ABC Messenger

How to Be Hilarious
by Pastor George Van Alstine

Our English word “hilarious” comes directly from a similar word that is identical in Greek and Latin—hilaros. It describes a kind of joyful feeling that lifts a person’s spirit and creates a sense of freedom and lightness.

This word is used only two times in the Bible, both in the letters of Paul. In each of these teaching passages, Paul is referring to Christian service activities that we might be inclined to do grudgingly, or at least unenthusiastically. Instead, says the apostle, we should make a conscious effort to do them in the spirit of hilaros, with joyful abandon.

The first passage is in Paul’s Letter to the Romans, where he is encouraging believers to put into action whatever gifts God has given them:

We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. (Romans 12:8)

He’s saying, it’s not enough to have a gift; the important thing is to use it., and to use it in a positive , aggressive way. In the case of the gift of “compassion,” it should be done in a light-hearted, joyful way. Other translations describe this gift as “showing mercy,” “doing deeds of charity,” “helping people in need.” So if we serve at the Bad Weather Shelter, give a dollar to a person looking for a handout, or take in a teenager whose parents have thrown him out, we shouldn’t do it with a sigh, or with gritted teeth, or with a feeling of resentment for the intrusion. We should be hilarious about it.

The other passage is about giving our money to the work of the Lord. Paul teaches the Corinthian believers how to have the right attitude in their stewardship:

Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

We’ve probably all heard this saying, “God loves a cheerful giver,” but it is usually applied in a rather anemic way, meaning, “God doesn’t want you to grumble and complain about the money you put in the offering plate.” Actually, the word hilaros goes beyond this. We’re supposed to be downright jubilant that we have an opportunity to show God our appreciation for this tangible way to say Thank You to him. God really loves a hilarious giver, one who laughs all the way to the bank to draw out every penny of his savings to give to God’s work.

Isn’t that hilarious?

One other interesting linguistic connection: The English word exhilaration comes from the same Greek/Latin root. Is your Christian life kind of humdrum and uneventful? Want to put some spice in it? Want to experience some genuine exhilaration? Try a little hilarious service to others, or some new level of hilarious giving?

In My Bathtub, I’m The Captain!
by Pastor George Van Alstine

Don’t ask me what internet trail I followed to stumble on this gem! On YouTube I found a catchy little cabaret song from around 1937, entitled “In Meiner Badewanne Bin Ich der Kapitän.” You’re right; there was no English translation. I was curious about it’s meaning, so I had to look up the words I didn’t recognize. The title translates as “In My Bathtub, I’m the Captain.”

I was not able to find the lyrics in English, and it was tough to uncover them even in German. Once again I had to become a laborious translator, and here’s what I came up with:

Everyone wants to be boss of his life; everyone wants to be somebody.
He wants to be emperor, but like Napoleon, he may have a big appearance and still be short.
Not everyone can be boss, because then no one would work. But . . .
In my bathtub, I’m the captain!
I can play with the wet soap and create beautiful bubbles by stirring up the sea.
I am a man of action. I turn on the faucet whenever I want.
I am a wild sea pirate on the wide ocean.
When I’m tired of the game, I pull the plug really fast;
As the water goes down the drain, I call out:
“Attention! S.O.S! Danger!”
In my bathtub, I’m the captain!
It’s great to be captain!

It took me a little while to find that the song’s author was a German cabaret composer by the name of Otto Berco. I have not yet been able to find much information about Berco, except the name of another song he wrote, and it was in Yiddish. This undoubtedly means that he was Jewish. A German Jew writing in 1937 and comparing his bathtub captain to Napoleon? Could he have been satirizing another short, pompous “emperor” whose initials were A.H.? If so, what a clever way of putting Hitler’s grandiosity into perspective! I can picture some Nazi general and his girlfriend, singing half-drunk in a cabaret without realizing they were making fun of Der Fuhrer.

There’s a small sub-plot in each of our life stories in which we are bathtub captains. We save the helpless maiden, find the cure for cancer, win on “American Idol,” thwart a terrorist plot, are voted “Miss ABC” in a beauty contest. We may see ourselves as losers in our work, our school or our family life, and still be winners in our recurrent bathtub-captain dreams. That’s OK; we need our fantasy escapes.

But when we take exaggerated images of ourselves too seriously, we may be in trouble. I can’t help but think of one of America’s most famous poems, “Invictus,” by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903), which ends with the memorable lines,

I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.

Henley was remarkable in his ability to withstand harsh physical limitations throughout his short (died at 53) life, including bone disease, the amputation of one leg and years in a sanitarium. We can applaud his bravery in proclaiming that he is “captain” of his own soul. But in his poem he seems to go out of his way to reject the need for God’s help. He tips his hat with the words

I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.

But his main praise is for himself:

I have not winced nor cried aloud . . . My head is bloody, but unbowed . . .
And yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid.

When all is said and done, Henley’s poem seems to me to be just another bathtub-captain story. When he shakes his fist at the fates, he’s not demonstrating that he’s truly in charge of his own destiny. He’s just making more soap bubbles.

a talk about a band called Danielson, art, faith and paving the way for others.

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Prophecy for 2012
by Pastor George Van Alstine

What will 2012 bring us? Care to make a prophecy? Might as well; everybody else is doing it.

There certainly will be plenty of end-of-the-world predictions, particularly around interpretations based on the “Mayan Calendar.” It’s interesting that these apocalyptic prophecies are not coming from the Bible, but from ancient civilizations in Central and South America, based on their observations of astronomy and other natural phenomena. This is all being packaged through New Age, neo-pagan groups as an alternative to Christian visions of end times.

No, Christians have not had a corner on date-setting; Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Zoroastrian fringe groups have also done their share. But Christianity believes the Bible teaches that human history has a clear beginning in measurable time, and that it will have a clear end as well. American Christianity, especially, has certainly set the bar high when it comes to brash, bold, super-specific predictions. An interesting website catalogs over 240 various prophecies year-by-year through Christianity’s twenty-plus centuries, showing the cluster of these originating in America in the past two centuries: http://www.bible.ca/pre-date-setters.htm

There’s a reason for this. About twenty-five years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the “Second Great Awakening” began, and this revival lasted until the Civil War years. Active church membership soared, fed by camp meetings and thousands of personal conversions. Baptists and Methodists, in particular, grew with the westward expansion of the population. Also, many distinctly American groups had their start in this movement, such as the Churches of Christ, the Disciples of Christ, and the Mormons.

One important figure who arose during this time was William Miller (1782-1849), a Baptist leader who developed a very strong emphasis on Biblical prophecy. A group of followers were fascinated with his analysis of dates and numbers, and the spiritual fervor of the time magnified their sense of expectation. A sure date was set for the Lord’s return— October 22, 1844. All of these “adventists” were gathered for prayer on hillsides or in churches, sure that Jesus would come in the clouds. When the day ended uneventfully, all those who had believed in Miller’s teaching suffered what has become known as the “Great Disappointment.” Many turned away after that. Some stayed and transferred their expectations to new dates, set by recalculation and correction of errors. Out of this experience emerged some modern denominations, notably the Seventh Day Adventists and the Advent Christians.

Another group, who continued on Miller’s path and focused on redefining prophetic details, were the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Under Charles Taze Russell and his successors, the Witnesses became the champion date-setters, first announcing that 1874 would be the year, then 1914, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975, and, most recently, 1994. They’ve had a lot of “great disappointments.”

Out of the ministry of evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899), a new emphasis on lay Bible study emerged, supported by annual Bible conferences in various locations and by the establishment of several prominent Bible institutes. Prophetic teaching became a staple in these circles, and it was dominated by the interpretative system known as “Dispensationalism,” popularized in the Scofield Reference Bible. This has become a very strong emphasis in modern evangelical churches of various denominations. A steady diet of such teaching invites date-setting and other end-time speculation. Popular writer Hal Lindsay (The Late Great Planet Earth) comes out of this dispensational background, and he became involved in date-setting in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Harold Camping has had similar roots, and he and his followers experienced their first “great disappointment” when his 1994 prediction proved erroneous. That didn’t stop Camping from coming up with new dates this past year, first on May 21, then on October 21.

Here’s my prediction for 2012. The Mayan Calendar speculation that the world will end on December 21, 2012 (the Winter Solstice), will stimulate the writing of numerous new age books. Christian prophetic teachers will find proof that the Bible prophesied the December 21, 2012, second coming long before the Mayan Calendar was developed, and they will write their own books.

Wait to do your 2012 Christmas shopping until December 22, because all these books will be on sale at bargain prices!

Mercy Wild
by Pastor George Van Alstine

One of our best Christmas carols tells the story in these memorable words:

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”

The author of these words was Charles Wesley (1707-1788), one of the greatest hymn writers of all time. Far be it from me to question such a respected lyricist, but the phrase “mercy mild” has always bothered me. I remember stumbling over these words when I was caroling as a young person. “Mercy mild” seemed too anemic for angels to sing about. “Mercy mild” is what a young girl might feel when she hears a kitten crying for milk. I know Charles Wesley had to find something to rhyme with “reconciled,” but I think he missed on this one.

Actually, even Bible translators have had trouble putting the angels’ shout of praise into English words. We are all familiar with the traditional King James Version, which has “On earth peace, good will toward men.” But more recent translations, using earlier manuscripts, seem unanimous in seeing the Greek word behind “good will” as modifying “God” and not “men.” They translate the phrase as “On earth peace among those whom he favors” (New Revised Standard Version), or “On earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (New International Version). The idea seems to be that the angels are proclaiming the birth of a new King and, at the same time, assuring those who embrace and become part of his Kingdom that they will experience peace by being fully reconciled to God.

Now, Wesley couldn’t be expected to explain all that in one line of a poem, but I think he could have done better. Here’s my suggestion:

“Peace on earth through mercy wild,

God and sinners reconciled.”

The gulf between God and the entire race of rebellious humans was wide and deep. In a wild display of reckless mercy, God sent this Baby into the chaotic and dangerous mess caused by sin. “God and sinners reconciled”: that reconciliation didn’t happen easily. Ultimately, the Baby would have to die to bridge the chasm. It took “wild mercy,” not “mild mercy” for God to accomplish his goal.

I know Charles Wesley is very grateful for the work I’ve done improving his lyrics, and I’m sure he’ll remember me when the royalty checks come in.