Blameshifting Blocks Blessing

We live in a messed up world, don't we? Here are a few things that make it so messed up: First, ever since the beginning of time, man has been killing one another. There has never been a time in history when men weren't killing men. Ever since Cain and Abel, people have been slaughtering one another. Second, is injustice. People who are abused, bullied, stolen from, killed, raped, shamed, and pillaged don't get justice. Instead, many of them die and never see their offenders held responsible. That's messed up. Third, all relationships follow the 2nd law of thermodynamics, which states: "Everything breaks down". All relationships break down at some point. And what happens when one relationship breaks down? We go running off to another relationship, don't we? "These people are going to treat me better! These people over here know how to function in healthy relationships!" And then those relationships fail us. And so we go running off to another relationship. And on and one we go until we're all alone with our dog. And even he gets ticked at us occasionally. Here's a fourth reason this life is so messed up and miserable: Death and disease. People die. We don't go on living. We die. Our bones start to ache, our skin starts to shrivel up, our eyesight and hearing goes, our hair falls out ... it all goes to pot. And then we die. And the older people get, the less the find pleasure in living. That's what Ecclesiastes 12 says. Ecclesiastes 12 gives a depressing picture of getting old and dying. It's horrific.



It is for this reason that the apostle Paul said that it was "better by far" to depart this earth and go be with Christ. Because life is hard and miserable. That doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. It is. I told my church all the things I enjoy about life: my family, friends, sports, music, nature, reading and studying, coffee, creating, relating, loving, my daugther, etc. Life is good. But it's also miserable. It's a mess.



So here's the question: Who's ultimately responsible for this mess? Who's to blame? Is God to blame for all of this? Maybe He is! For example, consider this: We didn't ask God to create the world. Consider this, too: God knew the world would fall apart before he made it ... so why did he make it in the first place knowing it would lead to so much pain and horror? Some theologians try and answer that by saying God doesn't always know the future. But that answer doesn't satisfy. I agree that God is ABLE to limit his knowledge. This is seen in Jesus Christ who limited his own knowledge. But God has declared time and again in the Bible that he knows the beginning from the end, that he knows the future, that he knew us before time began. God knew what would happen to this world. Consider something else: We didn't ask to be born either. God chose to give us birth. Wouldn't it be better to be non-existent than to be born into a world where you inherit a sinful nature which most likely will blind you from seeing the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ? So I ask you: who's ultimately to blame for the mess we're in? Who's really responsible for the predicament we find ourselves in?



Well, that was the question the exiled Israelites were no doubt asking themselves as they waisted away in a foreign, pagan land. Why did God allow this? Why would God create a people to make a name for himself and then direct pagan nations to come in, desecrate their temple, haul them off to Babylon, bring scorn and shame to their land and God's name, with all of it seeming to contradict the covenant he had made with them through Abraham? It was clearly God's will that they were there. It was clearly God's doing that put them there. In fact, Daniel 1:2 says, "And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his (King Nebuchadnezzar's) hand..." God was the one whow brought the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem. God was the one who caused the Hebrews to be defeated. God was the one who put them there, even though he said that he wanted to create a people who would bring honor to him, glorify him, and even though he said he wanted to honor his name through them. It didn't make sense. It all seemed to point to one fact: God was responsible for the miserable predicament they found themselves in.



However, Daniel prays a prayer in chapter nine and the point is this: it might seem that this is God's fault, but it isn't - it's OUR fault. We're the ones who are to blame for this miserable predicament we are in. Not God. Let's take a sampling of verses from this prayer to demonstrate this central point: First, 9:4-5: "I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: 'O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.'" In other words, "God isn't breaking covenant. God isn't being unfaithful to his promises. God is GREAT! God is AWESOME! WE are the ones to blame. WE are the one's who have sinned and broken covenant with HIM!" Let's go on. Now consider 9:7 - "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame..." Now look at 9:9 - "The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him". Starting to get the point? God's been good; we've been bad. Simple. And finally, 9:14-15 - "...the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong." Daniel's point in this prayer? "God's not to blame. He's been blameless. He's been pure. He's been forgiving and kind. We're the ones who have done wrong. We're the ones who have broken covenant with him."



Now, anytime we're in an argument and we're accused of wrongdoing, our usual response is to defend ourselves. We either deny it, or blameshift, or whatever ... but we do whatever we can to keep ourselves from being guilty. Daniel anticipates these silent objections and you can see these anticipations all throughout his prayer. Here's the first one:



Objection #1: God never told me what to do! This is the objection of ignorance. We claim ignorance: "Hey, I might be breaking the law, but I never knew what the law was!" Right? "Officer, I didn't know what the speed limit was! Where's the sign? How can I know the speed limit if there's no sign!? ... Oh, that sign? Is that even regulation size? It's so small! And one corner of it is covered up by a tree!" We claim ignorance. "We don't know what God wants from us! It's not clear! God hasn't made it clear!" To that, Daniel says this in his prayer - v.6: "We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land." You see the problem isn't that God hasn't spoken and revealed his will, the problem is that we don't like to listen. We don't like to hear what God has to say about us. It makes us FEEL bad. We like to feel "uplifted" and "encouraged". We don't like any "negativity". Just as Jesus said, "Men are afraid of the light for fear that their evil deeds will be exposed." We don't want the light! We don't want God's will to come shining down out of heaven, because in so doing, we become aware of sin - God's law reveals our sin to us, and that's not fun. The problem isn't that God hasn't spoken, the problem is that we're not listening. Jesus said to the Pharisees: "Why are my words not clear to you?" God is saying the same thing to humanity: "Why are my words not clear to you?" His Word IS clear. God has indeed told us what to do.



Objection #2: Well, you only spoke to our leaders. How come the leaders get all the knowledge and the people are at the mercy of their leaders making the truth known to them? Daniel responds. Let's go back to v.6 again: "We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land." Sometimes we think that God has only revealed himself to certain gifted people, like scholars and pastors and other leaders. But the truth is: That sort of thinking undermines what the reformers called "The perspecuity of Scripture" - the teaching of the clarity of Scripture. The Roman Catholic church held that the Bible couldn't be interpreted and understood by the average person. It could only be interpreted and undertsood by the clergy. This if of course was just a ploy on their part to maintain power. Luther and the Reformers came along and rejected that notion, risking their lives to translate the Scripture into German and other languages so the people could read and understand the Bible. Here's the point: the Bible is a book written primarily by people who weren't scholars to people who weren't scholars. There is absolutely no reason people cannot come to understand the Bible themselves. God has spoken to our leaders, to our pastors, but he's also spoken "to all the people of the land".

Objection #3: "Well, fine, God spoke clearly to everyone, but, you can't say that EVERYONE is to blame. Not everyone is guilty! There are bad people on this earth and then there are good people. Bad people do really bad things, and good people are responsible citizens like myself. Terrorists, rapists, murderers, political tyrants, deviants ... those are the bad people. But what about the guy who doesn't do ANY of those things? He doesn't even commit adultery. He's a nice guy, gives to charity, has a pleasant demeanor, helps his neighbors, does his job, loves his family, isn't perfect, but most certainly cannot be classified with the previous group of people! You can't say everyone is guilty!"

Daniel anticipates this objection as well. Look at what he says in v.7 - ""Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame-- the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem... "Oh, well, that I can understand! The people of Judah, the people in Jerusalem! Those people are guilty for sure. Those city people are messed up. I understand that." Daniel continues in v.7, though - "...and all Israel..." "All Israel? Not just the city people? Not just those messed up people from Jerusalem? ALL of us?! Even us good 'ol country folk? Even us responsible suburbanites? ALL?! ... Well, what about the Jews who don't even LIVE in the land of Israel? The diaspora? They haven't been participating in our sins. They don't know what's going on? Surely they're not to blame for anything? Surely they can't be guilty, too!" Daniel finishes in v.7 - "and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you."

Everyone is guilty. THAT's what the Bible teaches. EVERYONE. Paul says in Romans 3 that NO ONE is righteous ... ALL have sinned and fall short of God's glory." In addition to that, James says in his epistle: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" (2:10). "Wow. How can that be? I keep the whole law except for one part and therefore I'm guilty of breaking all of it? How's that?" Here's why: There's really only one law: Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. That, in a nutshell, is all the law summed up in one command. If you break any one command, you've broken THAT command. All sin is ultimately against God. After David sinned against Uriah, he said, "Against you and you only have I sinned". How can he say that? Because all sin is ultimately and truly against God. The prophet Samuel said, "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you" (1 Samuel 12:23). All sin, even sin against one another is ultimately and truly sin against God. Therefore, to mistreat one another is to mistreat God, as Jesus said, "Whatever you've done to the least of these you have done unto me" and as he said to pre-conversion Paul, "Paul, Paul. Why are you persecuting ... ME?" even though Jesus was in heaven. Paul was persecuting the church; therefore he was persecuting Jesus. Even when we sin against others, we are sinnign against God. So in breaking just one law, we break it all, since we break "the one law" of not loving God.

Objection #4: "Well, you obviously don't know about the oppression I've been under in my life. My upbringing wasn't exactly what you'd call "ideal". My Father wasn't there for me, my parents were drug addicts, they were only concerned with making money, etc., etc. I got the shaft growing up. And, in addition to that, when you put ME up against the political rulers of my nation ... I'm a saint, my friend. A saint. Our political rulers are the ones to blame. They're the ones who were responsible for this mess. They were our leaders. They were supposed to respond to the prophets and be the leaders God called them to be. But they weren't. They failed us. They are the ones responsible!" In other words, "My leaders failed me! That's why I'm messed up!"

Daniel responds in v.8 - "O LORD, ... our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because they have sinned against you." ... Hmmm. Is that really what that verse says? Or did I omit a certain word that needs to be put back in that vers? Yeah. I omitted a word. This is what it actually says: "O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we (not "they") have sinned against you." Wow. Can't blameshift towards our leaders, Daniel says. Our parents might have sinned against us, our political leaders might be corrupt, the leaders in our life might have failed us big time, but in the end, that will not be an acceptable excuse before God. No one on earth will be able to be forgiven on the basis of leadership irresponsibility in their lives. Why? Because we've all sinned. We're ALL placed in a position of influence at some point over someone in our life, which means that in one sense, WE'RE ALL LEADERS.

Objection #5: "Ok ... fine. No excuses. No blameshifting. I'm guilty. I know it. But for goodness sake ... how about a little grace! How about a little compassion and mercy! Where's the love and forgiveness and grace and mercy, God!? You demand that I be that way towards others! Doesn't that mean you should be that way toward me!? Man, you are so harsh and cruel with us. We make one little mistake and you're all over us! You can't wait to bring the hammer down! Maybe if I got a little grace and mercy I'd be a different person!"

Once again, Daniel anticipates the objection and points this truth out in the next verse: v.9 - "The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him". You see, God hasn't been strict and merciless. The Scripture says his mercies are new every morning. The Scripture says that he is "a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin" (Exodus 34:6-7). Psalm 103 says, "He does not treat us as our sins deserve". Jesus taught that you could live a lifetime of sin, yet be forgiven by God in an instant if you repent. God's mercy and grace are abundant. And when you really think about it: we're the ones who have hardly any grace or mercy to give. When someone does us wrong, we record it, throw it in their face, bring the hammer down, get angry, get bitter, divide, walk away, sever, and swim in an ocean of justice - all because "I'VE BEEN WRONGED!" We're the ones guilty of not giving mercy and grace, not God.

Objection #6: "OK, OK. I see my wrong. I see it. You've convinced me. But I've got to tell you, if I had known what sort of punishment I would receive for doing what I did, I NEVER would have done it. If God had made it clear to me what my punishment would be, I NEVER would have gone forward with my rebellion."

Daniel anticipates his objection as well, and vv.11-13 he writes (and notice the italicized parts): "All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth."

Get the point? Daniel's saying, "Hey, you had plenty of warning. And that warning came in two forms: general and specific. The general warnings were the warnings written in the Law of Moses that promise cursing instead of blessing if we disobey. That may be general in description, but it's still a warning. Just like God warned Adam and Even, "If you eat this fruit, you will surely die." The warning was there, even from the beginning. But not only was the warning general, it was specific - specific through the prophets who warned the Israelites that they would be hauled off to Babylon and exiled there if they continued in their rebellion. So not only does God give a general warning about sin in general, he also gave them a specific warning about their specific sin and the specific punishment that would come. So, they knew. The knew that sin lead to cursing and they knew that their sin would lead to exile. The problem isn't lack of clarity, beloved, the problem is our stubborn hearts that refuse to listen and decry "It's unclear!" in order get ourselves off the hook. But God's word is clear "so that no man is without excuse" (Rom.1:20).

So there it is. Are you tired? I am. All my excuses and objections have been laid out on the table and they've all been refuted one by one. Here we stand. Guilty before God. Here we stand, our defense lawyer has laid out his defense and he has LOST and has done so in an embarrassing fashion. The judge has slammed the gavel, the jury has come in, and has read the verdict: "We the jury find the defendant ... (dramatic pause) ... guilty on all accounts." Our hearts sink. A huge lump forms in our throats. Everything become surreal. We can hear the cries of our family members sitting behind us in the courtroom. Tears are all over. The courtroom gasps. Everyone is shocked. You're stunned. You've just been given the biggest blow of your life. And now your life is over. OVER. No hope. No future. Just punishment and misery for the rest of your days. No more laughter. No more joy. No more family dinners. No more shopping, playing, vacations, sexual pleasure with your wife, no more of any of it. It's all gone. You've been found guilty and the punishment is death. The police come over to you and begin to handcuff you. It's over.

Or is it? Is it really over? Is there a chance the judge just might have mercy on you? If so, WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN? Well, Daniel answered that question as well, and we'll take a look at how the guilty can be acquited before God in the next blog. In the meantime, let us soften our hearts before God. Let us not blame him for anything. Nothing he has done has ever been wrong. He is always right, always fair, always just. Everything he does and says in accordance with his nature - it's holy. It's perfectly moral. Perfectly pure. God is NEVER wrong. When we come to this understanding, it begins the process of bringing about a level of blessing in our lives we never thought possible. Let the blame game end.