#186 Need to Be Better

Last week at the Republican National Convention, Vice President Mike Pence said, "So let’s run the race marked out for us. Let’s fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents. Let’s fix our eyes on this land of heroes and let their courage inspire. And let’s fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith and our freedom and never forget that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (For the sake of reference, Hebrews 12:1-2 reads, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." And 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.")

Let me be absolutely clear: what Vice Pres. Pence did is wrong. It is not okay by any means. He has taken language about Jesus and applied it to the United States. Jesus deserves our ultimate allegiance. Jesus deserves all honor and glory. Jesus determines and models the values we should live by. The United States and its flag do not. To even imply that the United States shares these traits that only belong to our God is blasphemy. To think that the United States embodies the highest ideals for humanity and that true blessings and freedom follow from trusting and serving the nation is idolatry. America is a false god. Jesus Christ bought our salvation through His suffering and death on the cross and His resurrection, and so His Spirit brings His people freedom from sin and death, breaking the power the devil and evil hold over us who believe in Him. Political freedoms are definitely good, but comparing them with our freedom in Christ is laughable at best. From the Bible's perspective, every American who does not believe in Christian does not have freedom, no matter how many civil liberties she or he may enjoy.

Now I've picked on Vice Pres. Pence because he recently and very publicly sinned in this way. I'm not saying that Vice Pres. Pence is the worst politician ever or that no one else ever wrongly speaks about God and the United States. Nor am I saying that what Vice Pres. Pence has done is unforgivable. But we as Christians cannot support this. Vice Pres. Pence is very public about his faith in Jesus. He should know better. We as American Christians should not tolerate blasphemy and idolatry from our politicians. Americans are not the people of God. The United States is not God's kingdom. God's people are Christians throughout the world, the church in all places (and times). God's kingdom covers the whole world. There are a lot of good things about the United States, but it, like every other nation on earth, is twisted and broken by sin. We need to acknowledge the wrongdoing and evil that are present in the United States and that have been here throughout American history. The United States cannot save us. Only Jesus can. The United States cannot bring true freedom. Only Jesus can. Glory to God alone.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#185 End Times

During this COVID-19 outbreak I've heard people wondering about the end times. Is the rapid spread of this virus a sign that we're close to the end of the world? Are we living in the end times?

These kinds of discussions drive me nuts. So let's try to set the record straight. The Bible sometimes talks about world history in terms of two ages: the present age and the age to come. The present age covers history from creation until the time when Jesus returns and brings the new creation. The age to come begins with the ministry of Jesus and covers all eternity in God's kingdom. If you're paying close attention, you'll notice that those two ages overlap. We're living in that overlap. Ever since Jesus came, the present age has been coming to an end and the age to come is beginning. In biblical terms the answer to the question "are we living in the end times?" is yes. We've been living in the end times for approximately 2000 years. The writers of the New Testament (rightly) believed that they were already living in the end times. Acts 2:17 says, "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people…" When the Spirit comes on God's people on Pentecost, Peter says that Joel's prophesy has been fulfilled. 10 days after Jesus' ascension, His people are living in the end times. Hebrews 1:2 says "in these last days [God] has spoken to us by His Son." John writes, "Dear children, this is the last hour" in 1 John 2:18. These are the end times because we are no longer waiting for Jesus' first coming and His redeeming/saving work. We are waiting for His return and the completion of God's plan.

Also, the idea that we can use COVID-19 or some other world event to determine exactly when Jesus will return is ridiculous. Jesus says we can't figure it out: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…. Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him (Matthew 24:36, 42, 44). And in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Paul says the day of Jesus' return will come "like a thief in the night." This is not something that we can predict or figure out. God tells us in the Bible that we must live in such a way that we are prepared for Jesus to return at any moment. The time to live for Jesus is now. Trying to determine when this will happen is irresponsible and bad theology.

So let's stop worrying about the end times. Of course we're living in the end times. Let's worry about living like Jesus and living for Jesus to the best of our ability, because our lives belong to Him.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#184 Fruit Troubles

I really enjoy eating fresh fruit. I've almost never encountered a fruit that I didn't like. Each year I look forward to all the different fruits that are in season during the summer. Since I generally do the grocery shopping in our family, I try to get a nice variety of fruits to eat throughout the week. There's just one slight problem: my family doesn't share my enthusiasm for fruit. Tess really only eats what I call "boring" fruits: apples, bananas, oranges, grapes. Lanie is three years old and often doesn't want to branch out, so she'll convince herself that she doesn't like something before she even tries it. And Mia isn't eating solid food yet. So sometimes I want to eat something like kiwis or cherries, but my grocery store only carries packages of a dozen kiwis or two-pound bags of cherries. Unable to convince my family to share the fruity goodness, I end up eating kiwis or cherries every day for a week, by which point I'm glad they're gone. So my dreams of variety don't always work out as smoothly as I hope. Maybe someday my kids will be ready and willing to share with me.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#183 Playoffs!

Baseball is back! (Well, at least it is when I'm writing this on Monday evening. I've been seeing reports of quite a few postive test results from Miami, so we'll see if this lasts.) In the  time leading up to baseball's return, I saw some murmurs on the internet that this season's champion wouldn't be legitimate because of the shortened season. (I've seen similar arguments leveled at the NBA's return. I would imagine that the NHL has these grumblings as well.) Some people are up in arms that the best team might not win because we'll lose 102 games (at least) that help separate the better teams from worse teams.

To these people I say: I'm not sure you understand the point of playoffs. Major American sports have playoffs so that the best team doesn't always win. We like it that way. If we wanted the best time to win every year, we'd skip the playoffs and just hand the trophy to the team with the best record at the end of the season. Sports actually used to work that way. We, the sports-loving people of America, decided we weren't crazy about that. So we instituted playoffs. Maybe the most talented team won't win the World Series this year. Good! (Side note: I don't think my beloved Brewers have ever been the most talented team in baseball [with the possible exception of 1982], so I'm all for giving other teams a chance.) If there were no upsets, we wouldn't watch sports. The regular season schedules are designed to be about as fair as they can be. Everybody plays the same number of games. If you want to be champion, you've got to win. Don't come crying to me about being more talented if you lose. Go out there and prove it on the field!

And as always, go Brewers!

Grace and peace,
BMH

P.S. Now if you want to complain about MLB expanding the playoffs this year, that's a different matter. I don't like that, but we don't have time for that right now….

#182 Seven Years

Tess and I have been married for seven years today. (I think the proper response is to congratulate me and tell Tess how sorry you are for her.) A lot has happened in the past seven years. About a month into marriage we truly moved out on our own and started our own home in Grand Rapids, MI. I started seminary. Tess got her first "real" full-time job. Tess got a different job. We spent a summer interning in Washington. I finished seminary. We moved to Iowa so I could begin my first "real" full-time job. We had a baby. We had another baby. With the possible exception of some time in between Lanie's birth and Mia's birth, we've been in a pretty constant state of transition.

But let me tell you, the past seven years have been wonderful. I don't think even a single day has gone by in this stretch that hasn't been made better because Tess is in my life. The bad days aren't as bad as they could be, and the good days are even better than they would be if I was alone. Without Tess I don't know how I would've made it through all those transitions. Even this year seems unimaginable without Tess. After Mia was born I didn't feel like I was truly able to relax until Tess and I were together again in Des Moines. For the past few months COVID-19 has reconfigured my work life—changing the way our worship services work, limiting my ability to visit church members, putting much of my volunteering on hold—but Tess has been with me through it all. She's listened. She's encouraged. She's supported. Being the only pastor at a church can be a very lonely job, but every day I come home and I'm no longer alone.

Long story short, if we somehow went back time, I would marry Tess again in a heartbeat. After seven years, I'm excited to see what's yet to come.

Grace and peace,
BMH

#181 He Did All This for You, Little One

Yesterday Mia Grace Hofman was baptized. Since I am an ordained minister, I had the incredible privilege of administering the sacrament (or, in less official church language, I did the baptizing). I love the sacraments. In my Christian tradition, we have two: baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe that God confirms His promises to us through the sacraments. He nourishes and strengthens our faith by making His grace visible and tangible through the water of baptism and the bread and cup of the Lord's Supper.

One of the things baptism symbolizes is our new life in Christ Jesus. We are saved because Jesus unites us to Himself in His death and resurrection. Going under and coming back out of the water points to our dying and rising with Christ. Baptism challenges us to respond (and really demands our response) to God's grace by turning from our old, sinful, selfish life and following Jesus in a new, holy, loving life. In a very real sense, we no longer live; Christ lives in us. But we only respond to God's actions. We can't earn our new life, our salvation. This is entirely a gift of God. When it comes to saving ourselves we are helpless. In my tradition, we baptize the babies of Christian parents, which reminds us that our salvation is completely God's work. As our liturgy beautifully says, "[Dear child], for you Jesus came into the world. For you He died and conquered death. He did all this for you, little one, though you know nothing of it yet. We love because He first loved us." God saves us because He loves us. He did everything necessary to save us long before we can even begin to realize we need saving. He decided to save us before we were even born. Seeing a small and fragile baby be marked as God's child and welcomed into Christ's church reminds us all that we are helpless without Jesus, that we have become God's children only because of God's grace. He did it for us.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#180 Misery

In my branch of Christianity we have a statement of faith called the Heidelberg Catechism. It's a series of (generally) short questions and answers that covers a lot of the basics of what we believe. I really love the second question and answer. (I'd like to tell you Q&A 2 is my favorite, but that's Q&A 1, which says that our only comfort in life and in death is belonging body and soul to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ. That's everybody's favorite. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.)

The catechism asks, "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" Then it answers, "Three things: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance."

That first part can seem like it's coming out of left field. To have comfort and joy, I must know how great my sin and misery are, and you must know how great your sin and misery are. How does that add up? We don't like to focus on sin or misery. It's one thing to know that the world is miserable—creation is broken and often harsh, society is twisted and corrupt. It's often easy for us to know that other people are sinful—human beings are fallen and inclined toward all sorts of evil. But knowing those things isn't really enough. If I am truly going to believe the good news of Jesus Christ and receive life and peace in Him, I need to understand how sinful and miserable I am. (And the same goes for you, too.) I am wicked and self-destructive. I sin again and again and again, and on my own I can't stop, no matter how hard I try. (And to be honest, left to my own devices I don't try that hard or for all that long.) My sins deserve death. I face troubles and sorrows and disasters that I can't escape under my own power. Understanding my sin and misery properly sends me running to Christ Jesus, the only one who can rescue me. Understanding my sin and misery properly helps me truly understand God's grace in delivering me. Understanding my sin and misery apart from Christ makes me truly want to thank Him by living a transformed life with His help and His power. One of the amazing things about our God is that He can make misery a good thing by using misery to lead us to Him and His salvation. There's some comfort for you.

Grace and peace,
BMH