Out of the Darkness

 

When we leave the womb, we begin to face the possibility of isolation, being alone, abandoned.  And, not being created for aloneness, it troubles us.  There have been a number of times in my life, (and it still happens occasionally), that the aloneness of that small and vulnerable newborn child, just out of the mother’s womb, rises up in my soul and proclaims the profoundness of the deep darkness that surrounds and would swallow me up!

How does it happen, that darkness?  It generally comes (at least in my life) when I am isolated, and the memories of other aloneness or rejection haunts my thoughts.  I haven’t been hunted by a deranged king whose army has been given orders to capture or kill me like King Saul after David, the shepherd boy[1].  However, I have had people angry at me, and a few who would have rejoiced if I’d never been born.  But even simple conflict (what we would call “drama” these days), is enough to bring the darkness close and threatening.  It is at times like that I need the comfort of leaving the darkness behind and rejoining the light of God’s goodness.  When it comes to chasing the darkness away, there’s no better choice than the One who is the Author of light – Jesus!

If you recall last Friday’s three important questions in life…Where did I come from, What is my purpose here, and Where am I going…here are all three in a nutshell.  In the days leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion He taught his disciples the profound truth about where He came from, what His mission (purpose) was, and where He was going, and would take those who believe with Him.  He was (and IS) the light, and will lead us out of darkness every time!

Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me.  And the one who sees me sees him who sent me.  I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.  John 12:44-46 ^(CSB)

Did you catch that last phrase about believing in Him and NOT remaining in darkness?  Did it roll around your mind like a healing ointment of calm joy?  That’s what truly worshipping God brings.  Jesus responds to those who worship His Father, the one true, living God, by throwing a floodlight over the gloom of darkness.  And a light soul cannot be engulfed by darkness. 

As the people of God offer genuine, heart-felt worship, darkness is dispelled, chased from our lives.  That is why whenever you don’t feel like coming to church on a given Sunday…and you go anyway…when you leave church that day there is a general sense of lightness; you feel better for having attended – glad you went!  Darkness had to leave when you emptied yourself in the presence of the ONE Who IS light!

For You Today

If there are circumstances on your horizon that threaten dark days, don’t forget where the light is found; He wants to light up your world!

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The Christian Standard Bible^©   

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[1]Read the entire fascinating story in 1 Samuel – Chapters 18-26

Is IT Really Finished?

 

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever.  Psalm 118:1

I attended a friend’s church last Saturday evening.  Pastor Michael’s sermon was an inspiring recounting of the transition that flows from the cross, as Jesus proclaimed those fateful words:  It is finished.  That flow turned the typical Easter din of “cross, grave, empty tomb….and (yawn from getting up too early for sunrise service) to now what else?  The sermon was:  It is Finished; but He is Not![1] 

The message centered around the Greek word tetelestai, from which we translate into English “it is finished…or completed”.  The word is military in origin, as in a completed mission.  It was also used in antiquity as a legal tool for debts.  When a debt was fully-paid the debt-holder would write TETELESTAI across the original document, as testament to the honorable completing of all claims.  This is the word shouted from the cross by Jesus…completed…nothing else required.  That is true beyond question, as Scripture declares over and again that His death was propitiation for our sins…paid-in-full. 

But what of the last part…IT was finished…but HE is NOT?  The crux of Micael’s message rested on the fact (again rooted in Scripture) that the completed work of the cross was but the firstfruits of what was to come.  To summarize, it means Christ died once, for all sins; but He’s still working with us (and on us) to develop who we are…we are being transformed into His image.

This concept isn’t new.  Any believer who has entered the world of discipleship, following Jesus with prayer, presence in worship, meaningful stewardship of tithes and offerings, learning to serve others in the community, and being a faithful witness, has an understanding that Christ is anything but finished working on us.  He is bringing us to a mature stature in His character.  For all of us, THAT takes a considerable transformation.  It’s what apostle Paul meant when he wrote to the church at Ephesus:

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.  Ephesians 4:13

Now, here’s the candy of it all – it isn’t something we HAVE to do…it what we GET to do!  It’s like this:  Elizabeth and I have struggled all our lives to make a monthly mortgage payment.  We never quite got there in the first four houses we bought.  By the time we got to this fifth house, we settled on a 15 year mortgage.  It was paid-off several years ago – I don’t think they actually wrote tetelestai on the mortgage paper – but we did get a letter of thanks from the mortgage company saying our debt was over.  It was finished.  But we are not.  We get to live in the house now.  Elizabeth gets to (within reason) redecorate and rearrange.  Russell gets to repair and take care of cutting the grass. 

And that is what Jesus did with your eternity.  He’s given us a place and a purpose that is as secure as the promise of that empty tomb.  And He’s given us freedom to create (with him) all the beauty that life holds in promise.

For You Today

Two great truths to rest on here:

·       IT (the payment of debt for your sins) is finished.  Receive that gift, and cherish it!

·       YOUR walk with Christ through an eternity of blessing is just getting started, because his faithful love endures forever!

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

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] You can listen to the sermon here

Circle of Life

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Thursday, August 1, 2019

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge!  How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!  For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?  Who knows enough to give him advice?  And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?  For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.  All glory to him forever! Amen.  Romans 11:33-36

With all due humility and respect to the popularity of Walt Disney, Tim Rice, and Elton John’s Circle of Life song in the movie, Lion King, what they give us is merely wisdom from the underside of things here on earth; they don’t begin to scratch the surface of the circle’s source.  The real circle of life begins and comes round to Heaven.

The apostle Paul rarely stuttered like Moses.  When the little, ugly student of Gamaliel, (Paul may have been a slow learner, but he turned-out to be quite a scholar) wrote his letter to the Roman Christians, his small, twisted stature, poor eyesight, and thorny side faded into the background as he gave us an eternal glimpse into our beginning and ending.  Bowing to the omniscient wisdom of JHWH, Creator of all, the apostle unfolds the simplest, most profound truth about the circle of life:  it begins with God, continues to exist because of God’s will and power, and does not simply repeat until it destroys itself…but returns unto God bringing glory, honor, and unending praise to its Maker – quite a circle!

In the movie the little lion cub, Simba, is destined to be the king after his father, Mufasa passes from the scene[2].  Dad teaches the young prince that, while they chase the gazelle and eat them, eventually lions also die, return to the soil to become the grass, which the gazelle eat.  That is Mufasa’s circle of life, sometimes you’re the windshield; sometimes you’re the bug!

But God has a much higher plan than live – deteriorate – die – rot in the ground to become fertilizer for the savannah grass, and be re-born as a well-fed antelope (only to be eaten by the next generation of lions).  With that existential philosophy (even less appealing than Akuna-matata), you’ve got nothing more to look forward to than the African proverb that whimpers:

Every morning a gazelle awakens to the reality that he must outrun the fastest lion or be eaten today, while every lion awakens to the reality that he must outrun the slowest gazelle or starve today.  Either way the dawn brings running.

And that’s the whole difference between philosophy and theology; with man’s philosophizing circle all you get is running, and someday being outrun. 

When it’s theology – God thought – it’s about living; we are created by Him, and we live for, and in His good and glory, and eventually go to Him, the giver, sustainer, and purpose of all life.  That’s a circle you can live with!

For You Today

You were created with a higher purpose than retirement to become gazelle food.  With a Creator and Savior like that, what’s not to love? 

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

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

[2] Image:  By Абдырашит Сатылганов - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0