Position is Everything

Last Sunday, during worship, I did what the song we were singing suggested. I bowed down before God. It felt a little strange. And the fact that I am in the front row caused me a moment's pause wondering if people would be concerned as to whether I was feeling o.k. In addition, I didn't want to draw attention to myself, I wanted to honor the Lord in one of the ways He has said is appropriate. So I knelt there on the floor singing of my submission to God while assuming a posture of submission.

Those who know me know that I am not much of a mystic in my theology or practice. But I must tell you that since last Sunday I have been particularly sensitive to who God is and what He has done for me. As I write this I am at the Leadership Conference for my denomination. In each worship service I have found myself in tears as I have been reminded of God's great love for me who has nothing to offer except everything I am and everything I have. That sounds like a lot unless you understand what He paid for you.

I don't understand all that God is stirring in me. I've tried to pass it off as sleep deprivation (the brother-in-Christ with whom I am sharing a room snores enough to rattle the windows). But there is something more. I am humbled to know that God loved me enough to die in my place. I am humbled to know that God has used me to further His kingdom. I am humbled to know that God has given me the wife I need and whom I love. But there is something more. My position in worship reinforces my position in Him. Having assumed the position, I am aware of my total dependence on God for my salvation and the life that proceeds from that. Why does bowing doing this? I don't have all the answers, but I suspect it has something to do acknowledging physically what is true of us spiritually. Let me suggest one more thing as I close. We're going to be bowing a lot in heaven, according to the Bible, so we might as well get some practice in now.

Ripples on the Water

Joanne Shetler, veteran Wycliffe missionary, often uses the analogy of ripples on the water to describe what happens when we touch the lives of others for Jesus.  Sharon and I saw this again last evening as we sat with a young woman who grew up in our church on the Central Coast of California.  She is currently working in Wyoming with the Navigators, a ministry that includes outreach to college campuses.  She graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2006 and in the Fall of that year began a two year ministry working on a college campus, investing in the lives of students to help them know Jesus and then know him better.  This girl was about a second grader when we arrive in Margarita.  She was a good friend to our daughter and she was on the leadership of our High School class at the church.  Many people invested in her life.  Now she's returning the favor, multiplying the outreach.  Going places we could never go.  God touched us.  We touched others.  They touch others.  It's great to be part of what God is doing worldwide.

They'll Love You For It

Last week I wrote about the importance of speaking the truth. In passing I mentioned a situation in which I was talking with an elder. Neither he nor I would enjoy the dialogue, but it was important to talk about the issues. His response, his willingness to listen and, where necessary, change, was a model to me of what is spoken of in Proverbs 9. In The Message, Eugene Peterson translates it this way:

7 If you reason with an arrogant cynic, you'll get slapped in the face; confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins. 8 So don't waste your time on a scoffer; all you'll get for your pains is abuse. But if you correct those who care about life, that's different—they'll love you for it! 9 Save your breath for the wise—they'll be wiser for it; tell good people what you know—they'll profit from it. 10 Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God.

This elder is one who "cares about life." He didn't love what I had to say, but he loved me for saying it. He is an example of why it is important to speak the truth, in love.

The Disillusioning Truth

Over the past week I have seen once again that, as Elllis Peters' fictional monk-turned-detective, Brother Cadfael, put it, "The truth is never a wrong answer." Watching and listening to my church staff discuss, at times a bit heatedly, some issues among themselves. Working with staff members as they talk with parents about something that went on in their ministry. Talking to an elder about his role on the elder board. In each of these situations the truth was difficult to speak and, in some cases, difficult to hear. But in each case, the truth was the right answer. Only by speaking the truth could we deal with "what is" rather than what we "wish was" or hoped "would be." When you think about it, in addition to being a reflection of God's character, telling the truth also makes more sense for living disillusioned lives. In his book, Exit Interviews, William Hendricks writes, "… consider the nature of disillusionment. Before you can be dis-illusioned, you must have an illusion. By definition, an illusion is an image, a mirage, a fiction. It is something that seems real but is not… God never wants us to relate to Him on the basis of a lie… Thank God for disillusionment!"

On the Other Hand

Biblical truth is full of both/and. Last Friday I wrote about how great God is to take even my sin, intentions and choices and work them together for good. The balance to that truth is that my sin, intentions and choices have consequences. Take the story of Joseph, for instance.

While Joseph could honestly say that "You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people," Moses also records that Jacob had suffered for years over the loss of Joseph because he believed Joseph was dead. Joseph suffered in prison for being falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, a situation that would never have arisen had not his brothers sold him into slavery. Moses records the guilt and family problems that were generated out of the brothers' envy of Joseph and their subsequent kidnapping of him, selling him to the Ishmaelites and lying to their father about Joseph's fate. Moses records the shame the brothers felt all the years Joseph was gone, presumed dead or lost in slavery. None of the participants in this story knew its outcome. They only knew the painful consequences of their choices. Their sin.

Paul lived with this tension. In Romans 6, after clearly saying that our salvation is secure in Christ, goes on to write, "So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not!"

Sin complicates life. God is greater than our sin.