A Friday To Remember

The wind in my face was bitterly cold in downtown Dallas a few years ago. My continuing education classes had ended at the seminary in nearby Ft. Worth, so the afternoon was free for some sightseeing.

A chill came over me independent of the temperature when I walked onto Dealey Plaza and saw firsthand those sights emblazoned in my memory: Elm Street, the triple overpass and the sixth floor window.

 I thought back to that terrible Friday in November, 1963. Our class had just returned from lunch when Mr. Vines, our principal, made an announcement on the intercom.

“Boys and girls,” he said, “some of you may’ve heard already that our president’s been shot. Let’s try to finish out the day in school and I’ll let you know the latest news when I hear more.”

Nevertheless, the senseless death of President Kennedy so paralyzed us that I don’t remember our doing much work in school that Friday afternoon. I remember being glued to the television throughout the weekend and during the funeral on Monday.

That Friday in November will live in the bad memory section of my brain forever.

This week the world remembers another bleak Friday on which Jesus of Nazareth was murdered.

His death was senseless, too, for he’d done no wrong. In fact, bribed witnesses had to be brought in to lie about him at his trial. One of the thieves who died with him realized Jesus' innocence: “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23: 41).

British writer Richard Jefferies told of a little boy who gazed at a graphic painting of Calvary and exclaimed, “If God had been there, he wouldn’t have let them do it!”

But God was there! He wasn't removed from the event at Calvary. Paul insisted “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19).

God was present at the cross, and he showed us that he loves us in spite of disobedience, that he offers forgiveness to all and that he wants to be our partner in building a life filled with hope.

God’s redemptive plan wasn’t completed on Friday. The Father was faithful to his son and raised him on the third day. Now God promises to welcome all his children on the other side of death.

In light of God’s ultimate plan we believers have renamed that awful Friday. 

We call it Good Friday. 

And so it is.

Is Conflict The Will of God? Part Two

I’ve read and preached about Paul and Silas singing praise to God at midnight in the Philippian jail for many years, but I had a new thought lately; namely, that it should’ve been Paul and Barnabas singing in jail. These men had been partners on Paul’s First Missionary Journey. When they determined to go again and visit the new churches, the men had what Dr. Luke called “a sharp contention” (Acts 15:39). Paul and Barnabas, as far as we know, never worked together again. 

Anytime sharp objects are around, people are liable to be hurt. I am living testimony to this fact. I have scars on two fingers due to handling sharp objects. Sharp contentions can do damage to people. And sharp contentions can do damage to churches.

Churches get conflicted over a variety of things.

I remember Betty who got very upset when we decided to remove two small rooms and enlarge our fellowship hall. Betty’s teacher was fine with moving her Sunday School class, but Betty angrily told me she thought she could never come back since we were removing the room where she met God. We know in our heart of hearts that a church is more than a building—a building can be destroyed but the church will live on. A Sunday School class is more than a room, too. But it’s always been interesting to me that Betty’s faith was room-centered!

Incidentally, we ended up using portable dividers and putting four classes in the enlarged room.

When churches face conflict, we must remember the priority of obedience to God and scripture, to be sure, but we must also underscore the priority of people. The church is in the people business. If we fail here, we’ve failed utterly.

Sometimes pastors joke about “blessed subtractions” rather than additions. They mean that some old codger moved to another church and the church he left is better off. I’ve never believed this. I believe everyone is valuable, and sincere believers can work out differences and remain family.

For seven years it was my privilege to stand in the pulpit of the First Baptist Church in Selma, Ala. I would look up to the balcony area and see two beautiful stained glass windows. One depicted Jesus as the Good Shepherd. He carried a lamb on his shoulders, reminding us that the Good Shepherd left the ninety and nine in search of the one who was lost. And the second window depicted the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. She was lonely and despised, but Jesus saw her as valuable to God and the kingdom.

There’s no question Jesus taught us to value every person. People are too valuable to discard.

Where Is God?

The ancient patriarch Job felt all alone in his suffering. He said, “Oh, that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat (Job 23: 2)!

I’ve heard people echo Job’s lament over the years. “Where is God when I need him?” or “God doesn’t hear my prayers!” or “What did I do to deserve this?” We’re human and forsakenness is a common emotion in our humanity. “Nobody knows the sorrow I’ve seen,” the old spiritual says.

But we find an interesting take from the apologist C. S. Lewis. He knew pain when his wife, Joy, died of cancer. In “A Grief Observed,” he wrote about his sorrow and his questioning of God. But he came to trust God once again and wrote some tantalizing words about pain: “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

The sufferings of life get our attention and make us see we’re not self-sufficient. We often feel so when things are going our way--when there’s health and money and all the attendant pleasures of life. But when we lose any of these things we’re reminded of our humanity and vulnerability to loss.

The apostle Paul knew pain as well. He called is a “thorn” in his body, but never explained what it was. My favorite theory is the stoning he received in Lystra where he was dragged out of the city and left for dead. Without emergency medical treatment we’re accustomed to, I can imagine he had internal organ damage and broken bones that never completely healed. Whatever his pain he cried out to God for its removal. It wasn’t removed, but he did get something from God: the promise of God’s presence and the promise of God’s grace.

This is why many faithful saints became so through suffering. Many of our hymn-writers wrote from personal pain, but also about the comfort they found in partnership with God. I’ve known many senior saints over the years who’ve wrestled with pain, but who, nonetheless, have developed an unshakeable confidence in the goodness of the Lord.

Scripture asserts that no one of us is truly forsaken despite our feelings that we are. The psalm writer said, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Some of our pain is inexplicable this side of heaven, and we’re promised an accounting one day. Until then, we’re exhorted to trust in the goodness of God and his ultimate plan of fulfillment in our lives.

He is not an absentee deity!

Is Conflict In The Church The Will Of God?

Most Bible readers know the story of Paul and Silas singing praises to the Lord in their Philippian jail cell at midnight (Acts 16). Pastors and other Bible teachers use this story to illustrate the difference Christ makes in our hearts and minds despite the adverse circumstances we sometimes face in our lives.  

An inmate told me once about the screams of “newbies” on the first night of incarceration as they felt the full weight of what they faced over the next years. But I’ve heard something entirely different in prison chapels when inmates with renewed hope praise God in worship.

But one thing we often overlook is that Silas was an “accidental tourist,” to borrow a movie title from several years ago. He probably never dreamed about the adventures he’d have as a companion to the greatest missionary who ever lived.

The Antioch church sent Paul and Barnabas on a Mediterranean mission that we remember as Paul’s First Missionary Journey. John Mark, a relative of Barnabas, accompanied these two gospel warhorses for a time. Then he decided to go home in midstream. The two missionaries faced disagreement when they determined to go again and encourage the new churches. Barnabas wanted to give Mark another chance, while Paul believed him to be unreliable. Accordingly, Barnabas took Mark with him and Paul took a new partner, Silas.

If two great leaders like Paul and Barnabas had conflict, it’s no wonder modern Christians sometimes face disagreement, too.

But is conflict the will of God? Some argue that this disagreement resulted in two mission trips and this was good. Others insist if the two men had worked out their differences it would’ve been much better.

I’ve known several congregations over the years that have parted ways due to conflict. One church did so when a majority of the members voted to ask a former pastor to return, but a sizable minority thought the church needed new leadership. The majority group, however, fell short of the mandate required in the by-laws, so the motion failed. Those who voted to ask the minister to return formed a new church with him as their pastor! The mother church was left behind, hurt and wounded.

We know the God of the Bible specializes in turning our failures into successes, and he can and does bless work founded on less than optimum circumstances. But I've always believed there is a better way to do God's work. If Paul and Barnabas had agreed to disagree, but nevertheless supported and prayed for the other's work, the outcome would've been better.

God is pleased when his people live together in harmony while serving him.

Two Great Questions

Most presidential campaigns have moments of humor, but the campaign of 2016 was tops in every regard! If it weren’t for the seriousness of the task, choosing a Commander-in-Chief, we’d have tuned in every day just for stress relief.

Many of us remember another moment of levity in 1992. Texas businessman H. Ross Perot threw his hat into the presidential ring and selected Admiral James Stockdale as his running mate. The vice-presidential debate was on Oct. 13 at Georgia Tech University. Right out of the chute, Stockdale’s first words to the nation were: “Who am I? Why am I here?” He became fodder for late-night comics for many months to come.

This caricature of Admiral Stockdale is unfortunate since he was a decorated Naval officer, a Vietnam veteran and a former POW.

But his two questions are good ones for followers of Christ.

Who am I?

As a Christian, I am a minister in the church of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul makes this very clear in Ephesians 4: 12. He said that the pastor’s job is to mature the saints for the work of ministry. Every Christian is a minister, or servant, and every Christian must busy himself or herself in the work of the Lord. Our ministries are varied, but each has significance.

I think it’s unfortunate we often categorize laypeople as being somewhat less in the pecking order than the vocational minister. Paul likens Christians to parts of a body, and insisted the body is impaired if one or more body parts refuses to function. I’ve often told congregations that the validity of ministry is never determined by the spotlight. Some ministry is very public, but most is outside the view of the masses. This doesn’t make such ministry any less valid.

Why am I here?

This question is more esoteric than the first. Why was I born in America and in the deep South in the year I was? It’s the stuff of science fiction when people travel back in time, or forward in time, and consider how their lives would’ve been different had they lived in that era. Believers affirm that our lives aren’t results of chance. God, the giver of life and the foundation of all wisdom, determined in some way that we be placed where we are in the era we’re born to fulfill a noble purpose. As Mordecai told Queen Esther so long ago, “Who knows that you’ve come to royalty for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

God placed us where we are because he knew it was the best time and place for our lives to have purpose.

Admiral Stockdale’s questions are good ones for us to ponder.

A God Who Speaks Our Language

I don’t know if C.S. Lewis originated the concept, but he at least popularized the idea that Christianity isn’t a religion, but a relationship.

His reasoning was that religion is what humanity does in order to please God, and Christianity espouses that we can’t do anything to earn favor with God. As Paul wrote: “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy . . .” (Titus 3:5).

Humanity has done some strange things in order to please God over the years, and some terrible things, too.

James Michener’s “Hawaii,” published in 1959, has been called a “hit piece” on Christianity and Christian missionaries. The charge is that the missionaries corrupted the native Hawaiian culture. What Michener downplays is that some Hawaiians were sacrificing their infants to the fire god, Oro, when the Christian missionaries found them. The Hawaiians did this in order to earn the favor of their god.

Paul himself was very religious when he took up the cause of persecuting the church. He was a Pharisee which meant he’d been through pretty rigorous training for God’s work. But he met Christ on the road to Damascus and found something that had been missing in his life. He found new faith and a new life purpose in partnership with Christ.

It’s always been striking to me that Dr. Luke specified in Acts 26 that Jesus spoke to Paul in Aramaic on this occasion. Aramaic is not pure Hebrew, but a conversational version of it. Mel Gibson chose to use Aramaic in his film, “The Passion of the Christ.” Most of the biblical films I’ve seen have God or Christ speaking British English, which is different from American English. The only exception is Johnny Cash’s 1973 film about the life of Christ called “Gospel Road” in which the actors spoke Southern English!

I think the point is that God speaks our language, no matter what it is. American Gideons have published the Bible in some 100 languages. God speaks to everyone through his word, and he has also called pastors and missionaries to preach the gospel in the language of all people throughout the earth. So, the God of the Bible finds a way to communicate his love to everyone.

In a unique way, God summons us to himself. We come to him for forgiveness and salvation, find ourselves “in him” in relationship and one day will be with him in eternity. The Christian faith is from top to bottom a relationship with the risen Christ. We celebrate his gift of fellowship with us not based on our goodness but on his initiative. He’s a seeking God.

Mephibosheth and Me

Christian author Max Lucado popularized the Old Testament character Mephibosheth for our generation. Mephibosheth was King Saul’s grandson and apparently the last of Saul’s lineage when David became king. David could’ve sought revenge and had him killed, but instead decided to show kindness to Mephibosheth since he was the son of David’s friend Jonathan.

I’m sure Mephibosheth dreaded his audience with the king, but was surprised at David’s announcement. The king said he would restore Saul’s property to Mephibosheth, adopt him as his ward and provide a place at the king’s table for him forever (2 Samuel 9:6-9).

Lucado insisted Mephibosheth is us. He was crippled from a fall he suffered as a child, just as we’re crippled by our fall since we’ve all fallen short of God’s plan (Romans 3:23). And through no merit on our part, a king has invited us into his family and to dine at this table. What a beautiful picture of salvation!

I think this is also a story of forgiveness. The Old Testament has many bloody stories of revenge, and David would’ve been within his rights to abolish any threat to his kingdom. But instead he put old difficulties with Saul behind and moved on in renewed relationship.

Nobody said forgiveness was easy, but it’s commanded of us by our heavenly father. Every time we pray The Lord’s Prayer we’re reminded to forgive others.

I met David Azbell two years ago at a political items collectors’ show in Plains, Ga. David was press liaison for former Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace. While cataloguing items for the state archives, David found a copy of a letter Wallace wrote in 1995 to Arthur Bremer, who at the time was an inmate at the Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown. David discovered only the governor’s secretary who typed it knew about the letter, and that it wasn’t for public reading.

Following is the text of the letter:

Dear Arthur:

Your shooting me in 1972 has caused me a lot of discomfort and pain. I am a born-again Christian. I love you. I have asked our Heavenly Father to touch your heart, and I hope that you will ask Him for forgiveness of your sin so you can go to Heaven like I am going Heaven.

I hope that we can get to know each other better. We have heard of each other a long time.

Please seek our Heavenly Father because I love you, and I am going to Heaven, and I want you to be going, too.

Sincerely,

George C. Wallace

P.S. Please let Jesus Christ become your Personal Savior.

If Gov. Wallace could forgive the man who shot him, the offenses I struggle with seem so trivial.

The Greatest of These Is Love

Karen Carpenter was the preeminent voice of the 70s. Along with her brother Richard she sold 160 million record albums. Karen sang love songs. “We’ve Only Just Begun” has been used at countless weddings over the years since she introduced it to the world.

But in his book, “Little Girl Blue,” Randy L. Schmidt revealed that Karen Carpenter searched for love and never seemed to find it. Another of her songs is autobiographic: “I'll say goodbye to love / no one ever cared if I should live or die / time and time again the chance for love has passed me by / and all I know of love is how to live without it / I just can't seem to find it.”

Carpenter died on Feb. 4, 1983 at age 32. Hers is a story of supreme sadness.

The 1980 movie, “Urban Cowboy,” featured the song, "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places." This is a good summary of our world.

In our search for love, we need to start at right place, and the Bible says, “God is love.”

The Greeks had more verbs than we do. We use the single verb “love” when we say, “I love my wife,” “I love my cat” or “I love yogurt.” The Greeks had “philos” for brotherly love and “eros” for passionate love. But they also had “agape” used exclusively in the New Testament to describe the love of God. 

The Apostle Paul wrote that God demonstrated the depth of his “agape” by sending Christ to die for us, and now God has placed his “agape” in our hearts (Romans 5:12, 5). So the progression is that God, who is love, showed his love for us and now has placed his love in our hearts. And it is this love that demonstrates to the world that we are Christians according to Jesus (John 13:35).

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 describes God’s love in the heart of Christians. Paul insisted that love doesn’t focus on itself, love values others, love is kind to others, love is not angry with others and love doesn’t seek revenge.

Christian art has used three symbols for the three abiding principles Paul wrote about. Faith is represented by the cross, hope by the anchor and love by the heart. All are important. Without faith, we couldn’t become Christians since salvation mandates we have faith in God’s work through Christ. Hope gives us the will to endure when things are tough. But Paul concluded that the greatest of these is love. God’s agape in our hearts roots out the things that shouldn’t be there and molds us into the image of Christ who is our greatest example.

On Birthdays

I was the new pastor at the church, and a deacon took me to meet a senior saint. She greeted us at the door and said, "I've been wanting to meet the new preacher, and my, you're just a boy!"

I shared that story with the congregation and later at her funeral when I reminisced about the first time I met her. But, it's been a long time since anyone's mistaken me for a boy!

There are a number of lists that make it to Facebook from time-to-time about the advantages of getting older. One is there are no more lessons to be learned the hard way, and another is in a hostage situation, you're among the first to be released!

Another advantage is that other aging baby boomers appreciate the illustrations I use in preaching.

Last Sunday I commented about the time we collected furniture for a family whose apartment burned, and how someone decided the collection point for the furniture should be the parsonage yard! I told our folks our house looked like Sanford and Son. The seniors remembered this program that featured a junk yard in Fred Sanford's front yard, but the younger people had a blank stare in their eyes. On another occasion I told about the prophet Amos, the Southern farmer who went to the North to preach in the city, and likened him to "The Beverly Hillbillies." Again it was an effective illustration for the old.

But there are a number of more serious advantages to growing older. One is wisdom. We seniors gained wisdom from making foolish decisions as young people. Seniors can be a source of knowledge and guidance to the young. The position of elder was important to ancient Israel and to the new-founded church in the New Testament. The recent Christian movie, "The War Room," featured a senior saint who taught a younger lady how to be a good spouse.

Another advantage is that seniors have learned the primacy of family. Many of us look back with some regret we were so busy climbing the corporate ladder that family time so often took a back seat. And the time we now spend with our grandchildren and the way we overlook the messes they make sometimes reminds us how short we were with our own children when they made messes. We can apologize to our adult children, and we can exhort them to cherish the moments with their small children at home.

And seniors can echo the triumphant testimony of King David about the faithfulness of the Lord: "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread" (Psalm 37:25).

On Self-Image

I wouldn't call it a "God thing" as our church kids say sometimes, but rather a coincidence. I picked up a book on the life of Karen Carpenter when I took my grandson to the library a week ago and began to read it last Saturday. I saw that her untimely death was on February 4, 1983--34 years to the day I opened the book. Hers was the voice of a generation. At times it was described as a voice with a smile, and at other times a voice dripping with sorrow. Her short and tragic life was filled with pathos, and her music remains a favorite of my generation.

Carpenter became the poster child for eating disorders. We didn't know as much about anorexia and bulimia in those days, but we've made some progress in this area, though it's estimated some five million Americans yet suffer from this disorder.

Filmmakers produced a documentary called "Thin" in 2006. The film follows several months in the lives of young women with eating disorders after they checked in to a Florida clinic.

In one scene the counselor affixed butcher paper to the wall and asked a patient to draw her image. Then she asked the patient to back up to the wall where the counselor traced her image inside the previous image. The two images were dramatic. The real image fit neatly inside the projected image. In other words, the anorexic patient saw herself as overweight and unattractive, though she clearly was not.

We talk about self-image a lot in the church, and we often find ourselves betwixt two polarities.

On the one hand the Bible is quite clear that we're all sinners and have fallen short of God's plan (Romans 3:23). We follow the example of our first parents in Eden and willfully step aside from the will of God. St. Augustine once remarked that "every man is the Adam of his own soul." He meant that we have Adam in us and have a propensity to make bad choices as he did.

Our Presbyterian friends include a time of confession in every worship service. I think we ought to follow their example and be given opportunity to reflect on our sinfulness and on God's mercy every time we worship.

On the other hand, the Bible tells us that we're "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). Unlike the animals we're made in God's image and we're people of value for whom Christ died. So we are worth a great deal to our Creator.

Finding the proper self-image as Christians is often a challenge. Somewhere between these two polarities lies a golden mean that makes for a balanced spiritual life.

Body Life

The late Ray Stedman was in Birmingham several years ago and I had opportunity to speak to him a few minutes.

Stedman wrote "Body Life" in 1972, and he told me he was surprised this little book had been translated and distributed all over the world. In it Stedman related how he tried to administer a church uniquely--he led spiritual gift discovery and asked church members to use their gifts in ministry. Often our tact is entirely different. We decide what ministries we need, or our denomination decides for us, and then we go about persuading Christians to populate them. Inevitably we generate unhappy campers.

The biblical doctrine of spiritual gifts is refreshing and liberating. It declares every believer is a vital part of the body of Christ, the church, and has a function to perform. This doctrine does away with church being a spectator sport in which the majority do little or nothing. Someone likened the church to a football game: 22 men on the field desperately in need of rest, and 22,000 in the arena desperately in need of exercise!

Part of our misunderstanding is based on the "heretical comma" in Ephesians 4:12. There Paul wrote about the work of the pastor in apparently three respects. The comma after "saints" makes the verse seem to divide naturally into these three functions: the pastor is to mature the saints, do the work of ministry and build up the body of Christ, the church. But the punctuation was added by the translators since New Testament Greek had no punctuation. Here it does a disservice. When the comma is removed after "saints," it's clear that Paul exhorted pastors to mature the saints so they--the saints--can do the work of ministry. Then the body of Christ, the church, will be strengthened.

We perpetuate this misperception when we call the pastor "the minister," as though there is only one. Some churches have addressed this in their newsletters or websites by writing under the heading, "ministers," the phrase "all members," and then listing as "equipping ministers" the pastor, music minister and others.

Wise pastors see their role as teaching gift discovery, and encouraging Christians to step out in faith and use their gifts in service.

Motivational speaker and pastor John Maxwell often teaches pastors this concept in his seminars. He insists one simple thing pastors might do is take laypeople with them when they do ministry, giving laypeople opportunity to see it done and perhaps realize they can do it, too. Then the pastor steps aside and actually gives church members opportunity to try (or fly!) on their own.

The doctrine of spiritual giftedness could start a revolution in modern-day churches.

A More Excellent Way

He was deacon chairman in the church when I became the pastor. I was young and impressionable, and he made an impression on me. I still quote Horace, though he's been in heaven for many years, when I jokingly refer to the Sunday worship guide as the "bullington" as he did. Horace had a sense of humor, but everyone knew he loved the Lord and his church.

One day his wife Ruth told me the season of the year we were in at the time--summer--was particularly hard for Horace. I asked her what she meant, and she reminded me it was nominating season in the church, and Horace often found himself on the nominating committee. Then I understood.

Baptist churches begin their new church year in September or October, so the middle-to-late summer is the time we busy ourselves trying to staff organizations for the new year. And it can be a frustrating time. Some treat their volunteerism like a prison sentence: "Preacher, I've served my time," they say. What they mean is something else is now more important than this job. Then we try to "guilt trip" them into working one more year.

Nevertheless, I often lament that we do God's work in this way--putting square pegs in round holes--as the church is often accused of doing. There ought to be a better way.

The Apostle Paul insisted in 1 Corinthians 12 that God has given a "charismaton" to every Christian (v. 4). The word is based on the Greek word for grace, and it's translated "spiritual gift." Sometimes we equate the charismata with the tongue-speaking gift, but Paul labeled all gifts "charismaton." Thus all Christians are charismatic since all have spiritual gifts for service to the body of Christ, the church.

And it's in this context that Paul used two familiar analogies. He imagined a civil war in the body when the ear decided it wasn't as important as the eye, so it stopped working. And in the same way, the foot grew weary of playing second fiddle to the hand and decided to stop working (vs. 15-17). His point is that every member of the body is important and without every part in operation the body is impaired. And this is true in the spiritual body, the church.

The better way to operate might be to help people discover their gifts and to encourage them to obediently use those gifts in ministries. After all, serving the Lord is not only a privilege, but it's also designed to bring fulfillment and joy.

The better question might be, "How we can effectively use your spiritual gift in the advancement of God's work through our church?"

Set A Guard Over My Mouth

It's fun to watch a baby grow. They begin to pull on the furniture and stand up, to smile when they recognize a parent or sibling, and to say words for the first time while we good-naturedly argue over what we thought they said! The ability to communicate is one of God's best gifts, but the older I get the more I see the harm done by words. And followers of Christ aren't immune from causing harm.

Sometimes we say things we shouldn't and violate the privacy of others by calling it prayer concern.

I remember a lady who used to probe me in prayer meetings with questions like, "Now who is this?" and "What kind of surgery is it?"

Really it's not our prerogative to go into minutia like this. I've tried discreetly to call for prayer without going into details, all the while assuring attendees that God is aware of the need to a greater degree than us, and has promised to give grace to those in need and to those who care enough to humbly pray for them. The apostle James wrote, "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble'" (James 4:6).

I knew a pastor who sponsored a gossip chain years before we had e-mail chains. One of his ministries was to write letters of encouragement to those he met in itinerant ministry. His handwriting was distinctive and he wrote in beautiful language. But I got a letter from him once that was photocopied, so obviously he'd sent it to at least one other person. The letter explained in detail the charges leveled against one of our brothers who'd stumbled in ministry and been embarrassed in the media. I thought this gossipy letter very inappropriate no matter the status of the writer.

Another way we gossip today is through social media. Now I suppose it's harmless, though cruel, when someone takes a picture of the steak they're about to eat in the restaurant and posts it for the rest of us to see! But sometimes believers in Christ share feelings and emotions in public that would best be shared over coffee with a trusted friend. It's true all believers struggle at times, and this is why we need a close group of friends such as a prayer group or Sunday School class. Those in spiritual turmoil should be wary of putting these matters out in public where those with no faith can read and perhaps misunderstand.

The psalmist's prayer is good one: "Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3).

Things Beyond Our Control

"Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it" is attributed to Mark Twain. I thought about this on Sunday after so many churches cancelled services due to icy road conditions in our area. I'd much rather have delivered the sermon I labored on last week, but I suppose it will keep another week. I may even have some better insight after thinking about it a few more days.

The weather is one thing beyond the control of us mere mortals. And there are others.

One is the false assumptions people make.  

I was a hotel desk clerk many years ago when a traveler began to scream at me: "I have a confirmation number! It's right here." He never did understand that his confirmation was for the following night and we were currently full. He insisted on calling the manager at home who instructed me to release one of the rooms we had reserved for a later traveler who had the correct date on his confirmation.

We all struggle with false assumptions when we leap to conclusions that aren't correct. I've learned I can't control another's false assumptions, but I can control my own.

And it’s beyond my control to force a student to succeed. Every semester I see young people who begin well and then lose interest in their studies. I try to cajole them and to encourage them but it boils down to personal motivation. This is why I’ve found adult returning students are often the best students. They’re motivated, knowing this may be their last chance to get an education, and most likely they’re paying tuition themselves!

A pastor friend worried quite a bit about the declining Sunday night worship attendance in his church. He tried to shame his members and tried a number of other innovations to no avail. Finally he came to terms with this being something outside his control. He began to quote Yogi Berra: "If they ain't comin', you can't stop 'em."

And I'm burdened about people who have such potential for God's kingdom, but who live beneath their privilege. I see so many with energy and gifts and insights, but who don't seem to value their spiritual lives. But I have no control over this. Following Christ is a decision one must make for himself or herself. No one can ever be bullied or nagged into the fold.

Jesus met a person like this. "You are not far from the kingdom of God," he said (Mark12:34). We don't know whether this young man ever found his way to the kingdom.

Can anything be sadder than coming so close, yet falling short in the quest for spiritual significance?

The What If's Of Life

We'll soon hear about the new president's "first 100 days." Writer Thurston Clarke published a history in 2013 not of the president’s first 100 days, but of his last 100 days. The president is John Kennedy and the book documents what JFK was doing day-by-day before the tragedy of Dallas.

Clarke pulled together narratives from many sources and many cities.

The reader feels a sense of dread as the days tick by and Nov. 22 approaches.

An intriguing aspect of this book is the initiatives Kennedy began that he wasn’t able to complete.

He ordered the removal of 1000 American advisors from Vietnam by December, making clear he saw the war as unwinnable and planning to remove all U.S. troops before the war escalated. He also made secret overtures to Fidel Castro in Cuba, promising better relations if Castro would cease exporting soldiers to other Latin American nations.

JFK intended to seek an opening to China as well, many years before President Nixon’s historic trip. Kennedy pushed a tax cut bill that he believed would promote greater prosperity in the nation. He also took new interest in the plight of Soviet Jews and promised to do what he could to help them gain greater freedom.

And on a more personal note, the death of their newborn son, Patrick, brought the Kennedys to a new closeness in their marriage.

We can only imagine the “what if’s” had not the assassination taken place in November.

I’m convinced many of us are tormented with “what if’s” in our lives. “What if I’d gone to the doctor sooner?” or “What if I’d not driven that route that day?” or “What if I’d been morally stronger?”

Alas, the “what if’s” plague us, but there’s nothing we can do to alter the course of the past. No one of us, no matter how strong, is strong enough to pull back the hands of a clock.

This is why St. Paul’s word in Philippians 3 has always been one of my favorite texts in the season of New Year. “Forgetting those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the high calling of Christ,” he wrote (Phil. 3: 13-14).

We do learn from the past, to be sure, but Paul’s word is to forget the failings that discourage us and to infuse our lives with a new and greater purpose. The message of the Christian gospel is that there need not be any “has-beens” in God’s kingdom.

He is a God of mercy who specializes in restoring his wayward people from their failures and dashed hopes.

And he promises to be our partner in building a meaningful life of service to God and others.

On Making Peace

Someone had an interesting post on Facebook asking for sad personal stories in three words. A few responders used levity with "Donald Trump won" and "President Hillary Clinton." But other responders were gravely serious: "Nobody likes me," "children are hungry," "you have cancer" and "husband in heaven."

Our world is filled with turmoil and the holiday season accentuates the unrest so many people know.

How strange the words of the prophet Isaiah fall on our ears: the Messiah will be the prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6).

The Peace Pledge Union in the UK states we've had 250 wars since the end of World War II resulting in 50 million casualties. Our world will know "wars and rumors of wars" until God inaugurates the millennium.

But the Christ of Christmas promises peace in our hearts. He does this in two ways. First, he pays our sin debt and removes our estrangement from God. The apostle Paul wrote, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). And second, he gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be and do something that Christ in the flesh couldn't do: he would be "with" us and "in" us forever (John 15:17). It is the Holy Spirit who gives inner peace in a world of turmoil.

After we receive the gift of peace, we're exhorted to give ourselves to the noble task of peace-making. As St. Francis wrote so long ago, "Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace."

It was the greatest gamble of the Carter presidency when the president invited Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt to Camp David in 1977. The peace summit was fraught with difficulty and the president already had a statement prepared announcing the dissolution of peace talks had that been necessary. And on day 11, Sadat was packing to leave when Carter persuaded him to stay longer. The Camp David Peace Accords were reached on day 13.

The men returned to a joint session of Congress where President Carter quoted the prince of peace: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9).

President Sadat visited a new American president four years later, then took time to travel to Plains, Ga. to visit his old friend Jimmy Carter. The natives still remember "Sadat Day" on Aug. 9, 1981. Eight weeks later President Sadat was assassinated in Egypt by terrorists who disagreed with the Camp David Accords. He was only 62. But Sadat left behind a legacy of peace.

We are never so much like Christ as when we become peace-makers.

Christmas: Time of God's Open House

The prison warden circulated a note to inmates asking for suggestions on the kind of party they'd recommend for his 25th anniversary. The prisoners all had the same idea: open house!

 Christmas is the season when many people have “open house” parties. But “open house” is misnamed, isn’t it? When you plan an open house, do you invite everyone? I rather doubt it. We must be exclusive, for there isn’t enough food, or space or time to invite everyone. Some folks by necessity get left out

This is the way much of life is. Travel on an airplane is exclusive: one must purchase a ticket, come to the airport at the appointed hour and pass through security. College enrollment is exclusive: one must score well on the ACT or GRE, be accepted and pay tuition. Marriage is exclusive: one must find a willing mate, take a blood test, buy a license and locate an officiate. 

And sadly, some organizations are exclusive. Only certain kinds of people are welcomed. We build walls separating us from others and erect signs reading “Members Only” or “No Trespassing.”   

However, on the first Christmas in Bethlehem, the Creator God sponsored a non-exclusive open house. The invitation went out to everybody. Note the message given the shepherds: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to ALL people” (Luke 2:10, emphasis added).

It's significant that these shepherds received an angelic invitation. They were unclean men, both physically and religiously. Their work precluded matters of social decorum and religious ritual. The Old Testament law specified they would be unwelcome in the temple, and they probably were unwelcome at an inn. But they found welcome with a Nazarene family in a stable.

On the other side of the social spectrum were the wise men whose invitation was sealed with a star. They were intelligent, revered and probably wealthy. They, too, found a warm welcome at Bethlehem’s stable--not because of their bank account, but because they humbled themselves before the newborn king.

There were no walls, no barriers and no “members only” signs at the manger.

Later Jesus himself said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Here I am! I stand as the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Matthew 11:28, Revelation 3:20).

To a world of exclusion where petty men build walls of restriction, the message of Christmas comes: salvation is available to all people. God is throwing a party, and everybody’s welcomed.

The Season of Giving

Educators are warned about taking gifts from students, but I did get an interesting e-mail this week from a student, coincidentally just a few days before her final exam in speech class. She wrote, "I am planning on making some holiday treats for my teachers and wanted to know if you were allergic to anything or prefer something without chocolate."

I responded, "I am allergic to aspirin, so don't use that. And chocolate is a gift from God."

Gifts are a significant part of the Christmas season. I remember last year standing and talking with the convenience store clerk near our house. She told me another customer had been by and gave her $100 as a tip. I stood there rather sheepishly wondering if she wanted the same from me! But we do normally think of people at Christmas we might not think of at other times, such as the mail carrier or hairdresser or the like.

Giving is a significant part of the original and biblical Christmas. Even the smallest child can recite John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son . . ."

We were born into the world in order to live and hopefully make a contribution. Jesus was born to teach us about God and show us how to live, to be sure, but he was also born to die. John said in the Revelation that he "was slain from the foundation of the world" (13:8). This means that in eternity past God the father understood what he must do to effect our salvation, and the awesome price required.

The shadow of the cross was over Jesus even in Bethlehem. The baby was wrapped in swaddling clothes, very similar to the grave clothes used in that day to bury the dead. Surely the magi had another use in mind, but one of the common uses of myrrh was to embalm the dead.

The artist Holman Hunt is perhaps best known for his painting of Jesus holding a lantern and knocking on a door. But he painted another scene in 1873. The lad Jesus was wearied from working in Joseph's carpenter shop, and he went to the door to stretch his muscles. The setting sun facing him cast a shadow of a cross on the wall behind him. Mary in the background saw the image and froze in terror, recalling the prophecy shared with her about her son's future.

When we consider the depth of God's love for us at Christmastime, it makes any sacrifice in serving him on our part seem so trivial. As Isaac Watts wrote, "Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all."

Christmas . . . Again?

The Christmas season has returned, and for those of us in the church, we'll hear the same stories all over again. We've heard them since we were children and most of us know the stories by heart. Pity your poor pastor who must find something new to say though he's been preaching these same stories for 20 years!

But there's nothing wrong with familiar words.

Someone proposed a list of the five sweetest phrases in the English language:

 1. Sleep 'til noon.

2. Here's that $20 I owe you.

3. Paid in full.

4. All is forgiven.

5. I love you.

We've heard these before, but we never tire of hearing them again!

One of my seminary profs, Dr. Henley Barnett, took issue with the phrase, "back to the Bible." He insisted the Bible wasn't behind us. It's way out in front of us, he said, and we've not caught up with it yet. I think he was correct.

The familiar stories of Christmas yet speak to our need to press on in Christian maturity.

The angel told Mary that though she'd never been with a man, she would bear God's child. The Holy Spirit would accomplish this. So Mary gave her body to the Holy Spirit. Paul insisted that we must do this, too, since our bodies belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:19). Every Christian needs to grow in personal holiness.

The angel told Joseph that he mustn't break off with Mary, but remain and be a father to Jesus. Joseph determined to face the disbelief and scorn of his countrymen and fulfill this role. He was committed to God despite opposition. Modern believers can profit from his example.

The angels told the shepherds about Jesus. Though they were of a lower caste than the general citizenry, the shepherds came boldly to worship Jesus. They demonstrate that all us sinners can come to Jesus despite the categories society arbitrates, and that no one should look down on others in God's kingdom.

And the educated and wealthy wise men came to worship Jesus, giving him costly gifts. So we must give our gifts to him for it more blessed to give than to receive. The church receives the gifts of her members and uses them to honor God.

A few years ago a Christian university president resigned amid charges of financial malfeasance. These charges included private jets, lavish vacations, cars and clothes. But for every abuse of God's money there are 10,000 stories of churches using God's money to teach the Bible, support missionaries and help people in need.

 Are we there yet? Not hardly! The familiar stories of Christmas yet summon us forward in obedience to Christ.

Do-It-Yourself Religion

I always put a good coat of wax on our cars before winter sets in, and the SUV we traded for in August was next in line. But, I reasoned, the SUV is larger than my vehicle that I'd already done and waxing would take longer and be harder to do. I toyed with the idea of hiring this done and visited the webpage of a nearby auto detail store. When I saw a paste wax job was $150, I decided differently. As a former colleague once told me, "I’m the cheapest labor there is!"

So, the job is done and the vehicle's ready for winter. And I enjoyed seeing it sparkle in the sunlight today. That's about all I get out of this deal since it's the wife's car. As I often tell people I get it when it's dirty or needs gas.

A lot of folks are do-it-yourself-ers these days with the cost of labor so high. But in the spiritual realm we can't think we'll save money, time or effort in getting right with God.

John Wesley tried. He was raised in a decidedly Christian home. His mother, Suzanna, was truly a saint who taught her children to love God. Wesley attended Oxford where he and a few friends were so methodical in spiritual practice that they earned the name "Methodists." Wesley was ordained a deacon which was a precursor to service as a priest in the Church of England. Then he went to the American colony of Georgia to preach to the Native Americans. But nowhere along the way did Wesley feel he knew God. He returned to England believing he'd failed in his calling.

"I went to America to convert the Indians," he said, "but O my God, who will convert me?"

It was only when he went to a Bible study in Aldersgate that he felt his "heart strangely warmed" as the teacher expounded Paul's letter to the Romans. "I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death," he said.

Wesley found what people of faith have known throughout spiritual history. We're right with God when we trust him to do his work in our lives--work we can't do on our own.

As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it" (Ephesians 2: 8-9, NLT).