Why do so many people do good with bad results or do bad and are constantly blessed? (Talk Back Series)

Question: I 1000% disagree that what you plant, you harvest. Why do so many people do good with bad results or do bad and are constantly blessed?

There are several ways to answer your question.  Each answer is a little different, but all are true.

1. There is the idea of what it means to have bad results.  As Christians, we believe in the idea of God controlling ultimate justice. There are eternal consequences, both good and bad, for our actions here on Earth.  In the end, we are subject to God's judgement.  (See Psalm 1: “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked...but his delight is in the law of the Lord...for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”) Blessings are not derived from health, wealth or earthly success, but by knowing and living with and for Christ. John 17:3 talks about eternal life in knowing Jesus. If we envy the wicked, we are being shortsighted. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says that the suffering of the righteous is nothing compared to the weight of glory.
2. Often, when we think about God giving us good and bad things, we tend to think of people being either good or bad.  We say, why do bad things happen to good people and why do good things happen to bad people?  The truth is, none of us are good people.  We are all sinners, and we all deserve death and hell.  But we are saved by God's great grace and mercy. Romans 5:8 states: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  All of the good in our lives is already from God, and God loves all of us, even those who have not accepted Christ.
3. The idea that we reap what we sow is more the idea that if we treat others well and with love, then that often comes back to us in the form of love and friendship and seeing good happen to those we care about.  Those who live lives that are selfish and uncaring may still gain fame and fortune, but they will drive people away from them.  Eventually, people will see through someone and will know a snake when they see one. 
4. Often, the Bible actually presents two sides of the same issue.  The “reap what you sow” concept that Josh talked about last week is a great example of this.  Some parts of the Bible (like Proverbs) speak heavily toward justice here and now on earth.  The basic premise of Proverbs is that if you make wise choices, you will be blessed in this life.  This is the basic “rule of life,” the way life normally operates.  If you eat well and exercise, you are probably going to be pretty healthy.  However, if you eat pizza and icecream while watching TV all day, you’re going to need a fork lift to get out of bed by the time you’re 50.  You reap what you sow.  However, other books of the Bible speak more to the “exception to the rule.”  Sometimes, even if you do everything right, you’ll still get cancer and die at 30.  Sometimes, life simply isn’t fair.  Ecclesiastes is a book that goes more in this direction.  Both are true.  There are definitely basic principles for wise and healthy living, but just like English grammar, there are always annoying exceptions to the rules.

(Answered by Matt and Josh)

Israel and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Time - Exodus 6

(This is a sermon by Matt Banner, our assistant pastor.)

    One of the most famous children’s books is also one that I enjoy.  It is called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst (Atheneum Books for Young Readers; Spl Ltd edition (September 22, 2009).  In it, it tells the story of Alexander, how everything goes wrong for him.  It starts out like this:

    “I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day…..I think I’ll move to Australia.”

    And things just get worse for poor Alexander.

• At breakfast, his 2 brothers, Anthony and Nick, get prizes in their cereal.  He just gets cereal.
• On the way to school, he has to sit in the middle of the car.
• At school, his teacher doesn’t like his drawing of an invisible castle.
• He sings too loud.
• He left out the number 16 when counting (who needs 16 anyway)
• His best friend leaves him to become his third best friend.

Nazarene Heritage: Holiness

Isaiah 6:1-8

John 17:13-26
Galatians 5:13-25

    I grew up hating holiness.  I hated hearing about it.  I hated singing about it.  I hated talking about it.  I hated everything about holiness.
    That was a problem - especially for someone in the Church of the Nazarene, which is a “holiness denomination.”  We talked about holiness a lot.  We preached about it.  We sang about it.  We talked about it in Sunday School.  But I hated it.
    Then, I went to MidAmerica Nazarene University, and I discovered that I was not alone.  “Doctrine of Holiness” was required for all ministry students, and it was one of the students’ least favorite classes - right behind “History and Polity of the Church of the Nazarene.”  When special preachers came and did revival services and talked about holiness and entire sanctification, we felt this awkward tension between wanting to stand up and argue and wanting to run to the altar and repent and pray -- again -- for the hundredth time.  Any time “Holiness unto the Lord” was sung, we cringed inside and kind of turned to our neighbors with an uncomfortable smirk, like “There they go again.”  We might even swing our arms in mock joy (“Sing it, shout it, loud and long”), while inside we were scoffing at such an overplayed and under-lived song on an over-preached subject.
    What’s the deal?  Why all the resistance?  Why all the bitter feelings?  Why on earth would future pastors not want to talk about being holy?  And if the theology majors didn’t want to talk about holiness, you know everyone else was either clueless or hostile.  What happened?

Change and Continuity

I stumbled onto this video today.  This girl, Amanda, has taken a photo of herself every day for three years (ages 14-17) and compiled them into a continuous video showing her changes.  This struck me as a metaphor of life and the gospel.  A few observations.
1. It is clear that she is the same person throughout.  She changes.  She grows.  Her hair gets longer and shorter.  The backdrop changes.  The clothes change.  But she is the same.  This is how it goes with us throughout life.  Things change.  We change, but we're still the same - in this case - Amanda.  Also, this is how Jesus (and the church and the gospel) works.  The cultural backdrop changes.  The style changes.  The decorations change.  For the church and our understanding of the gospel, there may be changes and growth.  But the Jesus remains the same.
2. I was strangely encouraged by the fact that she had zits and that they went away and came back and went away and came back.  On the day that she had some of those big zits, they must have felt like horrible problems - remember she's a teenage girl!  But problems that seem monumental today will pass.  New problems will come, sure, but these will go the way of zits in puberty.  They will fade.
OK, that's all for the thought of the day.  If you have other observations, please share.