Waiting In a Small Place

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Tuesday, October 1, 2019

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.  So many enemies against one man—all of them trying to kill me.  To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence.  They plan to topple me from my high position.  They delight in telling lies about me.  They praise me to my face but curse me in their hearts.                                              Interlude

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.  My victory and honor come from God alone.  He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.  O my people, trust in him at all times.  Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.                                           Interlude

Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be.  If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air.  Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing.  And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.  God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times:  Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.  Surely you repay all people according to what they have done.  Psalm 62:1-12

King David knew himself well.  You don’t spend days and nights alone tending sheep and not thinking about the small places inside you upon which you’ve learned to depend.  Preachers are particularly subject to this, spending hours nose-deep in Scripture and thought about what to say next Sunday.  I wait quietly in small places.

David may have sounded a bit paranoid about all the people plotting against him; truth be told, he wasn’t paranoid – he just understood the nature of humans.  David understood his own shortcomings, reasons why he shouldn’t be king.  David knew his sinfulness and feared his shortcomings.

When alone, particularly early in the morning as this moment can attest, I think of the life I’ve lived, and those small places that I return to…

          ·      stubborn, not submitted to Christ’s changing power

          ·      willful, hardly obedient, except if it can be seen by others

          ·      selfish, less than generous, except if it can be seen by others

          ·      fearful, not depending on the Rock of Jesus’ saving power

          ·      wavering, looking for a way out that I can see instead of faith-walking

          ·      wobbly-kneed, untrue, and crabby…hardly a tower of graciousness. 

Before I begin a day I must always cover this ground in my prayers.  Like David, I know myself too well to imagine I’ll be just fine without God’s constant hand leading, and His Spirit forming me from the inside-out.

For You Today

So, now you’ve watched me reveal my soft underbelly, my weak spots.  What are you going to do about being honest with God about yours?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Lost, Searching, & Found

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Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!  So Jesus told them this story:  “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do?  Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.  When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’  In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!  Luke 15:1-7

Paul Leeland, resident Bishop of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church[1] told the story of his seminary days in Baltimore to a gathering of preachers.  When he arrived at the seminary there were no TV’s in the dorm rooms, and no coffee machines.  He quickly secured a coffee pot and a small portable TV for his room so he could drink coffee each morning as he listened to the news and got ready for classes.  He said it didn’t take long for four floors of seminary students to find out there was coffee and TV on the third floor, so his room was seldom private.

One day he heard the local news anchor lament that in a certain neighborhood, notorious for racial tension and violence, first responders, police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel were slower responding to calls than in other more secure parts of the city.  Later that day Leeland and a buddy went to check out the area.  They lingered a little too long and these two young, white men, after sundown were lost in a seedy section of town.  Now the eventual bishop was bright enough to recall that even in Baltimore the sun sets in the West (which was the direction of his dorm room), and so he figured if he just kept the car moving in that general direction he’d be safe, and find home.  About the time he figured that out, the light at the next corner turned red.  His car stopped right in front of a group of young men who were having a good time teasing each other.  But when they saw the out-of-place white seminary students, they encircled the car with menacing looks and a frightening presence.  With the obvious interpersonal skill and quick-thinking of  a Methodist Bishop, Paul Leeland turned to his buddy and said, hey, jump out and ask our new best friends how we can get out of the city. His buddy said, (well, never mind what he said…they may have performed an illegal launch through a red light, but they lived to tell the story).

Reflecting on the story Bishop Leeland said that, like the lost sheep in Jesus’ story Paul Leeland was also lost in Baltimore.  The Bible word for lost really means out of place.  Even out of place people have value.  He was still a husband, father, and pastor at a little Methodist church.  But none of that mattered when confronted with a mob surrounding your vehicle.  A sheep that’s lost provides no wool for its master.  The lost coin in next story that Jesus told could purchase no food or olive oil to feed the household.  Lost is out of place until it is found!

And that is the whole point of the missional mindset of a church.  People who are lost, out of place, cannot function as they were created…as a sheep providing wool, a vine providing fruit, a human engaging in relationship with Creator God.  Out of place must be found.

Our baptism is a mark of the redeemed, the lost and out of place being found and restored to the place of God’s embrace and love. 

We must never lose sight or hope of being the locators and lovers of the lost.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!

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[1] Bishop Leeland at Macedonia United Methodist Church, Take Thou Authority event, September 19, 2019

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[i] Title Images:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com.    All Scripture quoted is from The New Living Translation (unless otherwise stated) 

A Word to the Churches

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Monday, September 30, 2019

“Look!  I stand at the door and knock.  If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.  Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.  “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”  Revelation 3:20-22

Through the years I’ve heard this text preached (and have done so myself) as a call to the lost to come to Christ and be saved.  It is an urgent invitation to open their heart’s door and let Him come in.  It’s also a bludgeon wielded by skillful evangelists to usher the crowds of seekers and the resistant souls of those who reject Christ closer to the throne of judgment, so they can sense the heat of Hell’s fires awaiting them on Judgment Day.

It’s an interesting thing how, when you’ve heard something proclaimed so long and so dogmatically, you just kind of accept its’ bland noise as part of the landscape, and hardly ever question if there’s anything deeper.  I’ve always accepted this Christ knocking of the door of hearts as a message to others.  After all, I was saved years ago, part of Christ’s church; I’m part of the regenerate redeemed…no lost soul here!  And while I believe that to be so, that does not diminish the primary thrust  of John’s word in this passage.  As I read the words again, the latest amongst hundreds of times I’ve been through John’s Revelation, the final sentence grabbed my heart from the superior vena cava down to the aorta; the apostle squeezed my theological blind spot into attention:

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”  Revelation 3:22

To be true to the original context, John was writing to an actual church body, the lukewarm church at Laodicea.  This group of believers, saved disciples of Jesus, had grown complacent and weren’t living up to the model of passionate faith in Christ.  This message of Jesus standing on the outside, still knocking to be invited in, is a letter to Christians.  It’s not an evangelistic call to the lost to come to the foot of the cross; this is a passionate, almost desperate cry for the saved to stop walking away from the cross!

The church today (no matter which “brand” you name) is suffering a great falling-away.  Attendance, adherence, and all-around love for all things church is drying up like a mud puddle in a North Carolina drought.  Many want to spend time figuring out why, and who’s to blame.  That’s the nature of humans; if we can point a finger at someone else as the reason for failure we stand a chance at not looking too closely at our own responsibility.  But that’s just the issue John was addressing:

·      church is merely a name for a group of people who are servants and friends of Jesus. 

·      The church doesn’t fail anyone unless a disciple walks away from responsibility to Jesus. 

·      The church falls only when its disciples fall.

So, Jesus’ word to the churches is get back up; discipleship is a walk, and you can’t do that from your easy chair.

For You Today

For every New Testament passage there is a corresponding Old Testament bell ringing in the ear.  Let’s let the clarion call to God’s people ring for us the bell of God’s wake-up call to the churches:

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.       2 Chronicles 7:14

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Under His Wings

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Thursday, September 26, 2019

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare about the Lord:  He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.  For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.  He will cover you with his feathers.  He will shelter you with his wings.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection.  Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.  Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.  I will protect those who trust in my name.  When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.  I will rescue and honor them.  I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”  Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

North Korean nukes, Russian hacking, Ebola and flesh-eating viruses, cyber-bullying, mass shootings, climate change, disasters du jour, and now impeachment inquiry to overshadow the 2020 elections; tell me, where do I sign up for an exit strategy from the stress of life in the new (and improved?) millennium?

Despite world tensions over diseases, natural disasters, and political posturing, nothing is new or (as the talking news-heads proclaim) unprecedented.  Solomon knew that; the wisest man on earth had tried every diversion and pursuit possible and concluded:

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.  Ecclesiastes 1:9

All that given, nonetheless, people scurry about looking for my aforementioned twenty-first century merry-go-round exodus route.  Some try pills, or indiscriminate sexual escapades, alcohol-induced amnesia, computer games, or losing one’s mind in scrolling posts on Facebook…perhaps literally!

One of the oldest methods of fleeing the terrors of the night, and the arrows of the day is religion.  Now that may sound strange coming from the preacher, but religion takes many forms.  Some I’ve already mentioned…sex, drugs, booze, et al.  Of course, there’s the traditional approach, church three times on Sunday, Wednesday nights and revivals.  There is serial religiosity pursuing mainline religions or any of the estimated 4200 offshoots, from the slight variations to the ridiculous fringe extremes.[2]  Religion?  We’ve got whatever you like!  I do not wish to be misunderstood, but here’s my take on it:

All forms of religion are good at some points                          and fail miserably at most points.

The point at which religion always fails is that all of it is an attempt to reach upward to “God” as opposed to acceptance of God’s reaching downward in His grace and love.  Any attempt to reach up smacks of our participation in accomplishing salvation, when all it really does is make us feel better about ourselves.  God has shown us in His Word that is a non-starter.  It was wholly God’s initiative to save us; it is our simple responsibility to accept what God has already done.  All else we do in terms of living the joy and thankfulness with which we are blessed is simply a natural response to God’s mercy and forgiveness.

For You Today

The old hymn is my exodus from the madness of everything life can sling at me, including religious rules-following, approval or disapproval of my fellow humans, friend and foe alike, and I invite you to sing it along with me:

Under His wings I am safely abiding.  Tho' the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me.  He has redeemed me, and I am His child.
Under His wings, under His wings, Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide, Safely abide forever.[3]

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] How many Religions are there worldwide?  Reference.com

[3] William Orcutt Cushing (words), Ira David Sankey (music), 1896, (Public Domain) courtesy of Hymnary.org

Unlocking True Generosity

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Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Then, with the crowds listening, he turned to his disciples and said, “Beware of these teachers of religious law!  For they like to parade around in flowing robes and love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces.  And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets.  Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public.  Because of this, they will be severely punished.”  While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box.  Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins.  “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them.  For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”  Luke 20:45 – 21:3

Every time we get near Jesus in teaching mode He utters something that turns our thinking upside down.  When he pointed at the widow’s gift and said she gave more than everybody that day, even though she had given the smallest amount, He was showing us the key to opening true generosity in our lives; it’s never how much you put in the offering plate, or the size of the check you put in the envelope to a charity, it’s how much you keep that determines the size of your gift.

It’s amazing how children get this, while adults seem to struggle with it.  Our youngest child is having a birthday today (one with a zero attached…prayer please…happy birthday, sweetheart 😊 ).  When Carrie was little, perhaps only about 4, she overheard her mother and me talking about the income and outgo problem; there was a little too much month left over at the end of the money.  She went to her room, then came back to join us at the table.  We looked at that sweet, innocent face as she held up her pudgy little hand and opened it to reveal four pennies.  It is impossible to forget those words, here, Daddy, you can use my money.  Like the widow who kept nothing back, our little one had emptied her savings to help.

The condemnation of the preachers at the beginning of the story is for pride and the misuse of money.  Well, it seems there’s nothing new after all!  These proud, greedy leaders would have scoffed at the widow’s donation, or perhaps used it to guilt others into giving more to fatten the treasury, but one thing they were never going to do is follow the widow’s example.

For You Today

The Gaither Vocal Band has a song that keeps running through my head, Give It Away.  Think of the widow that day:

If you want more happy than your heart can hold;
If you wanna stand taller, if the truth were told,
Take whatever you have and give it away!
If you want less lonely and a lot more fun
And deep satisfaction when the day is done,
Throw your heart wide open and give it away![2]

Gloria Gaither tells about writing that song.  Let’s give her the last word today:

Bill’s grandfather used to say, “There are basically two kinds of people in this world – givers and takers – so decide which one you want to be.”[3] 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] Watch the video of Gaither Vocal Band singing Give It Away

[3] From Gaither.com