At the Cross

At the heart of the Apostle Paul's preaching is the word,  "...we preach Christ crucified."  (I Corinthians 1:23).  It is a hard word for preachers to preach and for those who listen to hear.  In many ways the message of "Christ crucified" is a counter culture word.  We live in an age that has convinced itself that if something is broken, we can fix it.  The message of the cross points to a brokenness which can only be fixed by external intervention. Preaching "Christ crucified" requires preaching about sin which is an outdated concept for so many who worship the psychological answers and solutions.   

To a larger degree the message of the church no longer has the power of influence as it did in earlier generations.   In an effort to draw more people under the umbrella of the church's influence, preachers are tempted to preach a "feel good" gospel which readily focuses on a loving Savior, but not necessarily a saving One.   People today seem to have an aversion to preaching that calls forth some kind of emotional response.  Sermons that teach or are entertaining have become more the norm.  

The problem is there is no way to go to the cross and see the horror of that day without our heart, the center of our emotions, being touched.  Preaching that overtly seeks an emotional response is regarded as manipulative.  Preaching trends today lean more toward "Christ, the loving Savior,"  or "Christ, the servant," or maybe, "anyone but Christ crucified."  Even as the resurrection message which is according to Scripture the central core of our faith is preached only on Easter so is it true that the only time the message of the cross might be proclaimed is on Good Friday.  What is often forgotten is that without Good Friday and the cross, there is no reason to show up with the crowds on Easter Sunday. 

The Uncomfortable Cross

When Jesus walked down the Mount of Transfiguration, He surely had the glory of the heavens resting upon His face.  As surely as His baptism culminated with an affirming vision which sent Him forth into His public ministry, so did the vision on the Mount send Him forth for the final part of the journey.  It was surely a moment which drew the attention of Jesus to the reality that His days were not only becoming fewer, but also harder.  While the cross was no surprise to Jesus, when He left the mountain it began to loom larger and larger before Him.    

Lent is a season for journeying with Jesus toward that looming cross.  While we would rather speak of the end of journey being the empty tomb, the tomb could only become a part of the narrative when the work of the cross was done.  Lent focuses on the cross.  I remember a preacher who preached a noon day service one Good Friday who said before his message, "Now I know today we remember Jesus dying on the cross, but instead of talking about such a bad thing, I am going to preach about the resurrection."  I wanted to stand and say, "Without the cross, there is no resurrection!"   

It is a strange thing the way the church wants to avoid the cross.  It does make people uncomfortable.  No one wants to confess their sins much less acknowledge them.  The Lenten invitation to repent is not something we want to do because it speaks to the fact that there is something wrong within us that can only be handled by what Jesus did on the cross. It all goes against the grain of our conviction that there is nothing we cannot handle or fix.  The gospel proclaims as a necessity the death of Jesus on the cross.  Sometimes it seems the church wants to water down that part of the story. 

Ash Wednesday, 2025

                 The Pause

 

There is a steadiness in my feet,

   a hard thudding upon the dry ground,

     relentless and unhindered they go 

       behind the One who goes just before,

         the One whose feet never hesitate

but go hard toward the waiting hill.

 

My eyes see but Him and not the hill 

    lest these feet should shirk the holy way

       of abandonment to the Father

         who waits beyond the growing darkness

             in silence until the work is done

and the deserted One cries His last. 

Seeing is knowing where I must go,

   but dare I take even one more step

     on this hard way of letting go all,

       or should this shuddering of my soul

        give me pause to count the cost again

before rough hands nail me to the cross?

The Good Stuff

When I was growing up in the Methodist Church of rural south Georgia, Lent was mostly mentioned, but not really observed.  We knew it was Lent when the coin folders were handed out on Sunday morning with a word about denying ourselves something like a coke or candy.  Each day during Lent a dime went in the coin folder and we brought them back to the church on Easter Sunday as a special mission offering.  The thought of putting ashes on our forehead as the Catholics did was just not proper Protestant behavior.   

I cannot say exactly when things began to change, but I do know by the time I got into my ministry years, Lent was a season which was more widely observed.  I remember a friend saying lightheartedly, "There is no reason to let the Catholics have all the good stuff."  There really is a lot of good stuff packed in the season of Lent.   It is unfortunate that our love affair with the spontaneous and our fear of ritual keep us from experiencing the deeper levels of meaning within the ashes of Ash Wednesday, the holy meal of Maundy Thursday, and the horror of the cross.  

Lent is also a season which calls us to be more attentive to our involvement in spiritual disciplines such as fasting, praying, reading the Word, and living generously and sacrificially.  When we truly respond to the invitation to observe a holy Lent, we find that Easter is like morning light bursting forth from the darkness and rushing over us as if a powerful wave of the Spirit has overwhelmed and immersed us in the power of the resurrection.  Lent prepares our heart for such a moment.  It would be a shame to settle for something less.

Preparation for the Journey

Lent is only hours away now.  Worship leaders have gathered the stored ashes from last year's Palm branches and are preparing themselves to mark foreheads with them as they speak the words, "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return."  Lent begins this Wednesday with the coming of Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday worship is not a joyous celebration of worship which causes everyone to leave feeling good.  It is a service of remembering and there is much to be remembered.   

It is a gathering where those who come are reminded of the fragile nature of life.  It is an uncomfortable moment for many.  Where is it that we voluntarily go to hear someone mark us with gray ashes and tell us we are going to die?  It is a reminder of our need for repentance.  Repentance is only done when we acknowledge the sins of our heart to God and ourselves and then confess them as one truly sorry for our misdoings. It is also a reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  The cross is not just a story of injustice and tragedy, but one which reminds us that divine forgiveness requires an atoning sacrifice and the heartbreak of God.  It is not a moment to be taken lightly.   

A Word from Luke 9:51 is often read as a verse which marks the beginning of the final journey of Jesus to Jerusalem and the cross.  "When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem."  Jesus did not go to Jerusalem and then something happened which was beyond His control.  He knew what was waiting for Him in the Holy City and with intentionality born out of obedience to the Father's will, He chose to go.  It may have been evil which put Him on the cross, but it was love that caused Him to put His life in the hands of those who meant evil and not good for Him.  As Jesus journeyed in those days with the cross upon His heart, so should we journey with Him in this holy season of Lent.

A Culture of Confirmation

On a recent trip to a bookstore, a book entitled "The Essential Tozer Collection" showed up at eye level and a voice from within said, "This is the one."  A. W. Tozer was a prominent self educated theologian and preacher who died in 1963.  One of the first things which caught my attention was something he wrote in his discussion about justification.  "The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless.  Faith may now be exercised without a jar to the moral life and without embarrassment to the Adamic ego.  Christ may be received without creating any special love for Him..." 

It was a word which set me to thinking and I ended up writing in the margins, "We live in a culture of confirmation instead of salvation."  One of the benefits of retirement is that it has enabled me to listen to a lot of preachers.  One of the things glaringly obvious over these fifteen years is something I had noted for a much longer time.  The church offers a lot of talk about Jesus, but seldom invites people to know Jesus.  Our young are becoming part of the church culture by learning about Jesus in Confirmation groups without really choosing Jesus out of a spiritual hunger in their hearts.  It is as if salvation is of the mind and not the heart.  Too many of us preachers preach not to the heart but to the mind out of the false assumption that everyone who hears the sermon is in a heartfelt relationship with Jesus.   

If this thinking of mine has any merit, it would help us understand why the cherished mainline churches of our childhood are sliding toward extinction.  We like to say the decline is about the graying of our society, or the lack of interest younger generations have in organized religion and maybe there is a measure of truth to such observations, but could it not be that the church has become too content in teaching about Jesus?  Could it be that no one is being asked to give their heart to Jesus?  Could it be that confirmation is a poor substitute for a heart strangely warmed in conversion?

The Greater Miracle

All four of the gospel writers tell the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand.  The first three gospels (known as the Synoptic Gospels) tell it much the same.  John personalizes the event by speaking of specific disciples instead of the disciples in general.  An interesting feature of the first three is the way the disciples wanted to send the people away.  It was the only sensible thing to do in light of the great need of the crowd and the lack of anything to eat.  (Matthew 14:15).   

What Jesus said to their pragmatic thinking must have blown their minds.  "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." (Matthew 14:16). They had nothing except five loaves and two fish which was a paltry amount to feed so many.  Why it would not have even been enough to feed the twelve disciples much less five thousand people!  When Jesus responded to them by saying, "Bring them (the loaves and fish) to me," (Matthew 14:18) He says an important Word we often do not want to hear.  Basically, He told the disciples two things.  First, you do something about the need you see.  Secondly, make available what you have and it will be enough.  

What is more frightening to us?  It is one thing to see folks in need and another to personally get involved.  As frightening as that possibility is to us, the second is even worse.  Jesus wants us to give not just part of what we have, but all of what we have even it is what seems to be such a small amount.  It is the stuff of miracles.  The first miracle might be meeting an impossible need, but the greater miracle might be you and me turning loose of our stuff.

Love and Miracles

Life is not nearly as black and white as many of us might like it.  In some ways a black and white world might be easier to maneuver, but it is also a world empty of grace and mercy.  Jesus was constantly running into the black and white world that existed in the hearts of the rigid and self righteous.  In the eyes of the black and white world the decrees of the law are more important than the actions of love.  A black and white world might define right and wrong, but it also a harsh world in which to live.   

Imagine for a moment the world of the man with a withered hand whose faith in God took him to the synagogue one Sabbath only to find the supposed righteous of the community delegating him to a non person status as they made his hand the object of a theological argument.  It must have seemed to him that had he not had a withered hand, he would not have even been seen.  (Matthew 12:9-14). To add insult to injury, the righteous figured any hope he might have had for healing could wait until another day!   

Jesus was not ruffled or deterred by the rigid righteous as He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  (Matthew 12:13) Quicker than ever he could have thought possible, love and grace touched his hand making it as sound as the one nearly worn out from constant use.  As we stand alongside of Jesus in such a moment, we are reminded that today is the day to do what we can to help someone in need.  Love does not seek permission, only an opportunity to be given.  Whenever love is given, miracles happen.

The Edge of Knowing

To stand on the edge of knowing what is not at the moment knowable is a perplexing moment.  It often seems like a forever moment between some tantalizing aroma teasing the taste buds and the one filled with savoring the multiplicities of the flavor.  When we are are at the precipice of what is known and what is about to be known, there is little we can do except wait with faith.  Surely, there are times when God speaks to us by making us aware of something about to be, but is not yet.  

The Old Testament prophets introduce us to the way a revelation of God is announced, but delayed and Jesus did much the same as He spoke of the Kingdom of God being here and yet still to come.  It is no wonder that there are so many places in the Scripture which call us to embrace the discipline of waiting.  The Psalmist wrote, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning."  (Psalm 130:5-6). Waiting and watching for the morning is a good image. 

There have been times when each of us has longed for the sight of the first light announcing what is to come even though we do not know what is to come.  Perhaps, God brings us to the edge of what He is about to do so that there will be a moment of letting go of what is behind us as a way of preparing us for what is to come in the still to be revealed plan of God.  It is a strange way to consider faith, but faith is always what God requires us to pack for our journeying with Him.

An Unlikely Bunch

To follow Jesus through Matthew's gospel is to see that moment when He called two sets of brothers to become disciples.  (Matthew 4:18-22). A little later Jesus walks by a tax collector named Matthew who gets the call and rises to follow Jesus.  (Matthew 9:9). And then, there were twelve.  "Then Jesus summoned His twelve disciples..." (Matthew 10:1). As we read the list of those called, we cannot help but wonder from whence they came.  What did they leave to follow Jesus?  What was there about each one that led Jesus to call them?  Why did He call Judas?  Surely, He knew Judas was a man capable of betrayal.   

Of course, what we also know is that if such a capability eliminates someone from being called by Jesus, none of us would have heard the summons.  Maybe such is too much a generalized statement, but personal experience tells me it is true.  The longer we live, the more we realize how flawed we are and how blessed we are to be those who have been gifted by the grace of God.  It has always been my profession that when God called me to preach, He must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel, but I have for a lifetime been grateful He did not just throw away what was down there after the better choices had been made.  

Those who comprised the twelve were like all the rest of us.  Flawed is what they were.  Sometimes their egos surfaced in ugly ways as they sought special status.  Sometimes they acted as if Jesus was a stranger.  Sometimes they tried to push His plans aside to insert their own.  Sometimes they just not get what He was doing.  Yet, these were the ones entrusted with the message of the Kingdom of God.  It is always amazing to realize that each one of us have been entrusted with that work as well. 

Stop and Go Days

Some days do not seem to amount to much.  They are filled with hurried meals, commuter chaos complete with horns blowing and the possibility of stop and never seem to be going traffic, Monday morning attitudes ever day in every place, and end of the day exhaustion too deep to be overcome by one night's sleep.  To be honest is to admit some days we wish not for the road to work, but the sofa in front of the television.  At the end of those kind of days, we often find ourselves singing alone with Alfie, 'What's it all about?"  

Days do have a way of getting out of hand in a hurry.  But, actually, how the day goes is more about us than the the external things which surround us. Years ago while having a morning conversation with my sister, she told me she was sitting on the expressway waiting on traffic to start moving again.  When I said something about her day getting off to a rough start, she commented, "My day is not nearly as bad as the guy whose car is wrecked."  I have always remembered that bit of sibling wisdom.  What we carry with us and more specifically what we carry within us will make, or break the day.  

When the Apostle Paul said, "I have learned to be content with whatever I have..." (Philippians 4:11), he was speaking specifically about having either a little or a lot, but it is a word which is applicable to anything and everything which comes our way.  If he could learn to live with a little, maybe it is possible for us to learn to live with a day that is not going according to plans.  God's plan for us may include a few days of stop and go traffic that will enable us to count our blessings and be grateful.

An Uprooting

The story begins with, "...a man ran up and knelt before Jesus..." and ends with "...he was shocked and went away grieving for he had many possessions."  (Mark 10:17-22).  Inside the bookends of the story, the very religious man heard Jesus say to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor...then come, follow me." (Mark 10:21).  We understand and sympathize.  Whether we have a little or a lot, we think it unfair for Jesus to ask such a thing.  Like the man who came with eagerness and left with sorrow, we understand the power our stuff has over us.   

The disciples obviously were not so attached to their stuff that they could not walk away from it.  When World War I came and brought to an end the Bible Training College Oswald Chambers thought would last forever, he wrote, "It is a great thing to be detached enough from possessions so as not to be held by them, because when called to uproot it is done with little real trouble..."  The call of Jesus may not uproot us from the things we call ours, but it does require us to loosen our grip so that what was His before we claimed it as ours has been returned to Him.  

What we falsely claim as ours may be our accumulated wealth, the house which shelters us, the things which define our stuff, our position in the community, or the security systems we have built around us.  Like the would be disciple, we understand the difficulty of letting go, but we also know that the abundant life promised by Jesus is found when letting go is more important than holding tightly.

The Question of the Ages

The one thing always in motion is change.  Most of us do everything we can to hold it in abeyance, but never are we successful.   With or without us, change moves along like the water which burst forth from the mountain spring to begin its journey toward the sea.  There is no stopping it.  One of the reasons we struggle against it is that we have so much invested in the status quo.  In its continuance we have placed our hopes, our dreams, our sense of security, and even the pathway for the future.  

What is most frightening to us is not political upheaval, or the splintering of religious denominations, or the seemingly out of control sociological earthquakes, but the way we are constantly moving toward a person we do not know yet.  The question of the ages used to be, "Who am I?"  In these days the question seems framed within the words, "Who am I becoming?"  As much as we would like to talk about "being" in our faith walk, the frightening thing for many of us is not who we are as much as it is who we are becoming.  

When Jesus said, "Follow me" and we said, "Yes," we started walking not down a road of certainty, but one of unfolding change.  This walk toward becoming whom God is bringing into existence is a new adventure every day and we can only do it if we are truly dependent on God's grace to take us wherever and our faith in Him to do so.  The God of the Universe has everything in His hands, even change, and as we are changing from conception to the day He is currently giving us, we are in His sure and steady hands. 

Healing Ministry

I would not have been surprised back in my Vidalia days if some Bible thumping, tongues speaking, Pentecostal preacher had told me he had healing services in his church; but, when my good friend who was the local Episcopal rector in town told me he provided a moment every Sunday for people to come forward to receive not only prayers for their healing, but also anointing with oil, I had to pay attention.  When I paid attention, I encountered enough conviction that I started offering a monthly Sunday evening service which I called "A Service of Prayers for Healing."  

It was also a moment for reading about the healing ministry of Jesus and the way the church had either embraced it, or ignored it.  As the gospel writer Mark tells the story of the onset of the ministry of Jesus, there is one healing story after another after another.  He healed the man with the unclean spirit, Simon Peter's mother-in-law, the many who heard about it and gathered around the door of her house, a man with leprosy, and a paralytic who was lowered through the roof by four friends. (Mark 1:21-2:12)  

There is simply no way to say that Jesus did not have a healing ministry which raises an important question:  "How can the church which seeks to be an expression of Jesus in the world not offer such a ministry?"  To be honest is to admit we either ignore it, or offer it with half-hearted reservations neither of which would cause Jesus to say, "Well done."

Believe...or Not.

There is one thing everyone has to do with the Sermon on the Mount.  When the last word is uttered, we have to decide what we are going to do with it.  There are only two options.  One option is to ignore it and declare it to be irrelevant.  The second option is to accept it as a Word upon which faithfulness to Christ is built.  We either can choose to refute it, or believe it.  As the Sermon winds down to its end at the close of the 7th chapter of Matthew, those two choices are presented as Jesus spoke of listeners hearing His words and acting on them or hearing them and not acting on them.    

C. S. Lewis put the choice most succinctly as he wrote, " He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse."  Jesus never made it easy.  He was not interested in pleasing people in order to build the number of disciples.  The gospel of John is often called the gospel of belief because of the way it challenges people to choose either belief or unbelief.  Jesus was not a teacher who sought to cultivate fence sitters.   

While Jesus never lived in such a hurry to get where He was going that He could not stop and care for someone in need, He did live with a sense of urgency about what He was doing.  We see this in that moment described by Luke as he wrote, "When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem."  (Luke 9:51).  Jesus surely knew His time here among us was short and there was not time to waste.  Some would choose to obey His teachings.  Some would choose to follow Him.  There is, however, never any evidence of any guilt based persuasive preaching, or chasing after someone to twist the arm of their conscience one more time.  The choice to believe and obey always belonged to the one listening even as it does today.

Trust or Worry

It is true for all of us that we can remember where we first heard Jesus say some of the the things He said.  It is as if the Words are not only etched in our memory in a forever kind of way, but that we also remember where we were standing when some saying fell on our ears as if it was the first time.  Maybe it was the first time.  We read some of the written words of the Scripture and then one day, we hear some portion heard a thousand times, but it touches our heart like it was the first time.   

It was while reading the J. B. Phillips translation of the New Testament in my Young Harris College days that I heard Jesus say, "Do not worry about your life...can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?...do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.  Today's trouble is enough for the day." (Matthew 6:25-34).  While I do not remember being a worry wart back then, maybe I needed a Word to remind me that God was in control.  

I have a friend out in Lubbock, Texas who has his own way of putting things in perspective as he says, "Why should I be concerned when the God of the Universe has everything in His hands?"  Worry can be defined in many ways, but as those who believe in Jesus we surely can see that worry is the antithesis of trust.  We cannot really hold trust in God and worry in our hands.  They can only hold one or the other.  Each day each one of us makes our choice.

More to Pray

In my walkabout with Jesus, I considered telling Jesus what Wendell Berry's literary character, Jayber, had to to say about His prayer.  I wonder what He would say about once you have prayed, "Thy will be one, there is nothing to pray."  I imagine if I told Jesus what Jayber Crow said in the book bearing his name for a title, He would suggest I look again and think a bit.  I had a good friend who always declared from his reading between the lines of the gospel that Jesus' favorite saying was, "Go figure."   

As complete as "Thy will be done" sounds, there is more to this prayer that Jesus taught when He was roaming the countryside of Galilee.  There is a Word here which reminds us that we are not praying to the warmth of the sun or the gentle breeze, but to God.  Our culture seems ready to address its attempt at praying to many parts of the creation without praying to the Creator.  The prayer teaches us God is to be honored and praised.  It teaches us that in prayer we acknowledge our dependence on that which comes to us bringing us life.  We are reminded within its words to live with gratitude.  

It is also a prayer which causes us to reflect upon our own sin, our need for forgiveness from God, God's grace, and the reminder that as we have received so should we give to others.  Finally, in this prayer of Jesus is that Word which reminds us we cannot make it alone.  We need God's help in seeing where not to walk and His willingness to rescue us when our willful and an unwillful walking leave us in a mess.  Jayber Crow was a thoughtful guy, but there is more to pray after praying, "Thy will be done."  (Matthew 6:9-13)

Another Way

To keep listening to Jesus as He preaches the Kingdom message in the Sermon on the Mount is to be taken into the land of beyond what is required.  The boundaries of this land are between "You have heard that it was said..." and "But I say to you..."  To traverse this land is to struggle to understand the difference between the law of the tablets and the law of the heart. The first says this is what is required for Godly living and the second says this is the new norm to be embraced as a citizen of the Kingdom.  Living in this land is to embrace the radical as the norm and the impossible to do as the possible.   

While some may say the battles are fought as we struggle to control external actions, the real battleground is the heart.  What is allowed to take root and be nurtured in the heart will at some point express itself.  The first place of control is not in self discipline, or the human fortitude which says, "I will not,"  but in the place where what could be is growing, though not yet seen.  It is into this territory that the Sermon on the Mount takes us.   

Spiritual battles may be won in the wilderness of temptation, but more are won in the heart.  This is the first and most important battlefield.  What is decided there always prevails.  The Sermon calls us to be motivated and directed in our life by the love of God and absolute trust in Him.  "Do not worry...strive first for the Kingdom of God," says Jesus.  (Matthew 7:25-33).  Too many of our bad choices reflect our inability to trust God to work out our life.  This lack of trust ends up causing us to take matters in our own hands.  The Sermon on the Mount points us to another way.

What's that, Lord?

"Lord, I hear this "salt of the earth... light of the world" (Matthew 5:13-16) thing, but I reckon you must be talking about those young guys who climbed up the mountain behind you with gusto.  You know better than others that I am just an old worn out Methodist preacher who is past his prime and got very little left to give.  Surely, You take into account that I am closer to the end of my days than those young fellows who still have so much eagerness.  My salt has about been licked off and my light has gotten dim.  

I am sure You understand and will give me a pass so I can sit over here in this chair and rest.....What's that, Lord?...No, I didn't hear anything about a senior exemption, but I just figured....well, you know, Lord, most places have a mandatory retirement age when it is assumed you are too old to be considered as having value, so I figured the Kingdom must work much the same way....What's that, Lord?....You will let me know when it is time to take to the chair, and in the meantime, I am to keep on in a business as usual spirit....And, I will, Lord, but I just figured by now You had someone to take my place.  

You know, I have been doing this disciple thing since I was boy on the cusp of becoming a man and this old salt block has gotten mighty thin and the light that has shined so long is surely in need of some new batteries...What's that, Lord?  Yeah, I will hang in here until You decide to take me home.  Actually, Lord, it is good to know You don't see me as a throwaway even though such is how I feel some days.  Thanks for keeping me on the payroll.  Thanks a lot.  Amen and Amen."

The Upside Down World

As we come to the reading of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's gospel, we quickly realize Jesus is turning upside down the world's apple carts.  What He did physically with the cleanings of the Temple, He verbally did with these oft quoted words.  No one of his day, or ours, would regard the blessed ones to be the poor, those who mourn, the meek, the ones who hunger and thirst, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted.  Before He finished the different phrases, the listeners were most likely already thinking in their minds, "It ain't so!"  As some are tempted to do today, there were those who regarded the ones Jesus described as dead beats,  pushovers, and door mats of society.   

Jesus had a way of using language that caused the listeners to stop and think, or they missed what He was saying.  The way He used words like poor, mourners, and persecuted challenged shallow and stereotype thinking then and now.  After all, who wants to be reviled and persecuted and who wants to be content with getting a reward in heaven?  Most of us want to be highly regarded by our peers and getting our reward not later, but in the here and now.   It is obvious Jesus wants Kingdom dwellers to re-think the way they think about the world in which they live.  

What is so often forgotten is that as the Jesus people of the world, we are in the world, but we are not directed by the world.  Our home is finally heaven.  The One who directs us toward that Home is not determined by society, but is the Holy Spirit.  Choosing to take the Sermon on the Mount seriously is like voluntarily stepping off the bank into a wide stream and then turning around to walk upstream.  Who among us is ready to continue this walk with Jesus?

Abandonment

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the New Testament's most extraordinary passages. It is one of those sections of Scripture that we can sit with for a lifetime and still not be done with it.  Bonhoeffers' book, "The Cost of Discipleship" was first read in seminary and has mostly fallen apart, but it still has a place on my bookshelves.  Today in my reading the biography of Oswald Chambers, I ran across an excerpt from a writing of his entitled, "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount," in which he wrote, "The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon."  The Sermon takes us into this world of letting go and taking hold of Jesus.   

Most of us have gone through times when we regarded the Sermon on the Mount as something useful for modeling our lives.  It was something which set the standard for Christian living and all we had to do was to go after it with rigid determination.  What we soon discovered is the Sermon is not about what we can do through discipline and a determined spirit.  Instead, it is about the transforming work the Holy Spirit desires to do in each one of us.  Chambers had it right when he used the word abandon.  

The Sermon on the Mount points to the person we are called to be, but it will not be a journey taken in our own strength, but one taken by the prayer of abandonment. John Wesley's famous Covenant Prayer begins with words which point the way, "I am no longer my own, but Yours.  Put me to what You will, place me with whom You will.  Put me to to doing, put me to suffering.  Let me be put to work for You or set aside by You..." 

The Flying Geese

I was out burning trash when I heard them.  Dark was settling over the farm.  Low clouds were hanging all over the place  Whereas, yesterday was filled with bright sunshine, today was mostly gray and everything seemed to exist in some in between land.  I was making my last poke in the dying fire when I heard that distinctive sound of a flock of Canadian geese flying over.  They were loud and rambunctious.  In my mind's eye I could visualize how they looked up above, but with the eyes of birth I could not see them.  They were invisible.  I knew they were there, but I could not see them.    

As I left the fire, I could not help but say, "Lord, You are like those geese."  Invisible, but here.  Just beyond the edge of sight.  The One who cannot be seen is known very well.  Even as I know the signs that tell me geese are overhead, so do I know the signs which speak of God's presence.  An ever present sign of His presence is the creation which is more a part of the farm than anything else that I have put here.  As I wander about I see church steeples, witness acts of sacrificial giving, and have an opportunity to share in moments of giving and receiving acts of kindness.     

All around us are signs of holy presence.  He is invisible to us; yet, there is a sense in which He is always present with us.  He is constantly speaking to us and making Himself known to us.  He remains invisible, but no one with eyes to see and ears to hear doubts the reality of His presence in our midst.  We are grateful for the Invisible One who lives and dwells among us. 

Giants from the Past

In my walkabout with Jesus, I joined the crowd on the mountain for the Sermon on the Mount.  Before I was able to hear the first beatitude, I remembered Frank Roughton Harvey.  Some will remember the name. It is important for me to remember and speak it today.  Frank was a professional actor and minister who used drama to present Christ.  His most famous monologue had him attired in Jesus clothes speaking the Sermon on the Mount into existence in our midst.  The first time I heard Frank was when I was a teenager and he came to the Alamo Church.  He later came for week long engagements at the last four churches I served.  When he died in 2006, the Kingdom here on earth lost a powerful voice for the Christ.  

Perhaps, what prompted the memory in addition to the Sermon itself was a recent re-read of a biography of Oswald Chambers.  During this read I have been amazed at the men who had an influence on him.  In addition to his parents, there was Dwight L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor, George MacDonald, J. Henry Jowett,  Alexander Whyte, Juji Nakada, and others.  The list of those who influenced Chambers appears like a 19th century roll call of the saints.   It set me to thinking about those from my past who have influenced my spiritual journey.  

The ones we remember and whose name we call today may not be as prominent on the stage reserved for spiritual giants, but their influence was giant like for many of us.  Like Chambers we might start with our parents and go on to a Sunday School teacher which was the case with Dwight L. Moody, but a few minutes of sitting still and remembering will bring many others to mind.  It is a good day to call their names and thank God for the way He brought their lives to a place of intersection with ours. 

An Irish Blessing

 My dearest, Lads and Lassies, 

 your young wee ones, too,

  may the hearth be afire at your feet,

   may your heart be warmed by love

    and gentle be the winds behind you.

Dear friends, each and everyone,

  may the mug you lift be filled with grace,

   may the table before you overflow with love,

    may the mercy you give to others

     be even greater than the mercy of the Creator.

 

Remember those who have come the long way,

   that we have said farewell to many behind us,

    may they dwell midst the goodness of glory

      and may we at the end of our journey 

        be blessed by the sight of them and our dear Jesus.

   

Toe Stepping Gospel

From the very beginning, Jesus attracted quite a crowd of folks.  The early pages of Matthew tell us of a journey through Galilee in which He taught in the synagogues, preached the good news of the Kingdom wherever there was opportunity, and brought a healing ministry to those in need.  It is not surprising that "His fame spread..." (Matthew 4:24). Fame can be a two edged sword.  On the one hand, it opens doors for touching more people, but on the other hand, many who came showed up to get what they could get from Jesus and not because they were particularly interested in the message He was preaching about the Kingdom.  As the Word says, "Great crowds followed Him..." (Matthew 4:25).   

It continues to be an issue for many today.  Today's preaching culture is one which wants to hear the word which proclaims the benefits of believing.  Too many people show up on Sunday with a "what's in it for me" mindset and if that mindset is not fed and nurtured, they soon go somewhere that the message they want to hear can be heard.  It is not a day when strong Biblical preaching, or delving into theological truths is desired by the crowds.  Even as so many showed up in Jesus's day to get the things they saw that Jesus could give them, so do many show up today for the same reason.   

It puts preachers in a quandary.  Of course, it is no problem for those who have built monuments to themselves that have as the foundational pillars messages that tickle the ears, but for those who seek a different ministry of a deeper spiritual substance, it is hard to faithfully preach a gospel about sin and repentance as well as redemption through the shed blood on the cross.  It is hard, too, for those who listen to hear not that which tickles the ears, but as was said in days gone by, "steps on my toes."

The First Followers

It is hard to figure.  When Matthew writes the narrative of Jesus' ministry, he speaks of it beginning as several things happened.  First, Jesus made the decision to leave Nazareth.  He was finally leaving home and the responsibilities which were his as the oldest son.  With a sense of purpose He went to the Jordan River where His kinsman was baptizing folks.  He not only went, He was baptized.  After the baptism He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights.  After all these things had come to pass, He heard the ominous news that John the Baptist had been arrested.    

As this news came to Him, the Word says He went forth preaching, "Repent...the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has come near...believe in the good news."  (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15).  It would seem that one event in His life was not singularly responsible to send Him forth, but all of them working to bring Him to a point of action.  No longer would He choose the road that kept Him hidden; instead, He was determined to walk the way which challenged the status quo of the religious community and called people to radical change in their lives.  While these moments may not carry with them the center stage drama of the Day of Pentecost, they were days in which the Spirit of God was hovering on the stage of history knowing that resurrection power was about to be unleashed upon the world.   

Those of us who have read the gospel story know this to be true.  Those who walked alongside of Jesus had no idea where their decision to follow would take them.  It is likely that they had little understanding that they were actually on a journey to "know not where."  Though they could not see, they followed Him.  Many of them followed Him to the cross and then to the empty tomb.  What they could not see, we see; yet, we are the ones who hesitate to turn loose of everything for Jesus even though we know the end of the story.

The Subtle Ways

While there are thousands of temptations the devil could have thrown Jesus' way, the three he did use failed to the point that he realized it was time to go home and come back another day.  It is interesting that Jesus was not tempted to do something like murder or stealing, but instead, was tempted to do some good things for the wrong reasons.  The devil does not always act in a "throw it in your face" manner, but through the guise of the subtle.    

There in the wilderness the devil suggested to Jesus to turn stones into bread.  What was being offered was a solution to the world's hunger problem, but Jesus said, "No."  The second temptation was one which would have provided personal protection from any harm, but once again, Jesus said, "No."  Finally, with the third temptation Jesus was shown a way to have the world at His feet without going to the cross and again, "No" was the response.   What Jesus was offered was shortcuts to the plan of God.  "You can feed the world's hungry.  You can have divine protection.  The kingdoms of the world can be yours without being lifted up on a cross.  All you have to do is to do it my way." 

Jesus heard the temptation to accomplish good by choosing the short cut and expediency.  It would have meant stepping away from the plan of God which Jesus would not do.  He would not step away from the way the Father worked even if it would enable Him to do good things for others and Himself.  The temptation story of Jesus opens up the door for us to see that one of the things the evil one often does is to tempt us to do good things for the wrong reasons.  It is also a reminder to walk the way of Jesus. 

No Answer

Hardly had the water dried when Jesus was "...led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."  (Matthew 4:1). This was not going to be a picnic, or a Sunday School outing.  It was as real as real can be.  Even as the baptism of Jesus was set in the context of intentionality,  so was this moment of temptation.  With the baptism the intentionality belonged to Jesus, but with the temptation it belonged to the Holy Spirit.  It has always seemed strange that the Spirit would lead Jesus, or us, into spiritual peril, but this story indicates we should not be surprised that such happens.    

What lingers heavy in the air after we conclude that the Spirit might lead us into a a place of spiritual peril is the question, "Why?  Why would God do such a thing?"  It becomes even more confusing as we remember that Jesus taught us to pray, "...lead us not into temptation..." (Matthew 6:13). Why would we need to pray such a. prayer when Jesus spoke of the Father God as One who "...gives good gifts to those who ask Him?"  (Matthew 7:11).  To consider such questions is to know that it is always easier to ask questions than to give answers.  

Such is where I find myself as I ponder this moment in the life of Jesus.  I can offer some answers that I have been taught to recite, but many times what others tell us ends up sounding a bit empty until we have sat with the question long enough to start moving toward what God is telling us.  Such thoughts make it easier to come to the end of the page without the answer being sought.  There is some comfort in what the Apostle Paul wrote, "...God is faithful, and He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing He will also provide the way out so that you nay be able to endure it."  (I Corinthians 10:13)  Wherever we are led by the Spirit, God is with us.

Spiritual Preparation

The baptism of Jesus at the Jordan River was not some "spur of the moment" decision.  As Matthew writes about it, he says, "Then Jesus came forth from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him..." (Matthew 3:13).  To some it seems strange that Jesus would choose baptism as a catalyst for launching His ministry.  If baptism is about dealing with sin, Jesus had no sin.  It seems unlikely Jesus would be baptized because everyone else was doing it.  It must also be remembered that baptism was repugnant to any Jew.  Baptism was a ritual of cleansing for an unclean Gentile who wished to convert to Judaism.   

What we do know is that Jesus was intentional about seeking it.  John the Baptist declared to Jesus, "I need to be baptized by You..." (Matthew 3:14), but apparently Jesus needed to be baptized by John.  No doubt Jesus was there at the Jordan out of obedience to what He had come to know as the Father's purposeful leading.  Faith and obedience does not require an explanation.  It only requires movement toward what is understood to be the. will of the Father God.  In such a manner, Jesus surely came from Galilee to the Jordan River.  

One of the things clearly seen is that the act of baptism resulted in a moment of divine affirmation.  The language of the Scripture is clear about this as it says, "...the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him.  And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."  (Matthew 3:16-17).  Even as Jesus could not have stayed at the Mt. of Transfiguration, He could not stay at the Jordan River with John, but it was a moment of spiritual preparation for what was ahead.

The Obscure Season

Jesus was invisible the first thirty years of His life.  From Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth, He traveled before He was old enough to have memory.  Exactly what He did in those Nazareth years we can only speculate.  We know He was known in Nazareth as the carpenter's son.  Being the son of a carpenter, He learned His father's skills.  Jesus lived out those days in obscurity.  No one paid Him any attention.  What His hometown gave Him was a quiet place where the Scriptures and the Spirit could ready Him for the three turbulent years between His baptism and the cross.   It would be an error to regard the Nazareth years as unimportant years.  While we do not know exactly what happened in this small village, it was not beyond the scope of the divine plan.  

Actually, what took place in Nazareth, though invisible to the human eye and the eye of history, made Jesus ready for the encounters, the trials, and the teaching moments which were going to unfold on the road.  We all have Nazareth moments in our spiritual journey.  We go through seasons when it seems nothing is happening and we are doing little more than treading water.  It is not a moment for giving up on ourselves, or God, but a moment for continuing to do those things which keep us in step with the One who is walking before us.  

At some point in those obscure Nazareth years, the Father spoke saying, "Son, it is time."  So, will it be for us.  There will come that moment of stepping forward into some opportunity to express love and care which makes faithfulness in the season of being made ready so very important to what God wants to do through us.

Divine Magnetism

There is a kind of spiritual magnetism all around Jesus.  He attracted people.  He still attracts people.  When He was born, shepherds left their flocks by night as they were drawn toward Him.  Men from far distances traveled under the spell of a star to visit Him.  The very earliest stories about Jesus point to the drawing power within Him.  Much later as a traveling preacher and teacher, He would speak of this innate quality, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself."  (John 12:32).   

None of the disciples required persuading to go after Him.  They did not need to read His mission statement, nor did they ask where He would be when it got dark.   None of them asked, "What's in it for me?"  They saw Him and they went.  It makes me remember some of those Friday night sermons from revival preachers as they tried to get folks like me off the back pew and up to the altar.  I wonder how it might have been different if they had focused more on Jesus and less on my sins and the heaven to be gained.  Maybe all we really need to do is present Jesus, let Him stand on His own two feet, and offer something as simple as "Come and see." (John 1:39)  We preachers, and I suppose I should stand midst the crowd, too often have acted as if our convincing power was the key to folks following Jesus.    

From what we read in the gospels, Jesus does not need our persuasive words so much as He needs for us to use our words in such a way that those who hear are enabled to see and hear Him.  Maybe one of the things the gospel record is telling us is that Jesus can do the rest.  If He is lifted up for folks to see, the Word says He will draw those people to Himself.  Who knows?  Maybe it is true.

First Signs

When the story first speaks of Jesus being present on the earth, He is shrouded in the invisible. Our first hint that the Incarnation has become reality is through the words of an angel telling Mary she will conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit.   It was surely confounding to Mary and perplexing to Joseph. Mary needed the external validation of Elizabeth being pregnant and Joseph needed the encouraging assurance of an angel in a dream to embrace the divine mystery which was about to unfold in their lives.  

Even as the ancient prophets challenged the Hebrew people to believe in something not yet seen, so does the early words of Jesus being present cause us to believe in something not seen, but about to happen.   For nine months the Son of God would silently grow in the darkness of Mary's womb.  A speck would become a mass, a mass would become form, a form would be framed into a mere baby, and then into the light the eternal Light would come forth to be visibly present among us.  

There is no mystery like the mystery which took place in those days between announcement and birth.  Even as we are one like Him, so would He would become like us.  Even as we bear the image of His holiness, so would be bear the image that would mark Him as one of us.  Fully understanding what it means for the "Word to become flesh..." (John 1:14), or for Jesus "...though He was in the form of God...to empty Himself...and to be found in human form..." (Philippians 2:6-7), is impossible for us to grasp; yet, such is how we first see Him and know by faith that our Savior has come.

The Opening Words

The opening verses of Matthew were written to authenticate to the Jewish community that Jesus was the promised Messiah.  As we sort though it with minds that are like modern day fact checkers, we must not forget this purpose.  There are certainly things about it which are confusing.  There are names omitted which could have been added.  It is different from the genealogy work that Luke presents in his gospel.  Probably, the most important thing about Matthew's list is the naming of Abraham and David.   

One of the things which we first have to get our minds around as we read Scripture is that it does not always fit inside our contemporary requirement for accuracy.  The Scripture was certainly written within a historical context, but it was not intended to be a historical document so much as a record of the reality of God's involvement with His creation and His people.  The fact that it might at times be chronologically confusing or lacking the external validation of other historical records does not alter its purpose.   

What Matthew wanted his Jewish readers to know and accept was the fact that Jesus was the long expected king and deliverer of the Jewish people.  Whatever our critical minds bring to the reading of this section of the Word,  what Matthew was seeking to communicate can only be understood through the lens of this purpose.  Perhaps, we would have done it differently, but such is how the Spirit of God used the mind, the experience, and the heart of one who knew Jesus to spin not a yarn, but an eternal truth about the One who came from glory to "...save His people from their sins."  (Matthew 1:26)

A Walkabout With Jesus

I think it is time for me to do another walkabout with Jesus.  After all, He was a great walker.  Everywhere he went, He walked.  As Charles Foster reminds us in his book, "The Sacred Journey,"  He was always walking and inviting others to walk with Him.  It has been awhile for me since I have taken the Word and allowed it to lead me on a serious walk with Jesus.  It is not that I have thrown my Bible on the shelf as something I have already read, I have just been reading things other than Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  

When I was preaching every Sunday, I used the gospel lectionary passages which gave me a plan for investing a lot of reading time in one gospel each year.  Lately, I have developed some bad Bible reading habits like mostly reading sections I regard as favorites.  John is my favorite gospel so the first three have not gotten much reading time.  I am figuring my commitment to do a walkabout with Jesus will get me back on the road so that I can listen in again on some conversations, see some of those things known as signs and wonders, and feel His heart beating.   

I know Jesus.  I know about Jesus.  He has had my heart since I was boy thinking about becoming a man.  He has been the prime directive of my life.  There is not a day that I do not call His name and seek to be in His presence.  A walkabout sounds good.  Maybe what I am hearing is my heart longing for "Mary moments" of just sitting at His feet and listening.  Anyone wanting to walk along is welcome!

An Unwanted Companion

A companion not sought

  is this sadness that's come

    to walk with me and stay

     long past being welcome,

       this dark brooding spirit

that comes with such sorrow.

When will my soul be freed

   of memories hidden deep

     that the sights of this night

      have once again set loose,

       rising up like demons,

 destroying joy and peace.

 

Who will end their hurting

  and finally, mine as well?

    O God, who wipes tears

      and holds our hurts and pain

        not in heaven, but here,

Come, now, tend our sadness.

     

(In memory of those who lost their

lives over the Potomac River)    

      

Forget Not the Old

I speak of myself as a third generation Methodist preacher.  When my mother remarried after my father's death, she married a Methodist preacher who was also a Methodist preacher's kid.  My first theological library consisted mainly of books that had been on their shelves and in their hands.  I started out reading not the contemporary spiritual writers of my era, but people who had influenced both of them which meant I was introduced early to writers and saints whose ministries spanned the 20th century and stretched back into the 1800's.   

I was reminded of this spiritual heritage today in an unusual way.  I was waiting in an office when the receptionist ask if I would like to read her daily devotional book.  She handed me "Streams in the Desert" by Mrs. Charles Cowen.  It is a religious classic over a hundred years old and I was amazed this young woman was reading it.  It was passed to me nearly fifty years ago along with books by John Henry Jowett, Charles Spurgeon, Hannah Whitall Smith, E. Stanley Jones, John Bunyan, and Thomas a Kempis.  These are just a few of the many that I have read over the years because of the spiritual legacy passed to me.   

I wonder who the next generation will be reading.  There is a lot of stuff out there to be read and some of it is good, but I wonder which ones will stand the test of time?  Which authors will write words that will endure to bless the saints still to come?  I hope those walking the road of faith today will not dismiss everything not written last week for there is much to be gained from some of the saints who long ago walked where we are walking today.

Around and to the Edge

Without really having planned such a journey, when church was in the rear view mirror,  it seemed like the thing to do to drive around the perimeter of the farm.  It is not a big farm, but it was such a fine glorious afternoon, there was no hurry to get back to the house.  I had hardly gotten off the road into the hay field when I stopped to look at the trees in the branch that were victims of the hurricane winds.  Sitting there at the edge of the branch with the warm sunshine made me feel like a nap.  After a spell I rambled a further piece where the birds were offering such a Sunday chorus I had to stop and listen.   

There were other things to see.  My new fire pit is empty now and there are still plenty of limbs ready to be hauled that way.  I checked out one neighbor's field waiting to be planted and another's where the pine straw had been harvested.  The further I rode the more of tomorrow's work of clean up and fertilizing I started seeing.  A farm is a place where everything is never done and where change is constantly happening.  To have eyes to see is to realize that every day brings something new into view.   

Is it not so with all of us?  If we could take some drive around in our inner being, we would surely see how things are different in us because of some of the storms which have blown against us!  We would surely see the places where we have grown in our understanding of what it means to be alive.  We would be filled with gratitude that God has been the steadfast presence Who has sustained us and unfolds before us a continued sense of being useful.  It has been a glorious day here on the planet earth!  What an even more glorious day it must be in the Kingdom which though all around us is still not yet completely seen!  Thanks be to God for a trip around the farm and the edge of the Kingdom.

From Whence our Help

Once you go through a season of deep grief, it becomes obvious that going through is not exactly what happens.  When we grieve deeply, there is a sense in which we never come to a place of being finished.  Instead of being finished, we learn how to go forward with it.  We each do it differently.  We always err in judging another.  There is no right way, or wrong way.  It is a time for giving ourselves permission to be someone we have never been and to be patient with ourselves as we grow into that person.   

Walking into the valley of the shadow of death, emerging into a season of deep grief, and getting comfortable with the new person we are becoming is a much slower and more difficult journey than can be understood by those who have not yet been forced to turn onto that dark path.  When it does become our turn to follow the rough pathway walked by so many, we do eventually find ourselves getting far enough along that what is past is no longer what we give permission to guide us into our future.  

Though not yet the master of the journey, I am far enough along to see another soul struggling to get their footing as they emerge from the valley of the shadow.  I wish I had found some easy way so that I could take their hand and lead them, but I know I cannot for their journey will inevitably be different than mine.  I know the Father God is there with them ready to take their hand and lead them as He did with me.  I also know it may take them some time to see and take the Hand He is offering.  In the meantime, as He patiently waits, I will pray that that this new sojourner does not have to wait too long for our help does indeed "...come from the Lord who made heaven and earth."

Toward a New Life

In order for God to give us a new life, He has to take away the one we have.   To take hold of what is new, we have to turn loose of what is old. We cannot hold both the old and the new in our hands.  What is often difficult for us to understand is that God is constantly seeking to give us a new life.   What we experience today fits us for today, but not for tomorrow.  There is within us a spirit of resistance to this new life God is wanting to give.  We like the one we have.  We are comfortable.  We are not seeing anything new coming.  

We do not anticipate it coming so we hold tightly to what we know.  Every so often we see the glow of a new sunrise, sense the warmth of it rising in our life, and find ourselves searching the edges of the fading darkness for a sign of what a new beginning will look like in our life.  What can only be seen by faith is something we want to see with more detail and certainly than is allowed in those moments.  The moment is filled with the Spirit calling us to a moment of total abandonment.  It is a threshold which causes us to want to wait and see, but such luxury is not being offered by the beckoning Spirit.

We will be able to see what it is that God is making new for us beyond the horizon, where only the eyes of faith might possibly see, but seeing what God is about will require of us a giving of ourselves to the whatever of His future in a way that causes many of us to pause before saying "yes."  It is in the saying 'yes" to what cannot be known, or seen that enables us to move forward in the direction God is pulling us.  It is a "stepping off the cliff" moment.  We step before we know if there is a net beneath, or just a very long fall.  What is there does not matter.  In those moments of embracing what cannot be seen, it is enough to know that God is beyond what we can see.

Going Forward

Going forward in our spiritual journey is not as simple as doing what we perceive to be the right things. Our spiritual journey is about going with God to wherever it is that He is choosing to lead us.  His leading does not necessarily mean a leading that takes us to a different geographical location or some unusual ministry situation. Where God is leading us may not be about the grandiose, but the ordinary; however, it is still His leading.  Our submission to that leading and our willingness to surrender our role as captain of the ship is the most important thing we can do to go forward with God.   

What we are often tempted to do in those moments of sensing a need for a different and deeper walk with God is to bulk up on our Bible reading, or to pray with greater fervor.  We might even think that some new spiritual best seller is the way forward, but the way forward is more likely to be in the being than in the doing.  There are times when the first step is to seek the Spirit, or perhaps, more appropriately, to wait on the Spirit.  We tend to live our lives in a rush.  We set a goal and then we hurry to get it accomplished.  

What is lost in our hurried pursuit of a stronger spiritual life is the journey.  The destination, or goal gets so in view that we cannot experience what God is doing in our life as He moves in our heart so that we can see the new things He wants to do in us.  We may think that reading ten chapters from the Bible is better than five as we pursue a deeper spiritual life when the real steps forward are taken as we sit still, quietly wait, and learn to listen in our inner being for the voice of God.

Friends

I talked to an old friend tonight.  I use the word old because he, like myself, is old.  While I am a little closer to eighty, he is only a couple of years behind.  We were both licensed as ham radio operators while teenagers which also speaks of how we knew each other before we both ended up at Young Harris College.  There were between then and now years of not staying in touch with one another, but the last years have brought us back into a friendship richer than the one with which we started,  In more ways than I can count, he has been a steadfast friend who has made a significant difference in my living.   

It is amazing how God brings us into relationships we could not have imagined.  Life is just not some haphazardly walk through a maze.  If the Scripture speaks truth when it says that God has a plan for each of us, it surely means that the people who touch our lives for good are a part of the way He works out that plan in our lives.  The other day while reading that worn out story in Ezekiel about the valley of dry bones, it dawned on me that God could have spoken directly to those dry bones and given them life, but instead, He shared His intent with Ezekiel and called him to speak and make a difference in His behalf.  

I once heard it said that God does nothing that He does not do through one of us.  While I am not ready to limit the way God works, it does seem that He is partial to using each one of us to do the work of His Kingdom.  I am convinced that God has used my old friend to keep me closer to the heart of Christ which makes me wonder if my life has had a similar effect on others.  I pray that when the dust has settled over my life, there will be a few who remember me as a helper to them on their journey.  Such is what we do for each other as friends and companions along the holy way.  

Morning Prayer

This morning's quiet time found me sitting on the front porch at the farm with my Bible and a hot cup of coffee.  One of my first thoughts was about the quietness and stillness of the morning.  After a few sips and a few verses, I started hearing sounds unseen in the silence.  There was the sound of rushing traffic over on the nearby strip of asphalt which carries those in a hurry to get somewhere.  There was the sharp thumping of a hammer on nails from a not too distant soon to be new neighbor.  I heard the distinctive noise of heavy equipment in reverse and the incessant and unmistakable whining of a chainsaw.   

Sometimes we wonder how we should pray.  Sometimes we wonder who needs prayer.  Oh, we have our list of friends and family and those whose names have been shared with us by burdened and desperate people.  This morning as the coffee cup reached the half full marker and the thin pages of the Word kept being turned by the wind, it came to me that I should pray for people who are hurrying to get somewhere. Some may be racing toward some unseen and unexpected crisis and without even knowing it, they may be in need of God's protection and care in the day unfolding.  Even from my morning perch where stillness prevails, it is obvious that many are out there today moving hurriedly to know not where.    

"Lord," I thought, "there are a lot of folks out there this morning in need of someone's prayer."  The guy in the distance with the hammer has his own home and is building a house for someone else's home.  As if in a vision two unknown homes were shown to me as places and people in need of blessing.  Finally, there was the guy with a chainsaw.  I have danced many days with one of those and I pray that he and the fellow working in reverse will go home safely once again.  There are many who earn their daily bread where danger and harm are close companions.  After a spell I got up with the empty coffee cup and closed Bible amazed that I had wondered if there were souls around me in need of someone's prayers.

Risky Business

It is risky business for preachers to give altar calls at the end of a sermon.  When I was growing up, it was not so uncommon.  It did not happen after every sermon, but no one was really surprised when it did happen.  There were some folks who wanted the preacher to give an altar call after every sermon.  Today if an altar call is given, it is like a blanket invitation.  It is sorta like "whosoever feels like it, come" instead of something specific such as "Come and give your life to Jesus."   

It is risky business for preachers.  Some lay people are going to complain and say that it is embarrassing.  In their mind everyone who comes to church is already a Christian so an invitation to follow Jesus is not necessary.  Of course, some people are going to feel uncomfortable with such a pointed invitation.  Too many folks today equate feeling good about yourself and living a decent life with being a Christian and to suggest such an understanding is amiss is simply offensive.  If the preacher does dare offer an invitation to come and follow Jesus, it is possible no one will respond which might be embarrassing for the preacher and one of the most important thing to do on Sunday morning is to make sure everyone leaves feeling good.   

It is risky business for preachers. God may have brought someone to worship on a particular Sunday with a heart eager for the gospel and ready to say "Yes" to Jesus, but no opportunity is given which surely must be a disappointment to God.  It never has seemed like a good idea to disappoint God, or to risk His anger, but too many preachers have walked that dangerous ground, nonetheless.  It is risky business for preachers to give altar calls.  Sometimes, however, it is riskier not to give an invitation because the fear of the preacher may be getting in the way of important Kingdom work between some soul and God.

Coming, But Not Yet

Ever so slowly it comes,

   and then in a rush is here,

     like the sun gently rising

       to become a ball of fire,

         the hint of holy promise

touches dreams not yet dreamed.

 

The unseen now unfolding,

    changing what can now be seen

      into some breathtaking new

        that also has not been seen.

          No one knows from whence it comes,

this purpose filled plan of God.

 

As one squinting in bright sun,

    we look for markers not seen,

      on a way never walked,

        only knowing that all is new

           on this road to not yet seen,

but that faith will get us there.

      

         

A Question

There are times when I give thought to counting the churches I pass on Sunday morning as I make it to the one I attend.  It is obvious that one size does not fit all when it comes to churches.  One of the more obvious things is that there are many brands.  It is also obvious that many churches choose to keep the brand a secret,  or maybe no logo or denominational name on the sign means independent.  Autonomous is the going word for churches these days.   Growing up, mainline churches dominated the landscape, but such is no longer the case.  When considering the number of churches, mainline churches are like a drop in the bucket.    

Another thing my Sunday journey from here to there reveals is a few churches are large, but most are middle size or small.  One church has thousands attending and requires off duty police to direct traffic between the several morning services.  For those hurrying to other places, it makes sense to find an alternate route.  My years of noting cars in parking lot hints at the majority of churches having fifty, or maybe a hundred in worship which means they need no one to direct traffic.  Of course, one of the sad differences in now and back then are armed security people standing at the doors of so many churches, large and small.   

With so many churches in every neighborhood, it would seem that people in church would make up a greater percentage of the population than the group outside the walls of the community's churches, but as we know, we are a long way from seeing this happen.  A recent 2024 Gallop poll shows that 20% of the population attend church once a week, 41% once a month, and 57% seldom or never.  If churches want to grow, there are plenty of people out there.  One question is imperative to ask.  Does the church see the unchurched people as fodder for growth, or people with whom the church wants to share the unconditional love of God?

Restoring Community

One of the things created by the power of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was a community.  It was a community different from any other community in history because prior to that moment there had never been a community centered on Jesus and given its life by the Spirit of God.  As a Jesus centered community it was created to be a community where external things used to separate one person from another had no place and where love was the prime directive for its existence.  It was a community which reflected the heart of Jesus and one which expressed itself in the world as His hands and feet.   

In a day when there is so much divisive chaos present in the church, it is good to remember who we are.  In too many places we talk about the need for people to join together as one in Christ; yet, in the next minute we are spouting some rhetoric which can only be divisive as it denigrates others and exalts ourselves.  Will we never tire of talking about who is right and who is wrong?  There is much room for repentance in every corner of the church for we have forgotten the language of reconciliation and the way the love of Christ looks when it is given to the world.  Instead of wailing at the sins of others, we would be better served to kneel at the cross until we can do nothing but weep. 

It is time for forgetting about the other person and how far from the truth that person is living.  It is time for looking only at one person and that person is the one who looks back at us in the mirror.  What is the person in the mirror doing to promote reconciliation and express love?  There is much work which needs to be done to restore the community we are content to be broken and as is always the case, the first step toward that work is mine to take.  Any maybe yours, as well.

A Wish

When I was a younger man, it seemed that there were answers to every question and a way to resolve every theological quandary.  One of the things I took away from seminary was the idea that the scope of scholarly study would bring order to any confusion and second mile insight to the historically problematic parts of the Biblical words and its theological truths.  There was little, if anything, filed under mystery.  The younger man I once was knew more than he really could possibly know and the older man I have become knows he knows so little.    

What has overwhelmed me in recent years is the growing awareness of holy mystery.  It is on every page of the Holy Word we hold in our hands and it is in everything which touches us through the creation.  I remember one of my seminary courses in which we spent the entire quarter talking about the sacred and the profane.  It left an impression on an impressionable seminarian.  I still remember the text and the author.  However, as the years have brought me to where I am, I live convinced that there is nothing which can be defined as profane, or not sacred.  Everything from sunsets, to bugs, to critters that crawl and fly, to dirt and trees, to people like you and me have been touched by the creative hand of God and if touched by His hand, surely there the mark of holiness is left.  Indeed, the Lord God made them all.    

Instead of a world to be figured out and defined, I see myself living in a world where holy mystery is always unfolding, where God is in surprising ways revealing Himself to us through the ordinary, and "where every common bush is afire with God."  The world seen through the eyes of this old guy is much different than the one seen by the younger guy.  I wish I could have helped him see sooner.

The Frightening Word

There are times when we go to the Word of God out of habit, or because it is a daily duty, and then there are times when we go out of hunger for a Word from Him.  We open the pages looking and hoping and wondering if there will be something which so resonates with our spirit that we know it has to be from God.  What is surprising to us is that when such a Word comes, we are surprised.  We wonder if it is what it is, or if it is coincidence, or just something we want it to be. 

 Instead of racing to tell others God has spoken, we simply sit for a spell with a bit of lingering doubt and wondering awe.  Finally, there comes that moment when we allow faith to take hold and claim what God has said, and, perhaps, is promising.  While such moments are filled with a quiet euphoria and an assurance that we are not alone, it is also a most frightening moment because it means that something about our life is on the edge of changing,  Questions begin to roll over us like a thick rolling fog causing us in an instant to lose sight of our moorings to the past which is always the first step toward moving into the unknown future God is slowly clearing for us to see. 

Before we walk confidently and boldly into this new place or season God is preparing for us, we may find ourselves taking small, cautious, tentative steps.   It is a natural thing to hold to the past.  It is secure. It is where we have some sense of being in control.  It feels safe.  It is not, however, where we will have our hunger satisfied.  We will find no nourishment in leftover stale bread from the past.  We will only be nourished and satisfied as we take the new Word God is speaking to us and daring to let it lead us toward  His purposes for us.   

The Gift Given

When the offering plate is passed across the pews on Sunday morning, it is an opportunity for those of us who worship there to offer gifts to God.  When I started preaching back a long time ago, it was my standard response to those who wanted to withhold giving as a way of protesting the church's involvement with certain ministries deemed to be questionable.  Looking back I wonder if my defense of the church was more about my naivete, or hopefulness than reality.  

The deeper I got into the years of ministry, the church seemed to be more shaped and influenced by what I came to know as the consensus of popular opinion rather than the Word of God.  It not only troubled me, but caused me to wonder if the gift I wanted to give to God was getting to His hands.  More than anytime in all my years does it seem that the church has been politicized, suffered from theological schisms, and its sense of community broken into pieces by a spirit of antagonism instead of glued together by a spirit of love. 

With all of this staring me in the face, I still wonder some Sunday mornings about my gift reaching the hands of God.   For the time being, I have resolved this confusion by remembering that what I give is a gift.  Certainly, what I give to Him is only what He has first given to me, but as I turn it loose on Sunday morning, it is also my gift to Him.  Such is how I give it.  Such is the spirit of the act of giving.  Like any gift once it is given, it is no longer mine to control.  It is gone.  There is a blessing in the giving.  I am not going to allow the chaos and confusion to deny me the blessing of giving the gift. 

Two Kinds of Giving

Most churches have some kind of financial campaign in the fall.  From a practical standpoint, it gives the church a means of evaluating the financial resources it can expect as it plans its ministry expenses for the next year.  One of the negative notes in what seems like a very practical exercise is that it creates a profit/loss mentality and turns many church leaders into pseudo CEO's instead of spiritual leaders.  When this begins to happen, the spiritual dimension of faith on the part of the giver and the church often disappears from the equation.  

For too many of us faith is not too much of a factor as we think about our giving.  Some remember the Biblical words about tithing and the issue is settled.  Others simply give what they have always given since the first check was written.  No thinking is required.  Some have their own formulas and some decide to wait until all the bills are paid each month and give some of what is leftover.    One thing noticed about myself and the giving habits of the many I have known over the decades is that too many of us give out of our abundance.  

Jesus told a story about the giving of a poor widow and the rich people who gave alongside of her.  (Luke 21:1-4)   She was praised because she gave out of her poverty meaning her offering of two copper coins put tomorrow's provision at risk.  Those who were rich were noted by Jesus as those who gave out of their abundance meaning that when they gave they knew there would be enough left in their pockets to take care of tomorrow and the many they figured to follow.  The widow took a risk of faith as she trusted God.  The affluent ones gave more, but their giving reflected a trust in self just in case God did not provide what they figured to want or need.  If we missed the fall financial campaign of the church, the beginning of a new year provides an opportunity to look at our own giving to see if it points toward trusting in God or ourselves.

Public Praying

Praying in public is a hard thing.  There are some in the non liturgical tradition who are critical of written liturgical prayers being prayed Sunday after Sunday.  While I understand, it is also true that many a non liturgical preacher stands up to pray Sunday after Sunday covering the same waterfront with words so predictable it could be last Sunday's prayer.  It may not be a ritual from a book of worship, but it still bears the marks of a ritual under the guise of spontaneity.  Praying in public is a hard thing.   

The real difficulty in public praying is seen, or heard, as the one praying turns the praying into a commercial for the church calendar.  However, if you really want me to get on a soapbox, put me in a place where the one praying turns the prayer into a political statement.  If there is anything that makes me want to stand up and holler, "Stop...enough!" in the midst of a prayer, it is in those moments when the one praying forgets to Whom the prayer is directed.   Prayer is not a verbal address that plays to an audience, but a word spoken to God.   

Public praying should be directed toward God and it should direct those of us who are sharing in the prayer through listening toward God as well.  It should not direct us toward the person praying,  It is not a show or a performance, but an act of devotion toward the God of the universe. Public praying is not an opportunity to impress others with our eloquence, or to model the skill of a master wordsmith.  This kind of praying brings to mind some words of Jesus, "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward."   (Matthew 6:50).

The Question

How does one called by God choose to retire?  Does not faithfulness to the call of God exclude the possibility of retirement?  It was a question which came to me indirectly in a conversation shortly after I left the pulpit for the farm.  My initial response was to feel guilty.  Maybe there is no retirement for those called to preach was the consideration prompted by the conversation.  It took awhile, but I finally came to realize that the call to serve God was not lifted from my life.  What had been lifted was the call to preach, or as I have come to understand more completely, the urgency of preaching.    

This is not to say that at some point we are no longer of any value to God in regards to the work of His Kingdom.  Instead, it means that what He wants us to do may change through the seasons of our life.  I still value the occasional preaching opportunity, but I also know faithfulness to God does not require a personal commitment to preach every Sunday.  Faithfulness to God does require service, but not that particular service.  

Whether we are ordained or not ordained, it seems that God is always leading us into ministries that we may not have anticipated at some earlier season of our life and that a ministry which seemed like a ministry for life was more a ministry for a season of life.  Faithfulness to God's call on our life may be experienced more by the unfolding future rather than defining restraints of the past.  Each of us are called to serve Christ.  This is one of the things we accept at our baptism.  The question, "What do You want me to do, Lord?" is a question with an answer, but it may not be an answer for the rest of the days He gives to us. 

Within the Reach of His Voice

The place where God speaks is the place where God dwells.  The place where we are able to hear the voice of the Lord is wherever we are in any present moment of our life.  We may hear Him on Sunday morning in our sanctuary worship, but it will not be the only place.  We may hear Him in silence so still it hangs in the air or even in the midst of a city street so noisy we want to put our hands over our ears.  There is no place where the voice of the Lord cannot be spoken and there is no place where it is impossible for us to hear Him. 

In the 139th Psalm, we hear those familiar words, "Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.  If I take to the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea..even there...Your right hand shall hold me fast."  (Psalm 139:7-10). The passage proclaims that God is found in any place within the creation we can see as well as the creation which remains beyond the scope of our vision.  Wherever we find ourselves within this order of God, we are in a place His voice can be heard by our Spirit.   

We err if we think that God can only be heard in holy moments of worship, or quiet moments of personal devotions.  Once we are convinced that He is still desiring to speak to us and once we expect it to happen in our lives, we will discover that any moment and any place is one in which He may choose to speak a Word for our heart to hear.  We cannot go beyond the reach of His voice.  It will surely sound forth and our spirit will hear and know that it is the voice of the Lord.