Barzun

In preparation for a speech, I was running back through some of the influential thinkers of the post-Reformation period who have deeply imprinted our own times. For guidance, I turned to the great man of letters [what a fun way to be known!] Jacques Barzun. Dr. Barzun was a genius and polymath, and his cultural history From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present is the finest history of the modern era ever penned. That he was 93 years old when it was published in the year 2000 just makes it richer

Pascal

Somewhat surprisingly, Barzun chose Blaise Pascal as the supreme representative of the time period I was asked to cover. Pascal is not very popular among modern historians because of Blaise’s intense devotion to Christ. Modern folks love his bright science but they scoff at his brilliant faith. Barzun, the most respected historian of his generation, countered that with a quote so brilliant that I just had to share it with you.

In the conventional judgment, Pascal’s mathematics and scientific work atone for the Christian apologetics. Voltaire’s retrospective attack [summarizes]: “Pascal, you are sick.”…That judgment is at fault. Pascal’s brilliant essay on love shows the necessity of the two aspects of his mind [Christian apologist and scientist].

Pascal sees God’s majesty as so far removed from the earth, and His designs as so incomprehensible, that the mortal man has no connection with Him except through Christ, who was both man and God. And what Pascal sought [and found]…in Christ was love.

His religion is rationally tied to his science…When Pascal wrote in his famous Pensee: “the eternal silence of this infinite space frightens me,” he was thinking…How had all these rotating spheres come to be? Why all this void? And how absurd was that enigma, Man! To repeat: God’s design was inscrutable. Christ was the sole link with Meaning, and Christ’s message was forgiveness and love…His miracles were all humane in purpose, and the miracle and mystery of His existence mediated for man the mystery of the infinite space and silence of creation. – JB

Friend, the world will often say that you are sick when you live out both aspects of your mind – your trust in God and your profession. But both are necessary for us to fulfill our role in our time and make a lasting impact on times to come. I pray that Pascal encourages us to live out who we really are – people exploring, searching, and changing the world because in Jesus all our needs are answered.

Confined but free

This week I am in Germany and Switzerland preparing for this summer when I will be teaching a Reformation & Renaissance tour (the tour will also include Italy).

On the day you read this note, I will likely be meditating on scripture inside the walls of the Wartburg – the great castle in Germany where Martin Luther was protected by the Elector Frederick. Though Luther chafed at the confinement, this was a very important step – not only for him but for the billions of humans born in the last 500 years.

Freeing the text

At the Wartburg, Luther began his great translations of the Bible into the common tongue. Nothing is more significant than God’s Word being made accessible. An economist friend of mine likes to tout how free trade brings remarkable health to people. A Congressman I know says the same thing about separation of government powers. They are both correct and the numbers bear them out. However, accessible scripture trumps them all. Here on earth and forever, more people have been granted health & wealth through the Bible than any other source. Period. Wycliffe, More, Tyndale and others made amazing contributions to Bible translation. But all of them, including the amazing servants translating the Bible today, must look to Wartburg as the place where the text was set free in a major way.

Freeing dissent

At the Wartburg, people found they could biblically stand against the state. The Elector Frederick was in an amalgamated political position that is very difficult for modern people to understand. He owed allegiances to (in no particular order) the pope, the Holy Roman Emperor, the people of his territory, and three different kinds of “congresses” that met periodically with overlapping powers. Smitten with the truth that Luther showed from the Bible, Frederick stood up to them all. He boldly proclaimed that he was not ashamed of salvation by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone. Further, he showed that his dissent was actually legally defensible. This wasn’t a mere ecclesiastical move, as some modern histories like to suggest. This was a principled stand that made a way for all dissent against unscriptural commands of governments.

Freeing worship

At the Wartburg, Luther began his thesis that music can be one of God’s great tools. Many of the other reformers were anti-music. They saw (heard?) the excesses in bawdy tunes and wanted to eliminate the medium altogether in the name of purity. Luther stood up to that overreach as he did to all iconoclasm. He demanded that media not be judged just because of nasty output. He reminded that scripturally the message is the point. Thus, Luther embraced music and began writing hymns and songs. Some became so popular that he reformed music itself. Music became a beautiful way to praise God – a legacy that surely influenced a boy later born in the shadow of the castle, Johann Sebastian Bach.

As I travel today, my prayer for you and me is that we live the spirit of the Wartburg. May we set God’s Word alive in our hearts. May we stand for truth against all opposition. May we praise God “with resounding music” (Psalm 92). Amen!

Immeasurable Impact

Imagine the impression you and I could make in this needy world if we showed gratitude and encouragement similar to this handwritten note I received last week from a 5th grader:

Thank you for how hard you work to Preach God’s word! Every week you explain what we’re supposed to do as Christians and help us grow in Christ. you are very dedicated and Have inspired me to be as well. I really hope you will continue to do this!

May we indeed continue! I pray each of us enjoys the faith of a child – and employs the inspiring gratitude of a child as well.

I received some inspiring and wise letters this week. May God encourage you with them as He has me. – WB

Makes you smarter

Wayne, an app/blog community sponsored by business consultants SY Partners had this post on gratitude:

There’s not a single downside to gratitude – except that it’s easy to ignore. When put into practice, gratitude creates a virtuous circle. It fosters contentment, joy, respect, and connection to our world and the people in it. Gratitude makes us feel good inside. And when we share it, other people feel good inside. And you know what happens then: The feel-good-insiders send their goodwill to more people, who in turn start feeling good inside. Good feelings boomerang everywhere.

Now if that sounds too absurdly optimistic, consider this: free-flowing gratitude can help you get unstuck. “Feeling good lubricates mental efficiency, making people better at understanding information and using decision rules in complex judgments,” writes psychologist Daniel Goleman in his book Primal Leadership. Translation: It makes you smarter.

The rub is, we can’t just hit-and-run with gratitude – you know, give a little to get a little. Any feel-good spike we may achieve will quickly erode. But if we consider and express gratitude regularly, then we can maintain our good feelings. It’s a matter of creating the habit. – By Unstuck |November 25, 2013

Eye for beauty

Wayne, the study of biblical gratitude led me to Philippians 4:8, a verse years ago as part of section from 4-8; but when I read it this morning, I was strongly convicted by the Holy Spirit. I realized that my habit is to meditate on what is wrong with this picture, what is ugly, and/or the evil that might come about. As you have pointed out this is hardly conducive to an attitude of gratitude. I’ve asked the Lord to forgive me and work in me so that I will develop an eye for the beautiful. My habit will become one of meditation on what is true, what is noble, what is just, what is lovely, what is virtuous and praiseworthy (NKJV). Then I can rejoice in the beauty of the Lord and be grateful to Him for all He has provided for us, especially His righteousness for us in Jesus by the faith that He has given us.

Emptiness of immediate gratification

Dear Pastor Wayne, some of your thoughts resurrected in my mind a storybook tale from The Book of Virtues by William Bennett. The French tale “The Magic Thread” is a reminder that a focus on happiness versus gratitude will end in a life of emptiness. I haven’t room to copy the whole story, but Mr. Bennett’s introduction summarizes well:

Too often, people want what they want (or what they think they want, which is usually “happiness” in one form or another) right now. The irony of their impatience is that only by learning to wait, and by a willingness to accept the bad with the good, do we usually attain those things that are truly worthwhile.

One of the guys I worked with in Germany is a now filmmaker. Pascal is quite decorated and – this is most amazing – actually makes a living at it. A few days ago, I got a note from Pascal related to our current study on gratitude. Here’s the story he shared …

I’m currently in the middle of the Bolivian jungle filming a part of a documentary. This film tells the story of Mary, an 83 year-old lady with cerebral palsy. Mary travels the world helping other disabled people. She is so grateful for what God does for her each day that she wants to spread the love and give others reason to praise the Lord. (Oh, by the way she just got married 3 months ago – how’s that for a reality check for how you’re living your life?)

Today we’re in Trinidad, Bolivia, where Mary and a team of volunteers are distributing wheel chairs. The father in this photo walks in with his 9 year-old handicapped son in his arms. He’s carried him to the distribution center through pouring rain, just to help his child by getting him his very own first wheel chair ever. You should have seen the smile on the kid’s face – and on Mary’s!

I grabbed this image as father and son were walking back home in the rain, thankful and happy.

Thank you, Pascal! We look forward to the film. Mary is beautifully living out Psalm 57, and by God’s grace we can each do the same.