"Tradition"

 

“Tradition”

 

The previous article, “Seven”, brought to mind the title of a 1979 book by Ralph Neighbor, The Seven Last Words of the Church: We Never Tried It That Way Before. While I never read it (but wish I had) and was unable to find a synopsis my sense is that the author was cautioning God’s people not to hold onto the traditions of the past so tightly that it keeps us from trying new things (methods, not changes in the basics of our faith) to be more effective in fulfilling our purpose. And we must remember that every tradition was at some point something new.

In 1983 Jaroslav Pelikan, Professor of the History of Christianity at Yale, said in a lecture, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. And, I suppose I should add, it is traditionalism that gives tradition such a bad name.” So there’s nothing wrong with remembering the past—in fact, we fail to do so at our own peril. Philosopher George Santayana observed, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” And the Apostle Paul reminds us, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us….” (Romans 15:4). Further, in 1 Corinthians 10 he cites examples of what happened when the Israelites forgot what God had done in days gone by.

Clinging to traditionalism was a problem during Jesus’ earthly ministry as well as in the early days of His church. Our Lord soundly rebuked the Jews’ religious leaders by saying, “…You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” (Matthew 15:6). A generation later Paul counseled the church at Colosse, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8). (Emphasis added in both passages.) In each of these situations God’s truth was seen as secondary to human “wisdom”. The specifics may be different, but isn’t this plaguing today’s church?

It took several decades for the King James Version to be widely accepted and “Amazing Grace” was (so I’ve been told but have been unable to document for sure) initially deemed inappropriate for worship. But the KJV has been revered for over 350 years and John Newton’s hymn is likely the most widely sung today. What new things might we be doing in 2021 that may be seen as traditional a half century from now? Whatever they might be, may they be consistent with God’s Word. In the words of Moses, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it….” (Deuteronomy 4:2).

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"Seven"

 

“Seven”

 

Have you ever wondered why seven is considered the “lucky number”? I have so I checked out Google and found the most common reason given is that in ancient times seven planets were visible and thus became a part of pagan worship. (The alignment of planets is still a part of human worship as it influences horoscopes.) Many sports figures have worn this number—it’s been retired 22 times by teams in America’s four major professional leagues. And my guess is that it’s widely used in games of chance for “good luck”.

Seven is also prominent in Scripture—in fact, except for one and two (which often are combined with other words and numbers) it appears more frequently (some 514 times) than any other as a stand-alone number. Here are a few examples:

*Creation (“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”—Genesis 2:2).

*Jesus’ seven sayings from the cross (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Luke 23:34,43,46; John 19:26-27, 28,30).

*His final seven words: “…Into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46).

*First century churches of Asia (“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches….”—Revelation 1:11).

*In expressions of time: Seven days (Genesis 7:4), weeks (Leviticus 23:15), months (Ezekiel 39:12,14), years (Deuteronomy 15:1).

Seven is also the number of completion. When Jesus had uttered His final sayings from the cross He “…breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46). God rested on the seventh day of the week of creation because he “…had finished the work he had been doing.” (Genesis 2:2). And in Scripture’s last book, Revelation, seven appears about 60 times because nothing is to be added or taken from it (Revelation 22:18-19).

A seven word phrase summarizes our salvation by God’s grace through our faith: “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27). A hymn of yesteryear by James Gray contains the line, “I’m only a sinner saved by grace.” This is the seven word testimony every child of God can echo. Can you repeat these seven words by faith?

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"Scripture Lite"

 

“Scripture Lite”

 

Over the years I’ve heard about a number of ways Scripture has been (mis)applied in amusing ways. For example:

*A church nursery sign: “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed….” (1 Corinthians 15:51).

*A church business meeting description: “Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people didn’t even know why they were there.” (Acts 19:32).

*A golfer’s paraphrase of Psalm 24:7: “Lift up your heads, O you golfers, and you will make an errant shot.”

*And a non-biblical one placed by the entrance of our New Hampshire church when the Allen Key used to keep the door unlocked had a habit of disappearing: “Thou shalt replace key after thou usest it.” (Hezekiah 2:10). (Couldn’t resist throwing this one in!)

“Lite” is a shortened version of light and usually refers to a food which is lower in calories and/or sugar than the original. Examples that come to mind include salad dressings, beverages and dairy products. Many of us use them to try to keep unwanted pounds from accumulating but it can become an exercise in futility when we view a dessert menu or drive near a Dunkin’ or Krispy Kreme. But it’s also employed humorously (see the earlier posting “On the Lighter Side”).

Humor has its place (“A cheerful heart is good medicine….”—Proverbs 17:22) but we can’t fall into the trap of what our New Hampshire Associate Pastor Mike Conneally called “Scripture Lite”. (See the article “All?” for another example of his downhome wisdom.) The Mirriam-Webster on-line dictionary defines “lite” as “diminished or lacking in substance or seriousness”. Since “All Scripture is God-breathed….” (2 Timothy 3:16) and “Every word of God is flawless….” (Proverbs 30:5) we must be careful not to water it down when it comes to teaching or living it out. Paul said to the Ephesian elders, “…I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants for you.” (Acts 20:27, NLT). Nor can I—or you.

I can’t help but think the conditions in the world today (and sadly the church isn’t exempt) can at least in some measure be traced back to compromising God’s truth as set forth in His Word. God said through His prophet, “Since (the people’s teachers) have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?” (Jeremiah 8:9). So let’s trade in “Scripture Lite” for “Scripture Light” (“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”—Psalm 119:105, emphasis added).

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"Shouting Stones"

 

“Shouting Stones”

 

Years ago a missionary whom our church had supported for many years visited and spoke of her work in Japan. In the course of her message she referred to Jesus’ entering Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday when the crowd said, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38 quoting Psalm 118:26). When the Pharisees called on Him to rebuke His followers Jesus answered, “I tell you…if they keep quiet the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40). This godly lady then said, “I’m not about to be outdone by a stone!”

These words came back to me a couple of months ago as I was reading Max Davis’ excellent book The Insanity of Unbelief: A Journalist’s Journey from Belief to Skepticism to Deep Faith. As the subtitle suggests, Davis’ story is one which came full circle as he examined the evidence for God’s existence and the Bible’s trustworthiness (much as Lee Strobel has done in his “The Case for….” series, although he grew up in unbelief). One area Davis cites is archaeology. He quotes Dr. Nelson Glueck that “…no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference.” He then gives several examples in support of the Bible’s truth including:

*In 1993 an expedition excavating ancient Dan found the first non-biblical source confirming the existence of King David (1 Samuel 20:16).

*The Stele of Mesha  (now on display in the Louvre in Paris) refers to Omri, a wicked king of Israel (1 Kings 16:16,25).

*Clay cylinders unearthed at Ur (Abraham’s original home) proved that Belshazzar (Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson), whose existence critics had dismissed, ruled Babylon (Daniel 5).

During our 2017 trip to Israel Karen and I saw two other notable examples:

*A limestone brick near Caesarea reads, “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judah” (Luke 3:1; Matthew 27:2). (We saw a reproduction—the original is in an antiquities museum.)

*In the ruins of David’s palace in Jerusalem a tablet was found on which was carved Jehucal, a messenger of King Zedekiah (Jeremiah 37:3).

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day and present-day scientists and other skeptics appear to have this in common: they have their agenda and don’t want to be bothered with any facts, archaeological or otherwise, that don’t fit it. But the stones shout, “The Bible is true!” Let’s not be outdone by them in our worship and praise of the One who is at the center of Scripture: Jesus.

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan