What else actually matters?

 

I have led more funerals than I can remember in 4 decades of pastoral ministry.  My calling includes sharing God’s wisdom with wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters in their times of grief. God knows I have lived close to death in this last decade – Dad, Mom, wife, father-in-law, nephew, brother. Somehow I have managed that neat mental trick of convincing myself that while others die my own mortality is but a possibility far removed. But, yesterday, it was real.  Standing in a mausoleum where we were entombing the body of my late wife’s aunt, while my hand rested on the coffin and I said those words of committal -  “ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the certain hope of the Resurrection” –  I thought  “Jerry, you too will die and these words will be said over your coffin.”  Pleasant, isn’t it?

There was no fear in that moment just a jolting sense of time’s passing.  How I have spent my 65 years on this planet? When my kids sort through the ‘stuff’ I leave behind, what will they find?  What will the record of my day to day existence say about what I valued? When somebody gets up to talk about Jerry at a funeral sometime in the future will they have to fib a bit to be kind?  As to legacy, I know that about a decade after I’m gone  the waves will have washed my tracks from the sands of time. Those thoughts were not as grim in the thinking as they seem in the telling. The wisdom of this Psalm was renewed in my mind: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12, NIV)

Any thought of mortality, for me at least, involves my Christian hope, eternal life in Christ Jesus. I have boldly preached His words of promise - "In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2, NIV)  What will those words will mean when my diagnosis is terminal or when I have come to that age when my mortality is too obvious to ignore? Will death’s approach bring fear or dread, or will I leave without regrets, in an expectation of my ongoing existence in God’s Presence?

Timothy Keller, who served as pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, NY, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about a year ago. It is a deadly cancer that demanded he realize his own appointment with death lay not far in the future. In a recent article published in The Atlantic, he writes this.

“As death, the last enemy, became real to my heart, I realized that my beliefs would have to become just as real to my heart, or I wouldn’t be able to get through the day.  …

Kathy and I have discovered that the less we attempt to make this world into a heaven, the more we are able to enjoy it. No longer are we burdening it with demands impossible for it to fulfill. We have found that the simplest things—from sun on the water and flowers in the vase to our own embraces, sex, and conversation—bring more joy than ever. This has taken us by surprise. This change was not an overnight revolution. As God’s reality dawns more on my heart, slowly and painfully and through many tears, the simplest pleasures of this world have become sources of daily happiness. It is only as I have become, for lack of a better term, more heavenly minded that I can see the material world for the astonishingly good divine gift that it is.”

He admits that in spite of teaching and writing of Christian faith, he had to do much work with both head and heart to find that peace. Wisely, Keller turned to the Word, to the assurances of the goodness of God. He studied, anew, the Resurrection of Jesus, which is the linchpin of Christian hope. Indeed, Paul says as much - "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." (1 Corinthians 15:14, NIV) Paraphrasing Keller, “If Jesus was raised from the dead, then we must pay attention to everything He says. If He was not raised, then we need not pay Him any attention at all.”

As we move through this 2021 Lenten season, let’s do what Christians have done through the ages –
reflect on the grim darkness of the approaching Cross while
knowing of the sure coming of the glorious dawn of Resurrection morning. 

Both are necessary to our faith. We cannot fully appreciate the hope to which we are called in Christ IF we are too much in love with this present life. When we accept the inevitability of our own death - hopefully later rather than sooner – we gain a higher view of our lives.  We will more readily let go of the trinkets of our existence to take hold of that which matters most.  And what is that?

Our word from the Word reminds us of what remains! "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:12-13, NIV)

Let’s love God -heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love others well.  What else actually matters?
____________

Graves Into Gardens

I searched the world but it couldn't fill me

Man's empty praise and treasures that fade

Are never enough

Then You came along and put me back together

And every desire is now satisfied here in Your love

 

Oh there's nothing better than You

There's nothing better than You

Lord there's nothing

Nothing is better than You

 

I'm not afraid to show You my weakness

My failures and flaws

Lord You've seen them all

And You still call me friend

 

'Cause the God of the mountain

Is the God of the valley

And there's not a place

Your mercy and grace won't find me again

 

You turn mourning to dancing

You give beauty for ashes

You turn shame into glory

You're the only one who can

 

You turn graves into gardens

You turn bones into armies

You turn seas into highways

You're the only one who can

 

Brandon Lake | Chris Brown | Steven Furtick | Tiffany Hudson

© 2019 Music by Elevation Worship Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Maverick City Publishing Worldwide (Admin. by Heritage Worship Publishing)

Bethel Music Publishing

 

CCLI License # 810055

Victory over the darkness

 

Monday afternoon, a day off from ministry for me, while taking care of household chores, a dark mood started to settle over me.  When I am tired and alone I know that I am vulnerable to thoughts that include sorrow, fear of the future, and self-doubt. I am not simply at the mercy of the emotional winds that blow over me, however. 

It is within my power to choose to resist the devil and to ‘take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’  That is why, that afternoon, I made a choice to change the atmosphere!  I stood up and walked about the house while I prayed aloud, reviewing the many gifts of God that I enjoy. My prayer started in lament and ended in praise.

I thanked God for my godly heritage, for the grace of Christ Jesus, for my eternal hope. I thanked him for the privilege of Christian ministry, the opportunity to love others in His Name. I thanked Him for 41 years of love that I shared with Bev, for our children and His grace gifts to them, for friends, for my home, for abundance in so many ways, for His faithfulness through the trials …. And on it went.  

Memory is like a web, one story woven with another.  On the shelves of my memory, there are stories of changed lives, celebrations, milestone achievements, and God's wonderful works. In remembering my faith was strengthened. (If you know me, you know I shed some tears, too!)  The light of God’s love brightened the day and my heart rested in Him.

Is your faith taking a beating in life right now?  Does it seems that God is far away, that some difficulty is too big to overcome? Does doubt cloud your mind? Take charge of your thoughts! "With Jesus’ help, let us continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by proclaiming the glory of his name." (Hebrews 13:15, NLT) 

Foster calls it the ‘discipline of celebration.’ You can do it.  It need not be silly, nor insincere. Victory over the darkness is not won by shouting louder than your enemy, but rather by refocusing your thoughts on the Eternal Goodness of God!  It is not a mental trick that we do.  We invite the Holy Spirit to come as our Comforter, as Jesus promised.

Bring to mind a victory or two from your past and give thanks to God. If you can't remember one from your own 'faith story' then borrow a testimony of another and thank God for His faithfulness.  If that fails, go find a story in your Bible - Daniel in the lion's den when God showed up and closed the lion's mouth; young David on the field of battle confronting Goliath in the name of the LORD of Israel; or Paul and Silas in the jail in Philippi singing worship songs at midnight until God rocked the house! Read one of those aloud and thank God that He is with you in your struggle.

Praise that is authentic brings the defeat of the demons of despair.

We must memorialize, in appropriate ways, those things that help us to remember that God answers prayer, that He grants peace, that He will gift us with His joy. The Bible tells us about many times when the people of God paused to build a memorial or to write a record for the purpose of reminding future generations of the goodness of God. 

• Malachi tells us that "those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name. “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child." (Malachi 3:16-17, NLT) They remembered, praised, and found renewal of faith!

• After a spectacular miracle at the crossing of the Jordan River, Joshua instructed Israel to "choose twelve men, one from each tribe. Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’ ... We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever." (Joshua 4:2-7, NLT)
  

Christian, this of which I speak today is more than positive thinking. To be sure there is an element of positivity here, but the true key to our personal victory is PRAISE and WORSHIP. Choosing to humble ourselves before the Lord, to surrender our need to know ‘why,’ and to choose, instead, to offer Him our praise, renews our appreciation for His greatness and increases the faith that allows us to experience His providence.  Praise renews our hope given to us through Jesus Christ. We bring our worshipful praise to Him as a sacrifice, which He finds deeply pleasing.

You can change the atmosphere! You can take charge of those thoughts. The word from the Word tells us that "we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it." (Hebrews 4:14-16, NLT)  

Go ahead, offer a sacrifice of praise right now. Make it sincere, even if it's simple. Then, add another and another. Soon, you will have discovered the amazing power of praise, for praise ushers us into the Presence of God.

______________

10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)

(this song is a great one for praise-filled worship)

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

O my soul!

Worship His holy name!

Sing like never before

O my soul.

I'll worship Your holy name.

 

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning.

It's time to sing Your song again!

Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me,

Let me be singing when the evening comes.

 

You're rich in love and You're slow to anger.

Your name is great and Your heart is kind.

For all Your goodness I will keep on singing,

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

O my soul!

Worship His holy name!

Sing like never before

O my soul.

I'll worship Your holy name.

 

And on that day when my strength is failing,

The end draws near and my time has come.

Still my soul will sing Your praise unending,

Ten thousand years and then forevermore.

 

Worship Your holy name

Worship Your holy name

 

Jonas Myrin | Matt Redman

© 2011 Said And Done Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

SHOUT! Music Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

 

When the Dark Overwhelms

 

I have been a Christian for my entire adult life, imperfectly devoted to Christ. In those decades I, like every human being, have known seasons of sickness, death, and disappointment. Sometimes there is wonderful peace and great comfort and sometimes it seems, from where I stand, that God is silent. Sincere and caring friends assure me that "God has a plan."  I never doubt that He does, nor do I question His love, but I find the assurances something less than comforting.

In the dark times I long for is a word from Heaven, the Spirit's comfort. “Jesus, please touch me anew with Your love,” I pray.  My faith in God is not called into question for I know Him well and trust Him. It is His silence that is hard to bear.

John of the Cross gave us the phrase “dark night of the soul.” If you are experiencing spiritual silence, know that you are not unique. David alludes to his spiritual thirst when he  lived in a "dry desert."  "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." (Psalm 63:1, NIV)  Jeremiah is called, “The Weeping Prophet.” Martin Luther, father of the Reformation, said that he went through times of melancholy that felt as if they would ruin him.  

Ah, yes, my fellow pilgrim, ‘dry times’ and ‘dark nights’ are a common experience among the faithful.  David’s words comfort for me  when he sings - "I will praise you with songs. I will be careful to live a blameless life— when will you come to help me?" (Psalm 101:1-2, NLT) In a much more desperate tone, he cries: "Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food." (Psalm 102:1-4, NIV)

There are some important decisions we make when our way seems hidden, when the night presses in our us. What then can we do?

First is to continue faithfully in what He has said in the past through His Word.
God’s will for us does not change in those seasons when His voice is stilled. He is God. Our love and service continues and He knows.

Second is to keep things eternal at the forefront of thought.
We may well be tempted to try to find solace for our soul’s ache in food, sex, buying some new thing, or a vacation.  Rest is important. Taking a ‘break’ can bring renewal, but beware of the Tempter’s desire to turn your eyes to lesser things in an attempt to satisfy the thirst of the soul for Living Water.

Third is to go "Steady on, to endure!"
This is the directive of the Word for such times. "Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong." (Hebrews 12:13, NLT)

Fourth, “stay with the flock!”
When we are feeling the stress of a broken heart or a troubled soul, we may feel like isolating ourselves. The company of other Christians who appear to be full of joy, who seem to know Him as their Friend, may grate on us.

Stick with the flock. Let the faith of others carry you. If you know someone in a dark time the Lord’s direction is this - "Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law." (Galatians 6:2, The Message)

Finally, let yourself weep. 
I am not talking about self-pity. That is an ugly thing.  Our emotions are one of the ways our God alerts us to an unmet need, a hidden sin, or even His desire to mature our faith.  If we pretend that we are ‘just fine,’ if we will not admit to our ache, we may miss His grace. To question God's seeming absence is no sin.

To wonder why we are not able to hear His voice or sense the comfort of the Spirit is quite acceptable. However, if we accuse Him of being uncaring, unloving, or unjust we have believed a lie and in that falsehood doubt will flourish and bitterness will take root. The Word warns that from that root of bitterness comes great and troubling discontent!If you are bearing the silence of God, I invite you to reach out to a friend, to a pastor, and ask for prayer. Let a Psalm such as the 23^rd fill your mind. And, wait patiently.  The Lord sees our weakness and Jesus, our Heavenly Advocate, prays for us. “O God, keep me faithful.” He will do it, for His glory and His own Name's sake.

The word from the Word today reminds us of our choice to trust His faithfulness.
"All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.
So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation!
For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.
We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God’s comfort. …

We are confident that he will continue to deliver us. He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us.  As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people’s prayers for our safety have been answered." (2 Corinthians 1:3-11, NLT)

______________

Mourning Into Dancing

You have turned my mourning into dancing, Lord
Now my feet are filled with your praise
You have clothed my spirit with a robe of joy
You’ve cast my sorrow away

For Your anger last but a moment, Lord
And my tears endure for the night
But Your favor lasts for a lifetime, Lord
My joy returns with the morning light 

For . . .

You have turned my mourning into dancing, Lord
Now my feet are filled with your praise
You have clothed my spirit with a robe of joy
You’ve cast my sorrow away

All my foes lose heart when they hear my voice
For I speak in Jesus’ Name
They turn back in fear at the sound of praise
I’ll not keep silent, I must proclaim 

That . . .

You have turned my mourning into dancing, Lord
Now my feet are filled with your praise
You have clothed my spirit with a robe of joy
You’ve cast my sorrow away

Words and music by John G. Elliott Copyright 1989 LCS Songs (a div. of Lorenz Creative Services)/Charlie Monk Music. All rights reserved

 

 

Where do we go from here?

 

 “I just don’t understand it all.”  I seldom turn on the news anymore which is a huge shift for me, once a news addict. I purposefully ignore politics, another shift.  It is inarguably true – America has rapidly lurched in a new direction in the last 12 months.  Once widely held values about faith, family, self-sufficiency, and responsibility are quickly disappearing.  Belief in ‘God,’ the Personal deity Who came to us in the Person of Jesus Christ, Who desires to know us and Who’s will for us is compelling, is being erased from our public conversation.

Russell Moore, in his book, Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel, writes of his conversation with a woman who identified herself as politically progressive, atheist, and lesbian. She was curious about Biblical  Christians and they had a respectful discussion of core Christian beliefs and practices. She told him that he was the first person she had ever met who thought that sex belonged only in marriage between a man and woman. At the end of the conversation she said, “So, do you see how strange what you are saying sounds to those of us out here in “normal America?”

Before you stop reading and conclude that Jerry is a sad old man lost in the haze of nostalgia about  the ‘good, old days’ let me complete my thoughts, then you can decide.  I would be the first to tell you that the myth of a “Christian America” is largely that – a myth. The Founders were not evangelical Christians, nor were their lives marked by impeccable morality!  The racism of the 19^th century, the sexism of the 20^th, the war-mongering of the military industrial complex – yes, that was America.  

At the same time, I can rightly insist that foundational ideas about humanity, the basic values that shaped our nation: freedom, individuality, monogamy, respect for law, industriousness, responsibility, a theoretical ideal of equality for all – are ideas drawn from the Bible.  Scripture gives us a high view of humanity – informing us that are made by our Creator who ‘endowed us with inalienable rights’ and that ultimate justice flowed from the knowledge that all – great and small- would stand before His judgment. Even those who had no personal knowledge of God were affected by the assumptions that formed the world they lived in. That world view is still existing, but not for long given that those who shape our society discarded even the forms of Christianity long ago.

The question I am wrestling with is – how should I respond to this quickly changing world?

• We have seen some descend into anger, the ready to engage in culture wars, using every lever of power to try to hang onto what once was. That has only served to deepen the divide and convinced those of a secular mindset to dismiss Christians as cranks or worse, religious terrorists.
  
  
• Some of us are afraid, in full retreat, concluding that the best way to ensure the survival of Christianity is to live inside of an isolated sub-culture.

• And there are those who keep trying to tell us that the self-denial that part of being a disciple of Christ must be redefined by rounding off the sharp edges of conviction to make “Jesus” more acceptable. In some churches the cross – a symbol of sacrifice, is taken off the walls, too divisive to display.  The call to seek the best and highest expression of faith in a life devoted to God is replaced with a ‘moral, therapeutic deism,’  a God that exists at the fringes of ‘real’ life to make us ‘happy and self-fulfilled.’  The message that “God wants to have your best life now” fills our heads. 

In short, too often what passes for Christianity in 2021 is a thin veneer of “Jesus” is laid over lives that are, for the most part, indistinguishable from those of unbelievers. How will Christianity weather the storm in which she finds herself? 

My prayer is that Believers will seek a robust faith.  I hope that the institutionalized Christianity will become a deeply personal daily way of life. I fully expect that serving Jesus with Biblical convictions will have greater costs in terms of rejection of friends, family loss, and social ostracism.

But, just as God used the exile in Babylon to reshape the Jewish nation, to preserve His Word and people in new ways when they returned to Jerusalem a generation later, I believe He will use the ‘social exile’ of the Church to make His disciples distinctly different. Our hope will not be in our culture, but in Christ and His Cross, in our eternal home.  In these things, we will become, once again, messengers of the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Jesus describes His followers as ‘salt and light,’ engaged with the world in which they live as a preservative and flavor, yet as distinct from that world as light is from darkness!  

In Matthew 5 Jesus describes the ‘blessed life.’  Serious study of His challenging words will reveal that we must recapture a faith that is Christ-centered rather than self-centered.  I close with the ‘Blesseds’ as the word from the Word.  Read Jesus’ words and ask yourself – is this the life I desire as I love and follow Him?”

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:3-12, NIV)

May Jesus’ love and beauty so fill us that the radiance lights our dark world. Amen.

___________________

How Great Is Our God

 

The splendor of the King

Clothed in majesty

Let all the earth rejoice

All the earth rejoice

He wraps Himself in light

And darkness tries to hide

And trembles at His voice

And trembles at His voice

 

How great is our God

Sing with me

How great is our God

And all will see how great

How great is our God

 

And age to age He stands

And time is in His hands

Beginning and the End

Beginning and the End

The Godhead three in one

Father Spirit Son

The Lion and the Lamb

The Lion and the Lamb

 

Name above all names

Worthy of all praise

My heart will sing

How great is our God

 

Chris Tomlin | Ed Cash | Jesse Reeves

© 2004 sixsteps Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Vamos Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055