The Light Is Shining - Do We Get It?

It was around Easter time a number of years ago and a series of deadly tornadoes swept through eastern Alabama and western Georgia – destroying homes, businesses, and churches; tragically killing a number of people getting ready to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. I remember listening to a sermon from the late Frank Harrington, preacher of Peachtree Presbyterian Church, who noted that evil seems to especially raise its very ugly head at these special times of Christian celebration.

Here we are again as a culture, in these days of Advent leading up to the celebration of the birth of our Lord – and evil seems to have especially raised its very ugly head at this special time of Christian celebration. The headline on the front page of today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution sums up well the reality of moments like this: “Details emerge, but few answers.”

On this Sunday morning in the middle of Advent, Christians are going to church to worship God with serious questions on their hearts. It is interesting to observe how many believers I have either heard say or read a comment on Facebook that said something similar to “Lord, come quickly.” In an odd kind of way that comment reflects the reality that Advent is actually about preparing for the reappearing of our Lord. Hopefully we won’t forget our own role in preparing for the reappearing of our Lord by being the body of Christ to the world as we expand the rule of the King by expanding His kingdom!

Yet what is also true is that o this Sunday morning in the middle of Advent, lots of non-believers – some of whom want to believe – are staying home watching the news or perhaps watching anything but the news because they can’t stand to hear any more and are wondering what is with a God who allows twenty innocent little children to be murdered.

The apostle John, in the opening chapter of the fourth gospel speaks to moments like this. Two things in particular stand out to me. In John 1:5 he says, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” And then a few sentences down, in verse eleven, he says, “He came into His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” In response to our question, “why doesn’t God do something?” I think John would answer, “He has!” No desire here at all to minimize this awful, all but unspeakable tragedy – but I’m not sure solace is found is suggesting God hasn’t done anything about such evil.

If we read a little further in John, we discover “but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (1:12, 13) The “children of God” as defined here simply don’t do the kind of evil we witnessed on Friday. They simply don’t. The good news of the gospel is that God has acted, once and for all, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth in a way that enables us to renew and restore our God-intended purpose when God made the world in the first place.

Luke tells a story about a man named Simeon (Luke 2:21ff) who is described as “righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel.” In meeting the requirements of their Jewish faith, Mary and Joseph take baby Jesus to the Temple and among the people they meet is Simeon. When he sees the baby Jesus, this old, Spirit-filled man takes the baby into his arms and declares, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a Light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”(2:29-32)

If Simeon is right, then we are confronted with the reality that God has acted; but like those of Jesus’ own time, the “darkness has not comprehended it.” Again, children of God don’t do evil like this. A really sobering question for me is how in the world could a young man like the one who did this get to that point in his life – in an age when the church has so many resources to announce to one and all the good news that in Jesus, God has acted decisively to defeat sin and death? Equally sobering is the fact that we tend to notice the awful expressions of evil, but the pages of the same AJC that announced “but few answers,” almost daily has stories of innocent children killed by evil adults who apparently “have not comprehended” that the Light is shining in the darkness. Yet the “public clergy” in our culture, presumptuous enough to suggest that they speak on behalf of the Kingdom of God, are more interested in who gets elected president; who can or can’t get married; when, if ever is abortion permitted; and, if you live in Georgia, that earth-shattering moral issue of whether or not a convenience store can sell beer on Sunday.

Can there be any wonder that “the darkness doesn’t get it?”

Jesus had lots to say about moments like this – none more convicting than Luke 13. To people who seem to be following Him around and asking thoughtful questions about a tragic expression of evil led by Pilate where innocent blood was shed in the midst of Temple worship, Jesus said, “repent.”

Some will be quick to say that the evil world around us needs to repent. Who could argue that point? But the more thoughtful among us will reflect a little on the brutal reality that if we were more engaged in expanding the kingly rule of Jesus in this world, there would be less news like this awful tragedy and fewer stories in the daily editions of the AJC where this kind of evil happens right around the corner from us.

In that context, the word “repent” is staring me right in the eyes in this season of Advent as we prepare for the coming of our Lord.

Among the Gifts of Christmas

When any of us takes a moment to remember and reflect, chances are we can think of gifts along the way that were given to us at Christmas that impacted us in important ways. I can still remember my first (and only) electric train and an old black and white photo of my Dad helping me put it together on the living room floor on a Christmas morning long ago.

I can remember sitting in the airport in Cincinnati in the wee hours of a morning waiting to fly home for Christmas. Vicki had given me a battery operated, digital calculator that could do basic math – addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It was a pretty impressive little device in 1973 – especially for a guy whose high school business classes had business machines that could multiply and divide, but to accomplish that task for a fairly simple equation, it took several minutes of some mechanical processes going on that were slow and noisy. But this little calculator – hand-held calculator – could do more complex equations instantly.

Then there is the cross-stitched version of the Greek text of Philippians 2:5 from a student secretary over thirty years ago that still hangs in a prominent place on my office wall.  On that same wall is my favorite Bonhoeffer quote in beautiful calligraphy, a gift from my oldest daughter. And I still think about that cold February Saturday morning where, as a part of a tour, I was able to walk through the dugout and on to the turf of Turner Field, thanks to a Christmas gift from my youngest daughter and her husband.

I understand that often the idea of “gift giving” becomes more “what am I going to get?” than “what can I give?” but I’m not sure all the bashing that goes on about allowing Christmas to be a time of giving to others is exactly the message the world needs to hear from believers. I also understand that sometimes the gift giving thing gets out of hand – I’ve probably been guilty of that myself. But there has to be a better way to address that problem than the blanket condemnation we hear sometimes!

What we must remember is that Among the Gifts of Christmas, is not only the rather extravagant gift of God’s becoming a human to redeem us; but also the gift of calling those who follow Jesus to live an incarnational life as the body of Christ in this world.

John (1:1-14) reminds us that “the Word was with God, and the Word was God” and that “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” And Paul, writing to believers in Philippi, (Philippians 2:5-11) tells us of one who “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.”

That gift – a gift described as one from which “we have all received grace upon grace” (John 1:16) – means that God would “rescue us from the power of darkness and transfer us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13,14) That transfer is so real, that Paul can say of his own life as a prisoner on behalf of Gentiles who now follow Jesus, “I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” (Colossians 1:24)

Among the blessed gifts of Christmas – the most extravagant of the extravagant – is the reality that in God’s coming in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, He makes it possible for you and me – the body of Christ – to continue to be Jesus to the world. No mere metaphor, the idea of the church as the body of Christ is our incarnational mission to the world.

During this blessed season of Christmas, may we all proclaim a message of “grace upon grace” with the promise of rescue and transfer.

My Kingdom v. His Kingdom

Thanksgiving came as early this year as it can come, which among other things means that there are more shopping days between Black Friday and when Santa Claus comes as possible. It also means that if you use a real tree for your Christmas tree and typically put it up the week of Thanksgiving – you need to come up with a plan to keep it going for a week longer than usual. 

For those of us who are believers, this season can create all sorts of internal conflicts. We know that Christmas is actually about the coming of Christ into the world to redeem God’s creatures and God’s creation. We know that because He came – “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” as John says – the season of Advent (that begins next Sunday on the Christian Calendar) can truly be about preparing for His reappearing in glory. We even know that He is King of a kingdom that is not of this world, as John 18:36ff so powerfully says.

But we also know and experience the reality of living in this world as we wait for the reappearing of the King in glory. You don’t need me or anyone else to tell you that can be a challenge!

Think about it. For some of us, our personal preference wasn’t elected in the recent election cycle in our country. That could be the candidate I wanted to be President of the United States or the candidate I wanted to be County Coroner and a whole hosts of other offices. For others, our favorite football team, the one that began the season with all sorts of promise, isn’t even bowl eligible, much less in line for a national championship. Then there are those who stood in line for hours in anticipation of Black Friday sales – we even missed our family’s Thanksgiving Dinner – only to discover that the last of the sixty inch, HD, flat screen televisions at Walmart was given to the person in front of me in the line. Then there’s my friend who put her 23 pound turkey in the kitchen sink on Thanksgiving morning, and the sink collapsed down into the cabinet.

Life in “my kingdom” can get a bit messy. I haven’t even mentioned the price of gas, the unemployment numbers, how many foreclosures happen in Georgia every day, and the cost of college tuition. We can’t forget the challenging issues associated with the cost of health care, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. 

And don’t forget, while you’re on this journey to realizing that “my world” isn’t all that it is cracked up to be – that the Middle East, ever a bit testy, is in one of those very testy moments that makes even the most optimistic among us stagger with cynicism. Just thinking about what in the world (this world) is going on in Egypt is enough to give one a bit of a pause.

In the Christian Calendar, the season of “Ordinary Time” comes to an end with the Sunday before Advent. This particular Sunday is sometimes called “The Feast of Christ the King,” and because Thanksgiving was so early this year, was actually this past Sunday. The Feast of Christ the King celebrates the reality that Christ truly is King, and “His Kingdom” is not deterred by “my kingdom.” 

Listen to Jesus in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

In response to the question of James and John about their own place in His kingdom, Jesus reminds them that “His kingdom” and “my kingdom” are not the same. Why? Because in “His Kingdom,”  we follow a King who said, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

How will that work out when all is said and done? Pretty well,  at least if you allow Paul to offer an answer. “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

But in “My Kingdom” there is always this sense of how could this be. Again, Paul comes to the rescue by reminding us “He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17) Apparently the King of this other Kingdom, the one not of this world, is able to hold this world together, even if it seems like “my kingdom” is falling apart all around me.

We are on the longest possible journey from Thanksgiving to Santa Claus right now. It will, no doubt, have a few ups and downs that can thrill us and challenge us. We are living this out on “this fragile earth, our island home,” fully aware that there is tension between “my kingdom” and “His Kingdom.”

May that tension be tempered and tuned by our confidence that “when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)

Flipping the Thanksgiving Coin

For me and dozens of other students back in the day when Roy McKinney was a professor at Atlanta Christian College, he served as a mentor, model, mediator, and lots of other things that have caused us to remember him, despite the fact that he died over twenty years ago!

One of his regular comments was something to the effect that “Thanksgiving was the most missing virtue among believers these days.” He really wasn’t talking about the holiday, of course, and I suspect his words are as true now as they were then.

Paul’s little trilogy about life in Colossians 3:15-17 has always caught my attention in terms of the importance of thanksgiving in a believer’s life. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts . . . and be thankful; let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly . . . with gratitude; whatever you do, whether in word or deed . . . giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” 

If the peace of Christ, and the word of Christ, and the whatever you do of life are the “heads” side of the Thanksgiving Coin, what do you suppose might be on the “tails” side?

If I give thanks for the peace of Christ that rules in my heart, should I not be humbled by the reality of what my life would be without the peace of Christ?  And if I have gratitude that my life is strengthened and transformed by the word of Christ that dwells in me, should I not be humbled by the unpleasant reality of what I would be without that transforming presence? And if whatever I do – word or deed – can be done in the name of Christ with thanksgiving, should I not be humbled by how different life would be if I weren’t able to serve in the name of Jesus?

Somewhere in my heart it simply seems to me that when I flip the Thanksgiving Coin, I should discover a lot of humbleness in the realization that what I’m thankful for isn’t something I earned, deserved, or somehow obtained on my own.

I have always been thankful for my parents and the family into which I was born. Shouldn’t the flip side of that thanksgiving be the realization of what my life might be, were it not for the family into which I was born? Which might even lead to a better understanding of how hard it is for some people to get the gospel into their lives because they weren’t born into a family like mine?

Thanksgiving is such an American holiday, it seems impossible that one would not be thankful for the United States of America as our place of birth. Yet the flip side of that should again cause a little humility to well up inside of us – realizing that hearing and obeying the gospel for most Americans is far easier and far more likely to happen than is true for lots of people in the world.

My wife and I are so thankful for our two children and our son-in-law. And again, when the Thanksgiving Coin is flipped – I’m humbled at all the opportunities we were able to give our children. Opportunities that so many people in the world would not have even dreamed about, much less been able to do.

I could go on, but maybe the point has been made. It might be possible that sometimes our thanksgiving is offered with a bit of pride, maybe even a little swagger. It isn’t too difficult to cross over the line and be thankful for all I – the center of my universe – have accomplished.

Yet the brutal, but straight from God truth is that for everything I put on my list as an item for which I’m thankful, there is the flip side that reminds me of two crucial lessons – first, it is, when all is said and done, a gift from God and I should be humble before Him; and second, it should, at every juncture, cause me to be aware that not everyone in the world has shared in my blessings.

Humble understanding. I wonder how much more of an impact we could have on the world were we all marked by a little more humble understanding.

Happy Thanksgiving. And remember, there’s always a flip side to the Thanksgiving Coin.

We Stand Firm

Last Thursday morning, while sitting in the very simple home of a Chilean pastor and his family, who had graciously shown me hospitality despite the language barriers we faced, I learned something about faith that I hope sticks with me for a while.

It was a cold, rainy day, despite the fact that the southern hemisphere is currently moving from spring time in to the warm days of summer. The house, heated only by a wood heater, wasn’t what I would call “comfortably warm.” Sitting at the table with us was a young lady from the United States, who is living with this couple and their three children as she works with the native Chilean people group, the Mapuche. Rachel was her name and she was translating for us so that the conversation could work.

The day before, in some free time I had been taken to the base of one of the six volcanoes that surround Lautaro, Chile. The snowcapped volcanoes were amazing to look at. We saw a waterfall that was absolutely stunning. We also spent time, including lunch, with another Chilean pastor and his family, who serve a church and the Mapuche people right at the base of the volcano.

I asked my Chilean host if the volcano had erupted since they moved to Lautaro. She told me that it did about four years ago, and described all the normal concerns one would have with a natural phenomenon of that magnitude happening that nearby. 

I’m guessing she could see my eyebrows rising in wonder about all of that. She then told me about other events of nature that make life that far south in Chile. And then, not unlike Paul’s comment in 2 Corinthians 11:28, where, after a long list of hardships, he notes “there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches,” the pastor’s wife talked a while about the hardships of ministry in the place where they feel called to serve. 

It was about time to head to the class I was there to teach and she looked at me and said, “but we stand firm.” She didn’t have to tell me that – I could see it at every turn in her life and service and that of her husband.

As Paul again might say it, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58, ESV) As I’m writing these words, I’m sitting in the home of ministry friends in Santiago, Chile – another family whose life and ministry, service and commitment, has blessed my life significantly. Their ministry in Chile has impacted hundreds of people into serving Christ – including my Lautaro hosts.

Tonight I fly home, returning to the family I love, the students at Point University I care deeply about, a nice home, reliable car, internet, satellite television, all kinds of places to go out and eat, and all the other stuff that I so often take for granted.

After watching my Lautaro hosts this week and visiting in some of the homes of Mapuchi followers of Christ and seeing the challenge of ministry in a difficult place – geography, culture, tradition, and a whole list of similar difficulties abound – I’m going to do my best not to complain that gasoline is still over $3 a gallon! I know some people who would love to be able to pay that for the old, worn-out car they use in serving Christ.

In my friends words, I want to “stand firm.”

Truth with Consequences

A few weeks ago I had the unfortunate opportunity to spend the night in a swing state. If what I saw and heard on television that night is indicative of the over two billion dollars this presidential election has cost, one can only wonder about tomorrow and the days that follow. Jesus might have been thinking about our times when He said, “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)

If you listen to the conversation among those engaged in the politics of this season, the common thread you hear is something like “If my candidate doesn’t win, America is doomed.”  It’s amazing that diehards on both sides can say pretty much the same thing with such conviction. The fact that the polls at the moment seem pretty evenly split makes that kind of passion even more interesting. Apparently, after the election, regardless of how it turns out, half of the voting population of the United States will believe that our nation is doomed!

To borrow a phrase from the current political debate in the area of foreign policy, as a follower of Jesus, it isn’t so much about nation building as it is kingdom building. The kingdom we are called to build will still be here after the election, and in that kingdom, Jesus is never on the ballot – He is King!

We aren’t, of course, the first generation of believers to struggle with frustration over kingdoms, powers, governments, and the like. More than a few of the epistles of the New Testament seem to acknowledge that reality, and none better than the opening sentence of Hebrews 12.

Therefore,

since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,

let us throw off

everything that hinders

and the sin that so easily entangles,

and let us run

with perseverance

the race marked out for us.

The writer of this great epistle goes on to remind us that we do that only by fixing our eyes on Jesus – who suffered greatly, including death on a cross, endured and now sits at the right hand of God. The polling data from “the great cloud of witnesses” is unanimous – no matter what, sticking with Jesus is always worth the cost. The encouragement from the great cloud of witnesses is clear: persevere. The advice is direct and to the point: get rid of the “stuff” that weighs you down. Some of that “stuff” in our day and time is, without doubt, the fretting we do (“Take no thought for tomorrow,” Matthew 6:34)   over who is going to win or lose some election.

The text in Hebrews 12:1-3 reminds us of “truth with consequences.”  Those kinds of consequences are eternal in nature and place all the other “stuff” somewhere in a place of less significance.

By the way, in case you’re wondering, I voted early and hope the person I voted for wins. But if that person doesn’t win, Jesus is still Lord and I am still His.  Talk about consequences!