As Foreigners and Strangers

“We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors.” 1 Chronicles 29:15

From the top let me say this little thought has nothing directly to do with the current debate over immigration and hopefully its reform. I am not making a statement as to whether we should or should not have a barrier. These words are neither liberal nor conservative as those designations presently represent political parties. I find myself both at different times for different causes. We need an equitable immigration policy as well as secure borders so that we can continue to be a welcoming nation. I will leave the border to our government to manage, but the strangers and aliens of the world are under a higher law. They belong to God.

            I ask you to join me today to pray for the world’s refugees, especially those who are poor and who may be fleeing for their lives. I live in the most conservative section of our great country. I have grown up around people who have loved and devoted themselves to one of the cornerstones of our faith and society, the family. These men and women would tangle with a bear before they let something happen to their huddle. It threatened, they would fight; if they were hungry they would get an additional job if they could, in order to provide. And if there was a better place, one that offered safety (or school) for their children and plenty for all, they would grab their backpacks and go.

       I well remember when in the sixties the textile factories in the south went into serious decline due to international manufacturing and my mom and dad discussed moving to Australia for job opportunities. We didn’t go but would have if needed. The fact is, I don’t know any good men in my part of the world who wouldn’t cross deserts, climb mountains, or face intolerable and dangerous situations at foreign borders in order to make their family safe and secure. That is a large part of the American spirit and I pray that we don’t one day face those conditions which may force us to flee the land we love!

       I am concerned that many of those trying to come into our land have become faceless to us. We don’t recognize their faith, their love for family, or their need for safety as driving forces behind what they do. They are becoming a part of a bigger story which doesn’t match who they are. They are not all gangsters or drug mules. If they had money, they would fly in for vacation and get lost in this great country of ours, or come in for educational purposes. But they don’t, so they walk or ride in the back of trucks at risk of their lives. They are not our enemies. Please pray for them. If they cannot enter into our country pray that the violence and poverty of their countries will change so they can remain in peace. If we cannot pray, we are in danger of losing our souls.

But please remember this, “We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors.”  That is Israel’s testimony. The history of all the world is the same. It is a history of people movement. Famine, drought, flood, pestilence, repression, and sword have kept the world's population on the move throughout the years. Jesus identified with every stranger and alien as Joseph led his family down into Egypt in the face of Herod’s threats. He identified with them and with us so that we all might be incorporated into his plan of redemption.

Peter writes to the church taking note of their plight by saying, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles… “ 1 Peter 2:10

Dear friends, as fellow foreigners and exiles, please, put a face on those with whom Jesus identified by praying for them and asking God to bless and protect them as they journey to a better place. And may God Bless the United States of America!

Belonging to a Local Church Congregation

Belonging to a church does limit a person’s choices in some ways but it also enhances his or her prospects to actually grow in covenant faithfulness. Not being committed gives people an illusion of freedom, control, and excitement but ultimately leaves them empty. As in free love, which is a short-lived worship of personal freedom, an individual can be joined to “any” or “many” but the deep longing of heart and steady discipline of mind will be left unfulfilled. The freedom to shop daily for experiences that titillate and weekly for entertainment venues which enthrone personal desires, will absolutely retard knowledge of the God who compares his people to “tree(s) planted by streams of water...” His children will flourish because they are rooted in streams of His presence and planted by Him into the ground of His grace.

In the seventies a common phrase among Christians was, “bloom where you are planted.” Today we may want to change that to say, “you will bloom, if you are planted.”

A Merry Little Christmas

 I don’t seem to hear it as much as I did when I was much younger, but the words, “Did you have a big Christmas?”, remain with me as the season draws near. I never liked them. Those words seemed to measure the holiday I loved in the wrong way and begged for comparisons that would only leave someone feeling as if he were less than others. Growing up, our Christmases were never big as far as number of gifts. We always had presents, but it was, at times, difficult for Mom and Dad to do very much gift giving. I still remember going with Mom to make payments on her layaways and with dad to the Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Annual Christmas Party to pick up an amazing bag of company-supplied toys, but Christmas was never really…“big”.

I’m glad it wasn’t. I learned to love and appreciate the little things, simpler times, and the love of family. I even treasured the small brown paper bag containing fruit and hard candy that I received at our church on the Sunday before Christmas every year. Twenty years ago, I observed a church as it attempted to return to those days by giving out similar treats on a Sunday. The kids who received them used the apples and oranges as hand-thrown projectiles in the parking lot when the service was over. They didn’t appreciate little or small and probably would have been equally unimpressed by a baby lying in a feeding trough!

I’m afraid that our love for “big” holidays, over-the-top decorations, and humongous events has missed the point of the humility of Jesus’ birth. He has entered humanity by “emptying” Himself so that His rich treasure would not scare away the humble and the poor. That truth has been verified at His birth announcement with the admonition to…“Fear not!”

About her part in this wonderfully unfolding drama, Mary said:

“He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.” Luke 1:51-53

There are no large or fancy trappings in Judea.  No big Christmas is mentioned as happening there. The proud, the rulers, and the rich are not the recipients of God’s favor. It is the humble, the poor, and the hungry who are favored on the night of His birth. It is the ordinary shepherd who first hears the angelic proclamation and responds to its invitation. Today, it is for us to make ourselves small through understanding our weakness, admitting our poverty, and humbly bowing before this animal feeding trough to worship Him.

Where will He be found this Christmas? Jesus lodges with the sick and hurting, with the poor outcast, and with those who have had the darkness to blot out their hope. He still finds His home with the ordinary and the humble. Go there, and “have yourself a merry little Christmas!”

                                                                   HATE HAS NO END

My dad wasn’t a preacher or a teacher, but he surely knew how to get a message across in a powerful and unforgettable way. On a Sunday when I was a young boy, he piled my two brothers and me into our car.  After five minutes on dirt and blacktop, we stopped at a house that was familiar to us all. Each Christmas, we would go there to share a portion of the gifts we received from Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company’s annual RPFC Employee Christmas Party. The inhabitants of this house were Black, and they were our friends.

As we departed the vinyl seats of our Chevy, I immediately noticed a strange sight which I began to understand as the purpose of our short road trip. In the front yard of the small frame house was a large wooden cross wrapped in burlap and smoldering. I really didn’t understand what I was seeing. The cross was sacred in our home. My mom was raised in a devout Catholic home in Panama, and the crucifix was always displayed in her bedroom…and my dad loved to play his guitar and sing about “The Old Rugged Cross” upon which Jesus died.

But our dad had not brought us to see a mere curiosity. His desire was to teach us a lesson about hatred. Instructing us to look at the smoking wooden beams, he said, “I want you to see what hate looks like. This kind of hate doesn’t know how to stop until it has destroyed everything. Those who hate will hate you because of your mom just as they hate themselves.” With that, we loaded back into the car and returned home. I don’t remember ever again talking about what we had seen that day.  We got the message.

My prayer for our nation is that we will all get the message about the never-ending cycle of hatred, violence, and retribution and how it eats at the core of who we are as human beings. It is Satan’s work to deface the image of God in man and to erase every trace of His goodness. Racism and bigotry does that work of diminution in every form of its manifestation.

I am a believer in Jesus Christ, an American, and a son of the South. This is not that for which we were created! Born and raised in South Carolina and presently a resident of Georgia, I acknowledge our historical failures especially as they relate to racial sin.

Last Fall, I reminded a gathering of our ministers that slavery and racial injustice were never meant to be a part of our heritage.  Between 1735 and 1750, Georgia was the only American colony to ban slavery. This decision was led by General James Oglethorpe who opposed it (and opposed rum) on moral and economic grounds after having witnessed first-hand the devastation caused by the prisons for English debtors and the evil slave trade. Simply put, Oglethorpe believed that slavery and drinking rum made men “sorry” which down South referred to those who were inferior in quality or less than persons or things should potentially be.

Oglethorpe’s dream for a free state of Georgia, an American dream of equality, was far from perfect and, sadly, did not last. Like Eden, it was lost to us. That fact left us, in many respects, less than we should potentially have been.

I implore you!  Let us dream and work together for a better and brighter day…a day when hatred, violence, and injustice no longer rule our minds and ruin our hearts.

 

Coffee Shop or Cave?

I grew up in a time that was pretty much devoid of formal leadership training. The first book I read on leadership was “Spiritual Leadership” by Oswald Sanders and the second, “Leadership” by Hudson T.  Armerding, both of which were studies in the spirituality of the leader and were wholly unlike today’s “marketing principles and strategies for pastors.” I am saying this so that you will understand part of the framework from which my thoughts are drawn. Secondly, as a naturally occurring introvert (and a role forced extrovert) I confess I like quiet. When home alone, I watch most football games without any sound on the television! With that I am not saying that what I know or think is better. My only claim is that my viewpoint may need to be considered.

A huge part of pulpit ministry is the time you and I spend in preparation. Preparation is a combination of illumination that comes with flash of a lightning bolt and process which requires prevailing prayer and dogged determination. Preparation time is moody and often times fraught with sensitivity. Little things can mess it up easily and if the faithful pastor is not careful he may attach “game day” routines and superstitions to his attempts at hearing the voice of God. It is a big deal, and not just because of the looming fear of crashing and burning. There is also the “little” thing of eternal destiny and earth shattering importance attached to what we do and I do not believe that is an oversell!   

When it comes to sermon preparation, my question is coffee shop or cave? Lest earlier words side track you entirely, it’s not merely a question of loud or quiet. It’s about opening yourself so that you may hear from God in a spiritually provoking manner. If you are extroverted, you draw from other people and prefer being with others in private or public places. If so, coffee shops may be ideal places for sermon preparation for you! Others may feel that being with and interacting with people spurs them toward a marketplace mentality which in helps to keep them connected and better able to minister.

I prize the cave of preparation. It is the place where I learned to hear the voice of God. I needed a cave because the process for me was more often than not grueling. It is such, that it would not play well with others in the room!  My rhythms (which often consumed nearly the entire day) involved scripture reading, quiet, prayer, quiet, tearfully getting real with the Word (which frequently had me head in hands or walking around the room as if the Holy Spirit was chasing me), and finally a “shalom moment” of resting in him. This was the Adullam (1 Sam. 22:1-4) part of the process and my cave contained a certain amount of despair before I could see what God would do for me. Then it became a stronghold! Although I entered that place to meet with the Holy One with a certain amount of fearful trepidation, I understood that it was essential that I decrease through the process so that Jesus could increase. I think every preaching/teaching pastor needs a good cave. Make it deep, dark, and lonely having been stripped of prop or refinement. Let it be an altar of undressed stones. (Ex. 20:25) And please, use it regularly!  But, if you will, let that cave of despair be transformed into a stronghold of faith as you are joined by others who will pursue the same vision with you. (1 Sam 22:4)

I recently talked to a young pastor who described her experience as cave meets coffee shop in that her message emerged from the cave in order to be shared and collaborated with others (staff or friends) so that it might be presented in a more holistic way. I think that is great! I remember when someone first proposed that the morning worship should be a group exercise it scared the daylights out of me. More people equals more opportunity for the devil to get into things and if not the devil, human spirit would invade which is almost as deadly! No, in fact, one of our markers for Sunday morning success was to see if the music worship leader and I wound up on the same page without coordinating efforts. This was a failure on my part, born out of insecurity and perhaps superstition. I thought it was being holy but now I don’t think so. I did feel as if I was carrying a special message and that my conduct through enemy lines must be made safe by hiding messenger and message. I was correct about the sacredness (specialness) of the message but the hidden stuff was drama. That was me. I do not ever remember God saying that I couldn’t tell my wife, but the majority of the time she was unaware until I began its actual delivery! What I did miss out on was having someone with me. Yes, I had the Holy Spirit, but he created us to be collaborators. That is why he created two people in the beginning and gave them power to procreate! The triune God doesn’t want us to dwell in divine isolation.

So I am proposing that “all things are yours” but if your choice is coffee shop that you first stop at a cave along the way. You must have that alone time with the Lord. I pray that before your message enters the market place it will be tried and tested with the one who can write on walls with his finger and on our hearts by his Spirit.

The End of All Things is Near

The End of All Things is Near

The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.  1 Peter 4:7-11

Hearing the words “The End is Near” conjures up many images: a tattered sign on the side of the road—or in the hands of a bearded street preacher—or maybe a stack of survival provisions inside a basement. For some, this message ignites paralyzing fear, while others calmly clean their guns and check their supply of ammunition. Others busy themselves running from teacher to teacher in order to discover about whom, what, when, and where these things must come to pass as if that will somehow bring them safety. Jesus had warned His followers to flee the coming wrath of Rome against Jerusalem, but now Peter implores the dispersed Christ followers to keep their wits in order that they might pray. Use your knowledge and wiles as you will, but salvation is of the Lord and only the Lord.

The Apostle’s first admonition is that we talk to God, not our Facebook audience. Prayer is our life-line to the creator and sustainer of life and our source for peace in every storm. If you fully embrace “End Time Theology,” then you must first submit yourself to God’s greatest fear fighter—prayer. While enduring part of Israel’s seventy-year captivity Daniel called upon the Lord:

“‘Turn your ears our way, God, and listen. Open your eyes and take a long look at our ruined city, this city named after you. We know that we don’t deserve a hearing from you. Our appeal is to your compassion. This prayer is our last and only hope:

“‘Master, listen to us!
    Master, forgive us!
    Master, look at us and do something!
    Master, don’t put us off!
    Your city and your people are named after you:
    You have a stake in us!”  Daniel 9:18-19

Secondly, if you believe the end is near you should practice hospitality! Peter calls for us to love practically (feeding, comforting, serving) and cheerfully. Notice the picture that is being painted does not include the “me and mine first” survivalist type thinking or activity! There is no admonition to move quickly unless it is to speedily fall onto our knees in prayer or toward our neighbor with charity. 

Eugene Peterson translates verse 8, “Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it.” I like this translation because I believe it does. Your life does depend on loving others since if you lack love you become an inanimate object, or worse, you become nothing. How can we expect to disconnect from love—the defining characteristic of our Father—and be anything of eternal value?

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.”    1 Corinthians 13:1-2

And finally, if you are firmly in the camp that says “The End is Near” you must be generous in the gifts and graces of God. Faithfulness to God means sharing what you have—or more precisely, sharing what you have been given. Grace and gifts both exist because of the love and generosity of our creator and have little eternal purpose outside of love and generosity. It is the heathen who rage, and it is people who imagine vain things. Do not be caught up in the hatemongering that so pervades our present atmosphere. Abhor all wrongdoing, to the self-centered root, but love people and pray for their deliverance from evil. As the garden of the Lord, let us find our roots deeply embedded in Him that we might drink from His gracious supply and bring healing to the nations. The end of all things is near: pray fervently, love practically, and give generously!

Nearly All the Props Removed

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground. Isa. 53:2

           Israel, God’s “first born,” and Jesus, “His only begotten” grew up before the Lord without the usual or customary support. In Isaiah 53 the "Suffering Son" is likened to a plant which pushes itself out of the ground despite the fact it lacks water and/or friable soil. It is always difficult for plants to survive the conditions of hard dry soil. Many will fail to live and most cannot thrive in those conditions. But our faith reveals two startling exceptions. Israel thrived while enslaved to Egypt, Jesus grew up during Roman occupation, and both survived sojourns in death dealing wildernesses. Israel survived forty years of desert wanderings and entered into the Land which flowed with milk and honey. Jesus, with little support from anyone for the idea that he was sent to be the savior of the world grew in wisdom and stature before God and men and fulfilled his God-given mission! His mission was punctuated by being sent by the Holy Spirit into the desert wilderness for forty days where he survived with the Word of God, prayer, fasting, and the help of his Father’s angels.  

      When we consider these two examples, we understand what it means to live with all the props removed. For hundreds of years we in the United States have lived with the props of American Religion which promoted “Nature’s God,” a god whom the founders believed would unite us instead of bringing division. This “popular faith” has many times carried us comfortably and has shielded the people of God from many possible desert experiences. Though this public faith in God was never made a State or National Religion, our building inscriptions, coins, songs, and various oaths made us believe it was one and the same as the very faith proclaimed from pulpits across the land. It never was that officially. For many years, the invocation of God’s name by a president or senator rang familiar in the hearts of the faithful follower of Christ, even though he or she was often calling upon a fairly vague American God and not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is indeed becoming clearer that the use of “in God we trust” means many different things to many different people and does not bring with it a guarantee that the god of the inscription is your God.

        What does it mean for the church? It means for one that our training wheels have been taken away and we need to balance ourselves and increase our peddling efforts. We should expect the current trends to continue and possibly worsen as far as national faith and morality are concerned. The war for “Christian America” has been lost. We now await the terms of peace which will undoubtedly be costly. Secondly, oft neglected prayer should once again be the currency in the economy of the Kingdom of God for His people. We have too often counted on the good will and favor of American Religion instead of bowing before the God of the Armies of Heaven. Thirdly, we must minister with newfound humility, patience, and boldness (not to be confused with being obnoxious) as we encounter more resistance and antagonism toward the gospel. Personal autonomy has replaced both Christian and national unity, and we find that we are being looked at in prejudicial ways. Many of the props which have protected us no longer will.

         For Christ followers in America, there are props that we need to be reminded of and which continue to aid us in our service to God. One prop that is welcome is the number of churches which are made up of God fearing and God honoring people. Where I live it is hard to fall down without someone coming to help you stand and offering prayer for your well being! We help each other. However, it must be noted that we don’t often take advantage of this favorable environment because of labels used to distinguish ourselves from others (partly owning to the sin of pride). The seas we are sailing on are storm tossed and all will be lost if we don’t in some ways abandon the little boats and climb into the ship. Then, with all hands on deck and every oar manned we will be able to reach our destination. Secondly, our government continues to extend tax exempt status to churches without which we would have tremendous difficulty as we now operate. While I don’t expect these to stand forever, I am thankful for them today! Thirdly, God has not revealed to his people that he has finished with the church in America. It must be spiritually cleansed, have its God inspired mission reconfirmed, and recommit itself to America’s God, instead of the American God, but that is achievable!  

          Everything is not so bad with the changes that are coming. We will find that a sifting will occur in the church which will reveal followers who are convinced by the truth of our faith and not by its popularity or societal benefits. This will make us stronger in our pursuit of the things of God and the mission of Jesus Christ. So, as much as we lament the waning of Godly influence in America, we must understand that these events have not taken God by surprise and that our spiritual DNA is that of Israel and Jesus Christ. He made them to stand alone and prosper in a place thought too hostile for life and prosperity and he will do the same for His people today.