judgment

The Pope is Dead, but Jesus is Alive

~ mercyfortheday ~ Leave a comment

The Pope is dead, but Jesus is alive. We can’t forget which of these two can actually forgive sins. We can’t forget which one died on a cross for the sins of all humanity and then rose from the dead. Nor can we forget which of these two is God and the other is not. We haven’t seen Pope Francis rise from the dead, and we won’t. He’s in eternity now and won’t be returning to this earth. On the other hand, Jesus was crucified on a cross and buried in a tomb. He arose from the dead on the third day and exited the tomb, never to return. And after his ascension to heaven, he is now building an eternal home for his faithful followers. The Pope cannot do this.

Pope Francis died the day after Easter. As the world was celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Pope was on his deathbed. After suffering a stroke that left him in a coma, he breathed his last. Jesus’ final breath was taken after having a gall-filled sponge pressed to his lips in a last ditch effort to curb his thirst. He then cried out, “It is finished.” His life was over.

Oh. Many may want to compare the two. The Pope and Jesus Christ. So…let’s compare them.

On Easter, Pope Francis took one last ride in his popemobile. Oh. He knew he wasn’t well, and he asked his caregiver if the ride was a good idea. And just hours before he breathed his last, he gave a tearful tribute to that caregiver with thanksgiving for the suggestion for that final ride. Those were his final spoken words.

Jesus’ last ride was on a donkey as he entered Jerusalem. Known as his Triumphal Entry, Jesus knew he was soon to be sacrificed for the sins of his people. As throngs lined the roadway, they threw their coats and palm branches in his path proclaiming, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” The entire city was in an uproar as he entered on the back of that borrowed donkey. When some in the crowd asked who he was, others shared that he was Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.

The head of the Church didn’t die on Easter Monday, he actually rose from the dead the day before. Some may be confused about who the head of the Church Universal actually is. It isn’t anyone called Pope. The Pope is an elected official over the Roman Catholic church. He holds no sway on people’s eternal destiny. He can’t forgive anyone’s sins. He can’t heal anyone or raise them from the dead. Only Jesus Christ can do those things.

I’m not comparing the Pope and Jesus Christ to insinuate they’re identical. Not at all. The life and death of Jesus was planned and accomplished through the wishes of his Father. The life of Pope Francis played out for most years out of the public eye. His final years spent in the Vatican showed his true colors.

Oh. Each of these two men brought division. They just went about it in different ways.

As one writer said, Pope Francis was known to be a globalist and a socialist. Some believe he may have been a Marxist. He was very divisive and catered to the liberal wing of the Catholic church. He supported the climate change agenda, mass immigration, the LGBTQ agenda, and he pushed vaccines on the world. He was known to silence conservative voices within the church. Some say his positions aligned more with the Church of Satan than traditional Catholic values. Others have called his a “liquid” Catholicism and disruptive in ways that favored liberals. Pope Francis upset many with his push for a progressive acceptance of ideas the conservatives and the Catholic church had long opposed. He used his prominent position to push his ideas on global political issues, and he brought theological disruption to the Catholic church.

You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. Matthew 7:13-14

I read a number of articles this week extolling the goodness of Pope Francis. Some praised the man, but many others said quite the opposite. One writer hopes that the new Pope isn’t stupid and is more aligned with traditional Catholicism. According to the statement from the Vatican, “he taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized.”

I’m only sharing what I’ve read about the man. I never met him.

A similar scenario played out in Jesus’ day of people either loving him or hating him.

Jesus was clear to tell us that his ministry was divisive because his teachings stirred up people’s lives. His message pitted one against another. Oh. That wasn’t necessarily his intention, but he knew that his teachings wouldn’t be popular with just everyone. He didn’t cater his message to specific groups. His message was the same wherever he traveled. He had no favorites. And he shared that people would be divided against each other because of the truth that he spoke. And he spoke it anyway. His message was one for the ages, and it’s as true and relevant today as it was the day he first shared it.

Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34

But why did Jesus’ message bring division, you ask. Jesus preached to the masses, and he spoke in parables. People didn’t always understand the message, but it left them asking for more. His words penetrated their hearts. But there were those whose hearts were cold to the hard truths he shared, and they walked away rejecting his message. They didn’t want to hear that they needed to guard themselves against every type of greed. Or that instead of storing up earthly wealth, they needed to have a strong relationship with God. They didn’t want to hear that they shouldn’t store up treasures on this earth; instead their treasures should be stored in heaven. Jesus knew his preaching of the gospel would divide families instead of uniting them. He knew his teachings would make waves among the leaders of the synagogue, and he did it anyway. He knew some people would be vocal opponents of his message and others would be strong supporters, regardless of the cost. Jesus taught us to love everyone even when they live in opposition to biblical teachings.

The peace of Jesus is the cross. But the cross is the sword God wields on earth. It creates division. The son against the father, the daughter against her mother, the member of the house against the head–all this will happen in the name of God’s kingdom and his peace.

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

The message of Jesus was a message of peace. If you disagree, you’ll need to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). But his words of peace called for people to make a radical, personal commitment to serving him. And that message divided those who chose to serve him and those who chose to reject him. Family members were at odds with each other because one chose Jesus and one did not. That’s what we see still to this day.

“I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against. ‘Father will be divided against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Luke 12:49-53

The people also wanted their Messiah to have an earthly kingdom, and Jesus knew that was impossible. His reign would be for eternity, not for a few earthly years. The Pope, on the other hand, spent the last years of his life in palatial surroundings, governing the Roman Catholic church. He inserted his left-leaning beliefs into politics. He led as though his role was one of power, wanting total control.

The teaching of papal infallibility in the Roman Catholic Church provides a grace to the Pope, which means that when he speaks officially in declaration of revealed truth in faith or morals, he is always correct on matters of doctrine. It doesn’t mean he is without error, but his words are thought to come from the Holy Spirit. Pope Francis had recently commented that “all religions are paths to God”, but Jesus clearly stated that he and he alone is “the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6

These words comparing Pope Francis to Jesus Christ gives us much to ponder. We can’t put our hope in one man, regardless of his position on this earth. He was made in the image of God, but that didn’t make him a child of God. Only those who call on the name of Jesus Christ and repent of their sins have the right to be called children of God. My hope is that this Pope had made that confession before his death.

Angry at God

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God called Jonah to travel to Nineveh, and Job decided he had other plans. He didn’t want to go to Nineveh and warn the people that their city would be destroyed if they did not repent and turn from their evil ways. So, instead, he went as far as he could the other way. He boarded a ship headed for Tarshish, which is approximately 2,500 miles in the opposite direction of Nineveh. If it hadn’t been obvious to God before he boarded the ship, Jonah’s attempt to get as far away from Nineveh said it all. He refused to go.

After Jonah was swallowed by a whale and laid in its belly for three days, he had a change of heart. He repented of his foolishness and told God he would do what God asked of him. So Jonah went throughout the city warning the people of God’s coming judgment on them. And lo and behold. The people repented, and the king sent out a decree that everyone must mourn and turn from their evil ways.

Jonah was angry that they had actually listened to what he told them. He wanted them to suffer. He wanted them to pay for their sins. He was mad. And he went outside the city and sat under a shelter to see if God would really destroy them. But God taught Jonah a lesson. He caused a great plant to grow up quickly to shade Jonah from the heat, and Jonah was relieved. But God also sent a worm to destroy the plant, and the next morning the plant withered. This angered Jonah even further. But God told him that just as Jonah felt sorry about losing the plant, God also felt sorry for the people of Nineveh.

You can read this story in more detail in the book of Jonah.

What if God had treated Jonah the way Jonah wanted him to treat the people of Nineveh? Was living in the belly of a whale for three days something to laugh about? God punished Jonah, but he also saved his life when Jonah repented and promised to go to Nineveh. God gave Jonah a second chance to preach God’s message to a nation that hated Israel, so why wouldn’t God also give Nineveh a chance to repent? Jonah begged for mercy and forgiveness, so why didn’t he want the Ninevites to do the same? He wanted them to suffer and pay for their sins. He wanted retaliation for being an enemy of the nation of Israel.

And just perhaps Jonah was afraid for his reputation. If he warned Nineveh to repent or be destroyed and they survived, what kind of prophet was he? He wasn’t considering that God’s mercy for the Ninevites was greater than his prophecy not being fulfilled. After all. There was a condition to the prophecy. If they repented, they would be saved. If they didn’t repent, they would be destroyed. He wanted them destroyed. And he wanted to gloat about it.

Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. James 1:20

It’s easy for someone to speculate on the reason Jonah didn’t want to do what God wanted.  But it sure is a great reminder to point the finger back at ourselves and ask why we don’t want to do the things God asks of us. Why do we fight God? Does the task he’s asking of us seem too hard? Will there not be enough fanfare and applause for us after the fact?

The question is. Do we have a legitimate reason to be angry with God when we only know a small part of his plan? What do we expect of God, anyway?

Why would Jonah not want the Ninevites to experience repentance and forgiveness? Why would he want them to suffer? It seems he didn’t love his neighbors as himself. After all, Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and history tells us that Assyria was an enemy of Israel and Judah.

Jonah knew that if the Ninevites repented of their sins, the spotlight would then turn to the wickedness of his people. The Israelites had turned from God and were worshipping false idols. If God showed mercy to Israel and Judah’s enemies, would he be merciful to them, as well? Perhaps they wouldn’t even repent as Nineveh did.

What Jonah didn’t know was that God was storing up punishment for the Ninevites. Sure. They repented of their sins that day, but God would later punish them for their revenge on God’s chosen people. The Ninevites were an evil and extremely cruel nation. They would later be destroyed, but Jonah didn’t know that part of their future. God kept his full plans hidden from Jonah. We can’t expect to know all of God’s plans for ourselves or for anyone else. What we must remember is that nothing goes unnoticed by God. He will repay everyone for the good and bad they do.

The story of God’s punishment of Nineveh can be found in Isaiah 10 and the book of Nahum.

Perhaps we need to consider the difference in retribution and retaliation. Retribution is motivated by justice, while retaliation is driven by a desire for revenge. Jonah’s anger reflects a deep seated desire for revenge, and God acted in retribution when he later wiped out the Assyrians.

The story of Jonah and the Ninevites is an example of God’s justice and mercy. We should pay for our sins, but the death of Jesus Christ on the cross paid the ultimate price for our sins. We still have to live with the consequences of our sins, but our sinful slate is wiped clean with the forgiveness that only comes from God our Father. Let’s let God decide who to punish and how to dole it out. Let’s not take matters into our own hands, but trust that God can and will do his job very thoroughly in his own time.

Judgment is Coming

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God spoke through Malachi to the people of Israel. He reminds them of his never ending love. And they say. Really?? How have you loved us? Most likely, the people are remembering the many, many years of hardship they have faced. Wars. Defeat. Famine. Loss. Taken exile to a foreign country by an enemy king. What they seemed to have selectively forgotten is that these troubles of were their own doing. Their ancestors had walked away from following God’s commands. They did as they pleased. They stopped obeying God. And this current generation was acting exactly like their ancestors. Disobedient to God.

As God reminded them of their sins, they responded with questions they wanted answered. Their hearts had been hardened to the truth, so God answered their questions and reminded them of how they were dishonoring him.

How have you loved us? In a mocking tone, they asked if God really loved them. In a moment of desperation, someone spoke the quiet words out loud. They didn’t see proof of God’s love, because all they saw was their lives in chaos. After years of being held captive in a foreign country, their families had been allowed to return home. Although they had been living in their ancestry homeland for many years, they were back to their old tricks. Doing their own thing. Giving less than their best to God. And he was calling them out on it. They didn’t feel loved by the One who loved them more than anyone ever could. God reminded them that they were his chosen people. He chose the Jewish nation over all other nations who were at his disposal. He loved them with an undying love. They didn’t feel secure in his love, because they had abandoned him.

How have we ever shown contempt for your name? Actions speak louder than words. It’s true. Israel’s priests were treating God with contempt, and they didn’t even realize it. They didn’t realize they were offending God by giving imperfect offerings to him. They did their work out of duty, not authentic allegiance to God. God knows the difference, in case anyone has forgotten. They weren’t giving of their best when only the best was acceptable. They were just going through the motions and expecting God’s blessings.

How have we defiled the sacrifices? The Israelites knew that when they brought their sacrifices to the temple, they were to bring their best offering. Not second best. Not blemished offerings. Perhaps they had forgotten or just chose to overlook this important fact, but God wanted their full allegiance and obedience. When they brought their sacrifices, God required spotless lambs without blemish. They were to bring the best of their livestock, but they were bringing animals unfit for sacrifice to an Almighty God.

God saw their acts of self righteousness and called them out for it. You’re not giving of your best to me, but yet you want my best. You want my blessings and my mercy and my grace, and yet you halfheartedly bring your sacrifices to me. God reminded them that their earthly rulers wouldn’t accept blemished offerings, so why should he. Yet they begged him for mercy as they brought crippled, stolen and sick animals to sacrifice. Why do they expect God to show them any mercy when they bring tarnished offerings?

How have we wearied you? The Israelites had a warped sense of right and wrong. They lived as though those who did evil were good in God’s eyes. They believed that God approved of wrongdoing. Oh. How self righteous they were. Trying to twist truth for lies. Trying to rewrite definitions of good and evil. And they tried God’s patience with this way of thinking and living. He was tired of the games they were playing.

How can we return when we have never gone away? God reminded the Israelites that they were the ones who had left him. He had not left them. Yet they thought they hadn’t walked away from him. How could they think that? Their years of exile and hardship happened because they disobeyed God. And they didn’t know how to return to him. They thought they had never left him. Unbelievable. Their hearts were so evil that they didn’t know right from wrong. God called them to repentance, and they didn’t believe they needed to repent.

When did we ever cheat you? The Israelites were robbing God, and they didn’t even realize it. They were stealing right from under his nose by withholding their tithes and offerings. And they thought nothing of it. They were required by Jewish law to give their first and best gifts to support the priests in their work. The Levite priests didn’t own land, so they had no way to provide food for their families. The other tribes were to provide out of their abundance for the priests, and yet they weren’t. They were holding back what rightfully belonged to God, and they didn’t even think twice about it.

What have we said against you? The Israelites would speak against God, and once again they weren’t aware they were doing it. How could they be so blind? Their hearts had turned so far from God that they no longer knew when they were sinning against him. They said it was useless to serve God. But they still wanted his favor. They were unwilling to humble themselves in service to God. They had forgotten that the reward for serving God was far greater than the cost. So they chose their own way, and God was calling them on it.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and all. But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. Malachi 4:1-2

The Israelites had most likely been back home for one hundred years after their seventy years of exile in Babylon. One hundred years of sliding back into their old ways of disobeying God. Oh. People. How easy it is to forget God’s love when you’re focused only on yourselves. On self love. How easy it is to forget God’s goodness when you think being good is good enough. How easy it is to block out God’s voice when we hear him speaking words we don’t want to hear. To shrug off the touch of God’s nudge when he’s moving us in a direction we don’t want to go.

And then God offered mercy to those who feared him and honored his name.

God had shown the Israelites in so many different ways how wide and deep his love was for them. But they forgot. They forgot all the miracles and rescues and provision and forgiveness he had given to them each time they turned away and then crawled back in repentance. They had once again turned their heads and their hearts to their own leanings. And they weren’t leaning toward God. They were once again leaning in direct opposition to God’s commands. God never stopped loving them or showing proof of his love. They just weren’t looking for it, so over time they were blinded and their hearts were hardened against God.

And what they forgot was brought to their attention by God. Oh. He never misses a thing. He called them out on their bad behavior.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name! “But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’ Malachi 1:6

Time and time again, the Jewish people expected good things from God, yet they’re not obeying him. Again. They’re giving of themselves halfheartedly. John writes in Revelation3:15-16 that you either hot or cold. If you’re lukewarm, God will reject you. God requires our best. When we give him only half of our allegiance, it’s basically no allegiance. When we write our own rules and live our own lives, and do our own thing without regard for God’s will and God’s commands, we’re disobeying him. We’re saying our ways are better than God’s ways.

The Israelites lived their lives as if they were better than God. They did what they wanted. They gave the sacrifices they wanted to give, not what God required. They did things their way not God’s way, because God’s way demanded too much of them. For many years later, the Jewish nation was still doing this to God. They were still giving their half best, or even less than half. And their lives were miserable.

I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! Revelation 3:15-16

Here we are today doing the same thing. We say we love God, yet we live in ways that dishonor his name. Without a second thought, we live for ourselves. We’re not loyal to God. But we expect all his mercy and grace when we’re in desperate need of a miracle. We’ve left God behind. And we wonder why our world is in such a state of disarray. We wonder why groups are working to destroy nations with high inflation, food shortages, unnecessary wars, and manmade disasters. We don’t even consider that we act spitefully against God. We don’t realize that we have wearied God to the point of exhaustion. We don’t understand that God’s patience won’t last forever. The clock is ticking, and Jesus will return whether we’re ready or not. Whether we believe or not. There is a price to pay for our selfishness and pride.

We’ve forsaken God. We’ve run as far from God’s love as we can get. But yet. He still loves us. When we ask how God can love us when we’re going through intense suffering, we’ve forgotten that he’s right there with us in that suffering. We forget that he knows all about our pain. We don’t understand that we’ve robbed God. When we fail to give him our tithes and offerings. When we offer him less than our best. When we ignore the needs of others, we are ignoring God’s commands.

We expect God to treat us well. To treat us as if we are his prized possession. And we are just that to him. We are his prized possession. We just don’t act like it. Yet we continue to do what pleases ourselves instead of what pleases God. We prize ourselves more than we prize God.

Those who have accepted him as Lord and Savior of their life are children of God. Only children of God will have eternal life with him. It’s not too late to turn to God in repentance. It’s not too late to ask forgiveness of our sins. To fall on our knees and bow in submission to God Almighty. Let’s not wait another day. While it is still today, there is time for repentance. Shall we pray.

Heavenly Father, we’ve fallen so far from your grace by our selfish acts. We’ve ignored your tender loving kindness far too long, yet we demand that you treat us well. We think only of ourselves in this life and not in our eternal life. As we bow in humble repentance, we ask you will hear our prayer. Forgive us of our sins. Shower us with your continual love as we seek to serve you first. Help us to cast aside our sinful ways and serve you only, as you are the only God. Heal our hurts and restore us to your good graces. Remove our arrogance and fill us with humility that only seeks your favor, and not the favor of others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.