Sweet Words from Maine

No Matter How Far away You Roam…

Hopefully, as we leave this Christmas season with its bright lights and uplifting music, worship services, and warm gatherings of family and friends, we have garnered excitement for a new year.

For some, it has been a sweet time. For others, this is a difficult time of year. Unfortunate or even tragic circumstances, seemingly unending pandemic uncertainties, severe family dysfunction and disconnectedness, loneliness, or unwarranted stress and lack of simplicity may have blunted Christmas joy because much of this season’s deep specialness is due to a sense of place and of connection with people with whom we have shared life. However, even if we have had losses or have not felt the sense of belonging or of being loved, this season is a gentle reminder that we are always on God’s mind, that we are never alone, that we have the eternal gift of Emmanuel-God with us.

For those who have been fortunate enough to have had a warm place from which as fledglings they could barely wait to leave, they long to go back at least once a year to the innocence and closeness of what “used to be.” We all listen to Perry Como or the Carpenters sing about “…the man who lives in Tennessee/…heading for Pennsylvania/And some home made pumpkin pie” and that “no matter/How far away you roam/If you want/To be happy in a million ways/For the holidays, you can’t beat/Home, sweet home.” So, like the sparrows returning to Capistrano every mid March, we eagerly return in December to relive favorite, family traditions with those who still love us. Sometimes, we can only memory-travel to sweet people and years past, but often we take those “Country Roads” back to “mountain Mama” or to quiet, fishing villages in Maine, or to places about which John Denver sang, “Sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend/Yes, and hey, it’s good to be back home again.”

Actually, Christmas is more about leaving home than about returning, about new experiences rather than reliving the past. God, who is a historically proven, faithful promise keeper, had promised many centuries before Christ that there would be One who would take the chastisement for our sins and heal our wounds. Then in time, Christ left heaven’s safety, splendor and perfection and miraculously joined humanity in his difficult pilgrimage of love through this chaotic world only to be rebuffed by its cold evilness. (Isaiah 53) Although his advent was announced with great joy and with a promise of peace for a troubled humanity, (Luke 2:10-14) he and his message were not readily accepted, and he longed to be home with his heavenly Father, who was his constant source of joy and peace. However, divine love and purpose conquered his difficulties and homesickness.

He journeyed from Christmas to Easter through a vail of harassments and human afflictions. Only after completing the objectives designed for him, after accomplishing the will of His Father, after dealing with the difficulties and temptations of humanity, after enduring the wrath and shame of a cruel, criminal’s cross for our unholiness so that we could be at peace with God, after guaranteeing our hope of everlasting life with an astonishing resurrection, after he had done what he could, he joyfully returned home leaving us with the promise that those who will trust him will also have a heavenly home (Hebrews 12:2) ( John 14) which the Apostle Peter described as “…an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (John 14:1-6) (1 Peter 1:4-5)

Regardless of who we are, what our earthly traumas have been, what we may have done, or what our current situation may be, God understands us, values us, and has never abandoned us. His love is immeasurable. (Romans 8 :38)(John 3:16) Even in our rebellion, He mercifully opens His welcoming arms like a shepherd rescuing a wandering, lost lamb by carrying it back to the protection of the fold. He longs to be our home, our Refuge, our mighty Fortress, our Salvation.

On a special night in Bethlehem, He fulfilled that ever so distant, wonderful prophetic promise as angels declared the good, joyful news for all people that God had sent forth His Son. The Savior had been born to heal mankind, to make those who desire to to be God’s sons and daughters, to be His family. (Luke 2:10-11) (Galatians 4:4-7) That is His gracious gift to all who choose to receive it. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

That was and is great news! His love pursues us regardless of where we may roam. By faith, we arrive where we are accepted, where we were made to be–home with God.

Romancing the World

Bucks Harbor, a small, fishing harbor in Washington County, Maine, lies in the distance beyond the sheep. Lobster boats are gently rocking on the tide but are invisible in the foggy, snowy distance. Jesus probably would have been at home here. It was the life he lived! Sheep and fishermen were elements in his earthly life’s experience and fodder for his practical teaching and parables. His closest friends were fishermen, but it was to Shepherds that his astonishing birth was announced.

Dr. Luke detailed that astounding, awe inspiring, but somewhat odd event. A heavenly blaze of God’s glory illuminated the sky; a small field of humble shepherds who were watching their flocks at night were startled with a shocking, bewildering, dramatic, angelic message that the long awaited Messiah had been born and was lying in a manger. Then a multitude of the heavenly host appeared praising God for peace among those with whom (God) was pleased! (Luke 2:1-21)

What a strange, baffling, and inconvenient way to deliver such a powerful message! Why would this universally needed, supremely important message from heaven itself be committed to poor, powerless people who had no technical way to broadly convey it? “Downhere,” a Canadian Rock Band, poses similar questions: ” A child in a manger? Lowly and small, the weakest of all/ Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mother’s shawl/ Just a child/ Is this who we’ve waited for?” “Cause how many kings stepped down from their thrones? How many lords have abandoned their homes? How many greats have become the least for me? And how many Gods have poured out their hearts/To romance a world that is torn all apart? How many Fathers gave up their Sons for me?

Surely, such long awaited, dramatic news deserved better press! However, anonymity and humble beginnings protected the Christ child from the corrupting influences of religion and politics, from opportunists, and from opponents who would have either annihilated him or would have manipulated him into goals and ideas that perverted the Gospel’s redemptive message and the transformation of souls.

Nobody was prepared for the Messiah to be born in suspect circumstances in a cattle stable to humble parents only to slowly grow into the person God meant him to be, to become an itinerant rabbi who championed the eternal Kingdom of God but would die a criminal’s death instead of becoming a warrior King who could improve Israel’s circumstance and advance its political goals. But “Emmanuel,” God embodied in flesh, had stepped into His creation in a unique way in order to bring peace to all humanity. (John1:1-5) (Colossians 1:15-16) (Hebrews 1: 1-3) Was there a catch? Was there an exclusionary clause in the message “and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” ? Were they speaking only of Israel? Was this a contradiction? Wasn’t the message one of joy to all people?

God’s grace is immense; it covers the world. His inexpressible love and mercy are for the undeserving; His special peace and joy come through belief for “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come” to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Religions have spent centuries devising suggestions and methods and dogma on how to please and implore God for peace and joy through works, sacrifices, self humiliations, deprivations, rituals, and traditions. However, Christ revealed God’s grace : his advent, his life, his teachings, his cruel crucifixon which showed the awful punishment that unholiness deserves, his bodily sacrifice and death which took God’s wrath for that unholiness and built the bridge of reconciliation between man and God, and his resurrection which gives us the great confidence of life eternal. Clearly, the message of redemption was for “whosever will,” for the whole world, for Jew and Gentile, for the civilized or uncivilized, for the “sinner” as well as the religious or socially “worthy.” (John 3:16; 8:12) (Acts 2:21)(Galatians 3:28) (Colossians 3:11) Christ is the “once for all” Savior. (Hebrews 7:26)

Charles Wesley wrote a hymn beautifully stating the truth of Christ: “Love divine, all loves excelling/joy of heaven, to earth come down/…Jesus, thou art all compassion/ pure, unbounded love thou art/Visit us with thy salvation/ enter every trembling heart.” “Come, Almighty, to deliver, let us all thy life receive…”

God wanted the world to experience heaven’s joy through Christ, who said, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11; 17:13) Therein lies the true Christmas story, the story of God’s steadfast, ever enduring, ever pursuing, immeasurable love for us. That story demands a response. It impacted Isaac Watts, who wrote: ”Joy to the World the Lord has come, Let earth receive her king, Let every heart prepare him room, and Heaven and Nature sing”

Romancing the World

“In the Bleak Midwinter”….

Long, cold, 18th century, English winters inspired Christina Rossetti’s Christmas poem, In the Bleak Midwinter. In the course of this dreary weather season, several religions celebrate special days which include the Jewish Festival of Lights or Hanukkah and the Christian celebration of Christ’s Advent or Christmas.

During the extended Christmas holiday, the airways are filled with festive music ranging from rock and pop to country, choral and classical. There is a genre for everyone. Musical moods vary from silly and light hearted to deeply worshipful, from “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer” to “O Holy Night.” There are traditional, Christmas carols or new Christmas albums by favorite vocal and instrumental artists and choirs. The list swings from sentimental to sacred, from I’ll be Home for Christmas” and “Home for the Holidays” to Joy to the World , Silent Night, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and Handel’s Messiah with its magnificent, stirring Hallelujah Chorus. These familiar songs rekindle the emotion, enjoyment, and excitement of Christmas year after year and hopefully help us remember the real reason for celebration!

Over a century after 18th Handel’s masterpiece, Christiana Georgina Rossetti composed In the Bleak Midwinter, a poem which became a hymn that was published as “A Christmas Carol.” Although recorded by artists such as James Taylor and Susan Boyle, its beautiful lyrics deserve the majestic sound of a cathedral choral group to give it a full, deeply worshipful sense. Those renditions can be found on YouTube.

The first verse describes the desolate circumstances surrounding Christ’s birth: “In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, /earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone…” The second verse speaks beautifully of Christ’s advent and his eventual, promised return: “Our God, Heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain/ heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign/ In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed/ the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. Verse three is about Jesus’ humble, isolated birth, and the fourth verse is a personal response to God’s great gift of love: What can I give him, poor as I am? /If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part/ yet what I can I give him: give my heart.

That last phrase clearly states the reason God sent his Son into humanity’s bleakness. Christ came so that mankind would know and respond to God’s incomparable, redemptive love with grateful hearts of love and loyalty.

A Rose by Whatever Name…..

Rugosa Roses, “Beach roses, Sorrento, Maine

According to Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. Juliet knew that the character of the boy she loved was more important than his family origin or the surname that he had been given. Labelling, fancy marketing, having a famous name, or presenting a pleasant affect do not guarantee quality or genuineness. Essence is not in a name or face. We know that. We live in the day of scammers!

We also know the religious world holds opportunity for insincerity. Even within a certain faith tradition, doctrines and expectations differ. There are orthodox and unorthodox, conservative and liberal, contemporary and traditional, radical and devout, practicing and nominal. In the Christian religious world, there are Catholics and Greek Orthodox, and Protestants who are fractured into denominations where religious ethics and doctrines and creeds may vary. All these traditions are observed with different degrees of religious fervor and intellectual vigor.

For the Jew, the inspired truths of the Old Testament are the gold standard that define one’s relationship with God. Faith is the important ingredient not only for the Jew but for the Christian, who believes that both the Old Testament and the New Testament Gospels and letters reveal the grace of God in Christ.

Religions exist in a petrie dish of ideas and cultural influences that will pollute them. By assimilating secular thinking, they become hybrids of cultural and religious beliefs. So, confusion reigns as to what constitutes a genuine disciple/believer. Christianity is no exception. In fact, some people claim to be “Christian” simply by default because they are not Jews or Muslims or followers of some other religion. One would think that a Christian would and should be defined by their trust in the truth of Christ, but other ideas become stirred into the Christian belief system, and sometimes Christian churches become more culture than Christian.

Attempts to maintain purity of doctrine are not new problems. Old Testament Scripture is loaded with admonitions against Jews intermixing with pagan religions and cultures. Similarly, New Testament teaching is filled with cautions about intermingling Christianity’s teachings with other religious thought or social behaviors, but Truth stands strong, unchanging, and consistent despite shifting, populist rhetoric or social standards.

Jesus told an interesting parable about a wheat field where weeds were growing. He was speaking metaphorically about the distinction between true believers in God and those that were not believers and those that seemed to be believers. The appearances of the wheat and the weeds were similar, and their roots were so entwined that they could not be distinguished from each other. Pulling the weeds would have destroyed some of the wheat! Anyone who has weeded a garden, particularly in the early growing season, knows how difficult it may be to distinguish weeds and crop, and weed pulling may disrupt the plants.

At least one of Jesus’ points was that sometimes personal faith may be superficial, just appearance. Despite confessions and professions and outward appearances, one can not fully see into the soul of another. God will make the judgment about authenticity at some future time when He will disentangle the true from the disingenuous, the counterfeits, the deluded, the mislabeled, and the disengaged.(Matthew 13:24-30) (Matthew 7:21-23; 25:1ff) He, the Lord“… sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

The core truths, the roots of Christianity, are about the person of Christ- who he is, about what he taught and did, about his redemptive and restorative work at the cross, and about the eternal hope of his resurrection. Once when speaking to those who were religious but did not believe, Jesus said, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, (John 10:25-28 (NLT2)

Because salvation is a transaction based on a trusting relationship with God and His grace and mercy to save us, believers are not left in anxious limbo about their personal safety with God. God understands our failed determinations in the face of temptations. He also knows the deep repentance and intents and desires of those who are his true sheep, those that have been changed and are changing through the miracle of the cross where he loved us and pursued us to the fullest extent possible in Christ and where he takes us in His arms, receives us as His children, and pulls us to His loving heart which beats with compassion and joy.

So, whatever nametag is applied to them, Christians are imperfect and sometimes wayward, wandering children of God and awkward disciples who are struggling with how to live amidst the weeds and not be choked out. However, as they learn about and trust their Shepherd, they will smell less like sheep, will bear the fragrance and integrity of Christ into a chaotic world and become the enduring aroma of the gracious Gospel of mercy, forgiveness, peace and a compassionate, caring love that values all people.

A Paradox: Different but the Same!

Basically the same but superficially different, these colorful lawn chairs are reminders of both the similarities and the uniqueness of the people who occupy them from time to time. Brown, yellow, black or white, we categorize ourselves by physical characteristics, personal quirkiness, ancestry, social standing , abilities, intellect and other individual differences. However, whether living in some uncivilized aboriginal tribe or sitting at the Queen’s table, human flesh has the same amazingly complex physical properties, predictable functions, and requirements of food, water, security, and shelter for survival. Furthermore, we all stand on terra firma and have views, albeit with different perspectives, of a well ordered, magnificent, awesome, vast universe.

As spiritual beings who struggle with questions about origins, meaning, and purposes which exist beyond the immediate and the material, we intuitively know that we are more than flesh, that we transcend our cellular and chemical makeup, that we are valued but broken, bruised, and weakened spirits who hunger for security, sustaninence, nourishment, relationships, and eternity . We need to be loved, to be part of a tribe, and to have some sense of continuity.

We seek memorialization, legacies, some form of permanence, some everlastingness because “eternity has been set in the human heart.”(Ecclesiastes 3:11) We want our spirits to go to a good place when our bodies die. Most of us believe in God or gods or at least question or surmise their existence. So, we attempt to do what we can and try to be more than we can be. We fail at perfection. We know that we are not what we should be because we are imperfect in attitude and behavior. We need redemption and seek it through effort or belief or a hybrid of the two.

We flounder about to fulfill spiritual needs, to find inner peace and healing. Most often that is sought through fragile and superficial relationships, wealth and material things, worthy but fleeting vocations, religion and its rituals, and empty philosophies. These tend to distract and derail us from the fact we are meant for God.

We understand that our bodies will die, and we wonder about our spirits -that special part of us that is us. They are our core being where we feel and think and formulate and choose behaviors, where we consider ideas and make decisions which are sometimes good and joyous and sometimes flawed and awful, and where we react with emotions that are not always good either. All of us sin and fall short of God’s glory for which we were created. We want forgiveness and peace with God, not the universe.

Our choices become to either live for the present and deny an afterlife, or to struggle to be good enough and to hope for eternal bliss, or to pursue the revelations of the reality behind the complexity of our bodies and souls and the universe. Truth seeking will lead to faith which will be both intuitive and logical if based on revealed Truth.

Scripture tells us that the Reality behind our world and us is God “For (God’s) invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.” (Romans1:20)

Scripture also reveals that God looks at who we are, at our souls, at our “hearts.” In compassionate understanding and mercy, He gives us grace. He loves us. He wants to do the best possible for us; that requires redemption; the whole counsel of Scripture emphasizes that God alone is adequate to save us. God invites us to Himself and gives us what our spirits require. He is our hope. “How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey/Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life/Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”(Psalm 119:103-105 (NLT2) “Taste and see that the Lord is good. … blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! …Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing…(Psalm 34:8-10)

Christ’s wonderful redemptive message is the great invitation. Just as that little children’s chorus says, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world/Brown and yellow, black, and white/All are precious in his sight/Jesus love the children of the world.”

We may be unique, but we have the same spiritual needs. Christ can meet them. “Whoever believes in me shall live even though he dies“ (John 11:25) “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11:28)

How Many “Glad” Days are there in a Year?

“Glads” make us glad! Flowers, apart from being gifts of appreciation, tokens of love, and friendly gestures, have a beauty which can and may buoy us up. In one of his “Peanuts” cartoons, Charles Shultz has Charlie Brown hugging Snoopy and questioning, “What if today, we were just grateful for everything? Such an attitude of thankfulness would make for a kinder, more satisfied world, but is that possible? Was the Apostle Paul a bit too exuberant in his exhortation that it was the will of God to be thankful in all circumstances? (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

This week, Americans celebrate our national Thanksgiving holiday. Hopefully, it will be a time to not only remember the hardships endured by the early Plymouth Pilgrims who helped establish our nation and set it on a path toward the still not fully realized ideals of equality, liberty and justice, but also to emulate their gratitude toward God for his sovereignty over their lives even in difficult times, and to appreciate all the goodness in our personal lives.

Regardless of the difficulties and restrictions experienced in various stages of civilization by limited knowledge and technology, natural disasters, and the evilness of men, there have always been those who have sensed God’s involvement in the affairs of men, have understood that all good things come from Him, and have experienced a spiritual joy exceeding that of thankfulness for good circumstances, material things, and human relationships.

That kind of joy is a gift. When the “Mosaic Law” was rediscovered after their Babylonian captivity, the Israelites realized they had betrayed God and wept tears of grief and repentance. Nehemiah comforted them: “…do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”(Nehemiah 8:10) Knowing that, they celebrated with “great rejoicing.” The “joy of the Lord” is bestowed. It is relational in nature. Muslims, Jews and Christians believe hat God is the Creator of mankind and has revealed Himself to humanity, but to the Jew and Christian He is more than a master. He is the loving Heavenly Father of His people. Through unconditional love and extreme grace, He offers forgiveness even in the face of rebellion, rejection, and grave dishonoring. As such, His joy is embedded in, manifested by, and conveyed through encouragement, support, discipline, security, and protection for His children. When received, His joy induces a healthy, loving reciprocation from those who trust the Father’s good purposes, who desire to be their best selves, and who follow the Father’s principles for living.

This sweet mutual commitment, loyalty, and dedication between God and His children is spoken of throughout Scripture. The prophet Zephaniah spoke of God’s joy, of His rejoicing “with gladness” and exulting with “loud singing” over the salvation He provided His people. (Zephaniah 3:17) The Psalmist’s song affirmed the happiness found in redemption: “…in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” (Psalm 28:7) Jesus’s life’s example and teachings continued the refrain and meld the joy of heaven with that on earth. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)

The Gospel is the story of bestowing. God’s merciful grace gives the blessedness of forgiveness and reconciliation with “Our Father, who art in heaven.” Jesus’ parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son reveal the great earthly and heavenly joy over those who discover or return to the faith, over those who respond to God’s active pursuit and for whom He patiently waits to return. (Luke 15) The Apostle Paul continues this stream of thought in his letter to the Colossian Church. He speaks of “giving thanks to the Father, who …has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:12-14)

Could it be that Charlie Brown was on to something? Every day can be a glad day, a day of Thanksgiving, because joy is relational and derived from God not circumstances. There is the joy of trusting God and praying “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” because He always has redemptive interests of his children in mind. The Psalmist held that keen confidence in God. “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” (Psalm 94:19) “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:1)

Of Kings and Aunts and Country Singers…

Old and weathered, Maine houses hide their stories but are reminders of ours. When young, optimistic, enthusiastic and busy, we take little notice of the imperceptibly slow but progressive changes occurring in our bodies. Regardless of physical conditioning, body habitus, or huge amounts of denial, they creep up and surprise us. We wrinkle, sag, shuffle, hobble and become gray and lose our hair. Our grandchildren look at old photos and ask, Who is that?” Fair enough! We don’t recognize ourselves in the mirror! At some point, we realize that we don’t have too many more runs around the sun, and the run seems shorter every year!

Tennessee Ernie Ford, a mid-century popular country singer and probably best known for singing “16 Tons,” sang Stuart Hamblen’s “This Old House,” a song which lamented the relational and physical losses of advancing age-how life wears away and becomes diminished as time runs out. “This ole house once knew his children/This ole house once knew his wife/ This ole house was home and comfort/As they fought the storms of life .” But laughter and joy and family are replaced by weakness and fretfulness and the reality that death can’t be avoided and is imminent.. “Ain’t a-gonna need this house no longer/Ain’t a-gonna need this house no more/ Ain’t got time to fix the shingles/Ain’t got time to fix the floor/ Ain’t got time to oil the hinges/Nor to mend the window pane/Ain’t a-gonna need this house no longer/He’s a-gettin’ ready to meet the saints.”

Although bemoaned in music and literature and pondered and expounded upon in medical journals, health magazines, and promotional ads promising the fountain of youth, the surprises, disabilities, and eventualities of aging can not to be avoided among the living. So, old people learn to laugh at their complaints as they brave physical and mental frailties and visit their geriatricians. They “get it! It is part of the process. ”Slightly misquoting Bette Davis, my wife’s Aunt, who died a few days short of being 101 years old, frequently said, “Aging ain’t for sissies.”

Israel’s King Solomon, who had an amazing life, would have agreed. An intellectual with a wide range of interests and pursuits, he shared a fascinating account of his very long, adventuresome, and priviledged life of wealth and power. In his closing thoughts in Ecclesiastes, his vivid prose painted a picture of advancing age and its disabilities and declared that all the pursuits of life are meaningless. They are but “vanity.” “Everything is meaningless,…completely meaningless,” he said. But that statement was just a segue to a very wise, hope filled, and somewhat unsuspected conclusion about the meaning and purpose of human existence. He proceeded to exhort youth to always keep the end of life in mind because in those surprising but unavoidable, confining years of decline, all of one’s life will come into focus, “Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” However, he finished with a positive message, the encouraging thought that life is not limited to the material, it is spiritual. It is connected with God, in whom lies ultimate and lasting meaning. “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty…” (Ecclesiastes 12:1-14)

Both Tennessee Ernie Ford’s singing lyrics and King Solomon’s poetry and prose point us not only to eventualities and finalities but also to a living hope. The time will come when “This old house” will return to the earth, but “the spirit returns to God, who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7) More importantly, Jesus also taught the urgency of “seeking first” the eternal values of God’s Kingdom. (Matt 6:33) There are many worthy, worldly pursuits, but the most valuable life long priority is seeking a relationship with God, who is not far from us. He gives us all the treasures of His Kingdom through faith in His redemptive work on our behalf. For that purpose Christ appeared on the human scene: ” to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

These cautionary words from Tennessee Ernie, King Solomon and Jesus remind us how limited our material world is and that our deepest needs are spiritual, that our spirits are reality, and that we were created for God, who lavishes his love on us through Christ. The Westminster Catechism sums it succinctly and well : “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”

“Missed Things” That Shift the Narrative…

While reveling in the beauty of this tiny, mist surrounded island and its reflection in the bay, the distant, tiny image of an eagle scanning the water for its lunch had been missed. However, that significant detail changed the photo’s narrative into something rawer and less ethereal.

Somewhat similarly, our stressed and harried routines are so filled with demands and the needs of the moment that we frequently don’t contemplate life’s finer details, the missed opportunities, the significance of people who could change the complexion of our stories, or even of who we really are.

Three of the Gospels record Jesus’ interaction with a very rich, prestigious, young, religious, ruler who claimed to have kept the Mosaic Law since childhood. He appeared to have every possible human advantage for entering God’s Kingdom, but he still lacked assurance and wanted to know how to leverage his way into heaven. He had a question for Jesus, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to “inherit eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16-24) ( Mark 10:17-23) (Luke 18:16-27) With laser accuracy in one startling statement, Jesus addressed his false perceptions about God and the incorrect idea that eternal life is merited by rule keeping, moral integrity, and good works: “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me,” he said.

Jesus’ answer was shocking. Seemingly radical and harsh, his ideas were neither. He simply pointed out that the young man’s view of God was incomplete, lopsided. God’s grace is startling, surprising, unexpected! Even though it exposes our need for redemption and identifies previously unrecognized sins of pride and idolatry, calls out our depravity, and clarifies personal inadequacy to save oneself, God’s grace is actually about hope. It mercifully buoys us up, redeems us, and clothes us in the dignity and righteousness of Christ! We can do nothing to make God love us more than he already does! Attaining eternal life is a matter of faith. It is not about what one can do or must not do to attain it.

Receiving God’s grace through faith had always been God’s redemptive plan. The young man had missed that concept in his religious training. But among others, it had been true for Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, King David, and Nicodemus and would be for the Apostle Paul, the Philippian jailor, and all who would “call upon the Name of the Lord.” Paul would write Titus: “It is not by works of righteousness that we have done but by God’s mercy that He saves us.” (Titus 3:5) (Genesis 15:6) , (Ps 119:9), (Psalm 118:19:23), (John3), (Acts 2:21; 16:30-31)(Hebrews 11)

Jesus’s solution wasn’t that the redistribution of wealth or a vow of poverty would grant this fellow eternal life. Belief and repentance were the answers. This young man was not who he believed himself to be. Confused about his Law keeping, he was in violation of the two most important commandments. He neither loved God or his neighbor as he should and had raised his wealth, status, and reliance on religious creeds and personal morality to an idolatrous level. Although there was no eternal benefit in what he treasured, he valued and trusted them more than God. Turning from his materialism, casting aside pride, and trusting and following humble Jesus to the cross of self-denial were essential ingredients to a successful treasure hunt. To change the narrative, contrition, not a good deed, was required. Laying claim to an eternal inheritance meant identifying as a child of God, not as a self made man.

The answer to questions about eternal life has been sought and explored throughout the centuries but has been easily overlooked like the eagle in the photo because we live and ponder and seek in a context of muddled thoughts, theories, conjectures and deductions. As pointed out by Christ, the reality is that eternal life is attained by God’s grace through faith. It is available to any and all who seek it.

If one heeds Christ’s specific invitation to follow him, we will not miss that most important treasure. Believe and live!

Blowing in the Wind…

In a series of frustrated, rhetorical queries, Bob Dylan’s 1960’s “protest “song, “Blowing in the Wind,” identifies both personal and national moral conundrums. He poses stirring questions about how many roads or years we must take or live before we comprehend our common humanity. He laments our inability to listen to and to show compassion for each other. He bewails humanity’s inhumanity.

His lyrics are poetic and touching and worth listening to as he drills down to our core problem, our selfish, broken natures which consciously ignore the suffering and pain of others. They ask questions. Why is there no peace, no love? Why is freedom scarce? Why does oppression, discrimination, racism, or war exist? Why do we insist on destroying each other? How long can we continue on without eroding away our foundations? Wherein lies the reason for our moral failures? Are we overwhelmed with the enormity of our problems and feel helpless? Is it ignorance or passivity?

Dylan’s concerns predate him by centuries. They have plagued mankind since our beginnings! Although his song identifies our flaws, arouses emotions and perturbs us, he doesn’t identify solutions. There is no apparent healing. “The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.”

Whether or not he knew it, Dylan desired what God has always desired for humanity. The prophet Micah reminded Judah that God had told them, “O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:6-8)

Our oppositional arrogance is the problem. We don’t walk with God. All our preceding generations have traveled many pothole strewn roads in an attempt to change the narrative: education, philosophy, psychology, religion, criminal justice, and governmental oversight of society. Yet, we remain puzzled and frustrated with our lack of transformation. Regardless of the strategy, whether diversity training, preaching tolerance, revising history, promoting exchange programs, attempting eugenics, giving generously, talking about love, or outright opposing injustices, we don’t change because our hearts don’t change. To have happiness and stability, we must live within societal and moral guidelines without which we fall into the morass of ungrace! The wonky thinking that we are free moral agents and can do what we wish without consequences has been proven wrong time and again.

In His moral Law, God has laid out specifically how to live and to have optimum results of happiness and fulfillment. People of faith will always battle personal flaws, but justice and love will thrive when and where they humbly recognize God’s authority. The Scriptures and the teachings and sacrifice of Christ light the way.

It seems “the answer” isn’t somewhere blowing in the wind. It lies deep within our souls where raw and untamed desires rise up and need transformation. Through the humility of repentance and faith and obedience, God changes human spirits into lives with meaning and purpose and hope. Christ promises that transformation through his renewing and redeeming power in believing hearts who will follow the path he walked for us–one of love, sacrifice, mercy and grace.