H. Belloc, in his essay, “The Little Old Man”, said, “ that of everything which runs or creeps upon earth, man is the fullest of sorrow”. Sometimes, the events of life send Belloc’s observation about sorrow cascading deep into our psyches. We may feel overcome, even overwhelmed by the loss of loved ones that seem almost impossible to bear. But, over time, great sorrow is replaced by joyful confidence that God is with us and all is well.
Jesus was described once by the prophet Isaiah as “a man of sorrows”. A being that could have had anything He wanted, and died on a cross, how strange that would seem to a person who didn’t know the greatest story ever told! But, now, He does have everything, eternity in heaven with His loving Father! From Calvary’s misery to heaven’s glory . He’s home, home at last. And He calls us home too. Little sheep, come home to Me, and be safe at last, safe at last.
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair…, struck down, but not destroyed… For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Selections from I Corinthians Chapter 4 (NIV)
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)
I’ve been to war.
Not a figurative war, which many people have experienced within their unique circumstance, but a real war where bullets fly both ways and mortars and rockets explode with the intent of ending lives. My war experience, of course, is no longer unusual as the United States continues adding to the longest period of conflict in our history. I understand the damage a war can do.
Private, figurative wars, the ones without bullets, have been raging for centuries and are just as spiritually damaging as the real wars are physically damaging. Spiritual wars are waged in our minds as we deal with the loss of loved ones, the breaking of a heart through shattered marriages, the breaking of promises and vows, the loss of stability financial or emotional. The lists go on and undoubtedly will touch everyone who will read this paragraph. The private wars have touched my family and me through suicide, cancer, divorce, death…
Once, when I was a little boy, something happened to me that was way beyond my control. I had sustained a dangerous head wound and was helpless. My father took me in his arms and carried me to the hospital which was very near to where we lived. I’m sure my dad lived the event over and over in his mind all the days of his life, even though he rarely mentioned it. My mom and dad were not young when I was born and our age difference could have made him my grandfather. He had lost my sister only five years before and must have died figuratively many times as he carried me to medical help. My father did not cause the accident, would never had let it happen if he had been there. I don’t know what went through his mind as carried me in his arms; perhaps this, “ I would never dream of letting something like this happen to you, but if you will let me, I will love you through this, help you through this, and show you how it will work eventually for your own good.”
In this world bad things happen. When they do, God is there and He, like my dad, says, “ I did not cause this, I would never plan this horrific thing that has happened to you, but know this, if you let Me, I will love you through this, help you through this, and show you how it will work eventually for you own good.”
Surely God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my defense,
He has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2 (NIV)
I can still jump as high as I always could, I just can’t stay up as long, my cousin once said. He was making humorous commentary on the fact that he was getting older, and knew it. That little funny statement has a great truth embedded. That is, facts are often overrun by fiction. Coming from emotional sources rather than logical ones, fictional, emotional ones sometimes seem logical. I once worked with a man who would hold his hand over his heart and say, “Dave, if it feels good in your heart, it must be right.” Really? If that were true, the rich young ruler that Jesus interviewed would have been completely O.K. because he “felt” he was O.K. But the one thing he lacked and needed to do, was not in his mindset to do.
Some people today have a great feeling about their acceptance of Jesus, but little regard for what He commanded for full obedience, baptism. Like the rich young ruler, they refuse to finish their acceptance. Movie stars desire to be described as famous, not nearly famous. People should desire to be described as saved, not nearly saved.
“ I tell you the truth no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3 (NIV)
“ I tell you the truth, no on can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of the water and of the Spirit.” John 3:5 (NIV)
“ Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38 (NIV)
“ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:3-4 (NIV)
Lost, a terrible word. Rhoda, my lovely wife, was separated from her parents years ago at the Madri Gras parade in New Orleans. Years later, that memory is still poignant. If you have ever been lost, you will never forget it.
Bob Berman, in his column in the October issue of “Astronomy”, relates “A dozen cool facts.” One of them is that a neutron can live for more than 10 billion years as long as it stays in its place snuggled deep within its atom’s nucleus. But if it escapes, it will vanish in 10 ½ minutes, not even a blink compared to 10 billion years. Bob said one lesson that might be learned from this “cool fact” is that kids should stay home with their parents so they will never be lost. That’s pretty good advice, but I think there is more solid advice gained from this example. As God’s children we are safest when we stay close to Him no matter what happens in life. “Busting loose” from that safety net is not a wise thing to do. We will surely be lost.
In 1898 Lelia Morris wrote a beautiful hymn, “Nearer Still Nearer.” Her hymn speaks to staying close to God:
Nearer still nearer close to Thy heart
Draw me my Saviour, so precious Thou art;
Fold me, O fold me close to Thy breast,
Shelter me safe in that haven of rest,…
Nearer still nearer, while life shall last,
Till safe in glory my anchor is cast;
Thru endless ages, ever to be
Nearer, my Saviour, still nearer to Thee…
Why would we want to be anywhere else?
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7-8 (NIV)
Photo by Chicago’s North Shore Conventions & Visitors Bureau.
“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)
The shortest and perhaps one of the saddest verses in the bible. The occasion was the death of a dear friend, beloved brother of Mary and Martha. Weeping for a friend – the human face of the Master – like us – grieving when death deals its horrific blow. In this case, though, Jesus knew He would raise Lazarus from death shortly. So why did He weep? Perhaps He was touched with Mary and Martha’s grief. Perhaps He was sad that His friend had to suffer through the pain of the death process. Perhaps He knew how happy Lazarus was, and He didn’t want to call him back to earth, far and away from Paradise.
Whatever the reason, Jesus was so moved that He mourned, deeply, for awhile. Even Jesus, with the universe at His beck and call suffered a period of deep, unfathomable grief. Grief of that magnitude cannot be hurried, cannot be wished away, can only be lived through. When grief becomes our lot, our friends, because they love us, want us to be whole again – like we were. They honestly think they know what is best for us, and sometimes it’s not. They want us back like we were before, and not only that, they want us back as soon as possible. What is difficult for those who haven’t taken residence on “Grief Mountain,” is that they have a hard time understanding that what we were before has forever changed. We do not have it in our power to return to what we were. We are different people, and eventually stronger for the Mountain we have ascended, but different. This difference is the by-product of an event we would never have chosen for ourselves, or even an enemy. We will be back, but not exactly the same, and it will take time, more time than some are prepared to invest is us. And that’s ok; we understand and love them anyway.
Please, and I hope you do, enjoy a poem I recently wrote that considers the foregoing thoughts.
THE JOURNEY
Good friend,
Please do not interrupt my flight,
For sometimes I alight
On leaves of loneliness,
Sometimes, on twigs of tears.
And please,
Do not try to catch my wings
As I try to pass,
For somewhere,
In the great Sometime,
I will alight again,
In a sweeter place, on better flowers.
And then I will be again, alright,
If you, dear friend,
Do not interrupt my flight.
Photo by LiebeDich http://www.flickr.com/people/liebedich/ used under Creative Commons agreement
In past years the dinner table at our house frequently rang out with the words “eat your peas!” We had the same plea of parents everywhere for our young ones to eat healthy food. Things changed on the occasion my youngest daughter Chera flat out refused. We spent the next hour proving our dominance over her by forcing her to eat them. We left the experience exhausted and emotionally drained. Then it occurred to us, the intent of our plea was to set a habit of good nutrition, it really wasn’t peas themselves that were the issue it was the benefit of the peas. Life-long devotion to health was our primary goal, how nutrition was delivered was secondary. We determined that it was impossible to achieve our primary goal if we forced the secondary.
Those who read scriptures from an “eat your peas” point of view find that God wants us to obey his commands (John 15:10). So we immediately start looking for a command checklist of do’s and don’ts to obey. Then we add traditions as commands to our checklist. We rationalize that if we force ourselves and others to obey everything on our checklist we will find the peace and love we seek.
Many of our church traditions today have adopted something similar to the original system of laws given by God to the Israelites. Under that system of laws I understand that 613 laws were commanded including 248 dos and 365 don’ts. The result of this system, generations of Israelites who couldn’t keep the commands and were not devoted to God. They were forced to “eat their peas” and despised it.
Jesus fulfilled the old law and placed a new law “in our hearts and in our minds” and made a new promise to believers. “By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. Hebrews 8:13 (NIV)
Like Angie and I did as young parents, if He wanted to, God could establish his dominance over us by forcing his commands. But we would likely leave the experience despising Him more than loving Him. By focusing on the secondary outcome of our love for God, that is, obedience to HIS commands, we risk missing the power of our primary goal lifelong whole-hearted devotion to God.
- Because God loves us, we love God
- Because we love God we do what pleases him
- Because Christ’s sacrificed for us we sacrifice for Christ
- Because we don’t HAVE to, we want to
The early church was dealing with this situation as Jews who became Christians were having trouble leaving their checklist of laws and traditions. The church in Galatia was struggling to place relationship with God over rules, so Paul wrote this to them:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself….”So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. Galatians 5:13-17
So what does God want from us? The closest to a complete checklist under the “new law” is this:
- Love God more than anything else
- Love other people unconditionally
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)
I want to be very clear to all Christians or those seeking the peace found in God through Christ. Putting love of God above all other things does not give us the “freedom to indulge the sinful nature” as Paul put it. He went on in the next sentences to give a test to discern if a life is lived “by the Spirit.”
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:19-25 (NIV)
The message is clear, if we love God with all our hearts there will be no room for things that are contrary to that love; the fruits of the Spirit will outflow from our hearts and we will bless those we love (everybody). Not because we have to, because we want to with all our hearts.
See also 2 John 1:6, John 14:2, John 15:10, 1 Corinthians 7:19, 1 John 2:3
Suggested Twitter posts related to this article:
Jesus abolished the old law and placed a new law “in our hearts and in our minds.” http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible
Because God loves us, we love God http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible
Because we love God we do what pleases him http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible
The Christian checklist of commands: Love God more than anything, live others http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible
We love God not because we have to, because we want to with all our hearts http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control http://ow.ly/tGRE #God #Christ #Bible
We love God we do what pleases him http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible
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Because we don’t HAVE to, we want to obey God’s commands http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible
We often describe our Christian life as a daily walk, which is an enduring example of how we dedicate every moment of every day to Christ. The good news is we walk in the light near to God which gives a guiding light and illuminates a Spiritual path to the comfort of eternal life. To discover the true depth of this good news we need to focus on things to come. In Revelation the new heaven and the new earth are described by John:
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”….And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:1, 21:3, 21:23-27 (TNIV)
For believers it’s almost overwhelming to think of the day we can walk in the light of the Lord. BUT WE ALREADY ARE!
One day long ago, my buddy and I decided to drive his old car across a dry creek bed. A fun idea turned out to be a bad idea. Half way over, we sunk deep in the gravel. Everything we tried to get unstuck did not work. Idea after idea failed. Our “horse” was stuck, for sure and for certain. Evening was coming on and our options were walking home or going to someone’s house and calling home. In those days there were no cell phones. Both plans were not acceptable to a couple of enterprising fellows like us. Either option spelled defeat. Of course, we were, in fact, completely defeated. By now my mom, who kept close tabs on me, even though I considered that not needful, had dispatched my dad to check on the whereabouts of her number one and only son. And there he was, in his company car, coming over the hill with the radio antenna whipping in the wind. My hero, then and now, and always will be. “What are you boys doing,” he asked. We replied as manly as we could, “We’ve tried everything and we can’t get unstuck.” He didn’t laugh or even chastise us for what we had done as I recall. He had a way of teaching without saying one word. He simply said, “Take some air out of the tires”. We did and Ronny drove out easily. Ronny and I learned a big lesson that day, and it was more than how to get a stuck car out of a creek.
Listen to an audio presentation on this topic here
On May 29th, my darling little granddaughter, Sierra died. She fought a most heinous form of cancer for eighteen months. She died bravely, the way I want to when it’s my turn. I was with her at one o’clock in the morning when she breathed her last. Those eighteen months would take a volume to chronicle which I will never do. But, through all the hours of weeping and happiness, yes, happiness, there is something that I learned that is on my heart to share. Maybe it will help you, I hope so.
People usually deal with dying and death, particularly a tragic one, in pretty much the same way. They believe that no matter the severity of the illness, prayer will more than likely change the outcome. Their core belief is that God will interdict on behalf of the sick person and heal them. Modern medicine does what was impossible only a short time ago, people live who would have died then. These medical marvels are a gift from God.
But what about those who are not healed? And no matter how many, how long or how fervent the prayers, they die. When this happens some will blame God for “taking” their loved one. How could an all knowing, all powerful God let theirs die and let another live? It’s a puzzle that begins to eat at the very center of the believer’s heart. Well meaning friends might say, “If we had only had more faith”, or some other horrific statement, the sick one would have been made well. This is a satanic phrase and even though well intended strikes terror deep into the soul. How guilty would you be if your loved one died because you “didn’t have enough faith?” Yes, we should have faith, enough to move a mountain, as Jesus said, but this faith is not for physical mountains, but spiritual ones.
