Good News

Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.  Psalm 96:2

This advice from the Psalmist is hard to hear while 2020 is still ringing in our ears.  After all, how do you say Good News when people are being carted off to the hospital and the morgue is so full there’s a waiting list?  On top of that the November election results are, according to whichever extreme point of view you choose,

a.     A fraudulent stealing of the presidency

b.     Under attack by unscrupulous liars

Now, before your eyes glaze over with O man, I can’t stand to hear one more bad thing about Coronavirus or the election mess…this verse has much more Hallelujah than Hell for us today.  The last two words the Psalmist offers should give us a hint:  he saves!

So, what does that have to do with the mess that characterized 2020, and seems to offer little hope for 2021?  Where’s the good news?  If He saves, to what are we being saved?  The short answer is, we are being saved from ourselves, our selfishness, and (to call a spade a spade), we’re being saved from our sin, and being saved to His presence, where there is safety, peace, and joy forevermore. 

Now, short answers are always, by nature, somewhat simplistic, or surface, and we need to dig a little deeper.  So here’s a thesis-bone for us to pick on this morning, about the kind of mess this world is in:

2020 was/is a test

…and that’s Good News

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  James 1:2-4

Jesus warned his disciples that in this world we’d always have trouble, even if we stick closer to him than a shadow.  Jesus probably gave that an eyeroll when He said it, because, sometimes, we have trouble because we are following Jesus. 

But here’s the good news about being that kind of follower who gets clobbered by COVID19, elections that seem to be controlled by Darth Vader, a jealous co-worker who lies to the boss about you, or a bully who picks on you for being a Christian.  Jesus knew it would be that way, and He’s already made a pathway for the Good News to travel your way:

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.  John 16:33

So, knowing we are always being tested in one way or another, we have a strong hope in which to face 2021.  And, that being settled, we should let our endurance, our patience, grow in any opportunity for great joy. 

The question for the follower of Jesus isn’t what’s happening, and why do I have to suffer like Job; it’s more a matter figuring-out of how I can recognize tribulation, or testing, and live so my walk with Christ will bear fruit!

And isn’t it grand that we have that question before the house this morning?  Because my very good friend, Apostle Peter has more than political talking points for that; he has a few life-handles for us to grab-on and grow in our patience.

Here are three of the handles:

Life Handle #1 in troubled times - Humility

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.  Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.  1 Peter 5:6-7

If there is one person who knew something about learning humility it was Peter.  You remember him; he was always the one speaking-up, messing-up, and giving Jesus a case of indigestion.  Peter eventually learned humility when he stood before Jesus after the resurrection and found out he was forgiven.

The reality about this in troubled days like we’ve seen recently is that the power of God is ready to go to work on what ails us in our homes, businesses, schools, and government…if we’ll just get down on our knees.  Remember the formula:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

Life Handle #2 in troubled times – Spiritual Warfare

Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.  1 Peter 5:8-9a

Spiritual warfare is a matter of trust and worship.  I know people who worship fishing; everything else comes second.  The same can be said for many other things, but when anything comes before God, a follower of Jesus Christ is not really a follower or disciple, he’s merely a fan.  He likes Jesus, but not enough to worship Him.  And that sets us up for that prowling evil one who’s looking for a Christian dinner. 

If you’re going to be ready for spiritual warfare in troubled times, your prayer life, study of Scripture, worship patterns, and sacrificial love of people will have to look more like first century, not twenty-first.

Life Handle #3 in troubled times – Family Strength

Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.  1 Peter 5:9b

This last life handle is connection with God’s people…particularly the ones in your own home, and church, and community – but also the church around the world.  The church is taking a huge hit in the organizational sense…buildings are closed, programs are on-hold, and the budgets are getting tighter.  But the worship and witness of the true church is unaffected. 

Here are two principles about that:

·       You can take the believers out of the buildings – they won’t miss a beat worshipping and serving the King of Kings

·       If you take make believe believers, pretenders out of their buildings and programs, you’ve taken away the only Jesus they know.

Anyone who knows me knows I love words.  I love reading and learning ways to communicate, so I can do a better job of sharing God’s Word.  I even belong to several websites devoted to helping your vocabulary.  I get a new word every day.  One day this past week I got a new word that (I’m certain) most of you have never encountered.  It is a slang expression heard mostly in Great Britain.  Are you ready for this?  The word is coddiwomple.  It’s so alien to the U.S. brand of English my spell checker didn’t recognize it.  It means to travel purposefully toward an as-yet unknown destination.

This is exactly what Paul wrote to the Hebrew believers about serving without seeing first:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Hebrews 11:1

An example of this word would be the meaning of faith.  It was by coddiwomple Abraham obeyed God.  God told Abraham to go offer Isaac as a sacrifice.  What did Abraham do…he coddiwompled…loaded the backpack with firewood, a sacrifice knife, and headed out for Mt. Moriah!  It wasn’t an easy time of it, but his faithful moving towards the mountain (coddiwompling) meant the power of God was carrying him through.

Peter’s life-handles for troubling times, humility, staying on alert in spiritual warfare, and counting on the family of God…these are the ways you do what the Psalmist said, to sing to the Lord, praise His name, and proclaim the Good News each day, building your endurance and experience the assuring peace and joy of God’s presence each day.

Listen to what Peter said would come of all that:

In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus.  So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.  All power to him forever! Amen.  1 Peter 5:10-11

Beloved, while COVID and the Political and economic crises are cleaning everyone’s clock in the U.S. and around the world, believers who have learned to coddiwomple to God’s will are excited and looking forward to His next chapter.  For us, that is Good News!  In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Our Prayer

Father, help us to never lose sight of the direction to which you’ve said we’re marching…all the way to Zion, that city on a splendid hill, where there is a temple made without hands, and the doors are open and unguarded, and the light of your welcoming glory are always on!

For the glory, honor, and praise to which You alone are worthy, o Lord, we pray in the Name of the Son, cooperating with the Spirit, to honor and exalt the Majesty of the Father. 

Let it be so in each of our lives…Amen!   

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

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Next Steps

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Tuesday, December 11, 2018

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.  We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.  These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.  In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.  Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.  2 Peter 1:3-7(NLT)

Just like babies climb even a small series of steps, babes in Christ must also ascend.  It isn’t easy to step-up, but growing up in Christ by responding to God’s promises is vital; it’s what makes us useful tools in God’s hands.  And, in the long view, growing-up is what fits our character.  It is natural for babies to stretch and discover how to roll-over.  They stand and wobble as toddlers, falling many times before learning to walk.  They crash and burn learning to ride a two-wheeler.  They venture into social circles at school and learn puppy love can hurt.  We grow, love, hate, learn, and repeat.  We are human.

As spiritual beings this cycle also is familiar.  Peter, the big fisherman, understood spiritual things better than most.  In today’s reading we see him painting the broad stroke first, that God has given us everything we need to grow up and live godly lives.  And then he re-covers the canvass with the detail strokes of how to approach the pattern of next-steps. 

This is where many believers stumble.  We get the erroneous idea that steps are always upward.  In the life of one who is learning, pointed at becoming a useful disciple/servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is never about stepping-upward; discipleship is all about dust.  In fact, the Greek word for servant is very connected to dust; it’s about one who bows low enough to be close to the ground – low enough to wash feet…just like the Master!

Many people get the idea that “faith” is the be-all, and end-all of the Christian life.  It is true that we walk by faith, but that is an entry-point, not a destination.  We begin with a faith-leap that says I will do things God’s way.  

That leads to a step-downward, (backward, if you will) to the moral excellence of eliminating those things which dishonor God, such as sexual sins, dishonesty, lack of respect, and so-on.  

We step down again, studying the Word of God to gain knowledge, so that the next step-down, of self-control, is informed and intelligent, actually doable and intentional. 

As we continue stepping-into the dust we are confronted with the world’s disapproval of our new life, and are forced to add patient endurance to our repertoire. 

And, suddenly, before we know it Godliness is beginning to emerge in our character, and we find ourselves steeped in affection for our brothers and sisters in Christ, which, at dirt/dust level begins to turn our attention to the rest of the human community; we find ourselves hurting for the rest of God’s created beings.  It’s the kind of hurt that only God’s kind of love understands.

For You Today

Next steps in the Christian life isn’t about standing tall; it’s all about getting down and dusty.  And if the world decides to lift you up, to put you on a cross – you’ll be in good company, disciple of your Master!

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

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

As Long As Life Lasts

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Monday, October 22, 2018

When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing.  But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless.  The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.  Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you.  We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.  For God is not unjust.  He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.  Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.  Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent.   Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.  Hebrews 6:7-12(NLT)

Sometimes, in the mornings when bones and joints creak out their complaints about getting up too early, or stiff muscles shout their disapproval over another long night in the bed…when aches and pains call out for their fair share of your attention … like 150% of everything you’ve got … thoughts turn to asking oneself just why you still push to answer the call.  Why not just take it easy?  Why not let someone else have it?

I always hated when the conversation turned to the obvious age-related topic, that (barring life getting cut short by violence or something like an incurable tumor), we all get old, lose strength and must depend on others.  But like it or not, I’m there.  I’m in the eighth decade of life, and just thinking about those dozen bushes I bought yesterday to plant in my yard makes my aching back want to call the elder abuse hotline! 

What was I thinking?

And then, thanks to the Apostle Paul, I read something like today’s passage in Hebrews early in the morning.  Suddenly, although the ache in my back from too many yesterdays is still speaking loudly, it changes from a cry to pull the plug, retire, and live out my days with ease, to a reminder that spiritual dullness and indifference are the weeds that must be addressed if life’s race is to be finished well.

Paul said his greatest desire was that his Hebrew brothers and sisters would go on loving others as long as life lasts.  That, for me, means there is something much more important to do with this life than take a nap.  Now, don’t get me wrong, naps are great.  In fact, I’m a firm subscriber to the principle, and practice, that sometimes a good nap can put many of life’s difficulties in proper perspective.  Naps are calming, restorative and probably as necessary as regular breathing, diet, exercise and prayer.  They just aren’t the main focus of life.  They are an aid in maintaining the real focus which is helping others as long as life lasts.  This is the better things Paul ascribed to his Hebrew family; he knew they were destined for a well-deserved reputation of being God’s hands of mercy and lovingkindness in a very needy world.

So, here I am, a cup of coffee and two arthritis pain-relief tablets later, coming to the end of today’s devotion, trying to make sense out of how I can help somebody today.  And this is where the choice between a fruitful life’s garden or a lot full of weeds and thorns is made.  The list of ailments and losses is still there, growing every day; so are the opportunities to make a difference loving those God has placed in my pathway.

For You Today

Crop of weeds or fruit … it’s a choice every moment of every day, as long as life lasts!

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

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

The Silk Purse in the Sow's Ear

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Thursday, August 30, 2018

This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.  Greetings!  Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking.  But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.  Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.  Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.  James 1:1-8^(NLT)

The followers of Jesus were chased from Jerusalem; the church was in hiding.  Persecution had scattered the believers like water poured on a grease fire spreads it everywhere.  And, James, their praying pastor, told them to look at their displacement as an opportunity for great joy; you gotta love his optimism!

It’s just like James to give us the answer before he poses the question.  The reason the disciples’ trials and hardship were to be considered great joy isn’t that we are supposed to love getting clobbered for the faith, but that suffering any kind of humiliation grows our faithful endurance.  James was comparing their experience to what a fighter goes through in rigorous, determined, physical training, pushing the development of his stamina to the limit, so that when he enters the ring, his body is conditioned, strong and resilient, ready to prevail in the fight, whatever the enemy throws at him.

To tell you the truth I have never been partial to that kind of conditioning.  In high school I decided to try out for the football team.  That first day I never saw a football stadium, or even a football; there was only pushups, wind sprints and something the coach called up/downs.  It was a grueling 15 minutes of running in place until coach blew the whistle, and you were supposed to drop to the dust, landing on all fours.  But it wasn’t nap time; you had to spring to your feet and keep running to nowhere.  Up – down – up – down…up/downs!  It didn’t take too long before I wanted to go home!

But, for three weeks we conditioned our bodies.  Then we finally got to play a little football.  For me the emphasis there was on the word “little”.  I got clobbered (in practice, of all things) and wound up on the operating table with a ruptured spleen, bleeding internally.  After the operation the surgeon (bless that man) told my parents my young body’s muscle-tone was well-developed, and that conditioning I’d received in football helped control the bleeding, so I hadn’t needed a transfusion.  This turned out to be significant, because the nearest blood bank that had my type was in New Jersey.

The point – those wind sprints, pushups, and…heaven help me…up/downs contributed to the kind of endurance I would need to survive 11^th grade.

So, this is the great benefit of accepting life’s hardships and trials with great joy – God is blessing us with a growing, faithful endurance, which conditions followers of Jesus Christ for spiritual warfare.  It may not be the kind of fun, or easy ride you envisioned when you became a disciple, but the up/downs, and running for the sake of endurance build a faith that cannot divide your loyalty from Christ; and that is the whole point of what you need…not what you wanted.

For You Today

It may look like you’ve been handed a sow’s ear with what you’re going through…but God has a way of making a silk purse out of the strangest circumstances!

So…rejoice today…greatly!

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

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[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

The Strength to Go On

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Holy Week

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.  Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.  Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.  Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.  

Hebrews 12:1-3^(NLT)

The cheerleader of Hebrews certainly understood the difficulty of life, and the need we all have of encouragement.  Who among Adam’s race has never been tempted to quit?  But he says:  Run with endurance; don’t give up; look at those who have gone before; strip down to bare essentials…and go on!

It’s one thing to make a momentary decision to give your life to God.  Many an altar has been tear-stained with a first-time decision for Christ.  But by the next Sunday somehow that decision has become a disillusioned, dried-up, demoralized and discarded statistic.  The whole idea of endurance was never imagined, much less entertained.  Like the seed falling on rocky ground in Jesus’ parable of the sower ^{(Matthew 13)} there wasn’t enough soil or water to support the seedling, and faith suffered a withering death.

The will and strength to go-on is often the only missing puzzle piece in the struggle for faith in this life.  And yet, helping each other with that is within the grasp of every Christian.  Certainly it is not simplistic, but the main ingredient in the strength to go-on is not miracles, money, health or physical strength; the critical factor is encouragement.

Trust me on this one; I’ve been there!

Nearing the end of 1981 we were about half-way through seminary.  We had streamlined down from the middle class life to cram three growing kids in a two bedroom trailer on campus.  Elizabeth and I both worked, she cleaning houses on campus, and I worked as a drive-thru afternoon/evening teller at a bank.  Life was a blurry race that often included whether or not my paycheck was going to reach the bank before the rent check did.  With three kids that ate like a small army, there were times when two eggs and a half-loaf of bread were all that stood between a week’s worth of hunger until the next payday. 

And I had to study Greek on top of that!

It all came to a head when it was time to register for the next term.  In those days it cost about $300 for an 8 week term including books; it might as well have been $3 million, because there was nothing left in the bank account, the rent was due, and the Brownworth refrigerator was on hunger watch…again!

I decided I had had enough of seeing my kids and wife suffer.  I couldn’t see how we could make it, so I was going to quit and go back to my insurance job if they’d have me.  When I informed Elizabeth I wouldn’t be registering for any more classes I got a look that said:  Listen-up, Brownworth, we’re going to go to registration! 

“Yes, ma’am!”

We went thru the process, selected classes and all that was left was going to the finance desk to pay.  I turned towards the exit door; she said:  Where are you going? 

I replied:  Hey…there’s no money in the bank; we can’t pay.

She said:  Write a check.

I said:  I can’t do that; there’s no money to cover it; besides, I didn’t even bring the checkbook.

She said:  I’ll wait here; go home and get it.

I said:  But…

That look reappeared, and I said:  Yes, ma’am!

When I reached the trailer I noticed the mail had come.  Among the bills there was a familiar pale green envelope.  The Sunday School class back in Florida that had occasionally sent us a love offering showed up again!  The amount was just a little over $300.  It was enough for books, tuition, fees, and a little I told you I’d never leave you nor forsake you celebration lunch at Burger King.

Yes, MA’AM!  That’s what I call encouragement!

Encouragement comes in many sizes, shapes and density.  Mostly it comes in the size that says:  my grace is sufficient for you. ^{(2 Corinthians 12:9)}

For You Today

The writer of Hebrews said to keep your eyes on Jesus and think of all the suffering He endured; that will give you the strength to endure whatever life and evil can throw at you; it will be the difference you need to go-on!

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 Zumthie (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons