By now, I’m sure all of us are familiar with the interview with Don Cathy, the chief operating officer of Chick-Fil-A that set off such a firestorm several weeks ago. As we might expect, much of the reporting on what he actually said has been inaccurate. So let me read to you a portion of the transcript of the interview by K. Allan Blume of the Baptist Press:
Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. "Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.
"We are very much supportive of the family - the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.
"We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy emphasized.
"We intend to stay the course," he said. "We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles."
Shortly after that interview, Cathy appeared on “The Ken Coleman Show,” where he spoke these words.
…I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage” and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we would have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is all about.
The response to his words is really not all that surprising. Most of you are probably pretty familiar with it, so I won’t belabor the point, but here are a few of the headlines from various people who reported on what Cathy said:
“Chick-Fil-A President Goes Public With Anti-Gay Marriage Stance”
“It's Official: Chick-fil-A COO Dan Cathy Comes Out as Antigay”
“Chick-Fil-A: A-OK with being anti-gay, says prez”
“Chick-fil-A Anti-Gay and Proud Of It”
“Chick-fil-A Hate-In: Dan Cathy and Rick Warren Gloat over the Chick-fil-A Hate-In of Gay People”
And then there was the Chick-fil-a store in Torrance, California where someone painted the words “Tastes like hate” on the side of the building.
We really shouldn’t be surprised that his words generated such contempt against Dan Cathy since we live in a world that is increasingly opposed to Jesus and the teachings of His Word. So how are we as His followers to respond to that kind of contempt?
Fortunately for us, Psalm 123, the fourth of the Psalm of Ascents, helps us to answer that question. Once again, we’ll begin by reading that Psalm out loud together:
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 123:1-4 (ESV)
If you’re anything at all like me, you can definitely relate to the sentiments expressed by the Psalmist in the last two verses of this Psalm. I know that I’ve certainly had more than enough of the contempt that our cultures showers on Jesus and His followers. My soul has had more than enough scorn from self-sufficient people who are arrogant and proud and who belittle my faith in God.
So I know I need this Psalm and my guess is that you need it too.
Although this Psalm is short – only four verses – it is rich and actually gives us a pretty comprehensive picture of how we can conquer the contempt of the world.
HOW TO CONQUER CONTEMPT
• Anticipate the world’s contempt
Like His fellow Hebrews, the Psalmist lived the majority of his life not on the mountaintop in the Temple in Jerusalem, but rather in the valleys where he was surrounded by the ungodly. And both he and the people around him recognized the differences that existed between them. And it was not just the physical differences that separated them. As a Jew, the Psalmist had a completely different world view and set of values than the people around him. And those differences were evident in the way he lived his life – the choices he made, the way he treated others, the way he responded to success and failure, prosperity and need.
So it’s not hard to imagine the contempt that would have come from those around him who were self-sufficient, those who were proud of their own accomplishments. Perhaps they taunted the Psalmist by calling him weak because he needed God to help him. Perhaps they called him a “goody two shoes” or “holier-than-thou”.
If we choose to follow Jesus and to live our lives in a manner that is consistent with His Word, we are going to be set apart from the rest of the world, too. We’re going to be looked down upon and our words are going to be twisted. Just ask Dan Cathy. Although he never even mentioned gays in anything he said, he was accused of being “anti-gay” and of “hating” gays. In fact, on the Chick-fil-A website, their published corporate policy shows just the opposite:
The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our Restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect –regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.
But as Christ followers, we shouldn’t really be caught off guard by this kind of contempt. After all, Jesus was called a glutton and drunkard and accused of all kinds of things that were not true. So why should we expect we’re going to be treated any better? In fact, Jesus actually warned us that we ought to anticipate that kind of contempt:
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
John 15:18-21 (ESV)
That last phrase - because they do not know him who sent me – is the key here. We can’t expect those who do not know God to comprehend the things of God or to be able to understand the things that His children believe and do. So we should never be caught off guard when we face the contempt of the world. By anticipating that contempt we will be in a much better position to deal with it in a Biblical manner.
• Acknowledge God’s sovereignty
When we face contempt, our first reaction is usually to focus on the person who is attacking us. We often become so obsessed with those who oppose us that we actually allow them to dictate our response. But the Psalmist refused to do that. Instead, his first reaction was to look to God. So the Psalm begins with these words:
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
This is actually the first time in the Psalms of Ascent where the Psalmist addresses God directly. And as he lifts up his eyes and speaks to God, he refers to God as the one who is enthroned in the heavens. When the psalmist looks up to God, he is acknowledging that God is above and separated from man. He is humbly seeking God’s help, not commanding God as if God is merely some magic genie who will do his bidding.
The idea of God being enthroned is a picture of His absolute sovereignty and reminds us of what Isaiah saw when he was ushered into the presence of God:
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Isaiah 6:1 (ESV)
God is the sovereign ruler of the universe who is completely capable of bringing his purposes, plans and ways to their complete fulfillment. The Psalmist summarizes this principle quite succinctly:
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
Psalm 115:3 (ESV)
Although the Psalmist is the victim of the contempt of the proud and arrogant people around him, he recognizes that he is not at their mercy because there is a God in heaven who is ultimately in charge. So instead of becoming obsessed with his enemies and allowing them to dictate his response, he becomes obsessed with God. That’s where his whole focus is.
I can’t stress enough how important it is for us to keep our eyes on God when we face the contempt of the world. You will note the emphasis in this Psalm on the “eyes”. And in each of the four times that word is used in the Psalm, it is a reference to keeping our focus on God and not on the people around us or our circumstances. If we don’t do that, then we’ll quickly find that we can’t possibly apply the remaining principles we’ll look at this morning.
The writer of Hebrews confirms the importance of keeping our focus on God in the New Testament:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
• Abandon my “rights”
The Psalmist gives us two pictures to illustrate how we are to look to God when we face contempt.
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
In the culture of the Psalmist’s day, servants were devoted to serving the needs of their masters. A good servant would carefully observe the habits and lifestyle of his master and sought to incorporate those qualities into his own life. In particular, he would watch his mater’s hand since a simple inconspicuous movement of the hand was the only indication that the servant needed in order to know what his mater desired.
In order to be an effective servant, the servant had to put aside all of his own rights and focus on what was pleasing to the master. The Psalmist looked to God in that same way. He abandoned his own rights so that he could be attentive to the desires of his master.
It’s pretty easy to see why we can never get to this step if we don’t first acknowledge God’s sovereignty and keep our focus on Him. If we focus on those who have wronged us in some way, the tendency is going to be on my “right” to “get even” or exact revenge in some way. But God has something much better than revenge or “payback” in store for those who would give up that right and make Him their master.
The words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount describe some practical ways that we need to give up our rights when we are wronged:
You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles…You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:38-41, 43-45 (ESV)
Although we’re probably all familiar with those words, they definitely aren’t easy to put in to practice in our day-to-day lives. But when we do apply them, we find that we are actually freed from the bondage that results from our desire for revenge.
In her best-selling book Unbroken, author Laura Hillenbrand rightly observes:
The paradox of vengefulness is that it makes men dependent upon those who have harmed them, believing that their release from pain will come only when their tormentors suffer.
The only way we can be freed from that kind of bondage is to do as Jesus commanded and love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. That leads us directly to our next application:
• Appeal to God for His mercy
When the Psalmist prays to God, he doesn’t pray to be removed from the contempt he finds around him, he doesn’t pray for God to exact revenge on his enemies. Instead he prays for God’s mercy.
The word translated “mercy” means “to show favor” or “to be gracious”. When used to describe God’s dealing with His people it pictures God doing something kind or helpful for one in need when there is nothing to compel His action.
By appealing for mercy, the Psalmist is acknowledging that he is not deserving of God’s intervention in his life. He understands that his life is a gift from the sovereign God who is enthroned in heaven above. It is a humble act of petition from a servant to his master.
But there is an urgency to that plea. We see that in the repetition of the prayer – twice he asks God to have mercy on him. Even though seeking God’s mercy is dependent upon God to act, it is certainly not a passive thing. It requires consistently being in God’s presence, looking to His hand so that we can be obedient to his wishes as we serve Him. Appealing to God for His mercy is also a crucial aspect of the last application that we’ll look at this morning.
• Appropriate God’s power
In the same way that the servant and maidservant are utterly dependent on their masters, we, too, are only able to serve God in the manner He desires as he empowers us to do so. In the midst of a self-centered culture it’s not easy to acknowledge God’s sovereignty and abandon my rights and appeal to God for His mercy. It certainly doesn’t come natural for us to do that. So we have to appropriate God’s power in order to be able to live like that. That is the point Paul makes in his letter to the Philippian church:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)
As followers of Jesus, we have the responsibility to “work out our salvation”. That means that we have an important role to play in the process of becoming more like Jesus. But if we limit our participation in that process to what we can do in our own power, we will never be successful. It is only when we recognize that God is at work in our lives and we appropriate His power that we can do the things we’ve discussed this morning when the world treats us with contempt. And what amazing power that is. Paul described that power in his prayer for the believers in Ephesus:
…having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know… what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
Ephesians 1:18-20 (ESV)
The very same power that God used when He raised Jesus from the dead is available to every single Christ follower. Isn’t that amazing? That is the power that is at work in us – we just have to tap into that rather than rely upon what we can do.
As I look at how Dan Cathy has responded to the contempt that has been showered upon him, I think he has done a tremendous job of applying the principles that we’ve looked at this morning.
• I think he had to know that when he chose to publically take an unpopular stand to hold fast to Biblical principles, he was going to face the contempt of the world.
• There is pretty good evidence that Mr. Cathy acknowledges God’s sovereignty. He is certainly right on track when he said:
…I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage” and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we would have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is all about.
• There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Mr. Cathy has in any way tried to exercise his rights to strike back at those who have attacked him. In fact, he wasn’t even the one who organized the efforts to support him and his company. That was only done by outsiders.
• Mr. Cathy actually voiced his prayer for God’s mercy – not just for himself, but for our entire country
• I certainly get the sense that Mr. Cathy is content to rely upon Jesus and His power – not just to survive this particular onslaught, but to continue to live his life according to Biblical principles the very best he can.
Dan Cathy - and all of us - certainly have a great role model when it comes to applying these principles in our lives – none other than Jesus Himself.
There is certainly no one in history that experienced more undeserved contempt than Jesus. Even as He hung on the cross for their benefit, the people responded to his loving sacrificial act with contempt:
And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Luke 23:35-37 (ESV)
Jesus could have easily exacted His revenge upon those people. He could have called to His Father in heaven to bring fire from heaven and give them the judgment they absolutely deserved. But instead, here’s how He prayed to God on their behalf:
…Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do…
Luke 23:34 (ESV)
As His followers how dare we do anything different?
