Battle and Death

2Samuel 1:25

How the mighty have fallen
in the midst of the battle!

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We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore,
Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are your overlords.

On we sweep with threshing oar,
Our only goal will be the western shore.

So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing.

"The Immigrant Song" written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, recorded by Led Zeppelin from "Led Zeppelin III"

Edwin Starr and later Bruce Springsteen sang the song "War." It carries the chorus, "What is it good for/Absolutely nothin'." Well, many wars are good for nothing. Most wars have a tendency to kill young boys for the indiscretions of older men. Some wars are fought because someone can't leave well enough alone. More and more, wars are fought not for noble reasons, but only for wealth and power; both only fleeting blips on the radar of history.

Saul had fallen out of favor with the Lord. David is rising in stature. It doesn't help matters that Saul's son Jonathan and David are like brothers together, Saul's line is threatened because the people hail David, the conquering hero.

Philistines attack the Israelites at Gilboa and Saul heads into battle with his sons, but it is not to be his victory. Saul and Jonathan with Abinadab and Malchishua, two of Saul's other sons, all die in the battle. It is a horrible day for David.

How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!

How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore.

War is horrible, war is a terror; especially the wars that are fought for the wrong reasons with weapons and tactics that are devastating to the armies that fight them and the nations that wage them. (Yes, I am saying that war, when engaged poorly, can harm the very soul of a nation.) It is highly likely that there are people who feel this way of every war, without regard to whether it is just or not, and maybe this is what we need to remember, there is just war.

Perhaps even more important than the war itself is what follows. Is there justice in the peace that follows the war. The leading cause of World War II was the Treaty of Versailles. The way WWI ended, the penalties placed at the feet of the Germans, laid the groundwork for the next world war. The Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe after World War II. Europe is stronger today because of it. American reconstruction was another matter after the assassination of President Lincoln. This is an example of winning a war and losing a peace which America still pays for today.

It is time to remember Robert Plant's plaintive cry in "The Immigrant Song," "So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins, For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing." In battle the mighty will fall. It is how we follow the fall that matters to the end of days.

Winning poorly only lays the way for the next generation of war victims.

Mistaken Identity

John 8:23

He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.

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The police in New York City,
they chased a boy right through the park.
And in a case of mistaken identity
they put a bullet through his heart.

"Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" by the Rolling Stones, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

A case of mistaken identity... this song was written in 1972. It begins with the true story of a ten year old boy who was shot and killed after being mistaken for a bank robber.

On the human level, the death of Jesus is a case of mistaken identity. The temple elite thought that Rome would remove them from leadership if the people rioted at Passover, a very real possibility. One of the Chief Priests says it is better for one man to die. Who knew they had picked the wrong man and the right man all at the same time.

It's better for one man to die. And after all, there was a new prophet in town and he is filled with the spirit of God. He performs miracles, he heals, and he teaches that the kingdom of God is come. At the same time, he doesn't teach civil disobedience. He told the people to pay their taxes. He tells the people if they are conscripted to carry a soldier's pack one mile he should carry it for two. In meekness and humility, he has become the most seditious prophet ever. Then again, that part's true.

In this passage from John, Jesus tells the people that he is not like them. Anyone who thinks that Jesus is like them is quite wrong. He's divine in ways we can only dream but really can't imagine. He's even human in ways that our sin soaked lives can't approach. We aren't like him, yet because there are people who think he's just another man he will be crucified.

In a case of mistaken identity, they hung him upon the cross.

The good news for us is that this had to happen. This is what was supposed to happen. Untimely death for unjust causes is always a heartbreaker, but it's the resurrection that follows that brings glory to this life.

Who Dies for a Righteous Person?

On the anniversary of the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King


Romans 5:6-11

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

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Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

"Pride (in the Name of Love)" by U2

There's the question, "Who dies for a righteous person?" Well, Paul had it right in the letter to the Romans, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person. It seems all too obvious from the witness of scripture that the righteous person ends up dying for the unrighteous. It's always the most righteous who die for the unrighteous. That's the way is has always been and will continue to be. There's no sign this trend is changing.

When we look at the martyrs of the ages, the apostles, Stephen in the first century, even the reformers-they were all willing to die for two things-God and that people would know Him. The martyrs were willing to die for God and the people. So too with Martin Luther King, Jr.

King and the martyrs died not so that their names would be remembered by history, but so that Our Lord will be known in the world. This is what they boast, this is their pride-that we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. This is what they boast, this is their pride-that we boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

And all this while sinners.

Thank God for MLK, more than for what he did which was formidable, but in whose name he did it, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is worthy of boasting. This is worthy of pride.

Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, free at last.

Seasons and Seasons to Follow

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die

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And when I die, and when I'm gone
there'll be, one child born
in this world
to carry on, to carry on

"And When I Die" by Blood, Sweat, and Tears

For everything there is a season, and the best thing about seasons is that they come and they go. Seasons work in cycles. There needs to be a winter for the earth to recover before spring can come and the world become restored. In a wheat field, one kernel must die to produce a stalk that will supply more kernels. As there is a season for life, there will come a season for death. As there is a season for death it will lead to a season of new life.

John 11 reminds us in the face of the death of his friend Lazarus, he wept. Jesus wept. Is there a more emotional sentence in scripture? Nothing greater has ever been said in fewer words: Jesus wept. Jesus shares our human pain. Jesus mourns with us. In this single moment, the fully-human fully-divine Lord has never been more human. Jesus wept.

Jesus wept knowing full well that he would raise Lazarus from the dead. He could have been filled with joy and glee, he knew this illness wouldn't end in death, John 11 says that too. But when he sees Mary, when he sees her grief, Jesus weeps. Then Jesus goes to work. In this moment this first season of death for Lazarus comes to an abrupt end with his return to life, new life in Jesus Christ.

For everything there is a season, a time to live and a time to die. Blood, Sweat, and Tears shares the word of Ecclesiastes that this season will surely end in our death. And just as surely that death will lead to new life.

Thanks be to God that the death of Jesus leads not to the death of faith, but the death of death itself. Death will come, but death is already defeated. Death is already conquered. The season of new life in Christ began that Easter Sunday and continues. By this there'll be, one child born in this world to carry on. To carry on.

The Sting of the Reaper

1Corinthians 15:54-57

When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Come on baby (Don't fear the reaper)
Baby take my hand (Don't fear the reaper)
We'll be able to fly (Don't fear the reaper)
Baby, I'm your man

"Don't Fear the Reaper" from Blue Öyster Cult's "Agents of Fortune" (1976)

Who is the one who calls us to come with Him? When it is our Lord Jesus Christ we enter into new life, eternal life.

Often when we think of eternal life, we think of length. To live eternal life is to live forever, often this life is spoken of as what comes after death, but eternal life is more than life after death. Better than life after death, it is real, true life that is had while living. Yes, eternal life is not just what comes later. The Lord intends us to live eternal life now.

As BÖC encourages us, we don't have to fear death with the One who gives us eternal life, but that is because we don't have to fear life anymore, not death. When we live our lives in the fullness of the Lord, what we experience is so much better than what came before it is difficult to compare one to the other.

When we live life in Christ, we live as a community. We live as God's people. We no longer seek power from one another, all we need we have. We no longer have to fear it all coming to an end because we live every day in the fullness of the one who created the day. Death loses its sting because we have no regrets for today when we live the eternal live on earth.

Yes, the eternal life of heaven will be wonderful. There will be peace and glory and worship beyond imagine. But we are not to live this life as if it is a weigh station to eternity. We are to live this life as a practice for eternity.

And while we will never reach that perfection, practice makes more perfect than living the life God does not intend for us.

Death, Law, and Grace

1Corinthians 1:54-57

When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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So where to now St. Peter
If it's true I'm in your hands
I may not be a Christian
But I've done all one man can
I understand I'm on the road
Where all that was is gone
So where to now St. Peter
Show me which road I'm on
Which road I'm on

"Where to Now, St. Peter" by Elton John

Elton John's music often flows between beautiful, haunting melodies and lyrics that betray those lilting sounds. Here's an example. The glorious sounds of the piano melody and the story of a soldier dying on a foreign battle field mix like oil and vinegar. Like oil and vinegar, when they mix they make something more than when they stand alone.

The problem with the lyric, from a Christian point of view, is that this soldier has done all one man can. It's a problem because there is nothing we can do to earn a way into heaven. When we try to justify ourselves through the law, we cannot. When we stand before God, or as the popular image, St. Peter, and we seek to justify our lives, according to the law all we would hear is "Really, that's all you got?" The power of sin and death is in the law, so when we try to justify our selves and our lives through the law we lose.

But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we lie on our respective battlefields, when our perishable bodies put on imperishability, and our mortal bodies put on immortality, then what is written is fulfilled, death is no longer death. Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Death is no longer an issue because it has been beaten. So where to now St. Peter? If we try to justify ourselves by the law we live in death. When we rely on the grace of our Lord, when we accept the gift of new life purchased with his death and redeemed with his resurrection then we live.

That leaves one more question, what road are we on?

Thwarting the Will of Pharaoh

Exodus 1:15-19

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”

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Why; our backs are now against the wall
Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage
Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage
Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage
Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage

"Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys

In the beginning of Exodus, we learn that time had passed. So much time had passed that there wasn't a king in Egypt that remembered Joseph or what he did to save Egypt. Also since the death of Joseph, the Hebrew nation had grown mighty in number. So between forgetting the historic relationship between the two nations and Israel growing mighty in number, Pharaoh worried Israel was becoming "mighty" within his borders. He worried that if the Sons of Israel had become too mighty that they would conquer Egypt, and that's no position a monarch wants to be in.

So what did he do? He demanded the infant sons of the nation of Israel be slain by the midwives while their mothers were on their birth stools. How nasty is that? Pharaoh expected the midwives to use the knives which would cut the umbilical cord to slit the newborn's throat. Pharaoh expected the midwives to wrap the umbilical cord around the throat of the boys and strangle them. Pharaoh expected the midwives to obey, but they did not.

It's easy to understand their fear, they feared God. Who wouldn't? Slaying a baby immediately after the mother gives birth has got to be among the nastiest, coldest evils a person could ever do. When you see God after this little thing, you'll have some 'splaining to do. It's also quite a tyrant could expect a subject to do this. If the king could expect a midwife to slay a baby it's hard to imagine what else the king is capable of doing. It's easy to understand that they would fear Pharaoh.

They would have been foolish if they hadn't feared God; and they would have been foolish if they hadn't feared Pharaoh. The midwives had two fears, one for each course of action. Each action could have cost them their lives. But there are differences in their fears.

Fearing Pharaoh they could die. Lying to the king is never a way to make friends and influence policy. They could have died. Once.

Fearing God, they feared the one who could take their life and so much more. In the end they chose to fear the One who could give them life as well as take it away. They feared the One who gives life, and because they did they were rewarded with children of their own.

Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage! Because the midwives chose to thwart the will of the King of Egypt, because they chose to sabotage the will of Pharaoh they saved the lives of many Hebrew boys, including one we know as Moses. Le chiam to the sisters who helped preserve the law.