THE UPSIDE KINGDOM - Part IV

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied…Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Matthew 5: 6 & 8

These two beatitudes build on each other, as well as on the other beatitudes, especially the first two. The poor in spirit who understands how desperately he needs God, and the one who mourns over his own sinful heart hunger and thirst for the righteousness that can only be found in God. As Paul tells us in Romans 3:10, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless, no one does good, not even one.” 

It is a miracle of God’s grace that any of us are saved. In our natural, fallen state we do not seek God, we give no thought to our deplorable condition, lost in sin, wandering far from Him. I still vividly remember the moment that I first realized that I was lost. It was as though a curtain was pulled open and in a moment I saw it all – a holy God, my Creator, Jesus, my Savior crucified and risen, heaven and hell. What had been just religious jargon, I heard all my childhood became more real than the chair I was sitting on. I desperately needed the righteousness that comes by faith, and in finding it I was satisfied, and at peace.

From that time I have been secure as God’s child, confident in the gift of righteousness that is mine in Christ. However, even after decades of walking with God, purity of heart eludes me. As Paul confessed in Romans 7:17, sin dwells within me. Just when I think I’m doing well, ugly thoughts pop up to ruin my day. Shall I ever know true purity of heart and the blessing of seeing God? There are glimpses, as though through a glass darkly, but I the blessing of seeing God face to face will only come to us in the resurrection. (I Corinthians 13:12) It is a hope that will be fulfilled. I shall, in that day, look upon the face of the One who loves me and who died for me. 

THE UPSIDE KINGDOM - Part III

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5

Again Jesus’ words fly in the face of conventional worldly wisdom: “Nice guys (the meek or gentle) finish last. “ In this dog eat dog world, it is the top dog who gets the bone.

To be truly meek is to be like Jesus, who called Himself gentle and lowly of heart (Matthew 11:29). Godly gentleness does not arise out to weakness. Jesus was not a doormat. He was secure in who He was as the Son of God, and He was strong. This strength and security, blended with infinite love, made Him truly gentle. Oh to be more like Jesus, settled and secure as a child of God, loved by God, loving Him in return, and free to love all those around me.

The blessed Inheritance of the meek is the earth. Note that Jesus does not say, “the meek shall inherit heaven”. He was talking about planet Earth. But I also don’t think Jesus was saying that the gentle would inherit the earth now, as it is, amassing wealth and possessions. The truly meek care little for these things. No, I think Jesus was looking forward to the Earth as it was meant to be and will be when “the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ.” (Revelation 11:15)

I love the beauty I see in all that God has made. Yes, it is marred by sin and it is subject to futility, but that makes me anticipate all the more what it shall be when,
“creation itself will be set free from its bondage of corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the sons of God.”  (Romans 8:21)

This is the inheritance of the meek, a world set free from sin and corruption, a world as it was meant to be: a world of peace and harmony under the reign of King Jesus.

THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM - Part II

“Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” – Matthew 5:4

I like funerals. No, I don’t enjoy seeing people suffer grief at the loss of a loved one. God created us to live and death is our enemy. But loss and grief can be our friends if they bring us to face the reality of our own mortality. Those who morn are uniquely positioned to be comforted if they let grief turn their hearts to God. I love seeing this happen.

The world, in general, does everything possible to avoid the whole subject of mourning. Most people live as if death were not the fate of us all. Death is ignored. We fill our lives so full of activity that we have no time to think about eternity. We run here and there after the latest thing, we party and pretend to be happy – anything but allowing ourselves to think about our true condition.

But I think Jesus was also speaking of mourning in the broader sense of mourning over mankind’s condition. God created this world a place of beauty and peace, and he declared it to be good, very good. Sin entered the world through man’s disobedience and the world, all life, was marred. Strife, abuse, war, death, sickness, hunger, and injustice replaced the harmony and fullness of Eden. So much that was beautiful was lost. Do I care? Do I see it? Do I mourn mankind’s loss?

Regularly I find that I am closing my eyes to the destruction caused by sin all around me. I let my heart become hardened to the plight of others. But blessing comes in being touched by the pain that others endure, and reaching out to them in love. When we comfort others, when we reach out to a neighbor, a friend, a stranger who is hurting, we ourselves are comforted. We find a blessing.

THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM - Part I

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 4:3

Poverty, true poverty, is something that most of us in America have never experienced. Many that Jesus spoke to, however, knew the desperation of poverty, the helplessness, the gnawing hunger, and the total lack of resources. So maybe the multitude that heard Jesus pronounce that the pour in spirit are blessed, picked up on what may elude us. Those who are desperate for God, those who know that they are helpless without Him, those who cry out for true spiritual food, those who look to God for all that they need are the blessed ones. Why? Because theirs is the kingdom of God. Their spiritual poverty drives them to find God, to believe in Him, to trust in Him, and to fully yield to His Lordship. They are willing subjects to the King, and the King cares for His own. They find true riches in His Kingdom.

So, in what way is this idea upside down? It clearly stands in contrast with the world’s values. In Jesus’ day, as in ours, it is the wealthy, the powerful, the gifted, and the famous who are considered blessed. They don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. They have everything that they could possibly need or want and then some. People respect them. They have influence. They don’t think that they need God – He is irrelevant to them.

But on a deeper level I think Jesus was contrasting the poor in spirit with the rich in religion – those who think that they have all their spiritual ducks in a row. Like the Scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, those who believe right doctrine, who go to church, read their Bibles, pray, tithe, fast, and don’t commit the big sins. Have you been there? I have. At times I’ve lost that spiritual desperation, that deep hunger for God. Recognizing that we have strayed from being poor in spirit is half the battle. God so graciously, so mercifully draws us back to Himself: renewing our hearts, bringing us again to the place where we can say with the psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but thee, and what is there on earth that I desire besides thee.” – Psalm 73:25

LISTEN

“The Heavens above declare the Glory of God and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. “ – Psalms 19:1

Once upon a time a family of mice made their home in a piano. From time to time, beautiful music would fill the piano. The mice came to believe that some benevolent unknown being produced the music.  They were content to enjoy its beauty.

One day a curious member of the mouse family ventured forth to explore the inner workings of the piano. He discovered that vibrating strings were the source of the music. He also noted that the hammers activated by keys struck the strings. The mice then decided that the beautiful music was produced by a machine, and they ceased to think it necessary to believe in the unknown being as the source of the music.

I love science. I enjoyed being a research chemist for over three decades. Science is a God given tool, which mankind is using to discover the mysteries of our universe, the atom, and even life itself. We have learned much, and there is much more to learn about how God has structured creation. As we do so, however, we run the risk of repeating the mistake made by the mouse family. We can become so impressed by what we’ve learned about the machine of creation that we lose sight of the Creator.

The mice enjoyed beautiful music, not because the piano existed, but because a musician owned and played the piano. The beauty, variety, and wonder in this creation exists because it was brought into being by a God of beauty, variety, and wonder. All of nature is playing a song. God is singing to us in and through all He has made. Enjoy the song. The heavens, and all of creation, are declaring the glory of God.

EYES LIKE A FLAME OF FIRE

 “On turning I saw…one like a son of man… his eyes were like a flame of fire,… his voice was like the roar of many waters… and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” -  Revelation 1:12-16

This is John’s description of Jesus when he encountered Him during his exile on the Isle of Patmos. John then received from Jesus the amazing vision we call the book of Revelation. Fascinating as the vision is in its entirety, it is this passage that grabs my attention.  This is hardly the Jesus pictured in most Sunday School material. There is nothing wrong with the gentle Jesus in a white robe carrying a lamb on His shoulders. Jesus is humble and kind. This is the Jesus that draws little children to Himself. I’m grateful for the gentle Jesus that I learned of in my childhood.

Today, however, it is the Jesus whose eyes are like a flame of fire that I need to see, or rather that I need to see looking at me. It is the voice like the roar of many waters that I need to hear. It is the face that shines like the sun in its full strength that I need to see.

Why? I too often lapse into a comfortable, easy Christianity that is self-serving, long on grace, and short on holiness and godly fear. He searches mind and heart (Revelation 2:23), uncovering compromise, unforgiveness, hardness of heart, impatience, unbelief… not to shame, nor to wound, but to cleanse, to heal, to restore, and to fill afresh with His love and peace. Don’t be afraid. He can be trusted. Our hearts are safe in the hands of the one whose eyes are like a flame of fire. 

KEEP IT SIMPLE - LOVE

“Whoever loves his brother abides in light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling… Little children let us love not in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.”  - I John 2:10, 3:18

I have to admit that for much of my Christian life I’ve struggled with John’s writings. His letters especially just seem to monotonously hold to one theme – love. Okay, love one another. I get it! Or do I?

As a young man, John must have been a real character. Jesus called him and his brother James “sons of thunder”. (Mark 3:17) They wanted to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village that failed to receive Christ. (Luke 9:51-55)

John wrote his three letters (First, Second, and Third John) late in life when he was likely in his 70’s or 80’s. What changed him from a “son of thunder” to the apostle of love? I think it was decades of life in Christ- all of church life – the good, the bad and the ugly. Early on, he was in Jerusalem at Pentecost and experienced the powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, conversion of 100’s, miracles of healing, and even the dead being raised back to life.

As the years passed, he witnessed the enemy’s attacks on the church.
From the outside came persecutions, torture, and martyrdom. From within the church came false doctrine – leaders drawing Christians after themselves with twisted versions of the gospel.

How could the church keep on track? How could tiny gatherings, scattered across the Roman Empire, resist the enemy’s attack? Much of the New Testament was written, but it was not compiled into the Bibles we hold in our hands today. So John in his short letters gave the believers a simple test. How can we tell who is of Christ and who isn’t? Love. Genuine love, the kind that led Jesus to the cross, is the test of a true believer. Don’t be led astray by Charisma. Don’t trust someone’s new and better gospel. Don’t trust those who appeal to the flesh. Trust those who love – not in word, but in deed and in truth. This love kind of comes only from Jesus. Those who love like Jesus loved us are the true followers of Christ.

Keep it simple – thrust love. 

MY LIFE IS NOT MY OWN

“And he died for all, therefore all have died, and he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” – 2 Corinthians 5:5

I decided to retire last December. One morning while reading, praying, and meditating on the Word it came to me: “It is time to retire”. It came not as a command from God, but a gift, something good and desirable. Before this, I could not see myself as a retiree, but now I could. May 1^st seemed like a good date to start for an outdoor guy like me.

People’s first response on hearing that news was typically, “So, what are you going to do?” My stock reply has been that I plan to restore another antique car and do more gardening, hiking, fishing, and reading. I look forward to spending more time with my wife, Barb, and slowing down a bit. In addition, to volunteer pastoral work, I would like to do some inner city ministry.

A keen awareness has come, however, that my life is not my own, it belongs to God. There is nothing evil or sinful on my wish list. The issue is that it is my wish list for how I want to spend my retirement. I am not free to live my life as I choose. As Paul told the Corinthians, “…he (Jesus) died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him”.

What does this mean for me? Jesus has full and complete claim on my life. He has a specific plan for this season of my life that trumps my plans. Exactly what all His plan entails is not yet clear to me, but step by step, as I seek Him and am obedient, He will make his purpose clear. I am still thinking about finding an old VW beetle to restore, but as I hike and garden, my prayer is “Lord lead me. Show me how to lay down my life for You as You laid down Your life for me. “

And your life?

GOD MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE

“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.’? ‘So they are no longer two but one flesh.’ What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Matthew 19: 4-6

The late 1960’s and early 1970’s were tumultuous times: the Vietnam War, anti-war demonstrations, and racial strife. I am part of that generation. No, I never grew my hair long and took on the hippie look. I did not burn my draft card. However, I was a Jesus Freak. A group of us met regularly in the student union of Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, to pray and study the Bible. We were labeled Jesus Freaks because we were always talking about Jesus. We chose not to rebel against the establishment and not to be part of the sexual revolution.

The sexual revolution has progressed, in the ensuing years, beyond the “Free Love” advocated by the hippy crowd to the point where sexual relationships of all kinds and descriptions are not only accepted, but are being promoted as “normal and desirable”. Gender has been redefined, becoming more of a personal preference then a biological reality established at birth. At the risk of being again labeled a “Jesus Freak”, I have to take a stand.

My stand on sexuality is radical and narrowly defined. Sexual relations are to be confined to a man and a woman who are married. Period. The only other option is celibate singleness. Sex before marriage, adultery, homosexuality, and all other sexual relations outside the marriage of a man and a woman are wrong. They are destructive. They are a sin against ourselves, our partner(s), and God. No, I am not homophobic. I do not hate transgender people and I am not a prude. Sex has been a wonderful and fulfilling part of my marriage for over four decades.

I firmly believe God’s ways are the simplest and the best. We were created male and female by God, created for the lifetime union of a man and a woman. Any other sexual relationship is less than God’s best for us.

LISTEN TO HIM

“This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Polarization in politics today in the United States is to a degree maintained and even intensified by the media. Left leaning Americans listen to liberal media outlets and right leaning Americans listen to conservative outlets. People hear what they want to hear and their views are reinforced.

Who do you listen to? Who shapes your view of reality? No, I am not talking about your political views, but your spiritual. The battle for the hearts and minds of people in the spiritual arena is even more intense than the battle in the political arena. And more is at stake than the economy, health care, and even world peace. The battle raging in the spiritual realm is for our very souls.

On one side we have the deceiver. His message is one that exalts the self, that appeals to our passions, and that distorts the truth. He comes as an angel of light with arguments that sound so plausible, even religious. His message promises the world, but in the end only delivers death.

On the other side we have the One, Christ Jesus who is the truth. His message is one of humility and of dying to oneself. It is one of grace and forgiveness, peace and wholeness. It always delivers life.

Chapter 17 of the book of Matthew recounts the transfiguration. Peter, James, and John went with Jesus to a mountain top and there they saw Jesus in a glorified state talking with Moses and Elijah. If His miracles hadn’t convinced these disciples that Jesus was the Son of God, surely they were convinced now. The Father then spoke from heaven confirming that Jesus was indeed His beloved Son. And the Father’s message to Peter, James, and John, as well as to us, was very simple. Tune out all the other voices, quiet yourself, and “Listen to Him”. 

LIVING LIFE TOGETHER

“Though you have not seen him, you love him…” I  Peter 1:8a

Peter loved Jesus. He talked with Him. He ate with Him. He traveled with Him. He lived life together with Jesus for three years. Jesus did Peter a great kindness when He healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus did an even greater kindness when He appeared to him after his resurrection. Though Peter denied three times that he even knew Him, Jesus received him back as His disciple.

As Peter writes to second generation Christians in I Peter, who had not seen Jesus before or after his resurrection, He commends them for loving Him. But is it possible to love someone we have never seen?

At age fifteen, I fell in love with a pretty teenage girl, but that was more infatuation than love. My puppy love grew and matured into genuine love after we married. Love grew as we shared the joys and sorrows and the trials and triumphs that the years have brought us. Genuine love came as we lived life together.

Though we have not seen Jesus, we can love Him. He promised to always be with us. He gave us His Spirit. We don’t need to see Him to love Him. We need only to invite Him into all of our lives and live together with Him.

LIVING HOPE

I Peter 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Peter is writing about thirty years after the death of Jesus Christ to believers who were scattered across the Roman Empire. They were, like we often ae, confused and discouraged. They had expected Christ to return quickly, but now decades later, the reality had begun to sink in that God’s soon is not our soon.

After his short greeting in verses one and two, Peter gets right to the heart of the message in verse three. He tells believers then and now that God is good because, in His great mercy He has given us new birth. The hopeless condition of our old lives is behind us. Even as we continue to live in this fallen world, we now have a glorious living hope that is solidly based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a living hope because he conquered death, hell and sin. He came back to life with a glorious, but very real and tangible body. Many, including Peter, saw the resurrected Christ Jesus. They walked with Him, talked with Him, and even ate with Him after His resurrection.

This gives us hope because, as Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:20, He is the first fruits from the dead. My fate is the same as His. All the troubles and trials of this life, even death itself, shall not have the last word. I have a living hope. I too shall be resurrected with a body like His, forever to be with Him.

BECAUSE THERE IS A HEAVEN

And I saw a new heaven… And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God… “Behold the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them.  (Revelation 21:1a, 2a, 3b)

Revelation chapters 21 and 22 are the most descriptive passage about heaven in the Bible.  It is plain in the verses above and the rest of these two chapters that we will not spend eternity sitting on clouds playing harps, but living in the heavenly new Jerusalem.  Notice how much emphasis is placed upon the fact that God will dwell with His people in this beautiful city.  It will be heavenly because God will be there, and He will outshine all else.  It will be a place of joy, purity, peace, and life, simply because God is all this and so much more.  Heaven is not a place where everything pleases us, but a place where everything pleases God… and consequently pleases us if we are His children.

And because there is a heaven, there must be a hell.  There must be a place for everything that does not belong in heaven.  God is who and what He is.  He cannot and will not change to accommodate mankind’s selfish, hard-hearted, and sinful ways.  He paid a great price in the death of His Son on the cross to provide for our forgiveness.  When we accept that forgiveness, we become children of God by new birth.  Something God-like is born in us, and as it grows and matures, we become more and more like Him.  When we die what remains of our sinful, rebellious old self will fall away, and as children of God we will joyfully take our eternal place with God.  If we fail to accept God’s offer, rejecting His forgiveness and the new life that can be ours in Christ, we will be stuck with who and what we are.  Just consider this for a minute – do you really want to live for eternity stuck with yourself as you are, separated from God and His city of life and light?  Think of the regret, the despair, and the endless replaying of the bitter memories of this life.                                                                          
The longer I live, the more I long to be with God.  We were made to love and be loved by God.  We were made to be with Him.  Why settle for anything less, now and throughout eternity?

RISE AND SHINE

“Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”  Ephesians 5:14b

When I read this passage I hear is the voice of my father saying, “Rise and shine”.  Like most teenagers all I wanted to do was to sleep in on Saturday mornings, especially this time of year.  My brother and I slept in a large room over our garage that was poorly insulated, and had only one small heating vent.  Snuggled up in flannel sheets under about 5 blankets it took a lot of will-power to get out of bed and get dressed in our frigid bedroom.  Things looked up as soon as I got to the hallway, because I would be met with enticing odors of pancakes, waffles, or Dad’s famous potatoes and eggs.  We needed a good breakfast, because it would inevitably be followed by a day of work outside. 

This time of year, late February, we would be making maple syrup.  On our three acre lot, in the woods behind us, and in our neighbors lot (with their permission) we would tap about 100 maple trees.  We hand drilled holes in the trees about three feet off the ground, tapped in a spout, and hung up a pail.  As the weather got up above freezing, sap would run up the trees in the day time, and then back down as it cooled below freezing at night.  Each time the sap ran, we got some in the buckets.  Maple tree sap has a mildly sweet “green” taste. I enjoyed taking a sip once in a while.  It takes about 50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.  We would collect the sap several times during the week if it was running well.  Then on Saturdays we would build a wood fire under the boiler, which was a shallow pan about 3 feet wide and 6 feet long.  You can’t imagine how wonderful it smelled as it boiled!  By Saturday evening it would be down almost to the bottom, so we would pour it off, take it to an old stove in the basement, and finish boiling it down to the proper sugar content.  Dad liked to get a high sugar content, so we invariably had maple sugar candy forming on the bottom of the canning jars after a month or two.

Yes, it was a lot of work, but no, I don’t look back on those Saturdays as child abuse.  It was fun, and those times are some of my fondest childhood memories.  If I had a large yard with maple trees, I would make it today.  But the main reason those times mean so much to me was that they were times working with Dad.  Including my brother and me in his work was one of my Father’s love languages.  He included us in whatever he was doing.  He loved to teach us what he knew.  He wanted to help us grow up into competent, self-assured men.  And Saturdays weren't always work days, we also got to join him hunting and fishing. 

I think one of God’s love languages is including us in what He is doing.  Isn't that what Jesus did with His disciples?  He took them with Him as He taught, healed, and proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom.  He showed them how to fish for men, and He patiently taught them what it means to be godly.  Yes, the work of the Kingdom is often hard work, just like making maple syrup, but the reward is that we get to join God in His work, and learn His ways.  He teaches us how to serve.  He teaches us how to listen and follow the quiet voice of the Spirit.  He gently corrects our bad attitudes, pride, and self-centered ways.  And best of all, we get to be with Him through it all, and see in His eyes the love of a Father who loves to be with His children.  Rise and shine.

DEEP DOWN DARK CHRISTIANITY

Deep, Down, Dark by Hector Tobar is the true story about 33 men who were trapped in a mine in Chile (I highly recommend this book).  The main entrance to the San Jose’ mine and all avenues of escape were blocked by an enormous slab of rock the size of a skyscraper.  Realizing that they very well might not come out alive, the men ask Henriquez, a man they called the Pastor, to pray.  Why did they ask him?  The reason was simple.  In their words “as soon as he opens his mouth and begins to talk it’s clear that he knows how to speak of God and to God.”  Henriquez asks them to get on their knees in a posture of humility before God and he prays.  Soon men are asking God to forgive them for their drunkenness, for cheating on their wives, for their tempers, and for the way they have treated their children.  Praying together becomes a daily ritual, and after their times of prayer they ask forgiveness from each other for their sharp words and unkindness’s.  In mine disasters, as in fox holes, there are no atheists.  Men in times of crisis faced with their mortality realize that they will have to answer to God.

It is hard to read a book like Deep Down Dark and not think about how I would react in a similar situation.  Would I, like Henriquez, be that solid godly man that others would turn to?  Do my co-workers see me as someone who knows how to speak of God and to God?  Would I be able to confidently take them in prayer before God?  Could I bring them hope day after day as their meagre food supply of a few cans of tuna and a handful of cookies dwindled to nothing?  Could I stand firm in faith as death stared me in the face?  God, help me, help us all, to be men and women like Henriquez.

THE IDEAL VERSUS THE REAL

He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial… Christian brotherhood is a spiritual and not a psychic reality.       Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I have experienced some wonderful expressions of Christian community.  A group of us at college found such life and joy together that we gathered every day after classes to pray and study the Bible.  God was so present, so real.  Likewise while I was serving in the Army Barb and I found sweet fellowship among fellow soldiers and their families, but God had even more in store for us.  Just days after moving into base housing, while on our way to buy groceries in a nearby town, we saw the sign, “Jesus People Meet Here”.  We showed up on Sunday and met a group of Jesus People, complete with long hair, a van painted with flowers, and guitars (only organs and pianos were considered proper back then in church).  We just couldn't seem to get enough worship and fellowship on base with our Army friends, or off base with our hippie friends.  Our homes were open, and we gladly shared what we had.  There was not a Saturday that we went to preach in the county jail that someone didn't get saved, even while men at the back of the cell made fun of them.

Those times were a gift from God, and it is right for me to cherish them, but the memory of them has tripped me up in recent years.  I keep looking for that same beautiful feeling of community.  I keep trying to find or create a church experience that will match what we had back then.  Maybe if we were in a small church.  Maybe if we held church in homes.  Maybe if we did away with bulletins and an order of worship, and we just let the Spirit lead us.  Maybe if…  The reality is, though, I never will find what I am looking for, because the ideal that I hold is not real and it never was.  If I am honest with myself I will realize that there were undercurrents and problems back then just as there are now.  There was hidden sin.  There was gossip.  There was competition.  There was all that my (now) more mature/ discerning eyes see in every church and every Christian organization that I am and ever have been a part of.

So, what is wrong with the church?  Maybe nothing.  Maybe church as you and I experience it is truly the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.  After all, what is the church?  It is as Dietrich Bonhoeffer states above a spiritual reality.  It is made up of every truly born again man and woman on earth, and local churches are simply communities of these believers.  When we are born again we become as Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:17 a new creation.  But if we stop here, we will have an incomplete picture of the kind of people who make up churches.  We will expect every member to always act like the Jesus of the Bible – after all, are we not born again into His image?  Yes, but that is not all we are.  Along with being a new creation in Christ Jesus, we are also still men and women in the flesh, with an old nature to deal with.  Paul gets very honest about his old nature in Romans 7:21, where he states that, “evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good.”  This reminds me of those cartoons, where someone is pictured with an angel on one shoulder, and a devil on the other.  Keeping this in mind will help us accept the “real” churches we all attend.  Reality is that none of us lives completely out of our new natures. 

So, as we walk into church on Sunday, or meet with friends from church, what should be our attitude and our expectations?  Firstly I think we all need to approach our relationships in church with humility.  I’m still very prone to live out of my old nature, and that means I will need your forgiveness, your patience, and your understanding.  It also means that you will need to be honest with me from time to time, and tell me when you see something un-Christ like in my behavior.  (Please do it gently and in love.)  You see, I need you, and you need me.  God has given us each a piece of what is needed to make church work and be a healthy place.  Together we have what we all need.  Though at times it might seem like it would be easier to just go it on our own, that will not work. The life of my Lord Jesus is in you, and that life flows to me when I am with you.  Wow, I better respect, honor, and value you! 

Real church is always a mixed bag, and if you are in it long, you will be hurt and knocked around a bit - or maybe a lot.  But cheer up, it won’t be long until Jesus comes and finishes in us what He began.  We will leave behind these bodies of flesh, leave behind what remains of our sin nature, and be fully conformed into His image.  Then “real” church will be really great, my ideal and yet SO much more.

THY KINGDOM COME

Our Father who art in heaven, hollowed by Thy name.  Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  (Matthew 6:9b-10 NAS)

I have prayed this prayer hundreds, if not thousands of times, maybe you have too, without giving a lot of thought as to just how God will answer it.  Certainly there is a sense in which it needs to be fulfilled in me – God’s will being done in my life.  If I am a follower of Jesus, then He is my King, and I am in His kingdom.  God, help me to be obedient in all aspects of my life.  Establish Your kingdom in me.  In a broader sense I pray for Him to reign over my marriage and over the families of all my children and grandchildren. 

There is also a sense in which this prayer should be fulfilled in our churches.  If Jesus is truly the Head of our churches, then His will is being done in and through us as individuals and as a community.  We will be a kingdom community, representing Jesus to the world.  People will see in our communities the love, the unity, the healing, the health, and the life of Jesus. 

As I have recently meditated on Revelation chapters four and five. It’s the longer term piece of “Thy kingdom come” that has come into clearer focus.  Chapter four is a beautiful picture of heaven as John saw it in his Revelation vision.  He sees the Father, the One, sitting on His throne surrounded by a rainbow before a sea of glass.  Angels and majestic creatures hard to describe sing His praises, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, Who was and who is and who is to come.” (Revelation 4:8b NAS)  In this place of beauty, majesty, peace, and glory God’s will is done – before One so great how could it be otherwise?  When we pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” (Matthew 6:10) we are asking God to bring the earth into this same beauty, peace, and Godly order.  Given the turmoil, injustice, war, and death we see all round us, is that possible?  How could it be accomplished?

John’s vision gives us the answer.  Revelation chapter five pictures the Father on His throne with a scroll in His hand, which is sealed with seven seals.  Ancient wills, contracts, and other legal documents would be written on parchment and then sealed like this.  No one was found worthy to take the scroll and open its seals until the Lion of the tribe of Jacob (Jesus) steps forward.  When He takes the scroll John then sees Him as a Lamb, but a Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, which could indicate that He carries absolute power, authority, and knowledge.  All heaven breaks forth in worship to the Father and the Lamb.  Jesus has conquered death and hell and sin, redeeming a people for God from every tribe, tongue, and nation.  His victory proves His worth.  He then opens the seals one by one, and things start to happen on earth.  Over the next sixteen chapters of Revelation God’s judgement is poured out on all unrighteousness; people, nations and kings are judged; God’s redeemed people are gathered to Him; and a new heaven and earth appear with their crown jewel, the New Jerusalem, where the Father and the Son will dwell with God’s people forever.  All tears will be wiped away, the tree of life will be in full bloom, and the river of life will run free through the city.

Wow!  That will be “Thy kingdom come".   God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven, because heaven has now come to earth.  Those of us who follow Jesus, who trust in His saving grace, have all this to look forward to.  What a hope!  What a future!  I for one am going to ratchet up my prayers for the kingdom to come.

THINK KINGDOM

Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst (or within your grasp).” (Luke 17:20-21 ASV, ESV)

The Pharisees in one respect were ahead of most of us - they knew that the kingdom of God was coming, and they were looking for it.  They knew well Old Testament passages like Isaiah 9:6-7

For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will be upon His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

And who wouldn't prefer David’s greater Son as King in place of the iron fist of Rome?  The Pharisees, however, were wrong about what the King would look like, and how His kingdom would come.  This humble, poor, simple man in front of them surely could not be He.  And where were the armies that would follow Him into battle as He pushed the Romans into the sea – this rag-tag group of fishermen following Jesus?  A kingdom that would not come with signs to be observed didn't sound like much of a kingdom.  Even if it was in their midst, they didn't seem to be too excited about finding it.

One Pharisees, however, Nicodemus, really wanted to know how to enter the kingdom of God, so Jesus told him, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God… you must be born again.”  (John 3:5b, 7b)  So, if you are born again, you have the privilege of entering the kingdom of God, but what does that mean?  Most of us, I think, just throw around that term, kingdom of God, without giving it much thought.  Let’s take a closer look.

First of all it must mean that I have a King, and His name is Jesus.  He is rightful King in the kingdom of God, because, as the angel told Mary in Luke 2:32, “the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.”  Jesus was born the King of the kingdom of God, just like any earthly king is born into a family of kings.  Secondly if I am in His kingdom, I am expected to live under His authority, His rule, and His law. But as with all good kings, I am also under His protection, and His care.  I can trust Him to provide all that I need.  Bottom line: my life is not my own, nor is any of the stuff I call my own – it all belongs to King Jesus.  I trust myself fully to Him.

Being Americans in the kingdom of God requires some adjustment in our thinking.  We love our independence, our democracy, our freedoms, our life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  It is all about us.  In the kingdom of God, however, it is all about Jesus.  So, do we lose or gain upon entering the Kingdom of God?  We lose bondage to sin, and gain life and true freedom; we (hopefully) lose our stubborn self-will and independence, and gain simple faith and trust in good King Jesus; we lose control of our lives (control is an illusion anyway), and gain a Good Shepherd to lead us; and we avoid the eternal suffering and regret of all who remain outside the kingdom of God, and gain a place with King Jesus ruling and reigning with Him forever.  Sound good?  Think kingdom.

DID JESUS REALLY SAY THAT?

Some of Jesus’ parables just don’t sound right the first time you read them.  Take for instance the parable of the unjust steward in Luke 16:1-9.  The manager of a rich man’s estate heard that he was going to be fired.  While he still had control of his master’s accounts, he went to several people who were in debt to his master, and reduced the amount of their debt.  His reasoning was that by doing so they would owe him favours, which he could cash in on after he was let go.  Now for the puzzling part – the steward’s master praised him for acting shrewdly!  At this point I’m expecting Jesus to condemn the steward for his dishonesty, but instead he says, “the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.  And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:8b-9).  Think on that for a minute…

Here is my take on it:  The point of the parable is not “the dishonest get ahead”, but be smart (shrewd) about how you handle money.  People in the world, the sons of this age as Jesus calls them, use money to their advantage to get ahead in this life.  All they have is this life, so they are acting wisely in that respect.  Of course from an eternal perspective they are acting foolishly, but that is addressed in some other parables. Jesus then shifts to us, the sons of light, and tells us to use money, the mammon of unrighteousness, wisely.  Handling money wisely is using it to make friends who will receive us into their eternal dwellings.  Those of us who are followers of Jesus have a place prepared for us by Jesus in the Father’s house.  I think that when we get to heaven we will recognize each other, and remember aspects of our life as it now is.  I plan to get together with those in the church I've known and loved, and celebrate all that we did together.  There are specific people that have invested in my life, who have helped me at a difficult point in my life, that I want to thank and bless for all that they did.  Our actions do matter, and that includes how we use resources (money and other resources) that we have at our disposal.  The more we give, the more we invest in others, the more we will have to celebrate with them in heaven.

We as Christians can invest our money in our churches, missionary work, and good local ministries like Youth For Christ.  We all have a certain amount of money at our disposal, the question is, how are we using it?  But let’s not stop there, we all have time, talents, and skills that can be used to bless others.  The men of Hope House, a local inner city ministry to those dealing with substance abuse, found out that I regularly go backpacking.  “Oh, we sure would like to do that some time.”  I then had a choice to make, would I take the time and make the effort to take them or just tell them, “well, maybe someday you will get the chance to go.”  So I pulled all the equipment down from the attic, set up five backpacks for them, and off we went for a three day hike on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania.  They had a great time – so great that they want to hike the whole 2000 mile trail, and use it to help raise money for their ministry.  What can you do with what you have at your disposal?  What’s in your wallet?  What’s in your attic? 

LESSONS FROM GROWING BLUEBERRIES

      A few years back I bought three blueberry bushes. I did a little research and found out that blueberry bushes are acid-loving, so I got some Miracid fertilizer, and they responded well. I also gave them a good covering of mulch in the fall, and then again in the spring. In the hot, dry days of July and August I watered them, and by even the second year I had a few blueberries starting to ripen. However, a robin that frequents our backyard also noticed that the blueberries were ripening, and the next day some of them were gone. So, I got some netting to keep the birds off. A few weeks later the Japanese beetles found the blueberry bushes, and i had to head off to Home Depot to get some beetle traps. The bushes have grown, and we now get about two gallons of blueberries between late June and early August., but only because I have continued to be diligent with fertilizer, mulch, watering, netting, and beetle traps. I could just buy blueberries at the store, but these berries are special, because they are ours. We raise them, we eat them fresh, and we enjoy blueberry pancakes all winter long from the ones we freeze - but only because we nurture and protect our blueberry plants.
     Paul instructs husbands in Ephesians 5:28&29 to "love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ also does the church." When I follow Christ's example, when I love my wife, I nourish and cherish her. She knows when I am loving her in a self-sacrificial manner, and it blesses her. Our relationship deepens, she responds in love back to me, and the fruit of this mutual love is sweet. But it doesn't just happen. I have to work at laying down my life for her as Christ did for the church. I have to work at nourishing the relationship if I want to enjoy the fruit. I also have to work at nourishing the relationship from the enemy's attacks. If I just leave a small opening in the netting around my blueberries, that pesky robin will find his way in. He comes back every day looking for a hole in my defenses. His is relentless, just like sexual temptation, but I am determined to win both battles, the one for my blueberries, and the one for my marriage.
     My relationship with Jesus is likewise a relationship that must be nourished and protected. I nourish my relationship with Jesus as I spend time with Him - unhurried time that communicates my love and devotion. Being with other believers in fellowship and worship also plays an important part. What I have to guard against is just going through the motions, both in my morning times with Him and my desires (and deserves) my whole heart. Do I cherish Him above that this world offers? Have I allowed the cares of this life to erode my faith in Him? Have I allowed the cares of this life to steal away my passion for Him? He is my life, my hope, my future, and my eternal inheritance. So much is at stake that I cannot afford to do anything less than all that I can to nurture and protect my relationship with Jesus.