LEGACY!

It was strange.

While traveling around Sri Lanka with a friend and his family, we visited some of the tea plantations about 100 miles from the capital, Colombo, in the highlands.

There it was—“Strathdon.” Strange.

Strange, because Strathdon is a place in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, a “strath” (river valley) of the River Don, about 50 miles west of my old haunt, Aberdeen (= mouth/confluence of Rivers Don and Dee).

But here? In Sri Lanka? Over 5,000 miles away from Aberdeen? In a whole different continent?

And beneath that name, was “Abergeldie.” That’s the name of a castle not too far from Strathdon, a castle close to the River Dee.

Strange!

I tell you, these Scots do get around.

Apparently these odd names (odd for Sri Lanka, that is) are a legacy of the Scots who established and ran most of the tea industry in that country in the 19^th century: the Scottish Ceylon [the old name for “Sri Lanka”] Tea Company. James Taylor, an enterprising Scotsman, set up the first tea factory there in 1872 and put Ceylon tea on the map. One million packets of Ceylon tea were sold at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

Then, of course, there’s the intrepid Glaswegian, Tommy Lipton. Guess what he made a fortune in? After a visit to Sri Lanka in the 1890s, he bought up several tea estates, pioneering the use of a cable transport system to move sacks of plucked tea leaves between the steep hills and the valley processing factories below—still in use today. Queen Victoria knighted Tommy.

Towards the end of the 19^th century, “tea” was no longer synonymous with “China,” but with “Ceylon.” Even today, Sri Lanka is second only to India in tea production.

Thus “Strathdon Estate” and “Abergeldie Division,” still bearing the names of that influence from yon bonnie land.

The legacy of the Scots … in, of all places, Sri Lanka!

A good man leaves an inheritance

to his children’s children.

Proverbs 13:22

God has seen fit to use parents and pastors and teachers and trainers and elders and mentors to leave spiritual legacies for the next generation, to point them to Him.

In the fear of the LORD

there is strong confidence,

And his children will have refuge.

Proverbs 14:26

Indeed, we have a responsibility to model the fear of the Lord, the righteousness of walking with God, for the younger ones.

A righteous person

who walks in his integrity—

How blessed are his children after him.

Proverbs 20:7

Blessed are they who have had such legacies left to them.

But it is not just a one-way street.

There’s not much better than seeing your children, those in your flock, those you have disciple, those you have taught and trained, growing to be men and women after God’s own heart. That’s thrilling!

The father of the righteous

will greatly rejoice,

And he who sires a wise child

will be glad in him.

Let your father and

your mother be glad,

And let her rejoice

who gave birth to you.

Proverbs 23:24–25

The importance of leaving a legacy!

Train up a child

in the way he should go,

Even when he is old

he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Longlasting influence. A legacy that spans several generations.

Behold, for thus shall

the man be blessed

Who fears the LORD.

The LORD bless you from Zion,

And may you see

the prosperity of Jerusalem

all the days of your life.

Indeed, may you see

your children's children.

Peace be upon Israel!

Psalm 128:4–6

Amen!

UNITED!

Last month, I had the privilege of teaching at Colombo Theological Seminary (CTS), in Colombo, the capital of of Sri Lanka.

This is a remarkable institution that reflects the coming together of quite a diverse group of Sri Lankan Christians, denominations as varied as Anglican, Pentecostal, Methodist, and Dutch Reformed! All uniting with an admirable vision “to create a center for easily accessible, culturally relevant and evangelically focused, advanced theological training to equip the church to effectively reach out and serve the peoples of Sri Lanka's multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multicultural society; and the South Asian region—home to more than one billion people.”

Three major languages are represented in the nation of Sri Lanka itself—English, Sinhala, and Tamil. And CTS ministers in all three.

United!

While the kaleidoscope of affiliations may create problems of its own, I must confess that their goal is entirely biblical.

Now I exhort you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you all agree and that
there be no divisions among you, but that
you be made complete
in the same mind and
in the same judgment.
1 Corinthians 1:10

Factions, cliques, parties. Rivalry and competition. Division and quarrels.

For I have been informed
concerning you, my brethren, …
that there are quarrels among you.
Now I mean this,
that each one of you is saying,
“I am of Paul,” and
“I of Apollos,” and
“I of Cephas,” and
“I of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:10–12

And I’ll call that disease selfluenza! A killer affliction, for it divides the body. An eye that decides to do its own thing, not working coordinately with its partner. A pancreas working for its own glory, unconcerned about the body’s digestion or its handling of blood sugar. A foot that begins to walk its own way, a different path, out of sync with where the body wants to go.

One estimate asserts that currently there are about 33,000 Protestant denominations in about 250 countries today? That number is increasing, some say, at the rate of 300 a year. Almost one new denomination a day! Now I realize some separation is necessary, especially on theological grounds. But among those who confess Christ as Savior and acknowledge the Lordship of Christ, between brothers and sisters in the Lord, there is far too much division spawned by personal rivalry, animosity, intolerance, and self-exaltation.

Has Christ been divided?
1 Corinthians 1:13

Because we are all members of the same body of Christ, we are allies, we are co-partisans fighting on the same side. In other words, our lives are knitted together in an enterprise far more vast than we can see or even comprehend. A great battle is being waged between the divine forces of good and the satanic forces of evil. A great cosmic battle, winning people for the Lord, furthering His Kingdom on earth.

But here we are, a divided army—torn, ripped apart, sundered, segmented—rendering us less than fully effective in Christian ministry. All because of selfluenza, our tendency to self-exaltation.

Now I exhort you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you all agree and that
there be no divisions among you ….
1 Corinthians 1:10

It is in the name of Christ that all believers are exhorted to be united. For the sake of His reputation. For His cause. For the glory of God. United.

Hey, when was the last time you attended a worship service of a church not part of your denomination? Why not give it a try, say, for two Sundays in a year?

PASSION!

And yesterday, India won the Cricket World Cup 2011! What a game!

Sudhir Kumar Gautam is cricket’s most recognizable fan. He is the face of “passion.” Passionate about cricket and, in particular, about Sachin Tendulkar. He is easily spotted, in every international game played anywhere in India. This 30-year-old, cricket-obsessed guy spends hours before matches painting his face and trunk in the tricolors of the Indian flag: saffron, white, and green. And two words—“India” and “Tendulkar”—along with the number of his icon, 10 (“ten” for “Tendulkar,” the number the maestro wears). And he carries a conch shell that he keeps blowing at auspicious moments during the game. Cameramen everywhere know this guy. In every game they pan in on Gautam and give him a few seconds of fame. In every game. And yesterday was no exception!

He is the mascot of Indian cricket and devotee of Tendulkar. What a fan. Passion! From his hometown in the state of Bihar, he travels all over to watch Team India. Once upon a time he used to be a teacher. He confesses that, these days, with cricket being played all the year around and all over the country, he cannot cope with the demands of a full-time job. (And apparently he now gets free tickets to all of India’s games from none other than his hero, Tendulkar! Today he got more: No. 10, the big man himself, called him out of the stands and, incredibly, let Gautam hold the World Cup trophy!)

Everyone knows him now. He’s famous. While more or less disciplined in the stands, Gautam has been known to break out of the cordoned areas and run on to the field when he is appropriately moved during a game. And everytime, he is detained by the police. Not surprisingly, the Indian team has always bailed him out!

What a fan! Passion!

He discounts the objections his family raises. They call him crazy. And he has decided to remain single for the sake of cricket. Fan, indeed! And a passionate one at that! Willing to sacrifice all for his idol.

That’s what God calls his people to be. His fans.

The LORD our God is one Lord;

and you shall love the LORD your God

with all your heart,

and with all your soul,

and with all your mind,

and with all your strength!

Mark 12:29–30

And Jesus called this the “foremost commandment.” The first. The most important. The primary one.

Fans of God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. With every fiber of our being, with every cell of our bodies.

And this love is not just an emotional gush of sentiment or feeling. Not at all. It is a passionate adherence to God, a heartfelt embrace of his purposes, and a willing submission to his demands. Just a few verses down from where this command to love first occurs—in the Old Testament—is another command.

You shall fear the LORD your God;

and you shall worship Him

and swear by His name.

Deuteronomy 6:13

We are to seek God and the things of God … exclusively!

“Do not worry then, saying,

‘ What will we eat?’ or

‘What will we drink?’ or

‘What will we wear for clothing?’

But seek first His kingdom

and His righteousness,

and all these things

will be added to you.”

Matthew 6:31, 33

Passionate fans, living for him.

Whether, then, you eat or drink

or whatever you do,

do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

Passionate fans, he wants us to be!

INTEGRITY!

Yup, this is my annual cricket special. The World Cup is on and India is in the semis. Makes the jetlag after my recent trip to S. Asia worthwhile—I am awake at odd hours to watch games halfway around the globe!

Here’s what happened the other day in the India vs. West Indies match. You see, usually a batsman waits for the umpire’s decision when the opposing team appeals for an “out.” Not this time.

It was an unclear decision to all watching. The batsman had swung at a ball which he had seemingly missed and it was collected by the wicket-keeper behind. The fielding team appealed, just in case, but the umpire shook his head. The batsman was not out, in his opinion: he had not gotten a touch on the ball.

But the one man who knew for sure that he had made contact didn’t wait for the umpire’s signal. The batsman. He turned on his heel and walked off. To deafening silence from the 30,000+ Indian fans gathered to see their hero play. The dude had declared himself out. He knew the truth. Even if no one else did. Putting his bat under his arm, without so much as a glance at the umpire or the rest of the opposition, he headed off back to the dressing room. He walked.

Sachin Tendulkar, the pint-sized (5’ 5”) Indian star, widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in history, the man who has broken pretty much every batting record there is to break, in the process collecting a humongous total of over 30,000 runs under his 37-year-old belt.

He had a lot to lose. He is just one paltry century away from his 100th international century (he has scored 100+ runs on 99 different occasions!). His team relies on him. This is the World Cup for goodness’ sakes. We need the guy. His reputation is at stake as a master-player. He could have stayed at the crease and continued his batting operations. Business as usual it would have been. Lawful it would have been. Within the game’s parameters it would have been. Hey, even the umpire said, “Not out!”

But, no, our man walks!

This, in a day when no one does. In fact, just a few days before this event, in another game, one player confessed that he knew he had actually touched the ball, but refused to walk, because the umpire—here, also—had adjudjed him “Not out!”

Thankfully, India did win the game. And Tendulkar remains the highest scorer in the current World Cup. He won more than a game.

That’s integrity for you.

How we behave when we think no one has seen, or no one is looking, or no one will observe. For God sees!

And there is no creature
hidden from His sight,
but all things are open
and laid bare to the eyes of Him
with whom we have to do.
Hebrews 4:13

Integrity—living, not as under the eyes of men, but under the gaze of God

… not as pleasing men, but God
who examines our hearts.
1 Thessalonians 2:4

And examine, He will, gauging our faithfulness to Him and to His standards. Our integrity tested.

The refining pot is for silver
and the furnace for gold,
but the LORD tests hearts.
Proverbs 17:3

So let us live (“walk” in the Greek is an appropriate cricketing synonym for “live”) for God.

Whether, then, you eat or drink
or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31

Integrity. At all times.

GOAL?

This is where it was shot. The actual bridge in David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Far from Kwai. Far from Thailand. In Kitulgala. In Sri Lanka (where I was a few days ago with friends Vinodh and Suchi).

(Souvenir collectors completely dismantled the bridge, beam by beam, stone by stone, soon thereafter!)

In the movie, based on a fictional story by Pierre Boule, British Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) is the protagonist who is a POW in Western Thailand. He is forced by his Japanese captors to lead his men in building a railway bridge over said river. Now you need to know that Nicholson is an outstanding officer, a man of the highest scruples, and unimpeachable integrity, committed to excellence in any mission he undertakes. So the bridge he builds, though it was to serve enemy purposes, is a remarkably excellent one, built with as much quality he could muster. So far so good.

But by the end of the film, Nicholson is obsessed with his bridge. His fellow British officers are planning to destroy it in an attempt to keep the Japanese supply trains from using it against the Allies. And Nicholson, so caught up with his goal—excellence in all he does—is in the utterly unethical position of defending the bridge—his bridge—from attack.

Consumed by the goal—his goal, his way—he forgot his purpose.

There's a chilling moment of realization, right before Nicholson, mortally wounded by another soldier, falls upon and detonates the bridge. That’s when he utters the famous line, “What have I done?”

Goal obsession or fixation. A good thing, except when skewed. And when the broader purpose is neglected, resulting not in good, but in damage to institutions and people and self.

In a famous study by Darley and Batson (1973), Princeton Seminary students were recruited to go from one building to another with varying amounts of urgency, some of them to deliver a talk on the story of the Good Samaritan. Along the way they encountered a man slumped in an alleyway, coughing and moaning. Ironically, very few stopped to help this actor, even when they were going to expound the story of the Good Samaritan. Some literally stepped over the victim on their way to their task.

Consumed by the immediate goal, the overall purpose and mission are hijacked.

That can happen to all of us.

The scribes were in danger of goal obsession. Wanting to be “great” in the religious schema, they forgot the greater commandments. Wanting to be “acceptable” before men, they forgot what it was to be acceptable to God.

In His teaching He [Jesus] was saying:
“Beware of the scribes who like to
walk around in long robes,
and like respectful greetings
in the market places, and chief seats
in the synagogues and
places of honor at banquets,
who devour widows’ houses,
and for appearance’s sake
offer long prayers;
these will receive greater condemnation.”
Mark 12:38–40

Their goals. Their way. Gone astray. “What have I done?”

Here’s God’s purpose. God’s way. The greatest commandments.

One of the scribes came and … asked Him,
“What commandment
is the foremost of all?”
Jesus answered,
“The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is one Lord;
and you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’
The second is this,
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment
greater than these.”
Mark 12:28–31

The larger mission of love!

SOUND!

It’s the noise that catches your attention. Of course, the traffic itself is bad and people drive like maniacs. The rules of the road are for the birds: if you want to understand Judges 21:25, you need to drive in India.

In those days there was no king in Israel;
everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Judges 21:25

I’ve been driven on the wrong side of the road. I’ve been taken up one-way streets—the wrong way, of course! I’ve been chauffeured at night without lights. Drivers have blithely been chatting away on their phones as they negotiate the horrendous traffic with their nail-biting, hair-pulling, head-clutching passenger behind.

[That unfortunate soul (yours faithfully) is in South Asia on some preaching and teaching assignments.]

But it’s the noise. The honking. The blare of horns. Decibels to deafen. And it is non-stop, from around 6:00 in the morning to midnight. In fact, most commercial vehicles, like the truck above, command other vehicles coming behind them to “Sound Horn.” Yup, you are to “sound horn.” That’s how you announce your presence to everyone else. After all, no one is looking at the road.

I thought people in these parts of the world drove by faith not by sight, in perfect concordance with the biblical mandate.

For we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7

Substitute “drive” for “walk” and you’ve got it. That’s driving in India.

Or so I thought.

Till I realized that they are not driving by faith. Obviously they are not driving by sight, either. Rather, they are driving by sound. “Sound horn!”

Even a blind person could drive here: “For we drive by sound, not by sight.”

Sound is important for believers in Christ, too, not just for drivers in South Asia.

How then will they call on Him
in whom they have not believed?
How will they believe in Him
whom they have not heard?
And how will they hear
without a preacher?
Romans 10:14

It is by the hearing of the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that faith begins to germinate. As one hears of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection, the atoning of sins by this only God and Savior, one believes, placing one’s trust, putting one’s faith in the salvation He provides. Good news, indeed.

And for the preacher, sounding Jesus’ horn is an august, yet delightful, responsibility.

How will they preach unless they are sent?
Just as it is written,
“How beautiful are the feet of those
who bring good news of good things!”
Romans 10:15

Preaching lead to hearing leads to believing.

So faith comes from hearing,
and hearing by the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17

And those with ears must hear.

And He [Jesus] was saying,
“One who has ears to hear,
let him hear.”
Mark 4:9

Of course, it is not just hearing that matters, but the belief, the faith in Christ and the consequent bearing of fruit.

And those are the ones on whom
seed was sown on the good soil;
and they hear the word and
accept it and bear fruit,
thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.
Mark 4:20

And so we who have heard the Good News must “Sound Horn”—announce the presence of Jesus and proclaim His saving Name.

We have heard the joyful sound:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Spread the tidings all around:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Bear the news to every land,
Climb the mountains, cross the waves;
Onward! ’tis our Lord’s command;
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Priscilla J. Owens, 1882

“Sound Horn,” indeed!

FRUIT!

There is this rather insane game on smart phones and Apple’s iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch gizmos: Fruit Ninja. An international hit. One of the top 10 paid apps in more than 60 countries. Since its release in April 2009 it’s been downloaded over six million times (that’s “6,000,000”). At $0.99 per app download, that’s a cool $6,000,000 that its three creators have made ($5,940,000 to be exact!). Of course, Apple and Android have probably taken a cut of that nice sum.

All kinds of fruit appear on the scene—melons, kiwis, bananas, oranges, apples, …. The player’s task is to swipe at them with a finger, which functions as a sword. A satisfying squelch—the exact species of “squelchy sound” depends on the fruit being assaulted—and a splash of fruit innards on the background signifies a successful chop. And one gets points for each triumphant thrust. All of this comes in color, haloes following every movement of the ninja’s sword/finger. Very nice.

And addictive.

The dangerous element in this captivating game is that instead of fruit, one might be surprised by bombs; those deadly incendiaries may be hidden amongst a deluge of fruit. If your sword hits one of these bad dudes, the game is over. So it’s all a matter of reflexes and finger dexterity, the goal being to slice the fruit, not set off the bomb.

Fruit Ninja. Not bad at all.

But I look with snobbish superior disdain upon this wanton destruction of fruit! (Not that I am a major consumer of the same, except for the odd banana, as in banana split, banana pudding, etc.)

No, my distaste for fruit-destruction comes from the divine commandment mandating fruit-production.

Nope, I’m not growing fruit trees on my terrace. Nope, I ain’t puttering around with soil and manure and stuff.

God’s interest is in the metaphorical kind of fruit Christians ought to produce.

We’re talking fruit-production ninjas!

How blessed is the one
who does not walk
in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stand in the path of sinners,
nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in
the law of the LORD,
and in His law he meditates
day and night.
He will be like a tree planted
by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither;
and in whatever he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1:1–3

I’m trying.

There is an element of effort in this, though God promises us that it is His Holy Spirit that is producing the fruit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.
Galatians 5:22–23

Here’s the divine work:

“I [Jesus] am the vine,
you are the branches;
he who abides in Me and I in him,
he bears much fruit,
for apart from Me
you can do nothing.”
John 15:5

But there’s human effort:

“If you keep My commandments,
you will abide in My love.”
John 15:10

Maybe it’s both!

I planted, Apollos watered,
but God was causing the growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6

In any case, fruit ninjas of a different kind we aim to be, and we pray that we might be …

… so that you will walk
in a manner worthy of the Lord,
to please Him in all respects,
bearing fruit in every good work ….
Colossians 1:10

And through this fruit-bearing, God is exalted.

“My Father is glorified by this,
that you bear much fruit,
and so prove to be
My [Jesus’] disciples.”
John 15:8

Let’s go for those fruit, ninjas!

JUSTICE!

There it is again. A call to exercise my civic duty towards ye olde city of Dallas.

Jury duty!

Thankfully, it is for a “petit” jury (as opposed to a “grand” jury). Hopefully, things won’t last a long time. Frustratingly, I have to cancel clinics that day. Happily, I get to skip a few meetings.

A “petit” jury hears evidence from the plaintiff and the defendant, receives instructions from the judge, retires to deliberate, and considers a verdict: guilty or not guilty. (A “grand” jury simply determines whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a criminal trial.)

I suppose that such institutions of guilt determination is a significant step forward from the “ordeals” of yore, when suspects were “tested” to find out if they were guilty—e.g., pouring molten metal into the hand of a suspected thief: if the would healed rapidly, it meant that God—yup, God! —had found the person guilty.

God doesn’t need molten metal to judge and declare guilt. Long ago, he said that all were. Guilty.

There is none righteous, not even one. …
There is none who seeks for God. …
For all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 3:10–11, 23

Guilty. Of having fallen short of God’s glory and His perfect standard.

Therefore you are to be perfect,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:48

Guilty. Of imperfection. And the sentence?

For the wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23

Death and eternal separation from God. Now that is an utterly hopeless situation. And would have remained utterly hopeless eternally were it not for the mercy of God.

But God, being rich in mercy,
because of His great love
with which He loved us,
even when we were dead
in our transgressions,
made us alive together with Christ—
by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2:4–5

The judge had mercy! On me, the defendant found guilty as charged.

But not at the cost of justice. Not by a loophole. Not by some legal acrobatics performed by some top-notch defense attorney.

Not at all. Justice was served.

He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

What theologians call “substitutionary atonement.” One paid the price of my sin, dying on the cross, being resurrected on the third day.

And that payment is applied to all who believe in Jesus Christ as the only God and Savior of man from sin.

For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16

The wages of sin, for the believer, is now no longer death …

… the free gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

Free! Declared righteous! Redeemed!

Therefore there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my Example is He!

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever;
One day He’s coming—O glorious day!

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain,
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected:
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!

J. Wilbur Chapman, 1908

Justice met. Sinners freed. Love victorious.

AWAIT!

Perhaps the word comes from an old Latin phrase cata tumbas, “among the tombs.” In any case, they are basically underground tombs. I’m standing at the entrance to one of them, the Catacombs of St. Sebastian, on the Appian Way, in the outskirts of Rome. Supposedly Peter and Paul, among others, were buried here.

There are over fifty of them in and around Rome, dating as far back as the 2nd century. Pagans were into cremation in those days, while Christians preferred to be buried, perhaps with an eye towards resurrection when Christ comes for his own.

For the Lord Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, …
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thessalonians 4:16

(This phenomenon does not seem to be restricted to the buried dead.)

So you have burial-fancying Jesus-followers. Now take shortage of land, combine it with the relative unpopularity of Christians, and the availability of soft volcanic rock under Rome, and you get these secret burial places tunneled underground. A stunning 375 miles of tomb-lined tunnels, as many as five layers/levels deep.
Bodies were simply wrapped in linen, placed in stone sarcophagi, and lined up in niches in the walls of tunnels. Apparently, the survivors figured Christ’s return would happen pretty soon, so there was no real interest in embalming the remains.

Pretty soon, they thought. And we’re still waiting.

For our citizenship is in heaven,
from which also we eagerly wait for
a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:20

A promise that Jesus made. A promise that He will keep.

“Do not let your heart be troubled;
believe in God, believe also in Me. …
I go to prepare a place for you.
If I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and
receive you to Myself,
that where I am,
there you may be also.”
John 14:1–3

Popular legend has it that these catacombs were hideouts for the early Christians. Probably untrue. You see, by the second century, the metropolis of Rome was a bustling place with over a million people. The Christians who formed about 1% of that crowd did not need to secrete themselves in underground caverns; they could hide in plain view, in complete anonymity, as they blended into obscurity with the hordes in the city.

Then, in 380, under the Emperor Constantine, Christianity became officially recognized as the state religion of the Roman Empire. But folks still kept burying their deceased in the catacombs, to keep the latter close to the long-gone martyrs. I’m not sure what good that would do come resurrection time. Anyhow, that practice slowly fell off, and the dead were consigned to standard church cemeteries. The catacombs, in time, became places of pilgrimage.

Not a bad concept, remembering the dead, the ones who have gone on, those who have left legacies, those faithful ones who have pointed us to Christ.

Remember those who led you,
who spoke the word of God to you;
and considering
the result of their conduct,
imitate their faith.
Hebrews 13:7

But it’s even more profitable to “remember” the future, that Christ is coming again. For us. Soon!

“Behold, I am coming quickly,
and My reward is with Me.”
Revelation 22:12

And there is a special reward for those who have waited eagerly.

In the future there is laid up for me
the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will award to me on that day;
and not only to me, but also to all
who have loved His appearing.
2 Timothy 4:8

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

PLANS!

Last week’s historic cold wave continued. It was more sleet, ice, slush, and snow last Wednesday. So Dallas Seminary classes were canceled … again!

I had already made two new schedules for my classes, adjusting sessions, tweaking content, reassigning preachers, etc. This week I had to do it again, for the third time. What a mess!

(I also feel for patients that needed appointments rescheduled, and for those working in the front office of medical practices who have to do all the hard work remaking those appointments, if they can find empty slots, that is. Yup, a mess!)

Things don’t go the way we expect them to, do they?

Hopefully, after the third new class schedule I have created, there won’t be any more snow days this semester. But I am resigned to the fact that there is no guarantee that there won’t be. “Acts of God” do happen.

Nope, things don’t go the way I want them to.

As Rabbie Burns, Scotland’s favorite son, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire, known in those lands simply as “The Bard,” wrote in 1785:

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, [not alone]
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley, [Go often askew]
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

Agley, they do gang. And aft. Indeed. But thankfully, that’s true only of mice an’ men.

God’s plans go on. His purposes go forth. Ne’er do they gang aft agley, ever!

Everything runs ….

… according to His purpose

who works all things

after the counsel of His will.
Ephesians 1:11

His plans are not thwarted by the vagaries of time and weather.

The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
The plans of His heart
from generation to generation.
Psalm 33:11

Ours plans often are confounded, negated, and frustrated. Not God’s.

Many plans are in a man's heart,
But the counsel of the LORD will stand.
Proverbs 19:21

Even when we think we are getting our way, we must acknowledge that God is still in charge.

The mind of man plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

For He is sovereign. He is in control.

The king's heart is like channels of water
in the hand of the LORD;
He turns it wherever He wishes.
Proverbs 21:1

Indeed, I’m glad He is sovereign and in control. How else can we handle all the vicissitudes of life without being shaken?

O LORD, You are my God;
I will exalt You,

I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have worked wonders,
Plans formed long ago,
with perfect faithfulness.
Isaiah 25:1

Only with a steadfast consciousness of God’s sovereignty and control can there ever be peace of heart and quietude of mind.

The steadfast of mind
You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:3

God’s plans last. God’s plans come to pass. God’s plans and God’s alone.

“For I know the plans that I have for you,”
declares the LORD,
“plans for welfare and not for calamity
to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11

Nope, His plans don’t gang agley. Not at all.

And so we rest, assured of His sovereignty and control.

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Isaac Watts, 1719

In Him we trust, our refuge in ice, in snow, in rain, in drought, in darkness, in day, now and for eternity.

WINTER!

A historic cold wave, the most intense in the Dallas area since 1989, commenced at 04:00 hours on February 1st and finally peeked over 32° at 10:00 hours on February 5th. A record 102-hour streak of freezing temps.

Death-beckoning roads, just sheets of ice, shut everything down. No clinics, no seminary classes, nothing. I stayed at home.

Well, not really. I bravely ventured out twice: once to go get a workout at Landry Center. (Yup, a workout! Why are you surprised?). And another time to chat with a neighbor, on whose frozen steps I took a spill.

(My back is broken, I’m paralyzed, I can’t breathe, I’m unconscious …. I’m suing you, Timothy!)

Once out, I couldn’t drive my car up my sloping driveway back into the garage. So there it lay, on the street, all wrapped in a swaddling white blanket, snow on snow, just like in the bleak midwinter, where frosty wind made moan, and earth stood hard as iron, and water, like a stone.

What do you expect in place that has no snow plows, only some sand, and just a few grains of salt?

Oh, and at Landry Center I ran into a crowd of morose DTS students. Their singles dorm, Washington Hall, was the unfortunate victim of a “rolling blackout,” courtesy of our fair city’s utility company. No heat, no light, no internet. The sufferings of a seminary student. Their rewards will be many!

Apparently it’s not all over yet. There might be another cold snap this week. I’m going back to Aberdeen, or even Boston!

But right now, we’re just making things feel like home for those good folks from Wisconsin and Pittsburgh coming to do battle here today.

But, all things considered, I must say I enjoyed the break of four days.

Yes, we must be grateful for the seasons, but not just for getting snow days off.

After the flood in Genesis, Noah built an altar and offered sacrifices to God.

The LORD smelled the soothing aroma;
and the LORD said to Himself,
“I will never again curse the ground
on account of man,
for the intent of man's heart is
evil from his youth;
and I will never again
destroy every living thing,
as I have done.
While the earth remains,
seedtime and harvest,
and cold and heat,
and summer and winter,
and day and night shall not cease.”
Genesis 8:21–22

Seasons are a mark of God’s faithfulness!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Thomas Obadiah Chisholm (1866–1960)

What a God!

Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
You have prepared the light and the sun.
You have established
all the boundaries of the earth;
You have made summer and winter.
Psalm 74:16–17

And this God is a faithful God. Faithful throughout generations. Faithful in the giving of His Word. Faithful in the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ to atone for our sins. Faithful in His continued grace extended towards us. Faithful as He takes us home one day. And faithful for all eternity!

Your lovingkindness, O LORD,
extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness to the skies.
And the children of men take refuge
in the shadow of Your wings.
Psalm 36:5, 7

We do! Even as we shiver!

WEAK?

All kinds of “interesting” things are happening these days in North Africa. It all began with Tunisia.

For over two decades, President Ben Ali’s regime has been known to be oppressive and authoritarian.

As one writer said: “None of the decent, principled, conscientious, but behind the scenes efforts the State Department made in recent years to persuade the Tunisian government to relax its authoritarian grip—mostly through diplomatic démarches and meetings with top Tunisian officials—had any significant impact on the Ben Ali regime's behavior or increased the likelihood of democratic change. Nor did the many quiet U.S. programs of outreach to Tunisian society, cultural exchanges and the like, even if Tunisians appreciated them and they will bear fruit as the country democratizes.”

So then what happened recently?

Wikileaks! Yup, Wikileaks, that notorious pipleline of information drainage on the web, masterminded by the rather odd character, Julian Assange, who may be facing a grand jury indictment, in Alexandria, VA, for the revelation of state secrets.

Some of those secrets involved Tunisia—or rather, its corrupt ruler. The government’s rottenness was put on display to the world, as well as the juicy details of the excesses of First Lady Leila Trabelsi and her clan. (Including a pet tiger Pasha!)

The rest is history: Ben Ali and the rest of the gang fled the country two weeks ago following widespread protests—the “Jasmine Revolution” (after the national flower).

Thus in one fell swoop, Wikileaks did more for democracy than decades of backstage diplomacy.

And then the rumblings in Yemen. And the conflagration in Egypt.

The smallest things can cause the biggest changes. Unexpected, inadvertent, fortuitous.

God works that way. One shrewd mother, Jochebed, was the means of raising a redeemer for the enslaved Hebrews (Exodus 2). One perspicacious harlot, Rahab, helped overthrow a city (Joshua 2). One enigmatic gentile (?), Shamgar, slaughtered 600 Philistines with an ox-goad, of all things (Judges 3), and another gentile, Jael, killed an enemy king with a tent peg (Judges 4). One impoverished Moabite widow, Ruth, became the ancestor of Jesus Christ (Ruth 4). One faithful woman, Hannah, consecrated the most famous judge of Israel (1 Samuel 2). And so on ….

Not to forget a faithful teenage virgin in the early part of the New Testament ….

Listen, if God can use them, He can use you and me.

For consider your calling, brethren,
that there were not many wise
according to the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble;
but God has chosen
the foolish things of the world
to shame the wise,
and God has chosen
the weak things of the world
to shame the things which are strong,
and the base things of the world
and the despised God has chosen,
the things that are not,
so that He may nullify
the things that are ….
1 Corinthians 1:26–29

Paul cited himself as an example.

For I am the least of the apostles,
and not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace toward me did not prove vain;
but I labored even more than all …,
yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
1 Corinthians 15:9–10

Indeed! And that grace is enough for us.

“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is perfected in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9

God uses us, the powerless, the weak, the humble. You and me. To demonstrate his power, might, and glory … through us! Amazing! What a gracious God!

RIGHT?

That’s St. Peter’s Basilica (a.k.a. Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano) from the top of the adjoining Vatican Museum. My nephew, Jacob, my brother, and I had a great time in that venerable institution.

Interestingly, St. Peter’s is not technically a cathedral, since it is not the seat of any Roman Catholic bishop. Instead, this is a papal basilica, reflected in the name Basilica Papale ….

Yesterday Pope Benedict XVI made his annual speech to the “Roman Rota,” the Vatican tribunal that decides on marriage annulments of Catholics (they auditors/judges sit at round tables; hence “rota,” meaning “wheel). As he has done in the past the pope used his speech to endorse the indissolubility of marriage and the importance of not granting annulments to all and sundry, on any whim or caprice. (This was apparently directed at the United States, which in the past few years has had more annulment cases arbitrated than the rest of the world combined!)

Pope Benedict stressed his desire to break “the vicious circle between quasi-automatic admission to marriage, without adequate preparation and serious examination ... and equally easy judicial declarations” which annul marriages simply because of some problem between the two marrieds. And, taking aim at the culture of quick divorces, he also declared that nobody has the automatic right to be married in a Catholic church.

Interesting. A “right” to marriage. Sure, the papal opinion dealt with a right to marriage in a Catholic church. But that sparked an interesting thought in my mind: the “right” to marriage.

Of course, we have a right to marry or not to marry. That’s part of the freedom human beings enjoy. No one is to be coerced into either state. A right!

According to Paul, both marriage and celibacy are gifts.

… each person has
his own gift from God
one in this manner
[to be single],
and another in that
[to be married].
1 Corinthians 7:7

Gifts, not rights. Gifts to be employed, not rights to be enjoyed. Gifts— endowment, not rights—empowerment. A gift of God, “one in this manner, and another in that,” that enables the gifted one to function effectively and fruitfully in the economy of God.

That’s a different way of looking at the state of marriage/singleness. A gift, not a right. And if one is gifted to enter one state than the other, then it is only by the exercise of one’s gift, that gifted one will be fulfilled and find shalom. For a gift indicates that God has wired us in one way or another.

Regarding celibacy, Jesus said:

“Not all can accept this statement,
but those to whom it has been given.”
Matthew 19:11

There is a “givenness” about it—it’s a gift.

All this to say that one need not necessarily accept the “default” pathways the world forces us to walk on. And one need not necessarily claim the “right” to go one way or the other. Instead, it might be a better idea to discover what one is gifted for—marriage or singleness.

All things considered, it will probably be better for the marriage-gifted one to get married, and for the singleness-gifted one to remain single. Nothing really to do with one’s right, but rather to do with one’s gift.

For those still wondering whether to get married or not, I ask: What’s your gift? What does your “head” tell you about who you are, your personality, your life-story? What does your “heart” say about your passion, your continence? What does your “hand” affirm about your effectiveness for the Lord?

What’s your gift?

AUTHORITIES!

Last Saturday, in what appears to have been the handiwork of a man quite deranged, a shooting incident took the lives of six and wounded fourteen at a political rally in Tucson, AZ. Among those killed was a federal judge, and one of the wounded was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). She is still listed as critical, though making great strides forward in recovery.

A horrific tragedy by any count, but also one of the many shooting incidents in US history involving authorities of the nation—members of the judicial, legislative, and executive branches of government. A long history of political violence though, thankfully, shorter than that of many other nations, past and present.

In the rather odd case of Alexander Hamilton (US Treasury Secretary), this worthy was shot to death by Aaron Burr, US Vice President (1804)! In a duel! In 1856, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina walloped Senator Charles Sumner into a state of unconsciousness in the Senate chamber. President Jackson was shot at, without injury (1835; though he successfully won many duels, killing his opponents); President Lincoln, shot lethally (1865; as part of the same plot, William Seward, Secretary of State, stabbed); President Garfield assassinated in 1881, and President McKinley in 1901. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (1912), Franklin Roosevelt (1933), Truman (1950) shot at, but without harm to themselves. President Kennedy was killed in 1963. President Ford shot at in 1975 (twice!), President Reagan in 1981, and President Clinton in 1994—all these attempts unsuccessful. A number of members of Congress, including Huey Long (D-LA), Robert Kennedy (D-NY), and Leo Ryan (D-CA—in Jonestown, Guyana), were killed, while five others attacked in the House of Representatives by Puerto Rican nationalists survived (1954). Add to this list a number of federal judges, including John Roll, last week. And governors.

Ruling is a dangerous business!

No wonder, believers are commanded to intercede for those in power.

First of all, then, I urge that
entreaties and prayers,
petitions and thanksgivings,
be made on behalf of all men,
for kings and all who are in authority,
so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life
in all godliness and dignity.
1 Timothy 2:1–2

Darius, the Persian king, recognized the power of prayer offered by the people of God. In his decree in the 6th century BCE, that permitted the returning Jewish exiles to rebuilt the Temple, he declared:

“Whatever is needed … it is to be given
to them daily without fail,
that they may offer acceptable sacrifices
to the God of heaven and
pray for the life of the king and his sons.”
Ezra 6:9–10

And so we pray for these our authorities, rulers, governors, leaders, sovereignly appointed by God. That is an integral part of being good citizens and an essential part of being good Christians.

“Seek the welfare of the city
where I have sent you into exile,
and pray to the LORD on its behalf;
for in its welfare you will have welfare.”
Jeremiah 29:7

I like Daniel’s heart—concerned, humble, and gutsy, as he confronts the Babylonian despot, Nebuchadnezzar.

“Therefore, O king, may my advice
be pleasing to you:
break away now from your sins
by doing righteousness and
from your iniquities
by showing mercy to the poor,
in case there may be
a prolonging of your prosperity.”
Daniel 4:27

It appears the king did repent (Dan 5 details this in his own words). It appears he acknowledged Yahweh. It might just be that we’ll meet King Neb in heaven! Perhaps all because of Daniel.

Pray for those in power!

NOISE!

I flew to Houston and back to Dallas yesterday to do the honors for a wedding.

Well, “do the honors” makes it sounds like I was the groom or something. No fears. Sony and Ann did the honors. I helped them along. I was the preacher.

All this to say, I flew to Houston and back. Which means I did two long stints in Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby—anything longer than two minutes in an airport is a loooooong stint for me! And two long plane rides, each of about 65 minutes, one up and one down. I know, you’re saying, “Abe, it’s only 65 minutes.”

Yeah? Put yourself in an aluminum box attached to a couple of powerful machines that produce thousands of explosions per minute and drive huge metal pistons that assault the aluminum box at the same rate. Then put this box a mile high in the sky. Moving at 500 mph—i.e., like a tornado coming at you. Don’t forget to strap yourself to your seat! Add a crying baby or two. All in all, about 100dB.

Listen, more than 120 seconds of that is too much. Just too much.

For several years, I wandered aimlessly in airports and sat listlessly in airplanes wearing orange earplugs. (And, yes, I’ve been known to do that for loud wedding receptions as well, yesterday’s excepted.) They worked well. Close to utter silence.

But I’m getting better. In-ear headset/earphones + iPhone + Bach. Bliss!

That’s my personal anti-noise device to keep ye olde tympanum and cochlea happy, pulse calm, and blood pressure peaceful. I made it through. Successfully.

Judging from wires innumerable dangling from ears uncountable, I’m not the only one to undertake such preventive measures.

Actually, anti-noise is much more intricate. Headphones with anti-noise generators have microphones that sample ambient noise. Then by means of intricate circuitry, mirror images of those sound waves, but 180° out of phase with the noise, are produced so that pressure waves of the noise are canceled out by the “anti-noise”—the phenomenon of destructive interference. The result is silence.

The noise in the world is loud, too loud. Antagonism. Opposition. Tumult. Trauma. Faithlessness. Fearfulness. Discord. Discontent. Incapacitating us, undermining our resolve, sapping our strength. Loud noises all around. And we are just about ready to give up.

Job situation tenuous, finances a mess, health falling apart, kids going astray.
Loud noises and getting louder still.

But we do have anti-noise. The voice of God. His promises.

The voice that promises us the constancy of His presence ….

“I will never desert you,
nor will I ever forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5

No, we are never alone. Never.

The voice that promises us the sufficiency of His grace ….

“My grace is sufficient for you.”
2 Corinthians 12:9

Yes, we have all we need. All.

The voice that promises the inseparability of His love ….

For I am convinced that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other created thing,
will be able to separate us
from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38–39

No, nothing can remove us from God’s love. Nothing.

And so, with God’s people of old, let us hear …

“Hear, O Israel!
The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart and
with all your soul and
with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:4–6

Hear. Listen. Drown out the world’s cacophony with God’s anti-noise.

CHANGE?

The “heart” of Venice, they say. The Ponte di Rialto (the Rialto Bridge) built in the late 1500s, and until the 1850s the only way to cross the Grand Canal on foot. It was built, appropriately enough, by Antonio da Ponte (Anthony of the Bridge), who beat Michelangelo and Palladio and others to win the contract. On this venerable structure are St. Mark, St. Theodore, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Ghost, a whole lot of shops, and a ton of tourists. One of the quaintest sights in Venice. And to go under it on water is always a thrill.

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (ca. 535–475 BCE) is supposed to have said: “You cannot step into the same river twice.” In other words, the river you step into at any instant is not the same river the next instant. Water flows. Rivers change. Time moves on. Our man, Heraclitus, declared that change was central to the universe, for everything changed. Well, almost! He also asserted: “Nothing endures, but change.” Yup, that’s the only unchangeable constant Heraclitus believed in—change!

Even the Grand Canal is no longer the same. Much water has flown beneath the Rialto. Things do change. Everything changes. The year has just changed. A new decade has begun, the second one of this millennium. And we’ve gotten older!

There is only One with whom there is no change. He said so Himself.

“For I, the LORD, do not change.”
Malachi 3:6

What a relief! Through all the vicissitudes and vagaries of life, through all the consuming trials and overwhelming tumults, through the twists and turns of the paths we tread, God remains the same.

Of old You founded the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
Even they will perish, but You endure; …
You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.
Psalm 102:25–27

Whims and fancies and caprices don’t touch Him …

… with whom there is no variation
or shifting shadow.
James 1:17

Our God is always the same. The Father of all grace, the Son of all love, the Holy Spirit of all comfort.

It’s a good thing God remains the same. He is not going to change His mind about my sin. Washed away once for all by the blood of Jesus Christ, God incarnate, who died and rose for me.

Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8

And now I’m secure. Secured by his love, from which nothing can separate me.

For I am convinced that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other created thing,
will be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38–39

And so all we ask as we set foot into another year, O God, is that you abide with us.

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Henry F. Lyte, 1847

Abide with us!

WYSIWYG?

We saw the new Narnia movie yesterday—Part III: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In 3-D. Which meant we had to wear those nerdy, geeky, dark glasses.

Great movie. One of the rare ones that I thought that actually bettered the book. Really!

But I missed a cool line from the text version. That entire conversation seems to have been jettisoned. Shame!

In the book, in Narnia, an incredulous Eustace skeptically listens to Ramandu who claims to be a “star of rest”—a retired denizen of the skies.

“In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.”
“Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of.”

There is a difference between what something is and what something is made of.

In other words, WYSIWYG may not be the whole picture. What You See Is What You Get may need a bit of adjustment. WYSInotWYG.

Empirical observations about the world may not necessarily be all that there is to the universe. Things may be more than what they seem to be. Copernican, Newtonian, and Einsteinian observations alone may not provide us with the full equation. WYSInotWYG.

Especially “Christmas.” Not WYSIWYG at all. On the surface things look pretty mundane—another church festival. So, what’s new? The same old glitz, glamour, and glim. Tinsel, trinkets, and trim.

What else could it be after all? Long time ago. In Bethlehem. Another baby. Another teenage mom. Another stressed out dad. Big deal! Nobody important. No VIP. No limos all black. No coaches all gold. No gun-toting militia. No purple-clad horsemen. No throne. No crown.

Just a babe in a manger. Some cows. Some oxen. Some locals. WYSIWYG, right?

Wrong! Christians claim that WYSInotWYG. This was no ordinary baby.

For a child will be born to us,
a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders.
Isaiah 9:6

This was no standard-issue son, no run-of-the-mill 46XY. This was a divinely appointed, eternally reigning King!

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.
Isaiah 9:7

Wow! This wasn’t no ordinary deal that night in Bethlehem. WYSInotWYG.

This was a King who not only came to rule, but also to save.

The Child who has been conceived
… is of the Holy Spirit …
and you shall call His name Jesus,
for He will save His people from their sins.
Matthew 1:20–21

My sins and yours, he paid for. Redeemed. Saved. Eternally. Forever.

WYSIWYG? Oh, no, not at all. WYSInotWYG. Another baby, we could ignore. Another soul added to the world’s tally of billions, we could forget. But not the birth of this One.

We who have believed that this baby, God incarnate, died and was resurrected, paying for for our sins—to him we can have only one response.

That of the wise men:

After coming into the house
they saw the Child …;
and they fell to the ground
and worshiped Him.
Matthew 2:11

And that of the disciples:

And they [Jesus’ disciples] came up
and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Matthew 28:9

And that of believers everywhere, always:

Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of Nations
Ye have seen His natal star.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
James Montgomery, 1816

Yes, indeed. Come and worship!

FOLLOWING!

On the Appian Way, southeast of Rome, and near the catacombs of St. Sebastian is a small church: Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Piante, aka Church of St. Mary of the Soles. Yup, “soles.” As in feet.

Apparently, after/during the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Nero (in the early 60s CE), friends tried to persuade Peter to leave town. The non-canonical Acts of St. Peter tells the story:

And the rest of the brothers, together with Marcellus, beseeched him to depart. But Peter said unto them: “Shall we be runaways, brothers?”
And they said to him: “No, but so that you may still be able to serve the Lord.”
And he obeyed the brothers’ voice and departed alone …. And as he departed the city, he saw the Lord entering into Rome. And when he saw Him, he said: “Lord, where are You going [in Latin, Quo vadis, Domine?] like this?”
And the Lord said unto him: “I am going into Rome to be crucified.”
And Peter said unto Him: “Lord, are You (being) crucified again?”
He said unto him: “Yes, Peter, I am (being) crucified again.”
And Peter came to himself: and having seen the Lord ascending up into heaven, he returned to Rome, rejoicing, and glorifying the Lord, because He said: “I am being crucified”—that fate was about to befall Peter.
Acts of St. Peter 35

And, as the story goes, Peter returned, was captured, and executed by crucifixion. He, however, asked to, and was, crucified upside down, considering himself unworthy to crucified like his Master. That was perhaps anticipated in Jesus’ prediction:

“Truly, truly, I say to you,
… when you grow old,
you will stretch out your hands
and someone else will gird you,
and bring you where
you do not wish to go.”
John 21:18

It is said that the spot where the church is, was the very point where the apostle fleeing Rome met the Savior returning to Rome.

In the church are two footprints in marble, said to be the footprints/”soles” of Jesus. Hence the name. The church is also called Domine Quo Vadis Church (i.e., Lord-Where-Are-You-Going? Church).

“Following” was what the disciples of Jesus—both the Twelve and those in every generation thereafter—had been called to do.

And He [Jesus] summoned
the crowd with His disciples,
and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to follow after Me,
he must deny himself,
and take up his cross
and follow Me.”
Mark 8:34

To “follow” is a code word for discipleship, particularly in the Gospel of Mark that is outlined as a journey with Jesus, from Galilee to Jerusalem … to die!

Yes, of course, the Twelve did “follow” Jesus.

Immediately they left their nets
and followed Him.
Mark 1:18

Peter, himself, confesses it.

Peter began to say to Him,
“Behold, we have left everything
and followed You.”
Mark 10:28

But in the end, everyone failed Jesus, and fled, when he was arrested.

And they all left Him and fled.
Mark 14:50

Christian life is a “following” of Jesus on the way. Jesus affirmed that He was the way.

“I am the way, and the truth,
and the life;
no one comes to the Father
but through Me.”
John 14:6

In fact, the early church is called “The Way” several times in the Book of Acts.

This same Peter declared later:

For you have been called
for this purpose,
since Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example for you
to follow in His steps.
1 Peter 2:21

Keep walking! He goes ahead of you!

BALANCE!

A few months ago, when my brother and his family were down in Dallas, my nephew John and I took a Segway tour of Dallas. Fun! (No, those longhorns aren’t real!)

Segways, for the uninitiated, are these two-wheeled, self-balancing gizmos. By leaning forward gently (you only have to think of leaning forward!) the thing rolls forward. You lean back (or think of doing so!) and it stops. It reads your mind! Perfect balance! When you lean forward, balance is upset and the thingamajig rolls forward to fix the problem. Of course, you are still leaning forward, so the device also keeps rolling forward, faster if you lean more, slower if less. All adjusted by the onboard computers, five gyroscopes, and two tilt sensors. And these adjustments occur about 100 times a second. Yes, it was a great way to tour downtown. In perfect balance!

I was thinking about this the other day in my preaching class, when we were discussing the importance of finishing our sermons on time. That homiletical discussion got off on to a pastoral tangent about discipline in life (including planning well enough and being prepared enough to know when your sermon will end). Orderliness in life. We spent the good part of an hour on a most productive give-and-take.

All kinds of things make demands on our lives. All kinds of needs press upon us calling upon us to meet them. All kinds of situations require our attention. Some of these are legitimate. Many are not. We must be wise about our time and on what we spend it.

Therefore be careful how you walk,
not as unwise men but as wise,
making the most of your time ….
Ephesians 5:15–16

If we aren’t careful about balance, we fritter away our days on things that may not be ours to attend to, on needs that may not be ours to respond to, on situations that may not be ours to engage with. Balance gets upset. And life becomes chaotic and disorderly.

But all things must be done
properly and in an orderly manner.
… for God is not a God of confusion.
1 Corinthians 14:40, 33

We got talking in class about sloth in sermon preparation, winging it at the pulpit, going way over time because the preacher didn’t have it well thought out. Imbalance. Lack of discipline.

That indiscipline is likely to spill over into other compartments of life. Sloth in attending to family. Winging it in parenting. Not thinking through one’s responsibilities in life. Imbalance. Lack of discipline.

Now if we had unlimited hours to a day and unlimited days to our lifetimes, fine. But our hours are fixed, our days numbered. So the utilization of our times is a matter of stewardship of the hours and days God has given us.

As for the days of our life,
they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years, ….
For soon it is gone and we fly away.
So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You
a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:10, 12

Balance. Knowing what to engage in and what not to. Knowing what to get involved in and what to avoid. Balance. That’s what makes a good steward of time.

God has entrusted us with hours and days. Fixed and numbered. Let’s steward them well.

… it is required of stewards
that one be found trustworthy.
1 Corinthians 4:2

God give us the wisdom to be balanced—orderly, disciplined, simple! And may He be glorified through the time He has given us.