Getting In On The Ground Floor

Getting In On The Ground Floor

“They departed to their own country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12)  It’s a detail in the story that I had never noticed before.  How come the Magi don’t stay around?  Why don’t they follow Jesus wherever he goes?  Instead they return home.  But the answer is easy; they go home to tell their children and their children’s children, their neighbors and friends, that the savior of the world has been born and to prepare the way for the king of kings and Lord of Lords.  As the Bible tells us, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Anointed One, and he shall reign for ever and ever!”  By returning, the Magi are getting in on the ground floor of the Kingdom of Heaven, a kingdom which is from heaven but FOR this earth!  Some twenty years ago my best friend Katy mentioned to me that if I wanted to invest I should invest in a little company that had come to her attention, a company named Google.  Can you imagine how my fifty dollars (that was all I had) would have grown?  But all of us have a chance to invest in something far greater than even Google!  We can get in on the ground floor of the Kingdom of the Lord.  How can we do this?  We read in Isaiah 35, “the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose.”  I think of the researcher and scientist in Africa who has invented a way to turn dry land into fertile fields, and the many people who are stewarding their land and healing the earth in small and large ways, but also the grandmother who reads the stories of the Bible to her children, restoring life where despair has entered in.  How can we get in on the ground floor?  Ezekiel prophesies that one day the seas will team with fish and  I think of the young man, Boyan Slat who invented a way to clean up the thousands of tons of plastic in the oceans and is this day doing exactly that, but I also think of the promise that one day, “all tears will be wiped from the eyes” and how people are praying that they might have a heart like God’s; that they too might see their neighbor as the Lord sees him. On Sunday I will gather with my congregations in Hager City and in Ellsworth and in those assemblies we see ahead of time that great assembly that will be gathered round the throne. In this and in so many ways we can and are getting in on the ground floor of the kingdom and no investment however small will go to waste or be lost, every investment will have its reward and growth beyond what we can imagine.  And as if that were not enough, we ourselves are part of this new creation, this restoration of all things, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.”  We ourselves are the product of faith working through love, God working his great work, and “of the increase of his government and of his peace there shall be no end…on the throne of David…the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.” (Isaiah 9)

America's Bad Conscience

Two days ago I was listening to an old record with my mother, it was Tennessee Ernie Ford singing hymns.  I had never heard of him before  but my mother explained that he was famous and had had his own show back in the 1950’s.  As we listened I was struck by a thought.  In the 1950’s America had a good conscience.  We had just fought a war to right the wrong, to free the prisoner, to liberate the Jewish people from the concentration camps. We had a good conscience and you could hear it in the power and nobility of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s voice. But such peace of mind is rare.  Why?  Because unlike in a dictatorship we know that the buck stops with us.  In a democracy, it is the people who are responsible for both domestic and foreign policy.  In other countries, particularly those with no substantial history of democracy, conspiracy theories run rampant; many believe that some unknown elite, some “they” control the world.  In America we tend to know better.  We know that we are the “they.”  And we know in our heart that we have done wrong.  Certainly we have done good things but we have also been unjust and cruel.  And we think that God is angry with us.  Please understand that I do not deny that there is wrath; God would not be a good God were he not angry with oppression and injustice. Folks wiser than me have pointed out places where they can see God’s anger expressed.  But these same mentors have also taught me to beware of those who see God’s wrath everywhere but somehow never seem to get around to talking about Jesus much.  And my question both for you and for me is, “Do we see Jesus?”  Do we know what Jesus really means?  Do we hear what the Bible is saying about him? Do we understand that he is a demonstration, a gigantic billboard to all the wicked world inscribed with a very simple sentence, “You are forgiven.”  Do we hear what the angel says, “Peace on earth, goodwill to men?”  Except what it actually says is “peace on earth to men of delight,” in other words, God delights in wicked, disobedient mankind.  Do we understand that the Lord approves of us, that he delights in us?  God spoke to Israel, wicked Israel, oppressive Israel that did not hear or understand no matter what God did, (Isaiah 42) and what is his response?  “But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.When you pass through the waters I will be with you, they shall not overwhelm, when you go through the fire you shall not be burned…you are precious and honored in my sight and I love you.”

The other day as I drove to Rochester I was in great anxiety and I was moved to speak in tongues, a practice I had neglected. By the end of the drive my heart was deeply, profoundly comforted and I realized that for a long time now I have been a burden to others because of my worries. In God’s goodness I saw that I had done wrong to people I love and I saw that I was changed and could make a change. It is truly God’s goodness that gives us repentance.  Does America today see Jesus’ shining face and through him, see the love of the Father, see his great faithfulness and forgiveness and compassion?  Do we see his delight in us? When we do, and I pray this moment comes soon, we will look at ourselves and see that whether we are conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, all we like sheep have gone astray, that we have failed one another and that each of us has neglected his neighbor and failed in brotherly love and then we will turn around to victory and take in our inheritance, “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,  that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Cross: The Word of Truth

There are some moments that glimmer like gold.  I remember a discussion with my tutors in college and the air around us seemed to shine as we talked.  Where do these moments come from?   In the Bible we learn of the the “mercy seat.”  The mercy seat was the cover of the ark of the covenant.  It was gilded in gold an inch thick and on that cover, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would sprinkle a bit of the blood of the sacrifice and that year, the sins of the people would be “covered;” the sins of the people would lose their power and have no hold anymore.  And see the difference between our God and all other “gods.”  Other gods are appeased by sacrifice, their anger, mollified.  All of the false idols of man’s imagination require a payment in exchange for their good will.  They exist under some overarching law that requires…something.  Not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel.  Instead as Leviticus 17:11 tells us, he provides the sacrifice.  He gives the mercy seat.   Why?  Because he is faithful and he is loving.  He is who he is. Where there is a problem he fixes it.  Where there is sin, he renders it harmless,”they shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.” In Romans we read, “God set forth a mercy seat through faith in his blood.”  This even greater and more beautiful mercy seat is the Lord Jesus.  He takes away our sins.  How? “through faith,” but this faith is not our own faith of course, “all we like sheep had gone astray.” Rather Jesus on the cross where he shed his blood is mercy seat by the power of faith or as I like to translate, “establishment.”  But most important to remember, God was not angry with Jesus on the cross, his wrath was not “satisfied,” no overarching law or requirement was fulfilled.  Rather God did what he always does.  He saves, he makes things right.  In Genesis, God clothed Adam and Eve in skins, he knew that their fig leaves would not make the grade.  He gave what was precious to him in order that we might be comfortable and happy.  But on the cross he gives what is most precious to him, his beloved son so that we might be “more than conquerors.”  Our shining moments come from the gold mercy seat, the Lord Jesus, given by God, and as if that were not enough those golden times, (and fear not, these include our sorrows (Romans 5) as they work they way out into hope and love through the Holy Spirit), are but a downpayment (Hebrews 11), a glimpse of what is to come. Even now they are a reflection of the truth; the beautiful life that we have through his son the Lord Jesus.  The Lord rejoices over Zion with singing (Zephaniah) because of what he has done and given, in giving the Lord Jesus, mercy seat through faith. 

Dear Sister--Letters

Dear Sister,

I hope that you are doing all right.  I am glad to hear that the other ladies are nice and I know you are a big support to the other inmates.  We prayed for you in church this past Sunday.  My dad said that might want to hear a little about what we talked about on Sunday.  The Bible reading that we did was Psalm 1 and then after that, Acts 25.  I preached on Acts 25.  I talked about how Governor Porcius Festus (did you know his name means “Happy Pig” in English…the Romans liked to give people nicknames!) testifies to the King that Paul had done nothing “deserving death.”  When I started studying Acts 25, I was wondering why there was so much courtroom stuff in this chapter and in the chapters before.  How is this the gospel?  The Bible says things loud and clear but sometimes we are distracted and confused and it’s hard to hear but God is good and he gives us the answers.  I think the reason, first of all, that there’s “all this courtroom stuff” is because God wants us to get used to and prepared for trouble.  There are lots of Christians all over the world today that are in jail and in courtrooms.  The Bible says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that comes upon you…as though something strange were happening.” (I Peter 4)  But there’s a second reason for “all the courtroom stuff.”  The Bible wants to remind us of the courtroom of the Lord.  God is a judge sort of like Festus.  He (God) says to one, “You are right” and to the other, “you are wrong,” just like Festus said to Paul and his accusers.  I remember when our friend Z. was accused of shoplifting at K-Mart.  In the end the jury said to her, “you are in the right” (not guilty) and to K-Mart “you are wrong” (case closed). In Acts 25, we see God put his own word in the mouth of Festus.  Through Festus God declares Paul innocent.  Paul is in the right and his fellow Jews are in the wrong.  Isn’t it interesting that even though Festus doesn’t know the Lord, he honors and loves Festus anyway?  That’s our God, he’s so different from so many people.  In the Bible we learn about a Persian King, Cyrus.  He also did not know the Lord.  Here’s what it says in Isaiah 45, “Thus says the Lord to his Anointed, whose right hand I have held…I girded thee even though you don’t know me.”   

But you know, the main thing that I said on Sunday was something really surprising even to me, God has the sharpest sword in the world.  Why?  Because he is able to divide between man and his sin!  And in the courtroom of the world God says, “You are right” to mankind, and “you are wrong” to sin.  In fact, this is why there was the cross.  God’s word goes forth and prospers and blossoms and never fails of its purposes.  God’s word, “Yes!” to mankind and “No!” to sin and death and the devil, blossomed out and made the cross and the resurrection of Jesus the Anointed One.  Sister, there’s a lot of discouragement out there but the truth is encouragement.  God’s delight is to save all mankind. (I Timothy 2:4) I wanted to let you know about this. You certainly have encouraged me and I hope to encourage you too.

God bless you and all those who are with you both inmates and guards,

Amy

Take The Risk, Take The Responsibility, Follow Jesus

The kind and well-meaning nurse sighed and folded his arms.  He looked my mother in the eye and said, “you know it’s probably a good idea not to look on the internet.”  

Recently my stepfather Tom fainted and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.  It was the third time in a month that it had happened and my mother, understandably, was worried.  Of course her daughters, my sister and I sprang into action.  My sister drove to the hospital to be with my mom and stepfather, while I, living out of state, searched for information online.  There was certainly a lot to research, but  we are curious people in my family and we all wanted to know as much as possible.  So my mother would call me with a question and I would quickly google, and then read the various published papers and give her what I had.  My sister and mother were then armed with questions for the hospital staff.  These questions were, how shall we put this? —Not welcome.   As the granddaughter of two doctors and schooled by friends who are doctors and scientists, I think I understand the point of view of the medical community.  Patients researching their own conditions signal that they don’t trust the staff.  Patients and their families, googling online, seeking to diagnose their own condition can muck everything up.  They can harm themselves. The professionals are the ones in the know.  According to their lights, they and only they are qualified, and thus the nurse whom we admired and liked so much delivered his rebuke to my mother. But the real reason for his remark goes much deeper.  Before the Bible was translated into the various languages and then as those translations began to appear and be distributed, the priests grew increasingly alarmed and then began to actively inveigh against the people reading the Bible on their own.  It would, according to the Church, cause too much confusion, cause the people to distrust the religious authorities and even harm themselves.   Sound familiar?  And of course the priests were, in their way, quite correct.  Think of the destruction that has come from the heresies that have sprung up over the years! And yet, we know now that not only was it necessary, it is necessary for the people to read the Bible on their own, to be a check on the professionals, the people in the pews ever vigilant, weighing and criticizing the view from the pulpit.  As the prophet Jeremiah tells us, it is no longer the time for an authority figure to explain the Bible, the time of the new covenant is the time when the empowered people explain to one another (Jeremiah 31:34).  I stand in the pulpit and preach each Sunday but as my teachers in seminary taught me, it’s my goal was to work myself out of a job; to empower the people themselves to be the preachers.  This is not only the goal in our various congregations, this is our goal in a democracy, and yes, this should be our goal as patients too, but the remark of Tom’s nurse shows us the obvious: we have lost sight of this goal, lost the vision.  We are content to let others do the hard work for us. Content to “leave it to the professionals.” But this is not the way, instead God teaches us not to be afraid, to risk confusion and disaster and to be the adults, that through the Lord Jesus, He is giving us to be.