In Search of the Prince of Peace

 Some folks are so broken, much time and resources they do take

Time with them is exhausting, from such efforts we need a break

There are those who like to argue, they have venom in their veins

Their souls cannot find satisfaction unless they hold the reigns

Some neglect truth and justice, bound by the pace of status quo

Squelching hope and progress, leaving souls to wither and plateau.

 

Yet into this world of darkness came a great glorious light

Illuminating fear and blackness with a beam shining bright

Stepping into the confusion, devilish minds did deploy

Overriding deep division, increasing faith, love, and joy

Lifting burdens from our shoulders, rough and heavy was the freight

Giving courage to the weary as we struggle with life’s weight

 

This strength and light came through a child, from a woman he was born

A son with God’s genetics, heavens gift to a world forlorn

He came to give counsel, teaching us to walk paths that are right

He came as the savior, to forgive and redeem from sin’s might

He gave us this mission, to tell the world of his work and love

Spread the story of salvation, of eternal life above

 

As we continue earth’s journey, filled with sorrow, grief, and death

Dealing with pain and conflict until we take our final breath

When our hearts seem heavy, when there is no jingle in our soul

By grace through faith look to the Christ child, keep heaven as our goal

While on earth love and serve him, until the time of our release

Then We’ll gather in the throne room, and worship the Prince of Peace

Influencing the Earth

When we hear the word meek, we picture someone who is weak. But this is not how the Bible portrays a meek person. Numbers 12:3 says “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth”. The context in which the Lord made that statement was when Miriam and Aaron were speaking against and thinking themselves to have equal status with Moses. Moses did not confront them for this behavior, but God did. He called them into the tent for a private meeting and stood before them in a pillar of cloud. With a stern voice God said “hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord” (Number 12:6-8a ESV). God made it clear that Moses was in charge and was to be followed. God communicated with Moses not in the haze of a vision or the figment of a dream but he put his lips directly upon Moses’s lips. He breathed his very words into the mouth and mind and heart of Moses. God did so because Moses was the meekest man in all the earth. Therefore, he was in tune with God and could be trusted. That is a mural of strength.

Jesus surely considered the character of Moses when he said “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5 ESV). Someone who is meek is tame as opposed to acting wild. They are wise rather than foolish. Insightful, not disruptive. Steady not static. Useful instead of harmful. A meek person is strong yet they possess a gentle demeanor. We might describe the meek individual as being self-controlled. But in a spiritual sense it is far more than that. To be self-controlled assumes that we are in charge and accountable only to ourselves. Yet no matter how much self-control we have we are lessened by our flaws. We are subject to human frailties. Somewhere in life’s journey our self-control will meet its match and our souls will surrender in defeat. To be meek is to be God-controlled. A meek person is one who has been tamed by God. A meek person has submitted themselves to God and has allowed the Spirit of God to shape and mold their character. Moses had been subjected to the arrogance of Pharoah’s household for forty years. Then he spent forty years as a herdsman in the wilderness. In the barrenness of the desert with his nostrils filled with the stench of sheep he discovered the aroma of God’s grace. Submitting himself to God he became a meek man that God could use.

The meek person through his God-tamed strength will inherit the earth. That does mean that he owns the earth. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” Psalm 24:1 ESV). The meek person may not hold many deeds to property. They may not hold jurisdiction over defined territories. Their names may lack notoriety. But the meek inherit the earth because they are able to influence the earth for God and for good. Leadership is influence. A meek person is able to influence those in their realm and encourage them to move in a Godly trajectory.

The world is filled with statues. Buildings and roads bear the names of powerful people. History books tell the stories of conquests and empires. Some of these great leaders have been agents of good and some have been tyrants for evil. But eventually statues will be torn down. Buildings will decay and roads will crumble. The memorials we erected will just be aging pyramids full of bones. In time the historians usually will expose the complete story.

The meek will inherit the earth because what has preserved the earth for generation after generation is not the conquering tactics of ambitious men. Rather, it is the goodliness and godliness of those who have lived in submission to the principles of our righteous God. This is what brings blessings to our world and blessedness to our own souls.

 

Blessings found in Mourning

 

Mourning occurs because we have lost something. Our losses might be precipitated by mistreatment, misunderstanding, mistakes, mishaps, miscalculations, misplacement, misdeeds, and various other misconstrued events of life. If we lose something of limited value we don’t mourn very much. But if we lose something that is really important to us the grief may seem almost unbearable. The shock factor alone may open a furrow so deep that it engulfs part of our life burying it forever. We are going to lose things as we travel the rugged winding roads of life. Those losses will sometimes rip things from our souls that cannot be replaced. No matter how hard we try there will be pieces of ourselves that we cannot find. When that happens, we mourn.

In full knowledge of this certain predicament Jesus made this promise “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt.5:4). To be clear, this promise is to people of faith. The promise is to people who out of desperation will seek God. Our ears must not be shut to the voice of God. Our eyes must be open in order that we may see the hand of God at work. Our minds must be receptacles willing to receive new insights from God. Our hearts must be permeable so that we can be saturated with the love of God.

We cannot obsess about the unfairness of our mourning no matter how true that may be. Rather we must use our mourning as an opportunity to reflect and readjust and reprioritize for the future God is developing for us. The cause of our mourning occurred in our yesterdays. But the promise of comfort is experienced in our todays and tomorrows. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Ps. 30:5b).

When we mourn, we find comfort through new discoveries about ourselves and God. The Lord corrects aspects of our thinking that are wrong. He tweaks our understandings of truth and solidifies our grasp of his eternal values. We find comfort because the Lord is always doing something brand new in our lives. Jeremiah wrote “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

We find comfort in the midst of mourning as the Lord instills new ambitions within us. Mourning presents us with new opportunities that we should not squander. In our sorrows the Lord may give us visions for new avenues of ministry. In his grace he provides comfort to us and we are able to join his tribe of wounded healers.  

We find comfort because of new perspectives. We come to realize that we are not the only person who has suffered loss. In the process of mourning, we find comfort as we learn to focus less on our pain and more on helping others solve their pain. We become less attached to this world and we grasp for the hope found in the next world. In mourning we are comforted because the past grows dimmer and the horizon of heaven gets closer. The past is bitter but heaven becomes sweeter and sweeter as the days go by.

Benefits of Being Poor

 

Being poor is inconvenient. It limits our choices. It makes it harder to navigate our worlds. Having riches would add a lot of benefits to life. But Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:4). Since I have enough resources to get along pretty well in life, I find comfort that Jesus emphasized being “poor in spirit”. Even though I am not a pauper I can still be blessed and have a place in God’s kingdom. But Luke’s version of this teaching says “Blessed are you who are poor” (Luke 6:20). Indicating that physical poverty precipitates the benefits of the kingdom.

If we are poor in terms of physical assets it might make us mean in spirit and drive us from God. Jesus is saying that being poor should humble us and cause us to recognize our need for God and drive us to trust God.  If we possess the riches of this world, we have to find ways to divorce ourselves of the power of riches and recognize our need for God. To be poor in spirit means that in spite of whatever riches we possess we humble ourselves ultimately trusting God for every sustenance in life.  When we cast our cares on God in this fashion, we access the power and benefits of heaven.

Wealth and talent and pride have the power to rob us of humility. They can rob us of eyes that recognize God. They can cause us to have faith in things that diminish and neglect to trust in the eternal powers of God.  

The pains of life are sufficient to make our spirits poor. But we need to embrace that impoverished spirit with enough desperation to put our trust in God. We may lose everything this world has to offer. Our hands may become empty. Our accounts may be dry. But if our fingers cling to Jesus the kingdom of heaven belongs to us.  

Serving the Crucified Christ

Filled with hate, ignorant of truth, lacking in faith, and void of righteousness the Jews had plotted to kill Jesus. Rome took ownership of their plot and made a statement of their authority in the act of crucifixion. In the course of less than twenty-four hours Jesus was arrested, accused, lied about, endured six mock trials, cursed, beaten, and in humiliation crucified naked before the viewing world. As the sun made its downward turn, he breathed his last and hung dead on the cross. As the dark of evening approached there emerged from the shadows a servant named Joseph who was from the town of Arimathea.

Some refer to Joseph as a secret disciple of Jesus. But his thoughts regarding Jesus were not that secret. The gospel writers tell us that he was a member of the council, “a good and righteous man” who was himself “searching for the kingdom of God”. If his attitude regarding Jesus was private it lost its privacy when in a council meeting, he refused to consent to the majority opinion to work toward the demise of Jesus. 

Joseph did not have the power to stop the violent death of Jesus. He lacked adequate information about the meaning of the event. But he had enough theological understanding of the significance of Jesus and enough admiration for Jesus to serve him by administering proper burial.

We think of servants being poor but Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man. One does not need to be rich to be of service to the Lord. But we are to use whatever means we have to serve the Lord and His cause. If we have great means we are called upon to use those means to advance the kingdom and minister unto people. “To whom much is given, much is expected”.

Joseph was a servant with courage. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was a weak ruler, so we might think that did not take much courage. Under Roman law the body of someone who had been executed was considered state property. Pilate could grant that body to anyone he so desired. Or he could refuse to relinquish the body to anyone. In such cases the bodies might be thrown into the nearby garbage dump and burned or at best buried as a pauper in the local potter’s field. Joseph took the risk of requesting the body from Pilate. But his real act of courage was that he, a member of the council, was identifying himself with Jesus. He risked being ostracized by his faith community. He risked trouble with the government. He risked losing business and position.

Joseph was a rich man but he was not afraid of difficult work. He engaged in the gruesome task of taking the tortured body of Jesus down from the cross. He purchased a new linen shroud and with the help of Nicodemus prepared the mangled body of Jesus for burial. Joseph had a heart willing to sacrifice. He took Jesus and laid him in his own tomb that had been freshly cut of the rock nearby. This was the tomb Joseph of had built for his own burial. It had never been used. But now it had been defiled with the body of one who had been executed as a criminal.

In reality Joseph’s tomb was occupied by the one who bore the richness of heaven, the richest of the rich. But Paul reminds us that for the sake of our salvation Jesus “became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (II Cor. 8:9). At the time of his burial Jesus had become the poorest of the poor, stripped of all his wealth by the weight of our sins. Yet by the sovereignty of God and because of Joseph’s servant heart he lay in a rich man’s tomb awaiting the day of resurrection when all the richness of heaven would be restored to him.

 

Seeing the Crowds

Jesus spoke a simple message of hope to people and provided practical help by healing their diseases and afflictions. So, the crowds gathered around him. The crowd in one town would follow him to the next town until soon the crowds were very large. The crowds that gathered were filled with sick, afflicted, and oppressed people.

The setting for the Sermon on the Mount is revealed in Matthew 5:1. “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him”.

Jesus always saw the crowds. He saw them not just as gathered masses of humanity but as sheep in need of care. Jesus went up on the mountain not in order to get away from the crowds but so he could observe them. From the vantage point of the mountain Jesus and his disciples could view the crowds for what they were. They were people in need of love, grace, mercy, and instruction. To the government, business, and religious structures of their society they were just tools, instruments to be used to enhance the desires of the power structures under which they lived. But to Jesus they were human souls created in the image of God. The crowds would have siphoned emotional energy from Jesus yet they strengthened him because in them he saw his purpose for being in the world. He had come to work for justice in the present world and provide the path for salvation that would ensure eternal life in the world to come. On the mountain, with his eyes on the crowds and with his disciples gathered around him, Jesus posturing himself as a teacher “sat down”. The disciples stood in the position of learners. Jesus began unfolding truths about the character they needed to possess and develop if they were going to emulate him and fulfill the purpose to which he was calling them.  

We do not know how attentive the disciples were or how well they understood. Our real concern should be how much attention we give to the teachings of Jesus and how well we follow the instructions. 

He Opened His Mouth

Matthew 5:2 tells us that Jesus “opened his mouth and taught them”. What followed were the profound teachings of the Sermon on the Mount.

Many people open their mouths yet teach us nothing of value. Profound lessons do not just erupt from our voices. They must first be processed in a sound mind. They need to be filtered by a righteous heart.

Many people open their mouths and teach us falsely. They are either ignorant of truth or deniers of truth or maybe just plain liars. The motive of their heart is to de-rail truth by manipulating facts or deceiving the audience by withholding information. Corrupt minds and vile hearts will never compose and propagate truths that lead to wholesome societies and upright behaviors.

When Jesus opened his mouth, he taught with clarity. Without apology he taught divine truths that his mind had processed and formed into language that simple humanity could understand. He spoke not just words of truth but thoughts that were ripened and seasoned with wisdom. When Jesus spoke, he did so with a heart filled with love, compassion, fairness, and concern. The words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart were found acceptable in the sight of God.

The teachings that came from the mouth of Jesus are not easy for us to adopt and assimilate into life. In fact, it is pretty tough to follow the teachings Jesus unfolded in the Sermon on the Mount. Some of them may seem unpalatable to our depraved psyches. But the words of Jesus reveal the expectations he has for those who desire to follow after him. He leaves no doubts as to how we should structure our lives.

When Jesus opens his mouth, we need to take it as truth. We may find it necessary to meditate in prayer with him about the details. It may be prudent to engage in questions and discussions with our fellow believers to get a better understanding of how we can apply his teachings in practical ways. But the principles set forth by Jesus are clear. They are not up for negotiation or amendment. When Jesus opens his mouth, the proper response is to listen and to obey what we hear.

 

Treasures New and Old

The teachers of the law spoke with dull words that usually failed to increase understanding and propagate faith. They spoke truth but their logical explanations did not invoke interest in the human heart or instigate passion in the human soul. But Jesus could stir a crowd with the power of a story. The words of Jesus did not enable His listeners to grasp the history of their traditions or the nuances of their theology. But they went home inspired. Jesus’s parables had one simple point. The listeners surely did not remember the details of each parable but what they did recall gave them great lessons to mull over and discuss. 

Jesus did not give deductive lectures that the crowds had to choose whether or not to be a part of. But in His parables Jesus presented inductive thoughts that encircled those who gathered to listen. When I read the parables of Jesus, I find myself in the middle of the story. I cannot just walk away from it but I must make a decision. I can either reject the truth being taught or I can ponder that truth and examine it. My examination of the truth portrayed in the parable may still not cause me to embrace it. But it forces me to make another decision. I must decide to journey with Jesus by following the lessons He taught or choose to walk another path.

In Matthew 13 Jesus told a series of parables that compared familiar activities and events to the kingdom of heaven.  Each parable taught a lesson about the value and the priority of the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus finished speaking, He asked the disciples “Have you understood all these things?”. Maybe Jesus grinned when they quickly answered “Yes”. Surely, they had not understood everything taught in those parables. None of us have. Jesus did not quibble with their answer but gave a one sentence reply “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (Matthew 13:52 ESV).

The scribes were the teachers of the law.  Humbly it occurs to me that I, a Baptist preacher, am a scribe who has been trained for the kingdom. God in His sovereignty called me and gave me some of “the secrets of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13:11 ESV). Jesus said a trained scribe was like master of a house. The master of a house was in charge of the welfare, the instruction, the mission, and the hospitality of the house. If one is a benevolent master of a house, he does not distribute junk to those who live in or who are guest in his household. But he reaches into his treasure and brings out the good stuff. The good stuff is that which we value and protect. It is that which we have discovered in the word of God and store deep within us. The good stuff, our treasures, are the basis of our convictions. We handle them carefully and display and dispense of them with prudence.

The scribe who is like the master of the house reaches deep into his treasure and brings out something new and something old. I ask myself “what can I retrieve from my treasure, both new and old, that will enhance the kingdom? How can I take the old truth and communicate it in fresh new ways”?

I recall days of yesteryear when I stood to preach with quivering knees and fluttering heart. It was not just nervousness but it was a Holy Spirit induced unction to accurately share what I had learned from God. I hope I can still pull from my treasure a passion for the word of God that translates into orations of substance that will move the listener or reader toward a greater commitment to the Lord. I trust that the words that flow from my soul enable people to have a wide peripheral kingdom vision. I pray that the criteria of the meditations of my heart are not based on biased earthly allegiances. The church is languishing because we have divided the kingdom with terms like left and right, white and black, contemporary and traditional. May God help us who are scribes trained for the kingdom of heaven to bring from our treasure ideas both new and old that will lead the church to a broader functionality.

I need Wisdom

 

I need wisdom. I need knowledge also.  But I have a reasonable measure of knowledge and I know how to learn. Acquiring knowledge can be difficult but it can be gained by our personal grit and study and with the help of others who know how to point us in the right direction. But gaining wisdom is more difficult. Wisdom is gained through a lifetime of failures and successes and the painful experiences along the way. Even then wisdom will not be fully gained unless we have a desire to learn from our experiences. Wisdom is ultimately acquired when we seek God’s advice and allow His mind to interact with our minds as we journey through life. Proverbs 9:10 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. In James 1:5 we read “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him”.

If we are honest, we will all agree that we lack wisdom and thus all of us are in need of wisdom. We understand however that wisdom comes from God and that God is delighted to dispense wisdom to us. Wisdom is available to us when we pray and ask God for insight and understanding and application. We need knowledge but wisdom is far greater because wisdom enables us to practically and properly use the knowledge that we have. Wisdom makes knowledge productive. God desires to be generous in dispensing wisdom to us. God is not harsh but gives generously to all without reproach. This means that God is not looking for flaws within us that would disqualify us from receiving wisdom. God is not looking at our faults to find reasons to not grant us wisdom. If He did none of us would be worthy of God’s gift of wisdom. God desires to lavish us with all the wisdom we need. But we do need to ask God for wisdom and we need to ask God for wisdom believing that God will indeed give us wisdom.

Receiving wisdom from God requires faith. James wrote “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8). Getting wisdom from God requires a focus that is grounded by faith in God. This does not mean that we do not struggle in our faith. God is not asking us to have blind faith. Faith in God is not ignorant of the realities of the world. God is not saying that we must have a faith that does not struggle with doubt. Indeed, that level of faith does not exist in frail humanity. We all struggle in our faith. Faith and doubt are often, maybe usually, mingled together. But faith needs to be dominate in our lives. The world around us is a doubting world tossed about by the wind and the movement of the earth. People who succumb to this kind of doubt are filled with so much duplicity that they are unable to find stability. In that predicament they will never discover God’s gift of wisdom. To have faith means that when the waves of doubt come, we stand firm holding onto to whatever amount of faith we have. It might not be much faith. It may be faith no bigger than a grain of mustard seed. It may be a weak faith that finds us crying out “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief”. But yet it is a faith that is certain of God’s love for us and is committed to fulfill our life’s purpose of serving God. It is a faith to which God will reward an abundance of wisdom.

Christmas in COVID Times

 

Midst efforts to resolve a viral pandemic

Causing global illness and death epidemic

As we process the merits of our heartfelt fears

Mixed with worry, doubt, dread, anger, and sometimes tears

Let’s not forget about the virgin who conceived

A child sent from God, so our sins could be relieved.

 

As we shelter in our places of seclusion

Where once welcomed visits are now an intrusion

As we inhale and exhale covered by our mask

While simple routines are now a cumbersome task

Let’s recall that to the virgin a child was born

Who would bring hope, joy, and peace to a world forlorn

 

When six feet apart striving for social distance

Has become the new normal of our existence

When our multiple efforts of sanitation

Instigates within us constant aggravation

Visit the manger, see Joseph and his betrothed

Gaze upon the child who in swaddling rags was clothed

 

When the news of more COVID cases scours the land

When the ones who govern hand down a new demand

When after each encounter we wash our hands clean

As we hope and pray each day for a new vaccine

Listen to the voices of the angelic throng

Announcing the Messiah’s presence in their song

 

As new stipulations create family strain

And events occur causing economic pain

When we come in close contact with those infected

Then obey rules of quarantine as directed

Let’s treasure the glorious news of a savior

Who came to remedy our sinful behavior

 

When we grieve a cherished friend or loved one who dies

And we can’t properly gather to say goodbyes

When we want to weep and give each other a hug

But we are restricted to a stare and a shrug

Let’s join the angels in praising the Prince of Peace

For in His grace and mercy we will find release

 

When each retail store bears the sign “masks are required”

And every adventure makes us tense and tired

When we learn that someone had a positive test

And we retreat to our homes for much needed rest

Let’s treasure Jesus, ponder His truth in our heart

With fresh faith in Him tomorrow a new day start

 

Midst our expressed concerns about the world’s future

Worrying that the wounds are too deep to suture

When mental anguish and fear are out of control

When encouraging words lack power to console

Recall that our purpose is to give Christ glory

And our mission is to propagate His story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resurrected Wounded

Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb on the morning following the Sabbath for the purpose of anointing the body of Jesus for burial. But when they got there the tomb was open and it was empty. There they encountered an angel who said to them “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you” (Mark 16:6-7).


We learn here of a bodily resurrection. A man who had been publicly butchered on a cross, pronounced dead, and hastily buried inside a nearby tomb sealed by a huge rock had come back to life. Not just enough life to make a few restless movements where he was laying but enough life to get up, shed the burial garments, move the heavy stone and walk out. That had never been heard of because it had never happened before. A dead man had come back to life. This once dead man was on his feet walking and the angel knew his plans and whereabouts. Knowing his plans the angel gave the women an errand “Go tell his disciples and Peter that he will meet them in Galilee”. This was a bodily resurrection. Jesus had not been whisked off to heaven. That would happen later but for now he was on earth in same body he had had for 33 years. He was walking around in the same body that had been killed. That body bore the marks of crucifixion. Jesus had been resurrected but he was resurrected wounded.


We know this to be true because after the resurrection Jesus presented himself alive to all of his disciples except Thomas. Not being present Thomas refused to believe saying “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe”. (John 20:25). Shortly afterwards Jesus appeared to them again and gave Thomas the opportunity to place his finger in the mark of the nails in his hands and place his hand in the gaping wound in his side.  Seeing and being with the wounded resurrected Jesus was necessary to prove his dominion over death and to build faith not only in the lives of the disciples but all the generations since that time.  


That morning the women found an empty tomb and received that wonderful message from the angel “He is risen; he is not here.” With excitement they left to spread the news and Jesus met them on the way. They saw the wounded resurrected Jesus and Jesus reiterated the assignment the angel had given them “go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Matthew 28:9-10).


Let’s understand the magnitude of that. It is 78 miles from Jerusalem to the town of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. That is a 3 day walking journey if you go through Samaria. If you take the longer but safer route it is a 5 day journey. Jesus is going to make that journey on wounded feet. The Roman government with encouragement from the Jewish community had put him to death in the most debilitating way ever devised by man. He was buried and then with the miraculous powers of heaven was resurrected in human bodily form. In that human wounded body he was going to make a 3 day journey along mountainous goat trails and dangerous roads.


But why was he going to Galilee? First of all it was a safe distance from Jerusalem. The reality of the empty tomb and the rumor of resurrection would have the government searching for him. Secondly, Galilee was home. It was a place where Jesus and his disciples could feel safe. Jesus had spent three years ministering in the region of Galilee. It was from there he had called them and instructed his disciples. Now he is calling his them to re-gather with him. It will be a time of fellowship. It will be a time of forgiveness. Peter had betrayed Jesus terribly. But we should note that the angel specifically said that Peter should be given the word that Jesus wanted to see him in Galilee. “Go tell my disciples, and Peter, to meet me in Galilee”. Peter was a failed soul but Jesus forgave him and had a great plan for how he would be involved in the kingdom. For Peter and for all of the disciples Jesus needed to gather them in order to instruct them and make his commission clear in their lives.


Jesus went back to Galilee in his wounded human body to demonstrate to his disciples that they could go into their worlds in their human bodies with all their faults and frailties to tell his story and fulfill the commission that was given to them. It is the same for us. We are called to serve Jesus. We are not called to serve him with what we do not have but we are called to serve with what we do have. What we have are our human bodies and our human minds. We are not Jesus and we have not been wounded in the fashion that he was. But we have been wounded. We have first of all been wounded by our sin but Jesus has forgiven us. We were dead in our sin but in Jesus we have been resurrected to new life. Because he lives we shall live also.  We have been hurt in this world but we have the comfort and abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. We live wounded but in Jesus we can go forward with the imperfections of our wounds to fulfill the commission of Jesus and promote the character of Jesus.


After a period of time Jesus went back to heaven where he reigns forever glorified. As believers we can look forward to a time when we will be with him with a new body in heaven. But at the present time we are the resurrected wounded. So let us strive to fill our wounded hearts and minds with the compassion and love of Christ. Let us journey forward with wounded feet. With wounded hands let us serve others, bearing one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Slipping Away Into the Crowd Unnoticed

Today I saw an ambulance with lights flashing on the way to the hospital. As the vehicles passed me I noticed that the scripture reference John 5:13 was written above the back door. This evening I looked up the reference. It says “But the man who was cured did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there”. One Sabbath day in Jerusalem Jesus met a sick man who was lying near the pool of Bethsaida hoping someone would put him in the waters so that when the waters were stirred he might experience their magical healing effects.  

That might seem silly but if you have been sick 38 years like this man had you will cling to any hope you can find. Jesus encountered the man and asked him a simple question, “Do you want to get well?” without answering the question the man gave both an excuse and an explanation that since he had no one to put him in the water that someone else always got in the pool ahead of him and thus received the benefit of the stirring waters. Without arguing the man’s reasoning’s and without discussing the effects of the waters Jesus simply looked at this man who had been sick for 38 years and told him “pick up your mat and walk”. Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk. Without saying or doing anything else Jesus slipped away into the crowd and the man who was healed did not even know who it was that healed him.

I suppose there are several reasons why Jesus slipped away into the crowd unnoticed. Certainly He had other things to do and other people to engage. Maybe He did not want to hang around and listen to the complaints and the questions of the Jews as to why He had healed a man on the Sabbath. For Jesus discussing rules concerning when and how and where one could do good deeds was a fruitless and senseless endeavor. Jesus simply went about doing good and ignored man made illegalities. Perhaps there is another reason Jesus slipped away into the crowd after healing the man. Jesus had come to seek and to save the lost. He had come to serve not to be served. Jesus was not interested in receiving accolades. He wanted the attention not upon himself but on miracle of a sick man made well and the grace of God that had made it possible.

If we wish to be faithful servants of Christ we need to not be positioning ourselves hanging around in order to receive praise and credit. Like Jesus we need to do good and then slip away into the crowd unnoticed.  

The difference Between Passing Through and Passing By

We love to sing the old familiar song “This world is not my home I'm just a passing through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue, the angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore”. The song jingles in our head and flows from our lips and gives warm thoughts in the heart as we think of the beauties of heaven, the loved ones who are already there, and the thoughts that we will one day dwell there also. I understand the sentiment. But if we are not careful we can be so busy focusing on our heavenly destination that we lose sight of the journey that has been set before us. We rush through life oblivious to the sights, sounds and stories and situations around us. We are headed to glory but we forget the gospel encounter that is enabling us to have the hope of glory. In doing so we fail to communicate the doctrines of grace that will help others join us in glory.

Jesus did not make the mistake of just passing through. In Luke 18:35-43 we read the story of Jesus and the blind beggar. The blind man was sitting beside the road cobbling together a living by the only means available to him. He was begging. He could not see but he could hear and feel the commotion of the crowds and he inquired about what was going on. The people told him “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by” (Luke 18:37). I submit to you that there is a measurable difference between passing by and just passing through. Jesus demonstrates what that difference is.

When you are just passing through you take the easiest route. You take the interstate and by pass the towns and crooked roads and the crowds and congestion. You want to get through the territory and make it to your destination as soon as possible and with limited stress. But when you are passing by you take the interesting route. Jericho was a less than desirable town and there was a road that went around it. But Jesus did not avoid Jericho but ventured right into the middle of it. He waded into the thick of the crowd where he could touch them and feel their pulse. He heard their stories. He saw their struggles and recognized their pain. He stopped and engaged in conversation with the people. His followers did not understand his concern and methods. When the blind man cried out for mercy Jesus’ disciples tried to silence him and blockade his access to Jesus. But Jesus stopped amongst the masses and asked that the man be brought to him. The disciples and the crowds saw the blind man as a freak to be shunned but Jesus saw him as a man in great need. The disciples were in passing through mode but Jesus was in passing by mode and so he stopped and engaged in a dialogue with the blind man.

The blind man was desperate and lonely and needy. When asked what he wanted Jesus to do for him he answered quickly and clearly “Lord, I want to see. It has been a long time since these eyes have functioned. Let me recover my sight”.  Jesus said ok. “Receive your sight”! The man’s vision was recovered and he followed Jesus around the rest of the day, glorifying God, telling people what Jesus had done for him. And all the people who saw it began giving praise to God.

We live in a world that is blind in a multiplicity of ways and for a myriad of reasons. They need the touch of Christ. They need the power of His mercy and grace. They need the gospel that loves and the gospel that saves and the gospel that heals. They are not going to encounter that gospel if we just pass through. But if like Jesus we will take the slower difficult road and pass by and stop and engage them with the power of the gospel, lives will be changed. Jesus himself does not walk physically upon this earth today. But we do. While we do let us tell the story of Jesus and administer the help and forgiveness that Jesus has to offer.  

 

 

When God Whispers in Your Ear

I have never had an angel of the Lord speak to me. I have never heard what I thought was the audible voice of God. The Lord has spoken to me through the scriptures. He has impressed things on my mind. He has placed feelings on my heart. He has sent other people to me with directives and words of encouragement. But an angel of the Lord has never whispered in my ear or showed up in a mid-night dream.

 

But when God spoke to Joseph he did so through His angel. Joseph was engaged to a young girl named Mary. Word got out that she was pregnant and Joseph knew he was not the one responsible. In despair he wonders what he should do. In a restless night of sleep an angel of the Lord appeared to him and made the situation clear. “Mary is a virgin and what is happening to her is an act of the Spirit of God. She is bearing a son and you are to name him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins”. And Joseph woke up from that dream and took Mary as his wife and did not have relations with her as his wife until after the child was born. As commanded they named the boy Jesus.

 

Not long after Jesus was born an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph again in a dream. The command this time was simple but it was direct and urgent. “Get up, and take the boy and his mother to Egypt and don’t come back until I tell you it is ok, for King Herod in his wickedness is searching for the child in order that he might kill him”. So Joseph arose in the middle of the night and departed to Egypt. Joseph in the course of a year or two had encountered the angel of the Lord twice and each time he had been called to radical action that altered his ordinary ambitions and asked him to do something strange and uncomfortable. What he was being asked to do was helping fulfill the words of the Lord spoken by the prophets but it was greatly changing his life. I think it is true that obeying the commands of God always push us to do and be something different than we ourselves had planned for our lives.

 

Joseph and his family lived maybe two years in Egypt. Then one night an angel of the Lord awoke Joseph again in a dream and said “you can go back to Israel now. Herod has died and it is safe to go home”. So he arose and went back to Israel. But once you have been gone from home, going home is never the same. When Joseph got back to the borders of Israel he discovered that Herod’s son Archelaus was ruling over the region of Judea and he was as bad as his father. Once again he received a message from God in a dream and he had to alter his plans of going back to his original home and instead went to the region of the Galilee. There Joseph and Mary set up housekeeping in a city called Nazareth. My guess is they were never quite at home. The people of the region of Galilee probably looked upon them as outsiders. But there Jesus and his brothers and sisters grew up. In that area Jesus developed his trade. Within the small parameters of that region Jesus brought forth His teachings, called His disciples, and developed His ministry. It all happened like this so that the words of the prophets could be fulfilled; the Messiah “would be called a Nazarene”.

 

One of the lessons this teaches us is the importance of obedience. A simple young man named Joseph, in the midst of stress and confusion, heard the voice of the Angel of the Lord and obeyed. Maybe he argued a little bit, but we do not have any record that he did. What the record states is that he obeyed even though it may have meant ridicule, added stress and increased responsibilities, making uncomfortable journeys, and the loneliness of living in strange places. He obeyed even though it greatly altered his life. He obeyed because he believed the voice of God was trustworthy and that heeding that voice would lead to the will of God being fulfilled.

 

God communicates to us in a lot of ways. We never know what method he might use. It might even be through an angel. But I wonder, if God gives a directive to us, will we obey? Will we follow His instructions even if doing so calls us to unusual and even radical actions? Will we do it believing that our obedience leads to the fulfilling of God’s ultimate will?

One Glad Morning

Two years ago today I received a phone call from my brother informing me that our Dad Larry Cloyd had died. I was not surprised. Dad had spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital over the previous years. He had numerous health problems. When I saw him two months earlier his breathing was labored and his mobility was limited. I had plans to see him again in another two weeks. But the Lord took him home before I got there. Dad lived in an assisted living facility and he liked it there. On the morning of Sept. 5, 2013 he got up and rode his scooter down to the dining hall. He enjoyed a good breakfast and joked around with a couple of his friends. He then rode his scooter to the elevator and went up to visit the nurses and get his medications. He joked around with them as he always did. He rode his scooter back to his room and within 5 minutes he had pressed his medical alert button. The nurses came quickly but he was gone. His soul had left his large, old, and tired body and flew off to glory. His favorite song was “I’ll Fly Away”. I can see him now standing around the piano taping his foot and singing with gusto “Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away; to a land on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away. I’ll fly away oh glory, I’ll fly away. When I die Hallelujah by and by, I’ll fly away”. On the glad morning of Sept. 5, 2013 that song became a reality for him.

I cannot imagine a better way to go. Dad enjoyed eating. And he enjoyed being around people. He left this earth with his belly full and his heart full. How you going to beat that? But I feel the void every day of not having him here. He was a good dad who fulfilled his responsibilities in life, took his faith seriously, and had great pride in his children. I love you Dad.

Sifting Through the Shavings

My Uncle Raymond McWhorter lived to the ripe old age of ninety-five. Actually he was my great-uncle being married to my grandfather’s younger sister Ann. Together Raymond and Ann raised five children, all of whom went on to live successful, productive, and honest lives. Uncle Raymond did a lot of things in his life. He was deputy sheriff for a while and made an unsuccessful bid to become sheriff. He drove a school bus and ran a gas station for brief periods of time. Mostly he was a farmer and he always had a truck that enabled him to pick up a few extra dollars hauling for neighbors and others who did not have a truck. Uncle Raymond lived slow and easy never getting overly excited about much. That is probably what made him a good trader and such a good at handling cattle (and maybe what helped him to live so long). When I knew Uncle Raymond he would go to the stockyards two or three times a week. I guess he practiced what we called “pinhooking”. Meaning that he would go to the sale barn, buy a animal or two from those bringing cattle to market, in the hopes of reselling them at a small profit perhaps even that same day. Or maybe he just went to the stock yards because it was a good place to loaf and catch up on the news. I knew Uncle Raymond as a kind and gracious man who was always willing to help a family member or neighbor. He took an interest in people, even if you were a great nephew who was just a boy. Now Uncle Raymond had his vices. He smoked a lot of Lucky Strikes. He was known to have sampled his share of Kentucky Whiskey (though I have to say I never detected any evidence of that). For leisure he loved to fox hunt and would stay out all night with his dogs and buddies enjoying the sport. Sometimes he would have to spend the daylight hours rounding up his dogs. He would sooner sleep in a lawn chair in the yard, day or night, than he would sleep in the house. But if that is the most harmful thing you can say about a person you really don’t have much to say. That is particularly so when these habits are accompanied with a persona of kindness and charm.

Uncle Raymond was not a churchman. But that changed one Sunday afternoon when he was in his mid 60’s. Upon testimony and encouragement given by a family member he gave his heart to the Lord and that very day was baptized into Christ and joined the fellowship of the Mt. Carmel Christian Church. To the surprise of a lot of folks he became a faithful worshipper of the Lord Jesus. As Aunt Ann aged she developed Alzheimer’s. When this occurred Uncle Raymond blossomed into a gentle and compassionate caregiver. For two years he barely left her side tending to her every need. When it finally became necessary to transition her to a nursing home he still made the trip every day to see her.

After Aunt Ann passed away Uncle Raymond re-married. Stories get a little twisted sometimes but here is the way I heard it: One of Uncle Raymond’s old fox hunting buddies had died. Uncle Raymond called his widow one day and said “I am looking for a wife.  Do you want to get married”? She said “I don’t know I’ll have to think about it”. Two hours later he calls her back and said “Well did you think about it”. The details are probably a little different than that but he and Mary did get married and enjoyed several years together before she passed away. Sometime before she passed he had also buried one of his sons.

I stopped to visit Uncle Raymond one day not to long after Mary had died. His eyesight was failing him. But I found him sitting under a shade tree whittling. He did a lot of that because there were enough shavings under that tree to fill a garbage bag. I enjoyed visiting with him. I asked him a few questions and then waited and listened to his careful drawn out responses. It took time to listen to Uncle Raymond. He was not going to give you much quick. He was not going to give you any information he did not want to tell you. That is the way he always was and that part of him had not changed with age. He said something to me that day that I have reflected upon quite a bit. He said “I don’t know why I whittle, I don’t make anything. I just whittle. It is just something to do”.  I guess if you live to be ninety-five and all your friends are dead and gone, you have buried two wives and one son, and your eyesight has failed and you are not able to do much and you are limited in where you can go, finding a shade tree and whittling is an ok thing to do. But I think he did make something. He made shavings. And as he whittled he looked down into those shavings and remembered and relived and reflected on his life. Each shaving he whittled from those sticks of wood was part of his life story. In that pile of shavings were his memories of joys and sorrows, people and places, events and ideas. In that pile of shavings were his thoughts of who he was and who he had become and who he would become in that glorious place he would go when his life on earth was over. Uncle Raymond kept most of his thoughts close to his vest. But if I had the opportunity to sift through that pile of shavings I think I might have his whole story.

Let's Go to Bethlehem and See

Recently I traveled to Israel. I had the opportunity to visit Bethlehem. In preparing for this event and because of this event I wrote the following poem.

Let’s Go to Bethlehem and See

By Brent Cloyd, 2014

Come travel to the town of Bethlehem with me

Let’s observe the venue, reflect upon what we see

 I see a place where politics is harsh and shrewd

Where feeling forgotten, people have a vile mood

I see an Emperor who made a great decree

Go home take the census; you owe taxes to me

I see a young man, responsible, able, and proud

Who complied with the order, did not complain loud

I see significance in his ancestral line

The connection must be claimed, they could not decline

I see a young woman, greatly pregnant with child

Her time would come soon; the journey would not be mild

I see a man and woman, tested but in love

Confused, yet convinced of their mission from above

I see a crowded town without a lodging place

For poor strangers there was little mercy or grace

I see the pain of labor, loneliness, and stress

With groans, desire, and effort; a birth did progress

I see a happy face, immaculate with joy

Overflowing with love for a her baby boy

I see a stable, filled with the stench of manure

No place for a new born, vulnerable and pure

I see a child lying on a mattress of hay

Who humbly had arrived in the natural way

I see a baby wrapped securely in strips of cloth

One sent from heaven resting in a feeding trough
 
I see a proud mother gazing at her first born
Unaware that others will stare at him with scorn

I see a town that ignorantly missed the sign
Thus ignored the presence of this infant divine

I see shepherds on guard in the dark of the field
Keeping watch over their flocks with protecting shield

I see night interrupted by an angels face
As the glory of the Lord was shone in that place

I see heavenly beings with great news to proclaim
The joy of one who surpasses every name

I see a choir of angels as their voices ring
Glory to God in the highest heaven they sing

I see them praising God in sounds of sweet release
God sends His favor, in Messiah there is peace

I see shepherds, curious, gazing, with minds stunned
Leaving their flocks at night to see what had been done

I see action, let’s go to town right now and see
This savior the angels sang about with such glee
 
I see a young family, a man and his wife
Loving and guarding their child, in a world of strife

I see shepherds, with amazing joy in their eyes
Who left telling a story of this great surprise

I see a mother treasuring the day’s events
Pondering her involvement in God’s great intents

I see myself, a sinner, as part of the story
Praise Jesus my savior, to God be the glory.

 

 

 

A Memorable Lord's Supper

We celebrated the Lord’s Supper last Sunday morning. We served the juice in cups made of olive wood that had been made in Bethlehem. I had bought the cups on my recent trip to Israel with the intent that after using them each partaker could take the cup home with them as a souvenir. It was a different experience with observations worthy of notice. We had filled the cups before the Sunday School hour. By the time we served the cup at the end of the worship time two and one-half hours had lapsed. When I stepped down from the platform to serve the Lord’s Supper I noticed that the olive wood cups had absorbed some of the juice. In fact a few of the cups had completely absorbed all the juice that had been poured into them. It occurred to me that as God’s chosen vessels we are to absorb Christ becoming more and more like Him each day. When we drank from the cup it tasted bitter. The fruit of the vine had taken on the flavor of olive wood. It reminded me of the bitter cup Christ had to drink in bearing our sin on the cross. From a different angle I thought of how the presence of Christ changes the flavor of our lives and how His love and mercy and grace and peace can change the flavor of the world. I thought of how Christ drank a bitter cup in order that the world might taste a sweeter cup. The folks took the now empty and juice saturated cups home with them. I took mine as well and sat it on my desk to dry. When it had dried it was left with a reddish stain. The stain reminds me of Christ’s mark upon our lives. For when we truly absorb Christ we are not the same. We have been changed. We are different. His mark is upon us. That mark is left to remind us of who we are. It is left to cause those whom we encounter to inquire about who we are.

At Galilee

I walked one day where Jesus trod
In a village along the shore
I stood upon a sloping hill
Where he preached to five thousand or more

I ventured out onto the sea
Where Peter and John plied their trade
With mine own eyes I saw the place
Where Jesus taught and disciples made

I viewed the hills panoramic
Stoic, stately, still, and compact
From this backdrop He gave meaning
To faith, hope, and love so abstract

I recalled Peter and the others

When a fierce wind they had to face
Then came Jesus on the water
Reaching His hand of saving grace

I thought of how much in common,

Though it has been two thousand years
We have with those who lived in that day
How Jesus still can calm our fears

Jesus did not consider great
Those who held power in their hand
But had respect and compassion
For the weary who worked the land

I was there with many travelers

In their tears I discovered a clue
In each was a burdensome story
They had only told to a few
 

As I looked upon the marvel

I sensed a word to my hungry soul
Take my yoke upon your shoulders
Together we will reach the goal.

Somewhere Near Here

While traveling in Israel I wrote a poem and shared the poem with our group at our last devotional time in the Jerusalem.

In old Jerusalem near cross and sepulcher

Transgressors and confessors searching for a cure
Weary Pilgrims assembled in this place ornate
Guilty, broken, sad, sickened, from life’s heavy weight

Here we remember how our sin once did molest

How selfish deeds and hateful thoughts God does detest
Yet for us sinners Christ in love performed His grace
His sacrificial work makes this a holy place

Somewhere near here religion organized deceit

They drug him to the pavement to make his end complete
Somewhere near here truth was twisted, justice denied
Somewhere near here, misinformed, crucified they cried

Somewhere near here with cruel whip his back was beat

Somewhere near here Rome drove nails in Christ’ hands and feet
Somewhere near here the savior wore thorns for a crown
Somewhere near here the savior’s blood trickled down

Somewhere near here they punctured a sword in his side

Somewhere near here for our sin our blessed savior died
Somewhere near here, hanging shamefully on a cross
Jesus was sacrificed to restore human loss

Here listening to vile words the crowd did sputter

An announcement of forgiveness he did utter
Here on these grounds the lamb without blemish or flaw
Orchestrated the salvation the Father foresaw

The execution done His body was removed

The task was now completed, the Father approved
In a tomb near here his slaughtered corpse was encased
Still, dead, and buried, His accomplishments erased

For three days in the dark of the earth he did lay

While the Sabbath left His friends to mourn in dismay
But on the third day, somewhere near here, before dawn
There came a rumble and He awoke without yawn
 

Somewhere near here before the daylights detection

Breath was restored in mighty resurrection
The women and the disciples saw him near here
Then to more than five-hundred he dared to appear
 

I’m quite impressed with these walls and decorations

But they provoke neither joy nor celebration
For I’m on a journey to see the saviors face
And perhaps that’s the lesson of this wondrous place

For nails, nor cross, rocks, or cave can keep Jesus still

Resurrected our savior moves around at will
He will not be confined to places around here
But where ever we go our living Lord is near.