When He Comes

 Beyond confessions of faith, hymns and sermons, we seem to pay little attention to the Second Coming.  We pursue our educations, work at our careers, raise our families, worry about retirement, and prepare for the inevitable: death and taxes. In the meantime, the lives of believers and non-believers often show little marked difference other than church attendance.

But what if he comes today? What if he comes tomorrow? What if he came yesterday? No, I am not suggesting you missed the “rapture.” But, he did, in fact, come yesterday and he will, in fact, come today. Jesus comes to us everyday if we are looking for him. He comes in small, imperceptible, and unexpected ways. He comes in the interruptions that beg for our attention and threaten to derail our pre-planned agendas.

This is exactly what Jesus taught his disciples before his ascension into Heaven. Jesus said when he returns, “the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:31-46)

Once He came to me in the person of a young Hispanic employee at Wal-Mart who needed words of encouragement. He came in the form of a Chinese woman named Chiu who was fishing on a pier with her mentally handicapped daughter. Another time He came in the form of a teenage unwed mother who had given birth to a son who died a few days later. He came in the form of Sultan, Abdelmassa, Saud and Moath, Muslim students from Kuwait. He recently appeared as a waiter who followed me to my car so I could give him one of my books. His daughter had just been born with complications.  How many times have I missed Him and failed to recognize Him? I don't know. He comes every day in many ways and forms that we are likely to miss if we are too focused on our own agendas.

If we live our lives alert and ready to receive Him in the small encounters with the “least of these” we will become salt and light, as Jesus described it. In the process, we will be ready to receive Him in that day, when He appears like lightning from the east to west. We might even hear Him say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” 

Respecting Women

 Last week the Southern Baptist Convention met in New Orleans.  88 percent of those present voted to confirm the ouster of Saddleback Church from their membership because the church includes women in pastoral ministry. Rick Warren, the founding pastor, spoke in defense of the church.  Warren led the church from a few friends gathered in his living room 40 years ago to an attendance exceeding 23,000.  He is also the author of The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life.

 I must admit I am mystified. Why would anyone want to prevent someone from doing good, male or female? Or why would anyone want to prevent a church from choosing someone to serve their congregation who has moral integrity and pastoral gifts. My cousin’s daughter was recently ordained in North Carolina.  We sent a card and a gift to encourage her.

 Jesus rose above customs and traditions to demonstrate the worth and value of women. When Jesus came to the well in Samaria, he remained alone while his disciples went into the nearby village searching for provisions.  A single woman approached.  She was taken aback to find a man at the well.  Refusing to make eye contact, she hoped to avoid any interaction with this Jewish stranger. She intended to fill her water jug quickly and be on her way. 

 But Jesus would not let the moment pass.  He asked her for water.  She was shocked. “You, a Jew, would ask water from me, a Samaritan woman?” Jesus engaged her more deeply.  This thoroughly confused the woman who challenged him with the Samaritan’s tradition of worshipping at Gerazim rather than Jerusalem.  Again His response stunned her.  He did not argue the point.  He did not put her down.  He said, “I tell you a time is coming when true worshippers will worship God neither in Jerusalem nor Gerazim but they will worship in spirit and in truth.”   He offered her living water from which she would never thirst. When the disciples returned, they were too amazed to speak.  It was unheard of that a Jewish man would be found conversing with a Samaritan woman. (John 4).

 In Jerusalem a woman was dragged to Jesus because she had been caught in the act of adultery.  Her accusers stood glaring, stones gripped in their hands, waiting for Jesus to condemn the woman. Instead, he bent over and wrote in the sand.  “Let him who is without sin,” he said, “cast the first stone.”  The men who were ready to stone the woman were overcome with guilt.  One-by-one they dropped their stones and drifted away.  “Where are your accusers?”  He asked. She responded, “There are none.”  Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.  Go your way and sin no more.”  (John 8).

 Following His crucifixion Jesus chose to show Himself alive first to the women and only later to the men. They carried the news to the eleven who were huddled in a secret room.  The men dismissed the women’s report as idle gossip.  Only later, when Jesus appeared among them did they realize the truth of the women’s report that He was, indeed, risen. (Mark 16:9-11).

 The Apostle Paul summed up the Scriptural position on gender when he wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus,”  (Galatians 3:28).

A Father's Gift

 This week sons and daughters of all ages are shopping for Father’s Day. Decades ago a tie would do. But few men wear ties anymore. When I was a child I could get by with a bottle of Old Spice.  I think my Dad had a shelf full. Today it is more complicated.

 My father passed away when he was 53. I haven’t shopped for a Father’s Day gift in many years.  But every Father’s Day I think about him. He was a wonderful father. He taught me to ride a bike and play ball. He took us to church, ran the sound system and helped the elderly up and down the elevator.

 Along the way, I became a father myself.  My first child was born two years before my father died. Five years later, another son, and eight years after that, our daughter. Today I have six grandchildren.  Instead of thinking about what I might buy for my father on Father’s Day, I think about what I want to give to my children.  I hope I give them some of the gifts that my father gave me.

 I hope I give them a good example of honesty, generosity, and friendship.  I have always cherished the example my Dad set.  He never went to college, never held an office or position, but he was a true friend to others.  I often saw him choose to be cheated rather than to risk cheating someone else. When he died more than 800 people crowded the church to express their grief.  For years after his death, our family received letters and cards from those who had been touched by his life.

 I hope I will give them encouragement. My father was a constant encourager. He believed in me, even when I did not believe in myself.  I still remember his hand upon my shoulder. His affectionate grin and his words of affirmation letting me know he believed I could do anything I set my mind to.

 I hope I will give them a legacy of prayer.  My Dad was not eloquent and was not a public speaker.  I only heard him lead in a public prayer once. But he always prayed at the family table, usually a memorized prayer that included confession, forgiveness and a petition for protection in Jesus’ name. I don’t think we ever ate a family meal without my father praying that prayer.

 I hope I will give my children and grandchildren a legacy of character.  I never heard my father speak disparagingly of another person.  He never complained.  I never heard him speak a single profane word. 

 I hope I leave my children a memory of joy.  When I think of my Dad I think of him grinning, with deep dimples in his cheeks.  I remember him laughing, out of control until he couldn’t breathe. I remember him making other people laugh simply by his cheerful outlook on life.

 When I think of fathers, and being a father, I think of Jesus.  He gave us the greatest honor when He taught us to think of God as “our Father who art in Heaven.”  He raised the bar when He challenged us saying, “Be perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.”

The Temptation

 

In 2014 I stood on a mountain peak in the Alps, an area referred to as Obersalzberg.  In the valley below was the historic city of Salzburg.  Nearby, nestled in another valley, lay Berchtesgaden and Koinegsee.  I stood over a small square stone.  One side marked the boundary of Germany. The other marked the boundary of Austria. 

 As I scanned the landscape that fell away beneath my feet, I felt as if I could see forever, that I might be standing on the top of the world.   It was an impressive sight.

 Standing at this awe inspiring spot, I was reminded of the Scripture that tells of Jesus’ temptation. He was taken to a similar high point where the nations of the world seemed to stretch out at his feet.  It was there that the devil made his offer, “All these things will I give you if you bow down and worship me.” Jesus answered him, “Be gone Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God , and serve Him only.” (Matthew 4:9-10).

 This was not the only time Jesus faced the tempter.  The Devil left him for a season, but, in the end, Jesus was “tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin,” (Hebrews 4:15).

 On the cliffs  not far away, I could see the outline of a building. The Kehlsteinhaus, more commonly known as the Eagle’s Nest, a home built as a gift for Adolf Hitler on his 50^th birthday. It is reported that Hitler seldom came to the Kelsteinhaus.  But it was in this region, in the mountains above Berchstergaden and Salsburg, that Hitler completed his writing of Mein Kampf, the massive document that outlined his beliefs and his plans.  His quest for world domination varied very little from what he included in that early manuscript. 

 In 1942 Hitler said, “There are so many links between Obersalzburg and me.  So many things were born there … I spent there the finest hours of my life … It was there that all my great projects were conceived and ripened.”  The outcome is documented in history. He would follow an agenda of manipulation, force, war, terror, brutality and racism.  His agenda left in its wake more than 6 million murdered Jews and at least another 50 million dead worldwide.

 Almost a century ago, in 1925, Adolph Hitler looked off into the awe inspiring distance from this same mountain vista and experienced a similar temptation to the temptation Jesus faced.  Unlike Jesus, he accepted the devil’s offer. 

 Every man and woman must make a similar choice. We may face the temptation in our work, our schools, our government and our homes.  We are tempted to enforce our own will upon those around us by duplicity and deceit, by force, anger and violence. We are tempted to arrogance, self-will and prejudice.  We all must choose whether we will bow down to the power of darkness (Colossoams 1:13), the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), or whether we will choose, as Jesus did, to worship the Lord our God and serve Him only.