Larry Devich
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Tolerance
I saw this today and liked it, the intolerance of the "tolerant" is absurd at times:
The Angry Man
An angry man upon the street —
A man of wrath, a man of war,
A man who truculently bore
Over his shoulder, like a lance,
A banner labeled “Tolerance.”
The Angry Man
- by Phyllis McGinley
An angry man upon the street —
A man of wrath, a man of war,
A man who truculently bore
Over his shoulder, like a lance,
A banner labeled “Tolerance.”
And when I asked him why he strode
Thus scowling down the human road,
Scowling, he answered, “I am he
Who champions total liberty —
Intolerance being, ma’am, a state
No tolerant man can tolerate.
“When I meet rogues,” he cried, “who choose
To cherish oppositional views,
Lady, like this, and in this manner,
I lay about me with my banner
Till they cry mercy, ma’am.” His blows
Rained proudly on prospective foes.
Fearful, I turned and left him there
Still muttering, as he thrashed the air,
“Let the Intolerant beware!”
2 days of Reflections for Lent
What with working extra hours and having Serenity around I am getting just a bit distracted... well actually I tend to get distracted in normal times as well so I guess it's just the "same old same old" going on. In any case here are yesterday's and today's reflections for Lent.
7. Isaiah's Vision Wednesday
Read Isaiah 6:1-13 and 7:14 (And, if time permits, the prophecies below)
And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The
whole earth is full of His glory!" (Is. 6:3)
Even while the Israelites turn more and more to idols in the Old Testament,
the Lord still remains for His people. He sends prophets to proclaim His Word,
and He stays at the temple, present with mercy.
One of the prophets whom God sends is Isaiah, and Isaiah has a vision of the
Lord in the temple. The Most Holy Place is a cube of only about thirty feet per
side; yet in the vision, it seems much bigger. God is high and lifted up, above
Him are two seraphim who cry out, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!” It is as if Isaiah walks into this finite
room and finds infinite heaven therein, as if heaven and earth come together
because God is present. There He is.
Isaiah is terrified because he has seen the Lord and declares himself a dead
man for it; however, the Lord is not in the temple to destroy, but to have mercy.
A seraph flies to Isaiah and touches a hot coal to his mouth, declaring him
forgiven and holy.
Plus, the Lord will draw closer to His people. Through Isaiah, He
prophesies, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His
name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). The promised Savior is on the way, but He will not
be just another man; He will be Immanuel, which means “God with us.” God
will come so near as to become man in order to save man. He won't be “with
us” in some abstract way; people will be able to point to Him and say, “There
He is!”
As Israel continues its path to death in the Old Testament, the Lord faithfully
keeps repeating His promises. In the flesh, the Savior will perform all sorts of
miracles, making the blind see, the deaf hear, the mute sing and the lame leap
for joy (Is. 35:5-6). He will be born in Bethlehem so that He can stand and feed
His flock (Mic. 5:2-5a). He will come to the temple (rebuilt after its destruction
by the Babylonians, and nowhere near as magnificent) and make it more
glorious than the first (Haggai 2:6-9), because He will be there in flesh. He will
ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech 9:9-10; God on a donkey?!). But it will
not be all glorious to the eye: Immanuel will look extremely ordinary and
unremarkable (Is. 53:2); and then He'll be stricken, smitten, afflicted and killed
for the sins of man (Is. 53:3-12).
One more prophecy: as the Old Testament ends and the Scriptures fall silent
for 500 years, the Lord declares through Malachi, “'And the Lord, whom you
seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In
whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,' Says the LORD of hosts” (Mal. 3:1).
“He is coming,” says the Lord. It is the hope of God's people throughout the
ages that they can point and say, “There He is. There's our Savior.” In His
means of grace, it is true for you, too: there will never be a time where the Lord
will abandon you.
8. The Fiery Furnace Thursday
Read Daniel 3:1-30
"Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire;
and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Dan.
3:25).
The temple would not always stand in Jerusalem; because of the idolatry of
Israel, the Babylonians leveled the Lord's house in 527 B.C. as they destroyed
the city and led the Israelites into captivity. This hardly means that they were
able to defeat the Lord: Ezekiel had a vision in which the Lord and His glory
departed from the temple because of the sin of the people (Ezek. 10:18). They
didn't want Him around, so He obliged. Thus, the temple still looked like the
Lord's house, but it was no longer. This should serve as a somber warning today
that a church may look like a church , but not be the Church.
There was no temple in Babylon, but the Lord still drew near to His faithful
people. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego refused to worship the idol that
King Nebuchadnezzar built; and for their faithfulness to God, they were bound
and sentenced to death in the fiery furnace. Their guards perished from the heat
as they were thrown in, and the trio's death was humanly certain. But, when the
king looked into the furnace, he saw otherwise: there were four men, not three.
They were free, not bound. And the fourth man looked like the Son of God.
Even though Israel's sin had taken the people far from the temple, the Lord
would not forsake His children. There He was, walking through fire with three
of His sons.
Ancient Babylon is modern-day Iraq; and in the desert sands there, one sees
a strange sight. It's a natural gas torch from fumes that seep up through the
ground, and it's been burning now for at least 3000 years. Local tradition makes
this place the location Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace; we'll never know for
sure. But it's there, and it's still burning.
Here is the astonishing, joyful truth: for the soldier stationed in Kirkuk or
Fallujah; for the local Armenian Christians there; and for the believer in
Northridge, New York; the Lord is with them. The Lord is thus with you. He is
as with you in His means of grace as He was with the three in the furnace.
Rather than rare razzle-dazzle, He makes use of common things like words and
water, bread and wine: for where on earth is man found where there is not words
and water? Where on earth is man found where bread and wine cannot be
obtained? No, the Lord does not restrict Himself to one temple in Jerusalem or
make His presence rare. He remains constantly available to His beloved people,
be they in Iraq or America, crib or deathbed.
Chances seem slim that you'll face a literal fiery furnace, but you will still
have your share of fiery trial (I Pet. 4:12). Such times will beat you down and
seek to reduce you to misery and doubt. But the Son of God walks with you, as
near as His means of grace. He has the final Word, and His Word for you is
forgiveness and eternal life.
www.scholia.net
Pastor Tim Pauls
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Boise, Idaho ¶ 3/01/2007 05:07:00 AM 0 Comments
7. Isaiah's Vision Wednesday
Read Isaiah 6:1-13 and 7:14 (And, if time permits, the prophecies below)
And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The
whole earth is full of His glory!" (Is. 6:3)
Even while the Israelites turn more and more to idols in the Old Testament,
the Lord still remains for His people. He sends prophets to proclaim His Word,
and He stays at the temple, present with mercy.
One of the prophets whom God sends is Isaiah, and Isaiah has a vision of the
Lord in the temple. The Most Holy Place is a cube of only about thirty feet per
side; yet in the vision, it seems much bigger. God is high and lifted up, above
Him are two seraphim who cry out, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!” It is as if Isaiah walks into this finite
room and finds infinite heaven therein, as if heaven and earth come together
because God is present. There He is.
Isaiah is terrified because he has seen the Lord and declares himself a dead
man for it; however, the Lord is not in the temple to destroy, but to have mercy.
A seraph flies to Isaiah and touches a hot coal to his mouth, declaring him
forgiven and holy.
Plus, the Lord will draw closer to His people. Through Isaiah, He
prophesies, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His
name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). The promised Savior is on the way, but He will not
be just another man; He will be Immanuel, which means “God with us.” God
will come so near as to become man in order to save man. He won't be “with
us” in some abstract way; people will be able to point to Him and say, “There
He is!”
As Israel continues its path to death in the Old Testament, the Lord faithfully
keeps repeating His promises. In the flesh, the Savior will perform all sorts of
miracles, making the blind see, the deaf hear, the mute sing and the lame leap
for joy (Is. 35:5-6). He will be born in Bethlehem so that He can stand and feed
His flock (Mic. 5:2-5a). He will come to the temple (rebuilt after its destruction
by the Babylonians, and nowhere near as magnificent) and make it more
glorious than the first (Haggai 2:6-9), because He will be there in flesh. He will
ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech 9:9-10; God on a donkey?!). But it will
not be all glorious to the eye: Immanuel will look extremely ordinary and
unremarkable (Is. 53:2); and then He'll be stricken, smitten, afflicted and killed
for the sins of man (Is. 53:3-12).
One more prophecy: as the Old Testament ends and the Scriptures fall silent
for 500 years, the Lord declares through Malachi, “'And the Lord, whom you
seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In
whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,' Says the LORD of hosts” (Mal. 3:1).
“He is coming,” says the Lord. It is the hope of God's people throughout the
ages that they can point and say, “There He is. There's our Savior.” In His
means of grace, it is true for you, too: there will never be a time where the Lord
will abandon you.
8. The Fiery Furnace Thursday
Read Daniel 3:1-30
"Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire;
and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Dan.
3:25).
The temple would not always stand in Jerusalem; because of the idolatry of
Israel, the Babylonians leveled the Lord's house in 527 B.C. as they destroyed
the city and led the Israelites into captivity. This hardly means that they were
able to defeat the Lord: Ezekiel had a vision in which the Lord and His glory
departed from the temple because of the sin of the people (Ezek. 10:18). They
didn't want Him around, so He obliged. Thus, the temple still looked like the
Lord's house, but it was no longer. This should serve as a somber warning today
that a church may look like a church , but not be the Church.
There was no temple in Babylon, but the Lord still drew near to His faithful
people. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego refused to worship the idol that
King Nebuchadnezzar built; and for their faithfulness to God, they were bound
and sentenced to death in the fiery furnace. Their guards perished from the heat
as they were thrown in, and the trio's death was humanly certain. But, when the
king looked into the furnace, he saw otherwise: there were four men, not three.
They were free, not bound. And the fourth man looked like the Son of God.
Even though Israel's sin had taken the people far from the temple, the Lord
would not forsake His children. There He was, walking through fire with three
of His sons.
Ancient Babylon is modern-day Iraq; and in the desert sands there, one sees
a strange sight. It's a natural gas torch from fumes that seep up through the
ground, and it's been burning now for at least 3000 years. Local tradition makes
this place the location Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace; we'll never know for
sure. But it's there, and it's still burning.
Here is the astonishing, joyful truth: for the soldier stationed in Kirkuk or
Fallujah; for the local Armenian Christians there; and for the believer in
Northridge, New York; the Lord is with them. The Lord is thus with you. He is
as with you in His means of grace as He was with the three in the furnace.
Rather than rare razzle-dazzle, He makes use of common things like words and
water, bread and wine: for where on earth is man found where there is not words
and water? Where on earth is man found where bread and wine cannot be
obtained? No, the Lord does not restrict Himself to one temple in Jerusalem or
make His presence rare. He remains constantly available to His beloved people,
be they in Iraq or America, crib or deathbed.
Chances seem slim that you'll face a literal fiery furnace, but you will still
have your share of fiery trial (I Pet. 4:12). Such times will beat you down and
seek to reduce you to misery and doubt. But the Son of God walks with you, as
near as His means of grace. He has the final Word, and His Word for you is
forgiveness and eternal life.
www.scholia.net
Pastor Tim Pauls
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Boise, Idaho ¶ 3/01/2007 05:07:00 AM 0 Comments
