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Click here to read Isaiah 50 on BibleGateway.com

For your enjoyment, I give you the best joke of Immanuel Kant:

An Englishman at an Indian’s table in Surat saw a bottle of ale being opened, and all the beer, turned to froth, rushed out.
The Indian, by repeated exclamations, showed his great amazement.
Well, what’s so amazing in that? asked the Englishman.
Oh, but I’m not amazed at its coming out, replied the Indian, but how you managed to get it all in.

I’ll pause for a moment whilst you regain you breath after the riotous laughter. (And just a bonus fyi, the first joke on record is a Sumerian comment on the hilarity of flatualence. Date: 1900 BC. Hey, if a joke’s funny, stick with it.)

TWO SPHINXES WALK INTO BAR…

It’s fairly clear that humor has undergone some changes throughout history. What was funny 50 years ago is not funny now; just watch some of the old sitcoms and variety shows from the early days of television. Sure, there are some good moments, but overall the humor does not stand up to the ravages of time.

Of course, change doesn’t necessarily mean improvement. If you look at humor these days, what you’ll see most commonly in the comedy clubs is a ridiculously frequent use of profanities and sexual innuendo. If you look at “family-friendly” sitcoms, you will see sarcasm and mocking others as the mainstay. Is this better than pratfalls and Lucy stomping grapes?

Unfortunately, we have let cultural humor affect us as Christians more than we might think. When was the last time you met someone that never put anyone else down? Most of us can probably count those kinds of people on one hand. Even in churches on any given Sunday, you’ll hear more “funny” comments about dumb bosses, nagging wives, or spoiled children than the seldom heard encouraging word.

THE SMALL SPARK

The Bible tells us that our tongues are powerful; we can build or destroy lives with our words more easily than we can we violence. Isaiah 50 tells us “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.” If you are a clever person, if you have a way with words, then you have a responsbility. And that responsibility isn’t to make people laugh or be the life of the party. Your tongue is meant to sustain the weary.

The world is full of weary people. Walk down the street, and note how many of the people you see seem to be carrying an invisible burden. Talk to someone at your coffeeshop, and see how many are genuinely excited about their life. Most of your friends probably have a sense of weariness about them.

This is your opportunity. You can bring life and joy to someone, just by being an encouraging person. Not by pointing out why their life is messed up, not by mocking others with them, not by showing how wise you are. Simply by being an encouragement.

Who can you encourage today?

Click here to read Deuteronomy 22 on BibleGateway.com

Back in the 60s and 70s in the US, there was a popular philosophy that said basically “as long as you don’t hurt someone, you can do whatever you want.” If you want to put toothpaste on your Oreos, go for it. If you want to ride around town on your bike wearing a mumu, have at it. If you want to have a week-long drug-crazed orgy under the guise of a music festival, knock yourself out.

While somewhat outside the norm back then, this mentality has seeped into our culture at large, and now most Americans would agree with the sentiment without a second thought. As long as you don’t hurt someone, as long as your activities only involve consenting adults, as long as you live and let live, then you’re living a moral life.

NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Christianity stands apart on this. Repeatedly in the Bible, we are told not just to avoid doing wrong, but to do right. For example, many religions of the world have some form of the Golden Rule, but it tends to be in a negative phraseology: don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do you, don’t hurt others because you wouldn’t want to be hurt, etc. Jesus flips this around; he says not only should you not do harm, but you should actively seek to do good.

The Old Testament (you remember, the part of the Bible that has nothing to do with Jesus?) has this same sentiment. In Deuteronomy 22, we read the following commands (including the all-too-common fallen cow scenario):

If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner. If they do not live near you or if you do not know who owns it, take it home with you and keep it until they come looking for it. Then give it back. Do the same if you find their donkey or cloak or anything else they have lost. Do not ignore it. If you see your fellow Israelite’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help the owner get it to its feet.

BUT I TELL YOU…

Biblically speaking, it’s not enough to just not steal; you should actively help someone who has lost their possessions. Finding a dropped hundred dollar bill on the street isn’t a cause for a dinner out; you should try to find the owner. If the cashier gives you too much change, you should give it back, even though it “their fault.”That’s what makes the Christian life so challenging. It’s not just following a list a rules, it’s a continually striving to behave better, to “be perfect, even as the Father is perfect.” Will we ever get there? Probably not (except for my wife, of course. She’s perfect. And cute.) But the command isn’t “don’t be like Satan.” The command is “be like God.”

That should be enough of a challenge to keep you busy for a while.

Click here to read Isaiah 48 on BibleGateway.com

There’s an old saying (old in that I can’t remember where I first heard it, coupled with being too lazy to look it up) that says “most of us spend the week sowing wild oats, then go to church on Sunday and pray for crop failure.” We’ve all seen them in church. Note the man who spends all week developing mathematical irregularities in his business accounting, then makes sure to put an extra twenty bucks into the offering. Pity the poor woman who sees the two people she had been “discussing” earlier in the week talking to each other in the foyer after church. The single who “slipped” during the week, and prays that if there’s just no pregnancy this time, it’ll never happen again; the obese man who prays for a clean doctor’s report whilst planning the after-church run to Burger King; and the parent who promises they’ll monitor their kid more closely, if only those shop-lifting charges are dropped this week.

ALL I WANNA DO IS WHAT I WANNA DO

Why do we do it? Is it just part of our nature? Paul talks about knowing the good he should do, but still doing the other. We know we should spend time in prayer, but the game went late. We know we should read the Word, but that guy on Facebook is soooo wrong; he must be corrected for the good of the world. We know we should give to the poor, but those shoes are only on sale this week. We make excuses because deep-down we believe that what we “want” to do is more important than what we “should” do.

Here’s the question: do we really trust God? He gives us some pretty direct outlines for behavior throughout the Bible, along with what will happen if do or don’t follow them. Do we believe Him? Or do we think “well, yeah, but this is a special circumstance.” Yes, I know I’m supposed to submit to authority, but my boss isn’t even a Christian; I’m sure Jesus didn’t mean to submit to him. Yes, I know I’m supposed to give to the Church, but if I don’t pay this bill, they’ll cut off my cable; surely Jesus wouldn’t deprive me of the NFL. Yes, I know I’m supposed to turn the other cheek, but I can’t just let people walk all over me, right?

FATHER KNOWS BEST

The point is not “can you follow this list of rules to prove you deserve heaven,” but “if you follow these direction, you will have life fuller.” Do you believe it? Do you really trust that even when it seems crazy, God’s way is really the best? Or do you think “if only God didn’t have so many rules, life would be so much better.” Isaiah tells us today that God “teaches what is best for you…if only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river.” Can you do it? Can you follow God’s commands and trust that He knows what’s best, even when it seems “wrong” or “old-fashioned” to you?

God tells us that consequences will follow our decisions.  If we follow his directions, the consequences will be for our benefit; if we don’t, our consequences will come back to bite us in the country hams.  If we plant seeds from God’s word, we’ll harvest His plan for our life.  If we go our own way, then we’ll have to live with the results that we get, rather than what an infinite Creator has planned for us. Which do you prefer?

Will you be excited to reap your decisions? Or are you praying for crop failure?