And The Beat Goes On

Listen closely. Can you hear it? It is the heart‑beat of every person near you. It is the beat of our jobs, and the school bell, and the beat of the farmer's tractors in the fields, and the cheerleaders and the bouncing football, the beat of the disk‑jockey, and the more tragic beat of hunger and the flack of sub‑machine guns.

Day after day, the beat goes on, with crime and heartache, and grief all around the world. Most of us live in a sheltered community, but if we are to give meaning to the aged, or the handicapped, or the minorities...or if we are to deal with persons like the Biblical Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night, or to a Samaritan woman of poor reputation, like the one Jesus met at the well...then we must be more sensitive to the "beat" that goes on.

What really is the job of the Church? Is it to have chicken suppers, or to keep the roof from leaking, or even to maintain a missionary society or have Bible classes? No...the job of the Church is to decide, for Christ's sake, who and what is alienated from God, and to bring the love of our Lord to bear upon it.

Jesus recognized that the woman at the well had gotten into trouble. She had had five husbands, and the one she was now with was not really her husband! But Jesus saw that she had gotten into trouble not because she was bad, but probably because she was desirable, and attractive, and perhaps very unhappy. A lot of people who "go bad" are really folks who are saying, "I am lonely, I am unhappy...please, somebody...anybody, please pay attention to me."

And most girls who go bad, are not really bad, and most boys who make them go bad, or who get into other kinds of trouble are not really bad. They are simply persons, who, for one reason or another, have been left out, or have gotten the idea that fate has driven them out, and each wrong involvement gets them deeper and deeper into trouble. Some of the most mixed‑up people I have counseled with are some of the nicest people I have known.

Years ago, a book was written called, "The Kingdom of Downtown." "Downtown" is the world of parading around the Square, it is the world of psychedelic sights and sounds, it is the world of picture "T" shirts and rock and roll, and in many respects, it is a world for those who may no longer be starry‑eyed idealists, but who are becoming disillusioned skeptics.

There is "living water" available. Jesus said so to the woman at the well, and people everywhere need to know about it. Dr. Bauman, noted Bible teacher and scholar said in one of his T.V. broadcasts, that "Man is sometimes depicted as a clown with a laughing face. But it is painted on, to hide the tragic lines beneath." There is a kind of rhythm to our world, an increasingly fast beat, that is flaunting old‑time traditions of society and Christian morals. Our task is not to stop the beat, not to berate it, criticize it, but to get in step, because that is what Christ did...so that if possible, the beat of God's love and the beat of man's need, can be synchronized and brought together.

If we as Christians get so busy with everything else that we fail to be sensitive to this kind of person and this kind of need, then the beat of life will go on, and we will be left hopelessly behind. In the midst of it, can often be heard the beat of someone crying, someone hurt, someone lonely, someone really thirsty for the water of life. For Christ's sake, will you listen, and care, and do what you can to help? Because if Christ would not reject the woman of Samaria, then neither should we.

Pick Your Own Millstone

If you play the horses now and then and think it doesn't matter, because the kids will never find out...then pick your own millstone! If you read the morning paper every morning, and know the latest news and ball game scores, and your son decides that this is important, but your Bible collects dust on the living room table, and your son decides that this must not be important...then pick your own millstone! Jesus said that children were like priceless jewels, and "of such is the kingdom of heaven". But he also said that if anyone causes one of these little ones to sin, "It would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matt. 18:6)

Why did Jesus consider children to be so important? Kill a man, and you destroy a life, but when you pervert a child, you plant a seed, which grows and multiplies as it comes to manhood, shaking off its evil influence upon all it meets. The child becomes an adult, marries, has children and to them, the seed is transferred and the weed of evil spreads further and further through the years. Kill a man, and you do great evil. But pervert a child and you multiply evil a hundred‑fold.

Every one of us leaves a deposit upon another's soul. A child's mind is like a sensitive film...it is an endless computer bank, recording, absorbing everything seen, heard, tasted, smelled, and felt. A picture is being etched like an ever‑turning movie film. It takes in the smell of cookies, or the lack. It receives the harsh word, the deceit, the love that is seen, or the prayers that are spoken. God has placed us in the world as families. For every chick and child that is born, he has appointed two defenders, a mother and a father. God is holding them personally responsible. It is a scary situation! Edgar A. Guest has written:

"Who touches a boy, by the Master's plan...
Is shaping the course of the future man;
Father or mother or teacher or priest...
Friend or stranger or saint or beast
Is dealing with one who is living seed
And may be the man whom the world shall need.
For who can measure the pride and joy
That may some day grow from a little boy?"▐

Jesus said, "Do not hinder them"..."do not cause them to stumble". In the gangs, in the urban street children, we have all the makings of a sad and horrible future. And somewhere out there are parents, who gave birth to them, and are now being fitted for their particular millstone! God is not mocked!

Where To Put Your Foot Down

Walking on thin ice is an uncomfortable situation. And we are a generation of people who are doing it. Back in the 7th and 8th centuries B.C. the Assyrians were pushing their way towards the Mediterranean coast, and King Ahaz of Judah was invited to join his neighbors to the north in resisting the Assyrian forces. When he refused, they threatened to invade and destroy him. He decided he should ask the Assyrians for help, and Isaiah the prophet said "No, leave the alliances alone!" But Ahaz went ahead anyway. He sold out to the enemy and was called the "Judas" of his time.

Later, Hezekiah, the king who was now suffering from the oppression of taxes to this same Assyria, threatened to make an alliance with Egypt, and once again Isaiah counseled "No". "The Egyptians are men, not God." he said. "Horses are flesh, not spirit."

All of which suggests that when we are running scared, we often lose our sense of values, and we turn to any willow‑the‑wisp that appears. We cling to any straws!

From the beginning, we have fallen snare to the delusion that military might and the strength of our arm would save us. When will we begin to ask that God's will be done and not ours? Isaiah the prophet found Ahaz "shaking like a leaf" when they met, and when the prophet said, "Why?" the reply came: "Haven't you heard that we are going to be invaded? Israel and Syria are breathing down my throat." And Isaiah says, "Of course, I've heard, but what are you afraid of? The Lord is with us." And Ahaz says: "Yes, but I want something real! I want help from Assyria."

We are told that Thomas Carlyle had a great mind, but was troubled by trifles. A neighbor had a rooster that crowed every morning at 4 a.m. When Carlyle complained, the neighbor said, "Does the crowing keep you awake?" "No, it isn't the crowing...it's my lying awake, waiting for him to crow."

And so, we are all tormented. What or who can we trust? Where can we put our foot down with confidence, without having the rug pulled out from under us? And each of us must decide. Are we ruled by fear or by faith? Ahaz was ruled by fear and he tried to "buy" protection. Where will we place our faith? Do we believe in armies, or in God? Is it to be the lottery, or common‑sense Savings accounts? A business man had a motto on his desk. It said, "My mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts!" Most of us honor and revere our faith. And yet we seem to believe that it is impractical and irrelevant to life today. But take a look at the facts: the way we have dealt with one another and with other nations through the years has not been very practical. "Destroy them before they destroy us" seems to be our philosophy. But is there a better way, a spiritual way, based upon the only absolute there is: love?

The problem of Ahaz is the problem of our own times. We have too much faith in the wrong things. Soldiers, horses, guns and bombs...these are flesh, not spirit. You can't depend on them. If you put your foot down on this foundation you'll fall through. But put your faith in the good Lord God, and you have something no treasure can buy.

The Seventh Day!

In Genesis 2, verse 2 we read, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. And on the seventh day, God finished His work which he had done. And He rested on the seventh day from all his work. So God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it."

What a catastrophe it would have been without the Sabbath. How could we have survived all these years, without that one day we call "Holy." We need that, more than we need pay day. For it is the pay check of the soul to worship. Sad is the person who never enriches his spirit. Bankrupt is the person who never gets the dividends of a Sunday investment. Life is so flat...so horizontal most of the time. We grovel for the almighty dollar. But on the lst day of the week, we need to get the vertical dimension.

I feel sorry for people who stay home on Sunday mornings. How important it is to come and meet your Creator. To get the main‑spring of your heart re‑wound; to let the Lord fill your cup once again, before starting a new week.

"Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." It is not a suggestion. It is a law of life! Break it if you will, and you hurt yourself and your family. Keep it, and shovel in the inner treasures that are there.

Genesis 1 and 2 tell us about God. He is the star, the main character. He is a God who acts. He began it. He made it all. He pronounced it good. And into this world, He sent a man and woman. They are our parents. They made the mistake of thinking they knew better than God. I need the Sabbath to avoid that folly.

The Essence Of A Candle

Sunday morning worship is more than a sermon, more than the hymns, more than the choir. There is a symphony of symbolism that speaks to the heart that is willing to listen and observe.

Lighting the candles seems like such an insignificant thing, but what it suggests is anything but insignificant. Of course, it refers to “light”. Jesus is the “light of the world”. He is the “light” that the darkness has never been able to put out.

But the burning of the candles has a message that goes even beyond this. It is the message of sacrifice. Have you ever stopped to think about the wax that burns for our careless consumption?

Some candle‑wax comes from west China. Two hundred miles past Chungking, insect eggs are gathered every spring. Porters carry these eggs over mountain trails for as long as seven nights journey away. They travel at night mostly because during the day, the heat of the sun would be too much for the eggs. The eggs are placed on specially prepared trees, and fourteen days later, the insects find the best branches to feed on close at hand. Two months go by and the insects have covered the branches to which they are attached with wax a quarter of an inch thick. The wax is then scraped off and boiled to remove all impurities, including the dead bodies of the workers. For 45 centuries, these tiny insects have been giving their lives to provide wax, and light for man.

We may have heard also of the sperm whale, sacrificed for its commercial usage, including the massive head containing a huge reservoir of fifteen to twenty‑five barrels of valuable sperm oil, so high in quality that candle power is measured by the sperm candle.

So also, nearly half the commercial output of beeswax is used in this country for religious purposes. The life span of the worker bee is just forty days. She literally works herself to death. The frayed wings and beaten bodies of the dead workers show how completely they live for their work. If a single bee could produce a pound of honey, her labors would require eight years and require mileage flights equivalent of three times around the world.

Far to the south, in the land of Brazil, there is another wax‑producing worker. In those times when the land is parched and most animals and insects have died or moved out, one tree has put up a battle and wins so complete a victory that it is in a class all its own. It defies the sun's rays to pull out its moisture by covering its leaves with a surface of wax . The more intense the heat, the thicker the wax. The tree becomes a tree of life for beast and man. Cattle eat the green shoots. Its palmetto becomes food for man. Its roots become his medicine, and its sap a drink. Seeds are a substitute for coffee. Leaves are made into rope, mats, hats, brooms, baskets, hammocks, and thatch for the houses. Its high quality fibers become fishing nets, blankets and fillers for cushions. The trunk of the tree withstands insects, salt water, and thus is used for telephone poles, bridges, house building, etc. There is something remarkable about its wax, and no synthetic substitute has been found to take its place. The carnauba wax, and the story that is behind it, gives any candle with which it burns, a new glow of beauty.

Is it any wonder that sometimes the best sermons are simply the message behind our symbols. Sacrifice! It is the essence of the candle, and surely suggests that it play an important part in our lives as well.

They Decided Not To Be

Shakespeare once had one of his characters say: "To be or not to be, that is the question." There are some people who decide "not to be", and stop living.

But there is a not‑so‑negative thought here as well. The world around us often fills us with despair. There is sin, there is hatred and animosity. There is agony. And in this kind of world, it is easy to be overwhelmed. But we must decide not to be.

The early disciples give us a remarkable example here. They decided to live on a level where nothing could hurt them, where nothing could drag them down, because Christ had lifted them up.

We read about Paul and his followers, going from city to city. Some listened with respect, but others drove them out. They were beaten, imprisoned, stoned and left for dead. The early Christians could have been discouraged, but they decided not to be. They could have been hurt, but they decided not to be. They could have resorted to trickery, bribery, deceit, and to be mean or vindictive in return, but "they decided not to be."

There are two ways to be defeated. One is when others defeat you. But the second way is when you defeat yourself. The first often happens. We lose at a game. We lose in business to a superior salesman. We lose in love to a more charming Romeo. But this is not the really significant battle. When we throw in the sponge, and declare that the odds are against us, then people catch us in self‑defeat. One such character, in modern literature exclaimed, "Tricked by gad, that's what I was; tricked by life, and made a fool of." (Fosdick)

Robert Louis Stevenson, the great poet, was plagued with tuberculosis...but it didn't defeat him. Helen Keller, was blind, deaf and dumb from birth...but somehow it didn't defeat her.

Glen Cunningham, one of the fastest milers had been crippled in his boyhood in a schoolhouse fire. Doctors said he would never walk again. He could have been easily defeated, but he decided not to be.

The poet has said:

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will.
It's all in the state of mind.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.

The early Christians learned a divine focus of life. Paul said, "For me, to live is Christ." He could have been badly defeated...but he decided not to be.

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The Circle Syndrome

Tell a boy he is a bad boy often enough, and pretty soon, he will begin to believe it himself. Call a man a crook long enough, and treat him like an animal, and more than likely he will live up to your expectations. Treat people with suspicion, and soon you will find reason to justify your suspicions.

How do you break the vicious circle? Jesus broke it many years ago, when after he had been hung upon a cross, with tear‑filled eyes he said, "Father, forgive them, all of them, for they know not what they do."

We build walls between ourselves and those around us. Between denominations, between nations, between races, between the rich and the poor. How childish, really! Robert Frost in his little poem called "Mending Wall" says, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall, that sends the frozen ground‑swell under it, and spills the upper boulders in the sun; and makes gaps even two can pass abreast."

We may not like walls, but we build them, nonetheless. The apostle Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother. He suggested maybe 7 times, thinking he was being magnanimous. But Jesus suggested that we must keep forgiving even to infinity.

You see, the Christian is obligated to forgive. With us, it is not optional. We have to forgive, or run the risk of not being forgiven by the Heavenly Father. We are reminded of it in the Lord's prayer when we say, "Forgive us as (in proportion to) we forgive others."

When we are hurt, retaliation is never the answer...forgiveness is. The little person kicks back. But, as Francis Bacon once said, "It is the prince's part to pardon."

Will it work? We quickly ask: "Has any other way ever worked?" Forgiveness has been commissioned to the Christian world. John Morley, commenting on Gladstone's wonderfully con-structive handling of an extortioner and on his readiness to forgive, wrote: "There was no worldly wisdom in it, we all know. But then what are people Christians for?"

Badness has a way of coming around. Do evil to others, and it returns to you. But goodness comes around too. "Cast your bread upon the waters," and in many ways, and after many days, somehow it brings the goodness back to you. There is a kind of "circle syndrome". I'd like to believe that the Lord knew the answer when he told us we must "love one another"...and that ultimately this "circle", the "circle of love" will become more powerful, and overcome the "circle of evil." Sometimes there is no worldly wisdom to it...but then, what are people Christians for?

Creedo

In the 9th chapter of Mark, there is a story about a man whose son had epileptic fits. He would foam at the mouth, grind his teeth, and become rigid. The father had asked the disciples for help, but they didn't know what to do. Then, the father came to Jesus.

Jesus asked him a few things about the problem. Sometimes it convulsed the child with such energy that it threw him into the water, or into the fire. What agony for those parents!

The Dad said, "Jesus, if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us." And Jesus replied, "If you can." In other words, I can do something, if you can do something. I can heal him, if you can believe that I can.

It is true. God's power is sometimes limited by how much we believe. Later on, Jesus said, "All things are possible to him who believes."

At times, it appears that there is not much "belief" in our world. Nobody really believes that great things will happen, and so they don't! Belief is fundamental.

When Martin Luther was put on trial, he said, "Here I stand, so help me God, I can do no other." Someone once said, "People who don't stand for something, will invariably fall for anything." And that is what is happening in our troubled society.

Today we need a Creed...a profound belief...something to stand for, lest we fall for anything! Is there such a Creed for everyone? Yes, Jesus himself is our Creed. He is the Word of God become flesh. He is the living Word.

And so, I believe, that there is a God, that He is like Jesus, and that He cares for me. Maybe that's the only creed, I really need!

The Jesus-Goal

Someone has said that Jesus is the summit of a kind of spiritual evolution towards which we are all to be pointed.

Whenever we wish to accomplish a certain goal, we need to have a picture of it, so that we can move towards it. And so we human beings need to have some idea as to what we were designedto be.

We need a picture...a pattern. And Jesus is that Design...love upon love, forgiveness upon forgiveness. And Jesus is Man...man, the way God designed him to be!

When God made man back in the garden of Eden, he had a visual picture of what He wanted human‑kind to become. But Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, and the fall of mankind took place.

They failed to live up to that picture of what God had in mind. So also, all of us have sinned and fallen short of the Great Design.

But God sent a 2nd Adam, and Jesus is that model of our humanity. And this time, the model is perfect in every respect. We cannot hope to live up to that sinlessness or perfection. But we can be like him. We can look unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

If physical evolution is slow...so also is spiritual evolution. The Jesus‑goal is the model. In this man, Jesus, God got "all the bugs worked out!" If Detroit could ever come out with a model of an automobile that finally had all the problems cured, all the lemons un‑soured, all the failures corrected, then, they could say, "This is CAR...car, the way car was meant to be."

Unfortunately, they can never say that. But God can say it, "Jesus is MAN...man the way I meant him to be." Through the years, we have each had our vocations, and our jobs in life. Sometimes we are confused about our reason for existence. Mother Teresa tells the story of a man working for her, who was assigned tasks about which he complained. "My vocation is to work for lepers," he said. "I want to spend myself for the lepers." Her answer to him was, "Brother, your vocation is not to work for lepers; your vocation is to belong to Jesus."

What is my task here on earth? Am I to work on committees? Am I to help in community affairs? Is my primary task to be a parent, or a member of the choir? Should I be attending all the Board meetings that are on my schedule? At times, it is confusing.

But one thing I do know. There is a Jesus‑goal! And my job in all things is to be like Jesus. I know I can't make it all the way. I just know I want to become like Him. That's my goal!

Are You Sure You're Sure?

The Scripture from Nehemiah 8 is sometimes known as the "Watergate Account", not because it has anything to do with a major theft of political significance, but simply because it says,

"All the people gathered into the square
before the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the
scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses...
and he read from it facing the square before the
Water Gate from early morning until midday." (Neh. 8:1,3)

If you were to ask the folks of the Old Testament, "How can you be sure you are sure?" they would simply say, "You can be sure, because it's in the Book."

Unfortunately, we have argued so much about our interpretations of the Book, that although every religious group sounds "sure", the results are very "unsure". A modern under‑arm deodorant uses television to promote the idea that some people raise their arms and they are "sure". You see, they use the right deodorant! Others are hesitant to raise their sweaty arms, because they are "unsure".

In II Timothy, chapter 1, verse 12, we find the intrepid Paul saying: "I know whom I have believed, and I am sure..." I love that verse, and I only wish I could be as sure as the apostle Paul seemed to be.

Sometimes I am envious of the certainty of some of the independent church groups, who have no doubt that they are absolutely right about every doctrine they proclaim. Since we cannot know all that God knows, don't we need a bit more humility than that? Someone has said that the only persons who are absolutely sure of themselves in today's world are the politicians. And the world is filled with gullible people who fall for their self‑proclaimed authority.

I suppose faith is a risky thing. Most of us have concluded that science is "sure"...faith is "unsure". And yet listen to the wizard of science, Thomas Edison saying,

"We don't know the millionth part of one percent about anything.
We don't know what water is.

We don't know what light is. We don't know what gravitation is.
We don't know what enables us to keep on our feet when
we stand up.

We don't know what electricity is.

We don't know what heat is.

We don't know anything about magnetism.

We have a lot of hypotheses about
these things, but that is all. But we do not let our
gnorance about all these things deprive us of their
use."

If the "scientific method" is not always "sure", what is? Are there other ways of knowing truth? For example, I know that Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" is a beautiful number. Debussy's"Reverie" really "sends me"! I know that Tchaikovsky's "Andante Cantabile" is a moving piece of music. But because I am not using a scientific procedure, does it therefore mean that it is not true?

Amelia Burr once wrote:

"I am not sure the earth is round
Nor that the sky is really blue,
The tale of why the apples fall
May or may not be true.
I do not know what makes the tides
Nor what tomorrow's world may do,
But I have certainty enough
For I am sure of you."

When Jesus took the Scriptures, and said, "Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing," he was telling us that the yardstick of interpretation of the spiritual truths of the world, come not from a book of Law, or from a Pope, or from a pulpit‑pounding evangelist, but from Him.

We may not have all the answers, but we have enough. We do not need a lawyer to forge out the intricacies of all the 66 books of the Bible for us. There is One who walked this life before us, and who walked it perfectly and beautifully, and our job is to become like Him.

A little boy flying his kite was asked by a friend how he knew the kite was still there, when it got so high he could hardly see it. He replied, "I know it is there, because I can feel the tug of it."

How can we be sure there is a God who cares, who gives strength to those who are weak, and who gives power to the faint? The answer is, because of Jesus Christ in my heart, I can feel

the tug of Him in my soul, and because of that I am sure!

Can You Stand Inspection?

Years ago, in our Chicago Church, one of the members worked at the famous Brach Candy Company. She told me the kind of care taken in this hygienic laboratory. An inspector checked each person who entered. If finger‑nails were not clean, if hands were not scrubbed, if the hair seemed less than light and fluffy, the inspector would send them home. "Wash your hair...make yourself clean and then come back." No street clothes or regular shoes were permitted...only sterilized uniforms. The air in the building was washed and filtered.

For the honest Christian, something like this must happen every day as we stand before the Lord of all inspectors. "Lord, filter and wash my thoughts this day as I work." "Jesus, stand guard over my temper." "O Father, keep me from spending my money for that which is worthless." Again and again, we must stand before Him, peeling off vestments and cloaks for inspection...opening every door of our personalities...saying in utter faith, "Lord Jesus, is there anything here that does not belong in the life of a Christian?"

We cannot honestly do this day after day, without the "power of God for salvation" beginning to take effect. And the proof of this is that lives have been, and are being changed...and here in truth, is the real power of God. It would be nice if each of our lives could have a label: "Inspected and approved...by Almighty God."

All Dressed Up For Something Big!

Years ago, I had the funeral service for the watchman of a brick yards. He had no family, no relatives. He lived in the yards, in a shack that had a dirt floor. On the way to the cemetery, I asked "How are the expenses of this service to be cared for?" The undertaker replied: "From the estate. This man had over $11,000 tucked away in savings."(buried in the floor of his shack) Since this was back in 1955, such an amount was more sizable than it seems now.

Sometimes, I feel this is the condition of some Christians. They have all the power of God at their disposal, and yet they live as though life had gotten the best of them! They live as orphans in poverty, while in reality, they are children of the God who owns and operates the universe.

In Ring Lardner's book, "Big Town Story", Mr. Big comments on his expensive hotel life by saying, "Everybody puts on their evening clothes, like something big was going to happen, but it don't." And in some respects, this is a picture of the Church. We are all dressed up for something big. We have all the trimmings, beautiful buildings, expensive equipment. We are all ready for big business, as though some great saving force were going to be unleashed upon this old world, and then, we go into our dull routine! Nothing ever happens even remotely suggesting what was said about the earlier Church in Acts, "the place where they prayed was shaken."

And yet we say, "The cross is the very power of God to those who are being saved." Somehow in that cross we believe that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. And here, in that humble and lowly Nazarene, early Christians began to see the fullness of the God‑head.

In this man, they found one who walked in perfect trust that long and narrow road. In this man, they found the perfect pattern for their own lives, and ever since, people have been driven to the Gospels to try to imitate him. They have tried to walk in his truths, to live with his compassion, and to embrace that which he embraced. Upon this man among men, we as Christians have said, "God voted His approval." Yes, God cast His ballot in the primaries and in the election. He made his "X" mark upon a hill, and we too must declare ourselves...either for or against, and in so doing, find either our salvation or damnation. It is Jesus, who makes the difference, when day after day, we expose ourselves to him. Then, it is that something tremendous happens.

The cross of Jesus Christ has set up shock waves that have girdled the globe. It continues to do so, to move people, to change people. In some respects, it is more powerful than any nuclear bomb. The problem is that we are so inconceivably, and diabolically clever in making ourselves impervious to the strong significance of that thing that happened at Calvary.

I'm all dressed up for something big! Lord, help me shake loose, and go for it!

Breaking The Sight Barrier

It was a significant break-through when our jet planes broke the “sound barrier”. But as Christians, we have not as yet broken the sight barrier. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he says: “Do not live as the Gentiles live. For they live blind-folded in a world of illusion.” Eph. 4:17 (Phillips translation)

“Having eyes, do we not see?” And the point is that we may be seeing everything, but the things that are real. We live in a world of illusion. We watch T.V., but it is not real, for it is a world of make-believe. The “Soaps” are not real, no matter how much of your time you spend deciding who’s going to marry who, and who’s going to be unfaithful to who else?

And again, we read our newspapers, and much of what we read is not the real story. The story behind the headlines is the one that really counts. Even as we look at each other, we do not see the real person. We often see only what the other person is pretending to be.

And so, reality is a confusing thing. The New Testament puts it well, when it says, “Now we see through a glass darkly” (I Cor. 13:12) Are we teaching illusion? It is possible that in much of our world, T.V. for example, that we are. We are saying that life is a gun-shootin’, rootin’ sort of thing, and we have come to believe it. Take a look at the penal institutions, and we can see the results of this illusionary kind of world. 20 years ago, the average age level in the prisons, was about 32. Today it is 17! Somewhere along the way, our young kids have been flip-flopping between illusion and reality...believing that violence and killing was the true reality.

As a nation, we have been living in a world of illusion, teaching as real that which is unreal. We have been printing on our coins, “In God we trust”, and we have said in our pledge, “this nation under God”. We are a good nation, and there are many good people believing that this made us a Christian nation, whereas in reality we are not. “Having eyes, we see not”. This is the condemnation of Jesus to a sin-sick, blinded world. We have walked so long in illusion, that we cannot see reality and so, we stumble and fall: One divorce out of every 2 marriages...criminals at the age of 17...people drinking instead of thinking...folks turning to immorality, because they have never learned to deny themselves anything...people with a house full of furniture, but a home empty; of love...folks with all the paraphernalia of life, but none of the necessities.

In the midst of this confusion and blindness, stands the Church, calling to people and saying, “Here is the Way of the Lord...Walk in it.” We are to be witnesses, Jesus said, and why can’t we do this? We ring door bells for the Red Cross, and make pleas for the Cancer Fund. We sell insurance, and vacuum cleaners, and have the audacity to confront people with their need for new clothes, and new cars, and new houses. But should we hesitate to confront them with their need for new eyes, and a new birth, and a new faith in Jesus Christ?

No church is kind and no Church is Christian that does not include an outreach together with an up-reach. To ignore others for Christ now, is to turn our children over later to a generation of pagans that far surpasses what we think exists at the moment. Isn’t it just being practical? I’d better win my neighbor to Christ, or my own future is jeopardized. A pagan neighbor puts me in jeopardy.

But the reason is far deeper. The love of Christ constrains us! Because Christ has done what he did for us upon the cross, then how can we do less for Him than call our friends to an accounting, and help them tear off the blindfolds?

Emerson one time said that the name of Jesus is “not so much written as ploughed into the history of the world.” And if this be so, then it will take more than just talk, more than just a few pieces of literature. It will take all of us, in every way, and in every place, proclaiming the name of Jesus and giving personal example to the life of Jesus. It would seem that we have been scribbling the name of Jesus rather than cultivating it, in the life of our communities. To be blindfolded to God is to be cut off from Him forever. I wonder about the fate of those of us who know the truth, and sit idly by.

Look For The Diamond

Jesus Christ has given us a very strange formula for living when he said: “The man who loves his own life will lose it, and the man who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” (John 12:25)

What did he mean? We have heard it said, that “a person who is wrapped up in himself makes a very small package,” and this is part of the meaning. All of us, from childhood on, tend to be selfish and self-centered. And unless we stop that line of direction and change it to something else, we become like a top, spinning around ourselves, but having no meaning.

Jesus said that we must not center life around ourselves...don’t love your life to the point that your eyes turn inward instead of outward. If we do that, we will lose all that we have, he inferred. If we discount ourselves, if we push down our egos, bury our self-interest...Jesus used strong language, “hate your own life,” then we will find that what we have despised, God will love. What we have hated, God will preserve through all eternity.

But someone will say, “I doubt that! I don’t think that Jesus went around hating himself, and I don’t think we should either!” But Jesus loved some things so much that by contrast, it might be supposed he hated himself. He so loved the leper that he seemed to care little about danger to himself. He loved people so much, that it didn’t matter that he ran smack into a wall of iron resistance that finally led to a cross.

Perhaps this is what it means to “hate” our lives. It is not that we should neglect our bodies or take chances with our health...but rather that we become so obsessed with finding God’s will and doing it, of serving Him, and laboring under His divine command, that by contrast, our own wills mean nothing.

This was Christ’s formula...to give and give and give of Himself for God, and others, that finally what is left over, is the essence boiled down, the valuable nugget filtered through, which has value in the coin of heaven.

Suppose someone were to deliver to your home a load of coal, and say that somewhere in that load is a diamond of great value. You could do several things. You could guard and preserve that load of coal forever. Or you could tell everyone who comes, “Look at that pile of coal. I have a diamond there.” And they would laugh at you in scorn.

But if you gave away that coal, piece by piece, finally when all of it had been given away, the diamond would have filtered down and be preserved at the bottom of the pile.

Somewhere within you, there is a diamond in a soul of tremendous value. It must be preserved, it must be carefully handled. But it will not be done by hanging on for dear life to that which surrounds it. Spend your life, lose it for Christ, give it away in service until it is all used. And before your very eyes, you will discover that what is left, is of far greater value than all the other put together.

The Unpardonable Sin

A minister one time was speaking informally to a group of college students in their fraternity house. He turned to the chairman of the discussion group and asked: “What are you living for?” The student replied: “I am going to be a pharmacist.” The minister said: “I understand that this is how you are going to earn your livelihood, but what are you living for?” The youth bowed his head for a moment, and then looking up with clear, true eyes, he said: “Sir, I am sorry, but I haven’t thought that thing through.”

You see, we are placed in this world to build men and women, boys and girls, whose lives will continue on through all eternity. This is what we must be living for, and we are in our professions merely to pay the expenses.

It matters not so much whether my boy becomes a ditch-digger or an engineer, or an assembly line worker as it does that he be a Christian. I am to build into his life staunch honesty, and a holy fear of doing wrong, and a genuine concern for the value of human life. If I have done this, then I have done more for him than the gift of a million dollar estate.

We will not always be successful. In Matt. 13:58 we read that Jesus could do no mighty works in his home town because of their unbelief...”He came unto his own and his own received him not.” Sometimes not all the praying in the world will change a person. People are sometimes stiff-necked and there is an awful lot of resistance given to the invitation of Almighty God. There are many people in our world who are convinced that they are good people, and that they have no need for anything more. God could not save them, because they have saved themselves already! They are right, and anyone who tries to make them think otherwise, is wrong.

We believe that there gets to be a point in life when the condition of unpardonable sin becomes dangerously real. It comes like this: when a person is wrong and believes for a long enough time that he is right, then a reversal of values begins to take place. Wrong becomes right, and right becomes wrong. It is nearly impossible for such a person to become a Christian, because he or she has so dulled the conscience that a right choice cannot be made.

It is like the story of the dancing slippers, of the little girl who wanted so much to dance, and who upon getting the pair of dancing slippers could not stop dancing. Her will was no longer in her head, but in her feet. So too, the man or woman whose God-given power of choice and decision has lost out to habits and patterns of behavior, finds that he is no longer in the driver’s seat. God cannot forgive such a person, because such a person cannot honestly ask forgiveness, and God will never save a person against his will.

I may not ask God to pardon my sins, but if my sin is the fact that I do not honestly believe that I need to be pardoned, then I am really trying to fool God! But God is not mocked!

Gossip On The Hill

Someone has said that the Bible is a record of the “glows and after-glows” of religious experience. After the Easter resurrection, two of the disciples were on their way to Emmaus, and were joined by a stranger. Luke 24:35 says: “They told what had happened on the road.”

In these words, we find a summary of the Bible from cover to cover...”They told what had happened.” The Bible is the story of witnessing, of how people found God, and discovered that His grace was sufficient for them. They took the witness stand, and they testified gladly.

A few years ago, much was made of thugs, racketeers, mobsters, etc. who called upon the 5^th Amendment. They refused to testify on the grounds that it might be used to incriminate them. Falling back on the 5^th amendment troubles me, but it reminds me of what a multitude of Christians are doing again and again.

Moses and Elijah, Isaiah and Jeremiah were willing to testify, no matter how unpopular their words might be. They were incriminated! Indeed they were willing to die for what they said. And this is the way our Bible came to us...through faithful testimony of men and women who had gotten all involved in the proclamation of the Gospel.

On what grounds do we dare refuse testimony? We are a people with a story to tell. We have words to speak, and there is power in words that burn their way into human life.

An unknown poet has written:

“Good news, old world, good news;
The river and the winds refuse
To keep the matter still;
There is gossip on the hill.”
And this gossip is that the seasons are changing, and that the oriole, and the lark and blackbird all refuse to keep the matter still. Ours is an unfinished Gospel. And do we dare to keep quiet about it?

It is a continued story...a continuing story. There is an unwritten page left for each of us to write, and it is to be our record of what Jesus Christ means to us. I have some gossiping to do from my own hill-top. It is not the old game of “Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?” I have the “button,” and no one else can do what I must do. I have a witness to share. God help me to do it well.

By Faith Possessed

For years, we have been struggling with the process of eliminating poisons in our water supply, harmful chemicals in the air we breathe, and finding medicines and drugs that will remove the sickness from our bodies.

But when John the Baptist confronted Jesus at the time of his baptism, we hear John saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn. 1:29)

With the coming of Jesus, therefore, something entered life that takes away sin. Here indeed is a wonder! We have not found anything, really, to take away the common cold...let alone cancer, or alcoholism, or a dozen other problems. But here is something that can take away sin.

And when we come right down to it, the real problems of this world, are not cancer, or colds, or poverty, or even pollution, important as these are. The really important problems are those human relations between peoples: selfishness, hatred, greed, murder, and that which creates poverty, and broken homes, and inter-national tensions. Putting it simply, our problem is sin!

And John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Here, then is what we are dealing with...a force that has the power to take away sin. Paul said, he was not ashamed of it, for it was the power of God for salvation.

Have you stopped to consider what your faith is really all about? Is it not that grand and glorious idea that there is a new way of living that takes sin out of life? It is the way of love, of unselfishness, of vicarious suffering, and of going the second mile.

The secret of 1^st century Christianity was not that they could outsmart the Roman Empire, or over-stockpile them, or beat them in any armament race, or win the cold war, but that they could out-love them, and they could out-die them! And this they did, singing “Hallelujahs” as they went to their deaths, in the lion-filled arenas.

They had something to live for that made dying worthwhile, and something to die for that made living eternal. They were not looking so much for what they could hold, as for what held them. They were by faith possessed.

I am not convinced that either the Democrats or the Republicans can solve all of today’s problems...nor the Senate or the Congress. I do not expect that the President will eliminate evil and immorality. I hope he tries. However, I am by my faith possessed, that if TIDE can take the dirt out...LOVE can take the sin out! And that love is truly the answer to the confused mess we are in.

We must find new ways of living by love, because the love of Jesus takes away sin. This is not easy, nor does it even seem practical. And yet, the cross was not practical, nor was John 3:16 practical. But it was necessary for your salvation, and for mine.

Get Me Out Of The Box

Life is a highway...yes...but it is also a valley, and some of life is spent, not out upon the broad highway where life is smooth, but down deep in the valley. So much of life seems to be on a trail that is hemmed in, overshadowed, and overwhelming. Many times, you are not on top of things, but way down in the valley.

One gentleman asked a friend, “How are things going?” And the friend replied, “Well, things are looking up! You see, when you’re down in the hole as far as I am, that’s the only way you can look...is up!”

Yes, it’s better to look up than down. Although I did hear about a man who made a practice of looking down. In 40 years, as he walked along, he picked up 34,947 buttons, 54,712 pins, and 1100 pennies. But he also got a bent back, and a bad disposition. During that time, he failed to see the glory of the sun, the smiles of his friends, and the beauties of nature. He also lost many chances to serve his fellow men.

But there are some who neither look up or down...they look in. They are scared, ingrown, and afraid of the terror of the day, and the panic of the night. This is not living, but dying, when I allow myself to be like this. I am really in the process of dying, when I should be living.

Several years ago, a fascinating record was released called, “For Heaven’s Sake.” One of the songs on that record went like this:

Get me out of the box...Get me out of the box
Somewhere, there’s a key that surely unlocks.
I’m choking to death
I’ve gotta have air.
But there’s strangers out there!

Outside is the world...and the world is so wide
I want to get out...but it’s much too cold outside
I’m too young to die...with so much to give
I want to get out...but out there I’ve got to live!
And I’m warm in the box...safe from harm in the box
Free of grief in the box...Such relief in the box
So, I hide from the world
And, I stay snugly curled...In my little box!

Unfortunately, there are many persons who are doing just that. They are hiding from life. They are in a “box condition.” But Jesus Christ, and the “Good News” of the Gospel says, “You can’t find life in a box!” We must get up and walk through the valley. Sure, it’s hard out there, and there’s pain, and trial and tribulation...but God is out there too. Lose yourself in it, and you will find yourself. As the Scriptures say, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (II Tim. 1:7)

As you walk through the valley, you are not alone. God is behind you, and before you, above you, and around you. Perhaps you need to remember...you can’t get away from God. If you’re trying to hide, he’ll hound you. If you’re trying hard to die, he’ll tempt you with life. And if you’re trying to walk through the valley, He’ll go with you all the way.

But, I Don't Like The Wilderness

The Scriptures remind us that after the baptism of our Lord, the Spirit led him into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil.

In some ways, this sounds very contradictory. God’s Holy Spirit had just descended from heaven upon our Lord, along with the words, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Such a high and holy moment it was.

But is it not true within our own lives, that great moments of exaltation are inevitably followed by times of depression. A minister sometimes calls it, his “blue Monday.” He had a great day on Sunday. Everything went fine. It was a busy day, an eventful day, and then Mon. comes, and he gets those let-down blues. Do you sometimes have that too?

And there in the wilderness, Jesus had it. The devil said, “Who do you think you are? You don’t really believe that you heard that voice at your baptism, do you? If you are the Son of God, then change this stone to bread...throw yourself down from the temple and let the angels save you.”

And so, the devil hits you and me right between the eyes with doubt. “You mean to stand there with your face hanging out, and tell me you are a child of...what God?...show me...prove it. You are an ape. You are a sick fly. You are a blob of protoplasm. You say your life has meaning? It is futility! People are scum, who someday will be blotted up from the earth.”

Jesus needed the wilderness as a time to orient his life, and so do I. But how cleverly the devil takes our moments of inspiration, our high and holy resolves, and turns them into dry dust.

It’s lonely in the wilderness. It’s a lonely thing to be brave, to be true, to be pure. I don’t like to be forced to make choices. I don’t like to be needled into thinking seriously about life. And here is the rising cry of multitudes of careless Christians. “Just let me sit in a pew by the side of the aisle, and let the rest of the Church go by. Don’t ask me to grow. Don’t ask me to think too much, because thinking is disturbing. Don’t get me out in the open where the devil can take his shots at me. Just let me stay safe back around the edge of life.”

I don’t like the wilderness, Lord. But somehow I have the feeling that those quiet times of worship, those lonely times of decision-making, those times of inner reflection, when I confront my sins, and my weaknesses, and my failures before God...that this is what the Spirit is leading me to do. And when I resist it, I may even be resisting God!

Develop Christian Teeth

A long time ago, I became a Christian. But sometimes I wonder how much of me really “took”! There are plenty of times, my stomach is reacting to my temper. Ulcer is the long range expectation if I let that continue. Again and again, my headaches cry out that my tensions are killing me. I am fearful. I am not dealing well with my business associates. I have taken the weight of the world on my own shoulders, without ever asking God to shoulder any of it. Who do I think I am? Superman?

And now, I have discovered that my teeth never got converted either. But it’s not really the teeth...it’s the juices and acidity arising out of my own stupidity. When I am angry, a recent dental authority said, “a stress related gum disease called necrotizing ulcerative gingivites (NUG for short)” allows bacteria to literally eat away my gums. L (Dr. John Wilde on Dental Fitness...Hancock County Journal Pilot, Feb. 10, 1993)

I’ve heard about people being so angry that they “grind their teeth.” This appears to be Biblically substantiated...and I know that I’ve “ground” mine now and then. Dentists are apparently having to repair broken and worn teeth from people who have this habit.

So where does that leave me? It would appear that I am a Christian, but not completely Christian. Looks like I’ve got a long way to go. It seems to have something to do with the head and the heart, and the stomach, and the very acid juices my un-Christian spirit produces. What is the answer?

This same dentist tells us there are only two requirements: learn to forgive, and learn to live in love. Strange...I thought I got sermons from preachers. Seems like a good dentist might have given me the best sermon I’ve heard for quite awhile.

Road-Runners Or Road Builders

Several years ago, while traveling in New Mexico, I was privileged to see one of those funny little Road-runners I had heard so much about. With all respect to God’s creative touch, I think He might have “missed a beat” when He made this tiny bird. Either that, or else He had a great sense of humor. The T.V. comedies show this bird, running down the road at great speed, saying “beep beep”, “beep beep”!

Sometimes, I begin to feel like the road runner myself. I am moving fast, making much noise, but really not amounting to much, or accomplishing anything of importance.

By contrast, a study of John the Baptist reminds us that he considered himself to be a road-builder. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” he said, “make his paths straight!” His was the serious task of putting himself out, in order to put someone else in. “I must decrease,” he told his disciples, but “he (meaning Jesus) must increase!” (John 3:30)

Today, I suppose, we would call John the “Advance Man.” Years ago, the traveling circuses had them. Today’s politicians have them. They make the preliminary arrangements. It is like Ed McMann saying: “He-e-e-e-re’s Johnny!”

And today, we must be the ones to say, “here is the One you have been waiting for!” And we must stop “beep-beeping” with the Road-runners of a secular society, and begin the road-building that is costly and important. There are children to be taught; there are patterns of honesty and virtue to be shared; there are lessons to be learned about love and forgiveness; there are the hungry to be fed and the sick to be visited; there are those in jail who need our love and the shut-ins who are lonely.

Sometimes we laughingly talk about the committees that are not committed, the Boards that are bored, the Trustees who cannot be trusted and the stewards who are in a stew. Somehow I don’t like the image of myself as racing around, performing meaningless duties of nonsense. I have been given a more important task, and that is to help build a highway for the King of Kings. To this end, I must be faithful!

Have You Had An Affair?

Today, we live in a world where increasingly, morality is on the skids. Soap operas, fiction, and fact spell out again and again the “affairs” that are going on. “Affairs” with a secretary, “affairs” with another man’s wife, “affairs” in the Senate chambers, “affairs” in suburban communities, and the list goes on and on.

But, in fairness, we also need to add those “affairs” of righteousness. So many, in fact, that they might almost offset today’s scandal sheets. In the letter to the Hebrew Christians, the author draws a panoramic screen showing that great line of Godly people, from Abel, through Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham and down to the martyrs of the Christian faith. People who had an “affair” with God...one so real, and so compelling, that it became more desirous for them than life itself.

Sometimes today, we only meet the very minimum requirements of faith. But for the early Church fathers, this was not the case. For them, God was no fiction of the mind, no figment of the imagination. They believed that through Jesus Christ, God had dealt with them, and was continuing to deal with them. They had come to grips with God, and they believed that the incredible could happen...and it did!

For the early Church fathers, “faith was as real as potatoes.” (From the prayer of Dr. Peter Marshall). It was “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1). It was real. With this kind of faith, they “moved mountains, they conquered Kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions, won strength out of weakness.” (Heb. 11:33,34)

Faith is an “affair” of the heart, of the hands, of the feet, and of the head. It is a matter of coming to know that God exists and is real. Join the scandal sheet of the Church. Have an “affair” with the Lord of the Universe. You’ll be glad you did.

The Fire Fall

What is the Church? Where is the Church? Is it a building? Is it a denomination? Is it structure? Is it people?

As a child, one of the favorite illustrations was a little one in which the hand was used, together with these words:

“Here is the Church...Here is the steeple.
Open the doors...and see all the people.”

Very obviously, God had people in mind. And yet, today, so much of our Christian life centers on program, and structure, and buildings, and the legalisms that go with the work and activity of the Church.

In Colossians, the apostle Paul said, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones...” And we listen with a kind of amazement. We’ve never thought of ourselves as being “chosen” ones. And Paul goes on to describe what these “chosen ones” who are the Church must be: “holy, compassionate, kind, lowly, meek, patient, and forbearing of one another.” (Col. 3:12)

It is a high calling, to be the Church. Most of us feel woefully inadequate to be Christ’s representative, but he sends His Spirit to empower us, and through that Spirit, marvelous things can take place.

Years ago, there was a beautiful spectacle that took place during the summer evenings at Yosemite National Park in California. High up on Glacier Point, preparations were being made until darkness came upon the valley. Down below, the spectators were lined up, watching, and waiting. And then a voice from below would cry out, “Let the fire fall.” And from far above, as though in echo, would come the reply: “The fire falls!” And then, burning embers would come cascading over the edge, looking like a glowing red water-fall from heaven.

It was a marvelous sight to watch. And I am reminded that through the years, dedicated and committed Christians have been praying for the Church. And they have prayed, “Let the fire fall!” And behold, God’s Holy Spirit, like tongues of flame, has become evident, moving the Church, empowering the Church, to come alive and bear witness to the Christ who is the head of the Church. Today, we pray for the fire-fall. Let it come upon each one of us. “Now, Lord. Come now!”

It Takes Two

Many years ago, my parents taught me that there are usually two sides to everything. In a sense we are talking about tolerance, about understanding. It is a valuable lesson to learn.

I am “turned off” by people who are “always right”...people who see absolutes in everything. For life is not that simple. It is pure conceit to believe that we are always right and the other fellow is always wrong.

Judgment comes easily to most of us. We point the finger and we castigate and condemn and we are quite sure the other guy is going straight to hell.

But just as it takes two to tango, and two to fight, so there are always two sides to every situation before we get the complete story. The Bible reminds us again and again that we must not judge, lest we be judged. We must confess with Christian humility that sometimes the other fellow has truth too. It is Christian tolerance. “I will give the other fellow every benefit of a doubt. I will believe that his intentions are honorable and just, just as long as I can possibly do so.”

At times I worry about being weak, or “wishy-washy.” Would I be better to be “hard-nose”? Let me be “authoritarian” in my decisions and in my daily life. Yes, at times, I think how nice it would be to always be absolutely sure!

But I’m glad that my faith does not require that, and that I can be tolerant of other Christians who believe differently than I. How does salvation come to me? The Scriptures affirm that “I must accept the Lord Jesus Christ, and then I will be saved.” It doesn’t add 50 addendums. It doesn’t qualify that with a series of “buts” and “whereas’s.” It is absolute about one thing only...the God of Jesus Christ is the only absolute I need. Jesus Christ has given me a complete picture of God. That’s all that is required. My Church may have a listing of doctrines, but the Church has only one Christ. And my compliance with all the doctrines in the world will have no meaning, if I fail to make Jesus Christ the center and significance of all things. Yes, it takes “two.” Jesus and me. All the laws on the books cannot win my salvation, but Jesus can.

Going "Dutch"

In Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia, he gives us several contradictory thoughts. In chapter 6, verse 2, he tells us that we should “bear one another’s burdens.” We do not live long as Christians before we hear about that responsibility. I am responsible for those around me. “Bearing burdens” is a trade-mark of being Christian.

And yet, just a short while later, in verse 5, the apostle says: “Each man will have to bear his own load.” It would be a wonderful world, if someone else would always take care of us. How nice to have someone pay our bills, be responsible for our sins, take over our major burdens.

But there is reality in realizing that much of life is “going Dutch.” We pay our own way. Life with its responsibilities is up to us. The world does not treat us like kings and queens, and we are sobered up quickly with the understanding that living and dying, paying taxes, and hanging on to a job is something that almost no one else is going to do for us. We must do it for ourselves.

Life is a solo. I have to “sing for my own supper.” I walk through the valley of the shadow, in terrible loneliness at times. I pay an awfully high price for just being human. And for folks who live and die only unto themselves, life can be terribly fearful, and awfully desolate. Most of the time, we all have to “go Dutch.” We pay our own way.

But thanks be unto God, we are also part of a great redeeming fellowship. Even when we sin, the Scriptures affirm that “if someone is caught in a trespass, we who are spiritual (Paul says) are to restore that person in a spirit of gentleness.” (Gal. 6:1) “We are to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal. 1:3)

There is a costly requirement in accepting the development and design and responsibility for your own individual life...and great happiness in doing so as well. But sometimes when I am most unable to handle things on my own, there is a Savior who says tome, “It’s O.K. my friend. I”ve already paid the bill.”

Call His Name "Jesus"

Note: Today (Jan. 6) is the Day of Epiphany,
the last of the “Twelve Days of Christmas”,
and the day celebrating the coming of the Wise
Men. As such, once again, a message about
the coming of the Christ-child is one for wise
men and women to remember.

The gospel writer, Matthew tells us that the angel appeared to Joseph and, having told him about Mary's conception by the Holy Spirit, said, "she shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matt. 1:21)

The name Jesus in Hebrew (sometimes called Joshua), meant "Yahweh is salvation". The task of the Messiah was a big one, to save the world from sin!

Incredible as it may seem, that is exactly what Christians believe. Faith in Christ does not stop us from sinning, nor does it make us perfect, but, in our weakness and poor humanity, sins can be forgiven and removed, and we can rejoice in a happy and lasting fellowship with the Heavenly Father.

Christians are not little gods. Our humanness is not removed from us. Jesus did not come to make us perfect. But he broke the barrier of separation and made it possible for sinful humans, to live with God, as though they were perfect.

We are mere mortals. We are peasants in a far country! But, the coming of Christ makes it possible for us to claim our son-ship with the Heavenly Father, and to feast in beautiful fellowship with the King of Kings. All because of a baby, born in a manger. Praise His Name!

Someone Touched Me!

When the President comes to town, or a movie personality, or a rock‑artist of fame, the crowds throng the guest, reaching hands out to touch. They want to shake hands, get an autograph, or even touch the person's clothing. Why?

The New Testament tells a similar story of crowds, thronging our Lord, and especially of a woman, who reached forward to "touch" him.

Again and again, we read of Jesus touching someone: the blind man, the lame, the leper. The touch of the Savior brought healing, wholeness, the woman who reached out to touch was healed!

His touch was like a miracle! How many times Christians have rejoiced in their newness of life with the simple statement of faith, "He touched me!" Touching is life's best communication. It is better than a thousand words. What can you say in those hundreds of instances when words just don't come, or when words are simply inadequate? The warm handshake, the friendly hug, the touch of someone's hand is often the only thing that will do the job!

Please touch! Life is lonely when people walk around in a wilderness of words. It is easy to feel rejected, left out, "out‑of‑touch" in today's world.

Many churches take a moment for folks to "give the peace"...a handshake, a greeting, or the words: "the peace of God be with you."

John said in his epistle, concerning Jesus: "that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen, which we have looked upon, and touched with our hands." (I John 1:1)

Whenever we take the Last Supper, or the sacrament of Holy Communion, we are allowed to take the bread, to hold it between our fingers, and to receive the grape juice (the Wine), and it touches our tongues. The Word does become flesh, and in the act of sacrament, we have touched Him, and He touches us, to make us whole!

Everything Is New!

A Church bulletin board once read: "Whatever your past has been, you have a spotless future." That's right...there are new beginnings. Each day, and each hour, is such an opportunity.

In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet shared his visions, and out of these visions of wheels within wheels he sensed the gem of a great truth. There would be great destructions, there would be plagues and desolation, but out of it all, would come a Messiah. God would see that there would come a time, when they would receive cleansing for their sins. "A new heart will I give you", the prophet wrote, "and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you," (Ezekiel 36:26,27)

We are told of a person who came out of a rescue mission one night as a new man. Looking up, he pointed to the brilliant stars above him and exclaimed, "They are all new!" It is like the land of beginning again, when God's Spirit comes alive within the human heart.

The apostle Paul wrote: "Forgetting the things that are behind, I reach forward..." and years later, after many miles and years of serving his Master, Paul said, "If any person be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." (II Cor. 5:17)

Every day, God invites us to take that first step with Him. It is the open door into the land of Beginning Again. It is the spiritual transplant of a new heart. It is the simple invitation of the Savior, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28)

At times, I feel desperately that inner "heart of stone". The day has gone poorly, my patience has been tried to the uttermost, my spirit has been negative, and my lips have spoken harshly. Then indeed, I must kneel before my Maker, and cry out for a "clean heart". The assurance is that God hears my prayer, and offers His cleansing power. The Psalmist said: "As far as the east is from the west, so far will I remove your transgressions from you." (Ps. 103:12)

A Fallen Angel, But Flying High!

In Switzerland, as one travels up the Engelberg valley, there is a place called "The End Of The World". A winding road suddenly stops...apparently one can go no further. But there at the "end of the world", there is a little Inn, a place to stop for refreshment before climbing the trail ahead.

This is symbolic of our lives. So many times, we come to barriers, pitfalls, tensions, and we are hemmed in on all sides. We have reached the end of our rope. We can go no further. And just at that point, we need the Inn of our Faith, a place to stop and consider.

Perhaps the New Year is just such a place and time. It has been said that "man's extremity is God's opportunity". And at the end of the old year, we still have our old anxieties, old fears, old sins. They are still with us. But when the children of God get at their wit's end, then God has a chance of making His will known to them. If there is an "old man", there is also a "new birth", and our spiritual life offers antibiotics for the soul, and spiritual penicillin for despair. The "end" also offers new beginnings.

There is a contemporary song that goes something like this: "I'm just a fallen angel, but I'm flying high!" There is little virtue in any of us. So many of us have sinned badly, fallen, "goofed up"...really messed up the old year, but through the new birth in Jesus Christ, we can once again, "fly high".

It was Susan Coolidge in her poem, "Begin Again" who said so beautifully:

Every day is a fresh beginning.
Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain.
And, spite of old sorrow, and older sinning,
And puzzles forecasted, and possible pain.
Take heart with the day, and begin again.

"Beam Me Up, Scotty!"

The New Year makes me think of new things...a new day, a new chance to start over, new opportunities, maybe even a new chance to make good! How nice to be able to have "new years"!

For science fiction buffs, the Star Trec stories have offered challenging ideas for the future. One fascinating idea is that of being "beamed" somewhere. A person is "beamed" through an energy transport from one place to another, and you are there...instantly!

What this could do for our energy‑concerned world! Think of it! I could be "beamed" instantly from here to see my grandchildren in Wisconsin. Or you could be "beamed" to the Holy Land or anywhere in the U.S.A. or the world! How quickly our highways and automobiles and airlines would become obsolete!

One science fiction writer in describing the process said it would mean that every cell in the body would be re‑constituted and re‑built in absolute mirror form at its new destination, without loss of memory or identity. How incredible! Pure science fiction now...but who knows what may be possible in the future?

And yet, isn't this exactly the kind of opportunity that comes to all of us in Christ Jesus? In Christ, we become brand “new” creatures. "All things become “new” (II Cor. 5:17). The Psalmist said when we acknowledge our Heavenly Father, that "He puts a “new” song in our mouths." (Ps. 40:3). And we are called by "a “new” name" (Isa. 62:2). And then He gives us a “new” commandment (Jn. 13:34) and that “new” law of love, demands a “new” kind of conduct. Also, we are to catch a vision of "a “new” heaven and a “new” earth." (Rev. 21:1) And there, once again, "all things are “new”! (Rev. 21:5).

There is a kind of spiritual "transport" that was promised long before the science fiction writers ever thought about it. Life can be made new! New for me...Whee! And new for you...too!