A DYING WISH

Barb and I were leading a small but growing church here in Berea in the late 1980’s.  We were especially happy when Kevin started to attend.  He was creative, musically gifted, and a magnet for teens and young adults.  At six feet, seven inches tall Kevin was also our gentle giant.

Kevin invited me out for coffee a few months after he joined us.  He told me that before coming to our church he had left a long term relationship with an older man.  He told me that he knew that this was not pleasing to God, that he had repented, and that he was leading a celibate life.  I never saw myself as being judgemental towards homosexuals, but Kevin was the first gay person that I had come to know personally.  I was out of my comfort zone.  So I prayed, “God, how do I relate to him?”  The answer was clear, simply love and accept Kevin as I would anyone else that walked into our church.  God loved and accepted Kevin as much as any other sinner (me included) who looked to Him for forgiveness and life in Christ.  But Kevin was a special member of our church, he was a gift to me.  God had used him to set me free from a hidden fear and judgemental attitude towards people who have lived, or are living a gay lifestyle.  I’ll always be grateful for our friendship.

Kevin and I went out for coffee again about a year later.  He had visited a gay bar in a moment of weakness, and he had contracted AIDS.  This was early in the AIDS epidemic.  No medications to fight the disease were yet available, and life expectancy was frighteningly short.  Within a few months he was in the AIDS ward of St. Augustine hospital, and he was rapidly losing ground.  One day while I was visiting him Kevin pleaded with me, “Gary, there are so many in this AIDS ward who need to hear about Jesus’ love.  Promise me you will come back after I am gone and start a ministry here.”  Kevin died within a few weeks.

I struggled with the idea of regularly visiting the AIDS ward.  Little was known about the disease, and how it was contracted.  What if I got AIDS?  I had a wife and four young children to think about.  But I felt that this was an invitation from God.  Was I going to cower in fear, or take action and simply trust Him?  I went.  I befriended many patients.  I laid hands on them and prayed with them.  I fully expect to see some of them in heaven.  It became a very rewarding ministry, possibly the most important that I have ever served in.

Jesus was speaking to me through Kevin.  He was inviting me to do what He would do if He was here on earth – to do what Jesus did while He was here on earth – reach out to the hurting and lonely with God’s love.  Is God inviting you to reach out to someone?  Is He nudging you to move outside of your comfort zone?  Will you go?  Will you cower in fear, or be obedient and trust God?

JACKI

Both of our daughters got married in the summer of 1992.  Later that same year Barb and I left the Christian community which we had been a part of for many years, but our one daughter, Missy, stayed, and is still there today.  Our leaving created a strain in the relationship, and after a few years Missy and her husband, Bob, completely cut us off.  We have had no contact with members of the community, with Missy and Bob, or their 4 children – no cards, no calls, no visits, no birthday celebrations, and no holidays together.  The Amish might say that we were shunned.  For 13 years we have prayed.  It was all we could do.

            Two days before this last Christmas an old friend called and said, “Jacki is on Facebook”.  Jacki is now 20.  She is Missy and Bob’s daughter and our oldest grandchild.  Barb cautiously asked to be her friend, and Jacki enthusiastically responded.  She and her fiance, Lee, are now out of the community.  They are cut off from both of their families, but free to reconnect with us, her uncles and aunts, and her nine first cousins that she has not seen in 13 years.  Dozens of Facebook messages flew back and forth between us all in just the first few weeks of re-connecting.  Jacki is an RN, and Lee is working on his doctoral degree in nursing to become a nurse practitioner.  They came up to visit us early this spring, and it seemed like we talked for two solid days.  I was so pleased to see the fun they had with their aunts, uncles and cousins.  She and Lee were married May 2, and we were there, tears of joy running down our cheeks.  They are the cutest couple, and so full of life. 

I have barely been able to contain my joy.  The first few weeks it seemed that all I can do was cry and worship.  However, we still have more to pray for – reconciliation with Jacki’s 17 year old twin sisters, her 15 year old brother, and of course, her parents.

What are you praying for?  Is there a broken relationship in your life, a wayward son or daughter, an estranged family member?  Please don’t give up, keep praying.  Even it takes 13 years or longer it is worth every prayer and every year that has passed when at last in God’s perfect time our prayers are answered.

THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

That’s What Friends Are For

Matthew 25:14-30

When asked to preach on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, I was happy to do it.  I like to teach.  Teaching brings me life, and our congregation seems to benefit.  If I was to try to fit my gift of teaching into the parable of the talents, I would say that it is a “two talent” gift that God has entrusted to me.

If you remember this parable, a wealthy Master went away, but not before He entrusted some of His wealth to three of His servants.  To the first He gave five talents, to the second two talents, and to the third one talent.  On His return there was an accounting.  The servant who had been given five talents had invested them and gained five more.  Likewise the servant who had been given two talents had invested them, and gained two more.  Both were commended for their faithfulness in how they handled the Master’s wealth.  The generous Master gave them even more – there was a joyous welcome home party.  The servant who had been given one talent, however, had buried it in the ground.  The Master was not pleased.

Here is where my friend comes in.  Last week over dinner he asked me, “So Gary, are you still writing your blog?”  I provided several good excuses, like “I’m not really a very good writer.  I don’t think it has made much of an impact.  I think I have said everything I really wanted to say.”  It all sounded valid to me at the time, but during my sermon preparation time those lame excuses came back to haunt me.  I realized that I was playing the part of the “one talent” servant.  So, here I am taking up blogging again, convicted by my own sermon before I’ve even preached it.

So, how about you?  Have you buried a talent that God has given you?  All God asks for is faithfulness on our part to invest what He has given us: be that talent a gift to speak or write, an ability in art or music, strength to serve others, or finances that can be given to help fund a ministry.  I’m praying that God will bring a friend along to remind you about your buried talent, and that you will dig it up, dust it off, and put it to work in God’s Kingdom.  That’s what friends are for.

INFLUENCE

“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Mat.5:13a, 14 NAS)

I really don’t like the word influence – it conjures up images of pushy salesmen, spin tactics, and certain family members who think they know better how I should live my life than I do.  But Jesus makes it plain in these verses from Matthew that we, as His disciples, are to be people of influence.  So, should we read up on the latest sales techniques and study how best to spin the Kingdom message?  I don’t think that that is what Jesus had in mind.  As a matter of fact, I don’t think He was concerned with technique and presentation at all.  Consider for a minute what He is telling His followers in these verses, “You are salt, and you are light” – not “try to be salt”, or “study up on how to be light”.  I will influence those around me by simply being who and what I am as a follower of Jesus, and that is the point that I think He is making.  Jesus was saying be with Me, listen to Me, love like Me, be filled with My Spirit – become like Me and you will be an influence to people around you.  So be salty, be tangy and add flavor where you live and where you work.  So shine, bring light and truth – your very presence as a Christ-like (Christian) person will influence your home, your workplace, your neighborhood, and your school.  Simply be who you are in Christ.  Be a person of influence.

BEWARE OF THE GIBEONITES

Joshua 9

The incident recorded in Joshua chapter 9 makes for interesting reading.  The nation of Israel has crossed the Jordan River under Joshua’s command, and they have seen the walls of Jericho fall.  After dealing with Achan’s sin, the city of Ai fell as well.  Things were going well for them.  The people groups currently inhabiting the promised land were shaking in their boots.  The Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and all the other “ites” were trying to figure how they could possibly stand up in war against a nation that had God on its side.  The Gibeonites decided to try a unique defensive tactic, deception.  They sent an envoy dressed in travel worn clothes, and equipped them with old moldy bread and tired looking donkeys.  “Your servants have come from a very far country because of the fame of the Lord your God; for we have heard the report of Him and all that He did in Egypt.”  (Joshua 9:9 NAS)  They were so convincing that Joshua and the leaders of Israel took their word at face value, and made a covenant of peace with them.  The reality was, however, that they lived just around the corner.  They were one of the nations that God had told Israel to destroy, Joshua could not go back on his word.  The Gibeonites were spared and became a thorn in Israel’s side - all because Joshua “did not ask for the counsel of the Lord”. (Joshua 9:14b NAS) 

I’m sure you haven’t encountered any more badly dressed men on tired donkeys with moldy bread lately than I have, but I am sure that you have found yourself in a situation where a decision had to be made.  As one of Jesus’ disciples every decision is an opportunity to be true follower, or to go it on our own.  Will we bring each matter in our lives before the Lord and ask for counsel, or will we like Israel rely on our own wisdom and judge by appearances?  For a true disciple there is only one course – let Jesus call the shots in our lives.  It’s not only what a Christ follower does, it’s the smart thing.  It may save us the pain of a Gibeonite thorn in the side!

SIMPLICITY AND PURITY OF DEVOTION TO CHRIST

But I am afraid… your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Cor.11:3)

            In the previous verse Paul refers to the Christians at Corinth as being a pure virgin that he has betrothed to Christ.  And what is required of a betrothed (engaged) woman - simplicity and purity of devotion.  It is going to be a long engagement, but what a wonderful wedding it will be when all of us who belong to Jesus are forever joined with Him, never to be separated again.  The marriage of the church, the bride of Christ, to Jesus is pictured in Revelation 21as a truly glorious event which will lead right into the creation of a new heavens and a new earth.

            However, in the mean time, Jesus waits with the expectant heart of a husband-to-be, and we wait with the expectant heart of a bride-to-be.  Yes, He has given us His Spirit as the comforter; yes, we have His Word; and yes, we have each other (sometimes a mixed blessing J).  But these are all part of a long distance relationship with Jesus.  What we really long for can’t be found on this earth, because He is not here. 

            So what does all this romantic talk about us and Jesus and a wedding have to do with following Him and being His disciples?  Everything.  Being a follower of Jesus can so easily become a matter of doing all the right things, and not doing all the wrong things.  I have found that even that precious time with Him in the mornings can easily lose its glow and become a matter of duty - what I need to read, and the list of things that I need to pray about.  Life has a way of getting complicated, and it isn’t long before what is truly important gets lost.  So I try to keep going back to what Paul said to the brothers and sisters at Corinth.  I keep reminding myself that being a follower of Jesus is first, foremost, and always a matter of simplicity and purity of devotion to Him.

JUST GIVE ME JESUS

I love the words to that old spiritual:

In the morning when I rise, in the morning when I rise

In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus, you can have all this world

Just give me Jesus

However, in the morning when I rise, in addition to Jesus I would add one thing - a cup of medium roast Starbucks coffee.  I like it best freshly ground and pressed, not filtered.  As I’m fond of saying, Jesus deserves my best, and without the coffee, He won’t get it.  But back to the song, it truly captures the heart beat of what it means to be Jesus’ disciple.  We follow Him, because we want to be with Him. 

For me that starts about 15 minutes after I leave the covers.  I make my bed, put on some old clothes, quietly walk to the kitchen so as to not wake Barb, and boil water for my coffee.  I then make my way into the living room to my recliner (we have his and her recliners), pull out my Bible, and open it.  I don’t have to read too many verses, and it doesn’t matter if they are in Leviticus or Matthew, He is there.  The Bible is His Word, a living Word, and as many times as I’ve read through it, it continues to be the voice of my Jesus to me.  Just yesterday I was reading in Psalms, “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” (Ps.5.3 ESV)  I see three parts to this verse that describe my morning times with Jesus.  Firstly, He hears my voice as I pour out my concerns:  a problem at work I’m trying to solve, a difficult person I’m trying to get along with, a decision I need to make, and nearly every day, God’s blessing and protection for my wife and family.  But the joy of being with Jesus goes beyond knowing He hears and cares about all that concerns me.  The sacrifice part of this verse regularly becomes part of our time together taking shape as an offering of worship.  How can I not be grateful for sin forgiven, for eternal life, for His loving care and protection, and for the grace and peace that are mine each day in Christ?  Then there is the third part, watching.  Watching is the quiet in my quiet time, those moments when my attention is actively fixed on Jesus, but I’m not talking or worshipping, I’m just focused on Him.  Often in the quiet He speaks to me.  That still small voice that brings direction or understanding. 

What I do may not work for you, so find your own place and time.  Just don’t miss what truly is more valuable than all the world has to offer – just being with Jesus.