Drawn to Mystery

I read a lot.  A lot.  I always have.  Since those days of childhood when my mother took my sister and me to the local library, I have read a lot.  It is like my first love was a bound collection of pages filled with words   I still read.  I always have at least one book open for reading.  Sometimes more.  Not too long ago I was reading for entertainment and insight about the ministry of the church.  At the end of the day it always seemed to be something that made sense and could be understood.    

Nowadays it is different.  My reading diet has changed for books that cause me to wonder what I missed.  They are books that when read I do not usually understand.  And, so I end up reading them again and often with the same results.  Recently I have read "St. Francis of Assisi" by G. K.Chesterton, a book about Ignatius ("A Pilgrim's Journey"), "Watership Down" by Richard Adam, and one in process, "Holy the Firm" by Annie Dillard.  I wonder about myself.  Why am I drawn to reading what I cannot seem to understand?   I suppose it has been that way since those days of long ago when I was drawn to reading the small zippered black Bible given to me as a child.  Maybe even then I was being drawn to mystery.  

I cannot say for sure.  But, what I do know now is that it is not what can be learned about this mysterious God that attracts me, but what cannot be known.  The long road of the unfolding years has brought me to a place of wanting to be in the midst of mystery more than I want to stand in the way of certainly.  Somehow it seems that within the mystery there is holy epiphany.  Within the mystery there is a greater divine revealing than ever I have known.  "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, O God.  My soul thirst for God, for the living God."  (Psalm 42:1-2)

The Core Foundation

One of the hardest things for most of us to do is to think creatively.  There was a time when those who envisioned the church of tomorrow would tell us to think out of the box.  Perhaps, they still do.  It has been some times since I have been around anyone talking about visioning work.  The problem with the clergy doing it is that no one taught us how to do it.  Back when I was  sitting in seminary classrooms, no one was talking to us about thinking creatively.  And while I cannot speak for today's seminary classrooms, I suspect it is much the same.    

What happens when we begin to think creatively about the church of tomorrow is that we end up with a vision of the church which is too much like the church of the day.  Getting out of the box is a monumental task for most of us.  And if we do manage to get out, we are so bewildered we end up fashioning something using the structures of today's church.    How we get from where we are to there is not as easy as getting a popular church growth expert to speak, or reading the latest trendy book.  What we have learned through experience is that what works in one place is not necessarily something which will work elsewhere.   

I often think the key to thinking creatively about the church is sitting and seeking emptiness.  Or, maybe it is found in the process of letting go of those things which seem to be essential to the life of the church.  If we began with ten and started getting rid of one after another until there was only one, would we end up with a core from which a new vision of the church might be birthed?  I am not sure, but it seems that in the turning loose there might come an awareness of what must be the necessary foundation.  

Slowing Down

If we can walk a little slower and stop a little longer, we might find ourselves finding out things that have been hidden from us.  When we only take the time to say "Good Morning" and "Have a good day," we are likely to miss out on the important stuff which is happening to someone whom God brings into our path.  It may be a stranger who needs to tell some anonymous person that his or her life is falling apart, or some friend who wants to brag on a child or a grandchild.    

Not too many days ago after leaving a moment of real conversation with a new friend, I was reminded again that we all carry around a lot of baggage which is kept closed up in some closet of our heart.  And the truth is that the difficult stuff of our life is going to stay hidden unless someone slows down enough to make us feel like we have permission to open the door. The hurried conversations that are filled with us looking for the exits hardly are those moments of permission giving.   

In Galatians 6:2 the Word says, "Bear one another's burdens..." and James 6:16 tells us, "Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another..."  A hurried lifestyle cannot accomplish these Words.  It takes time.  It takes a willingness to risk personal vulnerability.  We cannot do what we do not know.  Sitting, listening, caring, and visiting are the things which enable us to be burden bearers and intercessors.  None of these things are hard things to do, but they do require the effort of slowing down.

The Small Place

In the last few months my Sunday morning worship time has been in the small tucked away off the main road churches.  Most of them have stood there for a very long time.  Many of them have cemeteries which tell their age much as gray hair and wrinkled skin mark me as one who has lived for a spell.  They are always intriguing places to be.  To stand in a place where several generations have worshipped is an experience which fires up the imagination and creates a desire for the real stories which could be told if churches could talk.  

Most of these off the road churches are hardly half filled and most look as much to the past as to the future.  But, there are always exceptions.  In this day when the mega church has such a hold on the people around it, there is great pleasure in seeing a young preacher standing in the pulpit of a nearby about to close church preaching the Word and daring the people to dream dreams they had forgotten how to dream.  And, it is even more exciting to see the lively caring fellowships which have taken root over the years in those forgotten churches.    

I cannot but have hope for the small church whose people worry about having enough in the plates to keep going.  The small church may not have the glitze and drama of the large church, but it has real people who know about living with one another through the good and bad times, who have a long history of faith in the risen Christ, and who believe above all else that God is going to show up in the ordinary things of their lives.   I would rather sit with those folks than the ones who go to be entertained in the places where the power brokers and social elites gather. As the old song says, "Gimme that old time religion, it's good enough for me."

Thanksgiving, 2023

My inner attitude about gratitude changed ten years ago when I read a book entitled "1000 Gifts"   It was written by Ann Voskamp and if any book has had a transforming power in my life, it is this one.  I have recommended the book to many people and given it to several as a gift.  On a more superficial level it caused me to start what I call a "Gratitude Journal" where blessings for which I am grateful are listed.  She did a list of 1000 in a year.  I have not yet reached that mark.  The reason is not a lack of gratitude, but a lack of discipline.   

At a deeper level she both inspired me and enabled me to live with a deeper sense of thanksgiving.  When I read a verse like Ephesians 5:20 which says, "giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ," or I Thessalonians 5:18 which says, "give thanks in all circumstances...," it makes more sense than it did before reading the book.  Living a life filled with gratitude is possible and it begins with being aware of how we are blessed.     

There have been some rough spots along the way in these past ten years with the last one being one of the roughest of my life, but what I have learned through the years of practicing gratitude is that if we look at the edge of the darkness which is overwhelming us we will start seeing things for which we can be grateful.  It may be a prayer being offered, a dish of food being delivered, or a caring word being spoken, but if we look out there on the edge we will see those things that cause us to be thankful.  And the more we look to the edge of the darkness, the more we begin to see things for which to be grateful even in the core of the darkness.  I again thank Ann Voskamp for the teaching in her book and I again thank the Holy Spirit for staying with me and teaching me hard truths in difficult and dark places.  

The Final Authority

The Scripture gets read for all sorts of reasons.  Some folks like a good story and the Bible certainly has more than just a few.  Others read it for information.  They see it as a "how to do it" book.  And, of course, there are more than a small number who read it to assuage guilt for not reading it.  The truth is we read it for all sorts of reasons and in response to all kinds of circumstances in our life.  It is definitely a one of a kind book.  There is nothing like it.    

Its uniqueness is found in what it says about itself, "All scripture is inspired by God, and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that eveyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work."  (II Timothy 3:16-17)  There are books that are inspired and I would like to think that I have preached some inspired sermons, but when we speak of such inspiration, it pales in comparison to the way the holy Scipture has been inspired through the ages as the Holy Spirit took ordinary folks like you and me to bring about a sacred writing that has no comparison.    

While some may regard such words as an exaggeration, there remains no doubt in my mind that the Holy Word that has been carved out through the ages of God's dealing with the likes of us is uniquely inspired by the Holy Spirit.  Unlike any written word, it is God's Word to His people.  We are His people and this Word of His was written to be the final and ultimate authority for the living we do.  

A Barefoot Place

The book is not one which is going to ever  be acclaimed as one of the great literary works.  Nonetheless, I have read it several times and once again in the last few days found myself drawn to it.  "Chasing Francis" is the name of the book and it was written  by Ian Morgan Cron.  It is a story of a modern day mega church pastor who loses himself and his soul and ends up in Italy on a pilgrimage to the sites made sacred by St. Francis.  Maybe I read it to come under the ministry of that ancient saint, and then again, maybe I read it because of the searching of my own soul.    

Early on in the book the author defines the word pilgrimage as the spiritual mentor of the disillusioned and lost seeker says, "The word 'pilgrimage' comes from the Latin word "peregrinus,'  which means a person wandering the earth in exile, someone in search of a spiritual homeland. If I'm not mistaken, that sounds a lot like you."  Neither the disillusioned character of the novel, nor I, had any argument.  It took me some time to realize that coming to the farm from the church was a kind of pilgrimage.  I thought at first it was just about retirement, but after some time midst the silence of the sacred unfolding creation, I realized it was about more than changing locations and entering into a slower season of my life.    

The farm is not sacred in the sense that the chapel at San Damiano was for Francis, but it has still become sacred space.  While I have come to a place of believing that every space is sacred because every space bears the imprint of the holy hands of the Creator, it must also be affirmed that some space seems to have a spiritual power and presence which comes from the accumulated prayers of God's people and the work of God in that place.  We have all found ourselves in places where we felt compelled to take off our shoes.  I never anticipated the farm to be a place where I would consider walking barefoot.  

Nocturnal Mystery

Reading the Scripture is always different.  There are times when the reading seems to take us down a road so well traveled we expect every twist and turn encountered.  And, then there are other trips through its pages which feel more like an adventure as surprises unfold before us.  I remember long years ago some author whose name is now forgotten writing a book about God being a surprising God.  It remains a good way to speak of Him.  He is not only full of surprises as He reveals Himself to us in the ongoing moments of our life, but He has also left them littered across the  pages of His holy Word.   

Some late night reading brought me to such a place last night.  While meandering through the early verses of Mark, I ran into that section about the baptism of Jesus.  It said, "And just as He was coming out of the water, He saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on Him."  (Mark 1:10)  Those words from Mark about the heavens being torn apart contain much more drama than Matthew and Luke as they simply wrote about the heavens being opened.  (Matthew 3:16, Luke 3:21)    

All I could do was sit for a spell with those two radically different images.  Matthew and Luke seem to be describing someone opening a door and Mark takes us into something like a violent act in the heavens such as that moment when the lightning and thunder come at once to split the air around us.  I am still sitting with it this morning.  Wondering.  I am sure from past experience that there is something I am missing.  At this moment I do not see it.  However, I figure to sit with it for awhile and maybe at some point I will find a open window into the mystery.  

Just Do It

For most of us it is hard.  It is especially hard in the beginning.  The body does not want to do what it does not like to do.  What it wants to do in the hours before the sun shows itself is sleep; yet, we keep reading that the spiritual giants of the past are those who rise and use those first hours of the day as important "cannot be interrupted" moments with God.  We tell our body these spiritual giants are who we want to use as models for our own spiritual life and our body says, "Be quiet and go to sleep."     

And, of course, we remember that story in the early verses of Mark's gospel which took place in the home of Simon and Andrew.  "And in the morning, having risen a long time before daylight, He (Jesus) went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed."  (Mark 1:35)  Apparently, these spiritual giants from our past took this Word about Jesus seriously.  And no matter what our body tells us about sleeping another hour early in the morning, it would be a good thing to listen to these words about the spiritual life of Jesus than to succumb to a little more sleep.   

It is at least worthy of another effort.  If it means we have to get up a little earlier, then maybe we might find that it is worth it.  We may also have to ignore that internal plea for more sleep.  It will be harder the first few mornings, but after the habit gets established in our life, we will likely come to a place where we would not choose to start any day without some time alone with our Father God.  If it has been awhile, there is no need to get out the guilt stick and start beating ourselves.  Instead, we just need to get up and sit down in the morning silence and let God speak to our hearts.  

A Missed Opportunity

It was mostly a whim which took me to a Wednesday night program at a local church in a distant place.  Not really wanting a church meal,  I opted for a late arrival which would get me there in time for the Bible Study.  It was still early enough to watch from my seat at an empty table the exodus of folks who were so filled by the food for the stomach they needed no food for the soul.  Finally, when there were a couple of dozen folks of the original hundred remaining someone walked over, gave me an outline for the Bible Study, and told me to sign the visitor's book before leaving for the outreach ministry.   

Forty five minutes later, the teacher prayed the closing prayer, and people started gathering their Bible and notes for their journey to the door.  As I made my way out the door, I could not help but notice the silence.  Except for the bearer of the outline, not a person spoke to me.  I did not sign the visitor's book.  There was no outreach on the part of those present so I figured there was no reason to wait for the committee.   

One of the important things for any church intent on reaching out to know is that there is only one opportunity to make a first impression.  It is not something which happens by a follow up group, but is something which happens as soon as a new person casts a shadow inside the door.   And while I was not looking for a place to grow my spiritual life last Wednesday, had I been, I would go looking somewhere else next week.

Morning Praise

It has been one of those rare nights of sleeping in the city.  The city wakes up differently than the farm.  At the farm the morning is announced not by the cranking of cars filled with people hurrying to the nine to five places, but the singing of a host of different birds out there in the early darkness.  The rising sun does not have to find its way around buildings, but is free to pour its light across open hay fields and into the bedroom window.  There is no distant roar on asphalt, only the quiet sounds not heard which announce the beginning of a new day.    

By now it is no secret that I am in love with the farm and all its ways.  It has fed and continues to feed my soul with a silence which surprisingly enough heightens my awareness of God prowling around in His creation much like He must have done in the Garden where the first farmers cared for the land.  While I know being immersed in the creation is not for everyone, I sometimes wish it could be the experience of everyone at least for a day.    

It is, perhaps, in the glory of the brilliant sunset or in the rise of a full moon that most folks are caused to stand in awe of the Creator, but the truth is there is nothing about this Creation which does not have the capacity to cause hands to be raised and knees to be bent.  I am thankful this morning that no matter where I am, He is.  He roams the quietness of the farm and the roaring asphalt of the city.  He is here.  There.  He is with us.  Thanks be to God.

The Surprising God

Ezekiel was trained to be a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem; he ended up a prophet by the River Chebar among the Chaldeans.  He was expecting a life midst the bells and whistles and incense of the Temple and found himself sitting in the mud and misery of a dirty pagan river.  Life did not turn out as Ezekiel figured.  One moment he was in Jerusalem and the next he was transported by the Spirit and put down in this strange land where he sat "stunned, for seven days."  (Ezekiel 3:15)    

When our life is put in the hands of God, it is full of surprises.  We think we know in the beginning what it means to follow Jesus, but what we soon discover is that we know nothing.  He takes us into the invisible at the beginning realm of "know not where."   This was certainly the experience of Abraham as he heeded a voice which said, "Go, from your father's country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you."  (Genesis 12:1)  It happened to a couple of disciples who asked Jesus about His whereabouts and heard Him say in response, "Come and see."  (John 1:39)    

The one thing we think we know in the beginning is something we really do not know.  When we say "Yes" to the bidding of God, we think it is going to be according to our expectations, but we often find out that He has in mind another way.  As we seek to discern the ever changing call of God to go, it is imperative to remember that God seldom calls us to stay in our comfort zone, but instead, is constantly calling us to step out yonder where being faithful requires not our know how, but our faith.

A Balanced Life

There are some texts in the Word which should guarantee a good sermon.  Of course, even a good preacher can bomb on a given Sunday regardless of the text, but it never hurts to have one that preaches easily. One such text is found in the latter part of the fifth chapter of Amos.  It begins with "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies,"  and ends with "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream."  (Amos 5:21-24)  The prophet was speaking to a people who thought that their religious liturgy was all that was needed to please God, but, of course, they were wrong.    

It is always an easy thing for religious people to compartmentalize expressions of faith to the point that one becomes so primary all the rest end up being neglected and forgotten.  What we do in the sanctuary is important and has value, but it is empty without right living in the world.  A faith that is completely vertical in expression is a faith gone awry.     

Jesus sought to underscore the balance when He told the Pharisees of His day, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment."  And then He added, "And a second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  (Matthew 22:37-39)  We can live with our head stuck in heaven so much that we become of no earthly use and in the same manner, we can stick our head in the things of earth to the  point that we are unrecognizable in heaven.  Life is always lived better in balance.  It is no different as we seek to live with faith that is balanced between the incense of worship and the sweat of service.

The Gift of God

Having a theology degree is not necessary for God to call and make use of a person.  Moses was certainly not trained to lead a nation of people from slavery to the promised land.  Neither was he one who grew up anticipating being a spiritual leader.  Nonetheless, he was God's pick.  Amos is another.  The book of prophecy which bears his name may not be as long as Isaiah or Jeremiah, but his was an important role in Israel's history.  No one was more surprised than Amos that he was called to be God's spokesman.     

His field of expertise was agriculture.  He told Amaziah, the priest of Bethel and one of his antagonist, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees..."  (Amos 7:14)  God had other plans for this simple man.  "...And the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, 'Go prophesy to my people Israel."  (Amos 6:15)  So, he went.  Whether he went unwillingly as did Moses we do not know, but what we do know is that he went according to the Word God placed upon his life.   

Let none of us think we cannot be useful in the hands of God.  When He calls us to be about something, it may seem to us that it is beyond our field of expertise or outside of our comfort zone.  It does not matter to God.  When He calls us to be about His work, we can be assured that He will provide whatever it is that is necessary for us to act and live and speak faithfully in His behalf.  When Moses balked saying he could not speak with eloquence, the Lord said, "Who gives speech to mortals?  Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go and I will be your mouth..."  (Exodus 4:11-12)  When God calls us, He will provide what is necessary to accomplish His plan.

The Sneaky Prophet

If Jeremiah was known as a weeping prophet, then we might call Amos a sneaky prophet.  The first two chapters of the book which bears his name contains judgment against all of Israel's neighbors.  If the words of judgment are read with a map beside the Word, it would seem that Amos is pronouncing the wrath of God against all the nations whose border touches Israel.  Using a repetitive prophetic formula he goes after one neighboring country after another and as he does you can hear the Israelites cheering him between the lines.   "Go get them, God.  Give 'em what they deserve,"  they likely cried.     

But, then something unexpected happened.  It begins in verse 6 of chapter 2 as he says, "Thus says the Lord:  For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; for they sell the righteousness for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals...."  Suddenly, the cheering changed from "Go get 'em, God" to "Let's run this one out of town."   Those Israelites were a lot like us.  We are fine with our neighbor getting what is deserved, but there is nothing wrong with us.    

Actually, Jesus had the last word on this issue when He said to the disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged."  (Matthew 7:1)   While it is certainly more comfortable for us to focus on the faults of our neighbors, Jesus tells us to look in the mirror.  Casting stones can be dangerous business when the stones being thrown get picked up and thrown back at the glass house we have built around ourselves.  What is always good to remember and certainly the Sermon in Matthew underscores it, is that there are no bad and "badder" and "badest" sins.  As far as God is concerned sin is sin.  Sin is any expression of disobedience to God.  Our neighbors may look worse than us to us, but such is true only in our eyes.  God sees things differently.  

Buying a Field

When Jeremiah was told by the Lord to buy a field at Anathoth, it must have seemed rather strange to the prophet.  (Jeremiah 32:7)  It was a time when Jerusalem was under siege by the army of Nebuchadnezzar and Jeremiah was prophesying, "Thus says the Lord:  'I am going to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.' "  (Jeremiah 32:3)  Why buy a field when the nation is on the edge of certain collapse?  Why plan for the future when there seems to be no future?  So, Jeremiah went and bought the field at Anathoth. (Jeremiah 32:9)       

The reason we find in a later verse, "For thus says the Lord of hosts,the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land."  (Jeremiah 32:15)  In a time of despair and in a time when the Word of the Lord spoke wrath and judgment, there was a word of hope.  It was a word not simply spoken, but one enacted through the visible purchase of a piece of land bought at such an unlikely time.  It was a move into the future when there seemed to be no future.  Despite the impending success of Babyon and the loss of everything, God spoke a word of hope about a future that was hidden in the moment, but which would unfold in time as surely as the sun would rise every morning.  From time to time we find ourselves standing in such moments.  

If we live long enough we are likely to come to one of those moments of darkness and hopelessness when it seems that there is no future for us.  In those moments we may find that God leads us out of the darkness of a broken and shattered past by calling us to act toward the future in a way that defies common sense and logic.  The leading of God is not always easy to discern for sometimes it seems as shrouded in the invisible as moutain tops do in the early morning mist.  The Scripture tells us in numerous ways that God always has a future for us.  We may not see it.  We may not believe it is possible.  But, if we look long enough with faith that He will not forsake us and that He is working to bring us to some good, we may begin to see the signs that life is not over.  The sign of hope for the future may be in something which makes no more sense than buying a field for the future when there is no future.  

At the Crossroads

One of my favorite passages in Jeremiah is found in the 6th chapter of the writing bearing his name.  The 16th verse of that chapter says, "Thus says the Lord:  Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls."   Those ancient Hebrews would not listen.  They said, "We will not walk in it....We will not give heed."  (vs. 16-17)  We seem to be living in a day when the ancient way is regarded as an irrelevant way.    

Jeremiah perceived that the Hebrews were standing at a perilous moment when choices were possibilites.  To continue ignoring the ancient way would result in a world where no choices would remain, only the consequences.  The Hebrews chose the way of experiencing and enduring the consequences.  In so many places and in so many situations it seems that the choices being made today by so many come from immersion in the common consensus of culture instead of immersion in the ancient sacred Word.  It is as if the mantra of the day is "We will not walk in it."   

Choosing to walk in our own way has been a problem since the beginning.  Choosing to walk in our own way speaks of the root cause of our sin.  It was the way of the Garden of Eden couple long generations ago and it remains a choice so easily made.  To live in a relationship with the Creator who brought us into being requires consideration of the word "submission" and a life style based on "Thy will be done"  instead of one which speaks of the way paved by ego.  To realize the difference is to stand at a crossroad where important decisions will be made.  

Who Will Go?

God does not always ask us to do the easy thing.  Sometimes it is the hard thing, the unpopular thing, the one thing you never wanted to do.  I remember a moment long years ago when I heard in my spirit a call to preach.  I was not yet eighteen, packing up clothes to go to Young Harris College, and was absolutley certain that I wanted nothing to do with this call to preach which was echoing with such urgency in my heart.  It would take me another six months to come around to the place of saying "Yes" to what I knew God was calling me to do.   

God calls us to a lot things.  Some take up a life time and some can be accomplished tomorrrow.  Regardless of the time involved, there may well be some reluctance to launch out on something which seems impossible even though God is pushing for it.  The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was told that he was appointed a prophet before he was formed in the womb and born (Jeremiah 1:5), but there were times he longed for another way.  His prophetic work did not put him on magazine covers and make him man of the year, but instead, turned him into a prophet no one wanted to hear.  There were times so difficult he wanted to call it quits.  "If I say, 'I will not mention Him, or speak any more in His name,' then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." (Jeremiah 20:9).  Jeremiah wanted to quit this hard work of God, but he could not.   

Many of us have experienced such a reality.  There have been times when the Word of God puts us in such an uncomfortable place with those we want to like us, or a place where the task to which we are called is so overwhelming, or in some moment of spiritual quandry which shakes our faith.  Honesty requires us to admit that we have been put in places by God and like Jonah, we may have refused to go, or we may have balked to the point of angering God as did Moses.  Kingdom work always cuts against the grain of human practicality and common sense.  It is hard work.  It should not surprise us since the One who calls us is the One who walked to Golgotha burdened with a cross wondering all the while, "Who will come and go with Me?"

Wrath and Pardon

I will be the first to admit the writings of prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Amos can be difficult to read.  More than just a few times I have nodded off with the Word open in my lap.  And even more times have I read sections and wondered what was being said and how much I was missing. When someone says they like reading the Old Testament prophets, I always give them a second look and silently applaud them.    

Judgement is never easy for any of us to hear.  To hear judgement is to find ourselves standing in the midst of our sins.  Those Old Testament prophets did not mince words.  They did not soft pedal what they had come to understand as the wrath of God rising up against the people for their sins.  At times it seems that God is ready to wipe His people from the face of the earth.  The one thing always clear as we hear those prophetic words thundering forth is that God does not tolerate sin and disobedience.  His mercy and love may provide for a cushion of time to repent, but at some point it becomes clear that the day of judgement has come.    

But, as surely as there is judgement for sin, so is there pardon and restoration.  Regardless of the depth of the sin and no matter how terrible the punishment, God acts to restore His people.  At the end of the book of Amos there are comforting words spoken to a people who have endured holy wrath because of their sins, "I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel...I will plant them upon their land, and they shall never again be plucked up out of the land that I shall give them, says the Lord your God."  (Amos 9:14-15)  There was always a remnant.  There was always pardon and forgiveness,  And such is still true for me and you.

The Core Function

Churches come in all shapes and sizes.  There are more different signs out front than there are angels in heaven.  Some are so small they seem like family gatherings on Sunday morning and others are so large it takes several law enforcement officers present to get the thousand or so cars back on the road after the benediction.  Some survive on heavy doses of ritual and liturgy while others run from any semblance of liturgy as if a bag of snakes has been turned loose in the room.   

And while there are many different types of gatherings on any Sunday morning, there are a few things which cause me to leave thinking I would like to return.  One is good preaching.  Maybe it is the preacher in me, but I like a good sermon.  It does not have to be scholarly or long, but it does need to be one which lets a text speak.  And, I like good music that is stirring and makes me want to sing louder than I should. Of course, it is always good to have friendly people sitting with me in the sanctuary.  But, perhaps, most of all I want to leave feeling that I have worshiped God.    

There are surely other things which could be added to listings that others might make.  And, on some Sundays my list might be a bit longer.  I never have been too partial to glitz and bells and whistles as I have plain and simple when it comes to those Sunday gatherings.  What I know is that large or small, each can be a means of enabling people to come in contact and in relationship with the living Christ which is the core function of any church.

Asking Prayers

When we pray, we tend to do a lot of asking.  We ask for the healing of a friend.  Or, we ask for help with a problem.  Sometimes we ask for guidance in making some tough decision.  And, of course, we ask for God to bless us, our family, and our church.  There is certainly nothing wrong with this kind of prayer.  It is Biblical.  We read the Word and we are told to ask and we do.  Like the ancient Word to be fruitful and multiply to which we adhere, so do we diligently practice the words about asking.   

At times I wonder about the scatter gun type of praying.  It does not really seem that the asking is for "anything" as "anything" can get to be unreasonable as well as something which seems to fly in the face of the prayer teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount that tells us to pray according to "Thy will be done."  Reconciling random asking and the Word from the Sermon is not easy.   

One way to approach our asking prayers might be to ask God how it is that He wants us to ask.  Instead of asking Him to heal someone, maybe asking Him how He wants us to pray for someone in trouble is a better direction.  Or, instead of asking Him to bless our church, asking Him how it is that He would have us pray for His church would be a more appropriate way to pray.  What is being suggested is obvious.  Maybe before we start asking Him for anything, we need to ask Him how we should be praying in the different situations of our life.  As we seek to pray inside His will, we could start asking Him to enable us to see His will so that we might ask according to His heart instead of what we think someone needs from Him.

The Final Word

Life never tells us what is ahead.  There are no signs telling us a winding snake like curve is ahead and neither are there any signs to warn that falling rocks may come rolling down.  And to be truthful is to admit that were there signs, they would likely be ignored by most of us.  It is still true that the unwanted moments which suddenly dump stuff on us come like some guest to the party whose presence is not expected or wanted.   

What we would keep away shows up in our lives anyway.  Ask anyone who looks a bit shaken and is wearing not tatoos but body and soul scars.  There is no way to read the gospels without seeing in many of  the verses the wisdom of Jesus as he talked about rain falling on the just and the unjust.  (Matthew 5:45)   Before I was eight years old I got wet in my first rainfall on that day my father died and only a few days ago I felt that same rain falling in what seemed like such a sunshining day.  There is no umbrella which keeps us from feeling the storms which threaten the status quo of our life.  

What is always out there is the One who put the spark of life in us when we still not formed in the darkness of the womb.  It may seem trite to some, but it is true that this God who brought us into being is not going to leave us alone, nor is He going to let some difficulty have the last word.  The hard word which seems to destroy our existence always seems to be spoken when we leave the graveyard, but what is always true is the way the resurrection morning story proclaims that no matter what it is that is out there ahead of us or surrounding us, we will get through to the glorious and sometimes invisible plan of God.  

Musicians

I have always believed that music had a powerful place in worship.  It can do what words cannot do.  It touches a place so deep that words often fail to penetrate.  And so, at one of my churches long years ago, I dared to do a brazen thing I should not have done.  But, I was young and lived with the idea I could do anything.  The church needed someone to help with the church choir.  I figured since I had one conducting course at Asbury College and had experience as a church secretary, janitor, youth worker, and Sunday School teacher, I could just add one more thing to my resume.     

The Talbotton Church was patient with my attempt to help, but at  best I was not even a good "get by."  Every place else I served I was blessed with very good musicians.  When I think back over the years I remember the many who led choirs, planned for music events, and played the piano and other instruments. My own ministry was enhanced by the way they lifted up Christ and invited people to be experience His holy presence as He made Himself known in our midst.  

I wish I could thank each one again for the way they partnered with me in ministry in so many ways.  There was a time when it was said that the music set the table for the preacher to preach and while I would never argue that music does indeed create an environment which enables the soul to be more responsive to the Word of God being preached, the music offered has a place all its own.  When I bombed out in the pulpit it was always reassuring to know that the music offered brought people in touch with the Christ which was why we were gathered in the first place.  I thank God for allowing us to serve Christ and I thank them, too.  Thanks to each one of you.