Hotspots

On May 10th, Mother's Day, a wildfire started about 5 miles east of Dulce. It grew in size to close to 450 acres. According to the news reports aircraft were used to drop retardant on it and a number of crews were called in, so that by the next day there were over 100 firefighters on the scene. Ten days later there were still firefighters on the scene, as the fire was not yet completely out.

My Midwestern brain can better understand the size of the land parcel when I think in terms of a section, which is one square mile. This fire was roughly 1 mile long by 1/2 mile wide, plus another piece 1/2 by 1/2 mile, or roughly twice the size of the farmland where I used to deer hunt. Though I've never fought a wild fire it seems to me that a fire of that size could be easily controlled and extinguished by a crew of that size, but that was not the case.

What was the problem? Hotspots in the fire. Hotspots in places where it was hard to drop retardant, or hard for the firefighters to get to in order to do their job. I've run near where the fire was and the place is wooded, with hills and arroyos. I imagine that it is land that is hard to walk, even in the best conditions, let alone when outfitted as a firefighter.

That image of lingering hotspots came to mind as I was thinking today of some of the things that have been in the news over the past few weeks connected to acts of racism.

I think that most of us, or at least most of my readers, long to live in a culture that is free of racism. The racist aspect of parts of our nation's history is ugly. And that ugliness is also present in the history of many of our communities, and also in our own lives. Our country has made considerable progress but the recent events remind me, and us, that collectively there remains a long ways to go.

Racism is a sin and like any other sin it needs to be dealt with in order to live a life that is pleasing to God. A life that brings him glory. In my own life there have been sins that I have been powerfully delivered from, but there are also sins where the progress has been very incremental and piecemeal. A step or two forward and then one, maybe two steps back. A hotspot flares up where I thought the fire was out. Racism is one of them. And so this post is an invitation to look into your own life and see where there may be hotspots of racism that need to be dealt with. And seek for God to be at work in you to put the fire out, to his glory. Amen.

I Don't Think So

I was skimming the news online this week when a headline grabbed my attention. It said "God has a lot to answer for." It is an opinion piece on CNN from Arnold M. Eisen, the chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here is the opening sentence of the piece:

"My father, a good and pious man who thanked God every morning for the gift of another day, would have said -- were he alive right now -- that God has a lot to answer for."

Eisen then goes on to talk about several things related to COVID-19, including the impact on, and opportunities for, religious communities because of the pandemic. But one thing religious communities and religious people have no right to expect, let alone demand, is that God provide us with answers.

Of all the distinctions in the Bible perhaps the most fundamental is that God is holy and we, all humans throughout all history, are most certainly not. God's holiness means that He is absolutely perfect, absolutely flawless, in every possible way that we could think of.

He is perfect in beauty. Perfect in power. Perfect in knowledge. Perfect in wisdom. Perfect in mercy. Perfect in judgment. Perfect in kindness. Perfect in grace. Perfect in glory. Perfect in righteousness. The list goes on. In my opinion the sum total of all of God's perfections are found in His holiness.

Because God is holy, nothing that He does, and also nothing that He allows to happen, is wrong, or incorrect, in any way. There are many times we don't understand how or why things happen in the world, but that does not mean that we can call God to task and demand an explanation. We, as created beings, have no right to make demands on our Creator. In the Bible this truth is made clear in Job 38-41. (Here is a link to an excellent series on Job, which is free through the end of June.)

Like so many others there are many things I don't understand about this pandemic, questions I would like answers to. I have personally known two people who have died of COVID-19 infections and have prayed for others who are seriously ill. But perhaps the most important question I could ask God, one for which I could presume that He would answer, is this one: 

Today Lord, how can I best serve you in the place where I am at?

 

Where We Left Off?

Yesterday marked the tenth Sunday since we started social distancing here on the reservation. It was the tenth Sunday in a row when I preached through a sermon that was recorded and uploaded to YouTube. That method has not become my favorite thing, but at present it seems to be the best way for our congregation to make do in the current set of circumstances.

Back in the good old days, say nine weeks ago, I imagined that this would all play out something like what happened with John Calvin. Calvin began preaching in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1536 or so. He was also involved in reforms of the church there, which brought him and  William Farel into increasing conflict with the leaders of the city. The intensity of the conflict forced them to leave Geneva late in 1537. Several years later the situation in Geneva changed and late in 1541 they were invited to return. On his first Sunday back in Geneva's pulpit Calvin opened his Bible to the passage he had preached on his last Sunday there and began to preach the very next text. After a three-year absence he picked up right where he left off.

When things with the pandemic started last March I was hoping to get back into church for Sunday worship in just a few weeks, with everything about the same as it was before. As much as I still would like for that to happen, I know that it won't. Things in New Mexico are beginning to expand for churches but given that we are on the reservation we are going to defer to the preferences of the tribe's leadership as to when to decrease social distancing and return to gathered worship and other activities.

I'm beginning to think through what that might look like and seeing what the other leaders of our congregation think would be best. However it all plays out, a number of things will be different, some of them temporarily, and perhaps, some permanently.

Last week I read an essay by Stephen Charnock on the eternity of God. Charnock lays out what it means for God to be eternal, to have no beginning and no end. One thing it means to me as a pastor today, thinking about how the pandemic is changing our congregation and community, is that God has always held his children through every trial that has come their way. He has never been absent and he has never abandoned his purposes.

We might not be able to see or understand those purposes at present, but we do continue to live by faith in the Lord who created us, is working in us, and will one day bring us to his very presence. Ten weeks of interruption in the ways our congregation functions has not been something of which I am overly fond. I've adapted, but I'd rather pray and preach with a gathered congregation. But on God's timeline, ten weeks, and ten thousand years, are all the same. Whenever we gather again we won't be picking things up where we left off, but we will be joining together as children of the God who has no beginning and no end, which is something precious and infinitely better.

Celebration And Sorrow

This past Sunday was a significant one in our house, in that it was both Robin's birthday and Mother's Day. We had a great celebration of Robin. Kat made dinner, I organized the gifts and Robin made the cake. She had wanted a very particular kind of cake, which she had never made before. There turned out to be enough that we ate it for breakfast on Sunday and then had the rest after dinner. At day's end Robin let us know that it was a delightful day from start to finish.

This past Sunday was also another day spent worshiping at home, rather than in our church, which sits perhaps 75 feet from our house. So near, and yet so far. It was our ninth straight Sunday at home, and we have no idea how much longer it will continue. Like so many other places we have members who want to be cautious about resuming gathered worship and others who would like to get back together much sooner. In practical terms I believe that being on a reservation means that we must be mindful and respectful of the preferences and policies of tribal leadership and let that guide the timing and nature of returning to worship together on a Sunday morning.

One of the things I found myself missing this past Sunday from our ordinary worship was the time we spend each Sunday in prayer. Specifically I missed two things about prayer.

One was the time each Sunday when we invite anyone who would like to be prayed over for healing to come forward. It is the particular way in which we apply James 5:14, which says:

"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord."

I extend the invitation and whomever would like prayer comes forward. I anoint each person by name and then invite anyone who would like to lay on hands to join us. When we are all gathered I pray aloud. When I make the invitation I make mention that the healing might be physical, emotional, spiritual and I try to work that thought into the prayer as we seek for God to bring healing to their lives. Sometimes I have an idea of what a person's particular need is, but often I don't. My role as pastor is to lift the person to God and to trust in Him to do what is necessary, on His timing and according to His will.

The other thing I found myself missing was the congregational prayer that follows the prayer for healing. Before that prayer I ask for prayer requests. Sometimes people just give a name of someone that they would like prayer for. Sometimes they give some details of a situation. I have a rough format that I follow each week and to the best of my ability I try to work each request into the prayer that we, as a congregation, lift to God together.

So this last Sunday, Mother's Day, what I missed about these two times of prayer was praying with and for mothers who are grieving. Mothers who are no longer able to have the kind of celebration that we had on Sunday with Robin. Since Mother's Day last year I've done funerals for seven mom's who lost one of their children. Seven. I'm missing the pastoral care that takes place in praying for and with people in times of life that are virtually too sad and hard to put into words.

It is easy in our culture to take an occasion such as Mother's Day, and make it a big celebration. And there is no real problem with that. But life here on the reservation makes me increasingly aware of the many people for whom such a day is not one of celebration, but of sorrow.

It is easy to go to God with our thanks and celebrations. But is just as important that we go to Him with our sorrow, for He is the only one who truly understands it.

He understands. He cares. He pours out His love on His children, even in the most challenging to times. Times of celebration, sure, but also in times of sorrow. Amen.

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.

Praying For Leaders

Depending on your news source the current President of the United States is either the greatest thing since sliced bread or the worst president in the history of presidents. Or someplace between those two extremes. Taking a longer view of history, say four years ago, and looking at the news then a person could have reached a similar conclusion. And I imagine that for all the esteem with which we hold George Washington in today that in his own day there was a group of people who felt he should have been America's last choice instead of its first.

 Presidents come, and presidents go. Not only is that true at a national level but that is also true here on the reservation, where the Jicarilla Apache Nation is electing a president this summer. As with our national election, they may re-elect the current president or choose to have someone else serve in that office.

Regardless of who fills the office in either place one thing I do know is that as a Christian I am called to pray for that person. I subscribe to something that sends me guidance in prayer each day, drawn from the writings of Matthew Henry. Yesterday's email had this so say about praying for our leaders:

"For my nation's Head of State, that God will protect his person, preserve his health, and continue his life and government long a public blessing."

That intro was followed by this prayer:

"Give our ruler your justice, O God, and your righteousness, (Psalm 72:1) that he may defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. (Psalm 72:4)

Let his rule be established with righteousness, (Proverbs 25:5) and upheld with steadfast love. (Proverbs 20:28) Give him long life and length of days forever and ever, and let his glory be great through your salvation. Make him glad with the joy of your presence: through the steadfast love of the Most High let him not be moved. (Psalm 21:4-7)"

Paul, writing Timothy, gives some instruction in prayer, saying this in 1 Timothy 2:1-4:

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

We live in a time when public discourse seems to be particularly harsh and partisan. Looking back historically I imagine that there have always been partisan voices making their opinions known but in our day it is so easy for virtually anyone to speak their mind publically and widely. Neither John Calhoun or Daniel Webster had access to Twitter.

The words of Paul to Timothy and the prayer suggestions of Matthew Henry ground me as a disciple of Jesus. That is the identity I must have as I approach the Lord in prayer, be it to pray for leaders or any other thing.

No matter where you may sit on the political spectrum I invite you, as my sister or brother in Christ, to pray for your leaders, at every level of government. We may differ about this particular person or that particular way of handling an issue, but may we agree at the end of the day that God's will be done through them, to God's 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.