"To Him be glory forever": December 2018

Sunday, December 30, 2018

"Stay into it"

Kat's birthday was this past week and as part of the celebration we took her and the boys to see a movie. Before the movie started we sat through some ads, including one for Diet Coke. The man in the ad was fond of a particular flavor of Diet Coke, saying he was "into it" and that he drank it "because I can." and then he said the words that really caught my attention, "Whatever you're into, stay into it."

Now I don’t believe that he, or any of the many other people involved in putting the ad together, meant anything malicious in what he said. He was simply recognizing that there is a broad diversity in things that people might enjoy, and encouraging us to keep enjoying whatever it might be that we are particularly fond of. For him, it was a flavor of Diet Coke. For me, it might be running, or green chile cheeseburgers. For you it might be watching your favorite football team, or hanging out with your grandchildren. Know it. Pursue it. Enjoy it. Repeat.

It may have been unintentional, but the phrase, "whatever you're into, stay into it," expressed an increasingly popular belief, which is that all things are relatively equal. And taking that logic a step farther, all things are relatively morally neutral. They aren't good, or bad, but all things are basically equal and oaky. And this is where Christians, in particular, need to practice wisdom.

On the surface there may not be anything necessarily wrong with his message. But the phrase, "whatever you're into, stay into it," when considered a bit more deeply, can lead us to believe that there are no real problems with anything that we enjoy. Considered biblically, it is the kind of thinking that sets us up to be our own gods and live in rebellion to the One True God. And that is a recipe for disaster.

We don’t have to think very long or hard to come up with some of the things that we, or people we know, might "be into" that are actually quite destructive to ourselves, our families and our community. Some of these things are legal and some are not. Some of these things might be allowed in one family and forbidden in another. Once my older son wanted to do something to which I said "no." He then said "So-and-so's parent let him do it," to which I answered, "I'm not so-and-so's dad."

God, in his goodness, shows us where to find wisdom as we follow him. In Mark 12:29-30 Jesus says,

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

When we look at our preferences through the lens of loving the Lord with all we have, we can begin to see if the things we enjoy are also things that fall within the boundaries where God would have us live. Knowing that his boundaries are good, and living within them, are great ways to both love the Lord, and to love our neighbor as well. More than anything else, those are the best things for the Christian to "be into."

Friday, December 7, 2018

Just A Word Or Two

Last night we went to the Christmas concert for our daughter's choir. She sings in a middle school girls choir, and so there were 15 girls, ages 10-14 singing a variety of Christmas songs. The program also included a few songs by an adult quartet, and a few songs by a soloist.

The songs, by all the different groups, were a mix of what the soloist referred to as "sacred and secular." That meant that some were of a explicitly religious nature, like Angels We Have Heard On High, while others were not, such as White Christmas.

At one point the girls and the soloist sang together, with a medley that included Go Tell It On The Mountain. Do you know that song? It starts with the chorus, which is:

"Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere.
Go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born."

Except that wasn't what was sung. The soloist sang this part, and the words he sang were these:

"Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere.
Go, tell it on the mountain
that a little baby is born."

Did you catch the difference? "Jesus Christ" was changed to "little baby." Just a two-word change, but it makes all the difference in the meaning of the song.

There is virtually no end to the little babies that have come into the world. I was a little baby. You were a little baby. My kids were little babies. Everyone I see on Facebook was a little baby. Everyone who ever lived in the history of the world started as a little baby.

We can get excited about babies, particularly those we are close to for one reason or another. But for the most part there is little particular reason that a broad group of people should get excited over any particular baby.

But the author of the song had one particular baby in mind, the baby Jesus. He was the baby whose life made a singular difference in the world. No other baby grew into an adult and left a mark on the world like Jesus did.

This week I'm preaching from John 6:60-71, where in verses 68-69 Peter responds to a question from Jesus by saying:

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

I don’t know who made the change in the lyrics for the concert. The arranger of the song, the soloist, the choir director, or someone else. But I do know that the name of Jesus Christ is one that makes a difference in the world, a difference unlike any other.

May this Christmas season be one where, if you already have faith in Jesus, that you treasure his name. And if you don’t have faith may this be the time in which you learn who he truly is and the receive the love that he has waiting for you.

A little baby is nice, but there has never been, and never will be, a baby like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Snow and God's glory

"Where is the snow?" I was asked that question by one of the members of our church as I visited her at home on Thursday afternoon. It has been a dry year in Dulce, ever since last winter. For most of the year the fire danger was "very high," and rivers in the area ran on the low side. On the reservation we had daytime restrictions on water usage and there was a ban on burn permits, so that we couldn’t even have a campfire when we had mission groups here. One friend who works as a guide during the hunting season said that animal quality was down this year, as the dry conditions affected animal growth. We've only been here five years and can't claim expertise in understanding the regional weather, but we've learned that winter snowfall is really important, and it makes a difference throughout the remainder of the year. Indeed, Where is the snow?

Less than 12 hours later we were getting an answer to that question. By the time it stopped falling Friday afternoon we had 6 inches on the ground, and another 2 inches fell by Saturday morning. I have no idea how long it will last on the ground but when it starts to melt some will run into, and begin to fill, the many reservoirs and stock ponds on the reservation and in the area. Yesterday, today, and certainly tomorrow everywhere a person looks they will see evidence of the snow. For December 1st, it’s a good start.

This morning I read the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk. In 2:14 he writes:

"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

This is a statement that tells that one day the whole world will see the glory of God. God's chosen people, who in Habakkuk's day are the people of Judah, as well as God's enemies, who as seen in this prophecy are the Chaldeans. The day is coming where there will be no place where the knowledge of the glory of God will not be clearly evident.

That's what the snowfall reminded me of this morning as I read Habakkuk. Believe in God or not, the day is coming when all will see and know his glory. Here in our part of New Mexico we need snow. My personal preference would be that it falls in such a way as to leave the roads clear for driving and running, and the sidewalks clear so that I don’t have to shovel. But it doesn’t work out that way in real life. Right now, with the temperature a bit below freezing, it is everywhere.

Do you see evidence of the glory of God in the place where you live? While the knowledge of the glory of God is good, it isn't enough. What a person needs, what every person needs, is saving faith in God, as brought to the world in the person of Jesus. The gap between a holy God and a fallen sinner is infinite. It is a distance that we can only cross by being carried in the arms of Jesus. When we repent of our sin and trust in Jesus for salvation, he carries us over that gap. May you see and respond to the glory of God today, by embracing Jesus as your Savior. Amen