Roger Bothwell

This evening when I entered my classroom the teacher from the former class was still present.  I noticed on the white board the following message, “No cell phones –  No ear buds.”  I turned to the prof and said, “Let me guess.  Your class was a freshman class.”  “Yep,” he replied, “you got it.”
 
I am not telling you this to make you think I am some kind guru – quite to the contrary.  I said it because I do know this.  I would never have to put up such a message in one of my grad courses.   It’s all about maturation.   Eighteen-year-olds and thirty-year-olds are soooo very different.
 
Since this is the case with something as simple as cell phone use, how much more complicated should be our expectations of teen’s spiritual lives.  The frontal lobes of our brains do not come into full use until our mid-twenties.  The frontal lobes are where we process values, principles and ethics.  Sometimes older generations are filled with despair because it seems that young people have no concrete sense of right and wrong and what is important.  We think this because, well, so often it’s the truth.  However, the good news is they continue to mature as the sun comes up and goes down.  Ever so slowly they turn into us.
 
Since the beginning of writing, adults have expressed despair that the up-coming generation will never be able to successfully run their own lives let alone the world.   So, if you have a child or grandchildren that don’t seem to grasp the importance of some of the things you value.  Be patient.  A day is coming when they will fret over their children and they will be the leaders in our churches.

Recently I listened to a discourse that portrayed science as the enemy of faith.  It was as if scientists were out to destroy any connection between one’s walk with God and the world that He created.  How very strange this seems.  It seems to me those of us who love the Lord, who maintain He is the Creator of all things physical, should be fascinated and excited each time something new is discovered.  Each new scientific idea, which if it is true science, is an unbiased attempt to understand our world and how it functions.  Each new discovery is another facet into the mind of Him that lives within us and enables us to be more like Him.
 
The problem seems to be that sometimes we need to make adaptations to our faith and that causes some to fear if they give up a little they are on a slippery road to giving up everything.  But, this need not be the case at all.  Instead, each adaptation brings us into a more realistic and deeper understanding of our Creator.  There is nothing sinister about saying, “I used to believe that way.  Now I believe this way.”   Remember the verse in Proverbs 3:8 that says, “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”  The more scientific facts we know, the deeper is our love for the incredible Mind that designed it.
 
Change is not necessarily bad.  When the geocentric concept of the universe was disproven by Galileo and other inquiring minds, mankind had an opportunity to see the wonder of God’s true design.   Hebrews 1 just gets more exciting when it speaks of Jesus being the maker of worlds.  What an awesome Jesus.

I was browsing in the index section of the hymnal I grew up with and noticed forty-seven of the hymns were written by what appears to be a very prolific writer because I have seen his – or was he a she – name on lots of things – Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous.  Anonymity has always puzzled me because Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,  “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.” 
 
I understand what Jesus was driving at.  I get it.  However, when one is responsible for a ministry such as Spring of Life, why would people donate if they didn’t know you were doing something useful?  We want our gifts to mean something.  Personally, I am deeply moved by St. Jude Children’s Hospital that treats children with cancer and they never bill the parents for anything.  We need to know that about St. Jude if we would be moved to help.
 
The balance between sharing information and bragging is a very delicate thing.  How does one follow Jesus’ instructions and yet inform people that giving to something matters and makes a difference?  The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most complicated moral statements ever spoken.  How do we turn the other cheek and yet not be an enabler of someone’s pathological selfishness?  There are users all around us.   Are we to be doormats?   We have to balance that with Jesus’ counsel to shake the dust from our feet and move on.  If you are like me you need to daily ask for wisdom.  Fortunately we are promised we will receive wisdom if we ask.  See James 1:5.

The rich young ruler knelt before Jesus and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus replied, “No one is good except God alone.”
 
The issue of defining who or what is good has been contemplated by scholars and philosophers, occidental and oriental, for millennia.  The result being that some people conclude that goodness is strict compliance to a carefully written code.  Others ask why we need a written code.  Instead they say we should ask, “Will this harm me or another?  Often there are extenuating circumstances that make it necessary to disobey one or more written rules.  The least harmful outcome would be what is good.”  
 
In Matthew 7:11 Jesus said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” God alone knows the long range fruit of a specific act. Therefore, God’s goodness will always guide Him to answer our prayers in accordance with the long range fruit of what will be best for all involved.
 
Believing in the goodness of God brings us assurance that the best possible outcome will always be the fruit of our prayers.  When I ask for a safe journey somewhere, I rest assured that God will do or allow what is good for all involved.   Paul, who was beaten, shipwrecked and stoned on more than several occasions, said in Romans 8:28. “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  We might not now see that something is good.  (I don’t on an almost daily basis.) But someday it will be made plain to us that God’s answer was the best possible answer.

Our supermarket has ten checkout lanes.  Yesterday there was only one open with eight people waiting in line.  To add insult to injury there were four employees chatting over at the service counter.  I don’t usually consider myself an activist, but this exceeded my sense of how to conduct a business.  Therefore, I called out very loudly to the four that it just might be beneficial if they stopped talking and opened up more checkout lanes.  Seven of the eight people in line applauded.  The eighth didn’t have to, she was being processed.  (And yes they did open two more checkouts.)
 
Now let me see.  There are presently 7.1 billion people on earth.  There is only ONE god.  Perhaps half of those people are worshipping, as Daniel says, “. . gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand.”  That still leaves 3.5 billion people to pray to the one and only living, hearing God.  That is a lot of people potentially standing in line. 
 
Now, this is where it really gets good.  There is no waiting in line.  There is no waiting for our number to be called.  Each person gains instant access.  One of the great human needs is for attention. We crave attention.  It is built into our psyche.  Yesterday I watched a child throw all his books from his desk onto the floor.  His teacher had been ignoring him. (At least he thought so.)   When I was in line at the supermarket I didn’t throw my groceries on the floor.  Instead I just yelled.  But we don’t have to yell at God.  This amazing Father hears the pleadings of our hearts and is right there with all the attention we need.  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful God. How grand!

The immediate flooring inside our front door is dark stone.  The front door faces west.  In the afternoons a small dot of light slowly moves across the stone floor.  Obviously there is a hole in the door.  But it is so tiny it is not at all noticeable except for that dot of light.  I am fascinated with the penetrating power of light.  If there is a way for light to shine through something, it will do it. 
 
It is no wonder Jesus called Himself the light of the world.  (John 8:12.)  He will find any open avenue to enter a person’s life.  He so longs to save He will do His best to influence and awaken a person to the possibility of eternal life.  In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:14) He calls us the light of the world.  We also can make a positive difference in other’s lives and pierce the darkness.   “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.  All around the neighborhood, I’m going to let it shine.”
 
Some people seem so isolated or so calloused that we might think they are impenetrable.  Jesus calls us to shine.  The Holy Spirit will use our light to break through the barriers some people erect.  It could be a smile, a hello, an interest in something they love, a token of care when life isn’t going so well.  Like my door, we can’t see any hole or any way in.  But, the light will find its way.  We might never know we had any effect.  Pride might not allow the calloused one to admit we make a difference.  But we do.  Actually it’s our love that does.  Well, even more accurately it is Jesus’ love shining through us – the light of the world.

Yesterday I took my car for its annual state safety and emissions inspection and to my horror discovered our state registration ran out two months ago.  We have been driving illegally.  We were sinners unaware.  Today I got that cared for by standing in a very long line at the RMV (DMV).
 
How could I not be reminded that every day I walk about as an unaware sinner.  There are depths of selfishness and depravity hidden deep in me of which I am honestly totally unaware.  Part of the process of becoming like Jesus is that ever so subtly He makes me aware.  He is so kind.  If He just opened up the pit and showed me all the deficiencies, I am sure I would be so overwhelmed I would just give up.  I knew a man once who was so very sure he could go for days without sinning.  His ignorance of himself and of what sin is filled me with despair because I could not help him grow.  Unless we see the need, we will not rise to doing something about it.  That is where Jesus’ gentle grace comes into play.  He is thrilled at the progress we make.  He was one of us.  He knows.  Because He knows He understands and rejoices in our growth.
 
Christianity is not about attaining.  Jesus already attained.   Christianity is about growth.  We have to remember I Corinthians 15.  There Paul tells us there is a day coming when this corruption puts on incorruption.  It is called resurrection morning.
 
So to all unaware sinners, I call upon you to rejoice in your progress.  Do not despair that you are not there.  Rejoice in the little steps forward, after all that’s what make Jesus happy.  Remember our righteousness is like filthy rags.   (Isaiah 64:6)  Jesus’ righteousness is perfect.  How grand!

The Sermon on the Mount is an amazing revolutionary manifesto. 
 
In Matthew 5 Jesus said: You have heard that one should not murder. 
Then He said BUT I say even being angry makes one guilty. 
 
He said: You have heard that one must not commit adultery. 
Then He said: BUT even thinking about doing so makes one guilty. 
 
He said: You have heard that one should not break an oath. 
Then He said: One should not swear at all. 
 
He said: We have heard an eye for an eye. 
Then He said: BUT I tell you not to resist but instead turn the other cheek. 
 
He said: You have heard love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 
Then He said: BUT I say love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
 
Paul grasped the amazing depth of this when he wrote in Galatians 5, “The entire law is summed up in a single commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Until then the silver rule was the standard. “Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you.”  Jesus changed it to the golden rule, “Do to others what you would want them to do to you.”   That is like night and day. 
 
Recently after telling someone they could be saved by freely accepting God’s gift, they responded that being a Christian was super easy.  Really?  The above first list presents us with something so difficult and so life changing.  It is easy to hate and it is easy to love the loveable.  But just try and love the unlovable.   Jesus calls us to a standard so high and so lofty we will spend at least this lifetime trying to come close.   P.S.  Not to be saved but because we are saved!

The Exchange Club, a community service organization, very early in the twentieth century decided to make aviation safety a focus of their purpose.  Pilots did not yet have radio contact with controllers and getting lost was a fairly common occurrence.  From coast to coast Exchange Clubs painted arrows on the roofs of buildings pointing the way to the nearest airport.  Now we have avionics that will automatically safely land the plane for the pilot.
 
Jesus was God’s arrow.  In John 14:6 Jesus told us He was the Way.  The way where?  He is the way to eternal safety.  At the close of Matthew we have the great Gospel Commission anointing us to be arrows.   We are not painted on rooftops.  We are walking arrows tasked with getting those about us safely home.   It almost sounds like we have an Indian name.  “Walking Arrow.”  
 
I almost just wrote that as walking arrows we are responsible for the salvation of those about us.  But that isn’t correct.  Each person is responsible for themselves.  The decision to make Jesus the Lord of their life is a personal decision and cannot be made for them by another.  However, it is our task to point out the way.   We do so by being genuinely caring, loving and unselfish.  Maybe for the next two months we should refrain from engaging in political speech.   Politics seems to bring out the worst in us.  If someone doesn’t agree with our analyses and candidate preference he or she is automatically an idiot. 
 
In an effort not to speak with a “forked tongue” we should be walking arrows that point to Jesus.  It’s a safe way to retain friendships and best of all to see others in the Kingdom.

I spotted a watch for sale on Amazon.com.  I didn’t need a watch but this one was really elegant and only cost $8.99 with free shipping.   So in a moment of weakness I thought, “Hey, I can always give it to someone.”  It arrived in three days as promised.  Now, this is amazing.  It really is exquisite. And it works!  There are absolutely no identifying words on the watch other than one word – Quartz.   I pulled out a tiny plastic wedge from under the stem, set it and wound it.  The next day the time was perfect, so I wound it again and again the next day and the next.  The next day I forgot to wind it and discovered it has a battery.  It doesn’t need to be wound.
 
I was like someone uselessly trying to save himself.  My efforts were pointless.  I could have wound that watch all day and not have accomplished anything.  Actually quite to the contrary those who expend endless amounts of energy trying to save them harm themselves.  They are never happy because they know something’s wrong.  They fail to measure up and often become critical of others who are not measuring up.  It’s an ego defense mechanism that says, “Well, so and so, isn’t so great either.”  They lose sleep and damage their physical health.
Their efforts are rank, as so graphically put by Isaiah.   He said, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” 64:6
 
So let us say it loud and clear.  Salvation is a gift of God’s grace.  All the good works we do will never add to our salvation.  Righteousness is His and His alone.  We are the recipients of grace.  So stop watch-winding and relax in the sheer luxury of His love.  It’s called the joy of salvation.