Reaching Across Burnt Bridges

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 6.23.12

Have you burned any bridges lately? Are you sure? Could you have burned a bridge without being aware of doing it? Next time you’re sitting in church, take a look around. Are there some folks missing? I don’t mean like on vacation missing, but who haven’t been to church for a month or two…or maybe a year or two. Maybe you can’t remember when he (or she) was last at church. You don’t know when he slipped away, but you realize you haven’t seen him in a really long time.

Actually, it’s kind of a sensitive situation, isn’t it? We’re not talking about someone who has never heard the truth before. This is a person who has walked in the truth but has turned away for one reason or another. How do we approach a missing member in a way that will not make the situation worse?

Chances are, the missing member didn’t quit coming because he changed his mind about what the truth was. A person quits attending church not on the basis of logic, but of feelings.

The easiest to trace is if the member had a disagreement with someone and quit coming to church because either his feelings were hurt or he just felt uncomfortable being around the person with whom he’d had the disagreement. That’s an obvious burnt bridge. Even though it’s more easily seen, it may be very difficult to fix. Hurt feelings that have been left to sit are really hard to sooth.

Sometimes, though, it’s not so much hurt feelings. Sometimes a person has lost the person in the family who kind of gave the family direction, or he just can’t imagine going to church without the person he sat next to for the last however many years. The problem isn’t hurt feelings, but too many feelings.

Maybe, though, there wasn’t one pivotal event that caused this person to quit coming to church. Maybe, as the years have gone by, he started feeling more and more invisible or unimportant, so one week he just stayed home. When nobody called to check, he just figured that nobody missed him, he might as well stay home another week or two. And he’s never been back.

I know what you’re thinking. “What’s your point, so-and-so hasn’t been to church in while – what’s that got to do with me? I didn’t do anything to him.”

You know what, you may be absolutely right. You may have had nothing to do with that person not coming to church anymore … but does that mean you and I don’t have any obligation to try to bring them back?

“‘What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!” I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.’” Matthew 15:4-7

It sounds to me like every single one of us is important to God. We spend quite a bit of time talking about the prodigal son – he knew he was lost and found his way back, and that’s fantastic. But sometimes, people can’t find their own way back into the safety of the church. They don’t know how to make that first step. They need our help.

“In the parables of the lost sheep and lost piece of silver, Jesus illustrated heaven’s attitude toward the backslidden—They should be carefully and tenderly led and educated as pupils in school. … They need the tenderest sympathy and the most judicious help; they should be carefully instructed; and should be prayed for and prayed with, watched and guarded with the kindest solicitude. Those who have fallen under temptation and have backslidden from God, need help. This class is represented in the lessons of Christ by the lost sheep. The shepherd left the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and hunted for the one lost sheep until he found it; he then returned with rejoicing, bearing it on his shoulder. Also by the illustration of the woman who searched for the lost piece of silver until she found it, and called together her neighbors to rejoice with her that the lost was found. The connection of heavenly angels with the Christian’s work is here brought clearly to light. There is more joy in the presence of the angels in heaven over one sinner that repents than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. There is joy with the Father and with Christ. All heaven is interested in the salvation of man. He who is instrumental in saving a soul is at liberty to rejoice; for angels of God have witnessed his efforts with the most intense interest, and rejoice with him in his success.” (E.G. White, Testimonies for the Church 4, p263-264.

You may or may not have heard the story of a man named Lt. Hiroo Onada. On March 10, 1974, Lt. Onada became the last World War II Japanese soldier to surrender. Think about that date for a minute – 1974. Wow!

Lt. Onada was just 22 years old when he was dropped off on the island of Lubang in the Philippines on December 25, 1944. His orders were to “carry on the mission even if Japan surrenders.”

For almost 30 years, people tried to convince him to surrender. They talked to him through loudspeakers, trying to explain that Japan had surrendered and was now an ally of the United States. They dropped leaflets to him letting him know that if he would surrender he could go home to Japan. But he would not surrender.

“Over the years he lived off the land and raided the fields and gardens of local citizens. He was responsible for killing at least 30 nationals during his 29 year personal war. Almost a half million dollars was spent trying to locate and convince him to surrender. 13,000 men were used to try to locate him.
“Finally, on March 10, 1974, almost 30 years after World War II ended, Onada surrendered his rusty sword after receiving a personal command from his former superior officer, who read the terms of the cease-fire order. Onada handed his sword to President Marcos, who pardoned him. The war was over.
“Onada was 22-years-old when left on the island. He returned a prematurely aged man of 52. Onada stated, ‘Nothing pleasant happened in the 29 years in the jungle.’”[1]

Do you know somebody who is out there in the wilderness, who doesn’t know he (or she) doesn’t have to fight the battle by himself (or herself) anymore? Jesus has won the war so that all of His sheep can be safely in His fold. It’s time to bring all the lost sheep home. It isn’t important why they left or who burned the bridge. What’s important is that we reach out to them and tell them that we love them and want them to come back and that Jesus loves them and died for them.

Time is short – we have lots of work to finish!

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[1] "Old Soldiers Never Die." Newsweek 25 March 1974: 51-52.

The Great Commission

I have learned that there are lots and lots of opinions floating around about The Great Commission.  It seems folks can't really agree on what it it; how it should be carried out; who should carry it and who  should receive it.

What am I missing?  Here we have Matthew's version:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"  Matthew 28:18-20

Mark's version:

“He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.'" Mark 16:15-20

And Luke's version:

“Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.'" Luke 24:45-49

Do you sense any ambiguity or disagreement at all?  Maybe I'm over-simplifying (It's one of my hobbies) but The Great Commission seems pretty straight forward to me.  What do you think?

Jesus sat everybody down around the campfire and said, “It's time to get to work.”  And with some serious nudging (ok shoving) from the Holy Spirit, these guys went from being the guys hiding in the upper room to being the men who set the world on fire for Jesus.  Wow.  They didn't have any problems understanding any part of what Jesus told them to do.  So, then, why do some folks make it so complicated?

You need to study the right books.  You need to go to these certain classes (that will incidentally cost you a fortune).  Little churches are better than big ones.  Big churches are better than little ones.  Small home groups are the only way.  Evangelism only worked in the old days.  Evangelism only works in other countries.  You have to have a big church budget. 

I really don't think the disciples worried about any of those things.  Jesus said, “Go” and they went.  Just like when He said, “Follow Me” and the did.  Not a lot of intellectualizing going on there.

Some people might say that the disciples had Jesus standing right there in front of them and so it was easier to follow Jesus instructions.  Maybe, but then that doesn't explain all the folks who didn't follow Jesus, even when He was right there with them everyday.  And, we have the added bonus of hindsight.  Just think how much differently things must have looked to the disciples when they didn't know how everything was going to turn out.  It's pretty easy for us to look back at them and think it looked pretty easy. 

I think the bigger issue is though, that we are really good at making excuses for not doing what we know we ought to be doing...well, ok, I'm speaking for myself.  But, if we can say we can't witness because we haven't had the right training or read the right books, then we can feel like we're off the hook for the moment, right?  We tell ourselves that we're not good at talking to strangers or giving sermons.  We don't know how to turn conversations around to God.  But we know, deep down, that none of those things matter to Jesus. 

I heard a man say on one of my favorite programs, Really Living, that only two things are really important:  to love Jesus with all of our heart and to teach other people to love Him too.

Pretty simple isn't it? 

So what still holds us back? I think sometimes we think it's just too hard.  But read this from Ellen White:

“In simple trusting faith believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Take right hold of a power which you cannot create but which is for you. Let the workers be filled with a spirit of cheerfulness and thanksgiving and rejoicing. Let every one make a personal consecration of himself or herself to God's service. Let them surrender their hearts to the working of the Holy Spirit, placing themselves in the right relation to God. It is time that we believed that all heaven is interested in the work before us. Christ came to this world to give Himself a sacrifice for the saving of sinners. Then believe, believe, that He will be with all who give themselves unreservedly to this work.” Bible Training School, December 1, 1905, “The Word of God”

That doesn't sound hard or complicated, does it?  “In simple trusting faith believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Yeah, I can do that.  I can take hold of Jesus power and be cheerful, thankful and ... rejoice-ful(?) ...  Anyway, I am willing to surrender my heart to the Holy Spirit and to be used by Jesus.  What about you?

I think sometimes we get caught up in wanting to do that big thing for God and never get around to it, because it involves money, planning, training, and other people.  And we're so busy waiting for time to do that big thing, that we miss a whole lot of little things we could do everyday.  Little things that may not even look like witnessing or evangelism or discipleship.  It's that whole, “Pay it forward” thing, only not so humanistic and new agey.  All Jesus ever asked us to do was to share His love and His salvation with the people we meet.  He didn't say we had to go to India to meet these people, but if you want to do that, that's great.  He didn't say we had to be great public speakers, but if you happen to be, great!  We don't even all have to be outgoing, gregarious people, because the quiet approach works too.  Each one of us has a personality trait, a gift, a talent, or an experience that Jesus gave us so that we could help someone learn about Him.  It doesn't have to be showy or even obvious to anyone, but the person Jesus put it there for...but they'll see it in you and be drawn to Jesus because of it.

Very simply, though, after all the discussion, all the excuses and all the delaying tactics, Jesus gave us a job to do.  And because He gave us the job, He gave us the tools to do it with.  Once we've surrendered to Him, He gives us everything we need to be His lead team – the folks who go out ahead of time and get people ready for His coming.

Remember that guy from the '80's football games who always stood on the front row and held up a sign with John 3:16 on it?  What did you think of him?  That he was kinda goofy?  But think about it...he was doing something for Jesus.  How many millions of people do you think saw that sign over the years?  I mean, how often do you remember seeing it?  I must have seen it 10 or 20 times at least!  Do you think it's just possible that somebody, somewhere saw that guy with the sign for the umpteenth time and thought, “Hmm, I wonder what that's about?”  Looked up the text and found what he (or she) had been looking for?  Do you think there will be anybody in Heaven because of that guy?  It's entirely possible...

The point is, that guy quit thinking about it and did something.  He didn't worry about what other folks thought.  I'll bet he took a lot of verbal abuse at the games, don't you?  And he had to pay admission for all those games – that was a lot of money.  But he went, and he watched the game, and spread the word about Jesus.  That doesn't sound that hard does it?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 

Artist, Architect, Author

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 3.17.12

“We’re interrupting your regularly scheduled activity for an important message from your Creator. Please stand by.”

Have you ever been going blindly and numbly about your everyday business and suddenly become aware that you are right in the middle of something that only God could have imagined before that moment?

I remember one Sunday morning, as I stepped out of my car to do my normal Sunday morning grocery shopping, the air above me, for as far as I could see, was filled with Canada Geese flying north for the summer. They were flying so high that I could just barely hear their honking, but I could see them as they swirled from one v-formation to another. I was mesmerized, frozen to the spot where I stood.  And then the geese were gone; the sky was empty, but I was left in awe of God’s delight in beauty.

When Ellen White was traveling in Europe, she and the folks with her had a similar experience.  Her description appears in a book written by D.A. Delafi, E.G. White in Europe 1885-1887.

“As Ellen White’s party left Norway they witnessed one of nature’s grandest spectacles—a northern sunset. Mrs. White loved the beauty of the natural world. To her, nature was God’s second book. She was awed by the grandeur:
‘We were favored with a sight of the most glorious sunset it was ever my privilege to behold. Language is inadequate to picture its beauty. The last beams of the setting sun, silver and gold, purple, amber, and crimson, shed their glories athwart the sky, growing brighter and brighter, rising higher and higher in the heavens, until it seemed that the gates of the city of God had been left ajar, and gleams of the inner glory were flashing through. For two hours the wondrous splendor continued to light up the cold northern sky,—a picture painted by the great Master-Artist upon the shifting canvas of the heavens. Like the smile of God it seemed, above all earthly homes, above the rock-bound plains, the rugged mountains, the lonely forests, through which our journey lay.’”[1]

You know, God didn’t have to make different types of trees or flowers or anything else. All the trees could have been the same.  He could have made things in black and white.  We never would have known the difference. Butterflies didn’t have to be beautiful to do their job. Birds didn’t have to sing pretty songs. Our God must love beauty, and He shared that beauty with us.  Breathtaking things in nature are like little taps on our shoulders, reminding us of all that God has done for us.

Even more astounding than God’s work in nature, though, is the artistry and skill He uses within His children.

Have you ever heard of Dr. Ben Carson?  In his book, Take the Risk, Dr. Carson describe the day that he asked God to be the architect of his character.

“One day, as a 14-year-old in ninth grade, I was hanging out at the house of my friend Bob, listening to his radio, when he suddenly leaned over and dialed the tuner to another station. I'd been enjoying the song playing on the first station, so I reached over and flipped it back. Bob switched stations again.
“A wave of rage welled up. Almost without thinking, I pulled out the pocketknife I always carried and, in one continuous motion, flicked open the blade and lunged viciously right at my friend's stomach. Incredibly, the point of the knife struck Bob's large metal buckle and the blade snapped off in my hands.
“Bob raised his eyes from the broken piece of metal in my hand to my face. He was too surprised to say anything. But I could read the terror in his eyes.
“‘I…I…I'm sorry!’ I sputtered, then dropped the knife and ran for home, horrified by the realization of what I'd just done.
“I burst into our empty house, locked myself in the bathroom, and sank to the floor, miserable and frightened. I could no longer deny that I had a severe anger problem, and that I'd never achieve my dream of being a doctor with an uncontrollable temper. I admitted to myself there was no way I could control it by myself. ‘Lord, please, you've got to help me,’ I prayed. ‘Take this temper away! You promised that if I ask anything in faith, you'll do it. I believe you can change me.’
“I slipped out and got a Bible. Back on the bathroom floor, I opened to the Book of Proverbs. The words of Proverbs 16:32—[‘He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city’]—convicted me, but also gave me hope. I felt God telling me that although he knew everything about me, he still loved me… That because he made me, he was the only one who could change me… And that he would. Gradually I stopped crying, my hands quit shaking, and I was filled with the assurance that God had answered my prayer.
Uncontrolled anger has never again been a threat to me or those around me. God has provided and will provide whatever strength I need to control my anger.”[2]

Isn’t God amazing? If we’ll let Him, He will take the parts of us that sin has bent, torn, ruined and re-design, re-mold, re-paint and re-create them to be how He meant them to be in the first place.

The catch is, He won’t make any changes without our express permission. You have probably, at some point in your life; given a child the opportunity to do something he really wasn’t able to do. Maybe you let him (or her) make cookies, or wash the car, or any number of other things that you could have done more quickly and without making anywhere near the mess. But, the child insisted on doing it by himself, so you stood back and watched. It was torturous, wasn’t it? You probably asked many times if the child wouldn’t like some help, only to be abruptly turned down.

Imagine how it must be for God to watch us trying to do everything all by ourselves, making monumental and usually tragic messes. And there He stands, longing for us to ask Him to take over. Those words of surrender are what He lives for – they’re what Jesus died for.

Think about it, who can put our lives back together, better than the One who has written each one of our names on the palms of His hands – the one who looked through the pain of the cross to the joy of being with us in Heaven?

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:1-2

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[1] D.A. Delafi, E.G. White in Europe 1885-1887, p.127

[2] Ben Carson, Take the Risk (Zondervan, 2008)

An Inconvenient Surrender

I learned something very interesting this week.  When I typed “discipleship” into my trusty search engine, almost every article that popped up told me how to disciple other people and almost none talked about being a disciple.  Very interesting...but confusing.  It seems to me that all these folk were skipping a crucial step.  I don't believe you can help someone else become a disciple until you have discovered how to become one yourself.  What do you think?

Another thing I noticed was that most of those articles were trying to sell me a book and study helps, or somebody's seven steps for making disciples or some other such thing.  Maybe if you buy the system, you don't actually need to be a disciple yourself...maybe.

Finally, though, I found what I was looking for.  Most of the articles differentiate between believers and disciples.  But then there was this discussion about whether all believers are saved, just because they believe, or do they have to become disciples as well?  Another author decided that belief is based on faith only, while discipleship is based on works...which he implied was somehow less important?  Uh...what?

A couple of authors likened discipleship to apprenticeship, and that kinda worked for me...as long as you take the old fashioned type of apprenticeship.  In an article about the medieval child, I found this description:

“The relationship between master and apprentice was as significant as that between parent and offspring. Apprentices lived in their master's house or shop; they usually ate with the master's family, often wore clothes provided by the master, and were subject to the master's discipline. Living in such close proximity, the apprentice could and often did form close emotional bonds with this foster family,... apprentices were often remembered in their masters' wills.
“...The apprentices were there to learn and the primary purpose the master had taken them into his home was to teach them; so learning all the skills associated with the craft was what occupied most of their time. ...the sooner he taught his apprentice the skills of the trade, the sooner his apprentice could help him properly in the business. It was the last hidden "mysteries" of the trade that might take some time to acquire.
“... At the end of his training, the apprentice was ready to go out on his own as a "journeyman." Yet he was still likely to remain with his master as an employee.”  http://historymedren.about.com

See, that sorta works,  and at first I was going to call this article “Apprenticed to a Jewish Carpenter”.  But then I got to the part where the apprentice didn't really have any choice about what trade and to what master he (or she) was assigned, and the age that children were generally apprenticed...and the analogy kind of quit working for me.

And then, AHA!  I read an article by a gentleman named, Doug Greenwold.  He has a web-site called, Preserving Bible Times and his main mission is to understand the concepts of the Bible and Christianity in the context in which they were written.  For the topic of discipleship, that would be the first century.  And that's when I finally got it.

Here's how Greenwold explains it:  “ When Jesus said go and make disciples, it was a Jew speaking to other Jews...” and to the Jewish way of thinking, becoming the disciple of a rabbi was an honor.  It was a very good thing. 

“... the disciple-to-be agreed to totally submit to the rabbi’s authority in all areas of interpreting the Scriptures for his life. This was a cultural given for all observant Jewish young men – something each truly wanted to do. As a result, each disciple came to a rabbinic relationship with a desire and a willingness to do just that - surrender to the authority of God’s Word as interpreted by his Rabbi’s view of Scripture. “

These groups of disciples would spend considerable time debating what the Word of God meant to them in their everyday lives.  

"Unlike many of our contemporary discipleship programs, there was no curriculum or agenda for this multi-year discipling experience. Rather it was a continual daily relational living experience where either the rabbi would ask questions of the disciple as he closely observed the disciple’s daily life, or the disciple would initiate a discussion by raising an issue or asking a question based on some aspect of his daily life."

Then Greenwold asks the big questions: 

“The central issue of being a disciple of Jesus is: Will I willingly surrender – submit for a lifetime - every aspect of my life, including worldview, paradigms, career, personality, character, ethics, desires, motivations, values, family, ego, sexuality and attitudes to the authority of Jesus and His teachings?
“...Contrast total surrender to the authority of Jesus with a partial surrender, or an occasional surrender, a convenient surrender, or even token surrender to Him. How would you assess your willingness factor in regards to surrendering all areas of your life to the authority of God’s Word? When you do surrender, is it a willing surrender, or a surrender that arises from some form of resentful, obligatory obedience? “

Mrs. White says it this way:  

“We are to surrender ourselves unreservedly to Him; for His grace alone has sufficient power to save the soul of the repenting, believing sinner.
“Christ's will is to become our will. Then the fruit that we bear in words and deeds will glorify God. We shall give evidence of our discipleship. The proof that we are children of God will be clearly seen. We shall be moulded and fashioned in accordance with the divine similitude. But unless we place ourselves wholly under Christ's control, we can not give evidence of a change of heart.
“... They must show themselves approved of God, workmen that need not be ashamed. Day by day they are to build their characters in accordance with Christ's directions. They are to abide in Him, constantly exercising faith in Him. Thus they will grow up to the full stature of wholesome, cheerful, grateful Christians, led by God step by step into clearer and still clearer light. Union with Christ is productive of all good.”
Jesus said it this way:  “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.    Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”  Matthew 13:44-46

Too Big …

Thoughts on the Sabbath School lesson for 2.4.12

Did your parents ever tell you that you’d gotten too big for your own britches?  Usually your parents were giving you fair warning that you had stepped over the disrespect line and you needed to step back quickly or experience a refresher course in who was the parent and who was the child, right? 

Well, I’m thinking that, with respect to honoring the holiness and sanctity of God, we crossed that line so long ago that we don’t even remember it.  I know, I know, not you, but some of us have, so stick with me for a few minutes.

Can you remember a time when the word ‘holy’ actually meant something; when it wasn’t just the first word in a two word phrase that ended in something like ‘cow’ or ‘moly’?  Do you remember when we had clothes and shoes that were only for church?  Do you remember when we were taught to treat the Bible itself with respect and reverence?

I think over the years that many of us (I know, not you) have come to a place where church is just another place to be, the Bible is just another book, and God is just another Person in our lives.

“In his book Soul Searching, Christian Smith summarized perceptions about God that are prevalent in the church and in contemporary culture. He said that most young evangelicals believed in what could best be described as ‘moral, therapeutic deism’ (we could also call this viewpoint ‘the Santa Claus god’).
“Moral implies that God wants us to be nice. He rewards the good and withholds from the naughty.
“Therapeutic means that God just wants us to be happy.
“Deism means that God is distant and not involved in our daily lives. God may get involved occasionally, but on the whole, God functions like an idea not a personal being actively present in our world.
“According to Smith, this is the version of God that's prevalent in our culture and in our churches. Often without realizing it, every culture quietly molds and shapes our views of God. But we can't grow in our relationship with God when we insist on relating to God as we think he should be. …
“That's why our surrender to God-as-he-is, as revealed in the Bible, is so important. Otherwise, we will have a god of our own imaginations—and, embarrassingly, our American god is an obese, jolly toymaker who works one day a year.”[1]

It’s one thing to want to become closer to God – that’s something we all want, but becoming closer is not becoming equal to.  In fact, if we look in the Bible at people’s interactions with God, we see that the closer their relationship with God, the more humble and unworthy they felt.  Isaiah for example:

“… I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.  Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: … And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!’ … “So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts. …’”  Isaiah 6:1-5 NKJV

“I knew a girl who used to think the stars were tiny specks of light just over her head. I'm not kidding. And she wasn't in grade school when she believed this. She was in college. … She was intelligent in many ways. But one day in a conversation she mentioned that she had just learned that stars in the night sky were actually really far away. I asked her what she meant. She said, ‘You know, they're not just right up there. They're not just tiny dots. They're really far away.’
“I was incredulous.
“‘What did you think they were before?’ I asked.
“‘I thought they were, you know, just right up above us.’
“If you were to ask me why it matters that we study the doctrine of God, I'd say for the same reason that it's worth knowing that stars are not tiny pinpricks of light just above our heads. When we know the truth about God, it fills us with wonder. If we fail to understand his true character, we'll never be amazed by him. We'll never feel small as we stare up at him. We'll never worship him as we ought. We'll never run to him for refuge or realize the great love he's shown in the measureless distance he bridged to rescue us.”[2]

Do we feel that awe for God anymore?  I remember hearing a story about Teddy Roosevelt.  Supposedly, when he had a meeting with difficult people over difficult things, he would schedule the meeting in the evening.  Before they’d start the meeting, he’d walk outside and just look up at the stars for what I’m sure his guests thought was a very long time.  But, after a while he would look around and say something like, “Well, I think we all feel small enough now.”  And then walk back in and have his meeting.

Do we feel humbled and small when we look at Creation?   We live in cities that are so full of light that we can hardly see the stars, at all.   We know enough science that we can explain the mechanics of most of the natural things we see. Historians and scientists have done their best to explain away any miraculous happening, past or present.  Men have walked on the moon; we’ve seen pictures of Mars.  Is there any part of Creation that takes your breath away?  

I have to tell you that when my sons were small we would go to SeaWorld from time to time.  It was interesting and the boys enjoyed seeing all the animals.  I usually spent most of the day appalled at the price of everything in the park.  That is, until we sat down in the killer whale theater; something very strange would happen to me there.  I would become completely overwhelmed with awe while watching the whales do their stuff.  The people around me would be talking, screaming, laughing, trying to either get splashed or stay dry, but I would be crying and praising God for making such amazing creatures.  It sounds silly now, to be so moved by watching some animals, but I think those were some of the times that I felt the holiness of God.

“The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God's acquittal. But the important thing is that Man is on the Bench and God in the dock.”[3]

Let’s not get “too big for our britches.”  Let’s remember Who’s in charge and worship Him in reverence and awe.

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[1] Preaching Today,  Submitted by Dave Dorr, Cincinnati, Ohio

[2] Joshua Harris, Dug Down Deep (Multnomah, 2010), pp. 48-49

[3] C.S. Lewis in God in the Dock. Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 13.

UNCLE!

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 8.13.11

I don’t know about you, but when and where I grew up, saying “uncle” was not a good thing.  It meant that you had met your match and that you were giving up the fight and admitting that your opponent was stronger than you.  Saying “uncle” carried a certain amount of shame with it, especially if there were witnesses.

As adults, we usually don’t grab anybody in a headlock and give him (or her) noogies until he screams “uncle.”  We have more subtle ways to gain, consolidate, and demonstrate our power.  We use our homes, cars, education, credit limit, pretty much anything can become a tool used to make sure those around us know just how tough we are.

And yet, Jesus tells us over and over again, that we need to let all that go; that earthly power means absolutely nothing, and we’re not sure what to do about that.

Can you imagine a society where everyone has given up all of his power?  Now, I’m not talking about giving up your freedom, but giving up power.  There’s a difference.  If you give up your freedom, then you end up in 1984 or A Brave New World or any number of other Utopian novels.  And that is a terrifying concept.  I’m trying to imagine a place where, well, maybe we don’t give up our power; we admit up front that we know we don’t have any power to give up. 

And that’s exactly where a true worship experience brings us.  Open your Bible to the book of Psalms and read practically every one and you will find the author of that Psalm finding his way to that place where he remembers where the power is – with God.

Let’s look at Psalm 90.  It was written by Moses.

“A prayer of Moses the man of God.   Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.  Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.  You turn people back to dust, saying, 'Return to dust, you mortals.'
A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.  Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—they are like the new grass of the morning: In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.  You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.  Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.   Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.  May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.”  Psalm 90.

Now through the eyes of the world, Moses was and had been a very powerful individual; not the least of which was the grandson of Pharaoh and then God’s chosen leader of the children of Israel.  And yet throughout this Psalm, Moses reminds himself and us that God is totally and completely in charge and that he (Moses) likes it that way.

In fact, if we were to make the Psalms our model of worship, no matter where we each started, we would always end up in the same place – the place where we have learned that we can only survive through God.  We essentially wrestle with God for control of our lives until we realize we can’t win and we say, “uncle.”

When it comes to submitting our entire lives to God, most of us at some time or another, have decided we’re not ready.

“In his book Generation Ex-Christian, about younger Christians leaving Christianity, author Drew Dyck relates one interview with a young man who left Christianity to join the Wicca religion.
“Morninghawk Apollo (who renamed himself as is common in Wiccan practice) discussed his rejection of Christianity with candor. ‘Ultimately why I left is that the Christian God demands that you submit to his will. In Wicca, it's just the other way around. Your will is paramount. We believe in gods and goddesses, but the deities we choose to serve are based on our wills.’”[1]

Wow, that’s really powerful, isn’t it?  Submitting our will to God’s will is a completely unnatural act for a sinful human being, but if we make our will “paramount”, well, then, we’ve become our own gods.

God isn’t asking us to do anything, really, except love Him and accept His gift for Jesus’ life and death for our sins.  You’d think we’d be running to accept.  Instead, we’re acting like this guy:

“On March 10, 1974, Lt. Hiroo Onada was the last World War II Japanese soldier to surrender.
“Onada had been left on the island Lubang in the Philippines on December 25, 1944, with the command to "carry on the mission even if Japan surrenders." Four other Japanese soldiers were left on the island as Japan evacuated Lubang. One soldier surrendered in 1950. Another was killed in a skirmish with local police in 1954. Another was killed in 1972. Onada continued his war alone.
“All efforts to convince him to surrender or to capture him failed. He ignored messages from loudspeakers announcing Japan's surrender and that Japan was now an ally of the United States. Leaflets were dropped over the jungle begging him to surrender so he could return to Japan. He refused to believe or surrender.
“Over the years he lived off the land and raided the fields and gardens of local citizens. He was responsible for killing at least 30 nationals during his 29 year personal war. Almost a half million dollars was spent trying to locate and convince him to surrender. 13,000 men were used to try to locate him.
“Finally, on March 10, 1974, almost 30 years after World War II ended, Onada surrendered his rusty sword after receiving a personal command from his former superior officer, who read the terms of the cease-fire order. Onada handed his sword to President Marcos, who pardoned him. The war was over.
“Onada was 22-years-old when left on the island. He returned a prematurely aged man of 52. Onada stated, ‘Nothing pleasant happened in the 29 years in the jungle.’
“Like Onada, many people are fighting a lonely battle against the God who is offering reconciliation and peace.”[2]  

Time to stop fighting; let’s say “uncle” and surrender to Jesus.  Nothing good can come from resisting Him.

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[1] Drew Dyck, "The Leavers," Christianity Today (November, 2010), p. 43; excerpted from Generation Ex-Christian (Moody, 2010)

[2] Summarized from a 1974 story in Newsweek; submitted by Syd Brestel, Bend, Oregon

Clinging to Inadequacy

Commentary on Sabbath School lesson for 4.16.11

“Surrender don't come natural to me
I'd rather fight You for something
I don't really want
Than to take what You give that I need”[1]

These are some of the words for Rich Mullins’ song “Hold Me Jesus”.  Mullins has really caught the essence of our constant struggle with God:  He wants to give us eternity and we want the here and now.  I have to mention the show Hoarders: Buried Alive again.  Somehow their experience seems to parallel, on an individual scale, how all of humanity has been acting since Adam and Eve took a bite of whatever fruit that was.

So, here’s this person who has “collected” so much stuff that he (or she) cannot walk through his own house without stepping on things.  There are whole rooms that are completely unusable.  It seems like most of the time, there is very little of value in the house, just tons of things the person is afraid to get rid of, for whatever reason. The person has usually come to the point where he is either going to lose his home or his family because of the mess.

Enter the psychologist and the professional organizer, both of whom specialize in hoarders and they start trying to help the hoarder.  The organizer will pick up some random thing off of the top of a pile (maybe a plastic hanger that’s broken or a stray glove) and ask the hoarder if he can get rid of it.  Amazingly the hoarder, who knows that losing his family and/or house is imminent, will hold this bit of garbage and really struggle with being able to let it go. One man was on the verge of losing contact with his wife and little boy because of his hoarding.  They had already moved out of the house.  The father had one whole room filled with nothing but toys that he had bought for his son…but he had never given any of them to his son…the son he was going to lose all contact with.

Aren’t we just a whole lot like that?  Our lives are filled to overflowing with trivia that is separating us from God.  We invite Him in to help us de-clutter, but everything He asks us to get rid of, we want to hang onto.  Meanwhile, He’s waiting to give us eternal life.

“[In an article for Decision magazine], Samuel Kamaleson illustrates [the difficulty of submission] through a Christian folk story from South India. … it opens with a young boy who loved to play marbles. He regularly walked through his neighborhood with a pocketful of his best marbles, hoping to find opponents to play against. One marble in particular, his special blue marble, had won him many matches.
During one walk he encountered a young girl who was eating a bag of chocolate candy. … he had a weakness for chocolates. As he stood there interacting with the young girl, his salivary glands and the rumbling in his stomach became uncontrollable, and he thought to himself, I have got to get my hands on those chocolates.
“…he asked the girl, ‘How about I give you all these marbles for those chocolates?’ She replied, ‘Sounds fair to me.’
He put his hand in his pocket, searching for the distinguishing cracks on the surface of the blue marble. Once he identified the blue marble with his finger tip, … and pulled out all the other marbles.
“As he handed the marbles to the girl in exchange for the chocolate, the boy thought his plan was a success and turned to walk away. As he began to eat the candy, he suddenly turned to the girl and asked, ‘Hey, did you give me all the chocolates?’
“Our fallen nature persuades us to posture ourselves in the same deceptive and defiant attitude as the boy in this story. We want everything the kingdom of God has to offer. … we want all our prayers to be answered, we want to ‘feel close’ to Jesus, …—we want it all. But we are unwilling to give up everything for it. Many times there is a ‘blue marble’ in our lives that we seem unwilling to offer to the control of Christ. …”[2]

Adam and Eve had been wearing garments of light and they gave them up for fig leaves.  They traded everyday face-to-face communion with God for a piece of fruit…hm. When the One who could save them came looking for them, they hid.

It wasn’t until Adam and Eve spoke to God and confessed what had happened that they found out that God already had a plan to rescue them from their sin.  Adam and Eve had tried to fix things by sewing fig leaves together, but they didn’t realize the full cost of what they had done.  What they had done could not be fixed without the shedding of blood  --  fig leaves just were not going to cut it.

“He who would become a child of God must receive the truth that repentance and forgiveness are to be obtained through nothing less than the atonement of Christ. Assured of this the sinner must put forth an effort in harmony with the work done for him, and with unwearied entreaty he must supplicate the throne of grace, that the renovating power of God may come into his soul. Christ pardons none but the penitent, but whom He pardons He first makes penitent. The provision made is complete, and the eternal righteousness of Christ is placed to the account of every believing soul. The costly, spotless robe, woven in the loom of heaven, has been provided for the repenting, believing sinner, and he may say: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).”[3]

Are you ready to give up your fig leaves for a perfect robe of righteousness?  I am.

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[1] Rich Mullins, “Hold Me Jesus”, A Liturgy, a Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band (1993)

[2] Christopher L. Heuertz, Simple Spirituality (IVP, 2008), pp. 116-117; Samuel T. Kamaleson, "Mangoes and Marbles," Decision magazine (January 1978)

[3] E.G. White, A New Life, p. 23