It is Sunday!

This past week it has seemed every day that tomorrow was Sunday.  Today, Sunday has finally arrived.  Yesterday I received a sign that tomorrow was Sunday when I overheard two preachers talking about tomorrow's sermon.  When I went to bed last night, I knew that the sun would rise tomorrow on Sunday, which is by the way, today.  Today is Sunday.  Today is, therefore, the day I will be blessed by the opportunity of going to a sanctuary to join with others to worship God.   

Perhaps, part of my inner confusion this week speaks of the lack of a fixed daily schedule such as I knew before retirement, but the truth which I know to be true is that it speaks of my longing for God.  There are times in our life when it might seem to us that we can get along fine without God.  Most of us are guilty of such at some point in the past which is a part of our life, but there have also been those times when something, or Someone, within us draws us toward Him as surely as the waters of the ocean are pulled by the distant moon.  Such is how the Holy Spirit has been drawing me in these recent days. 

A Psalm often quoted is the 42nd Psalm which begins with the words of longing, "As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."  (Psalm 42:1-2).  Sunday has finally come once again and while worshiping God is something we can do anytime and anywhere, it is good to gather in the house of the Lord.  "One thing I ask of the Lord, that will I seek after; to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." (Psalm 27:4).  Thank God it is Sunday once again!

The Lord God of the Universe

Isaiah 55:8-9 has a Word spoken in behalf of God through the prophet; therefore, we need to hear it as if it is the voice of God speaking to us.  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."  When trouble comes, and it will even as it has, and we find ourselves trying to figure the way forward, this Word reminds us of our first source of help.  

Our troubles may surprise us, but they never surprise God.  We can only see as far as the curve up ahead in the road, but God's vision gives Him sight we do not possess.   The good news is that He not only sees what we cannot see nor understand, but He sees them differently.  In other words, the trouble which we see as overwhelming and impossible to manage has been seen through different eyes and is being held in different hands.  

The passage in Romans which reminds us that God works for good in the lives of those who love Him (Romans 8:28) certainly speaks of the Lord God of the Universe as the One who is at work.  His thoughts and ways are different, higher, and better than ours.  The Lord God of the Universe can do what we deem to be impossible; therefore, the first step into any trouble should not be one of human determination, but one of faith.  

The Word and Prayer

George Muller, a spiritual giant of the 19th century and a great man of prayer, was influenced by an 18th century preacher who stood in the spotlight of religious life in America as a great evangelist.  George Whitefield is known for many things, but one of them is his prayer life.  He has an unusual discipline which brought together the Scripture and prayer.  "I began to read the Bible upon my knees; laying aside all other books and praying over...every line and word," he said.  While I have heard of praying the Scripture, this particular discipline was a new one for me to consider.   

I love to be in the room when someone is praying the Scripture.  It is one thing to quote Scripture while praying as some do when they pray and acknowledge something the Scripture says as a way of enforcing their request from God and another when someone speaks life into the Word as if it something not memorized, but something which has a voice that speaks more of the heart than the head.  Several times in the last year I have been blessed by being present in the sanctuary when someone led the congregation in such a prayer.  

There are obviously many ways of bringing together the Word and prayer.  I have a friend who lives in Korea.  She recently celebrated her 90th birthday.  I met her years ago when she came to visit her daughter who was a Minister of Music in the church I was serving.  Many years before her 90th birthday she began the practice of hand writing and copying the Scripture as a part of her quiet time with the Lord.  If I recall correctly she not too long ago finished her sixth journey through the Word and has gone back to Genesis again.  I have been blessed many times by the prayers of this saintly woman who brings together the Word and prayer in her spiritual journey.

The Resurrection Message

By the time I made it to seminary in 1970, it was obvious the church was not too concerned with heaven.  It was the beginning of an era when the church did not want to be regarded as being other worldly.  There was not really much need to worry since the church was in the process of becoming too earthly.  The church which was being accused of having been too other worldly was moving toward becoming a church that could only see what was in this world.  Service took the place of spirituality.  Sermons about life after death were reserved for the final words at the cemetery.   

At some point the church seems to have come to a place of being embarrassed to preach the resurrection of Jesus and the life that is promised in the heavenly place.  It became something which was out of step with the secularism of the culture and the church out of its desire to be attractive and to blend with culture started watering down what was left of any proclamations about the resurrected Jesus.  Easter Sunday sermons became messages about difficult things being made new instead of of preaching which announced that death has been overcome by the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.  

I Corinthians 15 makes it clear that the resurrection of Jesus is the primary doctrine of our faith.  Without the resurrection of Jesus, the church has no message and the only task remaining for it is to lock the doors after a final benediction.  The message that Jesus has died for us and has risen from the grave is a message which shakes the foundation of every power of evil and, yet, even now a congregation is fortunate to hear it boldly proclaimed at least one Sunday out of the year.  Anyone wanting to hear about heaven needs to go to a funeral instead of the church.  

The Muller Way

George Muller served God in 19th century England.  Though he struggled early in his life as he tried to figure out where God could best be served, God put him among the poor of Bristol.  He is known for establishing a network of orphanages to provide for the forgotten children who lived around him.  What made Muller and his ministry so unusual was his trust in God.  In his biography entitled "George Muller of Bristol," Arthur T. Pierson wrote, "George Muller believed, and because he believed, prayed; and praying, expected; and expecting, received."   

Muller was a man guided by the Word.  It is said that he made no decision without praying and seeking God's direction.  It was his policy to never ask anyone for funds to support his work among the children.  He was convinced that God would provide and He did.  When he and the children were eating the last morsel of food in the house, he was sure God would provide the food needed for the next.  He believed in God, the Word, and prayer.  Being one familiar with Muller and his faith in God, I was often ashamed of spending so much time during the years of my ministry with fund raising.  

It always concerned me that the church could do nothing unless it was budgeted and the promise of funding had been made through a stewardship campaign in the fall.  I often tried to find some way of getting the work of the church done without so much effort going to raising funds.  Actually, I did not try every way known to me because I knew the story of George Muller.  Muller's faith and God's generosity always provided enough.  I should have tried the Muller way. 

Weakness and Power

Anyone who reads the letters of Paul is going to discover that Paul's body was abused by hardship, suffering, and persecution. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, he spoke of "...imprisonments...floggings, and often near death...forty lashes minus one...stoning...shipwrecked...adrift at sea...hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked..." (II Corinthians 11:23-27).  In addition to all of the pains inflicted by others, he wrote, "a thorn was given me in the flesh..." (II Corinthians 12:7).  Three times he asked the Lord for relief, but it never came. Instead of healing, he heard the Lord say to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." (II Corinthians 12:9).  

Scholars have speculated about this thorn in the flesh.  Some have said epilepsy and others declared it to be a nagging wife.  Whatever it was, it seems to be something which caused him to experience a weakness which hindered him in doing the work he felt God was calling him to do.  There is a difference in being tired and experiencing weakness.  Sleep and rest can overcome being tired.  Weakness is not something which disappears.  It is something which greets us in the morning and goes to bed with us in the evening. 

There are times such as Paul experienced when the weakness we know is chronic and mental determination has no power to overcome it.  To hear God saying, "My grace is sufficient for you..." is to hear a Word which tells us that despite what we cannot see, God can see what is invisible to us and that we remain in His ongoing plan.  We remain in it and continue to be useful to Him not because of what we are able to do, but because of what He can and wants to do through us.  Even as we live in weakness, we know, too, that the resurrected power and presence of Christ dwells in us.   

I Resent That!

It was a big church on as much acreage, if not more, than the farm.  The buildings were many and massive.  The parking lots stretched forever.  Police show up every Sunday morning to direct the traffic. The grounds were manicured.  The grass was lush green and was so thick had my cows been turned loose in such grass they would have thought they were in cow heaven.  I had seen it all many since it was on a much traveled road.  This time it was different.  

When I left home, I had been watching news about the wildfires that were raging in south Georgia not far from where I was born and the 50 homes which were burned and gone in an instant.  As I drove by the church, I suddenly could see nothing but sprinkler systems shooting water on that lush green grass. Without even thinking I said aloud, "I resent that!"  A few hours south of those sprinklers, the land is so dry farmers can not plant.  Churches and communities are gathering to pray for rain.  People are cleaning out closets to provide clothing for folks whose homes are gone and collections of water and eye drops are being given to those fighting the smoke and fire.    

Neighbors are enduring a drought, the land is burning, and there was water being thrown into the air on grass that looked like a great green carpet.  "What about a little solidarity?" I thought,  "How can you water grass when the land in which your neighbor lives is burning?"  We are capable of being such an uncaring society and, unfortunately, the church often seems to be as uncaring as the secular culture.  Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself and just maybe turning off those sprinklers could become more of an expression of care and love than just saying we are praying for rain to come where the land is burning.