Shhhh... (fear not)

13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Exodus 14:13,14

“I wanna DO something!”  Whether because of stir-crazy quarantine, a sense of responsibility, or fear, we often have an overwhelming desire to act. 

And yes, in crisis, there is something for us to do.  Yesterday, some of us helped Valley Center Schools pass out lunches (donated by local eateries) to families.  Others have brought supplies to travel-bound folk.  And many have worked hard to ensure that ‘life goes on.”

But the Biblical response to fear is shouted here by Moses.  Simply put, he directs the people (us) to be silent.  That’s kind of surprising to us.  Be silent?  When there is so much to DO?  Further, ‘silence’ does not mean, ‘turn down the volume.’  It means be at peace.  Be at rest.  Stop fretting.

Moses’ silence is put in context through his earlier words. 

He directs us to ‘stand firm.’  That’s not a lazy, couch-dwelling rest.  Not yet.  Standing implies that we already have a place to be.  Firm implies that we need to keep doing something that we already have established.

And what are those ‘silent’ responses to fear? He urges us to ‘see the salvation of the Lord.’ I suppose Moses might simply be giving the Israelites theater seats at God’s upcoming destruction of Pharaoh, however he actually has a more continuing, repetitive, constant concept in mind.  Seeing is believing.  Seeing is noticing.  Seeing is understanding. 

Moses tells us to face fear with the bastion of God’s Salvation.  He’s saved your rotten sinful despicable soul from a deserved eternal death… surely He can handle some ancient Egyptian chariots.  He’s pulled our feet from miry clay… surely He can bring some ex-slaves to a pleasant land.  He’s fixed Adam’s time-breaking rebellion… surely He can feed some wandering Israelites over a few miles of wilderness.

Moses reminds us to face fear on the firm footing of God’s Salvation.  We do that in silence before Him.  We do that in prayer.  We do that in worship.

Jahweh saved the murderous Saul, changing him into redeemed Paul… surely He can handle a tiny virus.  Jahweh saved the boy David, making him into a Psalm-singing King… surely He can handle the giant economic catastrophe on the next hill.  Jahweh saved my rebellious, self-centered heart, pulling my eyes to Him.  Surely He can handle unemployment, and tyranny, and monsters, wherever they dwell.

Fear not.

Fear Not: Grace and Mercy

Fear Not because of God’s Grace and Mercy

And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. (Genesis 21:17)

Hagar’s son, Ishmael, was afraid.  And even though he was not the child that God would be using to begin His people, and most especially, the Messiah, God protected Ishmael.  In fact, it was an unrighteous shunning by Sarah that put Hagar and her child in danger, but it was an act of God that helped them. 

We expect God to be Gracious and Merciful to His people.  We humbly expect it (because of His promises) and we receive it.  But here we see that God is even merciful to those not His people.  That is how amazingly merciful He is! 

We observe, of course, that Hagar cried out to the Lord.  She turned to Him for help.  But when we see that the Lord heard HER… it can comfort us.   The One True God of the Universe does not just give Grace and Mercy in a nepotistic way.  He IS Gracious.  He IS Merciful. 

So fear not.

Fear Not

Someone has said… that there are 365 “do not fear’s” in the Bible.  I am not sure that number is right, but for the next while, I am going to send those out in our usual methods.

God says, “do not fear,” because…. HE DOESN’T WANT US TO BE AFRAID.  And more than that, because HE is God, we don’t have to be afraid.

Here’s today’s DNF:

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” Genesis 15:1

Abram was tempted to be afraid because it didn’t seem like God was keeping God’s promises.  There were no descendants, yet.  God’s blessings seemed hidden at best.  But God says to Abram (even before He changed Abram’s name to Abraham!) “Fear not!”

God then says that He is Abram’s shield.  A shield defends us from enemies (whether the enemy is our sin, the effects of our sin, the world, or even Satan.)  And with GOD as our shield, why do we need to fear?

God also reminds Abram of the essence of God’s promises:  “Your reward shall be very great.”  God repeats Himself, maybe because He knows we are prone to forget.

Fear Not

Fear Not

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Every knee and every tongue bowing and confessing means that He is Lord over all.  Perhaps another way to say this is to shout, “EVERYTHING BELONGS TO JESUS.”

Or…

I could have quoted: 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:15,16.)  All things are created BY Him, through Him, and for Him.

It's all about Jesus.

Everything that happens to us, around us, by us, or near us happens to bring attention to HIM.  Because He is worthy.  He is the KING.  He is God Himself.

If we believe that, it is obvious that we can turn every situation into a situation about, towards, for, and under Jesus.

Today, in the light of our community’s fear, fears, sickness, contagions, economic woes, relational woes, loneliness, and attention to odd details…

… let’s remember that it ALL is happening to direct us to King Christ.

… let’s remember that it ALL is happening so that every knee will bow.

… let’s remember that it ALL is happening so that every tongue will confess His name.

Starting with our tongues.

What if we combated the under or over exaggerating media by speaking God’s truth.

Examples:

When someone mentions the expected mortality rate, express joint concern, but note that death for us believers is a thing of (painful) joy.  We are heading to heaven!?!?!?  What do we fear?

When someone complains about the fear-mongering of the media, express dissatisfaction, but note that fear in this world inexorably leads to faith in King Jesus.

When someone express fear… of financial trouble, occupational upheaval, educational disasters, government bailouts and takeovers, illness, disease, plague, or (and) disaster, express acknowledgement that those things are GIANTS, but that we have HOPE in the Giant-Killer.  And I don’t mean little David.  I mean the one David trusted!

Remember these words this week, and SPEAK them:

Fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

                I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

--- --- --- ---- ----

Yesterday, in the sermon handout were some suggestions.  Here are some of them, with explanations.

Dominion Streaming Site

http://www.dominioncovenantchurch.com/stream
We are planning to have corporate worship this Sunday at Jubilee.  11:00 am, like usual.  If you are sick, or unable to worship with us, I recommend the above streaming site.  It is Dominion Covenant Church, in Omaha, NE.

We might decide to return to worshipping in the Pennings’ livingroom to facilitate offering streaming of the worship service. 

Prudence and compliance (not fear!) might cause us to limit our other public gatherings.  So we’ll be making a decision soon regarding JubiWednesday and the like.  I’ll keep you posted.

Lunch Distribution for Valley Center School District

We have been asked to serve as a distribution site for Valley Center Public School lunches, if they cancel school (which is likely) and still need to provide lunches for schoolchildren.  The school would provide the food, we would simply provide a location (one of five or six around the Valley Center area) for pickup.  And maybe some people to help pass out the lunches to cars.

Wash, wash wash

Not because of fear, but because of reasonable precaution:

-          Wash your hands as if you just picked someone else’s nose.

-          Wash your hands as if you shook hands with someone from KSU or KU (whichever side you don’t like.)

-          Wash your hands like you just accidentally used your fingers to mash Hot, Hot, Hot Peppers.

-          Wash your hands like there might be Covid-19 cells on them…

COVID-19 and Jubilee

Dear Saints

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As matters in the world are developing quickly around the coronavirus Covid-19, the leadership of Jubilee wanted to address our church community with a few principles and several applications along with some counsel at this time.  Please take time to read this thoroughly. 

The Covid-19 outbreak is a rapidly changing and developing situation in our world today and one with which we need to stay current and in good communication.  I have spent a good bit of time this week in trying to sort through the hype and overreactions in order to find good data from which we can make wise decisions that will glorify God.  I counseled with a fairly broad group throughout the week and read a good bit of material about how this virus is affecting the world and our immediate culture around us. 

As it turns out, while this is a serious and apparently threatening event, it is also a great opportunity for us to see God shine forth in glory.  It is also an opportunity for us, His people, to reset some of our ways and our thinking.  Though we do not relish the difficult trial this virus is causing, God is sovereign and, in ways known to Him, this is a good thing for God’s people and the Church, even when the ‘goodness’ is not yet clearly understood.we are today, let me remind us of a few principles that will help us.  Please take time to read this in full so we will all be on the same page including some measures I will get to toward the end.

I.                   Biblical Principles and Applications to Govern our Spirits

1.  God is sovereign and in control of this situation.  He has a purpose behind this virus and He will be glorified.  Everything God does is for the good of His people. The Psalmist clearly declares, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!” (Psalm 84:11-12) This is a time to soak in the Psalms and allow God to encourage you in His promises and in the Truth of Who He is.  This is about Him more than about us!

2.  This is a time to love, and not to fear.  “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).  This biblical love is what sets God’s people apart from the rest of the world.  “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Love will be expressed in sacrificial service.  Some of you will be called to the front lines of this viral war.  In doing so, do it as unto the Lord serving the Lord gladly.  Others will be called on to help the elderly and those who are weak.  We are all called and saved to love God, to love our neighbor, and to love one another.  The more you love, the more fear is driven out.  During the terrorist crisis, we often said, “don’t do THIS or the terrorists will win.”  Our enemy this time is the broken creation, AND our enemy is fear itself.  Don’t let fear win. Especially when Christ has already assured us of His victory.

3.  This is a time to pray, repent, and be grateful to God.  “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-- meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:5-8).  During the coming weeks God will likely show us ways in which we can repent of sins, perhaps some of which we were not even aware.  Hopefully, this will be a time of reflection, of putting things in perspective and a time of great spiritual growth.  As we pull together in greater community to serve one another we will see more clearly our past faults and negligence, our ungrateful hearts, and our prideful self-reliant presumptions. Hopefully, we will see how much we need one another to the extent that we become more thankful for our community and every individual member that makes it up. Rather than gossiping and fault finding with one another’s weaknesses, or criticism for how ‘they’ are dealing with the crisis, instead we can be thankful for the good and strength each member has and brings.  Rather than being so wasteful with the material goods we’ve grown used to, let us learn how to be better stewards and less wasteful of the things we do have and have previously taken for granted. Even, for example the tendency to hoard might be seen as selfishness and therefore needs to be avoided.

II.                 Current Update and Status Report of the Coronavirus COVID-19

Dr. Matthew Clark (a CPC elder in South Carolina) has been watching epidemics and studying them as a point of personal fascination for over 20 years.  He sent an email to the CPC elders, and I thought his comments worth passing on to all of us.

[From Matt’s email]

Today’s study has brought me to today’s conclusions . . . This coronavirus pandemic, if the reports are not fabricated, is by far the most significant global public health episode since the 1918 influenza pandemic.

The best info I can get my hands on:

1. This disease is very contagious. Worse than seasonal influenza but not as bad as measles. Over the course of time, without an effective vaccine, most of the population will be infected, guesses are around 50-60%.

2. The United States has failed to contain this virus. Community spread is underway. The cat is out of the bag.

3. High risk of death is amongst the elderly and also those with underlying medical problems. This virus is not as dangerous for the young and healthy. While the overall case fatality rate is between 2-4%, that number is much, much lower for the young and healthy and much higher for the elderly and the sick. (14.8% in patients aged ≥80 years;  8.0% in patients aged 70-79 years; 60-69 years of age (3.5%) Under 60 years of age (less than 1%).

Case fatality rate was elevated among those with preexisting comorbid conditions—10.5% for cardiovascular disease, 7.3% for diabetes, 6.3% for chronic respiratory disease, 6.0% for hypertension, and 5.6% for cancer. And, In Italy, where the death toll from the virus stood at 52 as of March 4, the fatalities were all in people over age 60.)

4. Total societal lock-down stopped the disease in China and other eastern jurisdictions with experience with SARS from the past. Such lock-down is underway in Italy.

5. The economic and social and political impacts of societal lock-down are mostly negative and unpredictable.

6. The American health care system will be unable to care for all these severely ill folks if they hit the hospitals all at once.

My Conclusions at this point:

1. Total societal lock-down including cancellation of Christian worship is NOT necessary to avoid deaths.

2. Loving shepherding instruction of the church, helping everyone to see the wisdom of the elderly and the sick staying home and allowing the young and the healthy to watch after their needs until things settle down.  But, this will be a voluntary decision for each individual and family.

3. Public Christian worship goes on. Using technology will be temporarily acceptable for live streaming the worship.

4. Stay home if you’ve had fever with respiratory symptoms within the last 14 days.

5. Considering cancelling all other Foothills activities at this time, other than worship, until things calm down. Considering…

III. So What?

Remembering that the situation IS fluid, but being guided by the above thoughts, Jubilee is proceeding along these lines:

1. We plan, as usual, to Worship the One True Living God tomorrow, the Lord’s Day, 15 March.  Our Prayer Meeting is planned for 10 am, and our Service of Worship for 11 am.

2. While this is a ‘topical’ sermon (shudder,) the sermon will be based on Romans 12:1,2; James 5:13-15; I Samuel 7:7-13 and will address a Biblical perspective guiding our reaction to Covid-19.

3. When you arrive at Jubilee, please wash your hands.  When you leave, please wash your hands.  This is an added step to our morning, and I trust you understand the value.

4. If you are ill, or experiencing symptoms… stay home, of course.

5. As we spend time together in an enclosed space, be aware of the medical advice to keep a reasonable distance between us.  Let’s not hug, let’s not shake hands, let’s not embrace.  Let’s stay the recommended five feet from each other.  Including in the sanctuary.  We have plenty of room to spread out, and use those pews that we never sit in.  (Families can, of course, sit together.)

6. At this point, JubiWednesday will continue.  However, if you are a regular attender and are not coming, please let me know so I can prepare the right amount of food. (Or if you are planning to visit <hooray!> let me know so I can prepare the right amount of food.)  This might change in our fluid situation, AND as the grocery store runs out of raw ingredients.

7. If you believe the threat of Covid-19 should keep you home, please know that the rest of us honor your decision.  We will miss you, AND I am working on some way to stream our worship time.  But not this week, yet.

8. Let us pray, and pray, and pray, and be open to opportunities for service that the Lord will be placing before us. (I’ll be talking about some of these that have already come before us tomorrow.)

These things are being done ‘for now.’  As circumstances change, our reaction necessarily will change.  But I hope this is a good beginning.

C.S. Lewis wrote, in a different era, with a different threat: “The first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb, when it comes, find us doing sensible and human things -- praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts -- not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.”

So… I hope to see you tomorrow!

In Christ

Tom

How's Your Little Eye?

I see with my little eye…

Remember that game?  Parents sometimes use it to distract children from the dullness of road trips, the lack of ‘toys,’ or to just have something ‘to do.’

But that game was more profound than we might think.

Looking through the car window, our eyes pick up an almost infinite number of things.  But we don’t SEE everything. 

SEEing is more than the accumulated effect of receptors, neurons, and brain cells.  

Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot are excellent examples of this.  Holmes often shakes his head at Watson and declares, “you do not SEE.”  Poirot uses his ‘little grey cells’ to notice, to analyze, to understand.

And we see what we choose to see, what we want to see, what we are used to seeing, what we expect to see, what we are told to see, what we think we see, what we used to see, what we ought to see…

I’m trying (it’s hard!) to see what God sees.

He knows more, understands more, comprehends more, apprehends more.  And His view is truth.

On a big scale, the national tragedy is, in HIS eyes, not what is seen.

On a smaller scale, that stranger is, in HIS eyes, not what is seen. 

I’m trying to see things as He does… to therefore love as He does… to therefore know as He does.

That’s what I am seeing with my little eye.

---------------- --- ------ --

Saving Daylight

Daylight Savings

Two important announcements about THIS Sunday

First… it’s Second Sunday Dinner Time.  We are planning to have International Foods.  Hope you can come!  Even if all you have are ‘Murrican Foods…

Second… even though it is Daylight Savings Time, do NOT set your clocks ahead.  We will have a clock changing moment after we eat.  So we can have an extra hour of sleep! 

 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15, 16 ESV)

In 1986 a radio station in Chicago started a contest as a joke.  The winner of the contest would be the person who was able to conserve the most sunlight.  Listeners called in all day with their descriptions of their efforts.

One caller set mirrors up throughout his house, all aligned to bring sunlight into the house and get it “caught” in a spiral of light.

One caller put jars of water in every window, theorizing that the water would “hold” the sunlight for hours after the sun went down.

One contestant shut all the curtains in his house so he would “use” less sunlight.

I’m pretty sure they weren’t serious.  Daylight Savings?  How can we save daylight?

Of course, the idea behind Daylight Savings is not to save light.  It is to reduce energy costs or something.  But the concept of “Saving Daylight” reminds me of Paul’s instructions to us to “redeem time.”

Time, like sunlight, cannot be saved in a bottle.  Its value is not in the keeping of it, but in the using of it.

How do you use your time?

I worked for a while in an electro-plating company.  We plated metal parts with chemicals to increase strength, reduce effects of weathering, and prevent oxidization.  And at the factory, because of the expense of the chemicals boiling in the vats, I learned that every second counts.   A minute spent in daydreaming was not merely sixty seconds.  It was hundreds of dollars.

Our time is valuable.  Not just because it can be used to make money.  But because everything we do matters. 
Think about how much of your day is spent for yourself.  Compare that with how much of your time is spent purposefully for God… or purposefully in serving someone else… or in helping make someone smile… or in easing someone’s burden.

Paul tells us to redeem our time.  He meant that we are to use it the way God wants us to use it.  And while He might not have told us in His Word exactly what job you should have, or exactly what hobby to develop, or exactly who to be friends with… He DOES tell us how our time should be spent. 

He has shown you what is good; and what does He require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

How do you spend your time?

Beneath the Snowbank

Beneath the Snowbank

I rejoice at Your Word As one who finds great treasure. Psalm 119:16

We don’t get much snow building up here in Kansas.  But sometimes, along a ditch or next to a shady tree, some snow can accumulate.  And it reminds me of the treasures that I used to find in spring, when REAL snowbanks slowly disappear.  The melt-off of snowbanks alongside the roads is mysteriously exciting.  When the hard-packed snow and crunchy ice disappear there are usually treasures to be found.

Once, on an early springish day while walking along the street, I saw a wide variety of wonderful objects.  They had probably been missing since January.  The owners had probably given up ever seeing them again; or forgotten that they exist.  And now the warm spell has brought them back.

In one yard I saw a hammer, two plastic cars, a Dr. Pepper can (empty… I checked,) a small pile of pennies, and an assortment of odd pieces of metal.  What a treasure!  I wished it were my yard. But all I’ve found beneath the snowbank in my yard was dirt, stones and a plastic Mountain Dew bottle.  And I don’t drink Mountain Dew.

But all those freshly revealed treasures at the bottom of the snowbanks reminded me of two things.

First, humans are often like those snowbanks.  Hidden beneath our dirty, unpleasant, badly behaving exteriors are treasures.  While we may be more snow-covered than we like, we were originally created in God’s image.  Somewhere down there is something even better than hammers and Mountain Dew bottles. 

We forget that in the “winter” of our lives.  And sometimes it takes a change of season for the hidden treasure to be revealed.  But it is there.

This change of season is only found through God’s Messiah.  When we surrender to Him, the snow can melt off…  and those beautiful treasures can show up again.  We can be what humans were created to be.  But without the melt-off found in Christ’s presence… the treasures remain hidden.

Second, the Psalmist reminds us that God’s word is like that hidden treasure, too.  Sometimes we notice the snow covering the treasure more than we notice the treasure.  We notice that the Bible is long.  We notice the language is more difficult than an average CNN newscast.  We notice that it takes some thinking to understand what It says.  We notice that understanding takes work.  All those things are like snowbanks.

But underneath is some great treasure.  In the Bible we find hope.  In the Bible we find grace.  In the Bible we find value.

All it takes is Spring.  Or at least a melt off.  Isn’t it time for Spring in your heart?

The Season and the Redemption of the World

People used to fuss about Christians celebrating pagan rituals at Christmas.  Maybe some people
still do.  I remember wondering about that druidic, lit, house-central Christmas tree.  Could this be an act of false worship?

I remember wondering about holiday gatherings at the time of the Winter Solstice.  Could we be accidentally taking part in evil rituals?

I remember wondering about Mistletoe, Yule logs, Christmas Lights, certain odd songs, and even presents.  While claiming to be celebrating the Incarnation, were we unwittingly falling into ancient God-denying practices?

But I’ve come to realize something.  Romans 1 tells us that the CORE of God-knowledge is found in every human being.  And while those long-straying druids, Celts, and pagans had certainly moved FAR from the
gospel over the centuries, perhaps they were actually looking for something that they sensed was necessary and true.

The wonder at the evergreen could be an acknowledgement that mankind KNOWS that life should be eternal.  The gathering of friends and family during the longest nights could be caused by the awareness that it is not good for mankind to be alone.  The decorations and lights might be the result of our desire to make clean and beautiful what has become, through sin, dark and ugly.

I am not saying that the druids were secret Evangelists.

But I am saying that ‘all truth is GOD’S truth.’  I am saying that these reachings were the result of the human need for the gospel.  I am saying that while they might have been the result of centuries of rebellion,
they also were clearly a statement, however unintentional, of the basic truth that we need a Savior.

And perhaps most profound of all… while some of us get tired of hearing Christmas songs from October to January, we need to realize that we are hearing on every radio station across the country, the essence of
the gospel.  Even when sung by people who have no idea what they are singing.

Just like those druids.

It's Beginning To Be a Lot Like Christmas

As we’ve studied and celebrated the Feasts, it’s reminded me of the importance of Christ centered activities.  Not just because it’s fun (although it is.) But because doing things WITH God’s people lets us focus on both the horizontal AND the vertical.

Here are some of the things we have planned for the Season of the Incarnation:

Jubilee Events

11 December Wednesday            6:00        Jubiwednesday; History of Carols, Spaghetti.

13 December     Friday                    8:00        RSVP, please, for Holiday Inn at the Pennings.

15 December     Sunday                 10:00     Prayer

                                                                11:00     Worship (Day of Atonement, Psalm 32)

                7:00 ANDREW PETERSON IN (sort of) CONCERT!

                          Please RSVP… so we can talk about snacks.  But if you don’t RSVP:

                                PLEASE COME anyway.

18 December     Wednesday        6:00       JubiWednesday and Musical Performances!

24 December     Tuesday               6:00        Christmas Eve Candlelight Servicve

1 January             Wednesday        2:00       New Year’s Day Game Afternoon!

ThanksEating

ThanksEating

There are a LOT of ways to display and manifest a thankful heart.  Sometimes we speak words of thanks.  Sometimes are eyes are windows into our gratitude.  Sometimes our smiles shout louder than our lips. 

But at this time of year, we give thanks by eating.  Together.  Maybe sharing the work.  Not eating in rhythmatic unity, but eating at the same time with some people we are grateful for, and grateful to. 

If you can’t make it this year, we understand that there are MANY thankful locations.

But if you can… join us at Jubilee at 6:00.  It’s not yet too late. 

Happy ThanksEating

Thanks

Give Thanks in All Things

Be thankful in all things.  I Thessalonians 5:18

I was taught to say, “thank you.” 

It’s polite.  It’s good manners.  It’s proper.  It is the right thing to do.

And sometimes those “thank you’s” seem strange.  Recently when ending an annoying political survey telephone call I said, “thank you,” at the end of the call.  Why was I saying “thank you?”  I certainly did not feel grateful. I hadn’t learned anything.  I hadn’t enjoyed the call.  Polite habit pulled the words from my scowling lips without me thinking about it.

I have done this before.  I have said “thank you” even when I wasn’t feeling grateful.  It isn’t merely that I have thanked political survey telephone callers for calling me.  I have thanked bill collectors for taking my money.  I have thanked insurance companies for giving me bad news.  I have thanked employers for firing me.

But that isn’t really being grateful.  It’s just being polite.  And our gratitude to God is not supposed to be polite thanks.

He doesn’t tell us to SAY “thank you.”  He tells us to BE thankful.  BE grateful.  BE aware of His gifts.

It is more than mouthing the words.  It is more than gathering once a year and muttering a few benign comments just before digging into the turkey and mashed potatoes.  It is more than getting emotionally mushy when thinking about family gatherings.

Being thankful means being aware that HE is really the One responsible for your bank account.  Your dining room table.  Your income.  Your security.  Your family.  Your friends.  Your health.  Your shoes.  Your teeth.   Your personality.  Your pick up.  Your microwave.  Your snow blower.  Your front lawn.  Your son returned from Iraq.  The safety of your neighbor still IN Iraq.  Your radio.  Your dog.  Your everything.

Do more than give thanks.  BE thankful.

------ --- ----

Wednesday        6:00 pm               JubiWednesday

Sunday                 10:00 am             Prayer

                                11:00 am             Worship

November 21 7:00 pm Hobby in the Lobby/Book Club “Cards on the Table” by Agatha Christie.  Led by DeAnne Penning

November 27  Thanksgiving Eve Dinner at 6:00 Hooray!

December 6, 7, 8  5:30 – 9 pm  Living Nativity 

December 8 Chili cook off and Christmas celebration at the Sunnydale Community Center.

December 15 7:00 Andrew Peterson Sort of Here!

Decomeber 24 6:00 pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

WIFOM

The World of WIFOM

In the film, The Princess Bride, the short bald genius, Vizzini, debates with himself about which glass of wine is poisoned.  He argues in a circle about whether The Wine In Front Of Me is poisoned… or the other cup.  And because he has no firm logical foundation, but rests his arguments only on his own brainpower and reasoning, he ends up dead.

We call that circular and foundational arguing, WIFOM.

And without the absolute truth of God’s Word, we live in a world of WIFOM.

When we base our ethical questions on whether the action we consider is right for society, or someone else, or myself, we end up in WIFOM.

When we base our financial questions on whether the decision we are making is right for MY family, or YOUR family, or the GENERAL good, we end up in WIFOM.

When we are pragmatic, self-serving, self-trusting, small minded, we end up in WIFOM.

Wisdom is simply (however difficult it is) accepting God’s definitions, God’s plans, God’s revelation, God’s Word as foundational to everything.  It is choosing God instead of me.

And it always defeats WIFOM.

I Might Be a Cyborg

I’m a Cyborg

Year by year, more of ‘me’ is being replaced by technology.  The lenses in my eyes are artificial.  My ears need mechanical aids.  I breathe at night with a Darth-Vader-like mask.  And more.  And more.

I wonder if soon, I won’t be recognizable.  Or if I will stop going to the doctor, but instead visit the mechanic for a tune-up.

Maybe, though, it is a good way to understand the process of growing in Christ. 

The broken parts of me are gradually being replaced.

My anger is replaced by Christ’s patience.  My greed is replaced by Christ’s contentment.  My lust is replaced by Christ’s love.  My lack of God-focus is replaced by Christ’s adoration of His Father.

It is even a better picture than I first hoped.  Because while I SAY those things are changed… where they ARE changed is not really Me.  It is Him.  Just like those mechanical bits and pieces are not really ME.  But they are General Motors, or IBM, or Robotics Are Us.

And my pride doesn’t like the need for replacement.  Just like my pride doesn’t like the need for Christ.  And the replacements are not really ever complete, because technology improves.  Just like my need for Christ is not completed, because not only do I keep needing Him, but the more I know I need Him, the more I know I need Him more.

Maybe I like my replacement parts more than I thought.

It's Autumnish

Genesis 8:22  While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.

Autumn Colors

The Autumnal colors seem a little bit late.  By now, usually the trees’ palettes include oranges and reds… but we seem stuck in green and brown.  But I know it’s coming, and I see signs.

I could attempt to recall my College Plant Biology Class and attribute the colors of fall to a chemical reaction caused by an increase of something-or-other due to the decrease in both average daily temperature and total daily sunlight hours.

Or I could remember that God sets the seasons, changes the colors of His trees, sends the brisk first frost, covers His fields in a blanket of cold restful snow, hatches the acorn egg beneath the mulch of decades and makes sunflowers both bright and tasty.  And I could remember why He does those things.

The annual regular change of seasons is a reminder of God’s faithfulness.  Even when our society slips farther from adoration of Him, He sends Autumn.  Even when we notice less and less that He loves, He changes the color of your elm tree.  Even when we forget to thank Him, He brings fall, and fall weather, and fall afternoons, and fall football.

I sometimes have not liked fall, because our calendars seem to be slipping inexorably down towards winter.  But I’ve been wrong. 

Fall is God’s faithfulness today.  Autumn is a nudge towards noticing that God is reliable.  "

Don't Know Much About Skunks...

How Smart is a Skunk?

I have a skunk trap in my shed.  It is baited, hair-triggered, and designed to appeal to the average skunk.

But that ole skunk refuses to get caught.   Every night, somehow, he cleans the bait from the trap, leaves an unpleasant calling card, and causes disappointment for me in the morning.

I can’t imagine how he is outsmarting me.

And it has reminded me that I am not as clever as I think I am.

What seems sure is often unreliable.

What seems known is often wrong.

What seems absolute is often unclear, upon reflection.

If only I had an expert.

An expert skunk catcher would know what to do.   A skunkologist would show me a better way to set the trap.  A skunk nutritionist would describe a more attractive bait.

Or maybe I need a cute black cat with a white stripe painted down her spine.

This is why I am trying to depend more on the simple Word of God than on my own figurings.  This is why I am endeavoring to use GOD’S definitions instead of my own.  Particularly in such things as Sin, Peace, Wisdom, Salvation, and even Hope.

Because I am often wrong.
But the expert isn’t.

New!

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isa. 43:18-19 ESV)

New Things

The New Year’s Eve celebration in Sydney, Australia went terribly wrong.

The billboard announcing the arrival of the new year mistakenly presented: HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2018!

And the world smiled.  Those silly Ozzies.

But maybe they actually got it right.

Who doesn’t like new things?  Even though we respect traditions, collect antiques, and look back fondly to the good ole days, New Things are exciting!

Think about the recent celebration-days.  Few of us wrap used toys and put them under the Christmas tree.  “Re-gifting,” while economically wise, is usually viewed with disdain.

And of course, New Year’s Day, while looking backward and forward, focusses more on the coming year than on last year’s activities.  We don’t make Old Year Resolutions.  We don’t cheer as we throw away last year’s calendar. 

Unless you were in Sydney this year.

The context of Isaiah’s statement is paramount.  God isn’t promising us to always give us bright shining New Things.  He isn’t merely encouraging us to be forward thinking, constantly updating, bigger and better, replacement mentality type of people. 

When He promises us that He will make all things new, it is in the context of the terrible status of the past.  He doesn’t just promise to ‘make a way…’ He promises to make a way (a road, a pathway, a solution) through the (empty, dark, scary) wilderness. 

When He promises us that He will give us ‘rivers in the desert…’  He promises to give us rivers (reliable providence, a connection to community, constant freshness) instead of the desert of yesterday (loneliness, thirst, fear, death.)

The ‘New’ is contrasted with the Old.  Always

Tomorrow He makes all things New! He gives a fresh start.  A SECOND chance.  A FIXED tomorrow of yesterday’s BROKENNESS. 

Merry Merrying

“Merry” is a better word than we usually think it is.

While today, we use the word to mean cheerfully, gleefully, happily grinny… that is not what the word originally meant.

When Shakespeare, renaissance historians, or hymn-writers use the word, “merry” it is stronger than our modern usage. 

Robin Hood’s Merry Men were not party animals.  Shakespeare’s Generals, when encouraging soldiers to be Merry did not want them to be laughing and taking it easy.  And when carolers sang of the need for us to rest, merry, they didn’t want us to relax and think happy thoughts of sugar plums.

To be ‘merry’ was to be strong, heartened, courageous, and faithful.  The Merry Men of Nottingham lived sacrificial lives, devoted to ending tyranny with the strength of their will, the vision of their leader, and their amazing archery-skills.   Shakespeare’s historical leaders fought against all odds, storming the walls once more, expecting to lose but hoping for victory.  And the carolers were aware that winter is harsh, that pain seems to rule creation, that standing in the storm requires strength, perseverance, and faith.

When I wish you a Merry Christmas, I am not hoping that you laugh a lot.  I am hoping that you strengthen your resolve to live for that infant King.  I am encouraging us to fear not, though the dark seems strong.  I am desiring to see Christ’s Kingdom storm the gates of hell and bring the glad tidings to all who will hear.

Merry Christmas, indeed!

Christmas Music

And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."  (Rev. 21:5 ESV)

Christmas Music

I have a new CD.

Okay, it’s not really new.  It was given to me a few years ago.  I listened to it a time or two, and then it stopped working.  It would repeat lines, skip from track to track, and generally sound horrific.

I really liked the music on the CD, the one time I had heard it.  But then I couldn’t hear the music anymore.

And then last week it started working again.  I am not exactly sure why.  Maybe some gunk got wiped off.  Maybe a bit of static got discharged.  Maybe my CD player overcame some technical difficulty.

But I can hear the music again.

God had more than a new CD.  He had created a new universe.  And before long, it broke, too.

Adam’s rebellion made the music of the universe warped, off-key, and ugly.   Weeds grow too fast, bacteria cause disease, hearts are too-often cruel, and NOTHING works the way it’s supposed to work.

So God fixed the universe.  He knew what He was doing.  He had to rebridge the gap between people and Himself.  He needed to justly make right what had become wrong.  And the way to do it was for the Perfect God to become a man, yet remain Perfect God.  And so a baby was born in Bethlehem.

And the music played again.

Of course a lot more had to happen.  Jesus had to live a perfect life on our behalf.  He had to suffer in our place.  He had to die in our place.  He had to overcome death, the ultimate punishment for Adam’s rebellion.  He had to be established as King of His Father’s universe.  And all those things happened.

So that the music would play again.

Christmas music is more than elevator music.  It is a reminder to me that God has fixed the Music of the Universe. 

Listen with Joy.

Lights

Matthew 5:14   "You are the light of the world.

The Light in the Darkness

I was very annoyed one evening when sitting behind a teenager in a movie theater who was wielding a cell phone.  It was not the ringing of the phone that annoyed me, because the teenager had the phone set to “manner” mode.

It was the light.

She checked her phone at least ten times during the movie, and the light, suddenly appearing in the dark theater, drew my eyes like sugar drawing flies.

No doubt she thought she was being polite.  Her phone WAS quiet, after all.  But her light in the darkness, however unintentional, came close to ruining my enjoyment of the movie.

But it made me wonder how many lights I unintentionally shine in the movie theaters of life

Robert Burns wrote a poem, To a Louse, in which he watches a louse (singular for “lice,” I suppose) crawling on the fancy hairdo of the woman in front of him in church.  Her little insect guest drew and held his attention, and in result:  he didn’t think about the woman’s beauty, the sermon’s message, or the hardness of the pew seat.  All he could see was that bug.  He ends by suggesting that we all consider “how others see us.”

Christians are called to be lights in a dark world.  Usually we assume that the light is a good thing.  But sometimes I fear we are unintentionally distracting lights.

When we answer the hunger of a foreigner with cold preaching about religious differences. 

When our condemnation of sin is louder than our proclamation of the sweet gospel. 

When we say, “there, but for the grace of God go I…” instead of, “there go I , just with a different sin.”

When we respond to the loss of a mother’s soldier-son with cold criticism of political processes.   

When we see the unlovely, and instead of giving them grace, we emphasize their unloveliness. 

I wonder how often we are shining bad, distracting light, ignorant of what others see.

I reckon that more people are saying, “Sir, we would see Jesus,” than we think.