Roger Bothwell

This afternoon we visited with Patty, a friend we had not seen for 35 years.  When Patty graduated from the eighth grade her mother was ill and could not attend; my wife became a stand-in mom.  My wife wore Patty’s mother’s white dress and stood to receive the corsage the graduates pinned on their moms.  While Patty was pinning the corsage she kept saying, “I hope I get this right and it doesn’t fall off.”  My wife assured her it was not going to fall off because she knew something she didn’t tell Patty.  Patty had pinned it on my wife.  Yes.  The pin went in and out much deeper than just the dress. My wife’s concern was that the blood would flow out unto the pretty white dress.
 
I had almost forgotten this until this afternoon when we saw Patty, who grew up and went on to have a great career as an air traffic controller.   It was amazing that seeing her made time vanish.  It was almost like no years had passed.  Thirty-five years seemed like nothing.  After we parted I thought of living forever and seeing old friends after thirty-five hundred or thousand years.  Will we just pick up where we left off?  I think so.  With real friends it is like that.
 
Sometime today make a mental list of your best friends and try to remember when you saw last them.  If it has been a long time take the initiative to make contact.  You will not be sorry.  Then, of course, there is your best friend, Jesus.  If you haven’t contacted Him recently do so this very day.  I assure you He will be delighted and it will seem like no time has passed.  With real friends it is like that.

According to Ephesians 2 each of us has a specific task to do for God.  For most of us it is a mystery deeply woven into God’s grand scheme for His entire universe and His specific plan for our being here.  It is difficult for us to imagine how someone as insignificant as each of us thinks we are can have an effect on something as large and important as the plan of salvation. Yet we do.  The interesting thing about this is I’m not sure anyone ever knows.
 
Elijah was the greatest prophet of the Old Testament and he spent a huge amount of time in a state of depression wondering about himself.   John the Baptist, who according to Jesus was the greatest prophet ever, languished in prison doubting himself and even doubting if Jesus really were the Messiah.  He sent his disciples to check on Jesus and to report back to him about what was happening.
 
If ever you have moments of doubt about your usefulness for God, you are in excellent company.  Perhaps the person who does not and thinks they are God’s answer to the present is the one in jeopardy.  Our task is to be willing.  God will take care of the when and where for us.  After it occurs we will most likely not notice.  But God noticed and will someday let you know just how very valuable you are to Him.  You count.  You are somebody.  If you were not Jesus would not have died for you.  He did.
 
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  There it is.  Ephesians 2:10

The latest issue of Popular Science has an article about the continuing drought in California.  It contains quotes from climatologists predicting a gruesome future for the Golden State.  According to the authorities quoted, the drought will possibly last for many years to come.  This morning on CBS news a climatologist was talking about the El Nino Pacific current and explained how it will possibly be a record breaking winter for huge amounts of rain for California.  I’m sure both climatologists were well qualified as authorities in their field.  While contradicting each other they both spoke of possibilities.  That’s something a good scientist would do.
 
Within the last month I listened to two preachers making dire predictions for the future of the world.  Both claimed to be a Biblical scholar to bolster themselves as authorities on the future.  Like the climatologists they did not agree with each other regarding the future in the Middle East and its implications for the United States.  They were not as wise as the scientists because neither used the “possibility” word.  But they both claimed that God’s Word was saying what they said it was saying.
 
As I listened to them I thought of Jesus’ comments in Matthew 24,  “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.  For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”  These predictors of the future were using the Bible as if it were a crystal ball. Being skeptical about sermons is wise.  It doesn’t make us skeptics regarding God’s love and care and our future eternal life.  Being skeptical about men’s predictions only makes us wise.

The names of stores are fascinating.  In the 1940’s when I was a little guy there were Five and Dime stores when everything inside only cost a nickel or a dime.  There are still a few Five and Dimes around but the name doesn’t have anything to do with their prices. Now we have Dollar Stores and Five Below that do still reflect prices.  Forever 21 is a creative name appealing to a woman’s desire not to get old.  I wonder why Target is Target?  Sears was because of Mr. Sears and J.C. Penney was about a man and not prices.  Today I looked at Bed Bath and Beyond.  Beyond must mean we have other stuff.  But I was reminded of Buzz Lightyear’s famous line, “To infinity and beyond” which I have always liked.  It should be the name for a church.
 
Church names are intriguing.  In a few words they want to tell you about themselves.  There is the Church of God.  That sort of leaves everyone else out.  There is the Church of Christ.  That’s exclusive.  The Jewish Synagogue identifies the worshippers as descendants of Judah.  Lutherans are followers of Martin Luther’s theology.  The Catholic Church means universal.  That gives the Church of God name serious competition.  There are Jehovah Witnesses, They do try to witness when they come to our doors.  There are Seventh-day Adventists who are Christians that believe Jesus is returning (advent) and they go to church on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.
 
Names tell us a lot about who we are.  We have Greek, Italian, Swedish and Chinese names.  So when we use the name “Christian” to describe ourselves we are trying to say something about who we are.  I hope we don’t disappoint.

The most wondrous thing occurred last evening while taking my dog for a walk.  She is a retriever with an incredible sniffer.  We don’t make very good time because of all the sniffing stops along the way.  Yet, we came upon a rabbit sitting by the side of the road.  It froze and she did not see it.  I was ready for a burst of energy that never came.  She stopped and sniffed the ground only two feet from the bunny and because it kept its composure and never flinched she never saw it.  We moved on and she was oblivious.  She is obviously not a hunter just a retriever.
 
She made me wonder how many things exist very close to us without our ever being aware. Just because we don’t see something doesn’t mean it is not there.  In John 14 Jesus promised, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” And in Hebrews 1 we read, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.”
 
According to Scripture we are not alone.  We don’t see them.  That does not mean they are not there.  My senses just don’t reveal them any more than my dog’s senses did not reveal that rabbit.  However, God’s Word is true and it assures us of the presence of both the Holy Spirit and God’s angels.  While Shakespeare is not scripture that does not mean all the things he said are not true.  Hamlet said to Horatio, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”  That’s a truth.

I like Subway sandwiches.  I really can lose some pounds if I eat there even for a week. The bread is always fresh as are the ingredients. However, I must also add that I have never gotten a Subway sandwich that looks like one in their television ads.  What I get is never as full or luscious looking as what appears on my TV screen.  It makes me wonder if any of the people that produce the ads have ever eaten at a Subway.
 
Since by calling myself a Christian, meaning Christ-like, therefore makes me a walking, talking advertisement, I wonder if I ever live up to the standard proclaimed.  Please note my use of “ever.”  I used it because I know that most of the time I am not as uncritical and caring as was Jesus.  I used the word “ever” wondering if I “ever” live up to the standard.  If my behavior was rated on a percentage of time would I score ten percent of the time?  That would be a good tithe of my living.  That would make me very unworthy of salvation, which brings me to my point.  Even if I rated 99 per cent of my time being Christ-like, an impossibility I must add, I would still be unworthy.
 
Worthy we are not.  This is why Paul says in Romans 6:23 that eternal life is a gift of God.  All we are worthy of is ultimately becoming a footnote in history, if that much.  Fortunately in Revelation 5, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
 
So enjoy a Subway sandwich.  Just don’t expect perfection.

By October, 1905 the Wright brothers had flown 160 times.  The longest flight was twenty-four miles and lasted thirty-eight minutes.  They could control their plane, fly in circles, bank and lightly land.  The Dayton press was reporting eye-witness accounts.  The Wright brothers wrote to then Secretary of War William Howard Taft in a desire to involve the government with what they were doing.   The Wrights received a form letter from the government basically rejecting their offer and did not even bother to send a representative to Ohio to see.  Meanwhile the English and French governments were courting Orville and Wilber.
 
Two days after John baptized Jesus, Andrew and another disciple were following Jesus and asked where Jesus was staying.  Jesus response was a classic.  He said, “Come and see.”  They did and how their lives did change. “Seeing is believing” is a fairly reliable way of verifying something.  However, even then our eyes can deceive us.  Magicians are able to do things faster than our eyes can record.  But for most things seeing is good.
 
When Thomas said he had to see to believe, Jesus was very understanding and came especially for Thomas, who loved Jesus dearly.  It was Thomas who earlier said when Jesus was returning to Judea, “Let us go and die with Him.”   In John 20 Jesus says about us not having a chance to see, “Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.”  Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  While it is true in the beginning of our walk with God it is a faith experience but after a while when we have tasted and seen it is as real as anything can be.

In Massachusetts we have to have an annual inspection for our cars.  They check the lights, the horn, the front wheel bearings, the wipers, etc.  Today I took in my car and noted my anxiety.  What if they found something wrong that I was not aware of?  If they did and it was not a quick fix they put a “fix it” sticker on the car instead of the normal sticker.  It would be like Hester wearing her scarlet letter “A”.  Even worse it would be like arriving at the gate of heaven and being rejected because of something we did decades ago and could not remember.
 
I am so thankful that cannot happen because we are not saved nor lost because of a single act.  Instead, and how wonderful it is, we are saved by the grace of our Jesus, who could produce not just one wrong act but a whole list of wrong acts we did not remember.  Instead Jesus covers us.  Not because we are worthy but because He is worthy and can grant us unlimited grace. “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”  Hebrews 7:25.  Please notice the word “completely.”  In the King James Version the word that is used is “uttermost.”   He lives to intercede for us.  This is wonderful beyond words.
 
So if you are afraid of something horrible in your past, accept His grace and then forget it.  Because after we are forgiven “all” our sins are blotted out.  If God doesn’t remember, (see Isaiah 43:25) why should we?  Oh, I needed a rear light bulb in my car. There was no grace.  I had to fix it.

My younger son bought me a new pair of dress shoes.  My old pair is twenty years old and my family told me they looked it.  Since it was evident I was not going to trade them in, (one becomes attached to old friends) he went on line and found the exact same shoes and got them for me.  They look stiff and I am thinking it will take a few wearings to get them to feel like the old pair. 
 
I like old things.  Old cars, 57 Chevys, 64 Mustangs are treasures. Old friends are the best.  New friends have to be broken in like new shoes.  It takes a while to be comfortable enough not to feel like you have to talk.  You can tell when someone is really your friend.  You can just be together with no need for anything verbal.
 
It’s like that with Jesus.  Jesus told us He is our friend.  That means praying isn’t talking but being.  You don’t have to be saying something or trying to express your feelings.  It’s comfortable just being. Conversation isn’t stiff like new shoes or new friends. Uh huhs, hems, yeps, yeahs, nahs all work just fine with no added explanations. I have a few friends with whom I can spend lots of very quiet time.  They are the best.  Jesus is the best.  He doesn’t need our yakking.
 
Have you ever met someone who is instantly comfortable?  You have known them ten minutes and it feels like ten years.  When we are with Jesus face to face will we feel the need to be verbally praising and thanking Him or will He understand profound silence?  After all He is an old friend who has known us since before we were born.

Someday the game show Jeopardy will post the following answer, “Clyde Tombaugh.”  And they will accept the following question, “Who is the first human being to fly beyond our solar system?”   Today, after a nine and a half year journey of flying over 51,000 miles an hour, the New Horizons space craft will fly by Pluto.  Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, is aboard.  At least his ashes are aboard.
 
The question Jeopardy will accept will be wrong.  Mr. Tombaugh’s ashes will not have gone where no man has gone before.  According to the Old Testament Enoch, Moses and Elijah have already made the trek and they did it while being alive.  Then there is the New Testament.  We have Revelation 5:9 speaking of twenty-four elders around God’s throne who sing, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; . . .”  Many scholars believe they are those resurrected with Jesus.  See Matthew 27, “The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”
 
There is no doubt that NASA’s flying Mr. Tombaugh’s ashes past Pluto is a significant event in human history but it does not come close to God’s resurrection and according to Revelation 7:9, “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.”   That’s us.  You and me.  How grand.