"To Him be glory forever": December 2020

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

A New Year. A New Habit?

A few days ago I loaded the Pastormobile with empty boxes from Christmas and some other larger things that I had set aside to throw away and I headed to the dump. The previous time I had been out the “low tire” light had come on and on my way home from the dump I stopped at the gas station to see if the air hose was out. It was, and so I parked close to it and proceeded to check the tires.

On the driver side one tire was low and one was fine. I added air to the low tire and then walked around to the other side of the car. As I walked around the front of the car I slipped and nearly fell. It was very icy and irregular and my heavy boots had zero traction. Both tires on the passenger side were fine and so, with caution, I walked to the front of the car to wrap the air hose back up.

Caution, but not quite enough, as I slipped and fell on the ice. I banged my knee and my arm but they seemed to be fine when I brushed them off. I hopped in the car and came home. Later in the afternoon I became aware that the ring finger on my left hand was sore. I must have banged that too and just not noticed it at the time. Later in the evening my finger was both sore and a bit stiff. I tried sliding my wedding ring off and, with a lot of effort, was able to get it past the knuckle. I decided to leave my ring off until the swelling went down in my finger.

Sometime in the morning of the next day I made a discovery of sorts. I wasn’t surprised that my ring was missing from its usual place. My finger was still sore and I had taken it off for that very reason. What surprised me was how often during a day I have contact with that ring, either by touching it with a finger from that hand or reaching for it with my other hand. Over and over and over that day I found myself reaching for that ring in an almost unconscious manner, and then being consciously aware that it wasn’t there.

That discovery got me to thinking about sin and temptation. We are tempted to sin in the things we think, the things we say, and the things we do. Not only are we tempted to sin, but we do sin. We sin in thought, word and deed. Some of it may be very publicly known but a lot if it is known only to ourselves, and to God, whom all sin is against.

But what do we do when we are tempted? Do we turn to the Lord to flee that temptation? Sometimes, but, at least in my case, not enough. We play with it for a while. Should I, or shouldn’t I? Or we may pretend that it isn’t really temptation. Or maybe we just jump in, because today has just been a really long day and I need a break.

What if…what if I learned to handle temptation, at least most of it, in a manner similar to the presence of my wedding ring? I’ve found out that I touch and handle my ring for more than I ever imagined. What if I learned to flee temptation in a similar way? What if at the first awareness of temptation I would turn to the Lord, as naturally as I seem to touch my ring? What if when tempted my thoughts were to lift up a prayer? Or to recall a piece of Scripture? Or to think briefly on one of God’s attributes, like his love, or mercy, or power, or kindness, or glory?

I’m not one who usually goes for New Year’s resolutions. But I think the timing of my fall and its moment of self-awareness give me something new to work on as 2020 ends and 2021 gets underway. I’m going to seek God’s help in developing some constructive, God-honoring habits to deal with temptation when it comes my way. May he be at work in my life for his glory. Amen.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Choices and Priorities

Earlier this week a friend of mine here in Dulce sent me a link to a video, asking me to watch it and let him know what I thought about it. It was a bit more than 20 minutes long and was basically a woman reading a statement having to do with COVID-19, genocide and…and I’m not really sure. She seemed to be making a case about some sort of coordinated effort among various peoples but as I think about it now I’m not quite sure that her argument rose to the level of exposing a conspiracy. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn’t. The section below in italics was the response I made to my friend. After you read that I have some final thoughts for this blog post.

“I watched a bit more than half of the video. I saw the first 10 minutes and then skipped to a bit before she drew her conclusions. There were a few points that I might agree with but I think her overall case, as I understood it, about a major world-wide conspiracy, was a bit overblown. I think when she repeatedly used the word genocide towards the end she was not really strengthening her case, as she herself pointed out several times earlier that the death rate from COVID is not particularly high. Genocide, as I understand it, is intentionally causing the deaths of a large amount of people, usually from a specific people group. I have first cousins whose other grandparents were victims of the genocide Turkey inflicted on Armenia. I think a strong case could be made that US policy towards Native Americans for many years could be classified as genocide. Sand Creek, Wounded Knee, and forced sterilization come to mind.

As a Christian pastor, particularly within the Reformed tradition of Protestant Christianity, I don’t have any illusions that our country, or the world, is generally headed towards some form of paradise through the actions of individual peoples and/or governments. The Bible paints a picture of things becoming worse, very much worse, before the time when Jesus returns in power and glory for the completion of God’s plan. What will that “worse” or “very much worse” more precisely look like? I don’t know, and I don’t think that anyone else really does either. Again, as a pastor, I think looking at the world and then trying to see if various signs from Revelation are coming true, is the wrong way to expend energy. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus told his followers that all power on heaven and earth was in his hands and that they were to go and make disciples, or followers, of him. He holds the power, come what may, and he gives his followers a task to perform right now.

I believe that God is real, that God is holy, and that God has revealed himself fully through his son Jesus. I believe that sin, at its root, is rebellion against God, and that all human sin, even my own, makes me an enemy of God, unless something is done about it. And God himself provides the solution to that problem, which is the forgiveness of my sin through having faith in his Son Jesus and what Jesus did to remove that sin. It’s a free offer that God extends to anyone who would repent of their sin and turn in faith to Jesus. But it is a limited-time offer. A person has to respond to it in this lifetime. So I don’t get very worked-up about possible world-wide conspiracies, or things going to pot here in the US. I do care about our country and the kind of society my children and grandchildren will live in. But I care a bit more about their eternal state before God, and not just them but the people God has placed us among here in Dulce.

Kind of a long answer and perhaps not what you expected, but it is what came to mind as I watched the video and thought a bit about it. Thanks for prompting my thoughts. I hope that you are well and staying warm during the cold snap we are going through.”

Every day we are faced with choices and priorities. It is hard to go online and not be literally bombarded with information. As 2020 draws to a close there are all kinds of things that various news/information websites are throwing our way, demanding our attention, and in some case demanding that we act now, before it is too late. What is a person to do?

Speaking for myself, as I mentioned to my friend, I’m going to choose to trust God and what He has clearly made known through the words of the Bible, and set my priorities from that perspective. He has made it clear, per Matthew 28, that he holds all authority and that his followers are called teach others to follow.

But? But? What about stopping a world-wide conspiracy before its too late?

That question comes from point-of-view that prioritizes the present time and discounts trusting fully in God. In the first part Psalm 32:6 we get a glimpse of the bigger picture.

“Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.”

There is a time when God may be found, and known, by those who do not presently know, trust, or worship him. But that time has a limit. As I mentioned to my friend, I don’t know when that time will come to an end, nor do I feel that I should spend any time figuring it out. Rather, my priority should be to make the good news of peace with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ freely known. As 2020 closes, that is my choice and my priority.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

The Most Radical Words

Last weekend I read a short book of letters that one man wrote to his nephew about Jesus. The man was a priest and his nephew was finishing high school and so the man wrote a series of letters to give some spiritual guidance to his nephew, particularly about Jesus.

I thought the book was so-so. I’m not Roman Catholic and the things that he said that specifically connected to that tradition did not really speak to me. But he did write one thing that very definitely caught my attention. He told his nephew that “The most radical words in the gospel are “Love your enemy.””

If we think of someone as an enemy then we have some very strong and persistent feelings towards them. And none of those feelings are positive. Enemies? The things that come to mind are words like contempt, antipathy and hatred. Their downfall, or even destruction, would be a source of gladness as we hear of it.

Love them? Love my enemies? I think not. However, if we did love them, that would indeed be a radical thing, and Jesus calls on his followers to do just that thing. In Matthew 5:44 he says:

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

I’ll agree that to love one’s enemies is a very radical thing to do, and in our day of strongly held opinions, freely and widely shared on social media, it seems very easy to find people whom we might consider as enemies. But I believe Jesus says something much more profound, much more radical, and much more powerful, when in Luke 7:48 he speaks to a woman and says:

“Your sins are forgiven.”

Rather than giving godly guidance on how to treat people we disagree with these words get to the heart of the human condition, and its only possible resolution.

All humans, from the ones you admire the most on the one hand, to the ones whom you want nothing to do with on the other hand, and including the person staring back at you in the mirror, are sinners against a holy God. Sinners who have no hope save this one thing: To turn from their sin and have faith in Jesus as their savior.

If you turn to Luke and read the whole story he doesn’t tell us much about the woman, except that the people who are with Jesus at the time don’t have a very high opinion of her. And she herself never says a word, but shows the love that she has for Jesus through her actions. Jesus, knowing that her sins are many, declares her forgiveness.

Luke doesn’t tell us much about the woman. Did she understand that her sins, all of them, were ultimately offenses against God? Did she have any clue that her sins were direct offenses against the very man to whom she is showing such devotion?

Loving my enemies the way that Jesus would have me do it is a good thing, but to attempt to do that before having my own sin dealt with would be to put the cart before the horse. I need my sin forgiven and Jesus very freely does that, for me and for all who come in faith to Him. Turn to him and hear him speak, to you, the radical words of true freedom, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Thursday, December 3, 2020

The Free Offer

Lurking somewhere in my pulpit notes for this Sunday’s sermon are these words: “Make the free offer.” If anyone would ever do a survey of my sermon notes, at least over the last few years, they would find that phrase somewhere nearly every time. It is my intention to include them in my notes every week until the day comes that I retire. And if I have the opportunity to preach after retirement, you’ll likely find those words in my notes.

The free offer. By that phrase I mean the free offer of the heart of the message of the Lord Jesus, which is that by faith in Him a person will receive God’s forgiveness of their sins.

We could have all kinds of thoughts as to what the act of preaching is, but it should never be less than making clear that all people are sinners in need of forgiveness, and that God will very freely forgive all who repent of their sin and turn to Him with faith in His Son, Jesus.

In Romans 10:9 Paul says it this way:

“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.”

In Mark 1:15 Jesus says it like this:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

There are no limits as far as whom that message is for. It is for all people to hear and respond to. It doesn’t matter what kind of life you have led, or whether you think you are deserving. You may look at your life and think that maybe Jesus will only save this or that kind of person, and you aren’t in that category. Or you may think that Jesus will forgive some sins, but not the ones that you’ve committed. Your sins are somehow outside the allowable boundaries.

Those ways of thinking and resisting the free offer are incorrect. There is no sinner, and no sin, that Jesus will not forgive for the person who turns to him in faith.

In a recent article on a different topic by R. Scott Clark I read these words, which I heartily agree with:

“Our goal always is to speak the law and the gospel to all who will hear it so as to win them to Christ.”

The free offer is a message that is always relevant, every time a Bible is opened and God’s word is proclaimed. Sunday mornings. Prayer meetings. Weddings. Funerals. What have you. There will almost always be a mixed group, those who have heard the offer and accepted it, and those who are on the outside, but whom we long for to join us.

I’m a pastor and so making the free offer of the good news of Jesus is a basic part of what I do. But making the good news of Jesus known to non-believers is something that all Christians can do. We all have received God’s gracious forgiveness, and we all know people who have not heard the good news, or who have heard it and rejected it. Either way, the free offer is something that they can hear and receive, today. So feel free to share the good news of Jesus, that more and more people would repent of their sin and trust in Him.