Tag: Paul Nordman

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Fair Question?

When he was in the first grade, my brother had a crush on a little girl in his class. Alas, his was an unrequited love, the affections of his heart unreturned. So Eric appealed to the highest authority he knew, printing this impassioned note to the principal: “Dear Mrs. Martin, will you please make Erika Mustermann1 like me?” Nothing ever came of his valiant attempt, of course, except that Mrs. Martin, who was also our next-door neighbor, gave the letter to our mother.

As we grow from childhood into adulthood, our problems get bigger along with us—it’s part of the human experience. Loyalties are breached, promises are broken, and blame is shifted. Friendship is spurned, innocence is abused, and fortunes are stolen. We could go on to include sacrifices unappreciated, responsibility unaccepted, and efforts unrewarded. Then there are the troubles we bring upon ourselves by our own hasty decisions, poor decisions, or indecision. People wound us, and we wound them—a small microcosm of a global reality.

At points in our lives, then, we are tempted to doubt God or even blame Him for our manmade messes. “If God is so powerful and loving,” we ask, “why is there so much suffering in the world?” Is this a fair question? On the surface, it may seem so, but let’s look deeper. On one hand, our inner six-year-old boy wants God to make people be kind and loving. The “Erika Mustermann” in us, however, doesn’t want to be coerced into anything; we want the freedom to think, feel, say, and do as we please. Fortunately, our relational God does not rescind the human liberty with which He endowed us, so like Mrs. Martin, He doesn’t force our decisions, even though we often choose wrongly.

The real question each one of us must honestly consider is, “How does a brokenhearted God respond to such human suffering?” And I think the answer is this: He fills us, His people, with His Spirit, and He sends us to the hurting who await a glimmer of hope. It’s not just theory or philosophy; I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the octogenarian, who still visits inmates in solitary confinement. I’ve seen the woman who tends to the spiritual and physical needs of the trafficked, the gang members, and the penniless in her neighborhood. I’ve seen the retiree who tirelessly visits the sick and dying. You’ve seen it, too.

God cares about the pain and suffering in our world much more than we do, and while we sit around and question His love, power, or existence, for that matter, He is responding to a hurting humanity through those who go and serve them in His name. The question is not a matter of God’s love or His power, but our willingness to act in them. God, grant us the grace to decide rightly.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

1 The name has been changed to protect the completely unaware.

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He Called His Shot

It was in the 1932 World Series that the all-time baseball great Babe Ruth stepped up to bat. Heckled and jeered by the “bench warmers” in the opposing Chicago Cubs’ dugout, he looked at them, then pointed toward the centerfield bleachers. Although it has never been confirmed, it is widely believed the Babe promised to deliver a home run that very moment. Then with two strikes against him, Ruth crushed the next pitch 440 feet deep into the centerfield seats. Many considered it to be the greatest home run of his legendary career.

One of the awesome characteristics of God is the fact that He calls his shots ahead of time. “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets,”1 proclaimed Amos, a prophet himself. How amazing—and how humbling—this Sovereign over all creation would love us so intimately as to confide in us about His plans and the things that are important to Him!

Of all the Old Testament Messianic prophecies—God shots called in advance—perhaps none describes the first “Holy Week” more clearly than Isaiah 52 and 53. In them, we see the suffering of the Christ who was yet to come: His rejection, disfigurement “beyond human likeness,” crucifixion (“piercing”)—our punishment. Here God also foretells the Messiah’s sacrificial death: His “slaughter,” being “cut off from the land of the living,” and His burial.

These are truly remarkable announcements of things to come 700 years later, yet God had still more to confide, pointing toward an event far beyond the vision of our imaginations: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. “Though the Lord makes [the Messiah’s] life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days. . . . After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. . . . I will give him a portion among the great . . . because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.”

In the first Holy Week, God made good on His word in the person of Jesus Christ. And the new life to which He arose also flows to all who live in Him through faith, for through His suffering, death and resurrection, He would “justify many, and heal their iniquities. . . . He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” How do we know we will rise as He arose? Simple. God has always called his shots ahead of time, and God has always batted a thousand.

Happy Easter, everyone. Christ is risen!

Read Isaiah 52:13—53:12 and take heart at God’s word spoken through Isaiah, the prophet.

1 Amos 3:7

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Billions and Billions Served

Have you ever wondered how many people have lived upon the earth? The Population Reference Bureau pegs the number at 108.2 billion. This, of course, contradicts the popular notion that half of the people who ever lived are alive today, but even if this latter narrative were true, our current 7.5 billion population would indicate 15 billion humans have walked this globe at one time or another. Either way, it’s a lot of people.

Is there anything our planet’s entire population has shared in common? Actually, the Bible points out a couple. For one, we have all done wrong. We all know it, too, for our consciences excel at reminding us of our moral shortcomings, not only the ones we express outwardly, but also those we suppress inwardly.

Our sin, then, points us to the second universality, a more profound one: Jesus Christ has borne the brunt of every sin of every sinner of every age. Foretelling Jesus’ life and sacrificial death, Isaiah wrote, “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all” (Isaiah 53:5, 6 NLT). Think about this: God himself took on human frame and mortal flesh to assume for us the scorn and punishment that was our due.

Admittedly, Jesus taking my punishment for my wrongs is to some degree an abstraction for me: I cannot completely grasp the magnitude of my wrongness, nor can I imagine the fate from which I have been spared. Instead, my spiritual blinders filter out the full seriousness of my situation. But I believe Jesus fully understood our plight—the cavernous depth of our sin, our immeasurable separation from God, and the wrath that awaited. He was unfiltered in understanding and oblivious to nothing, fully aware. Yet He humbled Himself as a servant, anyway, and took our place in punishment, the satisfactory sacrifice for—again—every sin of every sinner of every age. How many might that be? Who knows? It’s like the sign says, “billions and billions served.”

Jesus is worthy of our praise. Jesus is worthy of our life. We serve in His name.

Jesus, you’re awesome. Thank you for paying the price I could not pay. Open my eyes to those around me who long for assurance of your love and their salvation. Amen.