The Spittin' Image

My father's death when I was seven years old was a moment that was then impossible too comprehend.  As I slowly moved toward the days which were awaiting me, one of the things I relished most was being told that I looked like my father.  "He's the spittin' image of his Daddy," was an oft heard comment and one that caused me to stand a little taller.  As a boy I would stand in the mirror and try to imitate the smile in the picture, or study the blue in my eyes which everyone said I got from him.  As a boy who had lost his father too soon, I wanted to be like him. I wanted to look like him.   

The Bible makes it clear that we are children of God.  He is our Father.  There is something within us that speaks of the "spittin' image of the Heavenly Father."  Such casual language is not meant to be disrespectful, but a way of speaking of how we are created with the imprint of God in our life.  We bear His image.  (Genesis 1:27).  Too soon we lose sight of who we are.  Holy is who we are.  His image is not seen as we behold our physical appearance, but is instead, a word which points to our unseen inner nature.  

This inner nature is transformed from who we have become to who we were created to be as the Holy Spirit is allowed to dwell and transform our heart so that more and more it outwardly expresses the spirit and heart of Jesus.  Theologians have a word for this powerful transforming work of grace in the heart.  Sanctification is the word which points to this work of grace.  In some circles, sanctification is spoken of mostly as an event confined to a moment, but more correctly understood, it is the process by which the Holy Spirit takes a surrendered heart and transforms it in such a way that it begins to bear the image of the Christ.  "May the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly..." (I Thessalonians 5:23)

The Way of Christ

There was a time when I thought I could live on the farm, never see anyone, never speak to anyone, and be content.  One of the things I learned about myself after some time had been spent at the farm was that while I value solitude and silence, being completely alone is not who I am.  The ancient Desert Fathers and the mystics did it, but I have a need for people that I simply cannot ignore.  

When God was doing the creation thing about which we read in Genesis, it was not enough to create man.  In the Creation narrative, we hear the Lord God saying, "It is not good that the man should be alone."  (Genesis 2:18).  In a short time there were families and communities where people shared life together.  There may be some who are called to live as hermits and find fulfillment in that lifestyle, but it is not something for the most of us.  We need one another.  We need the touch of others on our life and we need to touch the lives of those around us.  Even as the Garden of Eden speaks of the woman being a helper, so do we all need helpers in our life.  It matters not if we are male or female.

To acknowledge our need for helpers is to recognize that others need us to be their helpers.  In the letter to the churches of Galatia, the Apostle Paul wrote, "Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2).  Those words can be understood as Paul reminding the community to love one another.  We cannot bear the burdens of others, or love others in isolation.  It can only happen in a community.  The community may be small or large, but we all need one because it is within the community that we fulfill the way of Christ. 

Why Not Sooner

One of my favorite Hudson Taylor antidotes recorded in the biography which is a current read tells about a man named Mr. Ni, a long time resident of Ningpo.  Mr Ni was a Buddhist who had never come in contact with the gospel until he met Hudson Taylor.  When he heard about Christ, he was converted and became a student of the Bible.  A conversation is recorded between Mr. Ni and Taylor.  Unexpectedly he asked the missionary, "How long have you had the Glad Tidings in your country?  Taylor reluctantly replied, "Some hundreds of years."  The ex-Buddhist said in surprise, "What!  Hundreds of years? My father sought the Truth and died without finding it.  Oh, why did you not come sooner?"  

The church of our day has lost the urgency of the gospel.  We live in a culture where believing in something or anything is an acceptable alternative to believing in Christ. This position of accommodation has taken away the uniqueness of the Christ of the gospel.  Such a compromise may be embraced to keep from offending anyone, but it also refutes the reality of the Incarnation, the saving and forgiving power of the blood shed on the cross, and the victory accomplished through the resurrection.  

Jesus was not just a man who preached a message that merged with human created systems of theism. Neither did He come to become as a choice on the buffet table of religious thought. Instead, Jesus came as a presence who enables us to know the truth of God with us.  To truly be faithful to its calling, the church cannot speak of Jesus as being less the only One sent from God to show us the way to eternal life. So many people around us have not heard this message.  So many have not encountered Jesus. To paraphrase the convert from Buddhism, "Why are we waiting?  Why is the church not proclaiming Christ crucified and raised from the dead now instead of later?

Faith Based Missions

Before I finished a recent read about George Muller, a 19th century saint and caretaker for thousands of orphaned children, I was reading about one his contemporaries, Hudson Taylor.  Taylor is known for his mission work in China.  Like Muller, Taylor depended on God for providing funds and people to serve alongside of him in the mission work.  He, too, was a man of prayer as well as a man who trusted God without reservation.  In his day "faith missions were unheard of, the only organizations in existence being the regular denominational boards. "  ("Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret" by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor).  

The Zoar Church was one of the churches on my first Charge.  Every fall the church had on its schedule a week long Missions Conference.  As a greenhorn preacher, I had no idea what to expect when several missionaries from the Oriental Missionary Society came for a week to share their mission work and invite the members of the Zoar Church to make faith commitments to support their mission work.  These were missionaries who could not go back into their work until they had raised financial support from local churches like Zoar.  They gave flesh to mission work as they told stories of the work they were doing for God in far away countries.  

The missionaries who came to Zoar were spiritual descendants of Hudson Taylor.   Like him, they believed and practiced a faith based ministry.  My denomination sent and funded missionaries, but these folks were different.  They practiced a risky faith and they came to visit churches which supported them.  For many of us it was our first contact with a real missionary.  Taylor was passionate about presenting Christ to the people of China and those who serve Christ today in faith based ministries walk in his steps.   

Approach Boldly

A few days ago while reading the Scripture, a verse showed up that stayed long after the book was closed and life went on to other things.  It was one of those words that filled the mind whenever it went into a neutral mode and a word that seemed to hang out in the deep places of the heart.  No matter how well it seems to be pushed away from conscious thought, it just simply returns on its own accord.  From Hebrews 4:16 it speaks, "Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness..."  

It is a word that follows a section of Scripture which speaks of Jesus, the High Priest, being able to understand our weakness when confronted with temptation.  The words of those verses remind us that He, too, has been so tempted and tested only to do so without sin.  Jesus is the Priest who hears our confession, who understands, and invites us to approach the throne of grace with boldness.  We are not invited to a throne where judgement is dispensed.  We are not invited to a throne where we are obliterated into a sniveling mass on the floor by His majesty.  No!  We are invited to a throne where grace is given.  We are invited to a throne where what we do not deserve is given freely.   

We are not only invited to this throne of grace, but we are encouraged to come with boldness.  This is not an invitation to come in fear or dread.  We need not walk as one who has been beaten into the ground by our failure. No!  We are invited to come with boldness to the throne of grace because of the blood shed for us on the cross.  "Mercy there was great, and grace was free; pardon there was multiplied for me, There my burdened soul found liberty, at Calvary."  (Chorus for "At Calvary").  Ah, the cross where the blood was shed for you, for me.  Ah, the Throne of Grace.  Because of the Cross, we approach the Throne of Grace boldly! 

Fresh Wind

There must be value in predictable worship since it seems to be the norm across the Christian landscape. It can also be boring.  It can become something which requires only the activation of our mental autopilot.  As a pastor arriving in a new appointment, I can remember looking through the files of one church and seeing that there had been no change in the order of worship for over a decade.  There was no need for a printed order for Sunday worship in that place as all the regulars carried one in their head.  

It is not that there is something wrong with the Apostle's Creed, or the Doxology, or the choir anthem, but why is it necessary for it to be in the same spot every Sunday?  What would happen if the congregation was greeted with the Affirmation of Faith instead of "Good Morning?"  And on those Sundays when the sermon and the choir anthem fit together like a glove, why not end the service with the choir's musical offering?  The point is that there are different ways of doing the same thing.  

While it is true that worship can be made boring and uneventful regardless of any changes, it is also a possibility that doing things differently from time to time might enable people to stay awake longer.  It would also justify printing an Order of Worship.  It might even make worship less predicable which would seem to be a good thing since predictability has no intrinsic value.  Who knows?  It might even open some windows for some fresh Wind to blow.

Another Muller Musing

When I finished reading "George Muller of Bristol," I was reminded of one of the many things I have learned in these years of retirement.  Many a preacher has floundered after leaving the pulpit.  It is the same with any person who walks away from forty years of going to work.  It is not an easy transition for the prepared and impossible for the unprepared.  Muller started his orphanage work at age 30 and spent the next 40 years building and maintaining five orphanages which cared for thousands of children.  At age 70 he was led by God to begin what he called "missionary tours" to countries all over the world.  

These "missionary tours" would be called preaching missions today as he traveled and preached like an itinerant preacher.  From his seventieth to his eighty-seventh year, he traveled in forty-two countries.  The distance he traveled was over two hundred thousand miles which is equivalent to nearly eight journeys around the globe.  He preached over five thousand times to an estimated three million people.  In all these mission tours, he depended on God to provide his every need which included steamer fares, railroad journeys, hotel accommodation, food and living expenses.  It was funded by God just as had been the orphanage work. He prayed and without any appeal for human help, God provided.  Step by step the Lord led him forward, providing his needs as he went.  

As I walk toward my seventy-eighth birthday, I wonder how he did it.  Of course, I know how he did it.  He did what he did because of the grace of God and the way God used a man of such faith that we stand in wonder over a hundred years later.  Muller is certainly a witness to the way God takes our weakness to make His power known.  Could it be that many of us wallow around in a mire of uselessness because we are not asking God what He wants us to do?  One word of caution.  It might be a good thing not to ask unless you really want to know!