Tag Archives: forgiveness

All Roads Lead There

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“Lord, it is good that we are here…”
(Matthew 17:4)

I want to begin this week’s message with a word of “Thanks” to all who helped to make the Cherokee Community Theater Production of A Christmas Carol: The Musical such a success. (You may find some pictures at www.cherokeect.org).   To the over 60 cast members, the orchestra, the flight crew, the directors, and the fantastic audience (a sell-out for almost every show), this was truly a fantastic experience.  Performing with such a talented troupe before such an enthusiastic audience every night was a joy, and ending every show with a standing ovation and the (faux) snow coming down while singing “God Bless us Everyone!” is a memory I will carry for a lifetime.

And perhaps that is why this week has come with a tremendous sense of “Post-Production Letdown.”  For three months nearly every evening was spent at the theater in rehearsal, laughing with friends, exploring characters, learning challenging music – being a part of something very special.  The show ended Sunday night, and on Monday I was back at the office, preparing for a committee meeting, studying for a sermon, planning Sunday worship.

One of the best compliments I heard following the show was that we should take the production on the road, that it was better than anything they’ve seen at the Orpheum.  While very kind, I shudder at the thought of trying to take this production anywhere.  After 8 shows over two weekends, I am ready for the show to be over.  Still, I miss being part of something so special, something that worked so well.  Then I tell myself, it wasn’t real.  It was a play, it was Community Theater.  It was great, but it isn’t permanent.  Life will go on, and the bills will keep coming, so it’s back to life, back to reality.

I wonder if this is sort of what it was like for Peter, James, and John, when they were on the mountain with Jesus as he was transfigured before them, with Moses and Elijah appearing, and the voice of God speaking from the heavens.  Okay, it’s probably nothing like that, but I can understand the sentiment of Peter when he said to Jesus, “It is good for us to be here. Let me make three tents, we’ll make camp here, and we can usher in the Kingdom right here and now.”  Peter didn’t want to have to go back down the mountain, to face the real world.  The glory, the joy, the paradise he glimpsed in that moment was something to hold on to.

Or consider Mary.  A new baby in her arms and the shepherds had come to share what the angels had heralded from the sky, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and good will to men.”  Wise men brought their gifts, rich treasures fit for a king.  But the baby had to grow.  There was no stopping that.  And there was no stopping what was to come.  The prophet Simeon, after blessing the family at the Temple, turned to Mary and warned her, “a sword will pierce through your own soul also.”

The hymn What Child is This? has us sing,

Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear; for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce him through, the cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word made flesh, the babe, the son of Mary.

This is why He came.  We cannot avoid it, we cannot get around it.  At the center of the history of all mankind stands a cross, and we must come to it, even in the midst of our Christmas.  We must eventually leave the nativity for it.  We must sometime or other come down from the mountain for it.  For it is at the cross where God deals with our sinfulness, it is at the cross where the debt is paid, it is at the cross where forgiveness is found, it is at the cross where the fountain of grace bursts forth.

SDG

Just what, but not how, I wanted it…

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“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights
with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
(James 1:17 (ESV))

Have you ever prayed for patience, then found yourself surrounded by the most insufferable and tiring people imaginable?

Have you ever prayed for peace in your life, only to be forced into a situation where there was fighting and bickering all around you, and you were the one who had to sort it out?

Or, have you ever asked that God would strengthen and deepen your faith and reliance upon Him, but then found yourself plagued by sickness, setback, disappointment, and loss?

When our prayers are answered this way, it makes us want to give up praying and asking.  It seems like a cruel joke: “I want to grow in my faith and be more Christlike, but the troubles of the world always get in the way.”  We think that God hasn’t heard our prayers, or worse, that He has ignored them.  It’s easy to get cynical and just give up.

But that isn’t the way God works.  Jesus tells us that when we seek first the Kingdom of heaven, all these things will be added unto us; that we must ask, seek, knock – that is, pray – and our Father in heaven will give good things to those who ask him (Matthew 7:11).  Lloyd-Jones, in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, writes, “Our Lord does not promise to change life for us; He does not promise to remove difficulties and trials and problems and tribulations; He does not say that He is going to cut out all the thorns and leave the roses with wonderful plumage.  No; he faces life realistically, and tells us that these are things to which the flesh is heir, and which are bound to come.  But He assures us that we can so know Him that, whatever happens, we need never be frightened, we need never be alarmed.”

There is a scene in the Fellowship of the Rings in which Lady Galadriel, Queen of the Elves, gives the remaining members of the Fellowship gifts for their journey.  Among the gifts given, everyone received a cloak that she had made which would help hide them from the eyes of their enemies, Sam received a box containing soil from Galadriel’s orchard and a seed from a mallorn tree, and Frodo was given a small crystal bottle of liquid, containing the light of Eärendil’s star which would shine great light when in deep darkness.  Each gift was a warning of the danger they faced, but each gift gave hope that they would not face their troubles alone.

Jesus said, if we who are evil (by comparison to God) know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our heavenly Father (who is holy and good) give His good gifts to us?

God gives us the gifts we need to endure the trials and tribulations of this world with a witness of faith and love.  In giving us His Holy Spirit, we have the assurance that He is always with us, equipping us with every good gift for building one another up, loving and serving one another, and bearing one another’s burdens.

God does answer prayers.  God gives us everything we need, just not the way we might expect.  God’s ways are higher and greater than ours, and He works through and in all things to bring about His good purpose in our lives.  “All things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).  God’s gifts are never given in isolation, His blessings are never meant to be hoarded.  If you ask of God, He will give, and you must be prepared to give as well.

If you ask for faith, be prepared to find yourself in situations that will test your faith – that is how He gives it.

If you ask for patience, be prepared to be surrounded by people who will test your patience – that is how He gives it.

If you ask for forgiveness, be prepared to forgive those who have offended you – that is how you know He has forgiven you.

If you ask for knowledge and understanding, be ready to have every belief questioned – that you may return to God’s word and find true wisdom.

If you ask to be more like Christ, be prepared to be ridiculed and rejected – that is how the world treated Him.

If you ask to be more loving, be prepared to encounter the most unlovely and unlovable people – that you may love them as our heavenly Father has loved you.

Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking, that our heavenly Father may richly bless you, and so that you may also be a blessing to the world for the sake of Christ Jesus our Lord.

SDG