Two Dates

 June 7, 2022

“I’ll be there!” So said Linda on my next-to-the-last call. It was before cell phones, and I was at Annual Conference, every so often running out to the phone in the foyer of Wesley Chapel for an update. I was waiting to be ordained in the evening, and Linda was nine months pregnant. Bishop Yeakel had given me his word that no babies were to be born on this day, but strangely enough, never did say whether or not this word was from the Lord. Apparently, it wasn’t, because on my next call, Linda said, “I don’t think I’m going to make it.” Bishop Yeakel was a better bishop than prophet.

Of course, she wasn’t. She was on the hall phone in the hospital, gowned up and ready to deliver, which she did, ten minutes later. Of course, I wasn’t apprised of the immediacy of the delivery, so I hopped in the car and drove like a maniac so I could be there for the birth of our daughter. No ordination for me!

I should have known my luck wouldn’t hold out. Nate was born in the middle of the biggest flooding the area had ever seen; Roads were closing behind us all the way to the hospital; we got most of the way there when a flooded road halted our progress. The local volunteer firemen took her across the swollen river in an army duck, while I found a place to park our borrowed car. When I finally made it through myself, it was to spend the next 72 hours bagging sand by day and sleeping on a two-seat hospital couch by night.

Matthew’s birth was without incident, except for how quickly he came. I think the obstetrician must have played football in college, because he had to catch Matthew like a wide receiver.

We have faded newspaper accounts of the flood of ‘72, only memories of Matthew in ‘74, but Jessie’s birth is forever engraved, not only on our hearts, but also literally, on the communion set which was the Conference gift to all the ordinands. Mine is the only one—the ONLY one—with two dates engraved on the chalice; the date I was supposed to have been ordained, and the next year’s date when it actually happened. We had one extra participant that next year. As Bishop Yeakel intoned, “Take thou authority…,” Linda stood beside me, holding in her arms the reason for the two dates. And now, every time that chalice is raised in thanksgiving, I have double reason to give thanks: for the gift of salvation in Christ, and the gift of my daughter 43 years ago today.

This Day

 June 6, 2022

D-Day, 1944, 78 years ago, Allied forces storm the beaches of Normandy, France, marking the beginning of the end of Hitler’s brutal Third Reich. More than 6,000 American and British men died on that dark day, paying the full price for freedoms we too often take for granted and are bit by bit squandering today.

It was a much brighter day 52 years ago when Linda and I stood face to face before our pastors, family, and friends, promising to “love, honor, comfort, and keep each other…till parted by death.” It was the beginning of an adventure in many ways every bit as challenging for us as that which stood before our men years before. We’ve had our battles, our victories and defeats. We’ve stormed the gates of hell together, forging a bond that has stood the test of time. 

We thought we knew love those many years ago, but the years have taught us so much that we look back with knowing glances and look ahead with the confidence born of half a century of commitment to a future as uncertain as we faced then. This afternoon, we had our anniversary lunch (the senior portions of lunchtime fare suit us at our age) after having bought more flowers and a coffee maker. Romantics that we are, we know how to party! I pulled some honey from my bees, we went to Bible study, and are now home, writing, thankful for the blessings we have known. Some didn’t seem like blessings at the time, but even the difficulties have had the touch of our Father’s hand. Few people have the privilege of celebrating 52 years together, so I give thanks tonight for the sweetness of the honeycomb, and the even greater sweetness of our marriage.

Grace

 June 5, 2022

Linda and I have often wondered at the blessings that have characterized our lives. We’ve had bumps in the road; times when we wondered how we were going to make it; when we moved to Chicago for seminary in 1975, our income dropped from a whopping $12,000/year to about $3500. When we came back to NY in 1977, we were debt-free. Those years were tight. When someone broke into the church I was pastoring and stole the boys’ Christmas gifts, we had no cushion with which to replace them. Someone gave us money to make sure their Christmas wasn’t toy-less.

In 2004, the church went through a major upheaval that left us drained. We took a 10% pay cut (“we” being ourselves and our church staff); it took 10 years for Park church to get back on her feet, but we were able to bless our successor with a healthy congregation.

And now we are dealing with Nate’s melanoma. But if you add it all up, three major challenges in more than fifty years is a pretty good average. We’ve had all the normal ups and downs of marital life, but we have been blessed beyond measure. How is it that we’ve watched others deal with financial ruin, family dysfunction, catastrophic health issues, and not been touched ourselves? At times, we’ve almost felt guilty, like the soldier who made it home when so many of his buddies died.

We don’t understand the mystery of God’s ways. Of course, I would rather be the one with the cancer than to have my son dealing with it, but for some reason beyond our understanding, God chose otherwise. And on this day, Linda and I look back with deep gratitude one year to our Abi and Jake’s wedding. Tomorrow, we celebrate our fifty-second, and bow before the mystery of the grace that has gone before us each step of the way.

Diligence

 June 4, 2022

It was late. The day had been busy with preparations for the celebration, capping a week of intense teaching and political subterfuge. Things were no different then than now; the power brokers were doing all they could to shut down speech they didn’t like, but the pushback from the people was significant. By the time the evening meal was over, it was late; the tension around the table was almost palpable, and now they were going for a short walk to a favorite place of prayer and meditation to finish out the day.

Little did Peter know what would happen before morning. He, along with John and James, were invited to an exclusive prayer meeting with Jesus, which they attended, but not altogether. Worn out as they were, try as they might, they couldn’t keep their eyes open. Jesus walked a little further and prayed as he had never before prayed, till he sweat blood. Meanwhile, Peter and the others slept. After awhile, Jesus came back and gently chastised them, to no avail. 

Suddenly, there were lights and shouting! The religious leaders saw their chance and took it. Led by one of Jesus’ own followers, they descended upon Jesus, and dragged him off. Peter followed from a distance, but before sunrise, just as Jesus had predicted, he had denied three times that he had ever known Jesus. John tells us he wept bitterly.

I wonder if Peter was thinking of that long-ago night when he penned his second letter as preserved in our Bibles. Twice in chapter 1, he speaks of diligence: 

 “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,…Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;” —II Peter 1:5,6, 10 

I’m guessing he remembered all too well how he stumbled that night in the garden. Perseverance was not his strong suit back then, but he learned his lesson well, and was diligent, working hard to make sure that never again would he deny his Lord. 

It is tempting to think of prayer in the terms of the old gospel song, “In the Garden,” where we walk and talk with Jesus in sweetness and light, forgetting that in the garden that night, Jesus found only a battlefield with the devil and perhaps with his own soul, as he prayed “Let this cup pass from me.” This was no comforting time of peace and safety. Peter remembered, and calls us not to comforting, but to combative prayers, where we must diligently…with determined effort persevere. 

With my son’s melanoma diagnosis, I have been driven to my knees more than ever before, and have been challenged through the Word of God to dig in, praying without ceasing, not only for Nate, but for souls to be saved, for the work of God to prosper, for the darkness to be pushed back by the light of Christ. This is no stroll through the park, but a fight to the finish! May we stand firm in the power of the Holy Spirit, holding one another up as Aaron and Hur held Moses’ arms so Joshua could win the fight. Our prayers are not only for ourselves, but for others unnamed, who struggle in the valley below against a determined enemy who must be met with even the even greater determination and endurance that comes only through persistent prayer.

Growing

 June 3, 2022

How do we measure our knowledge of God? What is the test that lets us know we really know him? Fortunately, Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:5-8.

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” —II Peter 1:5-8 NKJV

Notice verse 8: “If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peter doesn’t leave much wiggle room here. A fruitful knowledge of Jesus is guaranteed if we meet the conditions aforementioned. What are the things we need to have in abundance? 

He tells us: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. According to Peter, it requires diligence to obtain these; we must unceasingly work at them, but in doing so, we are assured of a knowledge that actually makes a difference. It’s not a mere head knowledge or an academic exercise; it bears fruit in our lives. No matter how wonderful I may feel about Jesus, without these characteristics, there is no genuine knowledge of Christ, only a deceptive lie.

Two of the required characteristics are self-control and perseverance. They are like twins, and is often where I have gotten stuck, especially when it comes to prayer. If I want to know Christ, I must exercise self-control, refusing to let lesser things distract me, and then to persevere in prayer. I cannot claim to know Jesus apart from persevering prayer. It’s exactly what Paul commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:17—“Pray without ceasing.” It’s a learning process; hopefully, one never stops growing in grace and in spiritual disciplines. I’m nearly 73, and have been following Jesus since I was twelve. I’m still learning, still growing. Lord willing, I’ll never stop. 

Prayer Unity

June 2, 2022

Our Thursday morning prayer time always begins with a Psalm; today’s was 85, a prayer which begins by remembering God’s favor and forgiveness, before praying for restoration and revival:

“Lord, You have been favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin… Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease. Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, Lord, And grant us Your salvation.” —Psalm 85:1-4, 6-7

In verse 8, he then pauses, something we would do well to imitate:

“I will hear what God the Lord will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly.”

Quietly listening is just as much a part of prayer as is voicing our requests. God often is ready to answer our prayers, but we’re too busy talking to hear what he has to say. In v. 10, God says something remarkable: “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.” This actually happened in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The holy righteousness of God was fulfilled in his life and death, as he fulfilled the Law in both deed and in his atoning sacrificial death, making peace, as Paul said in Romans:

“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…To be spiritually minded is life and peace.” “ —Romans 8:3-4, 6

This morning, I was praying this text about righteousness and peace kissing, and thanking God for his Word which gives us assurance when our feelings fail us. I had no sooner finished praying when pastor Joe read a text message he had just received from Nathan, who was praying at home. This was his text:

This is my prayer. Please share with the guys! 

Amen! 

“Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed!”

Psalm 85:10 NLT

We can't receive His unfailing love outside the truth revealed about him in scripture. We can't experience the peace of God outside of righteousness (holy living). 

Help us to do our part Lord, so that we can lay hold of what you've already made available to us.

Neither Nathan nor I was aware of the other’s prayer until after we had each prayed THE VERY SAME PRAYER! When Jesus said “Where two or more of you are gathered together, there am I in the midst,” he included gathering in the Spirit as well as in physical proximity. He was with us both as we prayed from different locations the very same prayer thanking God for what he has done in Jesus, making righteousness and mercy kiss, and thanking him for his Word which unswervingly guides us where our feelings fail. 

Knowing God

 June 1, 2022

What do you know? Sometimes we think we know more than we do, and other times we know more than we care to know. Peter talks a lot about knowing, beginning with knowing Jesus. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord’  (1 Peter 1:2). The question that comes to my mind is, “What does it mean, to know God?” Some people I imagine would equate knowing God with good feelings in prayer or worship, but knowing someone doesn’t necessarily mean feeling good in their presence. I know people who don’t make me feel good when I’m around them. 

We sing, “I want to know You; I want to see your face; I want to know You more,” but how do we measure our knowledge of God? Peter gives us a few clues.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3 NLT

In other words, a godly life is evidence of knowing God. Verse 4 adds, “escaping the corruption in this world through lust.” Am I escaping it or entangled in it? Verse 8 adds growth in knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love, and fruitfulness. Knowing Christ goes beyond knowing my Bible, attending church, etc. Only if the qualities enumerated above are increasing in me can I say I know God.

I suppose everyone would like some inner witness, some “liver quiver” to assure them that they know Christ, but if that is what I am looking for, I am looking for something outside the witness of the Word of God. Such a quest puts more stock in feelings than faith. Looking to Scripture provides the only reliable assurance, as Jesus himself testified, “If you love Me, keep My commandments…He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

—John 14:15, 21 NKJV