Lent: On Mortality

On Ash Wednesday, ashes are marked on foreheads in the sign of the cross. This practice is actually a symbolic reminder of our own mortality. It tells us in the most vivid way that from dust we came and to dust we shall return (Gen 3:19; Ecc 3:20). It is interesting that the whole celebration of Lent begins in this way. It reminds us that the path of Lent is the path of death. This is patterned after the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus was aware that His entire life and ministry will ultimately lead to His death. He journeyed from Galilee to Jerusalem with the knowledge that when He arrives in Jerusalem, He would die at the hands of the religious leaders. He spoke about this quite openly to His disciples. This means that for us, participating in Lent means participating in Jesus’ journey towards death. It is our participation in His journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.

Events in the world remind us of the reality of life and death: natural disasters and the deaths of family members and friends. Each of these instances reminds us that death is the ultimate destination of humanity. There are only two things that are inevitable in this world: change and death. These are also the two things that we have no complete control of. Our life on earth is also like the journey of Jesus from Bethlehem to Calvary. Whether we like it or not, we are going to climb our own Golgothas.

We rename death so that it does not sound so bad. We call the dead someone who is “at peace” or “at rest” or “one who goes to a better place.” We call death as “passing away.” We may even try to suppress the thought about death. We make ourselves busy so that we do not have to face the reality of death. The philosopher Martin Heidegger remarked that we busy ourselves in the crowd in the hope of forgetting our fears. Death is feared because it is irreversible: “Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die” (2 Sam 14:14).

The immediacy, imminence, and reality of death is vividly narrated in Psalm 90:3-12, which was apparently written by Moses. So what was Moses’ credential to write about human death? Let us look back at biblical history. According to the Bible, there were 600,000 (excluding women and children) who left Egypt (Exo 12:37; Num 11:21). At Mount Sinai, when there was a census, the record was that there were 603,550 men over 20 years old present (Num 1:45-46). In the second census, when the Israelites were on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho (Num 26:3), there were 601,730 males recorded (Num 26:51). [1]

600,000 men, excluding women and children	left Egypt	Exodus 12:37; Numbers 11:21
603,550 men over 20 years	Mt. Sinai	Numbers 1:45-46
601,730 males	Jordan River	Numbers 26:51

We may remember that many (if not all) of those who left Egypt were not able to enter the promised land. Yahweh proclaimed: “Not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it” (Num 14:21-23). Also, we read in the Scriptures how God brought death to the Israelites in huge numbers while they were in the wilderness:

3000 killed by Levites	Golden Calf at Sinai	Exodus 32:28
23,000 killed by God	Golden Calf at Sinai	Exodus 32:35; 1 Cor 10:8
14,700 killed by God	Kadesh Barnea	Numbers 16:49
24,000 killed by God	At Shittim near Jordan	Numbers 25:9
many people killed by God	Zered river	Numbers 21:6

Moses saw and encountered death all throughout his life in the desert with the Israelites. He witnessed how people’s lives are so fragile. All throughout Psalm 90 we see Moses’ description of human mortality. Verses 3, 6, and 10 portray the shortness of human life. Verses 7-9 and 11 reveal Moses’ awareness of the wrath of God which He witnessed as the cause of the death of many Israelites.

You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.
Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.

We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.
All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan.
Our days may come to seventy years,
    or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
If only we knew the power of your anger!
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.

But after considering the life-span of humanity and the anger of God, Moses leaves us a verse with an important lesson: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12).

Teach Us to Number Our Days (90:12a)

We like measuring things. Laboratories are filled with instruments that measure things by milliliters and milligrams, but it is easy to neglect measuring our life span on earth. Thomas Chalmers once remarked, “Once in my unconverted days I forgot two things: the magnitude of eternity and the shortness of life. These are the great mathematical factors which I now see to be important.”

What does it mean to number our days? It is to recognize that life is short. The Bible has some more passages that highlight this: “we all shrivel up like a leaf” (Isa 64:6); “you have made my days a mere handbreadth” (Ps 39:5); and “you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

Life is short and time runs fast. We do not need rocket science and complicated calculations to notice that our days on earth are fleeting. Although we do not notice it, because we are busy living our lives, the people around us are changing. Our children are now attending schools, and what’s left of their childhood are only photographs. Children who we once knew are now in relationships, ready to get married. Some of them have become successful in their careers. Some of our grandparents, parents, relatives and friends have passed away. Time is fast. It runs its course without our permission and observation.

A Heart of Wisdom (90:12b)

Moses admonished that God would teach us to number our days so that we might gain a heart of wisdom. What wisdom is found in the awareness of our fleeting existence?

1. Teach us to number our days so that we do not offend God (90: 7-9, 11). Moses witnessed the hasty death of his fellow Israelites because they have disobeyed God. This is foolishness. It is not wise to spend our short days in blatant disobedience. Moses is saying that since our life on earth is short, we should spend it in pleasing God and obeying His commands. We cannot be arrogant before God, continuously incurring His wrath because of our grumblings, murmurings, and disobedience. Since we owe God every minute of our existence, we should spend it in worship.

2. Teach us to number our days so that we store treasures in heaven: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt 6:19-20). People spend their days trying to gain more money. To use John Bunyan’s words, it is “raking a little bit of dust into a pile: a little bit of money, a little bit of property, and little bit of this and that.”

We are reminded of the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-20): “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” There are many who are fools, although they are not rich.  Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36).

3. Teach us to number our days so that we redeem the time. Paul admonishes us to “make the most of every opportunity in these evil days (Eph 5:16). William Whiting Borden, graduate of Yale and Princeton Theological Seminary, once said: “Each day consists of 24 golden hours; each hour consists of sixty diamond-studded minutes.”

Of course, in all these things, we must learn from the example of Jesus Christ. Jesus knew that His days on earth were numbered. The distance from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem is a mere 123 kilometers. It will take about 2 hours to drive this distance. (The average speed a human walks is 3-5 kilometers per hour. Walking 3 kilometers per hour in 8 hours gives you 24 hours per day. This means that to walk from Galilee to Jerusalem should only take 5.125 days.) Jesus knew that His walk to Jerusalem, where He would die was a very short walk. It is true that it took Him three years to get to Jerusalem because of His teaching and healing ministries. But He was aware that every step He took was leading Him closer to Jerusalem.

Jesus knew that His days were numbered. So how did He use His remaining days on earth? He used each day seeking the lost, serving the needy, proclaiming the kingdom, healing the sick, fellowshipping with the outcasts, teaching the gospel, and forgiving sinners. Lent is a commemoration of the short life of Christ before His death. Like Christ, we are all in this journey. The question is: “How are we living our days on earth? Are we pursuing a life full of wisdom or foolishness? Are we using our days like Christ in obedience to the Father and in service to other people, or are we using them to gratify our self with pleasure and indulgence?

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[1] http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-exodus-route-population-of-jews-hebrews.htm

Clean Heart

Psalm 51:10-12

We all make blunders in life. Some of them are funny (in the long run). Some of these misfortunes actually make other people laugh. Some of them, however, are so bad that they completely destroy lives. The reality is that we all sin, stumble, and fall. We commit blunders on a daily basis. The question we should ask is not “Do we commit blunders?” because we really do. The question is: “How should we respond to our own blunders?” (We must forget about the blunders of others. Let them deal with their own sins. Sometimes we are better in solving other people’s problems than dealing with our own inconsistencies.)

One of the best things about the Bible is its honesty. It does not conceal the faults of even its greatest characters.  The Bible admits and even celebrates the human-ness of those who follow God. Abraham, immediately after receiving the call from God, went to Egypt and prostituted his wife Sarah to Pharaoh for the sake of self-preservation. Noah who survived the flood was a drunk. Saul, the anointed king, had a great inferiority complex and was full of envy. Samson was a playboy. Even the disciples of Jesus Christ were portrayed to be arrogant self-exalting cowards. The Bible narrates several shameful and ugly stories of how great men and women of God fall. One of the most tragic of these stories is David’s.

David was described in Acts 13:22 as “a man after God’s own heart.” This does not mean that David was perfect from the moment he was born up to when he died. In fact, the Bible records that he actually fell into many temptations. It is not like he committed only one sin. No. He committed several. His sins were very grievous – sins that would completely destroy anyone’s reputation today.

• He was self-indulgent and lazy. The Israelites were waging war against the Ammonites, but “David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Sam 11:1). He should be leading his army in battle, but he stayed home. What did he do at home? Verse 2 explains: “It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house.” (11:2).
• He saw Bathsheba bathing, and slept with her, even though he knew that she was married to a soldier in the battlefield (11:2-4).
• When Bathsheba got pregnant, he wanted to frame Uriah to be the father of the child. When this planned failed, he arranged for Uriah to die in battle (11:14-15).
• When Uriah died, David took Bathsheba as his wife
• The result of his actions is clear: “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (11:27).

 David composed Psalm 51, as a reflection and response to the prophet Nathan’s rebukes. Thus, Psalm 51 reveals the heart of a sorrowful sinner who wants to be restored. The psalm reveals the contents of David’s heart.

In Psalm 51, we read David’s confession of his sins:

•   “I know my transgressions” (51:3a)
•   “my sin is ever before me” (51:3b)
•   “Against you… I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (51:4)
•   “I was brought forth in iniquity” (51:5a)

 Secondly, he sought God’s forgiveness:

•   “blot out my transgressions” (51:1) – to transgress is to go against a code of conduct
•   “wash me thoroughly from my iniquity” (51:2a)
•   “cleanse me from my sin” (51:2b)
•   “purify me with hyssop” (51:7a)
•   “wash me” (51:7b)
•   “blot out my iniquities” (51:9b)

 And he continued to ask from God:

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit (Ps 51:10-12)

For someone who committed many grievous sins, David had the nerve to ask a lot from God. He had the face to say “give me this” and “grant me that.” His prayers do not make sense to us. Most of the time, we think that when we commit sin against God or against someone, the best thing to do is to stay away. We think that God is so angry with us that He does not wish to see us at all. In fact, many Christians who have sinned against God choose to take a week or a month off from church. They do not wish to open their Bibles or even pray because they feel unworthy to come before God with requests. They stop their ministries, because they feel unworthy to serve God.

But David shows us a different way. He had the audacity to ask from God, even if he knew He sinned. What we need is boldness of hope in the midst of despair and sin. David’s prayer teaches us what we should aspire for when we fall.

David showed us the right attitude when we sin against Him. Instead of hiding away from God or taking a break, we must be more pro-active in seeking Him. Why is this so? Because the good news of the kingdom is that every human being who sinned has the right to ask for forgiveness. Every human being who has fallen low has the right to ask God to lift him up. Every human being who is tarnished by sin has the right to aim for purity. Every human being who has gone astray has the right to return to God. Every human being who is filled with sorrow has the right to ask for the joy of the Spirit. Every human being who sinned has the right to repent. Every human being who feels empty has the right to be filled again. Every human being who is lost has the right to return to the right track.

Every human being who has a sinful heart can ask God for a new heart. David prayed, “create in me a clean heart, O God.” Jesus proclaimed that “Out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matt 15:19). Yahweh Himself also proclaimed: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jer 17:9). The Hebrew word used for “create” in Psalm 51:10 is bara, which is the term used in Genesis 1 to describe God’s action when He created the world. The prayer, therefore, is not to just to cleanse a heart that is dirty or to cure a diseased heart. The prayer is for God to provide him a new heart, which God will create out of nothing—a previous non-existing heart. It involves like a heart transplant, in which the existing one needs to be discarded and replaced with a new one. We can ask God for this. We have the right to ask and plead before God.

Every human being whose spirit is thoroughly soaked in darkness can ask God for a right spirit. David prayed, “renew a right spirit within me.” We must learn to admit that we are not perfect. Our spirits are easily influenced by our preferences. We can have a bitter and envious spirit because others are better than us. We can have a proud spirit, just because we are doing this and that. We can have an apathetic spirit that simply does not care about God and other people. We can have a consumerist spirit. We can have a narcissistic spirit. But when we have these things, we have the right to ask God to give us a right spirit.

Every human being who is guilty of sin can ask God’s presence to remain in Him. David prayed, “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” We live in a chaotic world, and we need God’s hand to hold us. When we sin, we might feel that God would let us go and we would be alone in the world. This is scary because the moment we are alone, we are lost. But this does not need to be the case. We can ask God to remain with us.

Finally, every human being who is bombarded by guilt and shame because of sin can ask God for the joy of salvation. David prayed, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” When we sin, we are filled with guilt and shame. Satan also bombards us with lies and accusations that snuff our joy out. It is true that God brings sorrow upon us when we sin, but this godly sorrow should not remain with us forever. Sorrow leads to repentance, which leads to restoration. We must believe in God’s grace to forgive. 

Grace is available for all of us. It is a terrible lie of the devil that we do not have the right to ask from God because we have sinned against Him. It is a terrible deception to think that we are unworthy before God and present our requests to Him. The truth is that God is always waiting for us. He has a cellphone that He always looks at, and our number is in there. He is just a text away. He is just a prayer away. What we need is the audacity and the thickest face ever to come to God and make our requests.