May 30,  2023

It’s understandable that the Bible uses the imagery it does in order to foster industriousness, but I wish the ancient authors had chosen just a bit differently. The text in question is Proverbs 6:6, which I shall quote from the good old King James Version because it has a certain ring to it.

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard!”

Sometimes Elizabethan English captures the nuance better than modern speech. In my mind I can see the author waving his hand in a disdainful dismissal, eyes half-closed as he looks down his nose at the lazy lout at his feet. I have no reason to surmise this posture, but it seems to fit. The writer continues:

“Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.”

In our culture, the ant isn’t particularly admired; our way of saying it would be more along the line of being “busy as a bee.” As a hobbyist beekeeper (“beek” if you prefer slang, or “apiculturalist” if you want to sound more professional), I prefer the imagery of the bee as a model of industrious and coordinated activity. 

The honeybee is an amazing creature. Scientists actually consider the entire colony to be the organism. Apart from her sisters and the queen, a honeybee will quickly die. If the queen dies, if she hasn’t laid fertilized eggs within the last three days, the colony will not be able to raise a new queen and will die. In her lifetime a single honeybee will produce only about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey, but a strong colony (60,000-90,000 bees) can produce more than a hundred pounds of the golden nectar, and will collectively fly over 90,000 miles for about two pounds, or about a quart of honey. I could go on and on…

Yesterday I was called to get a swarm of bees from a tree in the front yard our our local Baptist pastor. I shook them into a pail, dumped them into a hive box which had four top bars of comb, and placed the box on top of my horizontal hive. This afternoon, I transferred the top bars to the horizontal hive beneath it. Overnight, the bees had built comb the size of my hand to the bottom of the hive cover.  

This presents me with a bit of a conundrum. On the one hand, “busy as a bee” is a good thing. Laziness is not a virtue. But tonight Linda and I were talking about hearing from God, and I said it’s my observation that we are too busy to hear much from him. We have many good things that “need to be done,” but get so busy doing them that our time for God becomes an afterthought. If Linda is anything, she is a devoted mother and grandmother; she posed the question of how can she love God more than her children and grandchildren? My response was what Jesus said: “Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also.” If we invested in God as much as we invest in our children, we would value him as we value them. 

So for me, the question is, “What do I need to adjust in my life so I am not allowing busyness to overshadow my time with God?” How do I learn from my bees to be about the business of the Gospel the way they are about the business of the colony, without shortchanging God himself? I think the answer lies in considering my purpose. The bee is singlemindedly busy for the survival of the colony, which is in effect, an extension of the queen herself. Am I willing to be singleminded in my devotion for the Church, which is the extension, the Body of Christ himself? The Scriptures and my bees challenge me tonight.

Memorial Day

 May 29, 2023

Memorial Day, 2023

It’ s hard to imagine when the people we've known as mom and dad were young. This is my folks' wedding photo, taken when dad was stationed in San Antonio during WWII. Dad died at 91 on Father's Day eleven years ago, frail and worn out with the years. Mom went to be with Jesus three years ago. She still had the photo albums of dad when he was in basic training, pictures taken of him with his Army buddies. Dad was scheduled to be deployed in the European theater during the war, but a routine physical detected a heart murmur that kept him stateside while his buddies went over the pond, some of them never to return.

One day about thirty years ago when mom and dad were visiting on Memorial Day, he and I happened to be watching a movie on the Turner Classic Movies channel. It was "The Fighting Sullivans," a film about the five Sullivan brothers who were stationed on the USS light cruiser Juneau in the Pacific. The ship was torpedoed during the action at Guadalcanal, and all five of the brothers were lost, along with 682 other sailors. As we watched the movie, I became aware of a snorting sound off to my side. I turned and saw my father in near total meltdown, sobbing like a little child. When I questioned him, he told me of boyhood friends who served and never came home. It was fifty years after the war, and as fresh as the day he first received news of his friends' deaths. 

I've talked with other vets, one who had been a crewman of a WWII bomber that was shot down in Europe and became a POW in Germany. I asked him one day about how it affected him. He came home, raised a family, became a successful local businessman, and even mayor of our little village. He told me of nights when his wife would wake him up to stop his thrashing around from the nightmares he had thirty years hence. 

We are more aware of the tragic effects of PTSD than people knew back then. Everyone then knew ex-soldiers who became alcoholics, abusive, suicidal, but no one seemed to make the connections until Vietnam. Now we are seeing (mostly) men coming home with injuries from which they would have died even thirty years ago to a VA system fraught with fraud and incompetence.  

Today we remember and honor those who fought and died for our freedoms. I am grateful for my dad, and all the other fine men I've been honored to know through the years, men who answered the call of duty and served, bequeathing to us through their blood, sweat, and tears the freedoms we enjoy today. It is a gift easily squandered; may we instead value and guard it for the treasure it truly is.

Pentecost

 May 28, 2023

Today is Pentecost, considered the birthday of the Church. Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, his disciples and over a hundred others were crowded into an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem, praying and trembling, wondering when the authorities would batter down the door and arrest them all. As associates of Someone executed as a traitor and insurrectionist, it would have been logical for them to scatter, but they were doing as Jesus had commanded…waiting. For what, they didn’t know. Jesus’ words were somewhat cryptic: “Wait for the power on high.”

So they were waiting. Fifty days of waiting. Fifty days of praying. Then finally, the Holy Spirit came! I think we get too caught up in the manifestation of them speaking with tongues and forget the significance of the day. After all, why do we expect (and in some cases, insist) that people speak in tongues, but have no such insistence that a wind blows and flames of fire rest upon us? 

The significance, as pastor Brandon pointed out this morning, is that the day of Pentecost was the Jewish Feast of Firstfruits when the first cuttings of the harvest was presented to God. The Church, born this day, is the firstfruit of what God has planned for Creation. We are living in that in-between time, waiting for the final harvest at the end of the age, and by faith we offer ourselves to God, knowing that much work is yet to be done, but there is joy in the beginnings and the promise of the full ingathering at the end of the age.

To the outsider, all this is merely religious babble; to the believer, this day is our opportunity to look forward to the fulfillment of our hope.

Light

 May 27, 2023

“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

—Psalm 119:105 

I’ve known and quoted this verse for as long as I can remember, but haven’t always appreciated its significance. If we are going on a trip, Linda wants to know the destination, what route we’re taking, how long it will take, and other assorted bits of information. Most of us are like that. Hitting the road just to see where it ends is not usually the way we want to live. We like to see more than just the next step ahead.

One step ahead…that’s what this Scripture verse offers. The Bible isn’t a searchlight that illumines the entire road ahead. It’s a lamp that shines one step at a time. I had been praying about going to Cuba again. An opportunity came to attend the wedding of a young woman I had met a few years ago, so I decided to go for it; wedding plus ministry opportunity—a double win for me. I bought my airline tickets. Then the wedding date got changed and I couldn’t make it, so God narrowed my focus to ministry alone. Another step illumined.

Last night, I got a text from one of the pastors I’ve worked with over the years, asking me to teach on a specific subject, one about which I am the least of the experts. This morning as I was reading and praying, an entire series of lessons on this subject just opened before me. The lamp of God’s Word shone on another step. There will be more. Between now and the day I leave, further steps will unfold. Life with Jesus is funny that way. We know the ultimate destination, but he only reveals the path one step at a time.

If you’re wanting the heavens to part and your future laid bare before you, that’s the kind of thing fortune tellers do; you’ll not get it with Jesus. If the entire course were given to us, two things would happen: we would say, “No thanks, Jesus,” because there are some paths he has for us we would not choose for ourselves. And if the whole plan were laid before us, there would be no need for faith, which is central to the Gospel. I’m grateful tonight that God gives just enough light for me to take the next step, but not so much that I don’t have to trust him.

 May 26, 2023

Prayer is not easy for me. I’m not sure it’s meant to be. In Ephesians 6, St. Paul describes the spiritual battle we as Christians face. He tells us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (V. 12). In other words, we are engaged in something far bigger and more sinister than we usually imagine. He continues by describing the spiritual armor we need if we are to successfully engage such demonic powers: Truth, righteousness, the Gospel, salvation, faith, and the Word of God, all of which by the way, describe Jesus Christ. He himself is our armor. 

It would be understandable if after such words Paul gave a blow-by-blow account of what engaging spiritual powers looks like. THAT would make quite a blockbuster action/adventure film! But Paul does no such thing. After telling us about our true enemies and about the weapons we have to engage them, he immediately says, “praying at all times in the Spirit…” Spiritual warfare is more than casting out demons; it occurs every time we drop to our knees in prayer. Prayer isn’t just “He walks with me and talks with me; and tells me I am his own.” It’s more than a means of obtaining comfort and peace. It is a fight to the death, a struggle, a wrestling that wrings from us every bit of energy we have. When Jesus prayed in the Garden, the spiritual battle was so intense he “sweat great drops of blood.” 

We put on the armor so we can pray. We need truth in prayer because the devil is the father of lies, and uses our feelings against us. We need righteousness because the devil is all too willing to remind us of our shortcomings. We need the Gospel because we are always tempted to approach God on the basis of our own good works. We need salvation because we are sinners. We need faith because it rarely looks like things are going our way. We need the Word of God because our own words are insufficient for the magnificence and glory of the Eternal One.

Prayer is not easy. It’s hard work that must be done for the salvation of the world. And like any soldier who engages in battle, there are casualties and carnage. Those who are serious in prayer will be scarred by the fight, but will also know the heartbeat of God himself.

Purpose Revealed

 May 25, 2023

Wednesday mornings I have breakfast and prayer with two pastor friends. Our conversation and our prayers can run all over the place, but one thing we’re sure to do is pray for each other, for each other’s families, and for our ministries. And sometimes those prayers are answered on the spot. The Bible says that God knows our needs before we even ask, and that before we speak the words the answers are on their way. Sometimes they have to fight their way through spiritual opposition (see Daniel 10:13), but the answers always come, even though sometimes the answers aren’t what we would desire. Like the good Father he is, God sometimes says, “No.”

Yesterday, Jeff (one of the two pastors) prayed that God’s purposes would be fulfilled in my planned trip to Cuba at the end of June. Immediately the fog dissipated and things became clear to me. Part of my reason for going was to attend the wedding of a young woman I got to know some years ago. She had expressed the desire to get married, but didn’t know when it could happen; they had to wait till they had some money saved up. Details got worked out,  they set the date for June 30, and I was invited.

“Wonderful!” I exclaimed. “I would love to come.” A wedding alone isn’t enough justification for the expense of going to Cuba, so I began making plans for ministry time alongside the wedding. Then I got word that they were moving the date up a week to avoid the higher costs associated with the tourist season. The prior week was out for me. One of my granddaughters graduates the same day as their new wedding plans. I was disappointed, but not disheartened, until my friend prayed God’s purposes for me. Suddenly I knew that my focus was diffused, diminished by wedding plans. When Jeff prayed, it became clear that this change of dates was God’s way of helping me focus on the only legitimate reason for me to be in Cuba. The wedding was merely God’s hook to get me there; the purpose is yet to be revealed, but when it is, I will be able to focus laser-like on the task at hand. 

The heavens didn’t part; there were no angelic choirs singing; I heard no “Thus saith the Lord.” But God spoke clearly through my brother’s prayer, which makes me even more eager to see what he has in mind. 

 May 24, 2023

It’s not happened to me often, but that April afternoon last year, the Scriptures came alive to me in a startling, unwelcome manner. Sudden crisis can do strange things to one’s memory, so I cannot tell exactly what I was doing when the call came, other than to say I was visiting Pastor Daniel. At first, it was just a text: “Call me right away!” I did so, only to learn that our son Nathan had been taken by ambulance to Buffalo with a brain bleed. 

I called Willie, who makes most of the arrangements for our trips to Cuba. At the time, Linda and I didn’t know Nate’s condition other than that it was serious. We agreed to wait on a decision till after supper. Willie had other ideas. About an hour later, he called telling me they had arranged an emergency flight home, and that I would be leaving Jovellanos at 4:00 the next morning. In the meantime, I was numb.

I remember leaning on the concrete balustrade surrounding the small courtyard in front of the house, praying, but not finding words. It was then I knew the Biblical meaning of “groaning in the Spirit.” 

We find that term in the Gospel of John when Jesus saw Mary and Martha weeping at the death of their brother Lazarus. They were Jesus’ special friends, and this death touched him deeply.

“Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.” —John 11:33 

St. Paul built on this in his letter to the Roman Christians:

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” —Romans 8:22-23, 26 

Creation groans, we groan, the Holy Spirit groans. All is not as it should be; far from it. This world, and those in it are so far from God’s plan and heart that there aren’t words to describe it, and that alienation is so distressing to God that he too through his Holy Spirit, groans.

Anyone who has been touched by grief, torn by tragedy, or tempted to the breaking point, knows this groaning. It is an inner ache, viscerally sickening, that resists all attempts at comfort and feels destructive to the point of emotional and spiritual anarchy.

Yet there is hope. I play (“attempt to play” would be more accurate) the string or upright bass. When the bow is drawn across the strings, it’s deep, resonant sound is a groaning that can fill an auditorium. It is the groaning that makes the bass sing, and without which there would be no symphony. Your wordless prayers, your sighing and groaning are more than the agony you feel deep in your soul. They are the resonance of God himself, drawing the bow of pain across the strings of your heart. Rest assured; the day is coming when we will hear the full symphony of the tragedy of sin and the  triumph of salvation through the suffering and the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Angelic Siren’s Song

 May 22, 2023

It was as clear as day even though it was the middle of the night; a faint rising and falling sound, like a choir in perfect harmony singing without words, swelling to a crescendo before fading to an almost silence. Lying in bed listening, even without my hearing aids the music thrummed in the distance with a heavenly sound that made me wonder what was happening.

Earlier in the evening in our small group, we talked about eternity and the realization that it could come for any one of us sooner than we expected, which makes every moment worth redeeming. Now in the darkness, I wondered if my time had come. As I listened intently, the choir kept up its wordless song, beckoning me with silky smooth harmonies that floated gently through the night air.

I was wider awake now, looking around me in the darkness, checking to see if my phone and the TV were off. Linda lay beside me, her breathing methodical and steady as my eyes strained to gather enough light to see the blanket rising and falling in rhythmic time to the music. It wasn’t coming in through anything electronic. 

Suddenly, the music stopped. I blinked myself awake and realized I had been hearing the blaring of our village’s fire siren, screaming from half a mile away. Someday, that siren may be the last earthly sound I hear before angelic choirs take over. Our night’s lesson on eternity may have colored my mind’s perception of what these admittedly faulty ears picked up in the midnight hour. I am thankful the angels are still waiting to sing me their welcome home song, and for tonight’s lesson that reminded me to begin choir practice here and now.

Fearing God

 May 21, 2023

“They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods…”  —2 Kings 17:33

A lifetime ago, going through the process for ordination, I sat before about ten older clergy on the Board of Ordained Ministry who bombarded me with questions of theology, psychology, and practical ministry. I was defending a paper I had written when one of the questioners commented on something I had written about fearing the Lord. “I think what Jim means is having a healthy respect for God,” he said. In an uncharacteristic move, I slammed my fist down on the table. “That is NOT what I mean,” I fairly shouted. “I mean a shaking in your boots, I’m gonna die fear!” Things got quiet in a hurry. “Well, that didn’t go as I expected,” I thought, and was surprised when they moved me along in the process. 

Repeatedly in the Bible, God’s people are commanded to fear him and him alone. Divided loyalties never work; as Joshua said, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” Or Elijah, “Why do you halt between two opinions?” 

Many times, Israel took that admonition seriously; when God appeared to his people in fire and smoke, and an earthquake on Mount Sinai, they were seriously afraid. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah and his wife, he thought they were going to die because they had seen him. 

Sadly, as time went on, this genuine fear got watered down till it was little more than a passing respect, not much different I suspect, from what that one pastor meant when he tried to explain my use of the term. I suspect at least part of the reason faithfulness to God and his Word is so difficult is that we have redefined fear, giving it a special and unique meaning when we use it in reference to our relationship with God. We’ve watered it down. Any notion that God is to be genuinely feared is lost, opening the door to part-time faithfulness; serving him when it suits us, but more often serving ourselves. All the while, we commend ourselves, baptizing all sorts of error and evil in the Name of Christ till we are unable to distinguish between faithful obedience and our unholy following of even the perverse gods of the world around us.

Like the Israelites of old, we fear the LORD, but serve our own gods. Our fear has dissipated into bland respect, and the clear boundaries of Christian faith have blurred as we have accepted the gods this world worships. I am grateful tonight that this True God—the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as fearful as he truly is, loves us with unconditional love. Were that not so, holy fear would incapacitate and destroy us. The Good News is that the wrath of God against sin has been poured out on Jesus Christ at the Cross. God is still to be feared if I persist in sin, but humble repentance enables me to draw near and be saved.

Purification

 May 20, 2023

“What the world has come to, that a church should need a security team!” So my friend Clark commented when I told him I wouldn’t be able to be at a reunion of some old friends from our Sinclairville Writers’ Circle. He is right; it’s a sad commentary on the state of our modern society when churches have become common targets for people with evil intent. But that’s the world we live in and for which I trained today.

It’s been a long and tiring day, learning about handling threats to churches, specifically active shooter events. We listened to statistics and instruction, watched graphic videos, and participated in active drills.

Now it’s evening, and something inside me is not right. I feel restless, even though we weren’t put in high stress simulations. It’s no wonder being in law enforcement these days takes such a high toll on marriages, families, and results in such a high suicide rate among policemen and women. I can’t imaging the PTSD our law enforcement experience, much less that of soldiers returning home from multiple deployments.

Numbers 31:19-24 details the purification rituals for soldiers returning from battle more than 3,000 years ago. There was, and remains the need for soul-cleansing when one has been plunged into the darkness and defilement of violence. If I felt it after a single day of rather low-stress training, how much more after an actual violent encounter? Counseling has become standard for law enforcement, but I wonder about the cleansing of the soul as well as the healing of the mind and emotions.

So my prayer tonight is for those who deal with the defilement of violence and human depravity on a daily basis: 

“Lord Jesus, as the victim of violence yourself, your words, “Father, forgive them,” are what we need. Only the cleansing of your blood can wash away the stain of our guilt  even if our violence was necessary to protect the innocents you have entrusted into our care. May your healing balm soothe the ragged wounds of our hearts, and may your love bring peace to troubled minds; in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Think Differently!

 May 19, 2023

St. Paul’s letter to the Romans is considered by most Biblical scholars to be the pinnacle of his  theological ruminations, and chapter 8 to me is the pinnacle of Romans. I must confess he loses me in chapters 6 and 7 when he talks about reckoning ourselves to be dead to sin. I found that no matter how much I did that, sin remained very much alive in me. Paul even admits such when at the end of chapter seven he says that because he still did bad things he didn’t want to do, and failed to do the good he should do, it was the sin doing it, not he himself. I could (and probably am) completely misunderstanding his logic, but it’s never been convincing to me to shift the blame to sin as a separate entity. If any theologians are reading this, I welcome your enlightenment.

 Chapter 8 is where it all comes alive to me when he speaks of the mind, ie, how we think. I am very familiar with the power of our thinking to effect major change for good or ill. I am convinced that much of our modern ills are due to our faulty thinking, even as Christians. Stand in the narthex or lobby of any church and listen to the conversations taking place. I would wager that very few center on the blessings and goodness of God, on our salvation, and our passion to see people come to Christ. Instead, we talk of the last game, the weather, the boss or teacher, politics; and rarely are these conversations uplifting. Instead, we complain about everything, repeatedly rehearsing all the ills of life. No wonder we live defeated and depressed lives! About all this, Paul simply says, 

“Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” —Romans 8:5-6 

What I set my mind upon determines whether or not I enjoy life and peace, which is why ten years ago, I began to take seriously the Bible’s command to “give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). I’ve learned that most of the melancholy that plagued me for so many years was in essence, my own fault, because I was disobeying this clear command to give thanks. 

If these Scriptures still don’t make crystal clear our responsibility to take charge of our thinking, consider Philippians 4:4-8.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” —Philippians 4:4-8 

Lastly, I must consider the Gospel command to repent. This command is sprinkled throughout the Gospels, on the lips of John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, and Paul. The word isn’t what so many believe about it. It isn’t about weeping and wailing in sorrow for our sins, although that may happen. The word simply means “to change one’s mind.” In other words, to stop thinking the negative, selfish, greedy, lustful, vengeful, and defeatist thoughts that so often occupy our thinking, and begin thinking the way the Gospel commands, rejoicing, giving thanks, looking to Jesus. We cannot do this by ourselves, which is why in Christ, God has given us the Holy Spirit, enabling us to do what we otherwise were incapable of doing:

“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” —Romans 8:3-4 

I can act and feel differently because I can think differently, and that, because God in Christ treated me differently than I deserve. For that, I am thankful tonight!

 May 18, 2023

“Lord, my heart is not haughty, 

Nor my eyes lofty. 

Neither do I concern myself with great matters, 

Nor with things too profound for me. 

Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, 

Like a weaned child with his mother; 

Like a weaned child is my soul within me. 

O Israel, hope in the Lord 

From this time forth and forever.”

Psalm 131:1-3 

I cannot think of a better way to begin the day than with this Psalm. So much of our unrest comes from worrying and fretting about things we cannot change. How much better off would we be if we turned our gaze to the Lord and to that which he has placed within our reach.

So often we pray for peace in our hearts, but as this psalm says, we have a part to play in that inner peace by quieting our souls in God’s presence. Notice it doesn’t say that God will quiet our souls; that’s our job. But we do it by being in God’s presence like a small child with its mother. Even in our prayers we often rattle off a list of complaints and requests, focusing on all that’s wrong instead of the rightness and goodness of being in the presence of a God who loves us unconditionally. It takes time, not just to read the Bible, but to rest in it, allowing it to seep into our souls.

This psalm became a favorite of mine years ago when i first heard the musical version of it written and sung by John Michael Talbot, entitled, “Come to the Quiet.” If you’re feeling restless, anxious, fearful, or furious, allow the words and melody of this song to flood your spirit with peace as you sit like a child on our Father’s knee. Here is a link to Talbot’s song:

https://youtu.be/RFj2LWBccAw