"To Him be glory forever": October 2018

Friday, October 26, 2018

Making Progress

Last week I spent some time out of town. First I went to Albuquerque to go to a preaching workshop, and then I went to Denver for a meeting of people from the Native American congregations in the RCA.

Early in the preaching workshop each person their shared their name, where they were from , and how many times they had attended the workshop. There were some newcomers, as well as people who were present for the seventh time. And then we were reminded of the overall goal of the workshop, which was that we would "make progress" as preachers. Everyone there, including people who had preached for over 25 years, nodded in agreement. We all agreed that each of us had room to improve as we study, understand, and proclaim, God's word.

And then it was on to Denver, where the theme of our gathering had to do with "making disciples who make disciples." Behind that idea is the idea that all followers of Jesus are disciples, people who see Jesus as not just Savior and Lord, but also as the teacher who shows them how to live rightly as God's children. And with that there is also the idea that as we grow as disciples we also help other people to grow as disciples.

Being a disciple is not something that has a fixed end point. No one learns everything or does everything just right in following Jesus. But being a disciple is something that has much in common with the goal of the preaching seminar, which is that over time we should "make progress."

Writing to Timothy, Paul gave him some words of warning and then gave him these words that can continue to guide and encourage us today. In 1 Timothy 6:11 Paul writes:

"Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness."

When we read the book of Acts we can see the amazing transformation that Paul went through as he came to salvation and then followed Jesus for the rest of his life. As we read the letters he wrote that became part of the Bible we can see how much he learned along the way, and then how he passed that learning on to congregations that he knew were in need of it. And writing to Timothy late in his life, a man Paul had personally trained, he continued to provide Timothy with direction and encouragement as Timothy followed Jesus.

The words that Paul gave to Timothy continue to guide and encourage us today, as we follow Jesus here in Dulce. As we pursue, or seek to grow in the things Paul has listed, we grow as disciples of Jesus. We "make progress," bit by bit by bit. Sometimes the progress is rapid. Sometimes it is painfully slow. And sometimes it comes through experiences that we would rather never having had to go through.

But the end result is that we are shaped a little bit more to be like the One we serve, learning lessons that we can share with others along the way. May this next month, and every one that follows, be one where you "make progress" as a disciple of Jesus. Amen.

(Our kids are working on making a movie. In the picture above they are "making progress" in building the set and working out the scene.)

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Being Held Accountable

Our daughter got herself into a bit of trouble last week. As a result there were some consequences, one of which was no TV until a particular thing had been made right.

Last night she asked if she could watch the end of her show. "There are only 15 minutes left." As the consequence for the trouble we had given her a particular project to complete, and when it is done she gets her TV privileges back. She's been working diligently and making progress, and so last night she asked for TV, thinking that she was close enough.

I reminded her of the project and asked if it was finished. Hearing "No" I said that nothing has changed. The project gets finished before the TV goes back on.

This morning I took a few moments to explain my reasoning to her. If I err as a parent with discipline, it is in having a soft touch. If I think the lesson has been learned, or at least as well as possible at the moment, I will often back off from the original decision. This morning I explained to her that I felt last night, and still did this morning, that she needed to be held fully accountable for what had happened and its consequences. She needed to learn that in "real life" when our actions have adverse results we often have to accept the consequences to the very end.

A bit later in the morning, when this conversation was percolating in my mind, I began to think about the similarities, and dissimilarities, between how I handled our daughter, and how God handles our sin.

All sin, no matter how great or small as it may seem from our point-of-view, is an offense against a God who is holy, righteous and just. These aspects of God demand that sin be dealt with by God. A god who lets sin slide is neither righteous nor just, and consequently not much of a god. The God of the Bible is holy, righteous and just, all the time, and so he must deal with sin, and he does. But this is where things begin to get interesting.

God could simply punish all sin. This punishment would be eternal, as a finite creature has sinned against an infinite God. The least sin and the greatest sin would demand this punishment. In a sense, this is simply being held accountable.

However, things aren't quite that simple, because God is also a God of mercy and grace. God offers to forgive sin, and let a substitute take the punishment that his justice demands. But forgiveness is conditional, and the condition is believing that God's Son, Jesus, laid down his life to take a person's sin, be it mine, your's, or the sin of anyone else. This, in its own way, is also being held accountable, with the difference being that someone else is held accountable for our sin, taking it's punishment on himself and exchanging our sin for his righteousness.

In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul writes it this way:

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

The day is coming when each person will stand before God, and hear the sentence that their sin deserves. Will it be "guilty" as you stand, or try to, on your own righteousness, or will it be "not guilty" as you stand clothed with the righteousness the comes by faith in Christ as your Savior and Lord?

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

The News Cycle

Last week there was an issue in the news that seemed to get under peoples skin. Opinions, strongly held and expressed with great emotion, were shared on both sides of the issue. And then on Saturday a decision was reached that was irreversible, and the issue was over. Celebration on one side, smoldering embers of dismay on the other side. And then it was Sunday morning.

A friend of mine who preaches posted this to her Facebook page Sunday morning:

"If your pastor doesn't preach on _____ issue, listen anyway.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit is on a different page from the 24 hour news cycle."

When I first came to faith I was attending a church where there was a strong element that expected the issues of the day or week to be addressed from the pulpit. One Sunday, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend in 2005, the pastor preached on the idea of vocation, particularly that people might consider their own life and the possibility that God was calling them from their current vocation to a more intentional way of serving him.

That sermon brought out a bit of outrage within that element expecting the news to drive the sermon, because it was the Sunday after hurricane Katrina had devastated the southeast, and New Orleans in particular. However in my case that sermon was the spark that moved the idea of going to seminary from being dormant to being pursued. The effects of that sermon unfolded and one thing led to another, eventually bringing my family and I to the place we are presently at, living on a reservation and serving a church here.

Funny thing is, I don’t have any idea what the scripture text was that Sunday. At the time I doubt it really mattered to me. The scripture was the scripture and the sermon was the sermon. Any connection between them may well have struck me as mere coincidence. Now, however, I understand that scripture and the sermon are intrinsically connected. It is the scripture that drives the sermon, and not the other way around. Or any other way around.

To take my friend's thought a step further, the Holy Spirit and the news cycle operate from completely different worldviews. The news cycle says "This issue is absolutely important to every single person on earth!"

The Holy Spirit says:

"The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!"[1]

and:

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."[2]

and:

"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."[3]

and:

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."[4]

And many, many more things as well. You get the picture.

The news cycle lives with the seemingly urgent, while the Spirit always advances the eternal. As a preacher, if they happen to intersect on a particular Sunday, fine. And if not, that's fine too.

Last Sunday I preached from John 6:1-15. This coming Sunday I'll preach from John 6:16-21. In both cases those pieces of scripture had, or will have, something powerful to say to the people gathered for worship. The following Sunday will be John 6:22-29. At this point I don’t know how those verses will apply to my congregation, but I trust that the Spirit will give me guidance in understanding the text and its meaning to the people here on the reservation.

The news cycle constantly changes. But the Spirit reminds us that:

"All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever."[5]

[1] Psalm 97:1

[2] Matthew 11:28

[3] 1 Corinthians 2:2

[4] Romans 10:9

[5] 1 Peter 1:24-25

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Better Than The Alternative?

A good friend and I are hatching a plan to run the Boston marathon in 2020. I'll confess that it is his idea, and a bit more sane of an idea than the last running adventure we did together. That one was my idea, to run four marathons in four days, which we did back in December, 2016. In both cases it wasn’t stated but I believe that the underlying assumption was that we aren’t getting any younger, and so it is high time to take a chance and do something different.

Take a chance. On one hand, what is the chance, or the risk? Between us we have over 85 years of experience running, over 250,000 lifetime miles, and over 120 marathons. We should be able to do Boston in our sleep, although if asleep we'd miss all the excitement! The chance is the qualifying standards.

The Boston marathon has had qualifying standards for maybe 40 years. When I was training for my first marathon, in 1982, my number one goal was to reach the Boston standard for my age group. It took me two more years to make that standard, and another few years to find my groove as a marathoner. I didn't have aspirations to run Boston but if I ever did, qualifying would not be a problem.

Skip ahead to 2018 and with the 2020 Boston marathon just over the horizon it turns out that qualifying is becoming part of the equation in getting there. My friend ran a marathon last weekend and as he told me about it he lamented the seemingly increasing loss of speed with every passing year. Solace was found in the fact that while his recent marathon was one of the slowest he's ever run it did make the Boston standard. Barely. Even better, it falls within the window for qualifying in 2020, and at that time he will be in an age-group with a slower standard, meaning that right now he is in not by seconds, but by nearly 15 minutes.

And my problem is that I'm coming off an injury, just about the worst one I've ever had, and where it is much too soon to tell if my body will handle the marathon distance, let alone be able to produce a Boston qualifying time.

But hey, I'm still running. That's better than the alternative, right?

That would seem to be the conventional wisdom. That virtually anything that goes on and still allows a person to draw breath is better than death. Conventional, but not biblical, wisdom.

Paul talks about these alternatives a bit in 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 8 says:

"Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord."

Just two choices for the Christian. Life in this body, or life in the very presence of the Lord. And when we look at what the Bible has to say about the glories of heaven, they are nothing less than spectacular. Isaiah in the throne room of God. Ezekiel and the glory of the Lord. And John, in Revelation, with his own vision of God's throne.

The very last part of the Belgic Confession says it this way:

"The Son of God will profess their names before God his Father and the holy and elect angels; all tears will be wiped from their eyes; and their cause—at present condemned as heretical and evil by many judges and civil officers—will be acknowledged as the cause of the Son of God.

And as a gracious reward the Lord will make them possess a glory such as the human heart could never imagine.

So we look forward to that great day with longing in order to enjoy fully
the promises of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord."

Life here better than the very presence of God? In even the most glorious of human circumstances there is no comparison. None at all.

Not that I am seeking an end to my human life as I hurry off to the direct presence of my faithful Savior and Lord. He has certainly given me plenty to do at the present! But understanding the future glory promised to all who have faith in Jesus gives me a clearer view of what the alternative to human life really is. It lets me live today with changes that I may not be crazy about,(and of which a slower running speed is relatively mundane!) knowing that one day, on God's timing, he will bringing me to what Paul, so simply and beautifully calls, home. Amen.