Winter Grace – Try Harder, OK?

The cold weather blew in the last night of the session – dropping the comfortable Texas temperatures to the low teens. Stepping out into the bracing breezes, I wondered about all that I had heard in the worship services – what am I supposed to do next?  Their theme was Deep into the Heart -- Wide into the World. Dr. Tim Keller and Fernando Ortega guided three worship services that addressed who we are – that is the church; how Christians integrate our faith and our work; and, what do our words look like in action.   (Link to the three sessions)

What I took away was, quit whining about how hard, scary, or unfair life is and make myself useful – be a part of the church, and lavish my time, talents, and resources on the poor.  The message to me, as part of the body of Christ, was: Give, not just to relieve the sufferings of the poor – but to empower them to rise above their circumstances. (Deuteronomy 4:5-8, 15:1-15) We have the position – a royal priesthood; the wherewithal – all kinds of jobs in which we may serve others while earning our keep; and we have a mandate that transcends Bible times.

Seriously?

Whew -- This is a tough message to hear in the times in which we live – my fear of running out of money, health, wisdom, or even time itself,  frequently sidelines me. That, and plain old, garden-variety selfishness. (Luke 12:15-21)

Dr. Keller wasn’t waging a new war on poverty. The church can’t change the world, Dr. Keller said, carefully; we will have the poor among us.  But, we can make disciples who can do some changing, and who will serve the poor, do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.  (Micah 6:8) Our giving -- time, resources, love and prayers -- must be abundant, for who of us can say we pulled ourselves out of our problems by our bootstraps? 

Suddenly, Dr. Keller’s decidedly low-key confrontation of the self-absorption that can consume me, made me think of a question the pastor asked the previous Sunday. If my faith sounded forth as a song, how would my kids describe the song of my life? 

Hmmmmmm.  I am not sure astonishing generosity to the poor would be its title or refrain.   

Walking out into the cold, reflecting on what I have withheld more often than given, Bible passages, exhortations, gently unyielding, and music blew around my brain:    

  

Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? . . . Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands? (James 2, The Message)

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

I think I’ll take hold of the gift that time is – remembering I really can’t out give God. But I could sure try harder.  

This good day – it is a gift for me! Once more, Sing with me!

If rainclouds come, or cold winds blow –

You’re the one that goes before me,

                  and in my heart I know -- 

This good day, it is a gift from You;

The world is turning in its place because You made it to . . .

I lift my voice to sing a song of praise for this good day. *

*Fernando Ortega

Memorial Day 2013

During the past twelve years, in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, American soldiers have fought a different kind of war than they did in previous wars – but our debt to them is as great for what they did, so that you and I might spend our time as do right now. It bears repeating:

For love of country they accepted death...  ~James A. Garfield

They are still sacrificing, even as we pause to remember the cost to millions of American soldiers. (Wounded Warrior)

Renewed awareness of our soldiers’ courage and suffering – and my debt – emerged from an unlikely source – a book, Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey - the Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle. In the middle of a guided tour of the gilded excesses of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, the author and current “caretaker” of the castle also describes the carnage of World War I as she reports how Lady Almina established hospitals for the wounded warriors of her times. She served hundreds (of the millions) of the soldiers who were injured, many of whom returned to combat and die on the battlefields. This legacy is far grander than any castle’s preservation – or the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb, and its subsequent tensions and rivalries.  

 Less than three decades later, the world was at war, again – the fruit of international politics and a peace treaty.  (The Treaty of Versailles) How both the World Wars changed us might well explain why  we are still embroiled in war. One general who fought in both wars, describes a legacy Americans – and the world – resist, considering: 

We have too many men of science; too few men of God.

We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Man is stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness while toying with the precarious secrets of life and death.

The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.

We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. – General of the Army,  Omar Bradley   (1893-1981) Armistice Day speech to the Boston Chamber of Commerce,1948.

May God deliver those in harm’s way today – and may God build in us a holy reverence for those whose courage cost them their lives, and their loved ones. And please God give us a holy fear of war and deliver us from its evil – and especially that of own making! But may we not shrink from defending our country.

War is evil, but sometimes it is the lesser evil. George Orwell.

Religion and foxholes





 

Promising to Take Care of Folks . . .

 It’s been a proud tradition of our national heritage that we care for folks who come upon hard times. It’s part of an American’s DNA.   It seems “charity,” is no longer a human virtue, it is a governmental obligation.   Somewhere along the line, though, common decency became a political weapon – one which rival politicians could use to attack one another – and while the wrangling goes on, the every-day problems that caused by men and women who have used the promise of  [unlimited] government money to secure their power bases have ballooned right along with the money we’ve borrowed to finance our promises.

My financial acumen is sophomoric to those better trained in all matters of money, granted.  And the experts may know how we are going to bail ourselves out of the sinking boat also known as the US economy.  But I do know that it seems we have come to end of trying to solve the real problems that overtake people with government money.

I have been guilty of thinking that if we just gave folks money to get on their feet, to get started, to keep going, for a spell, they would be able to manage. For all the successes of such plan, too many failures have weakened it – and the people we wanted to help are being crushed, especially the men.   Dr. Tony Evans, (The Urban Alternative) wrote:

Men, when we look at the state of our culture and our country today, we find that we are in a crisis situation. How can we not be when 40 percent of our children go to sleep at night with no dad at home? Among the minority populations, that statistic goes up to 63 percent, and in the innermost inner cities, it rises to 83 percent. There is no respect or dignity among men anymore. They are fathering children but not taking the responsibility to help rear them. Men have become like the fabled abominable snowman, whose footprints are everywhere, but he cannot be found.

And what will happen to the children and their moms when the reality of our profligate financial policies dawns on them? 

 I know Americans will do the right and good thing – as we have done -- continuing to give. But I hope we will also each consider how much we have given over to the politicians, whose first thoughts maybe colored by different agendas.

Is it too late?  George Orwell and Aldous Huxley saw this day, and despaired. 

In contrast, a politician called for a prayer meeting in Houston and that ‘s driving folks nuts. (Rick Perry)

What will the church do?  These are [still] the times that try all our souls – what difference would a few people make, who repented and prayed – like Daniel did in Daniel 9:1-20? What if I just shut the computer and poured out my heart, baring my soul to God, my God believing  . . .

Life After Pruning

Where man sees but withered leaves,
God sees sweet flowers growing. ~Albert Laighton (19th century America lawyer & poet)

One lone iris (iris reticulata) waved shyly this morning from the corner of our yard. Its genteel purple and yellow flower cheered me, hopefully, portending no more snow?

Why only one? Last fall, I wanted the beds cleaned out – but it was hard to tell in September the difference between neglected plants mixed with dying vestiges of ornamental grasses – and the man who was just doing what I asked: "clean out the beds, please," did yeoman's service. So its solitary appearance reminded me that loveliness can survive even a thorough pruning and reappear at just the right time!

My life is like an overgrown flower bed – Many blooms past; the tangle of unfinished works, inept jobs and non-starters look like so much overgrown ornamental grasses!  My comfort is that God is a smarter gardener than I – and He knows what to prune and why. He wants me to keep growing stronger, even as my body rebels. And this is what that lonesome iris reminded me, and it is the hope  over which the psalmist rejoices: 

“. . . They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (Psalm 92:14-15 NKJV)

As a transplant  from the world into God’s garden, (Colossians 1:13-13) I will prosper, though old, like palm trees, grow tall like Lebanon cedars; . . . I’ll  grow tall in the presence of God, lithe and green, virile still in old age . . . " even as age bends my bones.  (Psalm 92:14-15 from THE MESSAGE )

In one translation of  Psalm 92:14-15 I see a reason for my bulges! I

“. . . shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
(Psalm 92:14-15 from the KJV)

So, creation shows me again the faithfulness of God who answers my cry: “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.” (Ps 71:19) That iris gives me an answer:  “And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Thy strength to this generation, Thy power to all who are to come.”(Ps 71:18)

May we all keep our eyes open to see His answers to our heart’s desires in His creation and His word.

Social Justice

Tonight we had dinner with some interesting folks – about 500! WORLD Magazine held a  dinner honoring Christians who are offering hope and compassion to hurting hearts without government help. They spotlighted three groups, from among many:

Crossover Ministry (www.crossoverministry.org) – Clinics offering healthcare, education and medicine to poor people in Richmond Virginia.
   
Snappin’ Ministries (www.snappin.org) – ministering to families with special needs children.
   

Forgiven Ministry (www.forgivenministry.org) helping reconcile children with their parents who are incarcerated.

Prior to the dinner we attended one of three seminars: Offering Hope to the Poor through Social Justice, with Marvin Olasky (editor of WORLD) and Stephen Tavani (Founder of WOW International – http://www.wowjam.com ). Both men are deeply committed to social justice – but not the way contemporary politicians and social engineers promote it.

The political left thinks social justice must needs not simply level all playing fields – they want  "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his need." The political right too often stumbles into social Darwinism – let the poor die off. The Bible teaches that justice separate the guilty from the innocent; (social) justice is always accompanied with righteousness – these are the foundation of God’s throne – and must be the core of how we serve the poor and hopeless.

Mr. Tavani believes if the Gospel is true and works in the worst places, it is true and works anywhere. To that end, he and enormous corps of volunteers go into tough communities with everything from free cold water, bicycle repair, hair cuts, manicures, food, family photographs, games and shoes. He and his volunteers escort a small number of folk at a time into a tent, and fit each with  free name-brand athletic shoes – after bathing the feet of those they serve.  Is it any wonder they draw crowds?   And to those crowds, he offers the Gospel of salvation, as he and his volunteers meet real needs. They believe doing is more important than saying. 

Mr. Olasky believes this as well, citing the difference between the ancient Romans and Christians hospitality. The Romans were hospitable to those who could do them some good; the Christians entertained those who could never repay. (Luke 14:12-14) He speculated that one reason Christianity may have caught on was not so much the teaching, but the practice by which Christians shared and risked their lives to serve.

It was quite an evening!