Cosmic Hide and Seek

This week’s blog is tied to one of the Songs of the Week; “Waiting Here for You” by Christy Nockels.  Great song.  Take a moment to listen to it.  I don’t know about you, but for me, waiting is tough!  I hate to wait.  Why is waiting so hard?  Because waiting implies that you do not have control over your circumstances or the timing of events in your own life.  We like to think that we own our destiny, yet if we are honest we would admit that we can barely see beyond today.  We might have plans and dreams, but really, today are you where you thought you would be 5, 10, or 15 years ago?  So who is to say where you will be in another 5, 10, or 15 years?  Only God knows that.  In my experience, He usually remains rather silent on the issue of disclosing the future.  He allows us to walk day by day and sometimes those days seem to drag out.  Whether there is something we really want to do, or even when we feel like we have no direction whatsoever, the times and seasons of our lives can become unbearable.

Can become unbearable, if we let them.  Psalm 27 is a wonderful Psalm that can help us through those difficult unexplainable times.  In this passage David is expressing angst over the adversaries in his life but he also lets the deep cry of his heart come out.  It is a cry that is centered on his desire to simply be with God.  Verse 4 says, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.”  More than anything, David wanted to be with the Lord.  Verses 8 and 9 continue the thought: “When you said, ‘Seek my face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.’  Do not hide your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!”  The Lord had given David the challenge – “Seek my face.”  David understood the challenge and knew that sometimes, seeking God’s face is easier said than done.  Why?  Because as was mentioned earlier, our plans and dreams don’t always turn out as we expected.  Sometimes, God plays a cosmic game of hide and seek.  Finding Him is not as simple as it may seem.  It takes work to find God because He knows all the best hiding places.

David closes the Psalm with a great encouragement.  Verse 13 says, “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”  There was a firmly rooted conviction in David’s heart – no matter how tough, bizarre, or long the days seemed, he knew he was going to see the goodness of God in his life.  Holding fast to this truth allowed him to endure and, quite literally, changed the rules of the game from “hide and seek” to “wait and seek.”  David goes on to say in Verse 14, “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.”  If you believe that God has good things for you, you will be willing to wait for them.  Your courage will give you the strength to wait for God while you seek him.  Sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it?  Just like in the real game of hide and seek, everyone wants to be found.  Those in the best hiding places will eventually reveal themselves if the seeker is patient.  If by faith you are seeking God by waiting for Him - even as the song says, “Waiting here for you, with our hands lifted high in praise” – He will inevitably come to you.

Father's Day - A Real Relative Holiday

I know, the title seems like a bad pun, but there is a real truth to Father’s Day being a “relative” holiday. I can think of no other way to describe my father than to say that he is a good man – in every sense of the idea. I love him dearly and look up to him in every way. If I can be half the man that he is, well, that would be an accomplishment indeed. However, I know that everyone has not had the benefit of such a relationship with their dad. Some have never known their father because of his untimely passing. Still others have been neglected, abandoned, even abused in the most horrible ways by their father. I cannot express how deeply sorry I am for those that have had to suffer at the hands of the one man that is supposed to provide for, take care of, and model who our Heavenly Father is.

That is why not only is this holiday so relative, but the way we approach God is so relative as well. It is easy for me to accept how good God truly is because I have such a good dad. However, when a person has had to endure life instead of living it because of their dad, is it any wonder they have a difficult time approaching God as Father? Yet the Bible says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”[1] Every good thing we have, we experience, or we enjoy comes from our Heavenly Father. A relationship with God truly is as simple as understanding that He loves us and only wants good for us. For some, our earthly father has clouded and distorted what a true father is supposed to be like. But even as that verse says, there is no variance or shifting shadow in Him. The goodness of God is a constant. He does and always will love you. The good gifts and things in your life are evidence of that. Reach out to Him even as He reaches out to you, and discover what a wonderful Father God is.

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[1] James 1:17 (NASB)

The Spirit of Caffeine

My first senior pastorate was in a small church which required me to have outside employ to put food on the table.  The first job I had during this time was at a bank.  Across the street from this bank there was a gas station that had a great cappuccino machine (no, there weren’t any Starbucks in our town 15 years ago).  The other employees at the bank would send me over to get coffee for everyone from time to time.  The owner of the station was a Muslim man and as I got to know him I began to reach out to him with the good news of Jesus.  Over the weeks and months we spent time sharing our religious views with each other.  I let him know there was a standing invitation for him to come to church any time as my special guest.  Occasionally I would go to the station on my way to church to get some coffee and talk with the man.  I’m not a big coffee drinker, but I will say the coffee this man had was good and stopping by to get some made for a great excuse to spend time with my friend.

                Even though he never came to any of our services, my coffee outreach had an interesting side effect.  After about a month or so my wife and I had a discussion at home after church one Sunday.  She wanted to know what was going on.  I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.  She proceeded to tell me that my sermons were a bit more “energetic” than usual.  The messages were going longer and longer even though I was talking faster and faster.  There seemed to be an almost out of control element.  I couldn’t understand what she was complaining about because I felt great.  It was then that I realized that my consumption of a large cappuccino before church was affecting me in ways that I was unaware of.  To me, the last few weeks of church had been awesome; for everyone else it had been a bit unbearable.   

                This brings me to what I would like to talk about; the real presence of the Holy Spirit.  Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day we celebrate the birth of the church through the empowerment that came with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  The whole story can be found in the first and second chapters of Acts.  Jesus told His disciples to go and wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.  They would need the fulfillment of the promise of the presence of the Spirit to give them the power to undertake the great commission.  Carrying the gospel message of Jesus’s death and resurrection to the world would necessitate the Holy Spirit’s power and the supernatural signs He would bring.  As the mission of the church remains the same so does the need for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  

                When God shows up supernaturally, it can be really exciting, just like on the first Pentecost.  As the Holy Spirit arrived all kinds of supernatural signs and wonders took place.  Would I like for Him to show up like that at every service and blow the roof off the place?  Of course!  But that doesn’t always happen.  The Holy Spirit cannot be commanded or conjured.  Too often I have seen some outrageous shenanigans in the church as people fired themselves up and said it was the Spirit; much like my cappuccino fueled sermons.  It wasn’t the Holy Spirit; it was the “spirit of caffeine.”  When He genuinely shows up you’ll know it.  In the meantime, do what the disciples did and simply wait in expectation.

Please Stop!

Are we sufficiently embarrassed enough, yet?  Can we please stop with the cockamamie predictions as to when Jesus will return?  “Judgment Day” has come and gone without so much as a tremor.  Harold Camping, the driving force behind the May 21^st prediction, may very well be a Christian brother, but this nonsense of trying to predict the return of Christ has to stop.  This wasn’t his first foray into naming the day of the rapture.  He tried, and obviously failed, back in 1994 to do the same thing.  Apparently being wrong once on something of this magnitude wasn’t enough.  The axiom “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” DOES NOT APPLY in this type of situation.  Perhaps, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” would be more appropriate.  How many people bought into this madness and are now not only facing international derision, but are penniless because they sold everything for “the cause?”  

                The Bible is clear when Jesus said, “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”[1]  If no one knows, or can know, the time of the return then why this futile exercise of prediction?  Are we, as believers, so bored with God’s call to make a difference in the lives of people around us that we have to delve into the ridiculous?  Consider the emphasis of this little adventure.  It was the classic “Jesus is coming and boy is He angry!”  Scaring people into a relationship with God is not the answer.  

                Jesus did not come to coerce people into a relationship with God through fear; He came to love and to serve.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” ever heard that one before?[2]  How about, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”[3]  Or maybe, “The Lord is not slow about His promise (to return), as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance?”[4]  

                Are we supposed to be watching and ready for Jesus return?  Of course!  Should we be eagerly waiting the day when He comes back?  You bet!  I certainly am!  But our expectation should not become a circus side show that detracts from the important work before us; the work of loving our neighbor and sharing the good news that God loves us all and has made a way to know Him personally and intimately through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.

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[1] Mark 13:32 (NASB)

[2] John 3:16 (NASB)

[3] Romans 2:4 (NASB)

[4] II Peter 3:9 (NASB)

Pay no Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

The Wizard of Oz is one of the great classics of children’s literature and ranks at the top of the list of some of the most beloved films in American cinema.  However, as the Wizard said, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” because he got something seriously wrong.  At the end of the adventure, when the characters are receiving their requests for fulfilling the mission of getting rid of the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard says something to the Tin Man that could not be further from the truth.

                In case you forgot how the story goes, the Tin Man wanted a heart.  The Wizard informs the Tin Man, much to his surprise, that he already had a heart.  His good deeds were evidence of his heart.  In fact, the Tin Man’s good deeds were just as good if not better that the good deeds of the “good-deed doers” of the world (that would be humanitarians for our tongue-tied friend).  What the Tin Man really needs is a Testimonial.  That’s when the Wizard presents the Tin Man with the heart shaped watch and fob.  Now comes the Wizard’s error.  Upon presenting the testimonial the Wizard says, “A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.”

                On its face this sounds pretty good because, let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to be loved?  But when you really think about it you realize that the Wizard’s statement is one of the biggest loads of hooey ever pronounced.  Even Hitler and Osama bin Laden had people that loved them, and they were two of the most vicious and malevolent men who ever lived.  They brought violence and death to anyone that didn’t fit their mold and vision of humanity.  They were, and are, beloved by millions.  Most, including me, would say they got the due and just results of their hatred.  So should a heart be judged by how much it is loved by others, or by how much it loves others?

                Jesus put it this way in the Gospel of Luke, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting anything back.  Then your reward will be great, and you will be called sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” [1]  The Bible also says that we know what love is because God has first loved us.[2]  In Romans the point of God’s love for even the wicked is reiterated when it says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”[3]

                So then, real love is about giving, not receiving.  It’s taking that first step to reach out to that person who is your enemy, who does not love you, and show them genuine concern and compassion without expecting anything in return.  Stop waiting to be loved and go out and love someone.  Indeed, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”  He has no idea what he is talking about.

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[1] Luke 6:35&36 (NIV)

[2] I John 4 – yes, the whole chapter, it’s wonderful, take some time to read it

[3] Romans 5:8 (NIV)

Big Things Come in Small Packages

Big Things Come in Small Packages

When I was a kid there were a couple of occasions when my Sunday School class held a contest to see who could memorize the most verses of scripture.  Invariably, each time this contest was held the first verse out of everyone’s mouth was John 11:35 – “Jesus wept.”  This is the shortest verse in the English Bible.  The shortest verse in the Greek Bible is I Thessalonians 5:16 – “Rejoice always.”  This was the second verse everyone quoted.  There is only a difference of a few letters between the two and it is interesting to note one talks about weeping and the other rejoicing, but that is not what I want to point out.

The power of John 11:35 is often overlooked because it is so small.  When we look at it in light of the larger story, we see something truly wonderful about Jesus.  The incident of Jesus weeping comes in the middle of the story of how He raised Lazarus from the dead.  Jesus was a good friend of Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha.  Lazarus had fallen seriously ill and his sisters sent word to Jesus in order that Jesus would come and heal their brother.  It is mentioned three times in John 11:1-46 that Jesus loved Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.  Even though none of these three were numbered among Jesus’ twelve disciples, the scripture speaks plainly of His love and affection for them.

Yet when Jesus gets word that Lazarus is sick, He deliberately delays.  Jesus doesn’t run to Lazarus’ side and heal him.  Instead, Jesus spends two more days where He is and during that time Lazarus dies.  Why?  Why did Jesus wait and let His friend who He loved die?  Jesus let Lazarus die because He had a plan.  The whole of the matter, from beginning to end, was no mystery to Jesus.  The plan from the outset was to raise Lazarus from the dead.

It took another four days for Jesus to get to Bethany, the home of Mary and Martha and where their dead brother, Lazarus, had already been buried.  Jesus even missed the funeral.  Talk about being late.  When Martha finds out Jesus is in town she rushes out to see Him.  In their conversation we get one of the great verses of hope and promise.  Jesus said in John 11:25&26, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.  Do you believe this?”  Martha then goes and gets Mary along with all the others who had been mourning with them.

Now comes the interesting moment.  When Jesus sees Mary and Martha and all the people mourning with them, He is moved deeply and weeps as well.  Jesus wept.  But why?  He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead.  He knew the story was going to have beyond a happy ending.  He knew that He was about to do something truly awesome.  Yet – Jesus wept.  He didn’t try to shush everyone.  He didn’t try to tell them that everything was going to be ok.  He didn’t turn the processional to the tomb into a victory parade.  He walked with them and He wept with them – Jesus wept.

Jesus wept because He understood and felt their pain and sorrow.  God is the God of eternity, but He is also the God of the moment.  He doesn’t belittle or dismiss how we feel simply because He knows how He will work everything out – and believe me, He knows.  Instead, He walks with us and feels with us in the times of our deepest hurt.  Mary, Martha, and the crowd might have thought Jesus was late, but how can the One who can undo anything, including death, be late? 

I don’t know what you are going through, but Jesus does.  I don’t know how it will work out, but Jesus does.  I don’t know how you feel, but Jesus does.  Whatever it is, He has a plan.  He is walking with you and He feels what you feel.  Jesus weeps with you.  He isn’t late, and in the end you will see whatever it is that has “died” in your life, raised again.  Then, Jesus will rejoice with you.