theolatte

Carpe Diem: A Reflection on Rejoicing

Dan — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:14:10 +0000

This is the day the Lord has made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

I’m often reminded of this verse from the 118th Psalm early in the morning as I contemplate my day. I was born into a cynical generation and if I’m not careful I will become its chief apostle. In my depravity I can easily default to a negative attitude and a critical spirit. But God, in this Psalm, and the entire Bible for that matter, is calling me to the attitude of Christ and to rejoicing.

“This” is the day the Lord has made. The Psalmist was not rejoicing in yesterday or tomorrow but in today. He was not reflecting on the best day from his past, or the potential of an epic day in the future. He was rejoicing in today. He was not bound by failures of the past or challenges of the future. He was rejoicing in today. He did not construct an ideal day and say he would rejoice in that. He did not say if this happens, or if they do that, or if I get a call from whomever, then I will rejoice. No. He rejoiced in “this” day.

“This is the day the Lord has made.” God’s sovereign creation of each day is the foundation for his worship. Question: Why should we rejoice in this day? Answer: Because God — the gracious creator who is long-suffering and patient towards us, who in his kindness and mercy offers us Christ — He made this day. We rejoice today because we know the maker of the universe and, in Christ, he calls us friends.

“Let us rejoice.” Wait a minute…the verse isn’t singular, is it? It’s a first person plural pronoun. The king was inviting all like minded children of Israel to redeem the time, to rejoice in the day, and to be glad in God’s sustaining provisions. Rejoicing would be a lot easier if we didn’t have to dilute it with others, wouldn’t it?

That means the person who gets under your skin — yeah, them — you are to rejoice and be glad with them. You could go it alone, I suppose. Just rejoice in your “God and I” time. But then you would be disregarding this verse. And then you wouldn’t really be rejoicing in “this day” would you? Ergo, you can’t rejoice alone and obey Psalm 118, can you?

Rejoicing isn’t a solo act. God is doing something great in the world that will culminate in people from all tribes and tongues praising their redeemer who rules supreme over “this day.” Today we can experience a small foretaste of this future event. Today we can be glad in his promises and rejoice in his creation. For on “that day” there will be no more choice. But today — on “this day” — we can invite others to join with us in praising the King Eternal.

God is calling me — and you — to rejoice in this day because he made it. Rejoice in it with all its difficulties and hardships and aggravations. Rejoice in it in the midst of all the havoc that a fallen world throws at you. For he made this day. And he invites us to know him. And experience joy and gladness. And to rejoice. On this day. Together.

A Ballad of Suicide

Dan — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:49:53 +0000

It seemed appropriate that my final lecture last week before Easter was on Nietzsche.

The only answer to nihilism is resurrection.

If man, as Kansas sang, is only “dust in the wind” then we should “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Surely, anyone who accepts this proposition should have little problem eating or drinking. It is the being merry part most find difficult. It seems the seventeenth century philosopher Pascal was right. Nothing but God can fill the void in our hearts.

I came across this poem by literary heavy-weight G.K. Chesterton that illustrates man’s despair in contrast to his longing for joy.

“A Ballad of Suicide”

The gallows in my garden, people say,

Is new and neat and adequately tall;
I tie the noose on in a knowing way

As one that knots his necktie for a ball;
But just as all the neighbours—on the wall—
Are drawing a long breath to shout “Hurray!”

The strangest whim has seized me. . . . After all
I think I will not hang myself to-day.
To-morrow is the time I get my pay—

My uncle’s sword is hanging in the hall—
I see a little cloud all pink and grey—

Perhaps the rector’s mother will not call— I fancy that I heard from Mr. Gall
That mushrooms could be cooked another way—

I never read the works of Juvenal—
I think I will not hang myself to-day.
The world will have another washing-day;

The decadents decay; the pedants pall;
And H.G. Wells has found that children play,

And Bernard Shaw discovered that they squall,
Rationalists are growing rational—
And through thick woods one finds a stream astray

So secret that the very sky seems small—
I think I will not hang myself to-day.

I find it interesting that Chesterton makes reference to two atheists in the poem—George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells—which seems to me to point to the aforementioned contrast.

There is a longing deep within the human heart for meaning and purpose.

Even in our despair—the “thick woods”— we find a “stream astray.”

Herein is our hope: Christ the fount of living water.

Everything Matters: A Post-Nihilistic Perspective of Easter

Dan — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:30:27 +0000

Nihilism says that nothing matters.

Easter says that everything matters.

Nihilism is the atheistic philosophy that recognizes the lack of an objective basis for morality or purpose apart from the existence of God.

If nihilism is true, we should eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die; Dust to dust, and all that jazz. This reminds me of the bleak lyrics of the Metallica song Nothing Else Matters:

So close, no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters

I never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don’t just say
And nothing else matters

If God doesn’t exist then Metallica is right, and the best we can do is live for ourselves, “Forever trusting who we are…and nothing else matters.”

But if God does exist things are profoundly different. If there really is something to Easter – a real event in human history – then everything matters.

Looking back at Easter we find purpose, significance, hope, and meaning for all who believe in Christ.

We have purpose and hope because of a historical event of a man named Jesus raising from the dead and proving his audacious claims of being able to forgive sins and offer Heaven.

Christians must not say, Jesus has risen and nothing else matters – but rather – Jesus has risen now everything matters.

Eschaton: Lyrics of Longing

Dan — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 19:22:07 +0000

Longing for that day,
To my feeble heart I say,
“Christ is coming on His way.”