An unsettling notion has lately come over me with regard to marriage.

Understand I am grateful for Diana, my wife of 30 years, and the person she is—and is becoming.  She is a guiding influence on most everything I touch—from the way I dress to the way I write...to the way I am learning to clean house.  Or sit on the couch and just talk.

The unsettling notion I speak of has very little to do with her...but very much to do with me.   And quite possibly you.

Why all the sober talk at Valentine's?

It’ a growing hunch that goes like this:

Precept #1The Bible clearly teaches principals of stewardship.  Ultimately, you and I are not “owners” of anything.  We are just tenants—for a time.  We are caretakers.

Precept #2 The Bible clearly teaches we will stand before Almighty God to give him an accounting for “what we did in the body whether good or evil.”   When we do this, we will stand alone.  My wife will not be with me.    But...

Unsettling notion of the day:  How I TREATED my wife will very much be a subject of examination.    This is what I find so sobering.

When the Creator presented me with my wife, she was optimistic about living life with a man who would love her and care for her, putting her interests above his own, willing to sacrifice anything for her comfort.  Most of all, she had the thoroughly biblical hope that I would model Christ for her.

Is that the kind of life I have lead?  Am now leading?  Does this kind of care describe my caretaking?

Or is it something less?  (Maybe far less—as is the case with me sometimes). 

Because our spouses are only ''on loan” to us...the question must be asked, “When the Father says ‘”Time is up”...are you going to return your spouse better...or bitter for the years you've been together?  More like Christ?  Or more disenchanted?

Your wife--she’s only “on loan” to you.

Your husband--he’s only “on loan” to you. It’s only for a time.   And then the accounting.

I suppose we all ought to find that unsettling.  Unsettling enough that we recommit to "be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God--for Christ's sake--has forgiven you."

I have been reading about Hell—and it is beyond awful.

In an age unwilling to accept pain or discomfort of any kind, Hell does not fit.

There is an unbending judgment, an uncommon finality to Hell that keeps it a respectful distance from normal conversation—even in most Christian circles.  In an era of felt-needs preaching, the subject of Hell rarely comes up.

But I have been reading about Hell—and it is beyond awful.

It is awful for at least four reasons.

1. The agony suffered in Hell is worse than anything imaginable. Unspeakable anguish. Unquenchable thirst.

2. Having suffered for a million billion years, the suffering of Hell will not relent in the slightest.

3. Having suffered in hell for a million, billion years, there will be not the slightest chance for any relief. Ever.  No hope…for any hope.

4. Those who end up in Hell will be fully conscious of the rejoicing going on in heaven…fully conscious of the fact that they need not have gone to Hell, but, in fact, actually chose it by refusing Christ’s offer: “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Gone the slightest shred of human decency.

Gone the tiniest glimpse of a smile or kind word or thoughtful deed.

Nothing but an eternity of daily agonies too numerous to count, too inexpressible for language.

How DARE we ignore the subject of Hell in our weekly sermons, in our daily conversations?

How DARE we let a day go by and not speak of it to those we claim we love?

How DARE we....How dare any of us mock the saints of old for being “Hellfire and brimstone preachers”?   Would that we were of their sterner constitution.   Hell is too hideous for any other.

Revelation 20:15: “Whosoever was not found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”

I have been reading about Hell—and it is beyond awful.

What happened to the advertisements?  Do you ever wonder why certain products used to be seen advertised on television or in magazines and newspapers....and now they are like “product non grata”--like they don't even exist.

When was the last time you saw a commercial for 7-Up?  Here's a national brand...but seems to have fallen off the map, promotionally..

What about Certs—the peppermint breath mints that give you two--(CLACK)--two (CLACK)--two mints in one!   And speaking of mints, where are the commercials for Tic Tacs?

Now I'm sure there's some logical explanation for all this.  Some 24 year old with his MBA making 120 grand a year as a marketing manager can explain that “products have a cycle” and these have reached a unique stage in that cycle.

Yet still, I ask...when the products are still being sold...still being consumed by the public, why are they no longer advertised?   It can only mean...either....

A. The brand or product is so wildly successful, there's just no need to pump more money into promoting it.  OR...

B.   It's no longer financially worth advertising for product X.  Essentially what they're saying, is, “We'll just be satisfied with our current numbers for the product.  OR...

C. Maybe in the world of digital media, there are more cost effective ways to advertise than mass media like network television.  OR....

D. Maybe the product itself or as a category is just plain on the way out.

The same questions are fair to ask about the visibility of Jesus in our culture…in our lives.  To put more of an edge on the question…How well do we—Christ’s followers—advertise the Christian lifestyle?

Have we concluded that Christianity is so wildly successful there’s just no need to pump any effort into our personal witness? Or are we satisfied with our current numbers—ie. Most of the world is going to Hell, and that’s okay with us.

Or is it answer “D”…we’d never say it, but we believe our “product” is just plain on the way out.

Jesus said “Go and make disciples."  That's a command without expiration date.

By now you’ve probably heard the outrageous quote. Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo—very likely a 2016 presidential candidate--told Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom that “extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay” have “no place in the state of New York.”

In one remarkable sentence, all pro-life people and all those who support a biblical view of marriage were labeled “extreme.”  What’s more, these folks were essentially asked to leave the state.

But this uncharitable blast is at odds with reality.

Poll after national poll shows Americans are divided almost evenly over the issue of abortion.  So…does that make half the nation “extreme”?

Thirty-one of the fifty states have passed constitutional amendments banning legal recognition of same-sex unions.   Does this mean 31 states are now “extreme”?

Please note, now, that if you count the A&E condemnation of Phil Robertson’s stand on homosexuality, this is the second time in a month that conservative Christians have been told—“The public expression of your viewpoint is just not welcome at all.  Kindly shut up.”

Could I just ask anyone who agrees that Christians are “out of step” and ought to “keep their values to themselves”….where is YOUR tolerance?  You’ve preached this gospel so loud for so long…as long as it advanced your objectives.  But apparently tolerance is only afforded those who have the—quote—“correct” viewpoints.  Christian people are just not worthy of tolerance—is that it?

What gives you the right to determine the case is closed and the only right conclusion is yours—when a vigorous public debate is alive and well—despite attempts to belittle it or squash it?

Telling someone that disagrees with us, “You have no place in this state” feels remarkably like hate speech.  Because it is.

I’m reminded of 1 John 3:1: “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”  Attention Christ followers: Fasten your seatbelts.  There’s a rough ride ahead.

Throwing rocks at traditional Christian values is step one.   Be assured there’s a step two.

“She’s living on borrowed time.”  That’s the conclusion a friend shared with me in a pensive moment.  He was referring to his wife’s recent bout with cancer.

His remark caught me off guard because his wife has been cleared of any cancer.   Surgery removed every hint of it—and no chemo or radiation was required.  She’s in great health now, with no significant medical problems of any kind.

“The truth is, we’re all living on borrowed time,” said my friend—reading the curious look on my face. I thought about his statement quite a while.  He’s right.

We’re all living on borrowed time—every one of us.  The tragedy is, we simply don’t see it that way.  The fact that you and I might have racked up years of sickness-free living, decades of hospital-free health…does nothing to alter the harsh reality that we are all living on borrowed time.   (:55)

All it takes is…

One distracted glance on a truck-laden highway…

One unlikely fall off a ladder…

One x-ray at the doctor’s office….

And suddenly, the sheer frailty of the slender thread we call life…is seen for what it really is.

The oddity is that we have all peered through the lens of someone else’s tragedy and seen how fine and fragile that thread actually is.  Yet we come away from such a view, stuff our hands in our pockets…and still feel comfortable criticizing a spouse.  Or not forgiving a friend.  Or withholding love from someone desperate for a drop.

The truth is, we DON’T have time.  We DON’T have time to criticize our spouse.  We DON’T have time to not forgive a friend.  We DON’T have time to withhold love.

We are living on borrowed time.  James 4:14, “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

It’s time we understood “our” time—whatever of it may be left to us—is truly borrowed time.