The Lord Is With You.

The nation of Israel was going through one of those calamities that struck them from time to time. Marauding tribes invaded the land, stealing crops and livestock, terrorizing the people, and impoverishing the nation to the point of despair. It didn’t help that they had not only ignored their God, but had blatantly taken to serving other gods.

That’s why it sounded like an odd comment when the Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and says, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:12).

I know many people, faithful people, who are living through trials that are hard to endure. Many of these involve serious health problems. Others are dire financial problems. Some are having difficulties finding employment, or are being abused by their present employers. Family difficulties sometimes are a part of the mix. I even know some who are afflicted by all of these trials at the same time. If the Angel of the Lord were to approach them and say, “The Lord is with you”, as he did with Gideon, one could forgive them if they were answer as Gideon did:

“If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us.” (Judges 6:13 NIV)

One of the most difficult theological questions to address is this very question: If the Lord is for us, then why has all this happened to us? Clearly there is not an easy answer to this question, nor does any one answer address every situation. We know that in Gideon’s case, the nation had drifted from God and for that reason God gradually withdrew his protection from the nation’s enemies, and we also know that God responded when they cried out for deliverance. But we also know that the righteous really do suffer, and sometimes in the very presence of the wicked who are prospering. Scripture itself acknowledges such (Psalm 73 and the Book of Job).

This question of why the righteous suffer can be addressed in many ways, including that classic passage from Paul in II Corinthians 1:1-7, where we learn that the trials we face sometimes come our way so that we can better comfort others when they face such trials. Sometimes we suffer because of the natural order of this sin-laden and decaying world. Sometimes we suffer because we are reaping consequences of our own or others' mistakes.

Regardless of the cause of our suffering, Gideon’s comments intrigue me. The man was open enough to be honest about his doubts, even expressing those doubts and frustrations to God’s direct messenger.

Are you confident enough in your relationship with God to be this open and direct? “If the Lord is with me, then why is my wife perpetually sick? Why am I always running behind on my bills, and why is it so hard to find work? If the Lord is with me, why does the car break down at the most inopportune times? Why do we have family troubles? I know it rains on both the just and the unjust, but sometimes I get too much rain and sometimes not enough, while old Joe across the street who cusses up a storm and has no interest in his God whatsoever seems to be doing just fine.”

Would you have the nerve to question God in this way? Gideon did. And God didn’t condemn him for it. Instead he walked Gideon through his doubts and discouragement, showing that the Lord really was with him, and that he really was a mighty man of valor.

If life is handing you circumstances that cause doubt, ask the question. Persevere in your asking until you have the answer (Luke 11:8-13). You will learn something about yourself that you didn’t know, but more importantly, you’ll learn that God is who he says he is.

Jesus the Investment Banker

The economy has a way of commanding our attention, and it should. While it’s tempting to ask what Jesus might do in times like these, it’s a tough question to answer without asking more questions. Do you mean what would he do as a carpenter from Nazareth? That would elicit an entirely different answer from what he would do as the King of Kings.

Just for the fun of it, let’s try to figure out what Jesus the Investment Banker might do. In fact, Jesus spoke a couple of parables that give us a strong indication of how he would approach a few challenges our economy faces.

In Luke 19 Jesus pictures himself as an investor who has a few bucks (or pounds) to put to work. He chooses ten people, gives them each the same amount of capital to invest, and tells them to do business with it while he’s out of town.

Some time later, he calls his ten entrepreneurs together to assess how they have done. Note that he gave capital to ten entrepreneurs, but in the parable he only interviewed three of them. Two of the three made good returns, and the third did nothing more than turn the original investment back over. Is it possible that the remaining seven lost everything? If so, are we permitted to contemplate that maybe those seven were not condemned for losing it all because at least they were willing to take a few risks, while the fellow who simply sat on his capital did receive a condemnation?

In any case, the investment banker makes a decision. He takes the money away from the guy who has just the one pound that he was given and gives it to the guy who has ten. That sounds callous to our ears today. In fact the disciples themselves questioned the fairness of this: “But Lord! He already has ten pounds!” (Luke 19:25)

That is what Jesus the Investment Banker would do. Instead of subsidizing ventures that are destined to fail, he would direct his capital to the ventures that would be the most productive. That’s as it should be. The banker began with ten pounds, and after his entrepreneurs went to work, his wealth had grown to sixteen (10+5+1). If he had tried to subsidize the non-productive enterprises via capital injection taken from the successful, he would eventually erode all his capital on the not so successful entrepreneurs, who would have been better served finding another line of work.

I suspect Ronald Reagan might have had this parable in mind when he said, “The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

Jesus might have had in mind the proverb from Ecclesiastes: “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” (11:16) The main actor in this parable clearly diversified his investments.

So Jesus the Investment Banker would not be doing to the financial system what some are doing today. Instead of injecting capital into failing institutions, he would be investing in those that have a proven ability to succeed. What would Jesus do? Something radically different from what is being done. And that should be no surprise to anyone.