Losing the Son of God

 

The feast was over.  Jesus’ family was on their way back home but was unaware that He had stayed behind.  “Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day.  Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends.  When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.” 

Can you imagine Mary and Joseph’s perspective; ‘We have lost the Son of God’?

Have you ever ‘lost the Son of God’?  Have you ever had to pull away from family and friends to go back to where you last remember being with Jesus to find Him again?  Isn’t it all so subtle?  Isn’t it all so easy for it to go unnoticed?  It only took one day to lose Him, but it took three to find Him again.  Isn’t that the way it often is? 

How long does it take ‘to’ notice?  Once we realize we have lost Him, do we abandon all to find Him again as they did?  Do we put forth the extra effort it usually takes to find where we lost Him?  He stopped and we went on.  He turned and we went straight.  As much as it sometimes takes our all to find Him, it also takes our all to not lose Him.

Finding Treasure in Difficulty

I’m sure most women today would have griped just a little bit, but Mary found treasure.  She and Joseph had just traveled about 75 miles to Bethlehem; means of transportation . . . sandals.  Can you imagine doing that today—while pregnant and at full term?  Plus the fact, that not having made reservations, when they got there, there were no rooms available at any of the hotels. 

I can see it just as clearly as I am seeing these letters as I sit here typing.  Just about the time they find out there are no rooms available, when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.  Mary is ready to have her baby.  Because there is nothing else available, they clear out a place in a stall and make the best of it; her first born child, the Son of God of all things, born in a stall.  There was no epidural, no ice chips, no soft bed to lie in after it was over, no hot shower or bath; just family, a little straw and a few animals. 

You would think that God would have seen to it that she could have had an easier way of it all.  Instead it appears it pleased Him to let it be as difficult and as lowly as one could imagine.  But . . .  He knows how, in our difficulty, to make it all worth it.  He sent shepherds to confirm what she knew in her heart about the child she had just given birth to.  In her difficulty He was able to give her treasure.

Believing is Seeing

As Luke is trying to produce an orderly account of the beginning of Christianity so that Theophilus could know with certainty the things he had been taught, part of that certainty is in establishing that God started it all.  Similar to how the writer of Genesis handles the account of creation, it is not as much his intent to prove, in order to persuade the unbeliever, as much as it is his intent to proclaim, in order to assure the believer.

The writer of Genesis establishes in just one verse the state of things at the time of creation.  “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”.  It is a bleak picture, but by the end of the chapter the picture has changed, and the believer comes away with one thing; ‘God started it all’.

Luke does the same thing in his first chapter.  He also paints a bleak picture.  We know that Elizabeth will have a son, but Luke makes it clear that in spite of repeated unsuccessful efforts, she has never yet been able to.  Likewise, we know that Mary will have a son, but Luke makes it clear that she has never tried to have one; she shouldn’t be able to have one.  And once again by the end of the chapter, the believer comes away with one thing; ‘God started it all’.

As both the first chapters of Genesis and Luke are accounts of a beginning, it falls then on the reader whether or not to believe.  Some, like Mary, will believe fully as soon as they hear it.  Others, like Zachariah and Elizabeth will only believe in part at first.  After so many unsuccessful efforts—so many failures—it was hard for them at first to believe what God had told them.  It took a little confirmation before they could fully believe.    

As Luke gives us this account that we might know with certainty the things we have been taught—that we might believe—it is good to have that certainty.  It is good to know what we believe.  But there is another level of believing . . . a harder level.  It is the level these three struggled with.  It is one thing to believe the written account of what God has done; it is quite another to believe what He says to us. 

That is what these three had to do.  Similarly, that is our struggle.  Not so much with the written account, but with what God says to us today or tomorrow.  When Mary went to visit Elizabeth, Elizabeth greeted her with these words; “Blessed is the one who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished”.  That is where our ability to believe really struggles. 

It doesn’t take fully believing, as Mary was able to do, to see what God said He would accomplish.  Zachariah and Elizabeth only partly believed and they saw it.  But   believing is to these spoken things of God as 3D glasses are to a 3D movie.  The 3D is there.  Without glasses you will not see it.  With one lens you will sort of see it.   But with both lens it is pretty cool.  Believing gives us the ability to see.  Believing is seeing.

A Writer Must Write

For Christmas, I received a decorative box for my writing pens.  On the front was a quote from Hemmingway; “A writer must write what he has to say, not speak it”.  It fits me perfectly.  For years I tried to say what I had to say; but it rarely came out as clearly as I saw it in my mind.  But with writing, I can stay with it until I have said exactly what I want it to say.  Writing agrees with me.

As I begin my ‘careful investigation’ of the writings of Luke, I have noticed a couple of things in this first chapter regarding writing.  First, after a careful investigation of the things that had been handed down by eyewitnesses, Luke thought it good to write an orderly account of these facts.  Though it was written specifically for Theophilus, in order that he could know the certainty of the things he had been taught, it became a written record for others down through the ages, and even to us today, that we also might have the same certainty.

Some friends of ours own a farm in the Ozark hills of Missouri.  One day we went for what was supposed to be a short ride on the 4 wheelers, but the first ridge we came to lead to another and then another.  There are literally hundreds of miles of connecting trails.  An occasional red ribbon marked particular turning points.  People who were very familiar with the trails left the ribbons for those who were not.  Those who were certain left ribbons so others could have the same certainty.

So now, as I begin my ‘careful investigation’ of the things Luke has handed down, I do it to know for myself the certainty of the things I have been taught.  And like Luke, I intend to leave a written record of the things I find.  I don’t do it with the motive of trying to stir up and attract my own following, but rather for those who are already following, I will leave these ribbons for those who come behind me that they may know the certainty of the things they have been taught and come to believe.

Another thing I noticed regarding writing was from when Gabriel told Zachariah about John.  Zachariah had more to say than any time in his life, and yet the angel made him to where he could not speak.  But though he could not communicate verbally, still he was compelled to communicate and did so by writing what he had to say.

God stirred Luke to write, which may or may not have had anything to do with his ability to communicate verbally.  But with Zachariah, God forced him to write by temporarily taking away his ability to speak.  Who knows, maybe it was for the purpose of producing the written record that Luke would use in his ‘careful investigation’.

Some gifted speakers, in addition to speaking, may be stirred to write.  Other gifted speakers, temporarily in place of speaking, may be forced to write.  But the writer does not possess the additional gift of speaking.  He must write what he has to say.  

Silver Bells

The Silver Bell

In 1510, when the tower of St. James’ Church was first erected, three silver bells were hung in it.  Their peals are rung on special occasions such as royal births, coronations and deaths.

In 1540 England, for the annual horse race at Chester, a silver bell was given to the winner in lieu of an embellished wooden ball that had been given prior.

  

Silver Bells

 

Silver bells from bridals hung –

adorn for all to see;

they remind of former races won –

the prize for victory.

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Silver bells at Christmas hang -

adorn for all to see;

they remind us of the race He won -

the prize for you and me.

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Silver bells from towers rung -

to warn, announce, and call;

with resonate sound their peals rang out -

their message was to all.

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Silver bells at Christmas ring –

to rouse the slumb’ring ear;

they call to all who hear the sound –

the need to love is here.

I Can’t See the Cross from Here

 

There is a cross located near the western border of southern Illinois.  It is the tallest cross in the western hemisphere at 111 feet.  At night, when lit, the cross can be seen for 7500 square miles and has attracted visitors from all over the world.  The idea was conceived in 1937 when two ministers wondered of a place where believers of different denominations could worship together.

I had heard from a piece of property I was on in Missouri, just 20 miles away, that the cross could be seen.  One day, while at the best vantage point possible – standing on top of a chimney 30 feet above ground – I looked toward the cross but could not see it.  The thought came to mind, which I yelled for all to hear was, ‘I can’t see the cross from here’.

Later that day, the owner of the property told me that that would make a good story line, and now 6 months later, the application has come to me. 

Even from the best vantage point possible, I could not see the cross.  I wondered and was challenged recently by the same thought in relation to the people I associate with.  From the vantage point they have, will they be able to say the same of me?  How far out does the cross that is supposed to govern my life, project?  Can others even see it?

It has become a thought that is etched in my mind – both the negative and positive version.  I don’t want people to be able to say of me, ‘I can’t see the cross from here’, and then conversely I am challenged by the thought to make sure my actions do reflect the cross and that by it being visible, people would be attracted to it.

When God Hides His Face

 

I can relate to the ups and downs that David so clearly expressed in the Psalms.  He was utterly dependent on God for everything: guidance, provision, protection . . . even his frame of mind.

I noticed this years ago in a line he wrote; “And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.  LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.”

When you are as utterly dependent on God for everything, as David was, it can be very troubling when He hides His face.  It is like being lost.  You don’t know what to do or how to think.  Nothing makes sense.

I have found when I am troubled, it is because I am trying to figure things out and can’t.  I pray for Him to help me but He doesn’t.  Eventually it occurs to me, He doesn’t want me to figure it out; He wants me to be still and experience the benefit of His being my God. 

It is then, when I still my efforts, that I hear the whisper that sooths my troubled frame of mind.  His way, as simple as it often is, comes into focus.  It is the answer that I had wrestled to find. 

When God hides His face, I think it is His way of saying, ‘I don’t want you to figure it out.  I want to show you what you’re looking for.  I want to show you that I am God’.

Two-a-days

 

Anyone closely associated with the sport of football will immediately understand what is meant by two-a-days.  In the worst part of summer—in the grueling heat—two times a day—athletes focus all energy on conditioning that will help them in the new football season.  The old season is over, summer as they have known it has ended, and it soon becomes all too obvious that they are not saved from the need of additional conditioning.  

A new season is upon the church.  To be ready for it—to compete in it—it will take additional conditioning.  Two-a-days may very well be the norm for awhile.  The old season is over, summer as we have known it has ended, and it will soon become obvious that we are not saved from the need of additional conditioning.

Last season we focused on Jesus’ instructions to the disciples as recorded by Matthew; that we should go into all the world and make disciples.  This new season we will focus on an overlooked instruction which Luke records.  Luke refers to the instruction that Matthew mentions when he says that Jesus appeared after His resurrection and spoke to them about the kingdom.  Very true that Jesus said to them “Go and make disciples”.

But . . . there was one more bit of instruction: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised”.  This gift would contain the power that would enable them to be His witnesses—that would enable them to “Go and make disciples”.

I believe we have missed the aspect of waiting.  We have gone out in our own power to do His kingdom work.  It has fell short.   

This new season will be marked by a waiting—a tarrying before God—for the power that has been lacking in former seasons.  Sure many have been converted into church goers; they once did not attend church and now they do.  But how many today were blind and now they see?  How many were dead and now they live? 

Jeremiah puts it this way:  ”The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”  The church is in much need of two-a-days.

We Cannot Lift Ourselves

 

In both the young and old is the desire to ‘be’.  The old can feel stuck in the mud and feel that life is going to pass them by.  They can get anxious about that.  The young can feel the old is holding them back and want to go around them.  They can get anxious about that. 

It is in this context that Peter makes this statement: to both he says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”.

It is God that lifts us; we cannot lift ourselves.

He Works to Not Lose You

He Works to Not Lose You

John 6:39  “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.”

When Jesus was here physically, He had the same limitations that we have.  He could not work with everyone as He did the with the 12.  To the 12 He said, ‘Come and follow Me’.  For 3 years He worked to not lose them.  With the woman caught in adultery He said, ‘Go and sin no more’.  For her she had one shot.  This was her chance at being drawn to and finding God.  

But today He is not bound by physical limitations.  When any are drawn, He works to not lose them.  If in our chance we are drawn, no longer does He have to say to some, ‘Go and sin no more’; instead, now to all He is able to say, ‘Come and follow Me’. 

Now He is able to focus on each of us as He did with each of His disciples—as He did with Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  His only limitation now is us.  To each of us He says, ‘Come and follow Me’.  He grants us the opportunity to be with Him as Mary was—with Him as John was—and yet how many live like they just met Him once and heard Him say, ‘Go and sin no more’? 

He works to not lose you.