03/08/2009

Sunday class: Prov. 29.24 "The accomplice of a thief is his own enemy; he is put under oath and dare not testify."

Scripture reading: #652

Vespers this Sunday evening @ 5:00: A discussion about Satan - the spoiler.

Wednesday 7 p.m.: Paul - on mysticism in spirituality.

God is watching – be still

Habakkuk: ministry circa 608-597 B.C.

Habakkuk 2.17. The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man's blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. 20. But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him."

One of my favorite praise choruses down through the years comes from Isaiah 55:12. "...ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

A few weeks ago I stood on my front porch and listened to the trees of the field, and the hills, "clap their hands" as limbs snapped by the thousands, and entire trees cascaded over each other falling down hills and ravines. The sights and sounds were incredible. God pruned a vast forest canopy with His winter power. It was the 'worst' ice storm in modern history for this part of Arkansas. The new growth will be beautiful and the ground cover for wildlife will be wonderful.

Over the years I've had wonderful opportunities to stand amazed at the wonder and majesty of God's creation. I've stood among the Redwoods in California; beside the Horseshoe Falls at Niagara; at Lake Como in the Alps; on Lover's Leap on Mackinac Island; and flown over Greenland (which is not) and Iceland (which was green) and have stood on the shores of northeast Scotland (looking toward the North Sea and glad I wasn't wearing a kilt) and on the bluffs of southwest Ireland (gazing toward some distant point where the huge icy seas claimed the Titanic). I've been swimming off of the northeast shore of Oahu when the sun came up over the Pacific and sang loudly "Oh Lord My God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made..." I've been in many countries of the world and 49 of 50 of these United States of America. I've seen magnificence and beauty everywhere I've been...from deserts and sand dunes to crystal sparkling beach sands; from the Sand Hills and the Flint Hills to the Cascades and the Alps.

I've often been perplexed at the scoffing and ridicule I see and hear from Christians about expressions of concern over the deteriorating condition of the physical world around us. The tendency of many kind and caring people to ignore the destruction of our environment is alarming to me. Part of it is attributable to a political affinity (Conservatism) which generally affirms business interests and tends to magnify old Calvinistic doctrines of work-ethic and 'Godliness.'

Many studies have been done examining

· ego justification

· moral disengagement in ethical decision making

· meritocratic ideology

· belief in a just world

· and the Protestant work ethic

that help to explain this behavior. There are theological and sociological frameworks and antecedents that greatly influence this form of cognitive dissonance.

As much as fundamentalists and evangelicals would like to think that their belief systems and practices are 'spiritually' and 'Biblically' based - their behavior and dogmas are far more predictably defined, and/or influenced, by secularly defined systems than by theology.

Generally speaking, conservative Christians want to believe that life is structured fairly to reward the worthy and punish the unworthy. That’s called meritocracy.

Meritocratic ideology, meritocracy, believes that ability and hard work lead to success and, on the other side of the coin - if people are not successful or in some way appear to fall short of some ideal, it is because they have not worked hard enough or they do not have the necessary abilities. Having a meritocratic ideology serves to increase the confidence and the esteem of those who are privileged and to ease their consciences. This difference between New Testament standards and meritocracy creates a conflict, ideological dissonance – the disparity they feel between what the Bible says and that which works to justify a sense of superiority, so they defend the legitimacy of the system in order to maintain a positive image of that system. That’s why there are stereotypes of those who aren’t within a certain social strata. Such stereotypes as those that define immigrants as being lazy, irresponsible, and unintelligent allow people to blame these groups for their own poverty and to deflect blame from the system. That’s the problem with boot-strap individualism, meritocracy, belief in a just world, and the Protestant work ethic. They aren’t compassionate. They aren’t reflective of Jesus’ teaching. They aren’t Biblical.

I want to suggest to you that from David's "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof..." (Psalm 24.1) to Habakkuk's indictment of the devastation of forestry in Lebanon and "destruction of animals...shed(ding) man's blood; (and) have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them" there is a scriptural mandate for us to be carefully and prayerfully aware of stewardship responsibilities for God's creation.

During the ‘golden age’ in the history of Israel, the 11^th and 10^th Centuries B.C., Israel used slave labor to deforest the cedared hills of Lebanon.

Set aside political rhetoric. How would Jesus treat water polluters if He were walking the meadows today? How would Jesus react to corporations trashing waterways, hillsides and valleys if he were walking alongside rivers today?

Let's be really practical...would Jesus be buying water in a plastic bottle rather than drinking water from a glass, or a pottery mug, knowing that it takes 8 times the water to manufacture a plastic bottle than the amount of water it will hold when marketed?

I have been asked why I make a big deal out of stuff like this when there are 'babies being aborted' and 'sinners needing to be saved?' There were babies being aborted in Habakkuk's day and there were many sinners around then, as always.

God listed the impending judgment, coming at the hands of the Babylonians, as part of His judgment against His people for these attitudes of destruction that were sins equal to, and listed alongside of idolatry!

17. The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man's blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

18. "Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.19. Woe to him who says to wood, `Come to life!' Or to lifeless stone, `Wake up!' Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.

20. But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him."