Your Sword Isn't For Cutting Cake

Birthdays in our house are usually small affairs. The birthday boy or girl gets to request whatever food they want to eat for their birthday meal, they get to pick their dessert (more and more often, my kids opt for something besides cake), we invite grandparents and any local aunts/uncles/cousins over, and we have a backyard (or indoor, weather-dependent) party. It's low-key and inexpensive.

For each of the kids' tenth birthdays, though, my husband and I decided they could do something a little extra. It might involve friends and paying for a venue somewhere. My oldest opted for a slumber party and camp-in (that's right, they slept in a tent inside the living room), my second-oldest wanted a karate birthday party at his karate studio, and my youngest, for her upcoming tenth birthday party, will likely choose a trip with friends to the nearest Chucky-Cheese (an hour north, yay). 

 Anyway, the karate birthday party was pretty cool. A karate instructor led my son and his friends in several fun games on the studio's padded floor, and they set up a table with a big cake on it. When the time came for eating, my son was given a massive samurai sword (only sharp enough to cut cake; I see you worried parents out there). He swung it back over his head, and slammed it down right through the middle of the icing. Icing shot upward, cake pieces tilted sideways like warm butter...

It was pretty awesome.

But boy, is cutting cake a misuse of a samurai sword.

For the second half of Romans 1, Paul goes super dark as he talks about the wrath of God against sinful, depraved humanity, then he begins Romans 2 with a deep dive into the righteous judgment of God.

First, he brings up something that he acknowledges as true and the recipients of his letter acknowledge as true. In other words, Paul is setting up common knowledge. Both sides of the letter agree on this common knowledge -- which is important for establishing an argument; you have to find your commonalities. He said: "Now we know (commonality) that God's judgment against those who do such things (they're listed in Romans 1:24-32 -- a whole list of sins that will receive the righteous judgment of God) is based on Truth."

In other words -- I've seen (and used) this word a lot recently -- there's a plumbline.

I'm not a builder, but I think I understand the concept of a plumbline; it basically functions like I used to use a protractor in my geometry class. When I needed to find up, I'd pull out my protractor and measure angles. The plumbline showed builders in ancient times (and maybe still today, I don't know; I'll have to ask my builder friends) which way was up. The plumbline was a weight hanging at the end of a string that displayed the rock-solid relationship between gravity and sky. 

And this angle, this relationship, this plumbline, is as solid and steady as time. It never changes. No matter the tilt of the ground in relationship to the sky, up is up is up is up.

Huh, saying up so many times in a row makes it sound weird. 

Anyway, so Paul says: "Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on Truth," the plumbline. It comes back to Truth. 

Who is Truth? Jesus Himself says: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). He is the Plumbline, as solid and steady as time itself (He created time!). He never changes. No matter what relationship we have with the Father, whether we're seeking or whether we're lost, Jesus is the only Way to know Him.

And so, when Paul says that God's judgement is based on Truth, we can know there are set boundaries. We can know there's a measuring rod that everything is going to be measured by, and that's why the saying: "You do you" makes no sense. We don't have a subjective truth when it comes to eternity. 

Jesus is THE Truth. 

So Paul uses this plumbline concept to jump into the Peter Parker Principle (yes, I know that Paul lived a long time before Stan Lee and Steve Ditko ever did their thing with Spiderman). The Peter Parker Principle says: With great power comes great responsibility (it's also been suggested that Voltaire originated the saying. Either way, the principle is out there).

Paul gives the same principle in slightly different words. He says: "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism" (Romans 2:9-10). 

So you might ask: What? What does Jew and Gentile have to do with anything?

It has everything to do with anything. Jews have the Scriptures; they are God's chosen people, covenanted with God through Abraham and led into the Promised Land. Yes, Jesus opened the way for all people to come to Him through His death and resurrection on the cross and from the tomb -- and Gentiles, according to Romans 1:19-20, will know God, too...

But Jews knew first. They had the responsibility of knowing God's law first. 

With great power comes great responsibility. Jesus came up with it, really. He says in Luke 12:48: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

So here's the deal: If you're given a samurai sword... don't use it to slice cake.

We are given a sword, and it's sharp and powerful. "The Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:12-13).

When we have a weapon like that, it's meant to slay our enemies. And while, for some of us, cake might be an enemy... a plain ol' cake knife will do for that. We have a sword that wields the power to rout our enemy the devil and send him into the outer darkness! 

We have a weapon in our hands, and we are supposed to use it. "For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous" (Romans 2:13).

In other words -- don't just stand there; do something. If you're given the responsibility to hold the sword, wield the sword! If you're given a place in the army, do your part!

Get your Bible off the shelf, dust it off, and swing that weapon! The Word of God is living and active. It gives us Truth, it's the plumbline by which we judge everything else. Isaiah 55:10-11 says: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater -- (EFFECTIVENESS) -- so is My Word that goes out from My mouth. It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Ever notice how the "Word" is in "S-word"?

I just now noticed that. I thought that was pretty cool. 

Anyway, don't swing your s-Word at a cake. You're given it to fight a battle, so make sure you know the weight and heft of your weapon, make sure you're familiar with all its parts, because it's going to lead you to victory IF you know how to use it.