Joseph Conrad’s early novels about Far-East seafaring adventures soared with excitement and positive-thinking. When he later wrote, world-conditions had worsened and darkened his mood into pessimism. Then he wrote of the loneliness and hopelessness beleaguering humanity. He feared what posed a present threat and what could occur beyond the grave. Chronicles of the Twentieth Century, 325
Nothing of the sort occurred with Jesus, despite facing daily scenes of despair. Despite confronting a leadership whose hatred of him would within 40 years bring history-long destruction of the nation, to be removed only in 1948. Despite teaching magnificent doctrines that no one person, and no one group and not the combined brains of all believers in history have exhausted. Optimism, like compassion, proved as natural to Jesus as sums to mathematicians, as speculation to philosophers, as intelligence to IQ, as harmony to musicians, as dollars to financiers. On the sensitive film of his soul developed and retained only the sharpest images of unaltered and original Power-of-Positive thinking. All of which came from “the power that enables him to bring everything under his control....” Philippians 3:21. All who believe only in themselves have the right to uncertainty and pessimism in life. All who believe in and trust Jesus have the right to positive thinking because we KNOW him who has “all authority over heaven and earth.” Matthew 28:18-20
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Civil War infantrymen on both sides, but particularly the Confederates, tended to rifle-shoot and lob cannon shells above the heads of front-line troops. Lectured to aim lower, and practicing to aim lower, didn’t appreciably improve their accuracy. Studies after the War indicated that troopers burned 240 pounds of powder and hurled 900 pounds of bullets for “every single man actually hit.” Rebels and Yankees. William Davis, Editor, Introduction, p. 52
Being satisfied to make mortals moral, not converted, is like practicing to better hit the enemy. God has no interest in making us better people. He has nothing less in mind than transforming us from self-centered humans to Christ-focused disciples. He does that by demanding conversion from self-will to God’s will by a radical change called self-denial. Now...the conscious self is as essential to humanity as the instinctive self to the creatures. The difference is: the animal kingdom will never have any but its instinctive self. While humans automatically pervert our conscious-self to the dominant-self, WE at the center of life. Which Jesus demands we crucify! Self-denial isn’t complicated. It simply means we subordinate our conscious self to God’s will for our life’s decisions, perspectives and values. The idea isn’t hard. Implementing it and keeping it as our life’s goal is. That’s why Jesus made SELF-DENIAL a daily event, not a life-long aim. He knew that practicing self-denial at any time, during any day, would stimulate the human spirit to awareness of the Holy Spirit within us. Which would raise our awareness of the spiritual life, with its consequent diminution of the self-willed life. While never perfecting self-denial, daily practice in trying to, committing ourselves to, returning to if we abandon it, repenting of every effort to re-establish self as the center of life, would eventually mature us as Christ-focused, God-centered, Spirit-led disciples. Simply by shooting for daily efforts at self-denial. Mt. Pulaski is a small town 12 miles south by east of Lincoln, Illinois. Their small school beat our larger school in basketball one year, to our disbelief! Our son Scott once served as a staff member in the Christian church there. A seminary compatriot served as its Senior Minister.
All of which means little, except to let you know the quality-people this writer knew who lived in the place. None of which figures in this blog. What does is a newspaper story from the Lincoln, Illinois Semi-Weekly Star, February 20, 1920, p. 8. At the time one-story homes built with brick characterized the south part of town. The Germans who lived there found a vast bed of yellow sand at the base of the hill above. They mixed it with concrete to make the mud cementing the bricks. Those century old homes were systemically replaced in the early 20th century by modern wooden structures. Contractors noticed the great difficulty encountered in separating the bricks from the yellow-sand mortar. It held tenaciously a hundred years later! LCHGS, Roots and Branches, Fall, 2019 Christians need a yellow-sand-faith commitment to Jesus. That won’t let go of him. That sticks to one’s convictions about him, no matter what. That rises to the challenges of obedience to him, however demanding. That gets up and gets going in living for him when we’d rather sit down and sit out a responsibility he calls us to embrace. It’s the kind of faith in the Christ who had an even deeper faith and perfect commitment to his Father’s will. Chafing wooden stocks clamped around their ankles kept them hunched. Every movement brought torture to their bloody, beaten bodies. Nevertheless, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God. Beyond them, unseen, other prisoners listened.
From that hideous experience, the scars of which likely remained a long time, and maybe perpetually, the Christian missionaries influenced the unseen audience. Whether any of them became Christians, the Philippian jailer and his family did. Acts 16:16ff. Aboard ship, as a prisoner of Rome, Paul witnessed to a defeated, hopeless, helpless audience. They could all take courage because God’s angel had promised the life of everyone aboard. Then, having sounded and found 120 feet of water beneath the ship; and later, sounding again, found but 90 feet, water-wise sailors knew disaster awaited and tried to flee in the lifeboat. Only Paul’s intercession with Julius kept them aboard. Then, with the ship aground on a sandbar, being beaten to pieces by the waves, the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners, knowing their life would be expendable should any of them escape. Paul’s intercession again with Julius saved the whole passenger list. We don’t know the number of sailors and soldiers aboard to run the ship and provide security. We do know the ship carried 276 people. (Not the biggest number in Roman ships by far.) Of that number the vast majority believed Paul’s witness. The point is, we can never tell if we influence none, a few or many. But nearly every situation will have someone watching, listening or both, and ready to be convinced. Even a chance remark can have an impact, as a noted atheist’s positive remark about God turned a young C.S. Lewis around. Let us take courage and say what needs to be said, or done, in any situation, trusting the Holy Spirit to use our poor effort to lead someone to Jesus. On two separate occasions Simon Peter went to sleep in crises‑‑once with the Lord's life at stake, once with his own. Two crises: twice asleep.
But while failure characterized the first occasion, success characterized the second. For in the eleven years between the two, an immeasurable amount of experience and maturity empowered Peter to fall asleep in Herod's prison at peace with God as he had once fallen asleep in Gethsemane from exhaustion caused by sorrow. In the intervening years he had learned to trust God, whatever the circumstances, even when it seemed his life would end prematurely. He had learned that, whatever happened, God could be trusted to provide and to care. And he had learned that, while hard times came as surely to Christians as to unbelievers, while unbelievers surrendered to their fears, Christians used them to bear witness to God's abiding presence. The basic optimism of American culture has somewhat deluded us. In the best Horatio Alger tradition, we think everything always works out for the best. Which happens enough to make us optimistic. A plane crash in Colorado left eight people stranded in the Rockies. Since they had four strong Christians aboard, they had faith in being rescued. And, just as one of them read aloud from the book of Job about human suffering, the first rescuer reached the plane. "It was remarkable," a survivor said. Yes...remarkable. But sometimes rescuers don't come; sometimes prayers aren't answered; loved ones die anyway; sorrows afflict us. Sometimes we have no say over what we experience. But we still have everything to say about how we respond to the experiences. In them we can either sink to fear, questions and self‑pity or rise to a witness in God's eternal goodness and concern! We can either see good in the worst circumstance or problems in the most glowing possibilities. God's reality, presence, concern, etc. must be true at all times, under all circumstances, for all people or they're not true at all. God's reality can't be true just when all is well with us and false when we experience pain. It must be as true in sorrow as in joy, as true in death as in life. And if for a moment it isn't true for us, it isn't that its promises have suddenly failed, but that we've failed to understand the nature of life in a fallen world. Caleb, one of two faithful Hebrew spies, urged conquest of Canaan despite the difficulty. In Joshua 14:10-112, he pressed his claim to the hill country in Judah, despite the challenge of evicting the Canaanites. And despite being 85 years old. He obviously had as his life-theme what the Psalmist later wrote in 92:14, “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.”
We may not be willing or able at 85 or 90 to wage warfare to conquer land. But if we’re in reasonably good health, we should retain an interest in serving Jesus in some capacity. Remember: God has nothing for us to do ONLY if we think we’re finished. Otherwise, if we’re willing, he can still use us. Consider two stories that illustrate. Bob Shaw accompanied as listener on an evangelistic call where his partner did the talking. As the partner talked to the prospect, Bob noted the family’s Great Dane dog eyeing him. Watching him approach, Bob didn’t know what to expect. He DIDN’T expect what happened next. The dog put a paw on Bob’s leg; then the other paw on his other leg. While Bob instinctively leaned back in his chair, the Great Dane began to inch his way into Bob’s lap. And before he knew it, the Great Dane had become Bob’s lap dog. A tornado tore into a Mississippi town on Sunday. One of the members and his wife stopped at a cafe before going to church. The twister hit soon after. The owner herded all patrons into the restaurant cooler just in time. The man, a big guy, stood at the door holding it closed—while the tornado rammed head-on into the cooler, trying to rip it open and snatch the people out and away. The man later said he could hear his wife behind him praying fervently to Jesus. And while he was agreeing with everything she said, he could think only of holding that door closed! Here’s the lesson. When we serve Jesus, we may find ourselves holding the dog while someone else does the evangelizing. Or we may find ourselves standing behind and praying for the one standing ahead holding the door. Both the dog sitter and the prayer-warrior are essential to the success of the obviously necessary person. If all we do is hold the dog, do it for Jesus and he will bless it. If all we do is pray for the worker, he will bless it. Remember...we’re all Christ’s servants, and nobody’s master. Remember...it doesn’t matter who gets credit. Remember, all that matters is that Christ gets the GLORY. And that way, all of us SHARE as equal partners in what he possesses. And no one will ever feel slighted! Amen. Had Australian Margaret Court been a lesbian, her achievements as the first to win the Women’s Grand Slam of tennis would have been heralded loudly and universally. Since Margaret Court as a Christian opposes homosexuality, lesbianism, transgender issues and same-sex-marriages, Australian officials debate how to honor her. San Diego U-T, 1/21/20
Not because they doubt her tennis skills. But because she speaks out against sexual perversity. Meaning...her life skills won’t be recognized because her life-beliefs run counter to societal acceptance of sexual deviancy. In other words, society’s acceptance of homosexuality has reached a new level of intolerance against Bible-believing Christians. I’ll call attention to but one remark made by a well-known lesbian: that Margaret’s views are pathetic and she’s hiding behind the Bible. That’s emphatically wrong. Court isn’t hiding behind the Bible. She’s very public about the Bible’s standing against sexual perversion. Homosexuals don’t want to just turn Bible truth into a lie. They more dangerously want to turn the lie of homosexuality into a truth all must accept. It’s nothing new. It was called aselgia sin in the New Testament, Ephesians 4:19, I Peter 4:3-4: brazen, public, shameless, and calling opposition to it intolerance for not being tolerant of their lifestyle. It’s a darkened mind that pits itself against Bible teaching, ignoring Christ’s in-your-face teaching that “every plant”—that is, every teaching and habit and behavior—that God rejects will be eliminated from Heaven. The Old White Lighthouse remains a prime attraction in Pt. Loma, California. It had once been, since 1855, one of three lighthouses built and beaming off the California coast. When first occupied by its keeper, he looked across San Diego Bay to meadows where sheep grazed. Where high rise apartments, hotels and bank buildings now stand.
Because fogs settled below the hills, by 1891 it had out-lived its usefulness. A new cottage group built at ocean elevation, 400 feet lower than the original location, took its place and remains the Pt. Loma lighthouse. Truly, what mortals build can have a lifespan beyond which it cannot compete. Which, by the way, the Gospel of Christ never experiences. Why preachers don’t study it more deeply, and proclaim it more steadfastly, I cannot say. But the church suffers without God’s Word faithfully and continually preached. And...sadly...our role as witnesses to the lost in equal proportion. May God find us as open to his Word as old Simeon. May he find us looking for the Christ. And, may God lead us, as he led Simeon, to see: the Christhood in the Christ child; the Godhood in his humanity; the royalty in his commonness; the strength in his weakness; the wealth in his poverty; the fame in his obscurity; the exaltation in his humiliation; and the resurrection in his death. Once we do, we’ll re-dedicate to repeating after the mature Jesus the message that never loses its relevance and usefulness, and never loses its power over sin, Satan, death and Hell—whatever the age. The master of double-speak, and quick of wit, David put himself in needless jeopardy by fleeing Judah for Gath. He decided that Saul’s hatred would eventually make him a casualty. A strange conclusion given God’s anointing as king-apparent and his many deliverances I Samuel 27:1. David’s decision issues a warning to us. We too can separate ourselves from grace by fixating on life-problems, not God’s Presence.
Carrying Goliath’s sword with him to Gath certainly created the illusion in which David took refuge. Who but a mentally-disturbed warrior would carry back to Gath the weapon of their conquered champion? David’s mistaken perception has lessons for Christian disciples. First, believers in Jesus never need worry that he will sooner or later fail to protect us or provide for us; sooner than later if we engage in risky service. I visited with a Christian man who exercised his faith in a street ministry. In the crisis of debate, discussion or exhortation he quoted scripture completely separate from context. He admitted it but declared, “When you’re in the street, you use any scripture the Holy Spirit gives you.” Good point. We can sit in our study and quietly look at scripture in context. But if we’re in the streets, encountering people and problems foreign to our experience, will Jesus fail to help us, even if we’re out of context? Will he fail to defend his own name when a disciple sincerely witnesses, even in ignorance? Second, who but a spiritually-filled, spiritually-committed man would command the evangelism of the world to 11 disciples only recently recovered from the shock of his death by crucifixion? When at the time, Matthew 28:16-20, they had no qualifications to confront their own people, let alone a fiercely pagan Gentile world. Third, who but Jesus, having lived in self-denial all his years, would demand self-denial as the first requirement of every believer? But there it happened, on one of the shoulders of Mt. Hermon. Immediately upon accepting the confession of Simon Peter that he was the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus undertook their education in his NATURE: suffering and dying followed by RISING AGAIN. All of which petrified the Twelve. And when Simon essayed to correct him, Jesus lashed out against his effrontery. Then...flinging the gauntlet at every generation of believers, as he DIED to SAVE, every disciple would necessarily DIE to SELF! Forget being religious, moral or “spiritual”. Self-denial remains the basis of all discipleship. And, to this day, that demands the most vigorous kind of spiritual adventure. Fini With uneven success ancient kings and modern rulers have hired mercenaries as fighters. It’s interesting that anointed-as-king, but still king-in-training, David led as difficult a group of fighting men as existed in his world: those “in distress or in debt or discontented....” I Samuel 22:2. Those 400 later increased to 600 I Samuel 27:2.
When anointed publicly as king in Hebron, II Samuel 5:3, then as king over a united Israel, II Samuel 5:1-5, his influence, by his conquests, grew exponentially over the eastern Mediterranean. Scattered members of the condemned Canaanites converted to Mosaic faith, among them one Uriah the Hittite. Others, such as Ittai the Gittite and his Philistine soldiers, and Pelethites and Kerethites from Crete, served as soldiers and his personal bodyguard. They may have been attracted to David during his 16 months in Gath I Samuel 27:7. The pervasive difference in David over other kings, was the positive influence he had over all who came to serve under him. Indeed, as II Samuel 23 recounts, his Mighty Men achieved great success by following his example of faith in God. He established the model in slaying Goliath. They followed his example facing formidable, sometimes equal challenges. Consider two examples. David received permission from God to lift the Philistine siege of Keilah I Samuel 23:1-2. When his men feared such an operation, he returned to God for a second time—just to assure them, not because he had any doubt. That established the principle of compassion for those who fear assuming what appears difficult, if not impossible, challenges. Take time to carefully answer questions, address skepticism and assure the people that God has spoken and can be trusted. Two, David and 400 of his 600 man force continued pursuit of the Amalekites who had raided Ziklag and carried away all its personnel. The 200 were exhausted by the pursuit of some 10 miles to the Besor Ravine. The rest continued into the Negev and re-gained in battle all the kidnapped people. The exultant victors, wives and children, carried back to the Besor all the plunder taken. When the 200 men left behind to guard David’s military equipment saw the returning entourage shouting in joy, they rushed to greet them. And...to prove that no leader can escape unworthy followers, “all the evil men and troublemakers” of the 400 wanted to deprive the 200 of their share of the plunder. They would only give their wives and children back. The first test of David’s new-life in faith, after his return from Philistia! And he met it successfully. He immediately vetoed their suggestion by his SINGLE vote against it. All would share equally in any victory gained. Those protecting the equipment and those fighting would be equal partners. That became the law in Israel. That established the principle of innovative leadership where no previous decision had been reached. Only the one anointed as LEADER possesses the intuitive insight to make rules just and fair for all. End Part II |
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