David Bahn – Reflections

I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters. Psalm 22:22

The women left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Matthew 28:8

I recently had my car serviced, and following that got an email request to fill out a customer satisfaction survey. I declined. We regularly get carry-out pizza at a local store. In every pizza there is a survey that allows us to earn $2, $3, or $4 off on our next visit. I’ll do that one! Same for our Friday breakfast restaurant. If you go online and fill out a survey you get a code for a future discount. The one question I always have trouble with is, “Based on your experience today, how likely are you to recommend our restaurant to your friends and family?” Ugh.

I don’t make many recommendations. And when I do, it’s voluntary, not coerced. I’ll recommend Peli Peli any day. It’s expensive (which I always share) but the food is truly wonderful and Chef Paul has an amazing story of God’s grace; and there are 12 Bibles in the walls of his Vintage Park restaurant. But don’t ask me to recommend anything by having me fill out a survey!

How about you? How about you and God? Do you recommend him? Do you tell of his name? Do you witness to his goodness? Do you share the Good News of his redeeming love?

There is no survey to fill out. There is no discount coupon to claim if you do. There is no customer loyalty program in which to enroll. But the free gift of salvation for the sake of Jesus Christ is priceless. His call to repentance and faith is for all people. He is true through and through, faithful without fault, gracious to the core of his being, and just in all his ways.

Give me a chance and I’ll tell you about him. Gladly. Winsomely (I hope). Thankful for the opportunity. Rejoicing in his triumph over every evil and sin. Let me tell you. Please!

I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 24:7

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. Acts 10:36 NIV

Imagine yourself on the flying trapeze. Trust me, for the sake of this illustration it’s better if you really don’t want to be there! But you’re up there, swinging back and forth, and you have been coaxed sufficiently enough to jump and grab the other swinging bar. And you miss.

You’re falling through the air and there are two scenarios which will play out in the next 3 seconds or less. You’ll hit the net – and for the sake of this illustration you don’t break an arm or suffer other injury when you hit the net. There are yet two outcomes. One outcome is that you hit the net and it holds you safely, catches you properly, and you are safe and well. The other, however, is not so good. In this second case you hit the net, but it is defective and you crash through it all the way to the ground. The ground is not nearly as fall-friendly as a trapeze artist’s net.

What makes the difference? Not your faith. You could have grave doubts all the way down yet if you fall on a good net, it will hold you. You can also have the greatest faith in the world that the net will catch you and keep you safe. But if the net is faulty, no matter how strong your faith is, you’re going to fall right through it to the ground. Ugh.

Notice that faith is a gift from God. He is the one who gives us new hearts. He is the one who emboldens our faith. He is the one who makes the way back to him. He is the one who is the author of our faith.

Faith’s object makes it strong. Who you believe in, what you believe, the trustworthiness and strength of that which you trust makes your faith strong. Your faith does not make the trusted one strong.

Combine that with God’s power over all things and you have an object of faith that is supremely worthy. We have a Redeemer who is absolutely reliable. He is Lord of all. He has all authority. He holds the world in his hand. Our Redeemer, moreover, not only died to redeem us, but also rose from the dead to conquer the works of the devil.

Our faith, given by God, centered in Jesus Christ our living Redeemer will never be disappointed. What a blessing such faith truly is!

In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. Isaiah 54:8

Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4

I learned something the hard way when I took a 400 level class in college. I was in the beginning of my junior year, and was blithely unaware of the more rigorous demands of 400-level courses. When I received my returned assigned term paper, the grade was barely passing. The professor had provided many red-pencil markings, one of which said, “You didn’t even have any primary sources.” Oh, I thought, I didn’t realize I needed to provide something more than a paragraph or two from an encyclopedia article. In other words, I needed to go to the source. I needed to quote Kierkegaard himself, not an encyclopedia article about him. Lesson learned.

I wonder about that in light of these verses about God’s compassion and kindness. As I consider these verses personally, I must confess that too-easily I can take a somewhat superficial approach to God’s compassion and kindness. This becomes a matter of cheap grace. It’s in the I know I’ve done wrong, and I’m sorry; but I’m not sure I need to go much further than that category of superficial faith. That’s faith that doesn’t really get to the core of my heart.

The trouble is two-fold. First of all, we have domesticated God. God is in his heaven, we think, a kind and grandfatherly sort who smiles in doting amusement at our wayward ways. Certainly that is not the God which the Bible reveals. Nor would this passage from Isaiah lead us to think of him that way if we take seriously the first part of that verse. God’s wrath boils in a toxic cauldron of death and condemnation. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. I don’t often think of God that way.

I’ve been on the brink of the chasm of God’s judgement and deeply aware of my sin. I’ve looked down into that fissure. The thought of facing that crevasse apart from God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness is beyond terrifying. But it is precisely there that the kindness and compassion of God becomes evermore sweet and blessed. That is the second part of a deeper repentance and truer faith. The kindness and compassion of God shown in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, takes deep root in the fertile soil of sincere humility and contrition.

The primary source of true repentance and faith is Jesus. We look to him on the cross and see the wrath and grace of God combined. We see him confronting the religious elitists, calling them whitewashed tombs, while eating with sinners and forgiving prostitutes. There is grace and truth combined. If Jesus Christ is not the primary source of our repentance, we have a dangerously-shallow faith. It will not long sustain us.

Jesus is precious not only to those like me who need to go deeper with their repentance. He is precious also to those whose faith is not as deep as they wish it was. The faintest and most tenuous faith that looks to Jesus will find him a true friend and gracious Savior. The dismissive and going-through-the-motions religious man or woman will find Jesus a challenging truth-teller, which they need more than they know.

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Psalm 139:5

Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28

Diane and I once got onto a crowded subway car and as we did, two young boys got on and stood between us. I pressed hard not to let the one get between Diane and me. He was young, but he was determined and strong for his age. But I’m bigger and I prevailed. He was not able to maintain his position between the two of us. Just before the doors of the subway car closed he and his accomplice scurried out of the car. I think they intended to remove our valuables. But I hand my hand on my wallet!

If I’m going into a public place where I am concerned for the wellbeing and safety of my wallet, I do two things. First, I put it in my front pocket. But this is a well-known trick. So I do a second thing, I put my hand in my pocket and hold my wallet there. Safe. Secure. Hemmed in on both sides by the cloth of the pocket. Hand upon it to keep it secure.

Have you ever thought of being in God’s pocket? Consider the imagery of Psalm 139:5. Hemmed in on both sides – like a pocket. Hand upon us – as his valuable treasure.

My friend taught me a clever trick about holding his child’s hand. His dad would reach down, cup his fingers up to make a trough onto which he – as a child – could hang his fingers and hold his dad’s hand. It seemed to me a good way to give a child the option of holding dad’s hand in a fun/unique manner. That worked OK for one of our children, perhaps two, but more often than not I had to resort to the hold-the-child’s-wrist-and-let-im-hold-my-thumb configuration. That way I had far better control over his running away.

Better by far is God’s hand upon us in protective guidance and love. The question is whether we reach for God’s hand or pull away from him. No one can get in his way, but sadly we can move away from him and his protective care. No one can snatch us out of God’s hand, but we can remove ourselves. And we can be like stubborn children who refuse to allow their mother or father to guide them.

Let’s stay delightfully in God’s pocket. We are, after all, a treasure to him!

David prayed, “Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness.” 2 Samuel 7:21

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9 NIV

You may be familiar with the Amy Grant song, El Shaddai (lyrics below). It’s an oldie but still packs a powerful and true message. The mighty God has saved his people through powerful acts of redemption and rescue. The line of the song that always stops me is, “your most awesome work was done through the frailty of your Son.”

God does mighty works. Sometimes we are able to see them. A cancer diagnosis goes suddenly away. The need for surgery is averted – with no medical reason to explain it. A long-standing feud is forgiven and forgotten and estranged friends are restored. Wanton sinners are brought to faith in Jesus. Miracles happen. More often, however, we see the awesome work of God through the veil of our blurred vision. We don’t understand as much about God and his was as we claim.

God does all these things because of his character and nature. He is good. He never willingly brings harm upon the children of men (cf. Lamentations 3:33). That God is both good and powerful makes for a potential conundrum. If he is good but allows pain and suffering then perhaps he is not all that powerful. If he is powerful and allows the innocent to suffer, then he must surely not be good.

But what if you could wish for your children or your closest loved-one that no harm or trouble or struggle would come their way? You might think that is good. Perhaps an illustration from the Biodome will help here. Scientists were puzzled when, in this perfectly-controlled environment – free from storm, wind or hail, without famine or flood – fruit trees were losing their branches. The weight of just a few apples would cause the apple tree to lose its branches. “Why?” They wondered.

As it turned out it was the lack of wind and stressors on the trees that was the problem. Winds and other stressors would cause microfractures in the branches. These would heal over time and the branch would become stronger. The total lack of trouble weakens us. We do not learn by having everything simply handed to us. For most of us, the most valuable lessons of life come from the school of hard knocks.

God is good – all the time. And God is powerful – above all powers. That is a supremely good combination. We can entrust ourselves to him with absolute confidence.

Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Psalm 25:3

Paul writes: We were afflicted in every way—disputes without and fears within. But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us. 2 Corinthians 7:5-6

I heard this morning of an Egyptian police officer being killed when a bomb exploded as he was trying to disarm it. The bomb was discovered in a suitcase on the roof of a Coptic church in a town in a residential Cairo district. According to an AP report:

The blast came just two days before the Orthodox Coptic Church, the dominant denomination among Egypt’s estimated 10 million Christians, celebrates Christmas. It also came a little more than a week after a roadside bomb hit a tourist bus near the Giza Pyramids, killing three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian driver.

Fearing for her life because she had renounced Islam a woman fled Saudi Arabia and gained temporary asylum in Thailand. Churches in China have been raided, closed, and destroyed because they refuse to be formally authorized (controlled) by the Chinese government. A boy in Uganda refused to deny Jesus although he was beaten repeatedly. Christians around the world repeatedly are targeted, tortured, and persecuted because of the wanton hatred and treachery of the godless.

I face nothing of the like here in Harris County Texas. The challenges, treachery, and discrimination is far more subtle. But it is no less real. It is simply more hidden. Whether it is the sly lure of ungodly values by way of advertisers, Hollywood, or Madison Avenue, or the powerful peer pressure to keep up with the Joneses at all costs, we are constantly being tempted to abandon the path of faithful obedience and godliness.

In the meantime we wait. And as we wait God comforts, consoles, encourages, and sustains us. He does that through a friend’s presence in our times of loneliness. He does that through a daily email devotion. he does that through a Christian podcast. He does that by means of his Holy Spirit’s influence in the lives of others who serve as an example, and a reminded that it can be done. We can stand up against temptation.

Each one of us face a unique inner battle against the world, the devil, and our sinful flesh. Each one of us must deal with temptation peculiar to us at this time. Each one of us will deal with disappointment, anger, distress, attacks – subtle or direct – as we carry the baggage of our childhood, misspent youth, abandoned dreams, or hard knocks of life in this fallen world. Shall we abandon all hope? Shall we harden our hearts? Shall we live in denial? Shall we embrace endless depression? Or shall we look to God, wait for him, and seek his consolation?

Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame, O God!

See, I will refine and test my people. Jeremiah 9:7 NIV

Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

The young man was conscientious about his faith. He read the Bible every day. He prayed for forgiveness for himself and made intercessions for others. He was kind toward all people. He worshiped regularly, and made generous offerings for the Lord’s work. He was kind to his neighbor, faithful in support of his elderly parents, paid his bills on time, and was a model citizen. In every way he was a godly, faithful, good person.

When he experienced troubles – which he did, just like everyone else – he did not moan or complain. He simply trusted himself to God, asked for help along the path, and continued to make his way through life.

One day he read the passage from 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” he also read how troubles make us stronger.

In his prayers that evening, he told God, “Don’t you think I’m strong enough?” Perhaps you’ve experienced that kind of struggle. You do right. You know you’re not perfect, but you do love God and your neighbor. And still troubles come. You realize that being good does not pay off – at least not in terms of some sort of insurance policy against troubles. But it’s difficult not to think that somehow God ought to go a little easier of you if you’re really trying to tow the line, and follow his ways.

If we will allow it, God will help us understand that there is a need for growth, refinement, and tempering that can only come through struggle and hardship. But even better than growth and a deepened faith, God promises that those who are faithful will a crown of life reserved for those who love him.

Sometimes our love for God is shown in resisting temptation. Sometimes our love for God is shown in our daily faithfulness. Sometimes our love for God is shown in the fiery furnace of affliction.

Recently I’ve been praying for a friend of a friend who has suffered several strokes and mini-strokes, infections, and a roller-coaster of good, bad, good reports daily. A group of us have been praying for him throughout this ordeal – which started on Christmas Day morning. I suggested to the group that, “As we pray we might recall that god delights in our prayers, and that as he answers our prayers not only will Lee be blessed, but we will be strengthened in our faith. May it be so for god’s glory and our and Lee’s Good.”

God’s faithfulness is something we can ever rely on. As he answers our prayers and strengthens us in our trials. For that we can thank and praise God.

“O that my people would listen to me.” Psalm 81:13

The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly. Titus 2:11-12

My parents owned an independant motel. We lived there and ran the business. They had friendly competition. They would have dinner together, talk motel business with the owners and operators of the Sunset Motel, the La Petite Motel, the West Mount Motel, and Town House Motel. They would see the national chains, Holiday Inn, Ramada Inn – as they built along Interstate 55 – as not-quite-so-friendly competition.

There may be a parallel for us at St. John. Friendly competition would be those decidedly Christian churches in the area. The less friendly competitors would be the religious organizations who use Jesus’ name but never really get to the core of sin and grace, salvation, repentance and faith.

It has long been my contention, however that the local church is not in competition with other local churches. We’re in competition with the ways, values, ideals, and distractions of the world. Unbridled greed. Unapologetic pride. Godless ambition. Abusive exploitation. Idol worship of movie stars, sports heroes, and celebrities of many sorts. These are the church’s competition. They are part of a triumvirate of evil set against the ways, works, and will of God. The devil, the world, and our flesh all conspire with these competitors for God’s glory and proper place in our lives.

What is vying for your attention and honor today that is not of God? Are you listening to his word? The stakes are high; much higher than whether you will go to one church or another. For the devil, the world, and our flesh vie for our souls. They would turn us away from God the source of life, health, and salvation. They not only rob God of his true glory and proper place in our lives. They destroy hope. They kill the soul. They steal your joy.

He guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 97:10

The God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10

We recently visited our son, his wife and their four young children. There we were reminded once again of the challenges of raising a young family. Somehow we did it those many years ago, but now I remember how labor-intensive and patience-trying it was. I’m also reminded of how impatience plays a part in the emotional wellbeing of children. We’re going to go out to eat later today. We’re going to the fireworks show…later. We’re going to get frozen yogurt…later. We’re going to play a game…after dinner. And so it goes.

We did do all those things. We had a great time at the frozen yogurt place – although we paid the price of too-much-sugar later that evening! The time finally did come for the Ticket to Ride game – and I lost miserably, blocked by a one-car route! We even got to see some of the Dallas football game when we went to lunch after Church on Sunday. It all came to pass, and it was good. In due time.

These promises of God’s favor, rescue, restoration, strength and security are certain to come to us as well…in due time. This is a bit of a mystery, if not perhaps also a conundrum. How do we live in the now and not-yet of God’s promises and blessings?

On the one hand we must recognize that the promises and blessings of God are eternal in nature. God lives outside the bounds of time, though we are subject to it. His story unfolds in our daily lives one moment at a time. If we’re like impatient children we may despair of his goodness and love. We may wonder why we’re not realizing God’s miraculous intervention immediately. We can get caught up in the tyranny of the moment, rather than seeking the long-view of God’s faithfulness and the better answer of his eternal blessing. We want the pot of porridge before us now.

Still there is a promise to those who are faithful, which at least implies a more immediate provision. The blessing and favor of God is not only pie in the sky in the sweet bye-and-bye. God injects his grace and goodness into every day life. There are moments of immediate favor and great in-the-moment blessings that come to us daily. Whether it is a beautiful sunset, glorious views of mountains across the Puget Sound, or snuggle time with my granddaughter in the early morning, these are blessings of God.

In the mean time a friend of a friend continues a life-and-death struggle following a series of strokes. People are praying for him constantly, and God is answering daily. The saga has been a roller-coaster ride of hope and grave challenges. But we look for God’s deliverance in the here and now of life.

I’m not certain just how God will answer all of my prayers – some of which may require my active participation in the answer. Sometimes God’s deliverance and restoration comes in the moment. Ultimately it comes in the resurrection on the Great Last Day. In the mean time we look to God every day and wait patiently for his deliverance.

You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits. Exodus 23:6

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus. Luke 16:19-20

I grew up watching Superman on a black and white TV. I remember being amazed at him flying through the air, wearing that magical cape and the leotard with the big “S” emblazoned on his chest. My uncle once made a Superman “S” that I pinned to my t shirt, and to that I added a safety-pinned towel as a makeshift cape, and an extra pair of underpants worn on the outside of my jeans!

Superman’s slogan, “Truth, justice, and American way,” was pretty much ingrained in my conscience. It was a given as far as I was concerned. I thought everyone subscribed to that ideal, and that it was readily available to anyone in America.

Sadly, however, that is not the case. Whether it is payday loans provided to poor people at exorbitantly usurious rates of interest, or day laborers being cheated out of their pay, the ability of the wealthiest of people having access to expensive attorneys who know how to game the system, or the super-wealthy hiding their ill gotten gains in offshore bank accounts, the world is full of injustice. Too often the poor and powerless are taken advantage of by the wealthy and strong.

From human-trafficking to illegal drug trade power prevails over innocent people. Add to that list the growing shame of abuse on the part of priests and Hollywood film moguls, and you have a clear picture of the kind of injustice that God despises. The prophet Micah says simply, “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:8

Mary, when she learned she was to bear the Savior sang:

He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
⁵² he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty. – Luke 1:51-53

These words hit close to home to me. I am a privileged person. Anyone living in the same zip code as I is likely richer than 95% of the people in the world. I make a conscious effort to be fair and just with all people. But I wonder. Do I ignore the poor man at my gate? It’s all too easy to do. Am I the “One eyed, one horned flying purple people eater?!?” This is not a silly question. Although I’ve never thought of that song as anything other than a silly verse, isn’t that just what the privileged and wealthy power-brokers all-too-easily do? I pray I do not. The end of that story is not a good one for the once-privileged man in purple.

God seems quite serious about justice and mercy for the poor. We tend conveniently to overlook that, or dismiss the poor as lazy and without ambition. If we are to reflect the character and nature of God – who receives repentant sinners, and who sent Jesus to seek and save the lost – we will consider how we might help the less fortunate rather than summarily dismissing them.