I Can Do It Myself!

When our youngest son was about two years old, I had to make sure I heard him wake up in the morning. If I didn’t get to him in time, he would go to the refrigerator, get the apple juice out and try to pour himself a glass of apple juice. It would be all over the floor and under the refrigerator and I would have a sticky mess to clean up not to mention that we would be out of apple juice again. That was one of the many ways he tried to do things for himself. All he had to do was come to me and ask and I would help him, but he seemed unaware of that and generally thought he needed to do things for himself.

“After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10

As I read the book of Judges, I see a people who generation after generation would forget that they had a God who loved them and would take care of them. So, like my son, they would try to do things for themselves and make a big mess. The Lord would let them go for a while and live in bondage and then, “the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.” Judges 2:18b In his compassion, the Lord would send them another Judge, someone who knew God and followed him, who would lead the people out of bondage again. But as soon as that Judge was gone, the people would go right back to worshiping other gods and, therefore, right back into bondage.

I wonder if we have learned anything from the history recorded in the Bible. I look at churches today… a new church will grow up led by someone with real passion for God and for leading his people to victorious lives. As time goes on, several things happen. Sometimes the leader gets prideful of what ‘he’ accomplished forgetting it was God who was doing the work. Sometimes the leader moves on to plant another church and new leaders come in who are less passionate. People get comfortable in the established congregation and follow the rituals without their hearts being passionate for Christ. While the parents have distant memories of what God has done, the children are clueless – they haven’t been taught and it isn’t an ongoing experience, so they are not learning who God is and how he works in their daily lives. And so the church grows cold and after a while begins to dwindle in attendance and eventually dies out or carries on with a mostly dead body.

So I wonder, where does the passion come from that keeps a church body alive and well? We have something that those Israelites didn’t have – we live in a time after Jesus came and took on human flesh, died and was resurrected and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." Ephesians 2:18 We don’t have to wait for a judge or priest to take us back to the Lord. We can approach him every day and ask for his help with every battle in our lives. I somehow think the passion comes from knowing how much he has done for us and how much we need him. And if we are humble enough to admit that, not only will he ‘show up’ and help us, but our children will see our dependence upon God and learn to also walk with him. I don’t think passion is something that can be passed on, but it is something that must be learned through personal experience with God. Yes, we can get a ‘buzz’ from being next to someone who is passionate, but it will not ‘stick'.

How rich we are! We have a compassionate God who loves us. We don’t have to wade around in the sticky messes we make for ourselves. We can ask him for help. And he is faithful… “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100:5

For the Sake of Your Name

The Psalms are full of good stuff for grieving people. While Psalm 23 is a comfort, there are many Psalms that cry out to God, “Rescue me from my enemies.” On the journey of grief, we find many enemies along the way. Fear is the worst one. Our daughter-in-love made a list of 20 fears that she deals with. I share many of those fears. The first one is that somehow we are responsible for our son’s death, followed by I’ll never get past this grief and obsession over him and then I’ll forget to remember him. Irrational? Yes. But, nevertheless, real intrusions into our thoughts.

As I was reading Psalm 31 this morning, it grabbed my attention already in verse 1. “In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge…” Then, “Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.” Psalm 31:2-3

And there is was: “for the sake of your name.” Suddenly I see David (and myself) in a new light. In my self-aware, self-centered frame of mind, I’m thinking the emphasis is on, “save me,” “rescue me,” “hide me,” “shelter me,” but David says, “for the sake of your name,” take care of me. David was focused on what God was doing for the sake of God’s name – not just on saving his own skin. As I ponder this, I think of Moses when he was interceding for the Israelites after they had committed grievous sin while Moses was on the mountain with God. “But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God, “O Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel… Then the Lord relented.” Exodus 32:11-14 Moses was also interested in “for your name sake” even as he pleaded for God’s mercy.

As I read down through the Psalm, I find, “Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O Lord, the God of truth.” Psalm 31:5 Jesus quoted the first part of this verse from the cross. Jesus was submitting to the will of God – even to the point of death on the cross.

“Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.” Psalm 31:9-10 I share this pain with David. I’m weary with grief and anguish.

“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands: deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.” Psalm 31:14-16 “How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues. Praise be to the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city [a state of grief]. In my alarm I said, ‘I am cut off from your sight!’ Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. ‘Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful.’” Psalm 31:19-23

I wonder then, as I journey through this grief, if my focus is on “for the sake of your name,” or is it on me? If my focus is on me, I find myself drowning in irrational fear and pain. If my focus is on the Lord, I see his hand outstretched to me, pulling me out of my sea of fear and pain, rescuing me, because he is a loving and merciful God. And I shout with David, “Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful.” Psalm 31:23

The Longest Sermon

If I knew I only had 24 hours to live, what would I do with that time? I’ve asked myself that and similar questions many times trying to figure out my priorities in life. If I only had 1 year, or 3 months, or 1 month, or two weeks, or one week… Having recently lost a son to sudden death, the question has become more prominent in my mind.

I think of relationships with family and friends, I think of projects unfinished in my ‘basement of dreams’ and of the too many belongings that need to be gone through and dispersed. But as I read through Acts and see what we call ‘Paul’s Missionary Journey,’ I find myself thinking of something different. Paul didn’t ‘plan’ his journey saying, “First I will go here and then after 3 months, I will move on to…” Rather, he was constantly pushed on by persecution and threats of prison and death if he stayed. As he journeyed, he picked up leaders in the various communities that he mentored and taught. He sometimes took different folks with him to the next place, mentoring them on the way. But he was always teaching, teaching, teaching, preaching, preaching, preaching… And many people – Jews and Gentiles – came to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives as a result of Paul’s persistence in teaching the Gospel. Many churches grew up in many cities and countries because of Paul’s persistence in teaching the Gospel.

Always, hanging over Paul was the threat of eminent death – he was stoned, beaten, and imprisoned time after time. But he persisted. What did he teach? When he was with the Jews he tried to use their own Scriptures to convince them that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah and Savior of the world. When he was with the Gentiles, he taught them of the One True God… “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth… he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men… and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone – an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising them from the dead.” Acts 17:24-31

We find Paul at Troas for seven days. On the last day he was there, “because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight… [Eutychus fell asleep and fell out the window, was dead, Paul raised him back to life] Then he [Paul] went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left.” Acts 20:7, 11 It seems that Paul’s heart was to teach the people and especially the leaders the truth about Jesus, his purpose, his mission, and his death and resurrection. With every breath he was given, it was Paul’s purpose to make sure that no one went without hearing that Jesus was the Messiah and that he had come, lived and died and rose again to save them from their sins. “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” Acts 20:25-27 Paul was convinced that every breath he had belonged to God and he would use it to proclaim God’s love and grace to everyone he came in contact with.

The question then remains, what if I only had 24 hours to live, how would I spend it? What is it that God wants me to do with every breath that he gives me? The mission of Jesus was to make sure everyone understood how much God loved them – even to the point of death on the cross. His resurrection brought with it the promise of eternal life with him in heaven for all who believe in him and accept his gift of grace – forgiveness of sins. Paul’s mission was to make sure no one went without hearing that good news. The Apostles worked diligently to spread the Gospel as far and wide as they could. Peter tells us, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” II Peter 3:9 The Lord does not want anyone to perish. His desire is that everyone hears the good news and has opportunity to repent and be saved from their sins.

I am not an orator and would have a difficult time preaching/teaching all day and all night as Paul did, but still, when I take my last breath, I want to be able to say with Paul that I am innocent of the blood of all men. I want to be able to say that I shared the good news with anyone and everyone that God brought into my path or sent me to. I want to pour out my life for God’s kingdom just as Jesus poured out his life for me. My priorities should not change whether I have 50 more years to live or whether I die tomorrow. My priority is to make sure everyone has an opportunity to respond to God’s invitation to become part of his kingdom.

Help me, Lord, to not squander the life you have given me to live, but to use it to your honor and glory, today and as long as you give me breath.