The Four chaplains

Robert L. Withers

February 7, 2026

 

“I’ve got a conference call this afternoon at 2:00, it’s concerning a memorial foundation I’m associated with back in Philly. I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of it; it’s called The Four Chaplains.”

 

“Of course I know about the Four Chaplains, I was raised knowing about them,” I replied to my client Frank, who had lived in Philly before retiring to Richmond, VA.

 

When I was growing up in the D.C. area in the 50s and 60s, Washington City had a wax museum and among the exhibits were The Four Chaplains. I can still see the wax figures of Rev. George L. Fox (Methodist), Reform Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Father John P. Washington (Roman Catholic), and Rev. Clark V. Poling (Reformed Church in America) standing together by the rail on the troop ship Dorchester, the water of the dark display lapping against the hull of the ship.

 

My mother made sure I knew the story, she made sure that I was not looking at entertainment but at sacrifice, at the way we were to live our lives. As I write this, I realize that all the trips we took to museums were about learning and exploring and understanding, understanding where we had come from and where we ought to be going. Understanding who we ought to be. To me, libraries and museums were sacred spaces, easily on par with the sanctuary of our Presbyterian church. The image of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial, which I stood before in awe, was the image of God I had while being with Mom in church. I suppose Lincoln was an ikon to some degree.

 

The troopship was torpedoed on February 3, 1943, at 12:55 AM off Newfoundland. There were not enough life jackets for everyone, so these four young chaplains, from different backgrounds and traditions, gave their life vests to others. In the midst of confusion, chaos, and terror, these four men guided others to lifeboats, encouraging and comforting the frightened men around them…and then, having done all they could, linked arms together, stood together, prayed together and sang hymns…and died together.

 

Grady Clark, a survivor, wrote the following:

 

As I swam away from the ship, I looked back. The flares had lighted everything. The bow came up high and she slid under. The last thing I saw, the four chaplains were up there praying for the safety of the men. They had done everything they could. I did not see them again. They themselves did not have a chance without their life jackets.

 

William Bednar, a survivor said, "I could hear men crying, pleading, praying and swearing. I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage to the men. Their voices were probably the only things that kept me sane."

 

Having heard this story as a young boy, having seen it depicted in the wax museum as a lad, having a mother who emphasized the sacrificial nature of the story, and the fact that these men represented different traditions, it would be impossible to forget Fox, Goode, Washington, and Poling. It would be impossible to forget what unity in sacrifice can look like.

 

This past Tuesday I was thinking about the conversation with my former client, which took place about ten years ago. As I continued to think about the Four Chaplains on Wednesday, I decided to look up the foundation and refresh my memory. Then I saw that Tuesday, the day before when I had started thinking about them, February 3, was Four Chaplains Remembrance Day. I had no idea, no idea at all.

 

Dear friends, all around us is confusion and cursing and darkness, the question is not whether we have extra life vests to give to others, the question is whether we will give our own life jackets away.

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son…” (John 3:16).

 

“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:18; 20:21).

 

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

Unfinished Thoughts On The Soul (3)

 

Return to Your Rest

 

Where do our souls live?

 

Where are we headed today?

 

As our souls return to our Father through the Lamb, we learn to live in that City whose Builder and Maker is God (Hebrews 11:8 – 16). This means that the One and only Light of the soul is our Father and the Lamb (Revelation 21:23; 22:5). We do not wait for a future day for this to be so, we learn to live by the Light of God and the Lamb Today. It is today that we are not to harden our hearts and souls, it is today that we are to hear His Voice and obey, and it is today that we enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:1 – 9).

 

Entering into His rest means that we cease from our own works, even as God did from His on that first Sabbath; indeed, now we come to know and see that Jesus Christ is our Sabbath and that we abide in Him (Heb. 4:10; John 15:1ff). We can do nothing in and of ourselves, only as His Life flows in us and through us can we live and bear fruit (see also Galatians 2:20).

 

Our souls come to know our Father and the Lamb as our Temple (Rev. 21:22). All the images of Tabernacles and Temples in Scripture are lifted upward and subsumed in the Godhead, we enter into Him and He enters into us. The Incarnation is consummated in the Marriage of the Lamb, for the Marriage Supper is more than a shared meal, the Marriage Supper is the prelude to a consummation, the Nature of which is beyond us, it is beyond us because it is hidden in Christ – there is a reason marriage bedrooms have doors that are shut.

 

When the soul comes home to the Father and Lamb it does so with these words ringing without and within:

 

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them” (Rev. 21:3).

 

Now friends, as we live in that City we must surely know that we must live in the Light of the Lamb and the Father, and we must surely know that nothing can be hidden, nothing should be hidden; that there should be no subterfuge, no shades of meaning, no “spin,” no guile. We must surely know that the wrath of man has no place in this City, that the violence of man will not be admitted to this City, that the greed and selfishness and pride of man will not enter the City or the Temple – for God is All in all.

 

To enter into this City is to dwell on the Holy Mountain in which “they shall neither hurt nor destroy.”

 

The souls of those purchased by the Lamb belong to this City, we are citizens of this City. This City is not only our future destiny, we are to breathe the air of this City today, to walk the streets of this City today, to fellowship with the inhabitants of this City today, to live in the Temple of this City today, to follow the Lamb of this City today.

 

If the Lamb (and the Father) is the Light of this City, then all of life is to be lived in the Light of the Lamb – all of life today. The Lamb shines His Light in our hearts, minds, and souls. He shines His light on all around us. We do not “see” as others see (2 Cor. 4:18; 5:7; Heb. 11:1), we do not judge as others judge, we do not discern and evaluate as others evaluate – our eyes are fixed on the Lamb, the Sun of Righteousness…and there is no righteousness apart from Him…all pretense to righteousness is as filthy rags…it is disgusting. This is true whether it is personal, institutional (religious or other), national, ethnic, economic, or philosophical. O how foolish we are to look anywhere other than Jesus Christ for identity, for righteousness, for fulfillment, for a place for our souls to live and abide.

 

As we live in this City, the Name of our God is on our foreheads, the Name of the Father and the Lamb (Rev. 22:4; 14:1; 3:12), indeed, even the Name of the glorious City is written upon us. This City comes down upon us out of heaven, we enter the City and the City enters into us.

 

Shall we not cry with the psalmist, “Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you”? (Psalm 116:7).

 

Are not our deaths precious to our God because through them we come home to Him and our City? (Psalm 116:15).

 

Do we not anticipate rejoicing in the presence of the saints? (Psalm 116:14, 18, 19).

 

Is not the House of God and Jerusalem (Psalm 116:19) that City we see in Revelation chapters 21 – 22?

 

Yes, the LORD has indeed rescued our souls from death and our eyes from tears (Psalm 116:8; Rev. 21:4).

 

Let us say today, and tomorrow…to ourselves and to one another, “Return to your rest, O my soul! Return to the City of God!”

 

My Early Story (36)

 The Charismatic Movement (3)

There are two other things I’d like to share.

 

Sharing Christ and His Word with one another and praying for one another ought to be as natural as breathing. When folks get together for a cookout, for dinner at someone’s home, or for a holiday get together, they don’t have agendas, they don’t have printed guides telling them how to interact, printed topics of conversations, and how many minutes to talk about various subjects.

 

People typically get together because they want to be with each other, they want to enjoy time together. People are generally open and attentive to others, to how the afternoon or evening is going, to possibilities of interaction, to listening to others as well as talking to others, to helping others. When folks gather, they usually want to “catch up” with each other, or if meeting a new person they want to learn about that person and perhaps share a bit about themselves with the person. People look for common ground, and they also look for diversity – it is nice to meet people who have different experiences.

 

The above is how most of us naturally spend time with people in a group.

 

A few years ago Vickie and I visited a home group that was part of a church we were attending. As the people arrived at the home there was the natural banter and conversation you’d expect in social settings. Then the time came, the bell rang (so to speak), and demeanors changed – it was time to get religious.

 

The study guides were produced, the pages were opened, and the script was followed by a facilitator who wanted to make certain that whatever was said was in line with the study guide. No longer did these men and women have anything to share or contribute out of their life in Christ, all attention was on the study guide. Once we had worked through the lesson for that evening it was time to leave.

 

This was nuts, especially considering that these folks had been meeting for a few years, that they knew each other, and that I think they really cared for one another. What causes adults to switch gears and act like children? Not just children, but docile children? This is hardly the picture of the functioning Body of Christ that we see in the Bible.

 

When I visit churches as a guest speaker, it is my practice to attend Sunday school before the morning service in order to get a sense of the congregation. Time after time I see the same thing, normally reasonable adults go into a mode in which they have nothing to share with others out of their life in Christ. They may talk about sports beforehand, they may talk about family, they may talk about sister so-and-so who is in the hospital, but they won’t talk about Jesus. They will follow the lesson material, but they will not share out of the fruit of their own life in Christ, out of their own experience with the Bible.

 

Nor will people in small groups or Sunday school classes generally pray for one another, or if they do pray for each other they generally will not touch one another while doing so – they won’t lay hands on one another. (Touch is important in this life, Jesus touched people.)

 

On the other hand, during the Charismatic Movement it was naturally expected that our gatherings would include sharing what we’d been seeing in the Word, sharing how Jesus and the Holy Spirit were leading us and teaching us, and that we’d naturally pray for one another during our time together.

 

I should be quick to say that many of us without a background in the Charismatic Movement also find it natural to share Jesus and pray for one another – so please don’t misunderstand me. However, the people I know who are naturally comfortable sharing Jesus with other believers, and who are comfortable praying for others out loud and being prayed for by others – generally have not learned that way of life within traditional settings because it is generally not encouraged. Again, there are exceptions.

 

Not long ago I was part of a team leading a retreat for a congregation. During the afternoon one of the associate pastors dropped in to spend some time with us. This dear man is about my age, meaning that he has a good deal of life experience. I think he is a wonderful pastor, a faithful brother. Since an element of the retreat was learning to pray for one another, when he mentioned that he’d have to be leaving soon I asked him if we could gather around him and pray for him, and of course he assented. There were about 25 of us.

 

After we laid hands on him and spent some time in prayer, many verbalizing in turn, he said, “I haven’t experienced anything like this since I was a young man and had an occasion in which people also prayed for me. I feel so refreshed and encouraged. Thank you so much.” His face was glowing.

 

Now I ask you, dear reader, this question: Why did this dear man go 40 years between being prayed for? Why did not this dear pastor introduce others to the joy of praying for others and of being prayed for by others? To the joy of touching others and being touched by others?

 

Something is amiss but we dare not admit it.

 

A friend of mine recently suggested that my early exposure to the Holy Spirit in the Charismatic Movement had a foundational influence on me. As I thought about his comment, I realized that while it is certainly true, that it is especially true when coupled with the experience of sharing Christ in a community of believers, coming together in the freedom of Christ and in the expectation that everyone has something to share out of their life in Christ. This is what I saw in both the Charismatic Movement and in the Jesus People, there were no bench (pew) warmers, everyone was valued, everyone was special, everyone was encouraged to grow in Christ and contribute to the entire Body. This was as natural as breathing.

 

As it ought to be (1 Peter 4:10 – 11; Romans 12; 1 Corinthians chapters 12 – 14; Ephesians 4:1 – 16).

My Early Story (35)

The Charismatic Movement (2) 

I attended a Full Gospel Business Men’s convention in D.C. with the Methodist refugees. While the FGBM had their roots in traditional Pentecostalism (or at least this was true of the men I knew), like the AG the FGBM welcomed men and women from all backgrounds who wanted to follow Jesus. There were two things at this convention that made a lasting impression on me, one favorable and one a warning – they have both remained with me.

 

A musical group of about twenty men and women from a well-known Chrisitan university appeared on stage. They were tightly choreographed, every move on stage was finely tuned, every facial expression seemingly rehearsed, no one was out of place – not physically, not vocally, and not naturally.

 

I was shocked, it was not natural, it was not normal, it was a stage production when it should have been worship. I thought, “This is dangerous, where will this lead to?”

 

Where it has led to is to a cult of Christians “artists” and Sunday morning production companies (called churches) with seamless Sunday morning experiences and concerts. It has led to ticket sales and big business. If Billy Graham and others did not charge for the Gospel in Word, why do Chrisitan musicians and singers charge for the Gospel in music and song? How can we charge money for the Gospel…in whatever form?

 

How can we charge money for people to come and “worship”? Do we truly understand and experience worship? This makes no sense to me.

 

This is more complex than I am making it out to be, and I made some mistakes as a pastor along this very line when I should have known better. Let me just say, for now, that Sunday morning is not supposed to be a production.

 

On the evening prior to the opening of the convention, I attended a “preconvention” meeting in which the main speaker was a well – known Charismatic teacher. His text was 1 Corinthians Chapter 12. He did not speak on the “gifts of the Spirit.” He did speak on the Body of Christ.

 

He talked about what he called “EMI,” Every Member Involvement. Everyone, he taught, has something to offer the Body of Christ, everyone has a gift, a grace, the fruit of the Spirit – everyone has the life of Christ. We need everyone to contribute; we are all called to contribute.

 

He had a handout to illustrate his point. It was a large tree with many branches, and each branch had a label with the name of a gift, a grace, a fruit. The tree was the Body of Christ, the trunk was Christ Jesus, we were the branches – we all had something critical to share, in Christ, with one another.

 

The Charismatic Movement, and the Jesus People, taught me participation, they taught me that everyone has something to share, that everyone is valuable, that the Holy Spirit has indeed given us each a gift, a grace, an expression of Christ.

 

A sad irony of the Charismatic Movement is that it soon became top heavy, celebrity driven, and quite rigid in some expressions. In other words, it joined the religious club. Even the teacher who spoke that evening about EMI betrayed his own message by becoming dictatorial. When Jesus is no longer our Message and our Focus, bad things happen.

 

Yet, on a grassroots level I have continued to meet people over the years who were nurtured and set free through the Movement.  People who took the Bible and witnessing and building one another up in Christ seriously. For sure, I’ve always been puzzled by those elements of the movement that are into the sensational and into celebrities and what I call “the revelation of the month club.” These things repel me. Yet, I also see these very things in other strains of professing Christianity.

 

There is so much more I could say about the Charismatic Movement, including how faithful pastors who sought more for their people in traditional settings were treated terribly by their peers and denominations, I cannot forget the vitriol I saw from “Christian” leaders. For sure there were environments that gave people room to grow and express themselves, mutual respect within traditions and denominations could be found, but the “attack mode” that some groups propagated toward Charismatics was disgusting.

 

to be continued....

My Early Story (34)

I've been wanting to circle back on My Early Story and touch on the Charismatic Movement. A friend of mine made a comment to me a couple of weeks ago that motivated me to do it. 

The Charismatic Movement

I imagine I should say some things about the Charismatic Movement, since it also played a formative role in my early life (the 1960s and early 1970s). I realize that not everyone has good memories of the movement, and I see some crazies today who are products of it. However, I also meet folks for whom it was a formative blessing, many of them now in vocational ministry in traditional settings.

 

Frankly, when I consider the disgusting unconscionable behavior, including coverups, that have occurred in churches, Protestant, Pentecostal, Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, the excesses of the Charismatic Movement pale in comparison. The problem with Pentecostals and Charismatics used to be that they didn’t know how to properly deport themselves, they weren’t “religious” enough, that was really, I think, their great sin (that and being a threat to old wineskins). Furthermore, whatever sins and stupidness were present in the Charismatic Movement generally weren’t institutional (as with traditional churches) – for it had no institutions in the beginning.

 

There isn’t anything today that I’d term a Charismatic Movement, but there is a lot of craziness going on – everywhere, in non-traditional settings and in traditional settings. I don’t know really what to think, so much poison in thinking and behavior. Well, I do know what to think, we need Jesus, O how we need Jesus.

 

While I am going to focus on the positive, I want to mention that I had a terrible time at one point when associated with the “Movement.” I can’t look back on it without shame, disgust, and sorrow. I want you to know that I write from a critical point-of-view, but that I’m also thankful for the Spirit of renewal that not only touched many during that time, but which laid the foundation for many of my future relationships.

 

When we go astray it is usually because Jesus is no longer enough, we think we need something to add to Him (2 Cor. 11:1 – 3; Mt. 17:5).

 

My initial exposure to the movement took two forms, one was through the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, the other through a local Assembly of God.

 

After my abbreviated time at Bible college, I sought fellowship in a local church back in Maryland. Considering my experience at Bible college, and considering that my two pastors who were instrumental in sending me to the school did not follow up with me after my expulsion, it was natural that I’d look elsewhere for a place to worship and meet people. Perhaps the pastors were embarrassed that someone they had endorsed was expelled, perhaps they just didn’t know how to relate to a kid who had not been raised in their tradition, perhaps it was simpler for them to leave me alone – teenagers can require investment, time, work, and patience.

 

I began attending a small Assembly of God within walking distance of where I lived. The building would probably only hold 100 – 150 people and there was no threat of overcrowding. The pastor was a retired FBI agent who exhibited a thoughtful and quiet demeanor. There was a group within the congregation that gathered on Sunday mornings, they were charismatic refugees from the Methodist Church; the refugee Methodists befriended me.  

 

The “refugees” greatly respected the pastor, and I think were bemused at his dilemma, for while he was a traditional AG pastor, they were not traditional Pentecostal parishioners. Yet, in looking back, the pastor was likely ideal for them in that he had a breath of experience outside his religious tradition, and he could give them room to grow in Christ; he was able to minister to folks outside his tradition as well as those within it – a rare combination.

 

Of the three major “white” Pentecostal denominations, I have long thought that the Assemblies of God were more open to those from other traditions…and to those from no tradition. I think this ability to welcome and assimilate, to be permeable in culture, has contributed to the growth of the AG. While I have encountered AG throwbacks that focus on externals and legalism and a message of condemnation, these have been the exception in my experience. The same is true for having an emphasis on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues, this is not “the thing” today that it once was in the AG, and I wonder why my Pentecostal brethren don’t rethink this “distinctive.”

 

Let me return to the “refugees” lest I dwell too much on Pentecostals.

 

The refugees met in homes regularly as a way of life. We’d read the Bible, pray, and listen to teaching tapes by various charismatic teachers. There were times when we’d drive to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. and pray in one of the chapels – in those days at least one chapel was accessible 24 hours a day.  

 

I don’t recall an insistence that people speak in tongues, or any notion that people who moved in the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4 – 13) were better than anyone else. I don’t remember any hint of exclusiveness. I do recall that it was assumed that everyone was valuable, that everyone had something to share. I cherish my memories of the refugees being excited about Jesus, about God being alive in our lives on a daily basis.

 

Christ Church was an Assembly of God in N.W. D.C. It had a large seating capacity, and it opened its doors during certain evenings for folks across the city to come and worship in an open and “charismatic” fashion. I don’t recall whether this was weekly, but it was regularly scheduled. I think it was called “T.A.G,” which meant “take and give.” That was the spirit of the Charismatic Movement as I knew it in those days, you gathered with other disciples of Jesus to share and receive, the notion that only one person did all the talking was foreign, the notion that we were expected to do the same thing the same way week after week was alien. We were growing together, learning together, worshipping together.

To be continued...

 

As My Soul Draws Nigh

 

As My Soul Draws Nigh

RLW Feb. 3, 2026

1:00 PM

 

As my soul draws nigh

Beyond the eastern sky

I will ascend, I will ascend

To that City

 

To home I will draw

To my Father’s House

From whence I came, whence I came

In Christ Jesus my Lord

 

To Melchizedek, and Zadok,

To the saints of the ages I come.

Coming home, O coming home

To My Father, to my Home

 

O my soul, draw thou nigh

To thy home, to thy Rock, to thy Lord,

On the wings of the Spirit, on the wings of the Spirit,

I ascend, I ascend

 

And the Light of the City

Overcomes my vision, engulfs my senses

Bathes me, bathes me, in His purity

I am cleansed, I am cleansed – HALLELUJAH I AM CLEANSED!!!!!!

 

And the Water of that City

Fills my soul, fills my soul

And it pours from me, yes it pours from me,

And I swim, O how I swim, Hallelujah how I swim!

 

And my soul draws nigh to the Temple of that City

And my soul it comes home to that Temple.

To the Father and the Lamb, to the Great, Great I AM

I am HOME, I am HOME, I AM HOME!!!!

 

And my soul has entered into the Temple of that City

And I rest, how I rest in the Lamb

I lay down in green pastures, I walk beside still waters,

And my soul, O my soul, is in PEACE.

 

 

 

Confrontation in Nazareth (12)

“And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’” (Luke 4:22).

 

Some thoughtful folks see genuine wonder and praise in Luke 4:22, other thoughtful people see “who does He think He is, we know Him and His family?”  As we saw in our previous reflection, the congregation, His hometown church, soon tried to murder Jesus.

 

In John 8:30 – 59 there is a similar pattern. We go from “many believing in Him” (Jn. 8:30) to these same people “picking up stones to throw at Him” (8:59).

 

How does Jesus respond to “many believing in Him”?

 

“If you continue in My word then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:31 – 32).

 

Just as in Nazareth, Jesus could have left well enough alone. In Nazareth Jesus could have found a different passage to read in Isaiah, but He didn’t. In Nazareth He could have not introduced the stories of the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian, but He did. In Nazareth He could have eased into the idea that He was the Messiah, He could have given His hometown folks time to get used to the idea, time to adjust, time to consider, time to ponder, but He didn’t.

 

In John 8, in Jerusalem, He could have eased the people who were “believing in Him” into the idea that there was a freedom they were not yet experiencing.  He need not have brought up slavery to sin (Jn. 8:34 – 36). Why does He say that “You seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you”? (Jn. 8:37). After all, outwardly they were believing in Him, why not leave things alone, why penetrate their hearts? Why not give these people time?

 

Why keep insisting that they can’t hear His word (Jn. 8:43)?

 

And why, O why, tell the people, “You are of your father the devil”? (Jn. 8:44).

 

This makes no sense, doesn’t Jesus want to build a nice large church? Doesn’t He want to get His message across? Why does He alienate people?

 

The people go from believing in Him (verse 30) to accusing Him of having a demon (verse 48) to attempting to kill Him (verse 59). Things move quickly toward attempted murder in John 8 just as they do in Luke 4. Why, in both instances, does Jesus say things that will incite the people to reject Him and attempt to kill Him? Why can’t He be a seeker-sensitive Messiah? Why won’t God Incarnate cater to our needs and wants and desires and agendas? Why won’t Jesus play church?

 

“For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind” (Jn. 9:39). The simplicity of the story of Jesus and the blind man ought to instruct us. Just as Jesus was put out of the synagogue in Luke 4, so the blind man who was healed by Jesus was cast out of the synagogue in John 9. Even the blind man’s parents disowned him “because they were afraid of the Jews [the religious leaders]” (Jn. 9:22).

 

Jesus strips away our pretentions, our religious facades, our Sunday-morning personas, and He gets to the heart of the matter – we are blind; our heritage – whether religious or national or ethnic or family – does not make us God’s chosen people – we have no possibility of righteousness outside of Jesus Christ and He will make certain that we know this. We will either know this and accept this, or we will refuse to acknowledge Him and attempt to murder Him.

 

I imagine the attempted murder of Jesus Christ occurs every Sunday morning in “Christian” gatherings across the globe. The idea that He may be working in the widows of Zarephath or in the Naamans of Syria is too much for us, the thought that Jesus may want to burst our wineskins and replace them with Himself as our Temple, and that He wants to bring those who are not like us into our lives, is too much for us. We will kill those ideas, we will bury those teachings, we will replace any pastors who dare suggest such things.

 

We must seal ourselves off from the Samaritans in our communities and nation and world. We must isolate ourselves in order to protect our way of life, our “lifestyles,” our religious self-righteousness. Just as the people of Jerusalem, we say to Jesus, “We are the children of America and have never been slaves to anyone!” Unless of course, we are African – American.

 

We say to Jesus, “We are Pentecostal, we are Reformed, we are Lutheran, we are Roman Catholic, we are Anglican, we are Arminian, we are nondenominational, we are Conservative, we are Liberal.” Well, you get the idea. Don’t mess with our security, with our identity, with our righteousness.  Do not question our way of doing church, of church growth, of the End Times; and most certainly don’t take issue with our view of what it means to be prolife (as Pope Leo has done).

 

We see much the same scenario in John 6 as we do in Luke 4 and John 8. Jesus goes from a crowd to a few.

 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled” (Jn. 6:26).

 

“Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down out of heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, I have come down out of heaven?’” (John6:41 – 42). What does this passage remind you of?

 

When Jesus says, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father,” many of His disciples leave Him “and were not walking with Him anymore” (John 6:65 – 66).

 

Now here is the thing dear reader, and here you can know where you really are in your relationship with Jesus Christ. It all comes down to your answer to Jesus to this question of His.

 

“So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?’” (John 6:67).

 

What is my response to Jesus?

 

What is yours?

 

 

Joseph - Reflections (7) Postscript

 

Joseph – Reflections (7) Postscript

 

Perhaps I should clarify two things from my main posting this morning, the first has to do with seminary and the second with vocational ministry. I may expand upon them at some time, but let me make some brief comments right now.

 

Regarding vocational ministry, especially pastoring, this is a tough place to be right now for men and women who love Jesus and the flock of the Good Shepherd. It is tough because there is such confusion within movements and denominations, such pressure to conform, and such pressure to produce. “Christians” compare churches with one another, and we are such consumers that we’ll just go elsewhere if our needs are not met, we don’t actually care all that much about denying ourselves and taking up the Cross and following Jesus. Pastors are bombarded with “how to” material that will make their lives better, attract more people, retain more people, increase offerings, etc.

 

Pastors used to be charged with the care of souls – not too many congregations care all that much about this anymore. As I’ve said elsewhere, whatever the remedy might be, it always must begin with me, with you, with us, with our local congregation…if it isn’t beginning with us we don’t have hope.

 

This tyranny to produce can be especially difficult for pastors, for they and their families may be literally out in the cold if they displease a congregation, a board of elders, or a power family within a church. This is a scandal that we don’t talk about, but it is ugly. It is even worse for youth pastors. A few years ago the average tenure for a youth pastor was six months – hard to believe, but true. Not long ago the average tenure for a pastor within a large denomination was less than three years. How would you like to have a job with those numbers? How would you like it if you had a family?

 

We have built our own prisons and I don’t see how we can escape, we can’t do it without the Living Jesus Christ in our midst.

 

Regarding seminary, in my main post I wrote that, looking back, I wish we had talked about the tension between natural wisdom and spiritual wisdom, the wisdom of man and his ways and the Wisdom of God. I’ve written before that early on in my pastoral ministry that I realized that I had been so well trained in preaching that I didn’t need the Holy Spirit – this frightened me. This is the kind of thing that I wish we’d discussed.

 

I could have raised the question in class, but I didn’t. So in one respect this one is certainly on me, I could have brought the dilemma up for discussion. I don’t think I had one professor who would have taken offense at my concern, I think they all would have invited discussion. On the other hand, I do think that this is such a core issue that it needs to be part of a seminary curriculum – the scribes and Pharisees knew the Scriptures, but they couldn’t see Christ (John 5:39). We are foolish boys and girls if we think this is not a danger to us…to all of us.

 

I’m still not certain just what seminary is supposed to be. Is it to be an academic experience or a spiritual experience in Christ? Are the faculty and administration to focus on loving Christ or loving knowledge? Either way, do we recognize that “knowledge puffs up but love edifies”? I have seen instances in seminary where it appeared that Christ Jesus came first, and then I’ve seen times when academia and the institution came first. When we try to measure up to the world’s academic standards there are inherent challenges, I’m not sure we help ourselves by ignoring them. Again, I don’t have answers to the tension other than perhaps if we acknowledge it, talk about it, pray about it, admit it…then maybe in Christ we’d be better off.

 

Vickie and I loved our time at seminary, so don’t misunderstand me. Yes, I’ve had to unlearn some things and some habits that were meant to be helpful, but isn’t this the same wherever and however we travel through life? You can only cover so much in three years of study, and all seminaries have their limitations – some more than others, some not as obviously as others.

 

Every generation has its challenges, including ours.

Joseph - Reflections (7)

 

 

“The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples, and set him free. He made him lord of his house and ruler over all his possessions, to imprison his princes at will, that he might teach his elders wisdom” (Psalm 105:20 – 22).

 

“That he might teach his elders wisdom.” Here is a man who was sold as a slave into Egypt, who then had a position of high responsibility in Potiphar’s house, who then was cast into prison, who was then given responsibility in the prison system; who, after many years, interpreted Pharoah’s dreams, who has now been exalted to the right hand of Pharoah, and who is now charged with teaching wisdom to the elders of Egypt.

 

It isn’t as if the Egyptians were ignorant, without deep understanding of many things, were not able engineers, were not efficient administrators, did not have an effective military – the Egyptians were hardly stupid. Yet, it was Pharoah’s purpose that Joseph teach wisdom to the elders of Egypt.

 

What would you think of Jospeh teaching you wisdom had you been an elder of Egypt? If you had risen through the ranks of Egyptian society and government, if your family could trace its Egyptian lineage back generations? What would you think had you been embedded within Egypt’s religious system at the notion that a Hebrew, worshipping a God that not only could not be seen, but worshipping a God who could not even be represented by images, was going to teach the elders of your people wisdom?

 

What would we think of the idea that a man who had been both a slave and a prisoner was going to teach us wisdom?

 

Perhaps Pharoah saw something in Joseph that he knew his elders needed. Pharoah could look around and see able administrators, engineers, artisans, priests, generals, agriculturalists, and educators, but he could not see what Joseph the slave and prisoner had – a depth of wisdom whose roots lay above and beyond Egypt.

 

“Now in the morning his [Pharoah’s] spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh” (Genesis 41:8).

 

My sense is that Pharoah saw something in Joseph that went beyond being able to interpret dreams, and that it went beyond seeing someone who could provide wise counsel to Pharoah; Pharoah saw someone he could trust, we might say that he saw “an Israelite in whom is no guile.” Perhaps there was a sense in which Pharoah “saw” much as the centurion of Matthew 8:5 – 13 “saw.” The centurion saw something “other” in Jesus, Pharoah saw something “other” in Joseph.

 

How is it that Joseph’s brothers saw a threat to themselves, saw a reason for jealousy and a pretext for murder, while Potiphar, the chief jailer, and Pharoah all saw something “other” and unusual in Joseph, so much so that they trusted him? Joseph was not only an ethnic foreigner, Joseph was in many respects a foreigner to this world, he was “a child of another world.”

 

The reaction of Joseph’s brothers to Joseph’s dreams was much like the reaction of the people in Jesus’ hometown synagogue (Luke 4:14 – 30), they wanted to kill him. A prophet is not without honor except among his own people.

 

I really don’t think that the Son of Man will ever find a place to lay His Head in this present age, why can’t we see this? Why do we keep seeking a home in this age?

 

It seems to me that we know little about wisdom, such is the tyranny of the pragmatic and the monetary. We evaluate life based on money, return on investment, on whether something will “work” or not. We do not value Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, nor do we honor the woman with the box of precious ointment who breaks the vessel and pours it (wastes it!) all on Jesus. “Sell it!” we cry. “Sell it! Do something practical with it!”

 

In 1 Corinthians 1:17 – 31 we see that we are not to use “cleverness of speech” in our preaching lest we should make the Cross of Christ void. We also read that the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, and that God has said, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.”

 

Paul writes, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:20 – 21).

 

As I read this passage, I wonder where I have placed my trust, I wonder how I have preached and taught. Have I relied on cleverness of speech? Have I trusted in “persuasive words of wisdom” (1 Cor. 2:4)? Have I relied on methods, on the pragmatic, of the world’s communication practices?

 

“Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:22 – 24).

 

Perhaps we could say that the Pentecostals and charismatics are seeking signs, and that other traditions are seeking wisdom? Are we all seeking something other than Christ Jesus? Can we not see that Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God – that all of life is to be found in Him and in Him alone?

 

“Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God” (1 Cor. 1:30).

 

Joseph had a wisdom, the nature of which was not that of the Egyptians, it was the Wisdom of another Age, another World, another Person.

 

“Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory” (1 Cor. 2:6 – 7).

 

Therefore we read in Colossians 2:3 that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Indeed, Christ is the Wisdom of which we read in Proverbs Chapter 8, God’s Wisdom from eternity past into eternity present and flowing into eternity future.

 

Joseph’s wisdom was a wisdom formed through suffering, abandonment, betrayal, and trial; this is the wisdom of Christ, the wisdom of the cruciform life – a wisdom that makes no sense to the world or its powers. In Revelation, which among other things is a revelation of wisdom, it is those who lay down their lives, who do not love their lives, who are victorious. It is those who say “no” to the short-term rulers of this age, and who say “yes” to the Lamb who has been slain, who will overcome and prevail. It is the lambs who are led to the slaughter who are super overcomers (Romans 8:31 – 39) and who know the depths of the love of God.

 

The Wisdom from eternity lived in Joseph, Pharoah recognized this; to some degree Potiphar recognized this – which is one reason (I think) that he didn’t have Joseph executed, but rather put in prison, Potiphar knew Joseph was innocent.

 

I do wish that in seminary we had discussed the tension between the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God. I wish that we had pondered the “cleverness of speech” in 1 Corinthians 1:17 and the “persuasive words of wisdom” in 1 Corinthians 2:4 in their context. We may not have reached any conclusions, but perhaps it would have stated a conversation that needs to continue until we leave this life.

 

Most, if not all, of what I see in the world of vocational ministry and in church growth, much of what I see in Biblical interpretation, relies on methods that anyone can employ; that is, we do not need the Holy Spirit, we do not need revelation, we do not need supernatural wisdom. I’m not saying that God cannot use these things, I’m not saying that God doesn’t use these things; I am questioning whether we are truly relying on Him and whether we know that in Christ Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

 

I wonder if we have not become sociologists and therapists and communications specialists and marketing experts and entertainers and textual critics…and whether we are no longer apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor – teachers. I am reminded of Matthew 7:28 – 29:

 

“When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

 

As Peter writes, “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God” (1 Peter 4:11).

 

There was something different, of a higher and deeper nature, in the wisdom of Joseph that Pharoah recognized. Does the world see wisdom of the Divine Nature in us?

 

Are we discovering all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Jesus Christ?

 

If so, are we sharing them with one another?

 

Confrontation in Nazareth (11)

 

 

In order to capture, or rather be captured by, Luke’s portrayal of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth in 4:16 – 30 we need to read the passage again, and again, and again; ponder the passage, see ourselves in the passage, consider Jesus, consider the people (who he had grown up with), and think about the content of His message. It may be helpful to read different translations or paraphrases to refresh our minds, sometimes a different word or another way of expressing the same thought or sense of a passage can jar our minds with new beams of light. We want to assimilate this passage to the point that we could reenact it on stage if given the opportunity.

 

Why does the congregation react so violently to Jesus?

 

There are two elements to their reaction. The more obvious is that they think, “Who does He think He is?” The other is, “Who does He think we are?”

 

We tend to think that “Who does He think He is?” is focused on His claim to be the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1 – 2, but I think that is only part of what it means. It is better expressed, “Who does He think He is by telling us who He thinks we are?”

 

There is a similar passage to this in the Gospel of John which takes place in Jerusalem toward the conclusion of Jesus’ ministry, it is John 8:30 – 59. Due to space limitations I will not quote it in full, but I will refer to it and compare it with Luke 4:16 – 30.

The first thing to see about John 8:30 – 59 is the way it begins and the way it ends. “As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him…Therefore they (these same people!) picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple” (John 8:30 and 59).

 

In Luke 4 the hometown folks gave Him the book of Isaiah to read, no doubt with welcoming expectation, but the passage concludes with them being “filled with rage” and attempting to murder Him. “But passing through their midst, He went His way” (Luke 4:30).

 

What incites both groups, one in Nazareth and one in Jerusalem, to go from welcoming Jesus to attempted murder?

 

In both instances the people refused to acknowledge their need for God, but rested in their religious, national, and racial/ethnic identity. In John they tell Jesus, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” (Jn. 8:33).

 

In Luke, the congregation rejects the notion that they are the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed of Isaiah 61. In other words, they not only reject the idea that Jesus is the Anointed One of Isaiah 61, but that they are the ones to whom He is sent.

 

I realize that many of us think the reason Jesus breaks off His public reading of Isaiah 61:2 in mid verse is that “The day of vengeance of our God” has not yet come, but I don’t think that is the case. I have two reasons for this.

 

The first is that to evoke a portion of a passage is to evoke the entire passage. To call up one verse is to call up the context of the verse, the flow of the passage in which the verse is embedded.  For example, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” evokes the entirely of Psalm 22, the narrative of abandonment, suffering, mockery, death, resurrection, a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying and bringing forth much fruit, of God completing and perfecting His work.

 

In Isaiah 61, “The day of vengeance” is in the context of the theme of comfort, salvation, and restoration, what begins in 61:1 – 2a continues in 61:3 – 7. That is, 61:2b is not an abrupt stop in the passage, if anything it is an interjection that during the time of salvation and restoration that there is concurrently judgment.

 

As Jesus reads Isaiah 61 in the synagogue, He is offering His hearers salvation and restoration, if they will not accept this offer, they will face judgment, Isaiah 61:2b is implied in Jesus’ reading, just as is Isaiah 61:3 – 7. The people of His hometown synagogue can either choose to see themselves as the poor, the captive, the prisoners, the blind, or in rejecting Jesus they can experience the day of judgment and vengeance.

 

We see this in John 9:39, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Also, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains” (John 9:41).

 

In John Chapter 9, while the man born blind sees Jesus, both through physical healing and spiritual healing; the religious leaders who claim to see continue in both their blindness and in the judgment of God, “For judgment I came into this world.” That is, the “day of vengeance” of Isaiah 61:2b is not held in abeyance but rather played out in Messiah’s ministry on earth. For sure, all of Isaiah 61 has an “already -not yet” dimension, it is fulfilled, it is being fulfilled, and it will be fulfilled in greater fulness.

 

As we read Luke 4, John 8, and John 9, can we see that the Cross brings us to the end of ourselves? Jesus will not allow us to trust in our self-righteousness, He will destroy all elements of self-reliance and self-righteousness, He will leave nothing for us to boast in, other than in Him and His Cross (1 Cor. 1:30 – 31; Gal. 6:14).

 

We get angry and want to murder when the basis for our identity and righteousness is attacked, when it is suggested that our religious or ethnic or national identity is as filthy rags before our holy God. When it is suggested that we are blind and enslaved and poor and that we need healing and deliverance and to be set free from our prisons, we want to attack and hurt others and defend ourselves – why we even want to kill Jesus…will we admit this?

 

Let us make no mistake, not only will Jesus not let our attitudes slide, He will bring them to front and center, hence He reminds His hearers of the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:25 – 27). Why couldn’t He leave well enough alone? Why pour gasoline on a fire already burning hot? He knew it would cause a violent explosion – yet He purposely threw accelerant on His message.

 

O dear friends, I hope you will ponder Luke 4:14 – 30 and John 8:30 – 59, considering the dynamics, both 2,000 years ago and in our own time and lives. John Chapter 9 also has a role to play in our reflections.

 

Had I been in the congregation in Nazareth (Luke 4) or in the crowd in Jerusalem (John 8), or in the synagogue of the blind man (John 9), how would I have responded to Jesus?

 

How am I responding to Him today?

 

We will return to these passages in the next post in this series, the Lord willing.

 

 

 

Joseph - Reflections (6)

 

 

“The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples, and set him free. He made him lord of his house and ruler over all his possessions, to imprison his princes at will, that he might teach his elders wisdom” (Psalm 105:20 – 22).

 

2 Corinthians, 1 Peter, and Revelation are three New Testament letters that especially focus on suffering for Christ and others. As Peter moves to his conclusion he writes:

 

“But resist him [the devil], firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Pt. 5:9 – 10).

 

Paul writes that we suffer with Christ, “so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:17 – 18).

 

As an element of Joseph’s exaltation was to rule in judgment, so does Christ Jesus in His exaltation judge the world; Joseph is a picture of Christ. As members of the Body of Christ we participate with Christ in judging the world.

 

“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? …  Do you not know that we will judge angels?” (1 Cor. 6:2 – 3).

 

God’s People, the Church, the Israel of God is to have, “The high praises of God in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written; this is an honor for all His godly ones. Hallelujah!” (Psalm 149:6 – 9).

 

Jesus says, “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father” (Rev. 2:26 – 27; see also Psalm 2:8).

 

Whatever all of this means, it is beyond me. Whenever that Day comes in which these things are fulfilled, I will look to Jesus and brothers and sisters far greater than I am to teach me the Way I should go. There may be a measure of this happening today, there may have always been a measure of this throughout history, for certainly God gives words of judgment to His saints to speak into the world. Sometimes these words are public, sometimes private. Sometimes people claim to speak God’s Word of judgment, but rather than it being a Word from God it is a word of their own imagination, a word of their own emotional and mental confusion. Let us remember that all of God’s Word is Christocentric.

 

My sense is that it is generally presumptuous to declare God’s specific purposes in world events, the reasons for disasters – man made or otherwise. We may discern our sin and foolishness, we may see (to one degree or another) things in the realm of the Spirit, we may have insight granted to us as individuals or groups to help us through seasons of life; but I think until our exaltation in Christ is fulfilled that we continue to “see through a glass darkly.”

 

I think that when we have a sense of judgment or warning, that more times than not it is for our own instruction and for those immediately around us. When we hear grand pronouncements, sweeping in scope, from Christian “leaders,” they are typically an embarrassment to those with eyes to see and ears to hear, flowing from speculation.

 

This is not to say that we don’t need prophetic messages calling us back to the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ – and perhaps herein we may find the validation of true prophetic messages, that which points us to Jesus Christ and His Cross is likely to be valid, that which does not is to be suspect. Messages of judgment ought to come from broken hearts, Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, as did Jeremiah, Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses pleaded with God to judge him rather than blot out Israel, Daniel bore the sins of his people in intercessory prayer. Haughtiness and pride have no place in a message of judgment.

 

I touch on this image of judgment because it is in our text, “to imprison his princes at will,” but let’s note that the story of Jospeh in Genesis provides no example of Jospeh disciplining the princes of Egypt. This isn’t to say that Joseph didn’t do this, but it is to say that the Biblical narrative focuses on other things.

 

We will pick this back up in our next reflection in this series, the Lord willing.

 

The Missing Persons of Noah's Ark

 

 

Have you ever been saved from doing or saying something stupid? Have you ever stopped yourself from doing something really dumb?

 

“Where are the people with Noah’s Ark?” I asked.

 

“I don’t know,” Vickie replied.

 

We both looked through the room in which the Ark was displayed but could not find the wooden figures of Noah, his family, and the two-by-two set of animals. We had seen the two small daughters of our friends playing with the figurines, where could they have put them?

 

Prior to our friends coming for dinner, Noah and company had been in their usual place, on a shelf outside the Ark in our sunroom; the same place they had occupied for years. Now they were gone.

 

Surely the girls did not take them home with them. Surely not.

 

We looked in the living room, which was adjacent to the sunroom, no Noah.

 

We looked in the office adjacent to the living room, no Noah.

 

We looked in the hallway adjacent to the living room,  no animals.

 

We looked in the bedroom off the hallway, no figurines.

 

We looked all over the sunroom again, we looked in cabinets, pulled drawers open, looked under furniture – no Noah, no Mrs. Noah, no two-by-two animals.

 

What to do?

 

Should we call our friends and ask them to ask their girls if they know where Noah and the animals are?

 

Surely not.

 

What to do?

 

Have you ever been saved from doing or saying something stupid? Have you ever stopped yourself from doing something really dumb?

 

We knew that calling our friends would not be the best thing to do.

 

When you are accustomed to seeing something in a certain place and then it’s gone, it can feel strange – the place is suddenly empty. The Ark looked isolated, alone, abandoned. No Noah, no Mrs. Noah, no animals standing two-by-two. No elephants, no giraffes, no cows, no hippos.

 

“If they don’t turn up, maybe we can find replacements,” I said.

 

I am, as many of you know, not the brightest. Sometimes it takes a while for me to catch on, and when I do catch on it isn’t so much that I’ve figured it out, but rather the result of perseverance, of turning all the pieces of the puzzle over and trying each one to see what fits.

 

An hour or two after our search for the missing people a thought mercifully came to me, an impulse more than a thought. I went into the sunroom and over to the Ark. I lifted the roof of the Ark and looked inside…and there were the missing persons with their animals.

 

When the girls had finished playing with the figurines, they put them where they belonged – not outside the Ark, but inside it.

 

What might we learn from this?

 

For sure this is a reminder of how children can teach us if we will only pay attention to them. They can convict us, challenge us, encourage us, and call us back to the simplicity, awe, and wonder that God created us to enjoy. Chesterton wrote that all he really needed to know, he learned in the nursery – as a child. Right and wrong, good and evil, grandeur, the numinous, love and kindness, our high calling, joy, love. 

The world of adults educates the image of God out of us, it is an olive press – crushing the life out of us, forming us into the image of things, power, pleasure, making idolaters of us – whether we are “Christian” or non-Christian.

 

Finding Noah within the Ark is also a reminder that “we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). We belong to Jesus and we live in Him, we can’t really see who we are, not really. On the one hand we couldn’t stand to see sin and our hearts outside of Christ as they truly are, on the other hand the glory which God has placed within us in Christ is reserved for the fulness of eternity – when all things are made new; this is a glory that will take our breath away. 

As Lewis wrote, if we could see the true nature of the person beside us, we would be tempted to fall down and worship the person as a god – so great is the glory which our Father has placed within us in Christ.

 

Why do we treat each other so poorly?

 

If we wouldn’t (let us hope) desecrate Leonardo’s Mona Lisa or Michelangelo’s David, why do we desecrate the image of God both in ourselves and in others?

 

Another thing we can learn is hiding in plain sight, do you see it?

 

People belong in the Ark, but we can be so accustomed to seeing them outside the Ark that we think nothing of it, in fact, we expect to see them outside the Ark.  Whether our family, our neighbors, our coworkers, fellow students, partners in civic endeavors; we can become so used to seeing them outside the Ark that we think nothing of it.

 

Jesus commands us to “make disciples.” This goes beyond talking about church, it goes beyond sharing our thoughts about right and wrong, it is far beyond mentioning God now and then, and it even goes beyond talking about Jesus…as vital as that is. To make disciples requires engagement, commitment, and service.

 

To make disciples requires that we bring people into the Ark; the door must be open, the welcome ramp must be extended, and we must both invite and guide. Our Father is the God of hospitality and we ought to be the most hospitable people on earth. Our destiny is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb – let there be no empty places at the Table.

 

There was once a highly successful family-owned regional grocery store chain based in Richmond, VA named Ukrops. Ukrops was a national leader in terms of market share in their highly competitive industry. Eventually the family sold the business to a large company that assimilated it into their multi-state grocery business. 

The new corporate owner promptly destroyed the level of service and profitability of the stores it purchased; it was a textbook example of how to take the best and make it the worst. For those of us who enjoyed the Ukrops experience, it was disgusting. The new owners so damaged their reputation in Richmond that they had to either close or sell the stores and leave the market.

 

If you were in a Ukrops store and asked an employee where you could find an item, the employee would not tell you where the item was, he would not give you directions to the item, instead he or she would escort you to the item, even if it was on the other side of the store. That was but one difference between Ukrops and its competitors – personal service, personal touch, personal care.

 

We invite and guide by serving and loving, by asking and listening and praying, by affirming our Father’s love and care and His desire for deep relationship, by being the Presence of Jesus Christ, by portraying hope. We encourage others to shop for healthy foods, not food with additives of sin and spiritual and moral poison in them. 

We point out the difference between food and drink which nourish, and that which deadens the senses and makes us less than who our Father created us to be. We do not lead people into a diet with cancer-causing agents, but rather to eat the Bread of Life which is Jesus Christ.

 

Are there people in my life outside the Ark? Have I grown so used to seeing them outside the Ark that I no longer think about them as being outside rather than inside? Does it no longer bother me that should (or when!) the Flood come that they will perish?

 

What about you?