Stone, Tent and a House
This past week my wife and I were able to spend a few days with my son and his family in Virginia. On Thursday they were very gracious and took us to see our nation’s capital. At one point we were at the fence at the back of the White House. Standing there and realizing all the history connected with that place, surely gave us cause to pause and thank God for the country we live in. Across the street was an open field. As we made our way toward the Lincoln Monument there was in the field a tent set up by those who were protesting the war in Iraq.
At the close of the day we ended up with a visit to the national cemetery at Arlington. We saw the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I think all were moved by the occasion. The sun was setting on a wonderful day. Across this garden of stone was the open field, the tent and beyond that the White House. What a contradiction. The graves of those who died to preserve our freedom, a tent in an open field protesting our people being in other countries helping them to achieve their own freedom. One is made to wonder, if they would dare to set up their tent in Iraq? American forces are there now trying to help the people of Iraq set up a system which will allow for protest.
Is there anything more enslaving than sin? Jesus selected words to show man’s need to leave sin and accept righteousness as a code of life. If you know the truth, says the Lord, that truth can set you free (John 8:32). Not mathematical truth, moral truth or political truth. It was spiritual truth that came from God that would set men “free”. When we obey the truth we become servants of righteousness (Romans 6:17,18). We do so at the expense of leaving sin behind. We are now, by obeying the gospel, slaves to righteous conduct.
How sad it is that individuals forget the price that has been paid for their freedom from sin. Each Lord’s day Christians are required to come together and eat of the Lord’s supper to REMEMBER the price paid for their freedom (Acts 20:7). It is a weekly remembrance of the One who suffered and died for us. The world passes the judgment that weekly is too much. Truth, however, comes from God and not man. The truth from God is that He wants us to meet each week and remember what Christ did for us by dying on the cross. It is not too much because God requires it and He is always right. One of the tasks we face in life is learning how to think like God does (Isaiah 55:8,9).
We set up various memorials throughout our country to remind us of what took place. Today we cannot be sure which hill outside Jerusalem’s walls is the place where Jesus died. Our memorial in our hearts is to know that somewhere outside the walls of Jerusalem, Jesus died for us all. No one can be certain the location of the tomb where the body of Jesus lay for three days. The memorial in our minds is to know that on the third day Jesus came back from the dead, never to die again. God wants those memorials in our minds to be touched each week as we strike the instrument of our hearts with the truth of what Jesus did.
There will always be those who construct their “tents” of protest. The preaching is too hard. You do not show enough love. You are not compassionate enough. You do not understand grace. On and on it goes. Individuals protesting the very thing that has made them free. They turn grace into a license to sin because they are so much more “spiritual” than others. As I saw this past week, individuals need to pause and reflect upon their freedom. Christ died to set men free from sin. Sin is rejection of the will of God (I John 3:4). He died, then, so we can sin and not feel bad about it? Does that make any sense at all? Christ died to set us free from sin. No doctrine that minimizes sin can find any consolation in the Word of God.
When the changing of the guard occurred at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, my eyes were filled with tears for all those who had died to give me that moment. My eyes, likewise, fill with tears when I think of all the Christians who take such a causal approach to Christianity as to never stop and think what Christ did for us all.