Bishop Matthew Thomas's Blog

Severe circumstances and the most tormenting decisions often become matters of life and death to us. They are sometimes exaggerated and sometimes very real. The teen who does not get the right kind of denims considering it a matter of life and death would be an example of the first. The person who does not pay ransom to terrorists for the release of their family member would be the second. The phrase “matter of life and death” puts both life and death in a juxtaposition implying the outcomes and perhaps importance of both are equal.

Death is of course everywhere and just as prevalent as life since everything that lives will sometime at least temporally die. Both life and death dominate the landscape of the Bible. Some of the most gruesome episodes of death are found in the pages of Scripture. Some of the most inspiring, hopeful and miraculous stories of life are found there as well. In Jesus alone we have a death that is gruesome and the most underserved in human history and the most inspiring, miraculous and hope-instilling resurrection that brought him back to life and gives the hope of life to the entire race. Death and life accompany one another throughout the Bible. Nevertheless, they are not equal. Life trumped death throughout.

The more one looks through Scripture, though both death and life fill the pages, there are clear signs that they are not at all of equal focus. The creation story is about life in the formation of things. Though sin soon entered the world and death with it, God quickly made provisions for life with a broken human race. Though the flood resulted in massive death, it prevented the overall triumph of death and destruction of his creation, resulting in a kind of new creation or second start. Life triumphed when death seemed indefatigably pervasive and unrelenting. There is plenty of death during Israel’s enslavement in Egypt. The plagues made death inescapable and the drowning of the army in the sea was a crescendo of death in that story. Yet, the exodus is still today one of the most miraculous and tell-tale signs pointing forward that God is about creation, restoration and resurrection. The Passover and subsequent safe exodus leading to inhabiting a new land are all themes of life. The tragedy did not prevail for the people of God.

It is noteworthy that all of the prophets except Elijah experienced death. There are nearly 30 references acknowledging the death or murder of the prophets in the Bible. However, very few details are given in the Bible about their actual deaths. Lots of lore but little literature. It seems as though the plethora of mention of the deaths of prophets in the Bible was not to draw attention to the prophets themselves as much as the guilt of their murderers. The same with the apostles in the New Testament. The text itself mentions only the death of two apostles- Judas Iscariot and James the son of Zebedee. The story of the first is critical to understanding the events leading to the death of Jesus. The story of the second is critical to understanding the growth of the church in its nascent years. The death of the other apostles and even the prophets were not instrumental to the plot and may have occurred after the texts of scripture were complete.

It is not that the prophets and apostles were unimportant or their deaths not worthy of mourning. It is just good for us to remember that they did not exist to be a story to themselves, ending with their own demise. Their lives and ministries were not to celebrate their martyrdom status drawing attention away from the redemptive work of God. During their lives, they lived to tell the truth about God. They lived and spoke of God’s covenants and faithfulness leading to the possibility of our abundant life of obedient faith as well as an eternal life gained by the grace of our Living God.

We are on the cusp of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The circumstances of this week remind us of a matter filled with life and death. Both are unavoidable and of critical importance to the telling of the story. Nevertheless, let’s never forget that it was really a matter of life over death not just life and death. Death and life were not equal in the creation. They are not equal in the Kingdom of God. They will not stand on equal footing in eternity for those who believe. God’s story is and our faith story must be a matter of life over death.

Most people I know would like to change something about themselves. When I was a young pastor, I learned this full well. I found that the richest people I knew (most of whom were self-made millionaires), the most beautiful people I knew (male and female models and beauty queens), and the most creative and accomplished (skilled artist, artisans, scientists and inventors) all had insecurities about personal characteristics that they would change if they could. One of the most creative people among them said he had a difficult time sustaining conversation. One of our state’s beauty pageant queens said she was always self-conscious about her feet, that they were too big. One of the richest people I know said he would love to get better sleep but nothing has helped his insomnia from a young age. One scientist I knew said he never has been satisfied with anything he has ever done. And, the list could go on. In fact, I could add some things about myself that I would alter if I were recreating me.

No matter how accomplished, disciplined or successful we are, we seem to think something about us could be better or more satisfying. That drive makes us human. Between the part of human nature (our fallenness) that makes success and satisfaction hard and our inability to understand the role that frailty plays in our success and understanding the difference between them, complete progress seems to allude most people. The mechanisms we have within us do not seem adequate to the task.

So, how do we experience lasting change and how long can it last? Perhaps the second part of the question is the most important. If I were able to make substantial change on my own, how long would it remain effective? As long as I maintain my physical health? Mental health? Have resources to support it? Have the relational and emotional support to maintain it? Have the will to continue in it? As long as I live in this body? Those are all qualifiers and most of them apply to most change that we can muster. Lasting change is an oxymoron of sorts.

The seed of lasting change cannot come from within, despite what self-help teachers proclaim or lifestyle gurus promise. We are only as strong and capable as the weakest and most susceptible part of us: mental, emotional, physical, etc. Our mortality punctuates whatever change we might enact. Put another way, whatever change we put in place ends when we end. So, it typically works from the most temporary and immediate (my will to change) to the ingrained habit (maintenance of change) which makes it longer lasting and more durable (fruitful living). We enact change by starting now and maintaining it or increasing it over the long haul. And then we are finished; the change ends.

Real lasting change works the other way. It starts by making an eternal change and works backward to the present. However, we cannot enact that by ourselves. It must start with God. When it does, the change actually works backward from eternity to the “now.” Lasting change ironically starts by acknowledging our inability to initiate, complete or even conceive lasting change by ourselves. Lasting change starts with surrender. It follows then with a life of faith in the one who embeds the change in our actual life.

Surrender is very different than independent self-reliance. In some ways, surrender is much easier than self-reliance. It signals an end of effort that has produced nothing or has at least been unsatisfactory. In other ways, surrender is much more difficult than self-reliance. Every fiber of our being is trained to never give up. But, the right kind of surrender is not giving up at all, but getting started the right way.

That kind of surrender is at the heart of the good news Jesus talked about, died and was raised for. The Bible speaks of dying to self and yet living more powerfully beyond dying- both in the here and now and the evermore. Ironically, lasting change starts by getting things settled forever and then allowing the power that created forever to change the now.

Faith in God and surrender to him leads us to desire to do His will. And, just as he has the power to save us for eternity he has the power to enable us to live according to His will which in the long run is the change that is transforming, lasting and, in fact, permanent. That is lasting change.

Habakkuk is a strange text for celebrating Thanksgiving. But, it is the place I always return- year after year- to be mindful of what thankfulness consists. To summarize the prophets narrative it flows simply. First, he called upon God to do something about the evil around him, about people behaving poorly (1:1-4). That is not an unfamiliar beginning to the prayers of good and godly people throughout the ages. People want God to fix what is broken. God actually replied to Habakkuk with promise of a comprehensive answer to his request (1:5-11). However, not unlike God’s answer to many of our prayers, it is not at all what Habakkuk had in mind. In fact, it was an answer that would make Habakkuk regret asking in the first place. So, Habakkuk prays again, shifting his prayer to convince God to change his plan (1:12-17). It was something akin to the first answer to the first prayer not going as we like so try a second prayer to reroute God’s plan.

The irony should not go unnoticed. People pray ardently for God to do something. Then, God in his providence and omniscience answers contrary to the prayer’s envisioned answer. Subsequent prayer is spent attempting to undo the unexpected or unwelcomed answer even though we know that God knows best. In Habakkuk’s case, at least he was wise enough to know that God’s ways are ultimately best. So, he promised to keep an eye out for the answer (2:1) whatever it might be. God in his wisdom and persistence doubled down on his assessment of the situation and his answer, which we should know is always right whether it looks right or not (2:2-20). At least he offers explanation and rationale, something he is not obligated but always willing to do.

This little book of the Bible ends not with God, but with Habakkuk. We know God is good for doing what he promised. His answer to Habakkuk’s prayer is revealed in several other books of the Bible. We don’t need to see it here. We really need to see how Habakkuk resolves his own issues with how God works. His concluding prayer (chapters 3) contained essentially three elements, all of which are worthy of our attention and replication. First, he acknowledged that God’s ways are best and hence his willingness to accept the answer given (3:1-2), all while asking for God’s special mercy and care in delivering the answer. Second, he did what we should all do- reminded himself of God’s greatness, power and wisdom throughout time (3:1-15). That transcends this moment and this request. A good, big picture reminder of who God is and how he works is critical. If we don’t like the answer, we should take a journey down the corridors of history to remind ourselves that Father knows best. Finally, he concluded that though God’s answers may be difficult to swallow or even understand at times, he commits in prayer to continue following and serving God, pray and rejoice in God even if everything around crumbles into a heap (3:16-19). If everything else fails, God will not.

So, the conclusion of this book is not really about the specific answer to that specific prayer at all. It was the conclusion and resolve of Habakkuk’s own faith in God. In the end, Habakkuk resolved to be thankful for God and God’s answers not because he got what he wanted, but because he got God and what God wanted. The predictable outcome is joy (verse 18) in knowing God is good and answers well; and strength (verse 19) coming from God to handle the circumstances.

Thanksgiving is not just about thanking God for all the stuff, all the blessings and all the great answers to prayer that were answered just as we thought they should be. It is the ability to be thankful to the core when nothing is going as planned, blessings seem far away and prayers are not answered in the manner we had hoped. After all, indefatigable people of faith are thankful people because they know that God is good for whatever he promised and will give joy and strength whatever happens. Everything contains reason to give thanks for truly thankful, faith-filled people.