I receive a weekly blog from my friend and former pastor Dr. John Ed Mathison. Last Wednesday’s was encouraging on many levels as he told the story of Doug McKelvy memorizing the Sermon on the Mount and presenting it to high school students:

He is seventy-nine years old. He could be sitting back playing dominoes or golf or watching television. Instead, he feels like his best days of witness are today and the days ahead. That’s an attitude with which to grow older!

He decided to memorize the Sermon on the Mount. That’s right—three chapters of the Bible in Matthew. I was invited to give the prayer at the Chapel program where all the seventh through twelfth-grade students at Alabama Christian Academy met to experience his rendition verbatim from the Sermon on the Mount.

That’s inspiring right there. 79 years old and still active. Still memorizing scripture. Still interacting with high school students. And John Ed doesn’t mention that he (John Ed) is still going strong at age 87, 15+ years after he retired as a pastor.

But what inspires me even more is this paragraph:

Doesn’t God have a sense of humor? Here is a Methodist preacher giving the prayer for God to bless the hearing and application of a seventy-nine-year-old Baptist lawyer speaking to a huge group of students at a Church of Christ high school. – Dr. John Ed Mathison, February 14, 2024

And I, a member of a Presbyterian church, am writing about it. We’re all on the same team!

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13.35, NIV)

John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.” Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally.” (Mark 9.38 – 40, MSG)

It’s the Lenten season, a time to remember our own mortality and think about Jesus’ upcoming suffering. It’s also tempting to focus too much on daily news which can be very depressing.

But any day can start with a sunrise like this one, observed on Ash Wednesday:

God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. (Psalm 19.1, MSG)

Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent was last Wednesday. I will devote each Sunday’s blog to a Lenten meditation, including Palm Sunday, March 24. We will end our Lenten meditations on Good Friday, March 29.

Our interim pastor, Dr. John Anderson, has just introduced us to a long poem I hadn’t seen before. At 62 stanzas, it will form the basis of our meditations. It’s “The Sacrifice” by George Herbert, published in 1633. I have modernized the spelling to make it easier to read. Here’s how it starts:

(The bullets allow me to single-space the lines.)

• Oh all ye, who pass by, whose eyes and mind
• To worldly things are sharp, but to me blind;
• To me, who took eyes that I might you find:
•                                               Was ever grief like mine?

• The Princes of my people make a head
• Against their Maker: they do wish me dead,
• Who cannot wish, except I give them bread;
•                                               Was ever grief like mine?

• Without me each one, who doth now me brave,
• Had to this day been an Egyptian slave.
• They use that power against me, which I gave:
•                                               Was ever grief like mine?

• Mine own Apostle, who the bag did bear,
• Though he had all I had, did not forbear
• To sell me also, and to put me there:
•                                               Was ever grief like mine?

• For thirty pence he did my death devise,
• Who at three hundred did the ointment prize,
• Not half so sweet as my sweet sacrifice:
•                                               Was ever grief like mine?

• Therefore, my soul melts, and my heart’s dear treasure
• Drops blood (the only beads) my words to measure:
• O let this cup pass, if it be thy pleasure:
•                                               Was ever grief like mine?

• These drops being tempered with sinners’ tears
• A balsam are for both the Hemispheres [hemispheres = eyes]
• Curing all wounds, but mine; all, but my fears:
•                                               Was ever grief like mine?

• Yet my Disciples sleep; I cannot gain
• One hour of watching; but their drowsy brain
• Comforts not me, and doth my doctrine stain:
•                                               Was ever grief like mine? -“The Sacrifice” by George Herbert, stanzas 1 – 8.

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 26.6 – 16, ESV)

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26.36 – 41, ESV)

No sooner are we done with the sordid story of Abimelech than we come to Jephthah, Judge #9.

Abimelech was an outcast because his mother was a “concubine” of Gideon’s. I looked up concubine, and it means, in polygamous cultures, a wife of lesser status.

It turns out Jephthah is an outcast in his clan of Gilead because his mother was a prostitute:

Jephthah the Gileadite was one tough warrior. He was the son of a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. Meanwhile, Gilead’s legal wife had given him other sons, and when they grew up, his wife’s sons threw Jephthah out. They told him: “You’re not getting any of our family inheritance—you’re the son of another woman.” So Jephthah fled from his brothers and went to live in the land of Tob. Some riffraff joined him and went around with him. (Judges 11.1 – 3, MSG)

But unlike Abimelech who killed all his half-brothers so he could be in charge, Gilead’s brothers came to get him:

Some time passed. And then the Ammonites started fighting Israel. With the Ammonites at war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. They said to Jephthah: “Come. Be our general and we’ll fight the Ammonites.” But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead: “But you hate me. You kicked me out of my family home. So why are you coming to me now? Because you are in trouble. Right?” (Judges 11.4 – 7, MSG)

Jephthah tries diplomacy with the Ammonites without success (see Judges 11.14 – 27). So Jephthah recruits an army and, empowered by “God’s Spirit,” defeats the Ammonites.

It’s completely unclear why Jephthah felt it necessary to make a stupid vow:

GOD’s Spirit came upon Jephthah. He went across Gilead and Manasseh, went through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there approached the Ammonites. Jephthah made a vow before GOD: “If you give me a clear victory over the Ammonites, then I’ll give to GOD whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in one piece from among the Ammonites—I’ll offer it up in a sacrificial burnt offering.”…Jephthah came home to Mizpah. His daughter ran from the house to welcome him home—dancing to tambourines! She was his only child. He had no son or daughter except her. When he realized who it was, he ripped his clothes, saying, “Ah, dearest daughter—I’m dirt. I’m despicable. My heart is torn to shreds. I made a vow to GOD and I can’t take it back!” (Judges 11.29 – 31, 34, 35, MSG)

I’ll never understand the nature of Jephthah’s vow.

• What/who did he expect to come out of the door of his house?
• Why did he feel a vow was necessary? Was he trying to help God out?

She said, “Dear father, if you made a vow to GOD, do to me what you vowed; GOD did his part and saved you from your Ammonite enemies.” (Judges 11.36, MSG)

So many lessons:

• The obvious one, backed up by Solomon’s observations in Ecclesiastes, is don’t make vows!

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few…When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? (Ecclesiastes 5.2, 4 – 6, MSG)

• Be creative and self-sacrificial: I think Japheth could have offered himself in exchange for his daughter. That’s what Jesus did, essentially. Japheth lived only six more years (see Judges 12.1 – 7).
• Let’s bring it up to date: don’t sacrifice family on the altar of “ministry.” More than one Christian leader (professional or volunteer) has lost his wife or children because of too many hours devoted to ministry or church activity. I can think of two specific instances in my own life when I blew up a friendship because I thought some ministry activity I needed to do with people I didn’t know all that well was more important than relationships with people I did know well. It was a long time ago. I would do things differently now. For an insightful and humorous look at our tendency to put ministry before family,  read The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, age 37 3/4. It’s available used for cheap. Worth it at any price.

And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you. (James 5.12, MSG)

Anyone who neglects to care for family members in need repudiates the faith. That’s worse than refusing to believe in the first place. (1 Timothy 5.8, MSG)

God clearly says, “Respect your father and mother,” and, “Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.” But you weasel around that by saying, “Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I’ve given to God.” (Matthew 15.4, 5, MSG)

I’m well aware that these last two verses have literal meaning and application to specific situations different from the point I’m making. But in principle, doing “God’s work” doesn’t get one out of taking care of family.

Our youngest son David is transitioning into real estate and still learning the habits that make for a successful agent. He’s also an accomplished pianist and piano teacher. Recently, he tied the two concepts together in a short article, Is This Necessary?, which is worth the read in its entirety. Here are some snippets:

I am being coached/mentored by a real estate expert and professional coach... During one of our early meetings, when I sat there nearly in tears as I spoke about my lack of success so far in real estate, I was forced to admit that I did not engage in many of the activities I heard about early in my new career from experienced agents, choosing not to connect the dots between those activities and future business.

Recently, I started a new piano student…15 years old…I began teaching him out of a book specifically designed for the “older beginner,” … The first page is designed to get background by asking questions like “Do you have a piano at home? Have you ever had any music lessons or learning previously? Does anyone in your family participate in music?” And other basic details. I barely started into that conversation when the young man interrupted me and asked, “Is this necessary?”

Later in the lesson I was showing him the first playing exercise, which fingers to use on which notes, etc. He stated, “Why can’t I just use these fingers? It seems that would be easier.” I paused to take a deep breath and find the words. Because what I really wanted to say was, “How about you let me, the guy that’s played for 40 years, gotten paid to play for 25 years, and has been teaching piano for 18 years, tell you what to do?”

Then David remembered that he hadn’t been doing what his real estate coach was telling him to do, essentially asking, “Is this necessary?” He said:

I begin afresh the necessary, sometimes mundane tasks that are tried and true in producing leads, that turn into clients, that turn into commissions.

Then he closes with this challenge:

Spiritually, don’t we also do the same thing? Perhaps we don’t feel that reading the bible daily, engaging in regular prayer, or actively participating in a local church, are really all that important to our spiritual lives. We cut corners, or attend church online, or maybe read the bible for a few minutes here and there. Then we wonder why we’re not really seeing fruit. Why am I not feeling close to God, or understanding what path he would have me take, or receiving his blessing on my family, career, and personal habits? How many times do we hear what we know to be true and ask, “Is this necessary?”

A good word, David. Thank you. As I quoted Nick Sabin a couple of weeks ago, “It takes what it takes.”

¹  Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?
⁵  O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.
⁶  Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right…
¹⁰  Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,
¹¹  for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

³³  Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.
³⁴  Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.
³⁵  For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD. (Proverbs 8 – selected verses)

I told you that Judges was hard to read, and chapter 9 is a case in point. 57 verses given to Judge #6, Abimelech. He doesn’t even lead them into battle. He just “rules” for three years after he kills 70 of his half-brothers:

[Abimelech] hired some reckless riffraff soldiers and they followed along after him. He went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his half brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal—seventy men! And on one stone! The youngest, Jotham son of Jerub-Baal, managed to hide, the only survivor. (Judges 9.4, 5, MSG)

Abimelech is just a murdering scoundrel. Eventually, his own city, Shechem, turns against him, so he kills 1,000 of them by setting their tower on fire. His story ends in the next town, when, while attempting to burn down their tower, “some woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and crushed his skull.”

57 verses of mayhem. I’ve always wondered why the story was included in the sacred text in that much detail. What’s the point? What lesson are we supposed to learn?

I think it’s in the “Parable of the Trees,” told by Jotham, the one surviving son of Gideon, which starts this way:

Listen to me, leaders of Shechem. And let God listen to you! The trees set out one day to anoint a king for themselves. They said to Olive Tree, “Rule over us.” But Olive Tree told them, “Am I no longer good for making oil That gives glory to gods and men, and to be demoted to waving over trees?” (Judges 9.7 – 9, MSG)

The Olive Tree, the Fig Tree, and the Vine did not want to leave their productive work “to be demoted to waving over trees.” So the trees selected the useless tumbleweed.

The trees seemed to think that they could do useful work or they could pretend to lead – “to go waving over the trees.”

Once I turned down a position on the Adult Education Committee of a church. “I can either do adult education or I can sit on a committee and talk about adult education. I can’t do both.” Like the Olive Tree, I would have considered the committee position a demotion.

Abimelech exemplifies people who like positions as long as they don’t have to do anything. It’s been said, only half in jest, that anyone who aspires to be President of the United States should be disqualified for the job for that reason alone. It sometimes feels that in this country the only qualification for elected office is that one knows how to get elected.

Maybe I’m digressing…

But Jesus was clear on what leadership was supposed to be:

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”…And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20.20 – 28, ESV)

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. (John 10.11, MSG)

It’s Ash Wednesday, and we continue to be reminded that life is short.

When the Air Force sent me to track satellites in Turkey in 1970, my suite-mate was John Morgan, a fellow resident of South Carolina and graduate of The Citadel. We stayed in touch and connected briefly in 1975 while he was getting a master’s degree from the University of Colorado. Here’s a picture of June and John with Mark, 2, and Melody 3 months.

John moved to Charlotte, and we had been in touch through FaceBook and our ministry updates over the past 10 years, at least. He affirmed our ministry and occasionally posted old pictures that he had found of us. Planning a short southeast trip this spring, we decided we would swing by Charlotte to have lunch with John… Too late. He passed last July. I wrote to his sister, and she told me:

John died July 8th  at his home. He was not sick, doing well, had just had a check- up and no significant problems.

Doing well…no significant problems…dead. My age exactly.

The older we get, the more of our friends we bury. I just heard from the wife of a friend with pancreatic cancer. I last saw him in November when he told me that the treatments weren’t working anymore:

Tracy went to dance with Jesus this morning. We will have a celebration of life on February 20th…Dress is casual and colorful. Just like him.

A friend of my son Mark, a family man in his 40s, dropped dead while running on a trail here in Monument. He had just talked with his wife at 5:38p, and the phone’s tracking stopped at 5:40p.

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7.2, ESV)

We’re in Judges, and Judge #5 is Gideon, fairly well known for the fleece and for initiating a battle with only 300 warriors. His story is in Judges 6 – 8.

I am forever grateful to our pastor, Dr. Dave Jordan-Irwin, for putting me on to the opening of The Hobbit. I used it as the introduction to my first book Join the Adventure:

In The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, prequel to Lord of the Rings, Gandalf, the wizard, approaches Bilbo Baggins:

Gandalf: I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.

Bilbo: I should think so—in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them …

This is remarkably similar to a conversation recorded in the Bible: an angel appears out of nowhere and challenges Gideon:

And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”   (Judges 6.12 – 14)

Bilbo and Gideon both said, “Who, me?”

God calls Gideon, the reluctant and fearful, to a great adventure to “save Israel from the hand of Midian.” Gideon doesn’t want to go despite four supernatural signs, which you can read about in my blog Gideon the Fearful.

Fearful or not, he acts:

• Tearing down the altar to Baal (Judges 6.25 – 28)
• Mustering an army to engage Midian (Judges 6.33 – 7.22 (and more))

As I wrote recently, we don’t wait for the fear to go away, we act.

Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you. (Deuteronomy 31.6, MSG)

Gideon and his hundred men got to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the sentries had been posted. They blew the trumpets, at the same time smashing the jars they carried.  All three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands, ready to blow, and shouted, “A sword for GOD and for Gideon!” They were stationed all around the camp, each man at his post. The whole Midianite camp jumped to its feet. They yelled and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpets, GOD aimed each Midianite’s sword against his companion, all over the camp. They ran for their lives… (Judges 7.19 – 22, MSG)

It wasn’t a pretty season nor a pretty game, but the Kansas City Chiefs prevailed in yesterday’s Super Bowl, a 25 – 22 win in overtime. The San Francisco Forty-Niners had leads and two chances to stop the Chiefs and win: once at the end of regulation when the Chiefs drove down for a tying field goal with three seconds left and once in overtime when the Chiefs drove down for the winning touchdown.

I saved this slot in the Ewellogy to write something profound about the game, but it’s just a game so let’s treat it like one.

Here we are, under a crescent moon in Las Vegas, a tumultuous Kansas City season climaxing in a storybook comeback ending. – Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2024

Crescent moon…where have I seen that before? I remember, in the Friday File of the daily 70-word blog by the economist Elliot Eisenberg:

The Friday File: Since the start of CY2019, the KC Chiefs have played 20 games when the moon is a waxing crescent, a growing toenail sliver. And of those 20 games they have won 19. By contrast the 49ers are 15-15 in the last 30 waxing crescent games they have played. Lunar analysis says the Chiefs will win. The economist in me is overwhelmed at the correlation. As for causality… – Elliot Eisenberg, February 9, 2024

There you have it. Of course, you also have the #1 pop singer in the world, Taylor Swift, in a storybook romance with Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce.

And Taylor Swift fans knew that the Chiefs were going to win because of her connection to the number 13. I get it. I was born on December 13th, myself, same as Taylor Swift. But here’s the significance for her:

I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first No. 1 song had a 13-second intro. Every time I’ve won an award I’ve been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter. Basically, whenever a 13 comes up in my life, it’s a good thing. – Taylor Swift, MTV, May 7, 2009

So for this year’s football season:

• The Super Bowl was the 13th Chiefs game she’d attended.
• It’s Super Bowl LVIII or 58, and 5 + 8 = 13
• The Chiefs played the 49ers, and 4 + 9 = 13
• The game was played on 2/11, and 2 + 11 = 13
• To make the game, she had to fly in from Tokyo, a trip that takes, you guessed it, 13 hours

Between the moon, Taylor Swift, and the number 13, the 49ers didn’t have a chance.

We’ll be back to more serious subjects tomorrow.

You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. (1 Corinthians 9.24, MSG)

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and the game starts at 6:30p, Eastern Time. I don’t have a dog in the fight, as they say, so I’ll just try to enjoy the game and hope it’s played well by both teams.

San Francisco has multiple offensive threat Christian McCaffrey, a Denver boy, son of Eddie McCaffrey who played for the Broncos. San Francisco also has quarterback Brock Purdy, “Mr. Irrelevant,” so named because he was the last one picked in the 2022 draft. For a Mr. Irrelevant, he’s done “purdy” good:

Purdy began his rookie season in the NFL as the third-string quarterback but took over the starting role following injuries [to the other two quarterbacks]. Winning all five regular-season games he started, he played a key role in the 49ers’ ten-game winning streak, securing a division title and an NFC Championship Game appearance. Purdy continued as the 49ers’ starting quarterback in the 2023 season, where he led them to … Super Bowl LVIII [today] In addition, he set the franchise’s single-season passing yards record and earned his first Pro Bowl nomination. – Wikipedia

Purdy’s is a good story.

On the other side is Kansas City with quarterback and State Farm spokesperson Patrick Mahomes, who is in his fourth Super Bowl in just his first six seasons. He’s won two and lost one. There is already talk about whether he can surpass Tom Brady’s seven Super Bowl victories. Here is Patrick’s response:

I’m not even close to halfway, so I haven’t put a lot of thought into it. Your goal is to be the best player that you can be, and I know I’m blessed to be around a lot of great players. So right now it’s do whatever I can to beat a great 49ers team and try to get that third ring. Then if you ask me that question in 15 years, I’ll see if I can get close to seven, but seven seems like a long ways away still.

My career goals have always been the same and it’s to not have any regrets. No matter what I do, I’m going to give everything I have to the game. I’m going to work my tail off, working out, in the film room, whatever that is, and give everything I have to the game. Whatever that ends up with, how many Super Bowl rings that is, however many wins that is, whatever that is, I know that I gave everything I have and that’s what I can do. – From an article by Adam Teicher, ESPN

His career goal is no regrets. “To give everything I have to the game” – the weight room, the film room, on the field. That’s all any of us can do. We have no control over the results.

All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself. (1 Corinthians 9.25 – 27, MSG)

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.13, 14, ESV)

Train yourself for godliness. (1 Timothy 4.7, ESV)