I hear friends greeting friends

Saying, "How do you do?"

What they're really saying

Is, "I love you."...

And I think to myself, What a wonderful world!

Louis Armstrong

 

I know this song shows my age (It really was before my time), but I still like listening to it. Louis Armstrong had a version recorded where he talked about people who asked him, considering all of the bad things going on in this old world, if he thought it was still "A wonderful world"? And his answer was that he did.

 

I can remember grocery shopping trips when I was a small boy. On one such outing Mom let me get a comic book and a package of red licorice. Then I got to go back to our car (It was a safer time) and leisurely while away the time. I can remember laying on the floor with my head on the "hump" - some of you will remember - and savor my fine literature and cuisine. It was a wonderful world, when I was a little boy!

 

Now I get to spend time with my grandchildren. I love seeing them come up the driveway with their parents for a visit, and I love seeing their parents come back up the driveway to pick them up and take them home. I love watching cartoons with them and reading books them and playing ball with them. I love their innocence and their passion for life. Just the other day my youngest grandson was here, and we spent hours wandering through the house and getting into things (my wife was gone). Exploring, I believe, is the man term for this activity.

 

On the first day of this past week, I got to spend time with dear friends at the worship. I preach for a small congregation and I have learned that about 22 minutes will do just fine to get a good message across that people can use. Anything less might make too much of a hurry, but anything more could become a sleeping hazard. After worship, people just hung around for about 30 minutes to an hour, just enjoying one another.

 

They were greeting one another, saying, "How do you do?" But we know that what they were really saying was, "I love you!"

And, like Louis, I have to thank our Lord, and think to myself, "What a wonderful world!"

 

I know that there is a lot of meanness in this old world that we live in now. I know that there are evil people doing evil things that they should not be doing. But I also know that We have a good God who created this world for us as a gift. And, when we refuse to let the devil's children spoil our outlook on life, this really does become a wonderful world!

 

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Psalms 16:6, NIV

 

Open  your  mouth,  judge  righteously,  And  defend  the  rights  of  the  afflicted  and  needy.

Proverbs 31:9, NASU

 

I had the privilege of visiting with a sweet, older woman yesterday. I'm not sure just how old she is, but I suspect that her 80th birthday is somewhere long in the past. We were talking about the drought conditions that we were experiencing and how maybe we would get some rain, as the day was overcast and a bit promising. She made a statement, then, that has caused me to think. She said, "I don't know if God will give us rain when we are killing so many of our babies."

 

At first that might seem to be a ludicrous statement, especially when there are so many areas where abortion is rampant and the rains still fall, but maybe there is some wisdom behind the words of this sweet lady. You see, we live in an area known as the Bible Belt, but it seems that people are paying less and less attention to the instruction of this great Book that has given us our identity. And you have to admit that we don't hear much about this terrible sin anymore - we don't voice aloud much about any sin anymore. It's almost as if people had forgot about it.

 

But, has God? He commands us to defend the rights of the afflicted and needy, but are we doing so? And if we are not, what will become of our prayers? This is something we do not have to wonder about, because He has already told us:

 

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

Isaiah 59:1-4, NIV 

 

If the world seems to be falling about, maybe it's because we have let it by not coming to the aid of those who are truly afflicted. If it seems like God has abandoned us when we call upon Him to put the pieces back together, maybe it's because we abandoned Him, and because we have ceased to be concerned with defending the rights of those who are truly afflicted. Maybe there is some wisdom to what this dear, elderly woman wondered aloud yesterday. Maybe God will not answer the prayers of those who call upon Him until they start being concerned once again for the most innocent among us whose rights and lives are seemingly forgotten.

 

So, what can we do? I don't have the perfect answer, but I do wonder if we might start with this: Maybe we could start voicing our concerns about all of our babies who are being killed. Maybe we could then humbly beseech our Father to also intervene on behalf of these innocent victims - and not just in the area of abortion, but also in the areas where they are being subjected to things that are just not right. And then, maybe, we would have the right to pray to the Creator for rain as well as all of our other needs, with the rightful expectation that He will hear our prayers and answer them with showers of blessing.

 

What do you think? Is there some wisdom behind this woman's statement... or is she just an old woman out of touch with our modern world? I think that she just might be right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Psalms 73:1-3, ESV

 

Have you ever wondered why people get away with bad things? Whether it is unscrupulous politicians, or people with more money than morality, or just plain old perverted individuals, it often seems to us that God is letting them get away with their evil deeds. And it really bothers us!

 

I suppose that this feeling has been common to mankind for as long as the world has been around. We see people getting away with breaking the rules while we are trying to keep them. We see people who are wicked seemingly untouched by their evil deeds, while at the same time we witness the most innocent of society being harmed by these individuals. We are often tempted, I think, to blame God for this seeming lack of justice, but that would be a mistake. The fact is that wicked people often get away with things for the simple reason that righteous people don't want to get involved.

 

A perfect example of this occurred in a town not far from where I live. An evening of perversion (for a lack of better description) was held in a public park. Some parents even brought their children to witness this perversion, and some even allowed their children to take part. I won't describe the details of what went on, but I will say that the parents were just as guilty as the participants, but neither appeared to be ashamed of their conduct. And all the while, innocent children were present to witness acts of perversion in the twisted name of tolerance.

 

And we wonder, at times why God lets them get away with it, just like Asaph, the writer of the 73rd Psalm, wondered some 3,000 years ago.

 

Perhaps his realization will help us today: You see, when Asaph was surrounded by the wicked, everything was bewildering to him. It was not until he drew near to God - to His very sanctuary - in fact, that this good man realized the truth of the matter. For, we must see, that God does not let the guilty go unpunished forever. He just gives them an opportunity to repent. And if don't? Then the punishment will surely come. 

 

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!

Psalms 73:16-19, ESV

 

A few final thoughts, if you will permit me. First, the wicked often get away with bad conduct, for a period of time anyway, because we let them. Second, there will be a day of reckoning, so the time one has to repent of evil behavior is both limited and uncertain. Third, and most important, is the truth that was revealed at the very beginning of the 73rd Psalm: God is good to those who are pure in heart!

 

The truth is that the wicked never really "get away" with anything for very long. When it is time God will  repay them for their evil deeds. Until then, wouldn't it be nice if those of us who are rightly concerned about their evil conduct would at the very least would do something about protecting the innocent from their evil deeds? It's something to think about, isn't it?

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

II Peter 1:5-7, ESV

 

Have you ever asked yourself this very question? Maybe you or someone you loved was very sick, or going through some sort of difficult struggle. Maybe you were a farmer needing rain, but didn't get it. Maybe you were a heartbroken mother whose child just didn't seem to take to any type of discipline, so they paid the penalty. Maybe you have had something unfair happen to you or maybe you were just having a bad day, but those words just seemed to slip out: "What good is being a Christian if bad things still happen to me?"

 

This is when understanding just what Christianity really is becomes so important. Perhaps an example will help: Imagine that you are a college student about to go off to school. Your dad takes you out and shows you how to change a tire. He shows you where the spare is located, where the jack and lug nut wrench are, and then he practices with you, showing you how to take the old tire off and put the spare on.

 

Armed with this beautiful knowledge, you go merrily on your way to college and enjoy a pretty uneventful life as related to your vehicle... then it happens! You get a flat tire and you are in a hurry and in traffic and just about out of patience. And then you ask yourself, "What good is it to have all of this knowledge about tires if I still get a flat tire anyway?"

 

Do you see the point? Becoming a Christian does not guarantee that you will never be tested. Reading the Word of God does not always prevent the circumstances of life from happening. Becoming a Christian and learning about how God expects us to live allows us to handle all of life's little (and big) problems. Christianity is no more an insurance policy against bad things ever happening anymore than knowing how to change a tire is an insurance policy against ever having a flat tire.

 

Christianity is a way of life and it's principles are meant to be used! So, the next time you ask yourself the question, "What good is Christianity, anyway?", be sure to understand the answer:

None at all... if you don't use it.

Now consider the rest of the inspired verse we began with, as it gives the rest of the story:  

 

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers,[fn] be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

II Peter 1:8-10, ESV