The Melody of God’s Word

When I was child, my family attended church on Sunday evenings. And if we were lucky, we would have a ‘Hymn Sing.’ For those unfamiliar with this term, a ‘Hymn Sing’ consists of a worship service where the content was, well, the singing of hymns. 

At the church I grew up in, people would shout out the title of the song they were requesting as the current hymn wound down. As I recall, there was an art to knowing when to call out the next hymn. If you yelled your song request out too early, it wouldn’t be heard over the sound of the piano or organ. If you waited too long, Ms. Higgenpowers would shout out, “Just as I Am” and its 41 verses.  

No one liked Ms. Higgenpowers. 

But I digress. One Sunday, my song request was heard and granted. I had yelled out, “Pass it on” and the music minister signaled for the congregation to turn to my hymn. This hymn was relatively new to the Baptist Hymn canon. I loved it because, like me, it was a product of the 1970s. It was contemporary. It was fresh. It didn’t sound like the other hymns. 

“I’ll shout it from the mountain top!” the song rang out. “I want my world to know, the Lord of love has come to me. I want to pass it on.”  

Although I love many different expressions of music in worship, there can be no denying the power of the Baptist Hymnal in helping to shape my faith over the years. Congregational singing is a deeply moving experience for me as I know that it is for many of you. Yes, the language of the lyrics is sometimes antiquated. And yes, the tune may not be as modern as what we listen to in the car. But, the theology, the scripture, and the testimony of the faithful who have gone on before us is undeniably present in the hymns that we sing.  

I feel the power of Easter when we sing, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” 

I am reminded of the rich and storied tradition of the Church when we sing, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” 

I long for the chord in the last refrain of “Holy, Holy, Holy” when we land on the bedrock phrase: “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.” 

The music that we sing in worship each Sunday has been sung by our brothers and sisters in Christ in so many different settings, and for so many different occasions.  

“This Is My Father’s World” was once the theme song of Vacation Bible School when I was a child. “Morning Has Broken” was the hymn at an Easter Sunrise Service at the first church I served after seminary. I presented a framed copy of the words to “The Servant Song,” to Rebecca when I proposed to her.  

I have seen parents who have lost their child sing at the funeral, “It Is Well with My Soul,” with tears streaming down their faces. I have heard students belt out, “Be Thou My Vision,” on retreats. I felt the ground shake when the organ played the downbeat of, “For All the Saints,” at my first chapel service at Princeton Seminary. I remember singing, “My Lord is Near Me All the Time,” with my father as we took refuge in our backyard shed during a ferocious thunderstorm. 

“In the lightning flash across the sky His mighty power I see, And I know if He can reign on high, His light can shine on me.”  

“I’ve seen it in the lightning, heard it in the thunder, and felt it in the rain; My Lord is near me all the time, My Lord is near me all the time.”  

Yes, I know of God’s Good News because the Bible has told me so. But the music of God’s Church has given me a melody to remember it by. And for that, I am most deeply grateful. I can imagine that you feel the same. 

Hope for the In-Between Times

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27

I genuinely wish that it was not true. But it is. As we walk along the Path, we will encounter danger.  

As we’ve identified in worship these last weeks, the Bible is littered with stories about how the faithful encountered trouble along the way. Peter was thrown in prison, where he awaited his impending execution. Paul’s journey to Rome made little progress and nearly took his life. Nehemiah was trying to rally the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem’s city walls when they encountered sabotage. Jesus tells the story of an individual who was attacked while traveling on the path and was left for dead by robbers.  

We take consolation in the fact that God redeems these challenging moments and even uses them for good. Peter was rescued by an angel. People’s lives were saved because Paul’s boat kept getting blown off course. Nehemiah experienced the power and strength of community. And that poor soul who was beat up was tended to by a good-hearted neighbor.  

To sum up a month’s worth of study, we’d quote Paul’s motivational speech from the deck of the ship that was being battered by the waves: “Take heart, friends!”  

Be courageous. Have no fear. Do not lose heart. 

Not all of our stories have happy endings, though, do they? I am troubled by this, too, brothers and sisters. To suggest otherwise would be flat out dishonest.  

To live means to lose. The author of Ecclesiastes makes this point well-enough, but we really don’t need to turn to the Old Testament to learn this lesson. We know this to be true because the ways of our world are relentless and hard. It doesn’t always turn out the way we wish. Our prayers are not always answered. Bad things happen to us along the way. 

Where then is our hope? 

Our hope lies in a God who will not allow sorrow and pain to win. First the hard news: sometimes the sorrow and the pain that we experience in life does in fact win the day. Now the good news: the darkness that we experience will not win the war. Because of God’s love for us, and because of the power of the resurrection, we can forever claim God’s victory over eternal sorrow and eternal pain. This reality—this kingdom reality—is what keeps us going when we live a story that does not have a happy ending. 

People of faith seem to understand that there may be (typically is) a sizeable gap between our hard stories and a happy ending. In fact, that happy ending may be delayed until the Great Day of the Lord. We have ultimate hope, yes. It’s the in-between time that weighs us down.  

Jesus seemed to anticipate this reality when he was concluding his earthly ministry with his disciples. He grasped that his disciples would have to live in the in-between. He knew that there would be times when his followers would not feel the ultimate resolution and redemption of their circumstances. He knew that his followers would be disheartened, downcast and frightened.  

So, he sought to reassure them.  

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” 

Jesus promises us peace for the in-between times. When we are experiencing hardship and challenge and have not yet experienced the hope of divine resolution, Jesus gives us peace.  

I think it’s important to note that he does not promise to make it all better. Our well-intended parents used to lie to us when we were children, didn’t they? We would experience a boo boo, or a let-down, or a loss, and they would seek to comfort us with kisses, hugs, milkshakes, maybe even cash. And they would ask us, “Now, isn’t that better?”  

Yes, we would nod. And we would lie, too. 

It didn’t make it better. But our parents’ presence made a difference, didn’t it? 

Jesus gives us peace—not as the world gives—but as only God can give. “Be of good courage,” He tells us. “Shrug off the troubles that weigh you down.”  

Christ’s peace is decidedly hard to define. Perhaps it is the gift of non-anxiousness in the midst of stress and worry. Maybe it’s the sense of sanctuary that we experience when our world goes to hell. Maybe it’s the sensation of being held and of being swaddled in assurance and encouragement.  

Whatever Christ’s peace is, it is enough. The Bible tells us so.  

I like how Christian author, Frederick Buchner says it: “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”  

But fear is so easy. How do we resist its inky darkness? 

By choosing Christ. That’s how. For He stands with us in the in-between.  

When We Regret Our Behavior on the Path

What do we do when we experience danger on the Path of life? 

This has been the question that we’ve been holding these last few Sundays in worship. Peter found himself in jail, waiting for his impending execution. Paul kept getting blown off course on his way to Rome. Nehemiah and his faithful friends encountered sabotage when they tried to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.  

In each of these circumstances, God redeemed the difficult and the challenging. Thus, we are able--in the words of Paul—"To take heart and to be courageous!” in the face of the obstacles that spring up along the way. 

But how about God? How has God responded when things didn’t go as He had hoped? What did God, Himself, do when faced with disappointment and heartache?  

In a word, He overreacted. Let me explain. 

We all know that God created the world and all that is in it. And he proclaimed it was good. But things did not go as He had hoped. God’s creation—namely, humankind—had grievously disappointed Him.  

Genesis 6 reports that, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5-6) 

Let that last line sink in for a moment and feel the sense of despair God once felt: “I am sorry that I have made them.”  

This was not what God had intended. His creation, says the author of Genesis, “had become corrupted and was filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:12) God had become disgusted with his creation, save for one person—Noah. He made a promise with Noah and his family and instructed him to make a lifeboat for humanity and the animal kingdom. 

God’s response to this tragic set of circumstances is to eradicate the creation that he once called beloved.  

“I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life.” (Genesis 6:17) 

When faced with a significant fork in the road, God chooses to blow it all up which, of course, is His right. God is God, and we are not. Although we may find this demonstration of divine wrath particularly hard to imagine, we cannot escape the fact that God may do with His creation as He sees fit.  

But God almost instantly regrets his decision to destroy his creation. Upon smelling the sweet aroma of the burnt offerings from Noah’s sacrifice, “The Lord said in His heart: ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind…nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21) 

God seems remorseful for what He has done. He will not do again what he has done. Yes, God seems sorry for his decision to wipe out creation. 

It’s true. This image of a sorrowful God is unsettling and dispiriting. We’re not accustomed to thinking of the God of the Universe with such decidedly human attributes.  

And yet… 

There is something quite reassuring about this unnerving story. God reacts to a disappointment on the Path much like we do when we experience heartache, frustration and tragic changes of plans. We often respond to these circumstances and developments with harsh words, with debilitating sorrow and yes, even violence. And like God, we’ve also come to regret these gut reactions.  

But like God, we can also learn from these moments. God certainly learned from what He had done. Upon seeing the power of his wrath as dispensed by His omnipotent hand, God chooses never to do it again. What’s more, he makes a solemn promise to the survivors of His apocalyptic actions, saying: “I am establishing my covenant with you…(that) never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:11) 

God even creates a reminder--we’ll call it insurance for humanity--so that he will not unloose his wrath upon the whole of His creation. God creates a rainbow, not to remind humankind of his promise but to remind Himself of the promise He had made with them.  

“When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant…and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” (Genesis 9:16) 

This statement is consistent with the great love and commitment that God demonstrates to His people throughout the story of Israel and also in the new covenant that He makes to us in Jesus. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17) 

Things do not always go as we had hoped or as we had planned. Danger is definitely present along the way. And sometimes, sometimes, we do not respond the way we should. We react. We lash out.  

But we can learn from these moments and promise never to react in that same way again. We have the capacity to learn, to be reminded of the consequences of our actions and to do better next time.  

God, Himself, shows us how.

Lessons from the Thai Soccer Team and Their Rescuers

I’m going to blame my older brother and sister for this. 

When I was a young lad, my siblings liked to have some fun at my expense. They would spread a large blanket on the floor and invite me to lie down on one edge of the square. Then, they would roll me up like a burrito. In essence, I was swaddled up and could not escape the bonds of my fabric prison. 

My brother and sister found this hilarious.  

I did not.  

This is the traumatic event (No, I don’t think I am exaggerating) that I point to when I feel the telltale signs of claustrophobia in crowded elevators or while exploring a tight cavern or corridor.  

Whether you’re claustrophobic or not, who among us has not been terrified of the predicament that has befallen the soccer team of teenage boys in Thailand these last weeks? The team had been exploring an extensive cave after a soccer game when water from heavy rains flooded the compartments and trapped the boys nearly 2 miles underground. They had been feared lost until a diving crew discovered them safe and sound in a compartment-like room that gave them space to escape the cold water and to breathe in the air pocket that had formed above the water.  

By now you’ve heard how impossible the team’s extraction seemed. Strategies for rescue ranged from keeping them in the cave for weeks, if not months, until the monsoon-induced flood waters receded, to teaching them how to swim and use scuba gear. To complicate matters, the levels of oxygen in the cave had diminished to barely survivable limits in recent days and there were worries that the flood waters within the cave might continue to rise.  

Something had to be done and be done quickly. 

I am pleased to report that as of Tuesday morning, all of the boys and their coach had been rescued from the cave. Their nearly four-hour journey to the surface included tethering the boys to trained Navy SEALS, fitting them with oxygen masks, and then threading them through the tight twists and turns of a serpentine cave system. Rescuers had feared that a single moment of panic from either a boy or a SEAL along their 2-mile journey to safety would end in disaster. And yet, everyone who was trapped has now safely been returned to the surface after surviving underground for 3 weeks.  

While watching this drama unfold, I’ve learned the following lessons: 

1.) The Thai soccer team’s ability to be non-anxious saved their lives. 

It has now been reported that the coach of the team taught the boys how to meditate while they awaited rescue. Had they not practiced meditation, the boys’ unregulated breathing would have used up all the available oxygen in the chamber. They were kept calm and serene because their leader modeled a non-anxious presence, and also taught the boys how to be non-anxious themselves.  

While there are differences between meditation and prayer (emptying one’s self vs. filling one’s self with the Holy Spirit), the results of both are similar. Our bodies, minds and souls are quieted. The Gospel reveals to us an unflappable God in Jesus Christ who frequently retreated to pray and to meditate, while also modeling for his disciples and to us what it looks like to be dependent on God’s presence and strength.  

2.) The boys demonstrated great courage. 

If the boys were afraid—and who wouldn’t be?—they certainly did not allow their fears to paralyze them from being a part of their own rescue. The boys couldn’t simply be saved. The boys, themselves, had to be active participants in their own rescue. They had to swim, maneuver, twist and turn alongside the professional divers in order to be freed. To do that, they had to dig deep and be brave. They had to do something they had never done before, and get it right the very first time. In case you’re wondering, this is what courage looks like.  

3.) A global community worked together to do what initially seemed impossible.  

The world saw the need and worked together to solve a problem that seemed unworkable. Perhaps this is why the story captured such attention across so many political, social, and cultural fault-lines. Everyone worked together to save the trapped boys. Differences were laid aside to help those who were in need. A spirit of collaboration was generated by the obvious need, and the question of whether the boys deserved the chance to be saved never influenced the strategies to rescue them.  

I’m inspired and encouraged by what unfolded in Thailand these last three weeks, and I cannot help but to wonder what more we can do in this world to help and to save others. As followers of Jesus Christ and as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we should be on the front lines of efforts to help, to feed, to rescue, to assist, to bless, and to encourage those in need—regardless of the reasons why they might not deserve our care. There should be no question whether we should provide counsel, sanctuary, kindness or love to others when they are in need. Our faith in Jesus Christ compels us to. In fact, this is what God requires us to do for our enemies. Imagine then what our actions toward our neighbors should look like.  

Let us not forget Matthew 22:36-40

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” 

It Is More Blessed to Give than to Receive

I remember it plain as day. It was a strange scene to say the least. 

Years ago, I was helping to lead Vacation Bible School. It was the end of the day and I was putting things back in the closet when I heard the shrieks from a child on the playground. Hurrying outside, I saw something that I didn’t think was possible. 

One of our older children had chosen (unwisely) to get in a swing that was clearly designed for a much smaller child. The swing was a kind of harness, complete with holes for the child’s legs to fit through. When I stepped out on to the playground, I saw that her legs had gotten stuck in the harness. She was imprisoned; held fast to the swing. But that wasn’t all. She was hanging upside down.  

Now, I have no idea how this must have happened. But what compounded the oddity of the scene was that another child, about the same age, was standing nearby watching the girl scream in terror. The witness to this playground malfunction was a mature child who could have, I thought, brought some kind of assistance to the dilemma at hand. And yet, he just stood there looking at her while she screamed.  

After remedying the conundrum with the gravity-defying child, I turned my attention to the child who had watched the girl hang upside down.  

Perplexed by the other child’s obvious nonchalant response to his peer’s predicament, I asked him, “Why didn’t you try and help her?”  

He shrugged and said, “The devil told me I didn’t need to.” 

I was irritated with the child until I thought more about his response. The more that I reflected on it, the more I found myself moved by the honesty of his statement. We oftentimes assume that evil wishes for us to take a particular malicious action. However, sometimes the tempter succeeds in getting us to do nothing when something is called for.  

Jesus calls the devil the Deceiver, after all. 

In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul highlights a teaching from Jesus that we do not have access to in the Gospels. He says, “In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35). 

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” 

Funny statement, this is. We’ve heard it all our lives. Although we don’t have a record of Jesus saying these exact words, he does tell us that when we “give… it will be given (back) to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”  (Luke 6:38) 

Here’s the thing. I don’t think we believe it. I don’t think we actually believe that it is more of a blessing to give—that is, to be generous, to contribute, to share--than it is to receive.  

If we stop and think about it, the statement seems absurd. Who doesn’t want to receive? We are consumed with consumption. It is far better to be served. It is far more desirable to be comfortable. It is far more satisfying to get what we desire.  

Besides, we don’t have enough to share or to give away. Right?  

Ah, this is the deception that we allow ourselves to buy into. We equate giving with loss rather than gift or blessing.  

In truth, I’m not sure we openly talk about this. Much of our energy is placed on the needs that exist and not the blessing that we receive when we contribute. We tend to emphasize the morality of giving, and that we are compelled to give. Not surprisingly, then, we grow resentful of those who ask us to give or share.  

But Paul gets it. In lifting up the truth about giving, he draws our attention to a God who knows the joy of being a creator of good things, of being radically generous, of bestowing blessings upon others. Jesus teaches us that it is a blessing to God when He gives us life, supplies our needs, showers us with good things.  

We give and contribute and are generous because God has first been generous to us! To give is not a burden. True, giving is a sacrifice. But the gift is that in giving we receive far more than we could have ever asked or imagined.  

But we just don’t buy it, do we?  

We’ve allowed ourselves to become stingy with the gifts God has given us. We hold on to our resources because we cannot imagine how God could bless us by giving something valuable away.  

Isn’t this the story of the boy who shared his meager lunch with Jesus, only to see God work a miracle through it? We are resistant to believe that God could be that powerful with our own sacrifices, and our own giving. So, we choose not to give.  

But the truth is, giving is such a blessing! Rebecca and I have been roundly astounded by God’s blessings to us when we have tithed our incomes to the church and contributed offerings to needy causes. Many would argue that we are not being wise stewards of our resources. And from a worldly perspective, that is definitely true. The money we give away could have been used to make improvements on our home, invested in our retirements, or put aside for our children’s education. And yet, God has always, always, supplied our needs (and then some). When we have given generously, we have been richly blessed beyond measure.  

Why are we so resistant to believing that it is more blessed to give than to receive? 

I don’t know. Perhaps we’ve been deceived by the world. Perhaps the devil has convinced us we that we don’t have to give.  

You know, the Deceiver’s not stupid. He knows what a blessing giving can be.  

The Midwives Who Feared God More Than Men

Captain Kirk and Spock. Napoleon Dynamite and Pedro Sanchez. Thelma and Louise. Marlin and Dory. Forrest Gump and Lieutenant Dan. Han and Chewie. Woody and Buzz. Frodo and Sam.  

Shiphrah and Puah. 

No, these two women are not featured in a motion picture (at least not yet). However, if they were, it would simply be called, “The Midwives.” Although these two women have not been cast in a summer blockbuster, their story figures prominently as we consider our sermon series about ‘Sharing the Path.’ 

They share the path, alright. As outlaws. 

Go back in time with me to a place when God’s people had made a home for themselves in Egypt. For years, the Hebrews had been revered for their wise son’s stewardship and leadership during a terrible famine. The sons and daughters of Joseph had multiplied exponentially in the years following his death and they filled the land of the Egyptians. 

As the story in Exodus details, however, “a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” (Exodus 1:8-10) 

Again, it bears repeating: The king dealt shrewdly with them. 

As a result, the Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews. They forced them to build cities and to do their bidding. “But, the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.” (Exodus 1:12-13).  

Enter Shiphrah and Puah.  

Ever-frustrated by the over-abundant Hebrews, the King sent for these two Hebrew midwives. He told them, “When you help the Hebrew women in child birth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” (Exodus 1:15-16)  

Infanticide, horrifically, makes frequent appearances in history. We may recall that Herod once ordered the deaths of all the boys in Bethlehem, two years of age and younger. Jesus narrowly escaped (ironically) to Egypt with Mary and Joseph.  

Herod's shrewd thinking is truly cunning. Children are vulnerable and won’t fight back. Easier to nip them in the bud before they blossom into legitimate threats--or so the thinking went among the Pharaohs and the Herods of the world.  

“The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.” (Exodus 1:8). 

The women feared God. They feared their Maker and did not do what the king had directed. In words later echoed by Peter in Acts 5:29, these women concluded that they “must obey God rather than men.”  

What courage this must have required! What pluck! These two women had conspired together, at the risk of their lives, to disobey the king in order to save the Hebrew boys.  

The king was none too pleased to learn that his plan had been thwarted. “Why have you done this?” he demanded to know. “Why have you let the boys live?”  

The midwives answered, and I quote their clever scheming: “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before we (the midwives) arrive.” (Exodus 1:19) 

Ah, Shiphrah and Puah. Not only are they faithful and brave, they too are wickedly clever, as well. “Hebrew women are strong. They give birth before we can get there. Thus, we cannot kill their children before they take their first breaths.”  

“So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God (it’s mentioned twice in the text!), he gave them families of their own.” (Exodus 1:21) 

Do you have a friend like Shiphrah and Puah? If not, you’d best find one. Each of us needs a friend who will help us to be brave and to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God. We need friends to help us remember that we should be fearful of God and not man.  

Thank God for the Shiphrah and Puahs of the world. May we be found to be as shrewd and courageous as they.  

What to Do When the Mission Field Fills Your Church

Some years ago, I served as a youth minister. As I came to learn, working with children and adolescents can be quite the education. Young people demand that we get to the point quickly, and that we make the message accessible and authentic. 

But what I most remember about my youth ministry days was how effective young people are at teaching. And by teaching, I mean teaching me. 

If I recall correctly, we were sprawled out in a circle on the floor of the youth room when I shared the old familiar story about Hannah’s son Samuel and how he became Israel’s prophet par excellence.  

“What does God want us to learn from this story,” I asked the youth. 

A middle-schooler perked up, “You mean besides the fact that we should have more lock-ins? Didn’t you say something about this kid sleeping in the sanctuary of God?”  

I sighed. “Yes, besides the fact that we should have more lock-ins. What is God trying to tell us in this story?” 

A skeptical teenage girl caught me off guard with her observation. 

“Let me get this straight,” she said. “Hannah gave her son to God?” 

“Yes. She dedicated her son, Samuel, to God.” 

“My parents haven’t dedicated me to anything,” she said soberly.  

After a few moments of silence, a high school guy spoke up and said, “I think it’s cool that Samuel had someone to go to when he had a question—when he didn’t know what was going on.”  

A few others nodded in quiet agreement.  

A high school senior then spoke up with a question that sounded much more like a statement. “It was the priest, Eli, that taught him how to listen for God’s voice, wasn’t it?”  

“Yes, it was,” I confirmed. “He taught Samuel how to hear God’s voice and then instructed him to respond to God by saying, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”  

The senior held my gaze for a moment, and then said simply, “Yea. I like that.” 

“I do, too,” I said. “I do, too.” 

This past Sunday our youth led us in worship. Just as it was true during Samuel’s time, God has something to say to us today. Under the leadership of Carol Cloer, our youth have been listening for God’s voice these last weeks in Sunday School and on Wednesday evenings. Their leadership on Sunday helped reveal that God was speaking to us through them.  

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” 

Are we? Can we say with confidence that we are listening for God’s Word? The story about Samuel and Eli opens with the revelation that, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” I don’t believe for one moment that this is a reflection of God’s absence but is rather an indictment on His people. Apparently, they had a hearing problem.  

And God had something to say to them about it. If memory serves correctly, God took Eli’s sons to task for their evil ways.  

God has something to say to us, and I for one am grateful that He frequently speaks through the youngest among us. I pray that we will be receptive to the message that he sends us through our youth. 

There are ways that we can be like Eli and help shape the faith of our young people. True, our church has employed college students and young people to help teach the faith to dozens of children in our community in After School and in our upcoming summer camp. Yes, both Carol and I will be teaching these Bible stories to the children throughout the weeks they are in camp, but more needs to be done to equip our children to recognize God’s voice and to respond to His invitation to follow Jesus.  

And this is where our entire church can be like Eli. 

This summer, I would like to challenge you to play a role in the mission and ministry that we will offer to our community. There are three levels of engagement that you can choose from: 

1.) Invite your Sunday School class, Circle, or gang of ramp builders to adopt a class of summer camp kids. Ask Kelly how your group of friends can support and encourage these children and their families. 

2.) Tell Kelly that you’re able to commit to volunteering during the Bible story time, or during art or recreation. Learn the children’s names. Take a moment to piggyback on the lesson that Carol and I teach each day. Tell the college student staff member that you’d like to share your testimony with the class one day. 

3.) Arrange to visit and hang out at the conclusion of the day when parents linger for a few minutes of conversation while their kids take their last crack at the tire swing. Introduce yourself. Tell them how glad you are that they are a part of our community and our church’s summer ministry. Go further and make the connection between that parent and the child you helped to paint earlier in the day. Tell that parent how you heard their child make such an astute observation during the Bible story time. Share with that parent how their child taught you about God’s love.  

For years, churches would take mission trips where we would round up children in Backyard Bible Schools to teach them about Jesus. Hear the Good News, brothers and sisters! The children that we used to have to go and find are coming to us! 

To put it simply, the story means that it’s our turn to be Eli. It’s our turn to teach children and youth how to recognize God’s voice and to respond to his Word.  

It’s summer, y’all. And because of God’s rich blessings, our community will be coming to us. They will be worshipping in our Mission and Fellowship Center. They will be learning Bible Stories in our sanctuary. They will be building relationships in our church’s classrooms. In truth, they will be spending more time in our church than we will.  

It certainly would be a shame for God to speak through these children and we’re not at church to hear it.  

Don’t just pick one option on engagement, First Baptist. Pick all three.  

Act Now to Preserve Your Life

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Jesus in Matthew 7:24

It’s as though Jesus knows what we are thinking. After hearing his Sermon on the Mount, many of us are not so sure that we are willing to walk down the new path that he is bushwhacking.

Jesus’s teachings are hard. They are impractical. They demand sacrifice and a radical sense of trust. His teachings lay the groundwork for a new ethic; a new way of being in relationship with one another. In direct and prophetic rhetoric, Jesus is telling us that he expects his followers to live in a new kingdom, even while they are immersed in occupied lands. And it all feels near-to-impossible.

Can we still say we like Jesus without doing what he says?

This familiar passage about building a house on a strong foundation signals the end of Jesus’s famous teaching in Matthew’s Gospel. Like the teaching that immediately precedes this one about false prophets, the image serves as a warning to his listeners.

First, Jesus tells his listeners to beware of leaders who will seek to dilute his words and to use faith as a means to advance their own agendas.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Jesus in Matthew 7:15

We are to look at the fruits of their efforts to determine if they are true emissaries of Jesus. And if they are not representatives of the Kingdom that Jesus is inaugurating, never fear. They will be “cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Again, Jesus in Matthew 7:19)

Subtle, Jesus is not.

Next, Jesus implores his listeners to take seriously his teachings and to put them to work in their lives. Those who choose to take Jesus seriously here and follow his commands will build a life for themselves that will weather the storms that this world throws at them.

As if that’s not clear enough, Jesus puts an exclamation point on his statement by reporting that, “everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” (You guessed it. Jesus’s words from Matthew 7:26-27)

It’s not enough to simply hear Jesus’s words. It’s not enough to simply call Jesus, ‘Lord, Lord.’ One must act on Jesus’s teachings. In doing so, our lives will bear fruit. But even more than that, in doing what Jesus commands we will wisely position ourselves for life.

Last night, amidst the heavy rain and flooding in our region, I saw this alert from the National Weather Service out of Greenville, SC:

“MCDOWELL COUNTY UPDATE: A landslide has comprised the integrity of Lake Tahoma Dam. MANDATORY EVACUATIONS underway. ACT NOW TO PRESERVE YOUR LIFE.”

Jesus never promises us that the rain won’t fall and that the water won’t rise. He tells us plainly, however, that when the rain does fall, those who have obeyed Jesus’s commandments will be preserved.

Is there a dam in your life that’s about to burst? Are you experiencing a season of terrible wind and rain? It’s not too late to take Jesus’s words and teachings seriously.

Act now to preserve your life.

Summer Time and the Livin’ Is Easy

Although Memorial Day Weekend typically signals the unofficial start to summer, First Baptist Church got a week’s headstart.

No, I’m not referring to the typical summer-like pattern that evolves in our mountains with foggy mornings and afternoon thunderstorms. I’m referencing our children’s campout and sleepover this past weekend. As our 1st Explorers Ministry Director, Kelly Brown, details in his own reflection, the young men in our Royal Ambassador program went on a campout to the Davidson river while our Girls in Action had a sleepover at the church.

On Saturday morning, I drove across Highway 276 to rendezvous with the boys as they began to strike camp after a wet night in the Pisgah Forest. Yes, the boys and their leaders were a bit damp, but the bacon that Chris Moore was frying had everyone in a festive mood and the boys played whiffle ball beneath the drippy canopy of leaves. There was an unmistakable feeling of accomplishment among them, and I delighted in the sense of community that had sprung up among the men and boys. With the smell of a campfire flooding my nostrils, I couldn’t help but smile as the men drank coffee and the boys acted like boys. After a long and at times torturous winter, we had finally made it to summer.

Summer is a time for Sabbath-taking. It is ripe for new rhythms, late dinners and walks along a lush river valley. Summer is also a unique time for service and ministry as the season provides unique opportunities to assist our friends and neighbors while we tell them the “old, old story” of Jesus and his love. At First Baptist, we will strive to honor both rest and mission.

Here are some highlights of what we have planned for this summer:

-Sylva First Wednesdays concludes for the spring on Wednesday, June 6. Our Wednesday night programming in the fall will begin anew on August 22.

-Our joint Vacation Bible School with other downtown churches will run from June 11-15 in the mornings at Bridge Park. There are countless ways that you can serve the children and our families that week. Join us to help lead the children’s small groups, or to provide water for volunteers, or to visit with parents, or to help set-up tables and tents, or to simply be a part of the joyful chaos that is Vacation Bible School. Truly, the sound of children’s laughter is a balm for a sick and weary soul.

-Speaking of children, our 1st Explorers Ministry will again be offering their robust offering to the community with our Summer Explorers Camp. Although you may not have a child or grandchild participating in this wall-to-wall summer ministry opportunity, your Sunday School class can choose to partner with Kelly and our staff to provide unique opportunities of connection with children and their families this summer. I can think of no better ‘home’ mission opportunity than for a group, ministry, circle or couple to adopt a summer camp group of children who will be on campus with us over 40 hours each week. Think of the relationships that could be built and strengthened!

-As a church family, we’ll gather for fellowship on three Sunday afternoons this summer to relax, play and devour ice cream. Yes, we’ll be headed to the pavilion at Deep Creek in the Great Smokies Mountain National Park on June 24 where we’ll eat and play, and we’ll have our traditional potluck picnic at East LaPorte on August 26. But sandwiched between these two events will be a new gathering where we’ll have supper on the church grounds. On Sunday afternoon, July 15th, we’ll enjoy a hot dog supper followed by a veritable feast of ice cream afterward. It’s been some time since we crowned an ice cream maker champion, so get your recipes primed and ready for our contest after supper that evening.

-Of course, it’s not summer without the crack of a bat. Although our children and youth will be at their respective Passport Mission Camps the week of July 4th, that won’t stop the rest of us from taking in an Asheville Tourists game on the 4th of July at 7 PM. We’ll drive separately but sit together. And after the game, we’ll be invited to head out onto the field to take in their fireworks display. Tickets are $10 each and must be purchased by June 4th in our church office.

-Oh, and there’s much more. Our youth will be meeting together on Mondays from 4-6 PM each week, and there will be church hikes and a host of other mission opportunities to be a part of, as well. We know that your family will be traveling and vacationing this summer, but we also hope you’ll choose to broaden your chumminess with our own church family this summer, also.

Summer is a sweet, sweet gift and we’re not about to waste it. So, look around and see God at work in our beautiful mountain home. Feel the mist from a thundering waterfall. Take in an evening with friends by a fire pit. Barbecue on a rusty grill by a cement picnic table in the national park. Listen to the melody of the songbirds. And above all, be thankful.

It’s summer, and the time is ripe to play, rest and serve.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.”

-Jesus, Matthew 6:22-23

Not too long ago, a major telecommunications giant inadvertently made the search history of over half a million people available to the public. According to Tim Challies, this data contained over 21 million internet searches.

The company responsible for this breach of privacy claimed that they had changed the users’ personal information, but it didn’t take long for hackers to decrypt the account holders’ identities.

One can easily deduce what was discovered.

The leaked data showed that people live separate lives—one public and one private. As Challies puts it, one could “reconstruct a person’s life, at least in part, from what they searched for over a period of time.” The author of The Next Story reflects, “What is remarkable is the way people transition seamlessly from the normal and mundane to the outrageous and perverse.”

Our collective ability to be exposed to whatever we wish for or desire raises a unique challenge. But being able to access this world of information, images and far-reaching content in secret, without accountability, can have lethal consequences for our families, our communities and ultimately our souls.

Who can argue with Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount? “If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.”

What we see and what we are exposed to affects us. If what we look at is darkness, our true selves will be pitch as night. Alternatively, if we surround ourselves with sources of light, we will be true to Christ’s commandment that we are to be the light of the world. As one of our staff members recently shared, Jesus’s warning to us here in Matthew 6 reminds him of the admonition from the early days of computer technology: garbage in, garbage out. That is, if you put trash into a system you can expect a similar outcome.

As Jesus’s teaching to the crowds in Galilee highlights, this is not a new phenomenon. However, our 21st-century reality creates a new wrinkle. Unlike any other time in human history, you, me, our children and our grandchildren have access to a galaxy of information with a touch of a finger. It once took great resolve and courage to find and research the things that we were curious about and/or desired. Now we can have immediate access to it with little personal risk all within a fraction of a moment. Our technological prowess and ability to access whatever we wish to learn about or see pours gasoline on Jesus’s observation. Our personal devices enable our eyes to be overwhelmed by darkness. And this, in turn, has a cost.

Oh, it’s worse than you think, y’all.

Members of the House Intelligence Committee recently released the roughly 3,500 Facebook ads that were created by a foreign-based entity to influence domestic politics. How did they do it? They created and posted content that made its way on to social media. The content was divisive to say the least. The posts highlighted issues that tear the fabric of our communities apart. They played on fears and terrors of personal safety. They initiated racial and ethnic suspicions. They demonized people groups and sowed seeds of discord in an attempt to divide the American people.

Those who created this content were far more successful than we want to give them credit for. No, I’m not talking about a particular political outcome. I’m talking about the hate that these ad buys yielded. I’m talking about the anger that the images and stories prompted. I’m talking about how our exposure to these messages made us collectively less and less like Christ.

What we see and what we are exposed to can have devastating effects on us. It can lead to infidelity to the ones we love and pervert our sensibilities. What our eyes see and what our ears hear can lead us into the ever-present temptation to damn one another and to create walls between us that prevent us from loving our neighbors. The entertainment that we watch can normalize hate and justify terror. If we immerse ourselves in darkness, why would we be surprised that we’ve become what we see?

The remedy, of course, is easily attained. By being aware of the impact that information, images, and other content has on us, we can choose to limit our exposure to that which has the power to poison our souls. By setting boundaries on what our eyes see and what our ears hear—whether it’s the delicious gossip that is exchanged in the church parking lot, or the fringe news outlet that fuels discord—we can choose light over darkness. By choosing to be thoughtful with our spouses, co-workers, church family, and friends, we can place ourselves in environments that will make us more accountable to Christ’s expectations and commands.

Think about it now, because what seems unthinkable today may be commonplace tomorrow. If your entire digital footprint were exposed and made public, would you want your children to see it? How about your spouse? How about your employer?

Choose light over darkness. For our sake, if not your own.