Roger Bothwell

I was enjoying people-watching as I sat in a hospital lobby waiting for my wife to appear outside the door with our car. The revolving door to the outside was quite large and handled lots of people coming and going. I particularly watched a cane carrying elderly lady slowly approach the door. For a just a moment she paused and then stepped in. Around she went – once, twice and finally on her third revolution I realized she had lost her bearings and couldn’t get out. Quickly I went to her and aided her outside.

She was so typical of millions of people living their lives and going nowhere. Each day is the same as they go round and round with little direction or goals in life other than getting their next paycheck. I found myself being so grateful to have Jesus in my life. In John 14:6 Jesus declared Himself to be The Way. The question is the way where. Jesus continued on “to the Father.” Now that is a destination everyone should want. To be with the Father is to have a life filled with grace, forgiveness, joy and eternal happiness. This is the life for which we were created.

The little old lady lost in the revolving door was so grateful for guidance and I must confess I felt so very good by being able to assist. I do so want to encourage you to take inventory of where you are going. If you find yourself merely going in circles go to Jesus and let Him guide you into eternity and while doing so find another to take with you. It’s more than time to get out of the revolving door and live the fullest life possible.

She looked like a car commercial. The top was down on her convertible as she raced down the highway with her long blond hair blowing in the wind. Her hair was a flurry of activity as it twirled and flowed. I’m sure she must have been taken with the spectacle that she was. I wondered if she had ever done this before and if so, had she not learned the price that was awaiting her. I am, of course, talking about her need to comb her hair when she was finished driving. The snarls, tangles and matted twists had to be a nightmare.

For every action there is a reaction. That is what sin is all about. God tells us not to do certain things, not to deprive us of happiness, but to increase our happiness. In His wisdom He knows consequences, short term and long. Whenever I see someone smoking I think about the short term ten dollar a pack price and the long term health destruction.
Because God is gracious and forgiving some people think they can count on His grace. They can. But grace does not wipe away the earthly consequences of our misdeeds; even when they are done in ignorance.
The mention of God’s wrath appears often in Scripture. It could leave us with the impression He is just waiting to zap us. That is far from the truth. There is active wrath and passive wrath. Active wrath is the zapping kind. Passive wrath is God allowing us to reap the natural consequences of our actions. When we yield to temptation God hurts as any good parent hurts for his or her child. We want the best for our families.

Occasionally I meet a Judge Judy fan. When I ask them what it is about her show they particularly like I pretty much get the same answer, which is, they really like it when she is cutting and mean to the litigants. They enjoy seeing her put people down. Why is that? I find myself wondering if we have a vicarious experience when we witness someone being rude. Is it something we want to do but can’t get up the courage to do or is it because we are trying to be a Christian and we know Jesus wouldn’t do that?

Ah, but He did. Read Matthew 23. There He calls the leaders of the nation “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “tombs – clean on the outside and rotten on the inside,” “snakes,” and more. However, I don’t think He is giving us license to go about slicing up people. If we read carefully 99% of the time it is best for us to hold our tongues because we usually regret it if we don’t. The only times Jesus went after someone was when He saw that person using power and privilege to hurt people who were unable to defend themselves.

If we really want to be happy and satisfied with our exchanges with others, we should follow Jimmy Durante’s counsel in his old song, “It’s so important to make someone happy. If we make someone happy we will be happy too.” “Love is the answer.” But let’s be realistic. Some people are unlovable. Some people just push our buttons and bring out the worst in us. This is where “agape” enters the scenario. When Jesus counsels us to love He isn’t saying “Like.” He is saying we should wish the best for others. We should pray for them to prosper. We just don’t have to best friends.

My mother never bought me clothes that fit. The shoe lady would measure my foot and we always bought the next bigger size. My jeans always had to be rolled up above my shoe. I thought that was the way jeans were supposed to be worn. I thought it looked weird when at school other kids didn’t have the roll which was always lighter in color.

In Zechariah 3 Joshua the high priest was wearing filthy garments and the angel standing with him commanded that Joshua be clothed with clean rich garments. And in Isaiah 61:10 we read, “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

That robe of righteousness we wear is always a bit too big. There is always room to grow. We wonder how that can be? Perfect is perfect. This is one of the great mysteries of Godliness. When Jesus comes we put on incorruption. And yet for eternity we will never stop growing. This is the greatest wonder of all. After a thousand years we will be more than we ever were before. Oh, how grand we will be. Paul wrote, “Eye hath not seen.” In Ephesians 3:20 we read, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

So don’t even ask, just soak up the promise. You are going to be something literally out of this world. And if you look down at the bottom of your robe, it will be rolled up!

I have a wonderful sister who always answers the question “Who’s there” with “Hi, it’s me.” If I did not recognize her voice this could create a real identification problem because I know hundreds of “mes.” It is akin to responding to the question, “Where are you?” only to receive the response, “I’m here.” There are an infinite number of “heres” and God is in every single one of those “heres.”

At the burning bush God told Moses His name. “I am the I am.” It is the perfect name for a God who is. “I am here. I am there. I am everywhere.” You cannot go anywhere He is not. Poor old Jonah discovered that. God was even in the belly of the fish. Psalm 139 is so encouraging. “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hides not from thee; but the night shines as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”

It doesn’t matter how dark life can become. He sees. He is there. Horrible things happen to good people. Doing everything in life as good as we can does not guarantee our hearts will not be broken. But a day of reckoning will come. Justice will be served. Wrongs will be made right because the “I Am” was there and saw everything. If you ever feel abandoned and alone and wonder “Where is God?” The answer always is “I am here.”

30One of the great moments in American history occurred when Stephen Hopkins, the delegate from Rhode Island, signed the Declaration of Independence. His signature was very shaky because he suffered from palsy. When he finished signing he said, “My hand trembles, but my heart does not.” He had just taken a pledge of his “sacred honor.” This nation was founded by “real” men.

When we look at the cross, when we see the brutally mangled body of our Savior, when we realize He could have given up at any second, when we realize we get to live forever because of His love, can we do less than pledge our sacred honor to our heavenly Father and His Son? If Stephen Hopkins could so commit to the concept of a new kind of nation on earth, can we not so commit without trembling of heart to the idea of a universe without sin governed by its creator?

If you have an extra minute right now, please read II Corinthians 11. It is a chronicle of Paul’s beatings, shipwrecks, stonings and snake bite. He was an amazing super hero who knew his power was not in himself but in the one to whom he had committed his sacred honor. He wrote in II Timothy 1:12, “I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day.” Paul’s heart never trembled.

In the rotunda of our nation’s capitol building hangs John Trumbull’s famous painting depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Very little of it is historically accurate. They were not assembled when they signed. The first signers did so on August 2 and it took several months before all forty-seven affixed their names to what was then signing a death sentence. Only a third of the country thought independence from England was a good idea. Washington most likely would have lost the war had it not been for the support of France. Had he lost the war those forty-seven were dead men walking and they knew it when they signed.

As I look at the picture I cannot help but make a comparison with Jesus’ twelve disciples. While the disciples did not sign anything they indeed committed themselves to following Jesus. However they, unlike the forty-seven signers of the Declaration, thought they were on the road to riches and power. Jesus was the Messiah. He was going to rule the world. The Roman Empire would fall and Jerusalem would be the capitol of the world. They would be well rewarded for being the first on board.

Forty-seven chose to die for a noble cause vs. twelve looking for the good life. Three years later, after being with Jesus, they were changed men. They too would sacrifice life for the love of right. This is an amazing story of what happens to people who commit to Jesus. He transforms us into the people we wish to be. If you want to be a person of sterling character, if you understand that character is destiny, make Jesus the Lord of your life and you too will have a cause so noble you would not hesitate to sacrifice life itself. Blessed is such a person.

Romans 5:7 has been on my mind most of today. Paul wrote, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” My younger son’s wife spent over seven hours today under the knife as surgeons ever so carefully removed a tumor from her brain. (The prognosis is very encouraging.)

Today’s events for our family caused me to make a mental list of those for whom I would gladly, without the slightest hesitation, die. I actually surprised myself in that my list is longer than I would have at first estimated. In the course of the exercise, while trying not to do so, I also made a list of those for whom I would never die. That is a very extensive list. Life is precious and should be guarded with diligence. One should never squander one’s greatest gift. And then I come back to Romans 5:7. Jesus, God’s only son, died for Herod, Pilate, the soldiers who stripped Him bare, beat Him to a pulp and drove nails into His flesh. “Father, forgive them”

In the course of several decades I have recounted this story over and over and pretended to understand. I don’t! I have acted as though my degree in theology made me privy to the mind of God. It did not! And now I, after all these years, am at a loss to understand God’s amazing love. If you understand I am envious of you, for I know that, even in heaven after a millennium of millenniums, I will never get it.

It will be 2021 before anyone once again hears London’s Big Ben chime over London. Restoration has begun and the worker’s hearing has to be protected from the bongs of the huge bell. The chiming is so loud there is a very real danger that the bonging would permanently deafen the laborers.

There is an interesting story about Moses in Exodus 34. He had been on the mountain with God and upon coming down his face glowed so brightly he had to veil it from the others.
And so there it is. The answer to today’s seeming lack of power in God’s modern church. Too much light, too much sound, too much of any good thing can damage us if we are not prepared and ready. Just as any good parent is careful with what gifts they give their children God is careful with us. No good parent gives a 16- year-old a 700 horse power Corvette. God wants us to do great things, but He also knows how much our egos and sense of self-importance can tolerate without our becoming totally narcissistic. With great power comes the need for even greater humility.

So what can we do to increase our effectiveness? Paul gives us a few good ideas in Ephesians 6, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” And how do we do that? Like all good things time is required. If we make sure we spend time with His word each day, the armor is added piece by piece. This isn’t rocket science. Everyone can do it.

Having spent this past weekend in a local hospital I woke up Monday morning about 1 A.M. with a tremendous appetite for a can of Pringles. If I had had my cell, I would have called my wife asking her to please please bring me some. Alas, I could not. Actually, I would not have called because merely knowing my request she would have gotten out of bed and immediately brought me a can. (Yeah, she would have!) Now comes the interesting part of the story. At 8 A.M. Tuesday she came into my room carrying a can of Pringles! Absolutely amazing.

While I do not have a great theological lesson to draw from this, I just wanted to quote a few famous lines from Psalm 23. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. (I have no enemies. But my what a grand table it is.)You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

I could fill pages of blessings but to do so would bore many people. (However, just one more story.) This morning my wife called drug and grocery stores all over our little city looking for clear Ensure. No one had any in stock. She mentioned it later today at our cancer clinic. A dietician overheard and said, “Wait just a moment.” She returned with the gift of fourteen cans. She said, “Next week I’ll have more for you!”

I have blessing guilt for I am totally aware that life is gruesome for so many people. “A life in Christ is a life of restfulness.” Steps to Christ. E. G. White.