Lists

On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.  - Psalm 62:7

I like lists.  Sometimes that is how I get through my day.  I suspect that my fondness for lists derives from the many years that I worked in construction before entering full-time ministry.  A list is good.  You can work your way down it. You can see the progress you make.

Even this week, I am working down a long do-list of things I have to get done.  Ask any pastor, Holy Week –while being wonderful, is an immense challenge.  So it helps to have a list to be working down.  As I write this on Wednesday evening, my list for getting ready for the services and activities that start Thursday evening and culminate with three services on Easter has been whittled down considerably.  I’ve even managed to sneak in a couple of hospital visits in-between list items.   It has been and will continue to be a great, but busy, week.

Lists….

Sometimes I wish that there was a list of things I could do to find myself in right relationship with God.  Because I like such lists, I could then just work my way down it, check each item off, and rest secure in knowing that I have done all the right things to be right with God.

I think the quote above from Psalm 62 contains such a list.  But it is a list that drives most of us crazy.  The list points to only one thing.  “On God,” writes the Psalmist, “rests my salvation….”

On God…we rest.  One thing.

You see that is really what Easter is all about.  Instead of working through a list of things that we need to do to please and get steady with God, there is only one thing we have to do.  Rest in Him.  For Jesus has done the rest…on the cross.  Everything else you can scratch off that list. 

If you do any one thing this Easter, just realize and count on the fact that Jesus went to the cross…to scratch everything off that list that we could never get right in the first place.  There is only one thing on the list.  It is Jesus.

That’s a list that has accomplished everything for me. 

Thank God.

Elvis

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.   John 15:5

Recently, Susie and I spent a night with Elvis. It’s true.  We had to spend a night at Chicago’s Midway airport; waiting for the airline check-in counters to open up at 4:30 in the morning.  As we arrived at about 10:00p.m. local time, we picked up our bags and made out way to some hard plastic seats that wound up being our night-time abode.

As we walked closer to the seats, we spotted him.  I whispered to Susie, “Look at him.  He thinks he’s Elvis”  Seems a fellow already sitting a waiting for a morning flight had large black hair, huge black sideburns and a guitar case.

As we laid claim to our seats, I got a closer look at the guy.  He was wearing a black sequined jacket; embroidered on the back of it, laced with rhinestones, were the words, “Elvis Presley.”

He did think he was Elvis.  And…he was Elvis.  Kind of.

Turns out he was an entertainer that made his living as an Elvis impersonator. All across the United States.   And he, like us, had had some serious flight interruption getting from one gig to another.  That’s how I knew wasn’t the real Elvis.  The real one had his own jet.  Faux Elvis flew Southwest Airlines; just like us.

The passage above I shared with you is not about Elvis.  Or impersonating Elvis. It's about living life as God would want us to.  And being the person, the real genuine person, he created us to be.  He wants us to abide in him, so that he would abide in us so that, in our lives we would bear much fruit.  For there is no greater living than bearing the fruit that God wants to produce in and through us.

The only one our Lord would like us to imitate is…our Lord.  Ultimately, we can do nothing of lasting value without him.  Nothing.  Even singing like Elvis will mean little if we are not singing for our Lord.

Who are you imitating?  Who do you sing for?  In whom do you abide?

P.S.  Faux Elvis spends a lot of his time on cell phones and drinking Diet Pepsi. And he is a real nice guy.  If you see Elvis this weekend, tell him Chris and Susie say hi!

Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  - Romans 15:13

Can I admit something?  As I get older, I seem to have a growing suspicion of the nature of humanity.  I recently heard someone describe themselves as “a hopeful pessimist.”   I have taken to describe myself that way also.  I bristle when I hear people speaking about how humanity is ‘evolving’ into something better. Balderdash.  Read the newspaper (yah I know, most people don’t read newspapers anymore).  Whatever your source of news is, pay attention.  The stories about human depravity just get weirder and weirder.

Yet, as a follower of Christ, I am told to have hope.  As matter of fact, Paul prayed that people would be filled with God’s hope, joy and peace.  Sometimes I get one of these.  Rarely two at the same time.  All three?  Uh, uh, no way.

Yet, this passage is a great reminder that we have a great “God of hope” that wants to fill us with “all joy and peace.”   So, I’m guessing that when I am not so filled with those elements… the blame does not rest on God.  I need, more than often, check where my heart is.

It’s easy to get lost in skepticism. It’s easy to write off humanity when I read about the latest crime/murder/war/idiot.  It’s easy.

And yet…I rest in the fact that God has not written me off.  Easter is living proof of that fact.  And when I tend to write off humanity, I stand in judgment myself.  Someone once said, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”  And that someone went to the cross for me...and the rest of humanity.  Humanity…good, bad or ugly.  Loved by Christ.

And…may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope….

No!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. - 2 Corinthians 12:9

(This post springs from a Facebook conversation of two years ago that I recently revisited.)

One of my favorite hymns is "Spirit of God, Descend upon my Heart." Love the melody and the harmonies that emanate from it. However, it ends with the phrase, "teach me the patience of unanswered prayer." I don't like that phrase, simply because I think all prayers are answered; sometimes 'yes,' sometimes 'no,' sometimes 'not yet.'

The 'not yet' part is also frequently 'no' I'll admit, but the impact of the 'no' is cushioned by time. Because, as many have experienced, 'no' hurts. No (or unanswered prayer) is just difficult; for me the wisdom of this type of answer shows itself only after some passage of time. It is usually only then can I, in all honesty, say "Thank God." But it takes time. Sometimes years.

So when my impatience level rises (as it frequently does), I have to look back at both when God answered my prayers 'yes,' and when, in His wisdom, the answer was no. And remember. This is done frequently in the Psalms.

I am reminded of when the apostle Paul pleaded with God to remove some sort of "thorn' in his flesh. The answer he got was "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." The answer was no; it must have hurt terribly to receive that answer, but in time Paul realized that whatever this thorn was allowed him to be used more by Christ.  In His power and wisdom. 

His grace is sufficient; I try, in my weakness to remember and be thankful.

Sometimes I actually achieve it....

Click here to listen to "Spirit of God, Descend upon my Heart" 

Faithfulness

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations….”  - Deuteronomy 7:9

I hope you can read this passage and feel an element of gratefulness. This passage is about faithfulness.  Not ours.   Not at all. But God’s.  This passage has a lot of what God will do.  He will keep his end of the covenant (agreements); he will do what he says he will do.  His love is unending, i.e. “to a thousand generations.”

Oh, yes, there is something in this passage about our end of the deal.  His faithfulness extends to “those who love him and keep his commandments.”  Which can be a bit frightening, for I know I have failed him at times on both of those counts.

I have.  And, I’m guessing, so have you.

That is why we have Easter.  May we be reminded that ultimately our righteousness (being free from guilt or sin) comes not so much by what we do, but by what, or who, we trust.  The apostle Paul once wrote, “…because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption….” (Visit 1 Cor. 1:30)

Yes we still have the responsibility to “love him and keep his commandments.”  Jesus summed this up this way, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (visit Matthew 22:37-40)  Jesus’ understanding of the law is not as onerous as it might seem in Deuteronomy.  Loving the Lord your God and loving your neighbor as yourself springs from the righteousness, grace, and freedom that we have in Jesus Christ.

Think of it this way.  Jesus loves you so much.  And in response love him back and love your neighbors.  And count on him keeping his promises and unending love.  For you.  This day.

And be grateful.