“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

(Matthew 7:7-11)

Background

One of the topics described in the sermon on the mount is frequently titled “ask, seek and knock”.  And while our prayer life needs to demonstrate breadth and depth beyond exclusively filing simple requests for our personal needs, this text offers permission for us to freely submit our requests to our heavenly Father.

Jesus description of the Father is very clear.  Our Father wants to answer our requests and give good gifts.

Reflections

I’ve recently been reading about the life of George Muller, a German pastor and evangelist, who in the mid 1800’s was also the director of the Ashley Down orphanage in England. He is reported to have cared for over 10K orphans in his lifetime, and launched some of the first orphanages in England during his era.  He additionally established 117 schools that offered Christian education to more than 120K children.

Above all, Muller was a man of faith. He read his bible and prayed for hours each day.  He was a man accustomed to petitioning the Father with requests…particularly requests that lined up with his understanding of scripture.  Muller reported to have had 50K answers to prayer over his life.

Early in his ministry Muller determined that he would not ask people for money to support either his orphanage pursuits or him personally. Instead he would truly apply the scripture above.  God was able.  Therefore Muller would seek exclusive provision from that source.  He would pray.  There were no capital campaigns.  Or child sponsorship models.  Or creative fund-raising initiatives.  He felt that full reliance on God through prayer was enough.  In Muller’s view, this method would most illustrate and direct glory to God.   Muller’s approach was rewarded.  While he lived a humble life, tens of millions were donated over his ministry.

It was not uncommon for children to begin congregating for a meal with no food, only to have a baker or milk man knock at the door and describe that God had woken them up at night with the instruction to donate food or other items to the orphanage. The children would cheer.  The good father again and again answered Muller’s prayers.  And faith and awe were frequently breathed into the moment.

Lord, Muller’s desire to look first to prayer as his source of need versus conventional methods really challenged me. I’m afraid that I often try to solve problems myself.  And look to business-related approaches or worldly wisdom as my first source.  I, all too often, look to you when my efforts fail.  A last resort.  Forgive me.  Please let me be a conduit, like Muller, to increasingly be prayerful and to have greater faith.  And to look to methods that best direct glory to you (not the great talents or work of men/women).  Amen.

What if we increasingly began to give our needs both big and small to the Father to solve and began to document the same? How would that impact our life and shift our approach to kingdom problem-solving?  What would happen to our faith?

On the first day of the seventh month, the people came together in the open area in front of the Water Gate. Then they asked Ezra, who was a teacher of the Law of Moses, to read to them from this Law that the Lord had given his people. Ezra the priest came with the Law and stood before the crowd of men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand.  From early morning till noon, he read the Law of Moses to them, and they listened carefully.

(Nehemiah 8:1-3)

Ezra was up on the high platform, where he could be seen by everyone, and when he opened the book, they all stood up.  Ezra praised the great Lord God, and the people shouted, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed with their faces to the ground and worshiped the Lord.

(Nehemiah 8:5-6)

The people started crying when God’s Law was read to them. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher, and the Levites who had been teaching the people all said, “This is a special day for the Lord your God. So don’t be sad and don’t cry!”

(Nehemiah 8:9) 

Background

For over 100 years the Jerusalem wall had been in shambles. And the people of God had been scattered with little protection.  God seemed distant…so far away.

But redemption from the rubble was coming. God needed a capable and willing volunteer.  Nehemiah obediently stepped up to lead a project that had been part of God’s plan for his life.  Hope was being birthed.  It was time.

The completion of this critical project was tedious, dangerous and met with opposition. Most critical kingdom projects typically are.

God’s fingerprints on the successful completion of the project were not lost on God’s people. This was simply an answer to prayer.  A miracle.  It was now time to give credit where credit was due.  The people asked Ezra, the priest, to read them the Law.

And this passage paints a sobering picture of their reverence for the Law. They all stood when the Law was opened.  They shouted “Amen!  Amen!” and then bowed to the ground and worshipped God.  They proceeded to cry when the Law was read to them.  And they listened attentively for at least the following 6 hours.

The Law was a precious gift that demanded their attention and affections.

Reflections

Easy access and abundant supply can breed complacency regarding the view of an object’s worth. The bible in western culture is so easily available in bookstores; motel and hotel rooms and a plethora of online resources, including Bible apps.  And with such easy access, I get nervous that we too easily lose sight for the value that scripture provides.

Scripture is one of God’s primary vehicles for communicating with us. For illustrating his crazy love.  For giving us hope and comfort in times of distress.  For deepening our faith.  For providing instruction and wisdom.  For drawing us to pursue righteousness.  And for providing whisperings for our life’s plans.

But do we really attach precious value to the gift of scripture, as people did in the Nehemiah narrative? Setting aside even that high mark, do we spend more time in scripture compared to the pursuit of our entertainment preferences?  Or our on-line favorite web sites?  Or even our favorite Christian authors or blogs?

A few years ago I responded to a pastoral challenge to spend more time in scripture for a season. The Holy Spirit used this time to literally reset my priorities; focus and longings.  While so more needs to be done to reshape me… I’m a much different person today than I was years ago.  And becoming much more committed and disciplined in my approach to scripture has been at the center of this change.  There is simply power in the word.

Lord, there is so much power in scripture. It is a very precious gift.  You were so gracious years ago to help me absorb this simple truth.  This wasn’t me.  You pursued me.  Please help my hunger here to be elevated still.  Continue to use your word to draw me nearer to you.  Use it to change my heart.  And to give me your eyes.  I love you.  Amen.

What if the full church body dedicated themselves to even just 40 days of very disciplined scripture reading and prayer as a start?

“Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them.”

(Luke 6:12-13)

One of Jesus’ most important assignments, picking the 12 disciples who would soon be tasked with ferociously taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, was bathed in solitude and prayer…

Background

It is interesting to me that some of God’s greatest works were done on the back end of solitude.

David had spent years alone in the wilderness as a shepherd right before his rendezvous with a giant. Much time to think; pray; listen and reflect.

Moses spent close to 40 years in the wilderness before the burning bush experience which catapulted him into some of the most legendary leadership confrontations in scripture. Much time to think; pray; listen and reflect.

Jesus spent 40 days alone in the wilderness fasting and praying just before his thunderous 3 year ministry began. Again, much time to think; pray; listen and reflect.

Reflections

These examples beg a question…is there something powerful that God often births in focused solitude? In quietness do we more clearly hear the holy spirit’s whisper?

We live in a culture that demands our time. Our jobs require our attention during long working hours…and in many cases demand keeping connected in the evenings and weekends.  There may not have ever been a generation where our children’s activities consume so much of the family’s time.  Of course, we don’t want our kids to get behind.  And with the residual left-overs many of us collapse into our escapes: tv; social media; internet surfing; sporting events; and news cycles.  And..sadly often there is little time left over for much else.

But, in this unprecedented competition for our time are we on a dangerous track and missing something? Is it possible that Satan is intentionally using busyness to distract us away from our savior and thinking about “things above”?  And therefore incapable of hearing the Lord’s whispers?

If there was an app that each day could monitor how much time we thought about scripture and the lord and worship, how would the results compare to our thinking on the alternatives above?

Lord, these last 6 months have been hard. I’ve spent most of my time separated from my family due to my work requirements.  On many levels this seemed so wrong.  Yet, I’ve come to wonder if this was part of your plan to reset me.  There has never been so much time with just you and me.  You’ve been whispering so much.  So much that I’ve never heard before in the noise of my previous life.  Let me continue to deepen my meditation and reflections on you.  Not out of legalism.  But out of a deepening love and desperation for You.  Please change my heart.  I love you.  Amen.

What if in the next year we dedicated ourselves to thinking; praying and meditating on “things above” 50% more than we have done in the previous few years? What would God do in shifting our desires, affections and our heart?

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.  “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.  Jesus wept.  Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.  “Take away the stone,” he said, “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.  Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

(John 11:32-43)

Background

Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary. Lazarus’ health was deteriorating fast.  The sisters needed divine help.  And they knew where to get it.  Jesus.  They sent a message to Jesus that Lazarus was ill.  They wanted him to come on their timeline.  Now.

He wasn’t ready. He had other plans.  And in His plan he was going to purpose his biggest miracle yet.  He was going to redeem the impossible.  And in doing this next miracle He was going to cast vision for a power that no one had ever seen.  This power was greater even than the grip of death.   But for Martha and Mary, Jesus timing just seemed off.

Then Lazarus died. And in the days thereafter, Mary and Martha mourned.  And there must have been sleepless nights.  And they must have wondered “where was Jesus when we needed him most?”  Jesus seemed absent.  And they missed their brother so much.

Jesus told his disciples let’s go back to Judea. After returning, he comforted Mary and Martha.  He wept.  He then proceeded to the tomb.  He asked that the stone be rolled away.  And in a loud voice he instructed “Lazarus, come out!”

Another example of his power on display. Another example where He redeemed the broken into something very much alive.

Reflections

Two truths stand out to me.

First, do you ever wonder why Jesus wept? He knew that within a few hours that Lazarus was going to be unwinding the grave clothes.  He knew the joy that was going to erupt across the city.  He knew how ecstatically happy Mary and Martha were going to be.  He knew this was going to be the biggest miracle yet in his ministry.  And he knew that many would come to faith given this miracle.  He knew that all was going to be good in the end.  Very very good.  And despite this all…he wept.

Even though Jesus knows in the end it will be good and understands the redemptive miracle that will play out, he is present in the moment. He isn’t dismissive or giddy for yet another awe-inspiring miracle that is right around the corner.  And Jesus fully shares in our heartache and pain.

Second, his timing can often look different than ours. Martha and Mary wanted another healing from an ailment.  His plan was bigger.  He wanted to show people that his power was greater than the grip of death.  And that plan required more time.  It required patience.  And even if the moment looks confusing and that time is running out…it really hasn’t.  He has got this.

Lord, thank you that you are a God that shares our hurts and pain. Even though you know that you are working out a story that has a very good ending.  Thank you for being present.  Also, help us to place our hope and faith in your timing.  Even when it doesn’t line up to ours.   Help us to remember that no one takes greater pleasure than creating redemptive stories than you. You are good.  Amen.

What if we really understood the goodness of God and the pleasure he derives from birthing hope and purpose and life from ashes?

The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethel of barley.  Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.” (Hosea 3:1-3)

Background

God has authored plans for each of our lives. Hosea was given a tough assignment.  Hosea was instructed to personify God’s love…and this was not going to be easy.  Hosea was a prophet whose name interestingly means “He saves”.  This story provides one of the most poignant pictures in the bible of God’s crazy love for us. Early in Hosea’s ministry God asked him to marry, Gomer, a prostitute.  Hosea at the time, as a prophet, was likely one of the most visible people in Israel.  He was a man of God.  His reputation had to be important.  Or did it?  Hosea was more concerned with obedience then building his personal brand.  He obeyed.  Hosea married Gomer and life seemed to settle for a bit.  They had 3 children and all seemed to be trending to normal for a few years.

And that is when the proverbial damn broke. Gomer left Hosea for another man.  Gomer didn’t believe at the time that Hosea was enough.  There were better options.  Betrayal.  Three kids and now a single parent.  And this must have hurt.  He had come to love Gomer.  No, this must have been excruciating.  He wasn’t good enough.  She rejected him.  And this rejection took place on a very public stage.

And life went on. Managing the pain.  Managing the personal rejection.  Managing the kids.  One foot in front of the other.

And this is where God’s next instruction went over the top – “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

Hosea was being asked to head to the other side of town. Find his wife.  Someone who at the time who was loved by another man. And offer love.  To someone who had rejected him.  Seriously, Lord?  What if she rejects me again?  How much can I take?  He obeyed.

Reflections

The father’s love unfortunately so many times stands in contrast to the love I can muster. I easily love those that love me.  Those that like me.  When I’m rejected I protect myself.  Build walls.  My prayer life fixates on those I love…and those that love me.  Those that reject me?  Not so much prayer “air time” unfortunately…yet.

Satan whispers to me that God’s love is somehow limited. That he has so much other big stuff to focus on.  That when I screw up in the same areas over and over, God is sorely disappointed in me.  That he shifts his gaze away from me.  Disappointed.  Simply, that God’s love for me is somehow attached to conditions of my performance.

But that isn’t the picture of this bible narrative. We serve a god that pursues the imperfect. That continues to chase even when they have made mistakes and reject him.  He keeps coming.  He doesn’t give up.

And this is the love that the Lord has been trying to get me to understand. And to model.

Lord, please forgive me for transferring my imperfect love and limitations onto you. This concept of love is so difficult for me to truly absorb.  Please by your holy spirit drive it deep.  Help me to model this same love.  To love without conditions.  Even those that are difficult to love…or don’t love me.  Let people someday see in me the same crazy love that you extend.  Amen.

What if the world came to see evidence of this irrational and crazy love demonstrated again and again and again by the Christian community in their everyday lives? How would it change the world’s view of Christianity?

What if we truly understood the depth and breadth of this love? How would we live differently?

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.  He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)

“He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners”…

Background

Jesus ministry at last was now formally starting. He had recently been baptized.  The next step was to spend 40 days in the wilderness fasting.  It was now time for another important event.  It was time to make clear to everyone his mission.

Mission statements are important markers. They provide clarity about focus.  Jesus formal ministry was going to be short.  Every minute mattered.  And this scripture clearly lays out his mission during those few years.  There were 5 primary areas of focus:

1. Proclaim good news to the poor
2. Proclaim freedom for the prisoners
3. Provide recovery of sight for the blind
4. Set the oppressed free
5. Proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

Two of the items on this list are very similar. He was purposed to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and to set the oppressed free.  Simply, one of Jesus most important priorities was to come as a freedom fighter, or jail breaker.  To release people from bondage.  To provide hope.

Reflections

We live in a world that is increasingly ensnared and enslaved. Illicit drugs.  Prescription drugs.  Porn.  Alcohol.  Tobacco.  Food.  Video games.  Social media.  And there are others.

People continue to look for escapes to dull their pain. Finding temporary relief in substitutes.  Substitutes that in time are found to come with invisible handcuffs and padlocks.  Substitutes that start innocent enough.  But all too often over time immobilize.

If you are entrapped or enslaved and feel like freedom has been elusive, ask Jesus to come to your cell. Be expectant.  Have hope.  He is in the rescue business.  The great jail breaker is coming.

Lord, so many in the church have entered into activities that have separated them from You. Activities that bring endless shame and guilt.  Activities that distance them from you.  Activities that threaten the great plans you have authored for their lives.  Help them not to give up.  Please give them hope.  Answer their prayers.  Demonstrate your power.  Be glorified in your chain and bondage breaking authority.  You are more than able.  Amen.

What if the world came to see time and time again Jesus jail breaking power?

What if the Christian community sought to leave their jail cell and throw off their chains?

““For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,” (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

Background

Jeremiah was given a difficult assignment at a difficult time. God needed a faithful voice to deliver some tough messages to his people.  Messages that called out pride, ingratitude, idolatry, adultery and orphans and widows neglect.  Messages often rooted in repentance.

But Jeremiah also had another role. To breathe hope into a people that were recently dealing with the despair of Babylonian captivity.  Hope that Jerusalem would be rebuilt someday.  Hope that Christ was coming.  Hope that God would heal their spiritual wounds.  Hope for a better future.

Reflections

God’s plan is to give us hope and a future.

Almost 22 years ago this month Sherri and I were notified that she had bone cancer. Nate was a few months old.  Drew was a 2 year old.  During the next 18 months the test results were frequently not what the doctor had been expecting.  Nor what we had been expecting.  The road in front of us was uncertain and scary. We were desperate for hope.

Over the years the pressures of life have at times closed in. I have this pressure to perform.  Honestly, probably more self-induced than necessarily from other sources.  I have felt pressure to keep it going.  And going. And going.  And the cycle has continued. And there have been times where I have laid in bed wondering how I would get through the next week.  Certain that the current mountain in front of me this time was too high.  I was desperate for hope.

We live in a world that is desperate for hope. Hope for a better marriage.  Hope for a release of pain for our current difficulty.  Hope for the release of addiction.  Hope for reconciliation of a relationship.  Hope for deep and safe relationships that simply accept us.  The list goes on.

We serve a God that designed a plan for our lives. A plan that is hope-filled.  And during the last year it is this verse that I’m increasingly trying to absorb.  Asking the Holy Spirit to transfer this revelation in me from a head thing instead to a heart thing.

Lord, please continue to allow me to truly feel your hope in my life. To experience it.  Forgive me for taking my eyes off you.  For being more focused on the height of the mountain in front of me.  Even sometimes giving up.  Let hope be a more powerful virtue in my life than stress or worry or fear.  Let me go much beyond experiencing hope though.  Help me, like Jeremiah, to distribute hope to my world and relationships also in desperate need for the same. Amen.

What if each us really lived a life that reflected the hope that is ours in Christ? What if the church became fixated on delivering a message of hope to our personal network?  How would the world react?

When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.  For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:  “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:12-16)

“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Background

Mordecai had raised Esther as his own daughter when his cousin, Esther’s father, and mother died. Both Mordecai and Esther were Jews and living a rather normal life until a very unlikely turn of events unfolded in the kingdom.

King Xerxes wife, Queen Vashti, refused to visit the king at his request at a royal banquet. Scripture is silent on the reason why.   King Xerxes was incensed.  He thought Vashti needed to be publicly disciplined.  He thought she needed to go.  A national beauty pageant followed.  Esther won.  And Esther became the new queen, resulting in one of the quickest and most unlikely position ascensions in scripture.  All the time she and Mordecai hid her Jewish roots.   And life was good.

And then Haman entered the story. Haman was an ambitious noble who had high kingdom aspirations.  Because of his increasing stature, the king ordered that other officials bow down to him.  Mordecai refused.  Not once but time after time.  Now Haman was incensed.  Others revealed to Haman that Mordecai was a Jew.  Haman hatched a plan and sought the king’s approval to extinguish all Jews in the kingdom, since they were a people that did not obey the king’s laws.  Now Mordecai had a problem. All the Jews had a problem.  Esther had a problem.  And overnight life now became tenuous.

There was really only one option. Mordecai needed Esther’s help to appeal to the King.  But this was risky.  Approaching the king without being summoned could result in death, unless the king spared the requesting person’s life.  The stakes were high.  Esther reminded Mordecai of the personal risk.  And Mordecai replied with one of the most famous lines in the bible “And who knows that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this”.

Mordecai was right. And we know the rest of the story.

Reflections

In Matthew 24 a few of the disciples approached Jesus privately and asked “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus describes the beginning of the end time birth pains will begin when there is a time when nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. And an increase in wickedness.

Jesus was clear that no one, including him, knew the day or the hour of his return besides the Father.  But do you ever wonder if we are getting close?  Is it possible that we are one of the last generations before his return?

I can say this with certainty. There has never been a generation closer to Jesus return than the current.  The father could have birthed us into history at any point.  He chose now.  We live in a world increasingly desperate for Christian love.  And mercy.  For justice.  And light.  For good news.  And hope.  The timing of our life is no accident.  We have been birthed into this generation for a reason.  Most likely to exercise courage and faithfulness and intense light in an increasingly dark world for “such a time as this”.  Let us model Esther’s resolve with a similar purpose.

Lord, the increase in wickedness even in my life time has been alarming.  You birthed us into this time of history for a reason.  Your plan is beyond our comprehension but you are surely looking for a heightened level of faithfulness and diligence.  Be glorified in and through our lives for “such a time as this”.  Let us not squander the special place in history you have birthed us into.  Amen.

What if each one of us viewed our place in history as a privilege? One to be valued with the highest degree of responsibility so that we were pursuing diligent faithfulness in all?

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.  Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty warriors.  He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard. (2 Samuel 23:20-23)

Background

Benaiah was held in greater honor than any of David’s mighty warriors for good reason.   He was fearless.

The lion was in a pit. Benaiah was likely safe outside the pit.  He could have simply left the lion as is.  Played it safe.  It would have made more sense. At least more worldly sense.   But that wasn’t Behaiah’s nature.  He wasn’t finished.  He was taking the battle into the pit.

And we know the ending.

Reflections

For me, this story is about the heart of a man who chose to finish a dangerous confrontation…when earthly wisdom would have suggested the best route would be to play it safe. Who in their right mind would chase a lion into a pit and risk death when their individual safety could be at stake?  Especially, when considering that Benaiah could have just left the lion alone.  Answer – A man, of course, who had been regarded with more honor than any of David’s mighty men – Benaiah.

Frankly, I think our heavenly father is looking for more men with the same heart. The same passion.  Men inclined to seek spiritual confrontation with an intent to do great harm.  You might say to play offense.  Men playing for a much more important priority than self-preservation.   Men who are prepared to leave the confines of safety and chase down a lion into a scary pit.

The reality is that many of us live very close to people experiencing significant hurt and injustice and pain. You might say that many of these people who are hurting the most aren’t necessarily living on the doorsteps of our suburban neighborhoods.  Some of these people hurting most must feel like they live in a pit.  They could use an advocate.  Or a lion-slayer.

It is all too easy for Christian men, including myself, to huddle in our homes and our neighborhoods and to leave the job of reaching out to others.   But that isn’t God’s plan for his disciples.  He is looking for men who are prepared to move beyond their bible studies and small groups and prayer meetings and to live out a life as a spiritual warrior that loves recklessly.  That takes the fight sometimes into the pit.  That puts faith into action.

CT Studd, the renowned British missionary in the early 1900’s, who spread the gospel in China, India and later Africa, made this statement, “Some want to live within the sound of the church or the chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop, within a yard of hell”.   CT Studd was a lion-slayer.

Lord, for whatever reason there are many in our current generation that seem so focused on safety and pursuing our own pleasures. In many cases, massive needs are close by and yet we often don’t do anything.  We don’t advocate for justice.  We/I sometimes prefer to live exclusively in our nice, friendly Christian communities.  We need you to change our hearts.  But we also need you to quicken our feet so that we act.  Please build up within this generation a heart that is willing to “run rescue shops within a yard of hell”.  And to take the fight into the pit.  Amen.

What if each one of us asked God to do a work in our heart to change us so that we became people of action? How much more credibility would we have in those communities if our efforts were more focused on lavishly loving than only narrowly evangelizing?

Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:24-30)

Background

Beginning in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus was sitting in the Mount of Olives and his disciples began a discussion focused on when the end times would occur. Over the next 2 chapters this discussion expanded to include Jesus’ views on heaven disqualifications; the importance of being vigilant in anticipation of his return and stewarding our talents. These chapters are hard hitting.  Almost scary. This father is prepared to judge.  This father values justice.  This father is very keen on taking account of whether we are using our talents and resources to expand the kingdom.

It would be good to ensure that our personal theology takes heed of these chapters.

Reflections

We live in an era that competes for our talents. Competes for our time.  And it is all too easy to blink…and years have passed and we sit around and say to ourselves “where did the time go?”

Some of us have spent massive amounts of time following sports (me); reading; taking vacations; playing golf; hunting; watching TV; surfing the internet; relaxing at the summer place; riding our boat etc.…and while none of these activities are inherently bad by themselves, it begs an important question.  Do we spend more or less time on this stuff or using our talents and resources for kingdom purposes?

This parable convicts me. I have spent seasons of my life focused on some of the items on the above list.  Unfortunately my heart was lined up behind the same.  It is what I thought about.  What I spent my time on.  During this time I’m afraid many talents and efforts were often buried.  I was distracted.

But there is still time (the master has not returned just yet)…

Lord, you know what has absorbed my thoughts and heart during many seasons of my life. Please forgive me.  Help me to focus on the present.  And on the future.  Not to wallow in the past.  Some day I’m going to stand before You.  I want You to smile when you see me.  And be pleased that I course corrected.  That I eventually used my talents for your purposes.  And that a meaningful return was provided.  Amen.

What if each one of us deliberately took account of our lives and prayerfully became committed for the years that remained to return 10 or 100 times beyond the talents that were provided?