"To Him be glory forever": January 2019

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Instincts

I was running and something caught my eye up the road. On the right side, about 300 yards away, there was a car making a left-hand turn onto the street, so that it was coming towards me. Instinctively my eyes looked to the left, to see if anything was coming from that direction.

On the one hand, checking the left was a bit silly. For the past five years I've run that stretch of road twice a week, sometimes more. And I drive it a couple times a month. The nearest place for a car coming from the left is at a cross street, the very the same place where the car that first caught my attention was seen. My field-of view easily took in both sides of the intersection, and there was only a car on the right. And yet I turned my whole head a bit to check the left.

On the other hand, even though I was running on the shoulder, a place that is consistently safe, or at least as safe as a pedestrian can be around moving cars and trucks, unpredictable things can happen. When I run it is good to have a general awareness of what is going on from moment-to-moment, should one of those ordinary moments turn into an emergency. Visually checking for potential hazards has become so routine for me that it seems like a natural instinct.

As my run continued I began thinking about sin, and in particular why it seems I so seldom respond to its nearness, or even its very presence, with the same kind of self-protective instincts I have when I run. When asked about the importance of God's commandments, Jesus said:

“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

That statement covers a lot of ground. As I think about the kinds of things that occupy my thoughts, and words, and deeds I see the boundaries being crossed and begin to make excuses for myself. Jesus' statement is grounded in the Ten Commandments, which in God's wisdom are a bit more specific in showing what it means to love God and what it means to love our neighbor.

The Bible doesn’t teach anything about being completely free from sin while living on this side of heaven, but it does speak in many places about how God's people are to live in the world. And so a running moment has opened my eyes to the need to grow stronger spiritual instincts for those times when temptation will arise. And the two go-to places for that are prayer and God's word.

May God hone my spiritual instincts, and yours too, as we spend time with him in prayer and his word. Amen.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Anna

The Bible has many people in it who are only mentioned once, and yet whose brief appearance carries a powerful lesson. One of them is Anna, who may be found in Luke 2:36-38.

Anna is an old woman. She was married once, for seven years, but her husband died and she has lived as a widow to the age of 84. According to Luke the favorite place for Anna to be is the Temple, and her favorite activity is to worship, primarily through prayer. This is what she is up to as Jesus' parents bring him to the Temple to dedicate him to the Lord, as is expected for first-born sons. We are privileged to know that Jesus is no ordinary baby boy, and this is something that Anna senses as well. Luke tells us that on seeing the baby Jesus Anna

"…began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem."

Anna is a person who, at a key moment in her life, put her relationship with God first, and kept it that way. Doing so she understood that God was worthy of frequent worship, and of frequent prayer. Many years have passed from the death of her husband to this moment in Luke's gospel. Years filled with waiting. Luke doesn’t tell us specifically what Anna may have thought that she was waiting for, but at the moment she saw Jesus she was prepared to praise God, knowing that he was the one sent as the redeemer of the Jews.

Like Anna, we live in a time of waiting. The baby Jesus lived a full life of obedience to God, to the point of laying down his very life so that those who would believe in him would know the very redemption that Anna was waiting to see for her people. She saw the person who would bring about redemption, and we are able to look back and see that by faith in Jesus, redemption is also ours.

We live by faith in Jesus, as we await the fulfillment of his promise to return. Our place with him is certain. Sin has been defeated at the cross and the empty tomb, but the presence of sin remains. We see it in the world, and we see it on ourselves, and so often it seems to get worse each and every day.

But we don't wait with empty hands and worry as people without hope. Like Anna, we fold our hands together, or lift them up high, and we focus our thoughts on our Savior and Lord. We remember what he has done and we look forward to seeing his promises being fulfilled on that last, and glorious day of his return.

And lastly, again like Anna, we have the opportunity, now, to speak of our Savior to those who do not yet know and love him. He is coming back. It will be a glorious occasion, the beginning of a truly glorious ever-after. The phrase "the more, the merrier" comes to mind, as this will be the greatest moment ever. Let's spread the good news of Jesus so that everyone we know can join in the celebration.

Monday, January 21, 2019

Heavenly Joy

"Papa, what's this say?" said the littlest one, a non-reader, as he pointed out a picture in a book.

"Pachyrhinosaurus."

"Pachyrhinosaurus? Papa said pachyrhinosuarus!" he screamed as he ran off to show his brother, a beginning reader, whose known words at this point all have just one syllable.

That was a typical, although perhaps slightly more exuberant, interruption in my sermon preparation as I took care of the boys while Robin was gone late in the afternoon. On the one hand I wasn't getting a whole lot done, but in these circumstances I try to keep my expectations low. On the other hand, I may have been getting a lesson into the nature of God.

One of the things I read today was the chapter on what it means for God to be eternal, from Mark Jones devotional book on the attributes of God, God Is.

As an eternal being, God is outside of time in the sense that humans would understand it. God has no beginning or ending in time. He is the creator of time. And he is capable of "seeing" all time at the same time.

As he draws out some practical applications of God's eternality, Jones writes:

"In heaven our joy can only increase, not decrease. Knowing that our joy will grow heightens the joy experienced at that moment. In this life, we can feel sadness in knowing that a current joy will come to an end (e.g. my vacation of a lifetime ends tomorrow). Not so in heaven. There our joys will never end, which will therefore elicit even greater joy in each moment." (p. 56)

I have no idea what makes Papa saying the word "pachyrhinosuarus" bring such delight to a little boy, but for me it was a 3-D display of joy, the kind of joy that points to the greater joy of each moment in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

May you live by faith in the moments of each day, looking forward to the heavenly joys to come. Amen.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

No-Brainer

Are you familiar with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? In a nutshell those cities are filled with evil, God's patience wears thin, and he destroys them with fire. The prelude is in Genesis 18:16-33, where God reveals his plans to Abraham, who then unsuccessfully negotiates for God's mercy. Then in Genesis 19:1-22 God's angels come to Sodom and stay the night with Abraham's nephew, Lot, followed in 19:23-29 with the actual destruction. Everything wraps up with a postlude in 19:30-38.

The story is filled with good guys and bad guys, who display behavior ranging from noble to reprehensible. The person I want to look a bit more closely at here is Abraham's nephew, Lot.

When the angels make their appearance in Sodom, which is Lot's hometown, he is full of hospitality towards them. He opens his home and feeds them. In the evening the locals come to Lot's home and demand to see his guests, with the intent of doing some fairly horrible things to them. Lot, ever the gracious host, tells the locals not to act so wickedly, and then offers them his unmarried daughters as a substitute. I guess we could give him an "A" as a host and a "F-" as a father.

This conversation between Lot and the locals takes place outside his house and as the tension increases the angels rescue Lot, bringing him back into his house for his own safety. And then they tell him what the purpose of their trip to Sodom is. Genesis 19:13 says:

"For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it"

I can imagine Lot saying something like, "Oh, I get it now," because his first action is to warn his two future sons-in-law. Not only does he tell them of the coming destruction, but what I think is most intriguing is that he makes clear that it will be the Lord's doing. Lot knows, and believes, that God is at work in what is going to happen with Sodom.

The next morning it is time to leave, "…but he lingered. So the men seized him…" Once outside of town he is basically told to "run for the hills" but he drags his feet, so to speak. "Those hills are too far and I won't make it. Can I go to this other small town instead?" That request is granted, but the choice is soon found to be a poor one.

So here is the thing I find interesting about Lot. He is warned of what is to happen. He understands, and believes that it is God's doing, and yet, over and over, he drags his feet and bargains for what he thinks is better. If God sends an angel to warn and protect, shouldn't it be a "no-brainer" to listen and follow?

And that is the place where I have much in common with Lot. I have faith in God, not just that he exists but that he has acted through his son Jesus for my salvation, and going a step further, that he has put his Holy Spirit within me. I read my Bible nearly daily, believing it to be true, and so in that sense compared to Lot I have a much clearer understanding of what God has to say, including in the ways he gives warnings to his people. And yet I sin, and I drag my feet when it comes to leaving my sin, and I bargain over it, wanting to believe that having it close by won’t really be a problem.

The story of Sodom and Lot points me toward God's mercy in Jesus. And seeking him in all things, perhaps especially in times of temptation, is the real "no-brainer."

Friday, January 11, 2019

Thrones

Robin and I were reading the Bible the other night. It was a familiar story in Matthew, 25:31-46, where Jesus speaks of the future judgment of all people, using imagery of sheep and goats to represent those who have loved and served God, and who will enter into eternal life, and those who receive the opposite sentence and go into eternal punishment.

What really caught my attention this time was the very first verse, which, it seems, I never had noticed before. Jesus speaks, saying:

"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne."

Break that down and think on it for a moment or two.

The Son of Man, that is, Jesus, returning, in his glory.

Returning and having all the angels with him. (Jesus doesn’t get specific, but I think we can safely assume that this doesn’t include the fallen angels, as in their fall they have demonstrated how little they love God.)

The Son of Man, in glory, then sitting on his glorious throne.

It is a dazzling picture. It is the dream-come-true of all Christians. The Lord Jesus, returning to the world created through him, to set all things right in the very truest sense, and to visibly rule in glory.

The first picture is not exactly a throne, but it is the coronation chair for the ruler of England. The chair dates back to the 12th century and the stone inside of it was used as the seat for the rulers of Scotland for the 700 years before then.

The second picture is of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The picture gives us a glimpse of the pageantry of that event, as everyone present wears their finest ceremonial symbols and clothing. It is a picture that, I imagine, dazzled the people of Great Britain when it happened. And it is a picture that would look inconsequential compared to the return of the Lord Jesus in his glory.

The Son of Man is indeed coming back. May your heart long for the glory of that day.

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Random Events?

To the best of my ability I try to wrap up my work week on Thursday. I treat Sunday as a full work day, and then work Monday through Thursday, counting Friday and Saturday as my weekend. It's a good plan, I think, although it often doesn’t work out that way. Pastoral emergencies, family commitments, holidays and random things that can't possibly be imagined can all intervene as a week plays out. Working half a day, or all day, on Friday and/or Saturday seems to come around as often as not.

Yesterday I got an email asking for a phone conversation Thursday or Friday. Because of something unplanned that had come up I was way behind on Sunday's sermon and so I told him that Friday was out but I could talk Thursday, late in the day, say 4 PM. Next week would work out better, if possible. He took me up on 4PM, which is 6 PM in his time zone.

And so today I got up at the usual time, started the coffee, did my devotions and prayer, ate breakfast, and got to work. Checked my email, sent a note, and then picked up my study notes for this week's sermon and got to work writing things down. There were a few brief interruptions as Robin and the kids awoke, had breakfast and then left on their field trip. And then I got back at the task that is my highest priority each week.

When I had a workable first draft of Sunday's sermon done I went for a run, and then when I got back I cleaned up and had lunch. I sent an email to the guy who was going to call at 4 and told him that he could go ahead and call anytime it was convenient. I did a number of lesser things for work, he called, I did some other things and about 3:30 I decided to go pick-up the mail.

All mail delivery in Dulce is by post office box, and as I was leaving the driveway to go to the post office I remembered that we needed some milk, and so I changed my route. The store is right next to the post office, with a driveway connecting them, and in my opinion a combined trip works best by stopping at the store first. And as I drove to the store the seemingly random events began.

First, as I drove past the tribal headquarters I saw someone walking out of the building to her car. I've been wanting to talk to this person personally for about 6 weeks and this was the first opportunity I had to make that connection. I slowed, the anti-lock brakes activated, and I missed the turn into the parking lot. Fortunately she was parked far away from the building and so she had just barely reached her car when I pulled in alongside and was able to talk with her.

Then it was to the store. Found my milk and then wandered over to the bakery, thinking a donut might be calling my name. No donuts, but I ran into someone I know a bit and said "Hi!" Then I remembered that there was a lot of seasonal illness in their family this week and so I stopped for a longer conversation before going to pay for my milk.

On the way to my car I ran into someone I haven't seen for a while. Our contact was brief as I called her by name, said it was good to see her, and we exchanged a side hug.

Then it was off to the post office, where the task of picking up a box at the window gave me an opportunity to finally learn the name of the new clerk. Going in and out of the building I also was able to greet two other people I barely know, but I do know them by name. I glanced at my watch and it was just past 4 PM.

So a simple trip to the post office led to the completely unexpected opportunity to personally connect with six people. For five of those people I know bits and pieces of their lives. All five of those people know who I am, as pastor of the Reformed Church, and they know where to find me should they need me. And all of this happened when I had planned to be on a phone call.

I could look at this section of my day as being a series of random events. Things that happened by chance and have no greater meaning to them. But then I recall my own faith story, and remember that it includes something that happened 14 years before I came to saving faith. Something that I thought of at the time as being random and inconsequential. At the time, and from my point-of-view, it was. But it was also something used by God in a powerful way, and for his glory.

And so tomorrow is Friday. I'm planning to sleep until Robin gets up, go for a run, have breakfast and then work some on my sermon. And maybe in the course of the day I'll see God use a seemingly random event to the praise of his glory. And there is nothing random about that.