Seeds and Soil

This week our church is hosting a Vacation Bible School (VBS) for the children of our community. A group of high-school age kids and adults came down from Denver to spend the week serving God in this way. They brought materials for the program, food for lunches for the children in the program, and more food for their own meals all week. And they brought enthusiasm for what they hoped to do over the course of the week.

About half of the Denver group was here last year, when a similar program drew 62 children. 62! That large of a number startled us, as it greatly exceeded our most optimistic hopes. To spend a week with 62 children, and do it well, takes a lot of enthusiasm for the task at hand.

Things are really different this year, as the VBS only has 12 children.  It is a pretty dramatic change, and we understand some of the reasons that the number is down. And I know that the decrease has been a bit disappointing for the volunteers, in particular the high school kids.

The attendance may be down, but the basic task, and its importance, is both unchanged and greatly needed in our community.

In Matthew 13:1-9 Jesus tells a story that we know as the Parable of the Sower.  A man scatters seed over a variety of terrain, with different results.  Some lands on barren ground. Some is pecked up by birds. Some starts to grow and is choked out by weeds. And some grows into a crop with a magnificent harvest. 

That parable speaks to the work of our mission volunteers from Denver. They are spreading the seed of the Gospel and tending the soil.  They may only be tending it for a few days, but that is okay. They tend the soil of the lives of the children here in Dulce and the harvest from the crop is in the hands of God.

The need for the hope of the Gospel is great here, as truthfully it is everywhere. But I'm just more in tune to the specific needs here, and in some cases the specific needs of the kids at the VBS. And so I want our partners this week to be encouraged that they are doing good and important work. And if it looks like the work that you are doing to spread the Gospel where you are at doesn't seem to be bearing much fruit, be encouraged. Know that Christians are called to be faithful, and the God will bring forth the harvest. And frankly, that harvest could be many years in the making.

And the last thing I shared with our friends from Denver this morning is that as they are spreading the seed of the Gospel some of it is being sown in them too. It may very well be that one day, years down the road, the greatest harvest from the week they spend in Dulce will take place in their own lives.

Spread the seed. Tend the soil. God will bring forth the harvest. To God be the glory!

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Starting Point

Last week I had the opportunity to share with some people some of the things about ministry in Dulce.  After talking a bit about what was happening last spring the woman next to me asked something like: "How do you handle all of that?" I wasn't sure what she was asking and so she rephrased her question as: "How are you able to keep going in face of the struggles of your community?"

It was a good question, with an easy answer. "The Lord sits on his throne, and he has not moved." Now it was her turn to ask for some clarification.  My expanded answer, more or less, was this: 

"No matter what is going on in the world, in my ministry, or my life, the thing that does not change is that God is in control of all things. From the first moment of creation and going on until that day when he will draw human history to a close, he rules all things. He is not distracted. He is not unaware or uncaring. No matter what things look like to me, or how hard, and even unjust things may appear at a particular moment, his purposes are being accomplished, and for his children he works all things for good."

Personally, I think that in times of difficulty, or when the world doesn’t seem to make sense, and we look in the mirror, or at the people around us as our starting point to figure out what to do next, we are headed in the wrong direction.  When flesh-and-blood humans and human ways of understanding the world are our go-to options, we will be led astray.

The proper place to cast our gaze at, at any time, but particularly in the times that are hard and confusing, is in the direction of the Lord.  Seek him first, for rest, for strength, for peace, for counsel, for whatever it might be that is needed at the moment, and in the minutes, days and weeks to come. 

The Lord sits on his throne. He is not moved. His characteristics do not change, and those are all really good things to remember.  When we seek him we may not receive the response we would prefer. But that’s okay. Perhaps not easy, but okay.  It's okay because of who he is, the Lord God Almighty, whom we can trust at all times and through all things.

No matter what may be going on in your life today, or tomorrow, or whenever the next storm shows itself, don't look to around yourself for help, but look to the Lord.  For all of life, may he always be your staring point.

It's Easy To Be A Critic

I just came back from spending a week at a meeting of the leadership of the Reformed Church in America (RCA).  Pastors and elders from across the US and Canada spent six days together to talk about the issues facing our denomination and, hopefully, make a few steps forward as sisters and brothers proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is a meeting that happens every year, and this was the third time I've been a delegate in the past four years.

Over the course of the meeting we would worship together, listen to reports, and discuss, debate and vote on various bits of business.  Debate may be a bit of an understatement.  There are some issues that the RCA has been wrestling with for many years.  Each year they present themselves in different ways.  Sometimes the presentation is clear and direct, and at other times more subtle and indirect.  Either way, on the floor of the assembly the lines separating two issues are often quite clear to nearly everyone.  I want to add that while there are sharp differences in points-of-view, they are generally shared without acrimony. 

This year as we dealt with the more controversial issues I found it exceedingly easy to listen and know what I was against.  In my mind it was easy to find the holes in a particular argument, and to also wonder why that faulty argument would hold up in the mind of so many delegates.  But a life, or a church for that matter, that is characterized by what it is against, is not likely to be a person or place where much joy is to be found.  In conversation with several friends after the day's session, we asked the question, "Instead what are we against, what is it that we are for?"  It is easy to be a critic, but what were we lifting up as good alternatives? It turned out that there were a lot of things that we were "for."

Being against things has its place, and all Christians should grow in biblical understanding and wisdom as they follow Christ.  The Bible teaches that there are things that are right, and things that are wrong, and that the boundary line between them may not always be seen clearly. 

Question 1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: What is the chief end of man?, and then provides the answer of: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Understanding the biblical view of what we should be "for," and then pursuing that as we cast off what the Bible is "against," is the way to bring glory to God. It is the way to live today with joy as God's children. It is a joy we can taste and savor now as we look forward to the day when we will experience God in all his glory.  Being a critic may have its place, but only as it leads to joy in the Lord.

"…my remembrance of you…"

One of the disadvantages of  preaching each Sunday is that I rarely have an opportunity to sit and listen to someone open up God's word, read it, and then proclaim its truth.  I need to hear God's word for myself as much as the people I preach to need to hear it, but those kinds of opportunities to feed on God's word don’t come my way as often as I would like.  So I was kind of excited this evening when I saw a link on Facebook to a sermon a friend of mine preached this morning.  Actually, I was doubly excited.  First, because I have never heard this friend preach, and secondly, because he was using a text that I preached myself last year.  A familiar voice, digging into the soil of a familiar text.  I clicked on the link.

His text was Philippians 1:3-5, where in verse three Paul writes:

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,"

My friend explained how Paul was very fond of the congregation in Philippi that he was writing to.  He knew them well, as he had got them started when he first visited that city.  And so it might seem natural that Paul would be fond of them. And then my friend brought out the fact that Paul thanked God as he remembered the Philippians, even though Paul knew that there were serious problems in their congregation. He knew them well as sisters and brothers in Christ, but he likely also knew that, like people anywhere, some could be hard to get along with, and that in the eyes of others he may have always appeared as an adversary.

And then my friend made things a bit more personal, saying that we all know people for whom we always have good thoughts whenever they cross our minds. In those cases it would be easy to thank God as we remember them. But going a step farther, he asked to think about some of the people who were difficult in our lives. Could we grow as Christians and develop an attitude such as Paul's, being thankful whenever we remembered them?  The people whom we might not be all that excited about when we saw them? The people that sometimes we wish had gone to the store at different time than we did? That was when his sermon got more personal for me.

People who have heard me talk for any period of time, or read some of what I have written, about life on the reservation will have heard about how devastating alcohol and other drugs are here.  After nearly five years in Dulce I can’t think of a single family I know of that hasn’t been affected by the downstream consequences of substance abuse. 

As Robin and I prayed together this evening we prayed by name for a number of people we know who are so often in the midst of the struggle with alcohol. Robin mentioned that the list seems to be getting longer, and she is probably right. Being a pastor gives me insight to other people whom she isn't aware of, people that I also feel drawn to pray for on my own.  Sometimes it seems as if they are living inside a tornado, violently thrown here and there but unable to escape the force that holds them inside.  Sometimes they try hard to break free, but I can see that it is an incredibly hard fight.  Occasionally there is real and lasting freedom from addiction, and I praise God for that, because I know each time his hand as been at work.

Getting back to Paul and the Philippians, I am glad that God has given me an attitude where I am glad to see those people I know who struggle with addiction here in Dulce. Personal contact with them is erratic and unpredictable, but when it comes there is often not only the opportunity to speak a word of encouragement but to also join with them in prayer.

I thank God for the opportunity to remember those here who are in bondage to addiction, and as I remember them then to also lift them to his care, asking that one day, perhaps even today, would be the day he brings them to freedom.

 

Note

I used a stock picture of what would seem to be among the most popular brands on the reservation, judging from the number of bottles I find scattered along the road. Its effects on the reservation are not nearly in keeping with the sophisticated image of the industry's advertising.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.