David Bahn – Reflections

Return, O faithless children, I will heal your faithlessness. “Here we come to you; for you are the Lord our God.” Jeremiah 3:22

And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Galatians 4:6

I am in Guatemala City this week looking at potential mission sites with a group called Children’s Hope Chest International. The trip has been very inspirational, encouraging, and edifying. The children are delightful. The Care Point (CP) leaders are dedicated. The buildings are small and very basic. But the Ministries are thriving and life-changing.

High on the list of encouragement is the approach of Hope Chest in screening and facilitating partnerships for mission support here. They identify ministries through a thorough vetting process to determine whether they will offer them as a potential CP. These CPs must be Christian, dedicated to spreading the Gospel, and have a sustainable ministry plan (aided by US partnerships and support).

The two CP’s we visited yesterday had more than 300 children in each place. One was a private Christian school. The other a drop-in before and after school care ministry. Key to the ministry at the drop-in center is a model by which students who come there (at no cost) must volunteer for chores and eventually may even serve as unpaid volunteer teachers in the center. Parents – often single mothers – must also volunteer and serve on a monthly basis.

I was able to share the Gospel with the children at the school by means of the Evangelcube (a small cube that unfolds in a creative way, showing various pictures depicting the essential elements of the Good News of Jesus). They loved it and wanted me to repeat the story again and again. These children have a special pace in my heart and, more importantly in God’s heart. We are children of God through Jesus Christ. We have been adopted into God’s family.

These verses remind me of the need of many of the children we saw yesterday. They are not orphans in the traditional sense of the term. Their homes may be made of tin. They may not have a father present. They definitely need the loving care that they are receiving – together with hope for a better future through their education.

The Good News reflected in the Bible passages for today is that God’s love reaches out to us. He has a special care for the widow and the orphan. His love transcends even our faithlessness.

How much more hope and confidence can we have as we hold faithfully to his promises and seek his reign and rule in more and more people’s lives!

It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him. 1 Samuel 3:18

Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

Where does a 400 pound gorilla sit? Anywhere he wants to. So goes the joke. But so goes life in general. The large, powerful, dangerous, and imposing people in the world manage to have their way…one way or another. Whether it’s a large company pushing aside smaller competitors, or the political strongman having his way in a third world country: the strong and powerful always seem to prevail.

When it comes to God, however, it doesn’t always seem as though he gets his way. This is truly remarkable. God is all powerful and mighty, strong and above all powers. So why does it not always go His way? Why do children get murdered? Why does disease destroy? Why do hurricanes wreck havoc?

Sin, Satan, and the fallen world conspire against God’s good and gracious will. That’s the short answer. But what of God’s power over those three? Perhaps a better question is, What are we not seeing when it comes to the will of God? The epic battles of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings comes to mind. There is a battle raging; sometimes seen and sometimes unseen. The outcome has been secured by Jesus’ sacrificial death and his triumphant resurrection. God wins! That’s the story of the whole sweep of history. We don’t always see the ways of Satan’s defeat. The cross is perhaps the best example of that truth.

There is yet another thing to keep in mind in this regard. A 400 pound gorilla sits anywhere he wants until a stronger power comes along. Then he is usurped. Despotic dictators are overthrown. The world eventually recovers from the hurricane. But God will never be displaced. He reigns and rules over all things for all times.

There may be a battle raging around you right now. You may wonder about God’s will in your life. But God’s will is good. His mercy endures forever; His faithfulness to all generations. Let God’s will be done in our lives, even if we must walk through the valley of the shadow of death to reach the mountain heights of His victory over every evil power in heaven and on earth.

Restore me, and I will return, because you are the Lord my God. – Jeremiah 31:18 (NIV) 

Your hearts and minds must be made completely new. – Ephesians 4:23 (GNT)

A friend of mine served as an Episcopal priest, having been formerly completely irreligious – perhaps an atheist. He and I got to be close friends as we shared a golf cart and a round of golf on a nearly-weekly basis one year. We would commiserate over the challenges of ministry, the frustrations of errant golf shots, and the joys of family and faith. He and I were on opposite ends of the theological spectrum, and our golf shots would bear this out. I would regularly leave my shots out to the right (I had a bad slice), while he was invariably go left. We kidded each other about that often.

When he described his conversion to the Christian faith a friend wrote to him, “John! I might have known if you were to catch religion, you would catch it in its least virulent form!” We chuckled over that. But John was all in – even in his leftward leaning theology. He actually believed the Gospel and wanted people to believe it as well. He has departed this life and I look forward to our eternal reunion before the Lamb and the throne of heaven.

I wonder how many people want actually to catch religion as it were, in its least virulent form. How many people want a safe, well-respected religious experience – apart from anything approaching radical faith. In his book, Radical, David Platt brings a virulent challenge to that form of faith. Of the book, Wess Stafford, CEO of Compassion International says,

David Platt delivers a powerful picture of the church in America today that, on key points, stands in sharp contrast to what the Bible shows us about the person and purpose of Jesus Christ. David challenges Christians to wake up, trade in false values rooted in the American dream, and embrace the notion that each of us is blessed by God for a global purpose—to make Christ’s glory known to all the nations!

Platt’s challenge may be beyond what many sincere Christians can embrace. But the idea that our faith is to be something more than a tamed and tepid religious touchpoint is one we cannot ignore. To be all in for the Good News of Jesus is a daily experience of new life for which we can say, “Thanks be to God, and glory be to Jesus!”

The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord shall praise him. – Psalm 22:26

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” – John 6:35

The Urgency of Eternity is one of the values we have identified through a recently-completed planning process at St. John. We express it this way:

We believe that God desires all people to be saved and to live with him for eternity. Our life of worship, praise and service on Earth is to be a model for the life of the world to come. This is demonstrated by:

• Focusing on the death and resurrection of Jesus in our preaching, teaching, and sharing

• Pointing people to the hope of being reunited with the multitude of saints before the throne of Jesus for all eternity

• Urging one another to store up spiritual and not material wealth: True Riches In Jesus

• Prioritizing our efforts to share the message of Jesus

• Training our members to be “everyday missionaries”

I really appreciate the way this value is expressed and the examples by which it is demonstrated. The team that put this together did a remarkably good job.

I appreciate this because I need the reminder of a greater blessing than worldly happiness, success, and material possessions which God has provided me. This is not a call to eschew all worldly wealth or pleasures. This is a call to keep things in perspective. As a friend of mine once said, “Eternity lasts a long, long time.”

The poor and those who are hungry and thirsty may have a head-start on appreciating the future joys of paradise. They are more likely to recognize their need for God; for something more. But even they can be distracted by their lack of good things, and become mired in the agonizing morass of unmet needs. They can lose sight of God’s promises or despair of his goodness and love. As the proverb says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).

These words summarize my thoughts in this regard:

Two things I ask of you;
    deny them not to me before I die:
⁸ Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
    give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is needful for me,
⁹ lest I be full and deny you
    and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
    and profane the name of my God.

– Proverbs 30:7-9

The greater good is an eternity in which God’s riches are abundantly shared with all, and we enjoy an eternal feast of Jesus’ love, redemption, and victory over every evil. This is God’s gift and desire for us all. I need that reminder today and every day of my life.

The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’“ – Exodus 16:11–12

Andrew said to Jesus, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” – John 6:8–10

We live in a well-cared-for subdivision. The homes are nice. The lawns are well-manicured. The community spaces are groomed and well-maintained. All that through the efforts of the homeowners, Home Owners Associations and their management of the homeowners’ maintenance fees and the hard work of landscapers, maintenance workers, and developers. This, however, is not always the case.

There was a long period of time when a nearby detention pond was muddy and more of an eyesore than a beauty mark. There have been times when the developers’ trucks are in the way and debris from construction is strewn in the streets. There was even a house that remained unrepaired for several months following a fire.

All of these testify to both a reflection of God’s provision and sustenance as well as the brokenness of our fallen world. Paint fades. Mortar crumbles. Dirt flows into detention ponds: all these hint at the fallen nature of creation. Fires char and mar buildings. Yet we work to rebuild, clean out, repair, and repaint: all these hint at God’s constant care for his creation – fallen as it may be.

When it comes to God’s providential care for us and all of creation, I particularly love the words of Martin Luther’s explanation of the first article of the Apostle’s Creed, in particular the reminder that God provides for all our needs “purely out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.”  We would never wish to put God to the test by presuming on his goodness and mercy. Rather we should, “Thank, praise, serve, and obey him. This is most certainly true.”

Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted sentinels; all day and all night they shall never be silent. – Isaiah 62:6

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. – Acts 1:8

When I first understood the essential role of the Holy Spirit in bringing people to repentance and faith, it was grace-expanding experience. The way I have thought of it from that time on is that God and his grace and love is on both sides of the faith relationship.

God is the One offering the gift of grace to broken, sinful, and rebellious people. He is also the One who works in the hearts of the sinner, turning him from his evil ways and creating faith in the heart. “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ without the Holy Spirit,” says Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. God is both giver of salvation and of faith which receives the gift. This is a mystery beyond our understanding which leads to the crux of theology: “Why are some saved and others not?” to which there is no satisfying answer.

But wait! There’s more. For the Holy Spirit has an essential role in the mission of God through his people. The Holy Spirit inspires mission, propels us forward in mission, and emboldens our witness to the world of Jesus’ gift of salvation and our need for it.

For David, when the Holy Spirit was not taken from him, sinners would be converted to God (Psalm 51:). The Holy Spirit told the church in Antioch to set aside Paul and Barnabas for their missionary endeavors. The Holy Spirit emboldened the apostles to speak courageously of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

If we have been brought to faith we can thank God for that. We can also be sure that he will help us witness to God’s faithfulness and inspire others to believe in Jesus Christ and come to him through our witness. Some speak of the full work of the Holy Spirit as having to do with miracles, signs and wonders.

I’ll not deny the Holy Spirit’s miraculous work. But the fullness of his work will lead us to be bold and courageous to share the message of Jesus near and far. In fact, without the Holy Spirit, I know I’d never do it.

The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! – Psalm 97:1

Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? – Revelation 15:3–4

Kip Fox is a songwriter serving at Saint Luke Lutheran Church in Scottsdale, AZ. His song, The King is Calling, is one of my favorites. Among the great lines of the song are these:

Come every beating heart that longs to find its worth
Come every aching soul in need of something more
Come with your questions
Come with your doubts
Bring them to the Lord

Come all you castaways, left out of every crowd
Come all you outsiders, unwanted until now
You are a people
You have a place
Waiting with the Lord

What an invitation – not for those who have it all together. Not for those who have their lives all well-ordered. Not for those who are in the in-crowd. Not for those who have no questions to be answered.

This is an invitation for people who know they need a Savior. God calls sinners to repent and come to him. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He is looking for those who have no candle left to burn, who are unwanted, overlooked, and yearning for justice, hope and righteousness. And Jesus is our king.

Some say it is good to be king. You get what you want and if you don’t, heads roll. You make the laws to suit your purposes and no one can say otherwise. The summons of the king does not often bode well. That is unless it is King Jesus. He rules hearts. His realm is all of creation and one day God will put all his enemies under his feet. But for us who seek his merciful and gracious reign, never presuming upon his kindness, seeking, rather, to embrace his love, King Jesus’ summons is welcome. He’s calling: strong in justice; rich in mercy!

You in your mercy have led forth the people whom you have redeemed. – Exodus 15:13 (NKJV)

Live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. – Ephesians 5:2

I had a privilege last Sunday to visit with a young man who was in a crisis of faith. That’s pretty unusual to say of a pre-teen, but that is what I would call it. He was genuinely concerned and even distressed that he was not “feeling it” when it comes to church. He felt that coming to worship should feel good and be meaningful.

As I visited with him I encouraged him to recognize and celebrate his own bravery. It takes true courage to be so honest with one’s feelings. It’s easier to hide such improper feelings as a deadness toward God and his word. I told him again and again that he was a brave young man; that I was impressed.

We also spoke about his mother’s love. He was at the age that he believed his mother loved him; those deep and dark feelings that question a mother’s love had not yet crawled to the surface of his thinking. I shared with him that no one on earth loves him more than his mother with which he agreed. I also told him that her love was nothing compared to God’s love for him.

Our relationship with God is not based on putting on appearances. It’s not a matter of faking it until you make it. In fact, Jesus says the poor in spirit are the blessed ones. It is to those who recognize their deadness of heart that God’s love is unbelievably good news.

The call to live in Christ’s love is a call to embrace his love for us, to relate to God in love (from him and to him), and to embrace others with the love we have received from God.

The ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. – Hosea 14:9

And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. – Hebrews 10:24

As I consider these two verses (from the Moravian Daily Bible text email I receive) I must ask, “How can I provoke you, dear reader, to love and good deeds?”

God’s ways are confounding to the transgressors. Those who live apart from his truth and ignore his claim on their lives will ever consider his ways wrong, troublesome, difficult, and confounding. God’s ways are truly not the ways of the world. So how is someone who is far from God to hear, understand, believe in and follow God?

So I hope to provoke you to begin simply by recognizing that you cannot do perfectly the very thing God demands, but in that awareness to come closer to him, rather than move farther away. That is what repentance is all about. Turning away from our own willfulness and failure to obey God, to God for his grace and help to walk in his ways.

This is not a need only for the heathen. We’re all transgressors – else if we weren’t why would Jesus teach us to pray, “forgive us our trespasses…”. We need God’s help to follow in his ways.

God provides that help through other followers of Jesus. They spur us on (provoke us) to love and good works? Sometimes that seems pesky and intrusive. Sometimes it is unwelcome.

The question for you is what will that incessant Jesus-follower provoke in you? Will you turn farther away from God? Will you stumble your way through life in disobedience? Or will you come near to God, and seek his grace and help?

Next time someone urges you to stay the course, to follow God, to obey his word, and follow his ways, thank God for him. He may be provoking. She may seem unwelcome. If that, however, brings you back to the path of God, she or he is doing you an eternal favor, and obeying God’s command.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! – Psalm 84:1

Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. – Matthew 18:20

Diane and I recently enjoyed a visit to the Moody Mansion in Galveston. From their website:

Restored to its turn of the century splendor, the 28,000 square-foot, four-story structure was completed in 1895. Today, our guests visit 20 rooms on a tour that depicts the home life of a powerful Texas family.

I had no idea of how successful and wealthy Moody was, but his house which he purchased after the 1900 hurricane – and at the same price he had negotiated immediately before the hurricane hit Galveston – is truly beautiful. It gave evidence to a lifestyle few people of his day enjoyed. People in our day would find it quaint but think it likely boring. No TV. No Internet. No Computers. No air conditioning.

But Moody was quite a family man. He loved his wife and children. When they would travel to cooler climates during the summer he would write expressing his love, and his wife would express her desire to be with him even in the hot humidity of Galveston.  While the home is beautiful, stately, and elegant, the real charm was no doubt Moody himself and his family and friends.

So it is with the dwelling of God. There is nothing more glorious, beautiful, elegant, majestic, luxurious, and splendid than the eternal home of God. Earthly temples have tried to imitate that. St. Peters, The National Cathedral. St. Paul’s in London, Thorncrown Chapel all attempt to reflect the glory of God’s dwelling.

But the true glory of God’s dwelling is God himself. Jesus promises that where two or three are together he is present with them. That is a glorious experience. To think that he is willing to dwell within the hearts of believers ought to elevate our own appreciation of our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. To think that Jesus is willing to be with us anytime we call on his name is a blessing – far more glorious and wonderful even than lovely.