Glory! Glory! And Glory!

If I were writing a letter to former church members as Paul did to so many of those he touched with his ministry, it is likely that I would have said something like "Dear Friends,"  but the Apostle had a different view.  "To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae," he wrote.  Most of us are afraid of that word, "saint."  We do not have so much trouble applying it to some of the old timers who were spiritual giants for us, but we do have trouble using it to speak of ourselves.  However, if we take the Scripture seriously, it is our name.  It describes us.   

When we say "Yes" to Jesus, a true work of grace takes place in our life.  In another place and to another church the Apostle wrote about this mysterious work of the Spirit, "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new."  (II Corinthians 5:17)  With that simple word of faith on our part to what God has already done for us in Christ, a person who never existed suddenly stands in view for all the world to see.  None of us are the same when we accept Christ.  The Spirit works in our heart to make us a new creation, someone who has reclaimed that sacred identity given at conception, but somehow covered up and forgotten by a multitude of wrong choices that expressed our desire to take control of our life instead of living it in submission to God's will.     

In that moment of holy mystery, we become sinner changed by grace and one of the saints of God.  Glory!!  Our identity changes.  "But, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people...you were not a people, but now you are God's people."  (I Peter 2:9-10)  This is who we are. This is whom Christ has made us.   Glory! Glory!  And, Glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!"

The Right Stuff

When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church at Colossae, he began by doing what he did in all the other letters.  He identified himself.  He told the people who received the letter who was doing the writing.  He did not wait until the end when he finished writing, but at the very beginning so that there would be no confusion about who was writing what.  The very first verse says, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God..."    An apostle was one was sent or commissioned.  It was not a personal choice, but one made by God and, in this case, accepted by the Apostle Paul.    

Paul was not one to take on titles for personal exaltation.  He wore the title "Apostle" because he understood it to be "the will of God."  It always seemed a bit strange to me back in my seminary days that some folks showed up not because they sensed God calling them to ministry, but to see if the ministry really suited them.  And while I know some very good pastors today who went uncertain of their calling, it seemed to be something different to go to see if it fit their plans for the future.  Ambiguity about such an important matter did then and continues to be something out of place for those who seek to give leadership to the church.    

In Paul's case the gospel of Jesus Christ and its ministry was not something he chose, but something which chose him.  And once he came to an awareness of that divine choosing, he never looked back at what might have been.  It could be said that he was whole heartedly sold out for Jesus.  To remember a simple song, there was no turning back.  The church still needs those kinds of leaders today.  It does not need the "let's check it out" kind of leaders, but the ones who are so gripped by the power of the gospel, their love for Christ, and their conviciton of calling that their life is no longer theirs, but the Christ who calls them to come and die with Him.  

Looking Back

It has been a long, long time since I went before our Annual Conference Board of Ministry seeking admission to the Conference and ordination.  I do not remember too many of the details required, but one thing never forgotten is the text given to us for a sermon.  It was Colossians 1:13, "He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgivness of sins."  I typed it with a manual typewriter and can still see the way those words set on the pages.  It would be interesting to read that sermon after all these years, but it disappeared somewhere along the way as I went from one church to another.   

As I look back I realize it was a simple text.  It was one that spoke clearly a Word from God.  It was not one of those passages where the meaning is hidden and requires digging out one commentary after another.  The sermon was probably not one that struck the Board Members as something extraordinary, but it was at least good enough to get me to the altar where the Bishop's ordaining hands were laid upon my head.  There were times when the choice of ordination seemed too hard, but I am grateful for the trust God showed in me by calling me to preach. 

I cannot imagine living another life.  It was one which gave my life meaning and purpose and which enabled me to share in the joys and struggles of so many folks whose path interesected with mine.  There were ten congregations along the way who put up with me and loved me and I remember them with gratitude.  I can understand why the Apostle Paul spoke of praying for the churches which were a part of his life and ministry and why he always sought good things for them.  While the ministry God gave me may have blessed some of those churches, the blessings I received from them far outweighed anything I might have given.  

The One True Center

Daylight comes slowly.  The sun never seems to be in a hurry to show itself on the eastern horizon, but seems content to simply slowly invade the darkness so that what has been hidden for a night once again becomes visible.  The sun creeps when it is invisible beneath the line where sky meets earth and then with a burst of color, it shows itself and everything else that sits quietly waiting for its touch.  It comes slowly and suddenly.  It comes with subdued light and a burst of colors.   And though it never moves, the sun seems to take a journey across the sky above.     

We often speak of the sun moving as if the earth upon which we live is the center of the universe even though the sun is the constant and the earth is always moving around the sun spinning as it goes.  It seems easy for us to live with the illusion that we are the center and everything revolves around us.  Perhaps, that illusion is planted in us when we are newborn babies and everyone around us jumps at every sound which comes from our mouths.  It was surely an illusion embraced by the Garden of Eden couple who made the decision to put their desires at the center of the creation.  The truth forgotten long ago and forgotten even today is that there is only one center and it is not anyone of us.     

As the sun is the center of the creation as we know it, so is God the center of everything which is a part of the created order.  God is the constant.  He is the unchangeable One.  He is the one who brought an eternal light to bear upon a formless darkness (Genesis 1:1-5).  He is the center of all that is and all that is still to be.  In our mind we may think of ourselves as a mountain, but we are actually just a speck.  We are not the center of the universe.  We never have been and never will be.  Such a place belongs to God.

Thank You, Father.

There is no moment in this life as devastating as losing someone we love.  Most all of us have stood at the grave of a mother or father, a husband or wife, a daugher or son.  To set in words the sheer agony and grief which comes in those moments of loss goes far beyond the ability of any writer of words to describe. Broken hearts are not easy to define and neither are they ever really completely repaired.  These moments of loss are never moments we seek.  We run from them.  We deny them.  We do everything we can to keep them away, but still, despite our best efforts, they come.     

In those moments of darkness we are often tempted to turn our back on the One we think should have and could have brought us to a different outcome.  We might even find ourselves questioning His ability to understand.  And while God is not diminished or threatened by us as we shake our fist at Him, we also know in the deep places of our heart that the moment we seek to avoid, He chose.  He chose the darkness of death and separation as a way of expressing His love for each one of us.  And, what one of us can imagine such a love?   Would I have chosen to stand at the grave of someone I loved so deeply as a way of expressing love for a world of people who did not know me and would never honor such an act of sacrifice?  I know my answer.  

I would not make such a choice, but God did as He came to that moment of experiencing death at the cross.  He chose to go through the horrror of that moment because of His great love for you and me.  It was His way of providing for us a way to finally get our broken selves to a place of wholeness.  It was His way of opening the door for us to eternal life with Him.  We had through our choices turned our back on His choices for us and, yet, He still loved us enough to go through death itself to make a way for us to finally get Home again.  "Thank You, Father.  Thank You."

Faith

The invitation of Jesus to "Come and see" (John 1:39) is not an invitation to arrive, but to go.  It is an invitation which is focused not on the destination, but on the journey.  And like the journey to which Abraham was invited with the words, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you,"  (Genesis 12:1), it is a journey to what might be called "know not where."  When we decide to follow Jesus, we are not handed a book detailing all the twists and turns of the road, the dangerous places that are ahead, or even those other places which could be called comfort zones.   

While we begin the journey with Jesus as a faith response to what He has done for us on the cross, it is hard for us in the beginning to understand the real meaning of living by faith.  In the beginning it bears the marks of a grand exciting adventure and while such is true, it is also a hard way that will cause us to separate ourselves from things that are familiar, places that speak of security, and even people upon whom our life seems to depend.  What is unfathomable to us as we start is the reality that we will have at the end of the journey the very same thing with which we started it and that is nothing.    

Faith is about turning loose that we might take hold.  Faith is what enables us to turn loose of the things which are temporary so that our hands might be able to hold more tightly to the One who has the power to take us the final steps of the journey to our eternal Home.  When we come to those final moments of holding breath within us, everything will have been turned loose so that everything can be gained.  Faith in Christ slowly and surely takes us to such a moment when the gray shadows of earth are overwhelmed by the great glories of the eternal dwelling prepared for us.  

Wrestling with my Spirit

My father who was an avid fisherman spoke about the uniqueness of the Sabbath by saying, "You don't fish on Sunday.  Give the fish a day of rest."  And my mother did the same as her suddenly grown up son came home for a visit from college the first weekend and announced he would be sleeping instead of following the family tradition of going to church.  Whe she heard the announcmement, she simply said, "As long as you sleep under this roof, you go to church."  Her son got up, got dressed, and found his pew.  There was a day when keeping Sabbath was easy as it simply meant abstaining from anything which gave fun and pleasure.   

Later on in life as God began to enter the picture, I learned what He had to say about the uniqueness of the Sabbath.  It was found in Exodus 20:8-10 as one of the Big Ten, "Remember the Sabbath Day, and keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work..."  What seemed simple at first became more complicated as the journey of faith continued.  Being a preacher surely knocked a hole in that Word about not working on the Sabbath, particularly, if I kept the same day as Sabbath as everyone else in the world around me.  The holy Word about resting on the Sabbath became easy to look at with a justifying eye in the beginning and then later it became something just largely ignored with my stamp of personal expediency which said, "Does not apply."   

Of course, it did apply.   What God said about Sabbath keeping applies to everyone even preachers whose biggest work day is Sunday.  The simple solution was to use another day, but even then the root of the problem was ignored and justified.  Sabbath keeping calls us to live a life of balance between work and rest, a life which is rooted in dependency on God to provide, and a response of heartfelt gratitude.  Defining Sabbath by getting out of the pulpit or keeping the lawn mower under the shed trvializes an important holy Word which in my case at least is requiring a life time of spiritual wrestling.