Men of Vision -- How This Looks at Home

Friends,

A Christian businessman tells this story -- the sun was shining brightly on a cold January day, and I was running late to work.  The only thought I had was – “I’ve got to get to my office as quickly as possible.”  As I approached a red light, I noticed a stalled truck on the right side of the road…and I gave him a passing thought – “poor guy.” But, then my busy mind hurried on to how I was going to handle the problems that I knew this day would throw in my lap. The sound of a knock on my window caused me to jump – it was the driver of the stalled vehicle. “Do you have a moment? My truck won’t start and I just need someone to give me a boost -- I have the booster cables.” I looked at my watch.  As late as it was, I didn’t even have five minutes to spare.  My boss would be frantic…I could even lose my job. My response was a stammered – “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t today…I am already late for work.”  “I understand,” he said, and then he walked to the car stopped behind me. I told myself that surely one of the next few cars that came by would have time to help this poor guy.  In reality, when the light turned green, I drove away feeling awful! I couldn’t help but think of the story of the Good Samaritan – was I the Priest or the Levite? To ease my conscience, I even mentioned the incident to my boss later that day.  As expected, he commended me for my decision to press on. His confirmation didn’t help ease my guilt…however – how often do I follow my own agenda ahead of the one that my heavenly Father has set out for me? All too often, when I ask God to sit in the driver’s seat of the car of my life, I act like a back seat driver – “Don’t turn right!” “Be careful!”  “Slow down!” Oh, there are also times when I put my back seat driver’s license in my pocket – these are the times when I literally wrench the wheel out of God’s hand on my personal autobahn of life.

Perhaps you can relate to this person in some way…I know that this has been “me” from time to time. Luke shares a story with certain similarities in relationship to two sisters, Mary and Martha…Jesus’ friends…and how they respond to Him. In referencing this particular Bible story, I want to keep in front of us the importance of the ladies in our lives and the influence they have on us…because, if we are married, our greatest responsibility at home is to treat them with love and respect.

In Romans 12:1-2, the apostle Paul helps us to understand that a general definition of worship, latreia, is at the heart of all that we are and all that we do in the Christian life. We are to live lives of service for the Lord as we “work out” our salvation, living as “Good Samaritans”. But, before we can effectively minister in these ways, we need to spend some time with our Master and learn from Him…taking some “time to be holy.” Mary of Bethany…one of several “Marys” in the New Testament…is seen three times in the gospel record, and on each occasion, she is in the same place – at Jesus’ feet!  In John 11:32, it is in relationship to her agonizing over the death of her brother Lazarus, and in 12:3 it is in relationship to her anointing Jesus feet. Mary, and her sister Martha, are often contrasted as though each believer must make a choice -- you can be a worker, like Martha, or a worshiper like Mary (Luke 10:38-42). This does not necessarily make worship and work an “either/or situation,” but it seems evident that, at least in the situation that is presented here, that one takes precedence over the other. Consider…Martha receives Jesus into her home, and then, as it appears, she neglects Him as she prepares an elaborate meal that He does not necessarily need.  There is nothing wrong with her doing this, in and of itself, but the point is – what we do with Jesus is more important than what we do for Jesus.

Mary has likely done her share of work in the kitchen…I am sure a few of you can relate…but she then goes to “feed” on the Lord’s teachings. Soon, Martha feels neglected after Mary leaves the kitchen…and so she begins to complain, suggesting that neither the Lord nor Mary really care!  Martha would have profited from what Jesus shares in John 15:5 that says – “without me, you can do nothing.” We may be on the go, go, go…just like we’re on that autobahn, speeding along…and we wonder why we do not have the spiritual energy or fortitude to deal with all of life’s offerings and struggles(?). Few things are as trying, and perhaps even troubling for the Christian, as trying to work for Christ without taking time to commune with Christ. In this situation, Mary chooses the better part…the part that could not be taken from her.  She knew that she could not live on “bread alone” (Matthew 4:4).

Writer and sociologist, Gordon Govier says, “Time affects us all equally, although there are those who believe that it seems to pick up speed as we get older.  But, most of us agree that we don’t have enough of it.  When Charles Hummel wrote his classic essay, Tyranny of the Urgent, in 1967, he identified the telephone as among the worst offenders against our peace and contemplation.  And that was before we carried it with us everywhere, embellished with e-mail, computers, cameras, downloadable ring tones and music files.  Hummel passed away in 2003, but his concept remains.  The main issue, Hummel states, is not so much a shortage of time, as a problem of priorities…or as a cotton mill manager once told him – “your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important.”  The essay points to the gospel accounts of Jesus who never seemed to be in a hurry, even when His friend Lazarus was dying.  Quoting Mark 1:35, Hummel saw the secret of Jesus’ life and work for God in that “He prayerfully waited for His Father’s instructions.”  Govier concludes in a way that is thoughtful and helpful…several years ago, I felt the weight of undone and half-done obligations weighing on me and realized that a big part of the problem was perspective.  Instead of complaining about why I was getting loaded down with so many responsibilities, I concluded that I should thank God that He was allowing me to be involved in many good things that I enjoyed doing and was really interested in.  Sure, I should be smart about not over-committing myself, but I was conscientiously and prayerfully considering my schedule in relationship to what I felt God wanted me to be involved in…then, I felt I could trust Him to make certain the priority things got done.

On our autobahn of life, it is really important to – stop.  We have simply got to take some time to slow down, and even stop, in the midst of our busyness and spend some meaningful time with the Lord, and with our family. We need to make and take time to be the men, husbands, fathers that the Lord would have us to be.  We need to spend some time in prayer every day…by ourselves, but also with our wives, and with our kids.  We need to do the same thing as it relates to reading the Word of God.  We also need to spend some meaningful time with our wives and kids.  If we are going to be “men of vision,” we must close our eyes to the whole world swirling around us on a regular basis and focus on the matters of life that truly matter. And I really can’t tell you how that “looks”…what “your vision” should be, individually or collectively.  But, I do hope to consider an effective vision of what the Lord wants for us. We serve a Master to whom a “day is to a thousand years and a thousand years is to a day.” He knows our busy schedules…he certainly understand us better than we know ourselves.  And as I have been known to say – I am not really going to be any good for the church or anyone else if I am not taking care of my business at home with my wife and family.

In Matthew 14, Mark 6, following the death of His cousin and friend, John the Baptist, Jesus needed to have some time alone with His Father. “Now when Jesus heard of it, He withdrew from there to a lonely place by Himself” (Mt 14:13). Still, people would follow after Him.  But, even later in the chapter (14:23), we see that He would go up to the mountain to pray after sending the multitude away.  Jesus knew how to “Stop” and “Yield.” We live in a culture where it is so easy to be seduced by the secondary, and distracted from what matters by sports, the internet, work, family, etc…all good things. Friends…the embodiment of the ancient faith is all about a personal relationship with Jesus.  We need to follow the example of our Lord and so many other faithful believers who make the time to spend some time, one of one with the Lord.  It is here that we meet our Lord in the most basic of ways through prayer, study, and meditation.  Then, our lives…ministry, work, play…can truly be efficient and effective.

Blessings, Don

The Gentle Healer

Friends,

Peter Kennedy shares this story concerning Brian Birdwell, Republican politician from Granbury, TX. -- On September 11, 2001, Lt. Col. Birdwell stepped into a Pentagon hallway when the fireball from the hijacked plane hit him. After recovering from the initial shock, Birdwell realized he was on fire. "Jesus, I'm coming to see you," he remembers praying. When doctors finally attended to him at the Washington Burn Center, they found second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of Birdwell's body. To save him, they performed several skin graft operations. On September 13, while lying in his bed in the burn center, Laura Bush visited Brian's room and spoke to him for about a minute, all the time as if they were life-long acquaintances. She then turned to Brian's wife, Mel, who had been at the hospital for about two-and-a-half days. She was dirty, grimy, and wore a bloodstained shirt. Despite this, Laura gave her a long hug, as if she were a close family member. Laura then told them that there was "someone" there to see him. The President walked in. Standing by Brian's bedside, the President told Colonel Birdwell that he was very proud of them both and regarded them as heroes. The President then saluted Brian. Brian slowly began to return the salute, taking about 15 to 20 seconds to get his hand up to his head because of his bandaged arms. During all of this, President Bush never moved. He dropped his salute only when Brian was finished with his. Birdwell lives now with renewed purpose. "I'm a walking miracle. Christ got me out of the fire. In him not taking me, that means I have a mission to complete.” He and his wife now operate, Facing the Fire Ministries, an organization that serves to help burn victims, and he is currently serving in the Texas Senate.

What we can learn is that our Lord is a compassionate God, one who is with us in our most hurting times. He is one who knows our pain and one who can deliver us for a purpose. We can thank the Lord for healing, whether it is physical, emotional, spiritual, or eternal. As we come to Matthew 8, it is important to understand that lepers, Gentiles and women were considered outcasts by many Jewish people, especially the Pharisees. Many Pharisees would pray each morning, “I give thanks that I am a man and not a woman, a Jew and not a Gentile, a free-man and not a slave.”  Yeah, nice folks. There are a number of afflictions that the Word of God classifies as leprosy. The dreaded infection forced them to live apart from others and cry, “Unclean, unclean!” when others approached, so they would not be defiled. This would certainly be humiliating.  Jesus recognizes their plight and has mercy on them.  We see a number of stories involving Jesus cleansing lepers in the gospels.

None of the above business concerning how lepers should act, shouting “unclean,” deters one particular leper who, upon seeing Jesus, violates the code as he runs up to Him. This is evidence that this fellow has great faith that Jesus would heal him.  What happens next is nothing short of remarkable in a number of ways – Jesus reaches out and touches him.  He knows how important it would be to him, Who knows how long it had been since that had happened for this person? Nonetheless, the Lord is willing to take on the leper’s defilement, although it would have no effect on Him, and in turn, bring healing back to the man. The leper does not question Jesus’ ability to heal…he only wonders if Jesus will be willing to heal him. But, this act is just a small reflection of the greater reality that Jesus comes to heal and save man from his sins. Jesus commands the man not to tell others, but to go to the priests and declare him restored and able to back into society. It is interesting that the man does not obey Christ, as he tells everyone what the Lord has done. Mark’s account (1:45) reveals that the healed lepers witness forces Jesus to avoid the city…and yet the crowds still come to Him.

Another story of healing takes place concerns a centurion, which once again, is recorded in other gospel accounts.  A centurion is an officer who commands a hundred men in the Roman army.  Every centurion mentioned in the gospels is a man of high character and sense of duty…and this man is no exception. The fact that he is concerned with a lowly servant who has palsy (or is paralyzed) indicates this fact. Much like the leper, it would seem that everything about this man would prevent him from coming to see Jesus – he is a soldier, Jesus is a man of peace…he is a Gentile, while Jesus is a Jew.  But, this man has great faith!  He understands that Jesus is under authority, but that he also has authority.  All Jesus has to do is speak the word and the servant will be healed.  It is recorded only twice in the gospels that Jesus marveled…and this is one of those times.  He finds the great faith of the centurion wondrous!  This appears to be an early indication that the Jews are not going to believe, but that the Gentiles are going to do so.

Finally, we see Peter and Andrew letting Jesus know that Peter’s mother-in-law is ill.  She is in bed with a fever, but Jesus heals her with a simple touch.  She then gets up and serves them.  So, we see Jesus heal two people by touching them, and heal one from a distance…there are no obstacles to what Jesus is capable of doing in healing those in need.  This seems like a “minor miracle, but the results are major.  At sundown, the entire city gathers at the door that the Lord might meet their needs.  The change in one woman’s life leads to miracles in the lives of many people.

The movie about the acclaimed book, Heaven is For Real, came out on dvd a few weeks ago.  It is the fascinating story concerning Colton Burpo, who suffers a near-death experience in which he claims to have visited heaven.  When their young son Colton enters the hospital with a life-threatening illness, devastated parents Todd and Sonja Burpo are uncertain whether he will make it out of the operating room alive. But in what Colton's doctors credit as "a miracle," he survives -- and with an incredible story that seems to confirm the existence of heaven. Later, despite Colton's accurate and intimate revelations about people he has never encountered -- including his sister who died in utero and his late grandfather -- skeptics hastily dismiss any possibility that the young boy's fantastic claims could be true. Meanwhile, his astonished parents seek meaning in the alleged miracle that has turned their once-peaceful lives completely upside down.

Regardless of where you fall concerning the story, it is a fascinating read.  And it highlights something very important for everyone to consider.  Jesus is about seeing people come to Him.  This is what His ministry was all about.  He did not go out of His way for anyone…they were His way.  We live and seek to serve as Jesus did, and in this we emulate our Master.  We may not be able to perform the miracles He performed, but we might just have the opportunity to see one sometime. Kent Brantly contracted Ebola as the result of working as a doctor in Liberia.  Thanks be to God that he has been completely healed of the virus.  Yet, as often as there are great stories of healing, there are others who do not experience such healing, at least physically.  And as one person shared with me when they were asked what to pray for when someone is gravely ill, they replied…just pray for healing. Healing takes place…whether it be physical, or eternal.  As difficult as it is, for those who are in Christ, healing is a blessing either way.

Blessings, Don

Man on the Run

Friends,

James, the brother of Jesus, writes something about Elijah that encourages us and helps us to relate to him when he says, “Elijah was a human as we are.” Perhaps, this is one of the reasons that Elijah is such a beloved character to me, at least…this, and his sarcasm with the prophets of Baal. :-) We all have a tendency to want to idealize the great men and women of the Bible, but the Scriptures tell us the truth about them…the good, the bad and the ugly. The outstanding leaders of the Bible, with all of their “humanness” knew how to find their way out of the wilderness and get back on track with the Lord.  We can learn from their defeats as well as their successes.

Perhaps, this is one of the reasons that the death of a beloved public figure this past week has been so disturbing for many of us who “grew up with him.” Robin Williams was an immensely talented individual…funny, as well as gifted in more serious roles. As we know, he took his own life, as the result from being in despair and depression because of addiction, personal struggle. It is tragically sad that he could not find his way out of the darkness that had enveloped him. Despair and depression are very real difficulties that we humans face.  I have read that as many as 1 in 3 people deal with it in some form. I know that I have had moments of despair in my own life, and struggled through depression one time when I was 20. We have to know that there are some medical measures that can help to deal with some of these difficulties, because often times, there are chemical issues that need to be set in order in the human body. But, there are also times when despair and depression are the result of spiritual struggles…sin invades our lives and causes us to lose our way, and as with Elijah, we need to lean on the Lord in order to help us find victory over our struggle. And this brings me to the story today. We can better learn how to lean on the Lord when we are in a low place in our lives.

When the torrential rains begin to fall, Queen Jezebel is in Jezreel, and may have thought that Baal the storm god has triumphed (1 Kings 19:1-8).  However, when Ahab (pity the fool) arrives home, he has to tell a much different story. Ahab is a weak man, and he has to live with Jezebel…and without her support, he knows that he is nothing. If ever there was a strong-willed ruler with a penchant for evil, it is Jezebel. And neither she nor Ahab accept the clear evidence shown on Mt. Carmel that Yahweh is one true and living God. So, instead of calling the nation back to repentance to serve the Lord, she declares war on Yahweh and his faithful servant Elijah. (And…“no surprise here,” Ahab offer no resistance to her). She sends a hateful message to Elijah.  She could just has him killed, but at this point, he is a popular man.  If she does so, he becomes a martyr, and therefore might influence more people in his death than in his life.

The people are waiting for Elijah to tell them what to do…so let’s just do the (not so) sensible thing and remove ourselves from the scene of our victory, right? Does this make any sense? No. As the ancient church fathers would say – “Beware of human reactions after holy exertions”…so Elijah, experiencing the fear of man, flees from Jezreel. In a moment of fear, he forgets every providential thing the Lord has done for him for the past three years, and he becomes “a man on the run”…running on ahead of the Lord in order to save his own life. He takes his servant, leaves Israel, and heads for Beersheba, the southernmost city in Judah. Remember what happened when Abraham fled to Egypt, and when Jonah was fleeing away from Nineveh? It doesn’t ever work out well to run away from God’s will.

When Elijah arrives at his destination, he sits down under a juniper tree and does a wise thing – he prays.  But, he does not pray a wise prayer. “I’ve had enough,” he tells the Lord, “take my life. I am not any better than my fathers.” The irony is that God never asks him to better than anyone else…but, just to be obedient to His message. The combination of burnout, weariness, hunger, a deep sense of failure, and a lack of faith in the Lord bring Elijah into a depression. There is also an element of pride, not to mention self-pity, involved, because he was certain that his victory on Mount Carmel would bring the nation to its knees before the Lord. When the heart is heavy and we are weary, one of the best things we can do is get some rest. While Elijah is asleep, the Lord sends an angel to take care of his needs. God’s timing is impeccable, as usual. The angel prepares a simple, but adequate meal for Elijah, who wakes up, eats and then goes back to sleep. He sleeps for some undetermined amount of time again, and then awakes again to the angel encouraging him to eat, because he has a long journey ahead of him, to Mount Sinai (Horeb). No matter what the destination, the journey is never going to work out well if we do not have God’s help to strengthen us for that journey.  Words to remember.

Tim Smith shares concerning an important subject that James Bryan Smith covers in his writing, "The number one enemy of spiritual formation today is exhaustion. We are living beyond our means ... physically. And as a result, one of the primary activities of human life is being neglected: sleep." In the 1850's, the average American slept 9.5 hours. By 1950, that had dropped to 8 hours and today the average American gets only 7 hours of sleep a night. James Bryan Smith continues, "Neglecting our bodies ... impedes our spiritual growth ... If our bodies are not sufficiently rested, our energies will be diminished and our ability to pray, read the Bible, enter solitude or memorize Scripture will be diminished."

Elijah was physically exhausted and no longer had an appetite. He was depressed about himself and his work, and was being controlled more and more by self-pity…a dangerous place to be. Instead of turning to others for help, and more importantly, the Lord, he isolated himself, saying “I only am left,” and worst of all, he feels like he wants to die. (And this is something of an irony, as Elijah is one of only two people in the Word of God who did not die, but he…as well as Enoch…was taken up to be with the Lord). Nonetheless, the prophet felt like he had failed his mission, and decided that it is time to quit. The Lord did not see it that way.

We can find ourselves in this position rather easily as well…in our culture, we go and go and go some more, and then we wonder why we get to a point where we are not being very productive with anything. Too much work, stress and the like can lead to burnout and depression. One of the best things that we can do for ourselves…as Elijah did…is get some needed rest. We really need to humble ourselves before the Lord and get ready for the trials that can often follow the victories in our lives. It is awfully easy to move from the mountaintop of triumph to the valley of testing.  We certainly see this, even with Jesus, as He goes from His baptism into the wilderness of trial. (Matthew 3-4) The good news is that Lord can look beyond our changing moods and impetuous prayers, because He has sympathy and compassion for us. This chapter shows just how tenderly God deals with us, His people, when we are in the depths of despair and feel like giving up. And this is so important for us, as we are on our journey in this life, preparing ourselves (hopefully) for the next life.

Blessings, Don