"To Him be glory forever": faithfulness

Showing posts with label faithfulness. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

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!

Monday, February 24, 2014

Relying on God

Earlier this week I met with a woman who belonged to our church at one time in the past. She is one of many people I have met who told me that they grew up as a part of this congregation. I don't know why or when she left, and she belongs to a different church in town now.

We met because she wanted to find out when some members of her family were baptized. I invited her to come with me to the church and look through some records. Being in the building brought back many fond memories for her. She told me a few stories of things she was involved in at church as a young girl.

The thing that made the most impact on me as we talked was when she told me that she prayed first thing every morning, because her mom had taught her to do that. "A wise woman, your mom was" I told her. Her mother also taught her to develop a heart that could be thankful. Her mother taught her to find things to be thankful for even during difficult periods of life. That is another wise thing to teach a child. Or anyone, for that matter.

In Philippians 4:10-13 Paul writes this:

"I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. It was during a period of imprisonment that would end in his death. When we read Paul's story in the book of Acts we learn that there was much hardship in his life. Beatings, being stoned, shipwrecks, prison. And with that as a background Paul can look on his life and say "I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Paul doesn't mean that because he believes in Jesus he can do whatever he wants, because he certainly couldn't end his imprisonment. But he does mean that because of who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done, that Paul can find peace and God's presence in each and every circumstance of his life.

The work that God does in the heart of each person who has faith in Jesus is powerful, almost beyond belief. Like Paul and the woman I met with this week, let us each learn to rely on the presence and power of God in each circumstance of our lives, giving our thanks to Him, to His eternal glory.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Stories, part 1

We are nearly three weeks into our ministry in New Mexico. We have been warmly welcomed by the members of our new congregation, the Jicarilla Apache Reformed Church. We feel fairly well settled into our home, the church parsonage. Kat is making new friends and we are learning our way around the community, both geographically and in terms of the activities that are available to us. And, perhaps most importantly to me, I am growing into my new role as the church's pastor.

There is a lot to learn. Some things I learned in seminary. Others I learned through the things I did at my old church in Rochester. Some I have learned from friends in ministry and some other things through searching out the answers myself. The other day I fixed a toilet at the church with a paper clip...something I figured out completely on my own!

And there are other things I am sorting out in ways that seem to work and meet my needs at the moment. One of those things is going to the church on Friday morning and running through the worship service for Sunday.

I preach the sermon to a collection of empty pews and then go through all the other parts of the service except the sermon. I practice the call to worship, confession and assurance of forgiveness, anointing and healing prayer, the songs and the benediction. The songs are particularly important, because right now the only musical accompaniment is Robin on her flute, so I have to have an idea of the melody and be able to stay on it fairly well throughout each song.

So I sing aloud through each piece, and as I did so this Friday I slowly paced back-and-forth across the front of the church. And as I paced I began to notice the floor.

The church was built in 1914, with adobe walls and hardwood floors. As you may see in the picture, those floors have a lot of wear. Looking at the floor and seeing the wear I began to wonder about the stories the floor would have, could floors talk that is.

Stories of the rich ministry that has preceded our service here. Songs. Sermons. Baptisms. Funerals. Gatherings around the Lord's Table. Fellowship. And much prayer.

Stories of the faithful witness of several generations of God's people, gathered in the name of Jesus.

It is a privilege to walk those floors and know that we are taking part in the ongoing work of God here in Dulce. It is a privilege to be adding here, in this space and with these people, to the stories that are part of the greatest story, the story of redemption in Christ Jesus.

"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:8-11

Monday, August 5, 2013

Everlasting Love

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”

Those words of Jeremiah 31:3 stood out for me when I read Jeremiah 31:1-30 this morning. Jeremiah is telling the Hebrew exiles to Babylon that God will one day redeem them. In spite of the sin that led to their exile, and the fact that their exile is a punishment for their ongoing sin and disbelief, God has continued to love them. They are a suffering people, taken from their homeland and forced to serve a foreign people, and yet Jeremiah’s words remind them of the central fact of their identity. Even in exile they remain God’s chosen people. Their faithlessness has not had any effect on His faithfulness.

As a Christian these words have rich meaning to me today. They are not just old words from an old prophecy, spoken to a people and set of circumstances thousands of years ago and with no relevance to my daily life. These words are quite the opposite. They are not just meaningful to me now, to my daily life, but they point me to the future of eternal life.

Much like Jeremiah’s original audience, I stray from God’s ways, and I know full well that I am doing so. But in His mercy He grants forgiveness without limit. I don’t have license, or “freedom to sin,” because I know that God will forgive. In truth, misery is often the companion of awareness of my sin.

This morning God’s word reminds me of the truth as clearly as Jeremiah spoke it to the Hebrews. God’s love is everlasting. God’s faithfulness endures my wayward heart.

Everlasting love isn’t just a phrase, or an idea. Everlasting love is a person, the person of Christ Jesus, who laid down His life and was raised from the dead.

Because of the everlasting love and the faithfulness of Christ we can believe the promise written in Romans 10:13,

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

May you know, today, the mercy and everlasting love, of Christ.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Repeat

One of my favorite things I like to do when listening to music is to hit the ‘repeat’ button. It’s the button that plays the song I just finished one more time. And when it finishes I’ll often repeat it again. And again.

I like variety in my music and I also like to listen through entire albums. (Please pardon the use of ‘old-fashioned’ terms. I grew up in the 70’s and recently parted with my last vinyl records.) But once in a while I hear a song that just grabs me and I want to hear it again. And again. And again. It could be an old song, one that for any number of reasons is dear to me. It could be a song I’m familiar with but in which I’ve just noticed something in the music or lyrics that I had missed before and I want to listen to it more closely. Or it could be a new song. One I never heard before but have taken an instant liking to.

I had that experience this morning. Here is a link to the song. It is a cover version of the original, which I’ve never heard. But I do know that I like it. It grabs me both musically and lyrically. The words express deep biblical truth.

In the same way that I may listen to a piece of music over and over, there are pieces of the Bible that I turn to again and again. Some of my favorite parts of the Bible are similar to the message of this song, in that they speak of what is true and unchanging about God. They provide deep assurance of who He is, of what He has done, and of what He promises to do. I may have read them many times but I find myself going back to them again, reading them slowly and savoring each phrase.

One of my favorite passages to read again and again is Ephesians 1:3-14, where Paul writes:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

This is one passage where God never fails to bring me comfort, to bring me security, and to bring me a sense of awe at whom He is and what He has done.

In closing here are a few questions to ponder. There is no need to give an answer, just some things for you to think about.

Where does God speak through His word to your heart? Where in His word do you turn to find Him when your world seems to be on shaky ground? What verses do you return to in order to feast on His word?

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Letters and Promises

This morning Robin was going to give a message for the children during worship at church. Until she got sick, that is. (Not real sick, just too sick to go to church. She is beginning to feel better.) I subbed for her, and this, more or less, is what I shared with the children.

First I talked a little bit about letters. Not the ones that we use to spell words with but the kind that we write to people. Letter writing was once very common. It was the way we stayed in touch with people we didn't see very often, people who may have lived a long ways away from us. Writing letters was very common when the Bible was written and many parts of the Bible began as letters that were written by one person to some other people. These letters were so important that they were collected and saved, so that we can read them in our Bibles today.

Then I talked a bit about promises. One of the children told me that a promise was “When you tell someone that you are going to do something.” And that is correct. We tell someone that we are going to do something and then, later on, we keep our promise and do that very thing.

Then I told the children that the letters of the Bible, such as the one we were going to read from later before the sermon, are filled with promises that God has made to us. I told them that it is good for us to read the letters over and over, so that we learn and remember God’s promises.

And then, reading from our daughter’s copy of the Jesus Storybook Bible, I read then a promise of God, written by Paul to the Romans, which says:

“God loves us! Nothing can ever – no, not ever! – separate us from the Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love of God he showed us in Jesus!”

That is the condensed version of Romans 8:31-39, but it clearly tells a profound truth, a promise of God of His enduring and unfailing love for His children.

And as my daughter leaned over to remind me during the children’s message, “God always keeps His promises!”

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Mind the Gap

Last summer we had the opportunity to travel to England and Scotland on vacation. While we were in London we relied on public transportation to get around, using buses trains and the subway. Whenever we were getting on or off the subway or a train, and every time one that we were traveling on came to a stop, we heard the refrain “Mind the gap.”

“Mind the gap” is the reminder to pay attention to the gap between the subway/train and the platform, so that you don’t catch your foot and fall, or worse. It is such an important message that it is repeated several times at each stop. After a while it becomes a part of the background noise, but that doesn’t lessen its importance.

At work today I did a training program in quality and one of the concepts in improving quality had to do with “closing gaps,” which was illustrated with a picture from the London transit system.

Thinking about closing gaps, or minding gaps, got me to thinking about faith, particularly the security of the Christian in their faith in Christ.

Sometimes we go through periods where we have doubts about our faith. There can be all sorts of reasons for our doubts. We may wonder if we are really “saved.” Did we say the right prayer? Did our life really change when we came to faith or did we slide back into old habits, the kinds of things we know we shouldn’t be doing anymore? Are we really “good enough” to be saved, or do we have to do something else? If God really loves us then why aren’t things work out for us? Is there some sort of gap separating us from God? Do we have to “mind the gap” in our life to remain in God’s good graces?

The good news is that when we have faith there aren’t any gaps in God’s hold on us. There aren’t any gaps in His love for us. His love is perfect. He couldn’t love us more and He can’t love us less.

Romans 10:9 says:

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

And earlier, in Romans 8:38-39, Paul writes:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God knows that we have rough patches in life and that questions about our faith will come up in our minds. And He has already answered them, with the assurance of His word in the Bible.

There is no gap for us to worry over. From the moment we came to faith we were His, eternally so. The world, our friends and our culture may all say things that give rise to doubts, but His word and its promises are sure. Come what may, we are His, now and forever. Amen.

Friday, March 8, 2013

"Did God actually say..."

Yesterday I got involved in an online discussion with some pastors about an issue one of them was dealing with within their congregation. The question that was asked had already had some responses, none of which I read before putting in my two-cents. My answer was simple and to the point.

My answer received a bit of ‘push back,’ which gave me the opportunity to add a bit of depth to my first thoughts. Which, again, generated some response. All of this was very civil and respectful, which is not always the case online and I appreciated the grace that was shared among the conversation partners.

The initial question had to do with a matter of behavior, one that I think the Bible speaks clearly about. The other side of the conversation had to do with situations and circumstances in which the behavioral choice being considered would be acceptable, perhaps even encouraged. While agreeing that there are many situations which are personally challenging, and where we would wish to create a space for acceptable exceptions, as Christians we read our Bibles and seek God’s strength to live in the ways He leads us.

Thinking about this again as I was running this morning I believe that where we often stumble is when we wrestle, consciously or not, with the question asked in Genesis 3:1,

“Did God actually say…”

That question, which unfortunately was not asked last night, lies at the heart of the discussion. It is a question that is relevant time and again for each of us each day, as we confront choice after choice with the option of believing what God says and acting accordingly, or not.

Paul is absolutely correct when he wrote to the Ephesians and said in 6:12:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Sin, our active rebellion against God, is an ever-present reality, driven by a relentless, but, in an eternal sense, an ultimately futile cosmic force.

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but we do wrestle in situations that are palpably real in their physical and emotional dimensions. And as Paul writes on, in verses 13- 18, God has equipped us for the struggle:

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”

The next time we find ourselves asking “Did God actually say…” let’s remember that He did, and also that he has equipped us to follow Him in obedience, to His glory.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Conscientious Objector

Right now I’m reading a book called Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight: Cassius Clay vs. The United States of America. It is a story of the attempt to draft Ali into the United States Army during the Vietnam War. When Ali was drafted into the Army he refused induction by claiming that he was a conscientious objector. The book is centered on the roughly four years of legal wrangling between Ali and the US government.

Central to Ali’s claim was that as a Muslim, who followed the teaching of the Koran, he was not allowed to fight in any war unless he fought on the side of Allah. While claiming objection to military service on grounds of conscience was not new, and was done in both World War I and II, Ali’s claim was unique in its particular religious expression. The statutes allowing objection due to conscience required that a person be opposed to war in all circumstances, and not particular circumstances. Ali was agreeable to fighting a war for Allah, but he wouldn't participate in any other war.

And that got me to thinking a bit about living each day as a Christian and what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple in our culture. Does it mean that I follow Him all the time, or just most of the time? Am I obedient to His leading, to His teaching, every time I hear it or only when I remember it? And if it suits me at the moment? Are my eyes and my heart open to seeing His truth every time I open my Bible, or only when I am reading my favorite parts?

To adapt Ali’s claim against the Army, when it comes to being a disciple, am I a conscientious follower?

The truth is that I fall short, time-and-again. All disciples do. I am aware of some of my more persistent shortcomings, things that our culture may accept but ones which I know are wrong when the Gospel is the measuring stick. And I am thankful that God is rich in mercy and forgiveness, waiting for me each time I return to the foot of the cross.

In his letter to the Galatians Paul gives words of guidance and encouragement to those following Jesus as His disciples. He writes about this in Galatians 5:16-26, with the heart of his wisdom in verses 22-23:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

These words speak timelessly, to both the Galatians and to those of us following Jesus today. May they form both you and me as we seek to be conscientious followers of Jesus Christ each and every day.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Forever

Last week we bought a new book for our daughter. Earlier in the week we were finishing reading through the Jesus Storybook Bible, for at least the fourth time through, and as good a version of children’s Bible as it is we needed to start something different and give our daughter the opportunity to learn God’s stories told in different words. We went to our local Christian bookstore and did some browsing, returning home with the Adventure Bible Storybook.

It is a storybook and not a Bible, so it takes some liberties in the telling of the stories but not in ways that I think detract from the message of the story or the message of the Bible as a whole. Last night we read the story God’s Promise to Abram. Our daughter quickly exclaimed “His name is Abraham, not Abram!” We said “Let’s just read the story and see what happens.”

We read a version of the story of Genesis 15, where God promises to provide an heir for Abram and to always watch over the many descendants that will come through Abram’s son. And the story ended with the words of Genesis 15:18, saying:

“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.”

Covenant is a big word for a six year-old, and sometimes it’s a big word for adults as well. We explained it to our daughter as best we could, telling her that a covenant is a promise that God makes to us, a special promise which will never be broken. There is nothing that we can do that would cause God to end the covenant and not fulfill the promises once He has made them.

The Psalm that my wife and I read together last night spoke to this too, although not as directly. We read Psalm 121. The Psalmist is in trouble but remembers that his help is always to be found in the Lord. The last two verses say:

“The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out and coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

That last phrase is what ties it all together for me. It is one of many places in the Bible where God affirms the promise that He made to Abram. The unbreakable promise to always be Abram’s God, which is also to be the God of those who call on Abram’s descendant, Jesus, in faith.

The promise which means that no matter what goes on around us, no matter how much suffering we may be experiencing, no matter how much it may seem that evil has the upper hand…in the end it is all in the hand of God Almighty.

The God who calls us. The God who makes unbreakable promises to keep us. The God whose loving grasp lasts forever.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Enhancements

Tomorrow I’m doing pulpit supply, preaching at a local church while the regular pastor is on vacation. So preparing the sermon has been the dominant task on my mind, pretty much all week. No time to spend blogging when I need to attend to the preparation of a message from God’s word. Now, on Saturday evening, the sermon is ready, or at least as ready as I should let it be. I could continue to edit, tweak, etc. it more, and more, but I’m not going to.

We are spending the evening at home, caring for the young son of some friends while his mom and dad have some time together. It is a beautiful summer evening in Minnesota. After dinner we sat outside while the kids played, and one of the things they did was play with bubbles. They had the little bottles of soap with the wands they held by their lips as the blew on them, spreading bubbles over the lawn. And they had a large wand, nearly a foot across, that they lifted from a trough filled with bubble soap and slowly waved through the air. They giggled, laughed and chased after large, really large, bubbles rising into the air.

I took a look at the soap my wife had used for the bubbles. Given that our daughter, her friends and our grandchildren go through a lot of bubble soap in a summer she buys a large bottle to use to refill the smaller bottles. It turns out that she doesn’t use any ordinary soap, but “miracle bubbles.” And while “miracle bubbles” sound pretty good to me, as they say on TV, “That’s not all!” They are “super miracle bubbles.” And even that isn’t enough. They are “premium plus super miracle bubbles.”

Now it seems to me that “premium plus super miracle bubbles” would have to be the best soap bubbles ever. But it turns out that it isn’t. My wife adds something to enhance the bubble soap. It must work, because the pictures she takes of the bubbles the kids make and chase with such exuberance are really spectacular. Not the bubbles I recall from my youth.

“Change is good,” so the saying goes. This is certainly true sometimes, as in the case of the development of bubble soap. As we move through stages of life we can also experience change that is good. We can also see changes that are not good, such as making a series of choices in our lives that only lead to hardship and brokenness.

The scripture that comes to mind as I watch children blow bubbles and ponder this is Hebrews 13:8, which says:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

In a changing world, one that changes in ways we often cannot control, our Lord and Savior remains unchanged. He has existed before the creation of the world and he will faithfully carry his children with him into eternity. His love, expressed perfectly on the cross, will endure forever.

Christ is enough. No enhancements needed.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Healing

Can God heal our bodies when we get sick? When they break down? When they are on the verge of death? I believe that he can, because my understanding of God, as revealed in the Bible, is that he can do absolutely anything and everything.

All of creation came into existence through the mere speaking of his voice. He created every star that I see in the night sky. He created the pine tree sitting outside of my window. His creative act in the human mind led to the invention of the very computer that I am writing with and the technology that you are using to read this post.

Healing, and specifically God’s power in healing, floats through my mind every once and a while, and it has been on my mind again the past few days. I work in a hospital providing care to people recovering from serious injuries and illnesses. Some of my patients are in the hospital a few days, and I have worked with people who have stayed in the hospital for many months.

I have cared for some people on and off for many years and some of the people who I met through their time in the hospital are among my best friends.

No one likes being sick, and when we are ill there is nothing as good as having our health restored. But time and again in my work at the hospital I have met people who will likely never experience a return to the health that they once had. Their bodies have acquired injuries that even the best medical and surgical treatment has little to offer.

As I stated in my beginning, I believe that God can heal absolutely anything and everything, but there is a qualifier to that, which is that God works healing according to his will. And this can be hard for us to grasp and accept.

We want God to work healing according to our will, and for our purposes, and we find it hard to accept that God’s purposes in our illnesses, even in our routine aches and pains, may be different. Paul wrote of this in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, saying,

"So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Paul understood that God’s purpose in his suffering, which he very much desired to be relieved of, was for Paul’s own good. Paul’s suffering remained in order to serve God’s purposes rather than Paul’s.

I don’t mean to be trite about any suffering that anyone is going through, be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. This post isn’t about the question of “Why suffering exists?” but rather to briefly address why we may experience healing in our suffering.

What I want is to be mindful that in times of suffering we are never alone. When we are suffering it may rarely be our first focus, but God is always with us.

There have been times when I have ardently longed for healing and it hasn’t come, at least not in the way I desired it. And in my longing I was eventually able to see God’s presence and have my own faith strengthened, like Paul, in the midst of my suffering.

While we most often think of healing in terms of our bodies and the day-to-day lives that we lead, we can also be mindful of God’s promises, promises of a time when for the people of God there will be no more suffering. In Revelation 7:16-17 the Apostle John writes,

“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

We may or may not know the healing of our various ailments. We may earnestly yearn for, and pray for, the healing of those whom we hold dear, healing which may or may not come in this life.

And as we do so let us also be mindful that in the finished work of Christ God has a healing awaiting his children that is so glorious as to be almost unimaginable in its goodness and perfection.

To God be the glory, now and forever, amen.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Love and Marriage in the 21st Century

This may be a bit out-of-date. Given that we live in an era when the only news that seems to matter is what happens today. The news that sparked these thoughts happened about a week ago and has been sitting in my head since then, waiting for me to have the time to get it out.

About a week ago, while skimming the headlines on the Google news page, I saw an Entertainment notice announcing that Seal and Heidi Klum were on the verge of divorce. I don’t read the Entertainment news, not because I’m “holier than thou” but because I’m not interested in virtually everything I see in the Entertainment headlines. I understand that Seal is some sort of singer, although I’ve never heard his music. And I know that Heidi Klum is a model and has a TV show, which I’ve never seen but know that my older daughter is a fan of.

So for a few days I saw headlines related to the possibility of divorce between these two people, including one with what I thought was a rather curious comment by Seal on the present state of his relationship with Klum, which inspired me to post this comment on my own Facebook page:

Today's cultural commentary: So Seal and Heidi Klum are getting divorced, yet “We still love each other like we always have,” which brings one of two questions to mind, either “Why are you getting divorced?” or “Why did you get married?”

I don’t claim to have any great insights on human nature but my questions must have struck a nerve, for they generated much more notice than most of the things I post to Facebook. And as I thought about what Seal said these other questions came to mind:

What should marriage be based on? What should hold it together during times of adversity? What should the purpose of marriage be?

Before I attempt to answer these questions I want to make a disclosure of some things that are known to some of my friends but perhaps not all of my readers. I have been married, divorced and remarried. The things I am about to uphold as virtues are things that I have struggled with. As I walk through life as a disciple of Jesus I continue to struggle with many things and I need his grace, daily, in marriage and all parts of my life.

What should marriage be based on? Our culture would say that “love” is the be-all and end-all of marriage. When two people feel consumed by their love for each other, and perhaps feel complete only with each other, then moving into marriage would seem to be logical step. And while our society has generally held that marriage is the highest form of personal relationship, the Christian intending to enter into marriage needs to remember that as strong as their love for their potential spouse may be, it should not exceed the love that they have for God. In the first commandment Deuteronomy 5:7 teaches,

“You shall have no other gods before me.”

It is very easy to put our spouse ahead of God, and to put our needs within marriage ahead of God, and either choice is a form of idolatry. Again, I am not a model of sanctity but as my wife and I moved towards marriage God was gracious to us and moved us to pray that he would reveal his will for us as a couple. That prayer, that God would make it clear to us if we should not marry, and a desire to be obedient to him even if the answer was “no”, was one of the hardest prayers I have ever made. And now, being married, I frequently pray that our marriage would be kept in its proper place before God.

Secondly, what should hold marriage together during times of adversity? Again, I think the popular answer would be “love,” but love is an emotion, one that can wax and wane. In some couples it is a strong bond and in others it is very elastic and even fragile. In the case of Seal and Heidi Klum, he portrays a love that is both unchanged and unable to sustain them.

I think that the quality that should hold marriage together, the quality that can persist when our emotional attachment wavers, is faithfulness. The dictionary gives some adjective for faithfulness, which include faithful, loyal, true, constant, steadfast and staunch.

In the Bible God gives us several images of faithfulness, the kind of faithfulness that endures in each and every circumstance. One is the book of Hosea, in which God demonstrates his faithfulness to his people, despite their persistent and extreme disregard for their own responsibilities towards him. Additionally, the theme of faithfulness can be said to describe the entire witness of the Old and New Testaments, as God establishes and maintains a covenant relationship with his people, a covenant upheld through the atoning death-and-resurrection of Jesus.

A caveat. Some people are in marriages or other interpersonal relationships in which abuse is present. There are very real instances when relationships should be terminated immediately because of the harm being inflicted on those in the relationship or those close to it, such as children.

And thirdly, what should the purpose of marriage be? Marriage may feel like the “next step” we are to take as we journey from adolescence into adulthood. Marriage may provide a framework for the raising of children. Marriage may bring delight to those whom are joined in it. These may have been among the reasons that Seal and Klum married. The last of my reasons was very present when my wife and I married. But there is a higher purpose in marriage, and that is in providing glory to God.

Question-and-Answer 1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism says,

Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

I think that this statement means that all of our lives should be lived to the glory of God, and perhaps especially marriage, as the Bible, in Revelation 19, uses the image of marriage to portray the consummation of the relationship between Christ and the church.

Believing in Jesus calls us to push back against the so-called wisdom of the world with the truth of God, to his everlasting glory. My marriage is not perfect, but is a particularly delightful blessing, which I pray may be kept in its proper place before God, and used by him to proclaim the Good News, known only in Jesus, to the world.