When the Pilgrims Return

 

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Psalm 126:1-6

When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!  We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.  And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”  Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!  What joy!  Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert.  Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.  They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.

This past Sunday Elizabeth and I attended a worship service of the outdoor sort, the final Sunday for my friend, Nathan Snyder, as pastor of Fairgrove UMC in Thomasville.  He is retiring from full time service, and it was good to be there as the congregation celebrated his four decades of ministry; it was a time filled with remembering and celebration, a time of joy.  They even had a Nathan-parade in lieu of a covered dish, as Nathan and his bride, Margaret, stood at the outdoor shelter and all the members drove past to wish their retiring pastor happy trails! 

During the last 3 months we have been enduring an exile of sorts.  Congregations all over the world have refrained from meeting in their gathering places, the place where worship is so familiar, and the hugs, handshakes, and conversations flow like refreshing streams of God’s glory.  Now we meet via pixel-resoluted screen times, flat-screened, and absent of the pulses of our brothers and sisters.  As for me, all I hear and sense of a live body in the room is my furry friend, Wellie, snoring beside me when I write, or record the latest sermon.  Stout Methodist as he is, Wellie is no match for the living, breathing human souls I long to be with.

I have gained a new appreciation of what it meant for the Israelites to be captives in a strange, foreign land…and then, they got to come home; it was a big deal.  They came singing, with joy-filled hearts and souls.  Their joy was so full other nations took note with amazement – what wonderful things the Lord has done!

And so, it is natural, as I look to the future, to relish that time when we get to come home – home to God’s spiritual body, gathered in joy and worship, instead of this drought-ship, dry, parched, quarantined existence.  In my mind there is a picture of God’s house, full of joy-filled faces, glad to be back – happy to be singing, praying, giving, loving, planning, serving….together!

Of course there will be some new flies in the ointment, so to speak.  Some will wear masks and gloves; hand sanitizer will be on order by the gallon, and some of it might feel strange for awhile.  It’s like that after a long absence; you want to get back, but what will it be like beyond just that first rush of joy?  I think I know; there will be sharing of our lives again, sharing all the stories of what has happened, guessing at why it all happened, and the catching-up that always happens.  And, somewhere past the strange uneasiness of discovering that change has happened, and the discomfort of knowing our world is different, we will find ourselves strangely renewed, hearts strangely warmed (as Mr. Wesley might say); we will awaken to the dawn of a new day of possibilities.  We will begin to open to a new moment, an era of letting the petty differences to which we may cling, evaporate like the unimportant wisps of selfishness they really are.  Song preferences, perceived slightings, unwelcomed change or tedious repetition, will all be somehow so insignificant.  In my sanctified imagination I imagine the refreshing of just raising our voices together to sing, our hands lifted to praise, heads bowed to pray, and hearts and souls opened for hearing God’s voice to lead us into deeper, fuller relationship…this is what will come for God’s people.  Because this is what God always does for grateful, humble people.  And I cannot think of a time when I have been more grateful, or humbled, by the realization that I may have been taking corporate worship for granted…and I sense that I can’t possibly be the only one who feels this way.

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, your pilgrim children, exiled from the buildings and routines we sometimes worship, are longing to go home.  We know you do all things well, and in your time.  As we wait on your hand to guide, may we wait with our sandals on, staff in hand, ready for your direction.

For You Today

Can you say “pilgrim”?  A pilgrim isn’t home; he’s wandering – she’s wondering, we’re walking.  It’s always a movement.  The only real concern we should have is the direction in which we’re moving – towards God…or the other way.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Psalm 126 see World UPSIDE DOWN and Precious Seeds  and When a Warrior Weeps

Fountain of Life

[1]

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

On the holy mountain stands the city founded by the Lord.  He loves the city of Jerusalem more than any other city in Israel.  O city of God, what glorious things are said of you!      Interlude

I will count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me—also Philistia and Tyre, and even distant Ethiopia.  They have all become citizens of Jerusalem!  Regarding Jerusalem it will be said, “Everyone enjoys the rights of citizenship there.”  And the Most High will personally bless this city.  When the Lord registers the nations, he will say, “They have all become citizens of Jerusalem.”      Interlude

The people will play flutes and sing, “The source of my life springs from Jerusalem!”  Psalm 87:1-7[2]

Problematic to the church is eisegesis, that which happens when people look at Scripture and see only what they want to see; that’s a sticky wicket indeed.  Followers of Jesus think this only happens with pagans who want to attack Christian belief and use a passage out of context as a bludgeon to (supposedly) discredit and disprove Christianity as a whole.  But, sadly, it also happens in the church family.  In fact, it happens especially in the church family. 

The last sentence of the 87^th Psalm has singers gathered around the Lord’s presence lifting a testimonial song of praise:  …the source of my life springs from Jerusalem!  In a casual reading of that verse it’s easy to start feeling all warm and fuzzy with thoughts of a nice, comfortable sense that everything is right in Zion.  It’s that picture of everything finally being in proper places with no problems, mortgage paid, kids safe, great doctor’s report, and no cracks in any foundations.  Many people get that same feeling in church services when we sing a song like When We All Get to Heaven or In the Sweet By and By; there’s such a sense of a secure future in heaven, which is so totally foreign to the present reality of chaos on earth.  We live in a shadowy, troubled in-between time, here below, while perfection is off, somewhere beyond the blue.

Now, while it is true we have not yet arrived at the throne, and we are pilgrims in this life, the awkward shadow trailing that truth is we wind up settling-in with this existence, managing the pain of life with a teaspoon-full of religion, instead of being fully-immersed in the fountain of life.

Let me put it simply:  

Jesus didn’t die in Jerusalem so we could wring our hands over what this life offers or doesn’t, just waiting to die and finally be with Him.  Jesus died so that we could be forgiven and freed to have an overflowing cup of the river of life eternally…beginning RIGHT NOW!

Here’s one other, related simple thought to chew on as you hit the rocky road today:

Whatever circumstances your life holds at this moment, if you’ve decided to settle-in with the misery chaos brings in this life, just waiting, trying to hold-out until God finally takes you home, it’s a good bet you can’t sing the end of Psalm 87 now…that the source of your life springs from Jerusalem.  And if you’re not ready for His fountain of life here, you’ll have a hard time finding it in the hereafter!

For You Today

From the birth of the church on earth on the Day of Pentecost, to this very day, God’s Spirit has been giving new life from the fountain of life.  An old Gospel song says it well:

There came a sound from heaven as a mighty rushing wind.

It filled their hearts with singing and gave them peace within.

The prophet gave this promise, he said the Spirit will descend

And from your inner being, a river with no end.

There is a river, and it flows from deep within
There is a fountain, that frees the soul from sin
Come to this water; there is a vast supply
There is a river, that never shall run dry.[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] For another post on Psalm 87 see God’s Much-Loved Hills

[3] Words and Music ^©David Sapp All rights reserved

A Little More Light - Part 3

[i][ii]

Friday, March 22, 2019

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  2 Timothy 3:16

Although a “quadrilateral” has four parts, today’s Part 3 finishes this series. 

In thinking about Experience (the assurance of salvation) and Reason (God’s gift to us mortals of being self-aware and drawing intelligent, ethical, and moral conclusions), the remaining two are Tradition (of the church, or doctrine) and Scripture, God’s Word.  For me, these last two are so intertwined I find it impossible to separate them.  The reasoning here is that God’s Word (not exclusively the 66 books we call the Bible), but literally, God’s Words to humanity throughout the course of time are that from which the doctrines of the church (traditions, if you will) were born.  Everything the church does, from worship, benevolence, proclaiming God’s love, mercy, peace, and righteousness, to baptizing and discipling, are extensions of Holy Writ.  We do that to which Scripture calls and empowers believers.

Paul’s admonition to Timothy is not only defining, concerning Scripture, it is also the chief example of how doctrine/tradition and Scripture are hand-in-glove tools of God’s Spirit, the light and power of God’s will here on earth.  Scripture tells us what is wrong and right, and compels us to the right, instead of the wrong.  Such is the nature of the Scripture’s impact, driving church tradition, the doctrines that guide, inform and, by the power of God’s Spirit, transform human life into new life.  This is the essence of church tradition (not traditional acts, such as observing a festival, or hanging hats in the foyer), but direction…moving towards the light.

By nature, I have always had an ambivalent, tenuous relationship with God’s Word.  There is this love affair with my Creator within me which aspires to be obedient to God…a hungering-after His righteousness and thirsting for His will to be fully in control of Russell.  And in the opposing corner lurks that human nature inherited from Adam…always willing to have a break from my responsibility to respond to the Director of this symphony called life.  When that lurking Adam-nature wins out I become a wanderer more than a Pilgrim.

Scripture and the Tradition of God’s people, from the time of Job’s troubles until this very day, are the evidence I can see of God’s pull on my soul towards Him.  It draws me to a scary life…a life walking without sight, but rather in faith.

It is this life that requires more light in the soul than on the physical path.  That light comes best when Scripture, Reason, Experience, and Tradition move in concert within me, assuring, encouraging, directing, and correcting my ways:

·      Experience, or the assurance of salvation is what rekindles the courage inside me to put one foot in front of the other and keep-on. 

·      Reason is God’s gift that helps me mindfully-reject dark enemies in favor of Godly joys.  This is my weapon in the hand against straying into the temptations that abound. 

·      Tradition, the way our faith family has lived in the experience of salvation and carried the sword of reason, is the well-beaten path, blazed by that great cloud of witnesses, the God-following community. 

·      Scripture is like the shepherd of God’s supreme authority of a love letter to whosoever will join Him on the great adventure of marching to Zion, journeying-on to that place of still water which restores my soul.

For You Today

It’s a dark world out there…and God has provided all the tools you need to keep moving towards the light and sharing that light with others along your way. 

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

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[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com

[ii] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

Ready to Travel

[i]

Holy Week

Thursday, April 13, 2017

“These are your instructions for eating this meal:  Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand.  Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover.   Exodus 12:11^(NLT)

For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself.  On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it.  Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood.  Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”  For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.  1 Corinthians 11:23-26^(NLT)

Of all the people I’ve ever known, my Dad was the itchy feet king!  He was ready to travel at all times.  His wanderlust[ii] was born of a natural sense of curiosity about what’s beyond the next bend in the road.  He had an intense desire to see America, particularly the historical sights, up-close.  There was a map hung on a cork board in our house that had stick pins at places to which Mom and Dad had travelled over the years.  Strings were tied from one place to another, indicating a planned next trip, or a completed recent trip.  My Dad was always ready to travel!

Through Moses God told Israel the same thing; eat this meal with your shoes on and travelling sticks in hand; be ready to travel!  The Passover is the meal of haste, eaten with the understanding the call to move-out of Egypt might be trumpeted at any time. 

Our Lord’s Supper feast is also fast-food for the Christian church.  With this meal we remember the Passover of Jesus’ last night on earth and, much like the fundamental message of the Passover, where Jews remember the bitterness of bondage in Egypt, we remember the bitterness of sin’s bondage, from which we’ve been released.

There’s an urgency about this call to the table.  In one sense the grace we experience (or should experience) whenever we celebrate this communion is reason enough to hurry to the table.  Who is not in need of God’s grace, pressed-down, shaken-together, and running-over?[iii]

But there is also another reason to keep walking stick and sandals at the ready:  going home.  I recall those road trips with Mom and Dad, and how, because there was no money for motels, we camped.  My brother and I set up the tent every night, slept on the ground in sleeping bags, then broke it down and packed it in the station wagon every morning.  By the time the trip was over our parents had two pooped kids!  (Well, maybe that was their plan). 

But the best part of the trip…always…was arriving back at Holly Lane in Smithtown.  Coming back home, worn-out, full of travel memories, but home…HOME! 

The New Covenant is like that; starting place (in Christ) is also the destination.  Just like we drove away from the little house on Holly Lane on our new adventure the first two weeks of August every year, it was to the little house on Holly Lane we returned.  And it somehow looked different when we got back – so welcoming; so right.

We are walking pilgrims now, having started our journey with, and in-Christ.  The cross is the beginning of that pilgrimage, and we walk by faith towards a real place that is our real home, not one made with hands.  We start in Christ and are always moving towards Him.  The moments on this trail are filled with tests, trials, opportunities and some heartache as we see the tragedies and triumphs of the grandest experiment since creation – the making of a people who will love God and enjoy Him forever.

For You Today

Got your shoes on, walking stick in hand?  Are you ready for that?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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 ^I Title image: By MRabe! (Self-photographed), via Wikimedia Commons and By Hysocc (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] “Wanderlust” is an intense desire to travel

[iii] Luke 6:38