To Be a Saint (11/17/24)

As one raised in a Protestant household, I might suppose myself free of any misconceptions about saints being somehow super Christians, and that much may even be so.  But am I free of misconceptions about the matter of sainthood, even as I recognize that it applies to all who believe?  I’m not so sure.  Yes, I understand that, as Thayer’s Lexicon points out, a saint is one set apart for God.  I even accept, sometimes, that this is for His exclusive use and as His exclusive possession.  Mind you, there are plenty of times when I wish to retain my part in the use of me and fall into thinking solely in terms of my own selfish desires and interests.  In those times, I can hardly claim to be acting as one exclusively God’s and exclusively for His use.  I’m holding back.  I’m keeping a bit of me for me, perhaps rather a large bit.

So, it comes as something of a corrective to read in the ISBE that this sainthood, this consecration unto God is, ‘from the beginning absolute duty.’  What does this mean?  It means that, while the setting apart, this consecration, is by God’s doing, yet it sets me under obligation.  And that obligation is entire.  It is, as was said, absolute.  There can be no holding back.  There can be no keeping for my own pursuits.  All I am is His, and He is all to me.  That’s the call of consecration.  I don’t say that it is always the present-day experience of consecration.  Would that it were.  But then, I must also admit, would that it weren’t required.  I cannot say in honesty that I desire to be wholly given over to His service.  There is too much of me in me, and me, I still want my own way, at least for some part of the day.

I have talked of this before in regard to being servant-minded.  I am called to be servant to all, but in my own strength, I will quickly hit the wall of, “When do I get some time for me?”  Or perhaps even, “Where is the one who will serve me?”  It is an unworthy thought either way, but I’d be a liar to claim I never have it.  I have it often, perhaps too often.  It is in my nature to desire large swathes of ‘me time.’  And yet, here is the call of God upon me to be His totally and exclusively.  And a large part of that consists in my being available and willing to serve Him by serving others.  It doesn’t come naturally, nor can I fulfill that duty naturally.  I must, as in all things, depend upon Him who called, Him who is at work in me that I might indeed be willing, and being willing, prove also able in the strength He Himself supplies.

I must confess these last few days have been a bit frustrating to me.  It doesn’t help that the church in which we have been ministering shares much in common with an oven.  But to teach interactively and get no interaction is dismaying.  When I ask the room for simple answers to simple questions and not one hand goes up, not one answer is offered, it carries this feeling of failure, of defeat.  Now, I know that feeling is a lie.  God is doing what He wants done.  I know, for instance, that Pastor Elias sees the value of this exercise for his church.  Perhaps the number of people was simply too large for people to be comfortable standing up to answer.  Perhaps teaching from the platform had some psychological effect that discouraged speaking up.  I don’t know what the deal was.  I know I was very glad when my time was up, and I could return to relative anonymity.  A very relative thing indeed, given the setting.

But then, there are those expressions of gratitude which come, appreciation for what has been done by the team, and it is well.  Do I need personal recognition for my part?  Well, yes, there’s that within me which would like to be recognized.  But that part of me is insignificant.  This isn’t about me.  It cannot be and it must not be.  It’s about what God is doing.  If it is in and through me, then praise God.  If it is not, but others on this team are making some impact, praise God.  If perhaps these notes we have prepared and left with the churches here prove useful to them, help them to grow in Christ and to build their faith on a firm foundation of Scripture, then it has been worth it to be here.  The sickness some on our team have faced will have been worth it.  The inevitable stresses, the longing for loved ones back home, and whatever concerns may accompany that longing will have been worth it.

So, rather than doubts, rather than self-criticisms, rather than disappointment, let me embrace the wonder of having been chosen by God for His exclusive use.  Lord, thank You!  I have so little reason to expect that I should be called upon for such a role as this.  And though it seems that in this life You have led me through, I so often face duties that are beyond me, roles that have no apparent basis of preparation, yet You have led me through, each and every time.  If I have mistaken that for some result of my own wonderful self, forgive me, and let my eyes be open to the truth of the matter.  You have done wonders.  Over and again, you have done wonders.  And if it be that only one or two have truly benefited from the things You have given me to teach, it is enough.  If it is but one statement made in the course of three days that takes root in one heart and mind, it is enough.  Indeed, so long as Your will has been accomplished, and I have not been overmuch in Your way, it is enough.  Thank You for allowing me this part in what You are doing.  And as we begin to look to the next session, in the next place, let me be that much more mindful that all that we are doing is Your doing.  As I have prayed before, I pray again.  Let me hold nothing back, nothing in reserve, and give myself wholly into Your service, for I am Yours and Yours alone.

The Embrace of Christ (11/19/24)

We come, at the end of this epistle, to what might very well be the most difficult commandment delivered:  Greet all who belong to God.  Account each and every one of them as worthy of your greeting.  Make no value judgments in this regard, show no favoritism.  It is quite natural that we will come to have our favorite acquaintances, those with which we are, perhaps, a bit more sympatico.  But we are no longer natural men and women, but rather, spiritual.  We must stretch ourselves, should it be necessary, and it will be.  We must, as much as I hate to apply the word must to anything in this life of godliness, pray that God would give us so generous a nature as to embrace the whole church.

And that really is the strength of the greeting to which Paul calls us here.  Embrace every saint.  Draw every saint to yourself.  It’s not about accumulating members for your church.  It’s about recognizing your family.  It’s about saluting this brother, this sister, who is, like yourself, a child of God by rebirth.  Here is one adopted by God into His own family, just as you were.  Here is your true brother, your true sister, and would you neglect to embrace them?  This is, to be sure, a chaste embracing, but hardly a formality.  This is the warmth of spirit recognizing spirit.  It is, in its way, akin to the baby John, yet in the womb, acknowledging the presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary (Lk 1:41).

Paul makes plain in other letters that there are to be no distinctions made in this body, as if this class of believer were somehow lesser than that.  Then, it was issues of Jew versus Gentile, slave versus free, or male versus female.  That last still roils the waters today, does it not?  But in our day, we might instead apply this to our various denominations.  The Presbyterian is no more or less godly than the Baptist, or the Conservative than the Charismatic, so long as we are all of us still professing the One true God, confessing the same core truths.

Pastor Mathews, for his part in this current journey, has been speaking on the Apostolic Creed, that early concise statement of the tenets of our faith.  Here are the basics:  God is One, but three in Person; Father, Son, and Spirit.  God created all things, rules all things, knows all things.  Jesus was born without the involvement of a man, walked this life as a man among men, but without sin.  He obeyed fully the law of God without exception; born sinless, and sinless unto His death.  His death was real, anchored in history, identifiable as to time and place.  He was indeed crucified, dead and buried.  But He conquered death through the Spirit, and rose again, ascending thereafter into heaven whence He had come.  And He will come again to take to Himself the church invisible, the universal church of all believers, regardless of denomination, regardless of era, regardless even of the grave.  The Holy Spirit is indeed our counselor, sent to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives through His work within, as He refashions us in this new birth, making of us fit temples to holy God, counseling us throughout our earthly lives, ministering to us the truth of God, imparting wisdom and strength, that we might indeed live godly before our holy Lord.

So, embrace one another!  Welcome this fellow temple of God!  Let the soul know its worth, and the image bearer before you know his kinship.  The old song declares, we are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.  That’s the point!  We are one!  We each one of us belong to God, and belonging to God, we are worthy of a greeting, a heartfelt greeting, such as we would give to our dearest relatives.  I think of those rare occasions when I see my brothers.  As to my oldest brother, there is little enough that we share in common apart from our parentage, yet there will be a warmth of embrace.  To my other brother, to whom I was much closer for a time, that greeting might be warmer yet, though, there too, there is little we share – nothing so far as this life reborn is concerned.

I could look instead to the warmth with which I shall embrace my beloved wife when this journey is completed and I have returned home.  It seems I will have to break contact these next few days, as even on WIFI it appears charges climb alarmingly.  So be it.  Our reuniting will be the more gladsome when it comes.  But in the meantime, we share more than our union as husband and wife.  We are one in the Spirit.  She, too, is a child of my Father in heaven.  Her path through this life of faith may look significantly different from my own.  She remains far more the Charismatic, where I have trended more Conservative.  And yes, we could readily drive one another to distraction with our distinctions.  But we are one.   And the embrace of this fellow lover of God is an embrace both of natural affection and spiritual.  As such, I know that as I write, and as my thoughts go to her, the Spirit bears my embrace to her, and she, as she dances and worships our Lord and King, will be sending her embrace and her prayers of encouragement my way.

So, I would encourage you today, or on your next opportunity to gather together as one body in worship of our Lord, embrace each and every one of your fellow believers.  Seek that you might leave no one out.  Seek that nobody is left feeling rejected because of your standoffishness.  No, not even should your inadvertent passing over some individual or another be given room to cause resentment or discouragement.  Understand that everybody in that place has the same desire as do you, to be acknowledged, to be recognized, to be seen, as my lovely wife would be reminding me.  Let them know that they matter.  Do you not hunger for that same recognition yourself?  I know you do, because I know I do, and I’m not that special in this regard.

I could note the propensity, among those of us who are used to working from home, to feel isolated, unappreciated by those who are in the office now and again.  It’s a false impression, but inevitable.  I could note, even my slight disappointment at being off in this side room, rather than in the shared common space with the others in our little team.  I mean, it’s a lovely room, and an honor of sorts, yet, I can’t help feeling that sadness at being off by myself again.  I felt it, even on the flight down to Lesotho.  Yes, it’s lovely to have this little two-seat space to myself, but where is somebody to share the wonder with?   And, for all that I am largely an introvert, there is a bit of hurt, I confess, a sense of not quite belonging.  As with the workplace, I know it’s a false impression, but it remains a real feeling.  I do get to share somewhat with my sister as we go chasing after birds that are new to our experience, and that’s fine.  But I don’t know quite how to describe it, and I don’t know quite how to combat it.  There’s a distance, quite probably of my own making, that I cannot seem to win through.

Lord, this is an unexpected turn, and I must pay attention to it.  I would not doubt but what it’s a spiritual attack from a new angle, so I pray that You might minister to this feeling I have.  Perhaps it’s still a residual effect of the stony silence I faced in the effort in Lusaka, where appreciations were shown for others with their teachings, but not for my part.  Honestly, I felt no particular connection there, apart, perhaps from Pastor Elias, and thank You, certainly, for his being there, for one receptive face, albeit perhaps the one least in need of my particular training.  But You shall do what You desire to do with what You have given me to present.  And today, we begin anew, with a new gathering of pastors and leaders in a new place with a new set of expectations and challenges.  Let it be that I set aside any sense of disappointment, look forward with joy to see what You shall do, and, most importantly, Father, let me be open to Your leading, an instrument prepared for Your exclusive use.  Use me as You will this day.  Guide me as I teach, and let the warmth of Your Holy Spirit, the joy of my faith in You, be evident in my interactions with one and all.  I love You, Lord.  And I cannot but love this place.  It is a touch of heaven.  But that is a matter of earthly things.  Let me get my eyes on You, my heart settled, and my spirit at rest in Your embrace.  Then, let me extend Your embrace by my own, to engulf and draw to me all those to whom we shall be ministering today.  Amen.