David Bahn – Reflections

I will be taking the next 8 days as Sabbath rest. That means I won’t publish my blog for that period of time. I will, however, continue to follow the 149 Week Bible Challenge readings during that time. I hope you will also keep up that discipline.

Blessings!
David Bahn

I’ve had my share of friends. Some of them have been very good – supportive of God’s ways and values. Some have not had the same positive effect. Sadly, some tempted me to turn aside from God’s ways. Obviously I pray that my impact in people’s lives was to turn people toward God. But the ways of the world are not always obvious, evil, or blatant.

Satan is the accuser and father of the lie. He seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. Sometimes his attack is blatant and head-on. Take it! You won’t get caught! Other times he is far more subtle. You’re being wronged. You need to get revenge. You need to claim your rights. Don’t let them push you around.

Often, moreover, our sinful flesh plays right along with his ploys. We get angry, lose our temper, and lash out at those we love. We are caught in a low moment and give in to cravings that will never fill the soul, but provide brief respite. We think we’ve got it coming and do whatever is necessary to get our way.

James warns us against that in no uncertain terms. “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). We must all admit that we have fallen prey to his schemes. 

Thankfully God loves sinners, and is constantly calling us back to himself. That is exactly what James is doing here. “Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? ⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (James 4:5-6).

If you’ve made the wrong kind of friends, heed God’s call to return to him and embrace his grace, and delight in his love for you. He has given us life, and filled us with his Holy Spirit. He desires that we remain faithful to him and experience the fullness of his grace in Jesus Christ. Jesus is our truest friend.

“I think you would be a good pastor,” she said. Little did she know that one day she would be a pastor’s wife, my dear Diane!

“Maybe you’re just not smart enough to take a foreign language,” my sixth grade teacher said. Little did she know I would one day attain at least minimal proficiency in German and Greek, and an ability to read and slog my way through Hebrew.

Words have great power. The first example was so very edifying and encouraging. My teacher’s words hurt and stunted my academic progress for years. Truly, I may well not have been able to handle a foreign language at that time. But she could have said, “You might want to wait a year or two before tackling a foreign language.” That might not have stung so much!

James reminds us that words can hurt and words can heal. The tongue can set a destroying fire and destroy relationships. That same tongue can also praise God. “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:10). 

There are times when a strong word is needed. Paul tells Titus that a pastor, “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

But recall James’ earlier words, “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). And Solomon says, “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body” (Proverbs 16:24). Not only that, but he also says, “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Proverbs 24:32).

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14). That’s a good prayer for all of us – teachers and learners alike.

It was a cold rainy Tuesday night in Brooklyn, New York (no, this isn’t the beginning of a bad novel!). People stood outside of the Brooklyn Tabernacle waiting for the prayer service to begin. Pastor David Schultz and I were inside visiting with Jim Cymbala, the pastor of the amazing prayer-centered, God-honoring church. When the doors finally opened 2500 people found their way to their seats in the renovated former theater. When the service began people sang, listened, and prayed.

We stood together in groups of 4 or 5 people. Total strangers prayed for us and we for them. Then came the invitation to come forward for a special time of prayer. Pastor Cymbala had Pastor Schultz and me kneel on the steps in the front of the auditorium. People gathered around us and he prayed for us as pastors, and for many others as well. Others were praying during that time too.

It was a God-honoring experience. In fact, that was my complete assessment and impression of the night. God was being honored. He was being honored by people calling on his name, praying to him, praising him, pleading for loved ones’ salvation and for release from addictions of all kinds.

I am reminded of this when I see the phrase, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (v.  2 Chronicles 20:12). On the one hand this is a act of repentance, an acknowledgement of our need for help beyond ourselves and beyond our strength. It could be an act merely of surrender. But it is more than that. It is an act of faith, and a confession that God has the answer to our needs.

That is true not only in times of urgent distress, and when we are aware of the need. God is the answer to our ultimate need for life, hope, healing, salvation, peace, and joy. When we are in distress, we look to Christ, God’s ultimate answer to our needs. When we are in times of peace and wellbeing, we look to Christ, the source of true peace and ultimate wellbeing. In any case, we do well to echo the prayer of Jehoshaphat, and keep our eyes on Jesus. 

I wish it wasn’t so easy to set up a straw man of religious zeal. They have an answer for every challenge. They stand on a street corner (or outside funerals, clinics, or public events) with angry signs, shouting judgment without pointing to the hope of forgiveness in Christ. Some justify acts of terror, persecution, or vandalism against people of another religion (or even against fellow Christians of another denomination).

I know these examples are few, extreme, and notorious. But then again, there are those who compromise the faith, dishonoring Christ and his suffering, death, and resurrection. Some want simply to get along without taking a stand for truth, life, and faithfulness to the Bible.

There are also those who ridicule people of faith, and mock sincere servants of Christ. They belittle the Bible, and make light of those who have sincerely-held convictions about truth, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. They dismiss religion as the opium of the people, to quote Marx.

To those who try to prove their faithfulness by extreme acts of zealotry, James says “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” That is true religion. It touches hearts and comforts souls. It emboldens faith and strengthens weak knees. 

I’m reminded of this, also, in light the previous truth James lifts up: “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Extreme and notorious displays of religious fervor simply do not accomplish the righteous things God desires for us and for the world. 

Spirited and respectful debate is fine. Candor, intelligence, and good will is very often edifying. And the still small voice of God’s grace and truth centered in Jesus has the power to change lives and bring salvation to all people. That’s what true religion seeks to convey.

I really should have gotten the hint. Our host was yawning. The conversation had all but died. We were watching the late-night news. But I made no move to leave and go back home. My bad. They never invited us over again.

You might have said that Paul didn’t get the hint either. Only it was far more than a hint. It was an outright demand that he and his traveling companions go home – or at least get out of their town. In fact, I cannot imagine a more clear message to leave than stoning someone. Not only did they stone Paul, they dragged him out of the city, and left him for dead. “And don’t come back!” you can almost hear them say.

I’m thinking Paul was one tough dude. Not only does he get up (under his own strength?!?), but he goes right back into the city. Granted only for a while, but he goes back into the city. Ok, it was for only one night, but the next day they don’t head for home, but they continue onward in their mission trip.

It was more than sinewy muscles and hard bones that kept them going. They were compelled by the love of Christ, the clarity of his call, and the power of the Holy Spirit to take the gospel to new people and places. And this is exactly what is happening here: the gospel is reaching new people and new places. The Word of the Lord is growing (a peculiar Lukan phrase in Acts). They are seeking and seeing the Kingdom of God have ever wider impact. New people are being saved. New churches are being formed. New pastors are being appointed.

Soon they will return to Antioch, where their journey began. They will stay there for a while, but not for long. Paul and Barnabas will set out again, joined by Timothy, John Mark, Silas, and even Luke. None of them are content to stay home, for they are on the move. Through their witness, God’s reign is advancing, and the door of faith is opening to the Gentiles. That door will open wider and wider. The Good news of God’s salvation is reaching more and more people because these servants didn’t go home – even in the face of severe suffering and persecution.

Saul’s introduction to Israel is curious. When the time comes for him to be introduced as King, he is found hiding among the baggage. Is he reluctant to assume the role? Is he coy and playfully manipulating the people to seek him out? Is he truly humble and feeling unworthy to the task?

In any case his discovery and subsequent anointing as king is the beginning of a sad arc of his life and reign. He will show a flash of ruthless power when he calls the people of Israel to fight against the Philistines. But he will also show impetuous impatience when Samuel fails to show up in time for the sacrifice. Saul usurps Samuel’s authority and unlawfully takes the burnt offering and peace offering and offers it before the Lord (1 Samuel 13).

In a pivotal moment of divine judgment, Samuel confronts Saul with words that reveal both the tragedy of disobedience and the shifting of God’s favor:

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you” (1 Samuel 13:13-14).

Saul’s story challenges us to examine our own hearts. Are we, like Saul, hiding from God’s call due to fear or insecurity? Or are we striving to align our lives with His will, trusting in His grace to lead us? By the Holy Spirit’s power we can seek to be people after God’s own heart, faithfully obeying His commands and reflecting the transformative love of Jesus, our true King.

When I was 11 years old, I set up our kitchen step-stool in the living room, made a seat for my sister and reenacted the Lord’s Supper with her. I’m not certain it was blasphemous, but I ask God’s forgiveness if it was. That may fall into the Psalm 19:12 category of hidden faults: Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Perhaps I knew I would one day become a pastor.

I also recall thinking sometime later, I don’t want to be a pastor. You have to go to church every Sunday, and you have to stand up there and yell at people. Now I literally hate to miss worship. And I try earnestly not to yell at people. I believe the quiet voice of the Gospel message is the best tool of the Holy Spirit’s work.

But, oh, the pathway to arrive at that posture. It was years of poor school performance, tried and failed vocational pathways, and abandoned dreams that led me to that conversation late one night on Interstate 55. My friend Jerry said, “Dave, I think you’d be a better pastor than you would a real estate broker.” I couldn’t argue with his logic, but more important I realized that was actually God’s call on my life.

I recall the hymn that marked my seminary experience was, Hark the Voice of Jesus Calling, with it’s refrain, “Here am I, send me, send me!” The rest is history: 46 years of ministry (and still counting), challenges, joys, successes, and rich, rich blessings – one after another. Thanks be to God.

The refrain, here am I… is found in the reading today from 1 Samuel 3. Three times God comes to the boy Samuel before he realizes it is the Lord calling him, not Eli. The burden given to Samuel was heavy: announcing God’s judgment on Eli and his household, and serving as judge for Israel, and ultimately to anoint Saul to be Israel’s king – despite the warnings to the people against having a king.

This same refrain is found in Isaiah 6, when Isaiah has the vision of the Lord in his temple with the six-winged creatures flying back and forth, extolling the Lord God. Isaiah cries out, “Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” The heavenly being take an ember from the altar and cleanse the lips of Isaiah, and God calls, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then [Isaiah] says, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

God calls everyone to himself by the Gospel message, calling us to repentance and faith in Jesus. We are each sent as an emmasary of his grace and truth. The voice may not be as mysterious as it was to Samuel. It may not be as dramatic as it was to Isaiah. It may not be as clear as Jerry’s voice to me. But when the Holy Spirit calls us to faith, he calls us all to an adventure of faith to which we can say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant listens.”