fornication have their route in keeping your heart from improper desires. Retribution for injury or loss would be forgiven to mirror how God had forgiven. One was no longer required to obey the Laws of God, but to actually have the heart of God. This was a scary idea, but not entirely foreign. In Leviticus God called his people to be holy, as I the Lord your God, am holy.” (Lev. 19:2) The word holy not only means pure but also set apart, unique, or different. These people were to be like their God who interacted with them unlike any of the man-made gods had supposedly interacted with humanity. Jesus continues in like fashion when regarding God’s love. He calls them to love their enemies. He explains that God’s heart loves more than the Law allots. He ends this portion of His sermon with an obvious conclusion: Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. The word for perfect used by Matthew is teleos (teleos). This word has more to do with fullness, completeness, reaching the end goal. Jesus was said to have shouted this from the cross at the end of his life when He said, “It is finished (form of teleos),” in John’s account of the crucifixion. Should we look at perfection like the Jewish people had done? Should we add on to what we view as God’s Law? Instead, Christians should see perfection as getting our heart in line with God’s heart. Our love to look like His. This author doesn’t see the 2nd Work of Grace as John Wesley and others did happening this side of heaven. 1 Cor. 1:21-22 “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” | | |
| As many around me know, I am a friend and foe of Brian McLaren. He is easy to pick on because he heads (regardless of his protests) a movement that I glean from. (I can hear Brian now..."I am not a leader of a movement! Follow Jesus!") In his book a Generous Orthodoxy, and in the few times I have seen/heard him speak, he makes the comment, "Missional faith asserts that Jesus came to preach the good news of the kingdom of God to everyone, especially the poor." (p. 121 emphasis added) When one reads Brian's books you will see this emphasized a great deal. The reason for this is perhaps a story he tells of his "Ah-Hah," moment while serving in youth ministry. Brian sees, as I hope we all will one day, the devastation of poverty and oppression as a great sin to be righted. But this understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ (or gospel of the Kingdom) is at best... slim. Billionaire Adolf Merckle, native of Dresden Germany, made a family business in chemicals into one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. With this in hand he acquired building supplier companies and much of a little car company called Volkswagen. Forbes put Merrckle's fortune at over $9 billion last year. Some bad business decisions and criticism caused him such distress that he committed suicide at 74 on January 5th of this year. What?! Suicide for a billionaire? How could this be? One problem in looking at the gospel as a "here and now only" kind of good news is the alienation it promotes. Most of the time the only sins or failures proponents of the Emergent movement see in history are "inequality" or "not ending poverty." (That is a generalization obviously...) This means that the good news to the wealthy is letting them know how and where to redistribute their funds. So, as I have said many times, what happens if we accomplish this? What happens after everyone has indoor plumbing, 2 cars, health insurance, and free education? What makes the gospel of the Kingdom of God good is not its side effect of ending poverty. Nor is it good news because it makes the sinner righteous in God's sight. Adolf Merckle was as "poor" as any person has ever been and needed the good news of the Kingdom of God. He didn't need it to tell him he should redistribute his wealth to Africa, Asia, or South America (though the Kingdom message would tell him to do so). And he didn't need it to tell him he should repent of his sin in order to be righteous via God's substitutionary atonement. Lo I be a proud Arminian/Preterist/Emerging/Unfinished Christian (see subtitle to Generous Orthodoxy), I have found John Piper to be a great source for illuminating the gospel with great eloquence. In sermon series given to Campus Crusade for Christ: Is the highest, best, ultimate, final good of the gospel justification by faith, being saved from our sins (redemption), removal of the wrath of God (propitiation), liberation from bondage of sin, escape or rescue from hell, entrance to heaven, eternal life, deliverance from pain, conflict, suffering?--No. I would add: Is the highest, best, ultimate, final good of the gospel of the Kingdom the things above, deliverance from poverty, better health care for all, rich people giving up riches for less fortunate, poor people getting rid of their jealousy of the rich, ending of diseases, etc.?--No. The highest, best, ultimate, final good of the "good news" is none of these things. Are these things wonderful, amazing, delightful, joyous, exciting, lovely things?--YES! But the best thing about the gospel is being welcomed into God's presence and being loved by Him. All the things that John Piper listed are the way that we enter the presence/communion/relationship with our Lord. All the things I listed are the outcome of entering into the presence/communion/relationship with that same Lord. Jesus' prayer for the disciples called to teach the Kingdom was that they would be in (presence/communion/relationship) the Godhead. The ultimate, best, final good of the gospel is not the how or what, but it is the who. The Kingdom of God is radical. It calls us to be who we are naturally the opposite. It calls us to give when we naturally want to collect. It calls us to be fair and protect others when we naturally want the balance to tip in our favor meanwhile protecting only ourselves. It calls us to recognize our own spiritual poverty as the root to the distress and destruction we see happening around us. What makes this Kingdom so great is its goodness to all equally. The gospel is not "especially good news to the poor" nor "especially good news to the wealthy." It is good news to all peoples because we are finally all on equal ground with our Creator. We are blessed when we see that we are poor in spirit. Only then can the propitiation deliver us into the presence of our God, who changes our hearts to love Him and our neighbors. This process has changed and will continue to change this world to look like the Kingdom of God. *Please understand that I love Brian McLaren and have learned much from him. This was not meant to be a criticism of him personally. And likewise, I can’t fault John Piper too much for being a Calvinist… he’ll see one day. J JK | | |
| Have you ever thought to yourself, “Self… I wish Monday felt a little more like Wednesday.” Maybe you have arrived at work Monday morning and said, “What happened to my weekend? I remember just a few days ago I was leaving this place!” Some of us have denied that Monday exists at all. We have reduced ourselves to calling the first day of the week, “First Tuesday,” followed by, “Second Tuesday” and then moving right along to, “First Thursday.” For most Latin-based languages, Monday is named after the Lunar body. In French “lundi” quite literally is “moon.” Spanish follows in suit with “lunes.” English is no different. It was probably “Moonday,” at some point. We see the same with “Saturnday” and “Sunday.” (The other days in English are named after Anglo-Saxon or Nordic gods Tiw-day, Woden-day, Thor-day, and Freya-day respectively.) So why have the etymological tirade about Monday? I think it may be helpful to see Monday with a new perspective. It is the day that follows Sunday. For most of us Sunday is a day we set aside to break from work and meet with fellow believers to worship our God. Sunday, for some, is a day to have that first few moments with Creator God before they make their journey through a week of labor and stress. I am frustrated with the way I sometimes look at Mondays. I myself have looked at it like the farthest point from my next time of worshiping my Lord. When I enter the church sanctuary and hear excited voices and people saying, “I love you Lord! You have rescued me from ultimate judgment, whisked me away to joy I would never have found on my own, given me a hand to hold in times of pain and struggle, helped me to love strangers and enemies, encouraged me when I fail, disciplined me when I walk astray, kept me safe, and been more patient than words,” I am lifted to a new plane. There are others who feel the same way I do about God?! How exciting! The excitement doesn’t end there… After that is time for lunch! ... Then my sadness begins to creep in. It will be over soon. Maybe we should re-name it “Over too Soonday.” Enough with this talk Rudy. It is time to get a new perspective. Monday is not a day to be sad. My Lord is still great and glorious twenty-four hours after Sunday! When I really think about it, Monday is actually the first opportunity I have to express to others what worshiping my God is really like. It is the first time I can relay God’s love to people who may not have experienced what I did a short time ago. And who says, “Rudy, no worship on Mondays. You should know better.” Boy I feel like a goof. I have a small proposal for those like me who struggle with Monday sadness. We should just rename it: “Second Sunday.” It would then precede, “Third Sunday, Fourth Sunday, etc.” I want to have the same excitement and joy that I have entering Sunday Worship Service as I have arriving at work on Second Sunday. Who’s with me?! Just as a side note: The Russian word for Monday is “ponedelnik” which can roughly be translated, “After Do-Nothing.” The word for Sunday is “voskresenye” which means, “Resurrection.” | | |
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