It was a dark moonless night on our street that has no street lights. (I’m glad. We can see stars.) Our black lab was outside making her final night rounds. Often she sits in the darkness staring off into the forest. I’m sure she hears night sounds that beckon her. Often I just allow her to stare as long as she wants. But this particular evening I went out to call her in. Since it was totally dark I turned on the flash light app on my phone and scanned the yard. She was nowhere to be seen. Was this the night she couldn’t resist the call of the wild? Walking about the yard calling and peering under the rhododendrons I began to be concerned. Where could she be? Turning this way and that I looked and called. Suddenly I felt a nudge on the back of my leg. She had been with me all the time following me from bush to tree. I’m sure she wondered what was wrong with me. When I turned, she turned. She’s a good dog. She is so totally black on a moonless night she is invisible.
There are times when our life seems so dark. Things do not go well. Dreams are dashed. We lose someone we love. Our finances aren’t thrilling. We pray and only hear silence. Where is God? Where are His promises? Finally after much searching we feel a nudge. He was there all the time. We just couldn’t see Him. His promise is true. “Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world.” He’s a good God. After all He told us to call Him Father.
I Wanted to Hear You Sing
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love to hear you sing. At least that was one of the reasons of a man who this weekend during a church choral number got out of his seat, walked to the front and moved the microphone so it was precisely in front of his wife! Afterwards he told me, “I wanted to hear her sing.” He did. We did.
Love is an amazing thing. Without it life would be so bland or maybe not at all. It was with a heart full of love that God knelt in the grass of Eden and formed man with full intention of giving him Eve. It was with a heart full of love that same God permitted what has to be for all eternity the most horrific act ever. God did not resist as the great, great, great, great grandchildren of that first man ripped handfuls of beard from God’s face, spit on Him and smashed nails into His hands. In 1955 Paul Webster wrote, “Love is a many splendid thing.” In this particular case “splendid” is not the right adjective but I cannot think of a word graphic enough to fit that appalling scene.
And now with a heart full of love that same risen God is our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary creating a dossier on each of us detailing a case that justifies the salvation of each of us. “Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” Hebrews 5:1
In a dream I asked God why He saved us and He replied, “I wanted to hear you sing.”
Let the Son Do It
If it had been the beginning of November I would have cranked up the snow blower and cleared the driveway. Five inches of snow packed down by the car would have made the driveway icy for three or four months. But this is April with the forecast of 56 degrees in two days. It didn’t matter if the car packed it down; it would all be gone in 48 to 72 hours. So I allowed the sun to do it for me.
If I weren’t a morally weak human (we all are.), I would work hard to be saved and worry like crazy that I had missed some small little sin. I am morally weak, but not totally stupid. Wanting to be saved, I decided to let the Son do it for me. This is not an issue of being lazy. It is being a realist. No matter how hard I would try I would fail. Even Paul couldn’t do it so he wrote, “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Now I can relax and team up with the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus every day. Not to be saved, but because I am ecstatic with joy that the Son has done the saving. The Son is my hero and I want to be like Him. That is the quest.
We Can Be the Light of the World
One evening a few summers ago our dog came into the house with light coming out of her mouth. It was amazing and spooky. I followed her as she hurried back outside. This was just too weird. She was running around the yard snapping at and catching fireflies. The light was the phosphorescent material left on her teeth from her strange doings. One thing I couldn’t understand was how she could bear the taste. Have you ever smelled your hand after catching a jar full of lightning bugs? Phew!
I am fascinated by the idea of light coming out of someone’s mouth for that is exactly what happened when Jesus was here. The things He said. The sermons He preached. The stories He told all enlightened the world. He was the light of the world. He told us how much the Father cares. He told us we can be delivered from sin. He told us how to live better lives. He told us we can live forever if we will only accept His gift. John 3:16
The more I think about it the more wonderful it is that light can also come from our mouths. We can do what Jesus did. We can tell the world the Good News. Just think of it: light coming out of our mouths! I used to think we reflected Jesus’ light. But now I understand that the Holy Spirit lives in us. That light can come from within us. We can be the light of the world. At first I thought that was egotistical, but not so if we realize and acknowledge God is using us. The salvation of mankind is a team effort. How grand that God allows us to be on His team.
Unclaimed Millions
March 21 was the deadline for a one million dollar Powerball winner in Wisconsin to claim his prize. The ticket owner most likely never knew he had such a prize. It was probably washed in his shirt pocket or is in the box between the front seats of his car. It doesn’t matter now. The money has gone into the black hole of the state budget. Actually 57 million dollars worth of lottery prizes have never been claimed just in Wisconsin. Imagine what the number is nationwide.
One cannot help but think of Jeremiah 8:20, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” The horrible truth is even though God is immense in mercy millions will be lost. This is not God’s fault. He is innocent. Provision has been made for everyone. That is difficult for us to understand considering the places and circumstances under which some people live or have lived. The glorious truth here is we don’t have to understand because an amazing all loving God has worked that out for each person born. Finding out how will be one of the joys we will experience in heaven. Paul wrote in Romans 11, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Unsearchable are his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord?”
Not only has God made provision He pursues people with the gift in hand. That is the task of the Holy Spirit. Do you remember Michael Anthony, John Beresfoot Tipton’s man, in the 1950 TV series The Millionaire? His job was to deliver the money. All total there was $206,000,000 given away. Our heavenly Father has an infinite amount to give.
Spiritual Snobs
This morning I watched a little red squirrel crawl up a tree and out onto our suet feeder. Much to his delight it popped open and the suet cake fell out onto the ground. I’m sure I heard him say, “Yippee.” Down the tree he scampered and proceeded to drag it away. It was larger than he but that didn’t matter – all the more for him!
He reminded me of groups of people who try to hog up heaven just for themselves. The rest of us are excluded because we are different. We don’t dress the same as they. We don’t eat the same foods as they. We have a different theological idea than they. Somehow a form of reasoning took over that said salvation is the fruit of conformity and mental lockstep instead of abundant grace. It became salvation by knowledge. It is forgotten that Revelation 7:9 says when describing the redeemed, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”
So I went outside and changed the scenario. I put the suet cake back in its holder. Once again it was for everyone. Graciously I did not exclude the little red squirrel because of his behavior. He still has access. It felt good to do so. It was the one Jesus-like thing I was able to do today. As I walked back into the house through the snow (Yes, snow in April.) I thought, “How grand that God’s love isn’t just for my group. If it was, instead of being Christ-like, we would be spiritual snobs.”
Why is Samson Listed in Hebrews 11?
Have you ever wondered why Samson’s name shows up in Hebrews 11? Hebrews 11 is a list of moral and military giants and right there he is between Barak and Jephthah. He is like the Hebrew equivalent of a Marvel Comic Book character who should be listed with Superman and Batman because of his super powers. He is an existential mess in need of therapy and is definitely not a moral hero. He is anything but that. Yet God puts up with him. That is probably why he is listed in Hebrews 11. He is not there because he was great, he is there because God is great. Samson’s story tells us more about God than about Samson.
Samson was to be raised with a Nazarite vow. It had three conditions. Condition one was not to touch a dead body. Well he touched plenty. Just check out what he did with a donkey’s jawbone. Next he was not to drink anything from grapes nor eat grapes. He drank plenty. God still blessed him. Finally Delilah cuts off his hair and all three conditions have been broken. God backs off and allows Samson to become normal. But when Samson confesses his errors God is right back there with him.
This is the great part of the story. Every time we mess up and confess, God is there. That is the moral of the story. Just like God was in the belly of a giant fish with Jonah, God is in prison with Samson. Samson is a great story because God is great. So the next time you mess up and feel abandoned remember Samson. Surely you cannot be as bad as he was. God doesn’t play favorites. The message is God will always be there for you. Always!