No Place Like Home

            In his fine trilogy The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien weaves an intricate story of four members of a tiny race of “people” called hobbits who live in an obscure place known as the Shire. They are content in an idyllic setting: happy in ignorance of the larger world in which they live and enjoying many bounties of life. The books follow their story after they are “uprooted” from the Shire for an adventure… a quest… which seems so uncharacteristic of them and unfitting for them. Along the way they meet creatures they never dreamed of and peoples (friend and foe) that are beyond their imagination. They experience great dangers and new wonders. They see sights that take their breath away and visit cities and realms of great glory.

            In the final book – The Return of the King – two of them (the other two are separated and following another plot line) are in a huge battle as the story nears its climax. The battle goes on for days until, finally, help comes (to the “good guys”) and the evil forces are defeated. But in the midst of the battle, one of these hobbits is very badly injured. As his body is taken into the city’s “houses of healing” almost all hope is lost for him, until the king comes. The king has the ability work healing and this hobbit – named Merry – is restored. Here follows a brief part of the conversation, then, with his dear friend Pippin. Pippin is relieved and overjoyed that Merry will be okay, and he is feeling “small” and insignificant in a world that seems so big, when he says…

            “Dear me! We Tooks and Brandybucks, we can’t live long on the heights.”

            “No,” said Merry. “I can’t. Not yet at any rate. But at least, Pippin, we can now see them, and honor them. It is best to love first what you are fitted to love. I suppose you must start somewhere and have some roots, and the soil of the Shire is deep. Still there are things deeper and higher; and not a gaffer could tend his garden in what he calls peace but for them, whether he knows about them or not. I am glad I know about them, a little.”

            I have always liked those words, because they capture how I’ve felt in some ways. Though I wasn’t sheltered growing up in Maine, Maine has always felt like “the Shire” to me – a place I have always loved and come back to. But God has blessed me with many great “adventures” far from home where I’ve been able to see some pretty glorious things and meet so many amazing people. One of those adventures in 1977 was a 10-day trip to the Dominican Republic to play baseball (as a college student with Sports Ambassadors) and be a short term missionary. It was my first time away from my country. My eyes were opened to many things. My world got very large. My understanding of God’s world and God’s plan in the world grew.

            Now, 35 years later, Tanis and Esther Derolus – two Haitians living and ministering in the Dominican Republic: two dear friends of First Baptist Church – have come and worshipped with us during a trip of several weeks to the United States. No doubt their understanding of the world is growing as well – even though they have access to the world through technology and all that modernity offers.

            We are world Christians. Sometimes, like hobbits, we may not want to be bothered by the “outside” world. The “outside” world (whether near or far) feels dangerous, uncomfortable, unsettling, and restless to connect with and be a part of. But God has many amazing and wonderful people all around this world serving Him. It is a great joy and privilege to come to know them and interact with them, because through them the presence of Jesus is being fleshed out and His name is being made much of, as it should be.

            I’m so grateful to God for all the places He has taken me: the things I’ve seen and done and the people I have met and known. But I am also glad to always be able to come home to my roots in the soil of Maine and to “my” people. I’m sure Tanis and Esther will be very happy to be back on their “soil” in the DR as well. You know, all of us who know the Lord are ultimately all “away” from home. Our true home awaits us… where Jesus is preparing a place for us. Those we loved who were in the Lord are there already. This reminds me of Mercy Me’s song Finally Home. Here’s a YouTube link if you’d like to listen to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnTu0i9cj-I

John 14:2-3 (NIV) ²  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

John 14:23 (NIV) ²³  Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV) ²⁰  But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹  who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you that my true home is with you, and that my right and ability to look forward to it comes through Your Son who loved me and purchased my salvation. At his invitation heaven has become my destination and the joys of eternity await. Thank you for your Spirit, whose presence makes me your home and who makes eternity a present reality and not just a future hope. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott

"Eat My Dust?"

            Sometimes Scott “the preacher” and “disciple” of Jesus feels more like Scott the “bicycle rider”. Let me explain. I’ve ridden quite a bit this summer. When I’m riding on the carriage paths I like to pass people when I can. There are plenty of occasions when I get passed, but I like it when I’m able to get ahead of others. It’s not like I’m making remarks as I pass them, such as “In your face!” or “Eat my dust!” I just like to challenge myself when I approach someone from behind. I’m thinking, “You can do it… pedal harder… push yourself…” I like that kind of challenge.

A few weeks ago I turned onto Norris Avenue and noticed a rider up at the end of the street. He turned left to go up the hill on Spring Street: the same way I was going. When I got to the bottom of the hill I thought, “I think I’ll catch that person on the hill or shortly after.” I came within about 20 or 30 feet when, almost before I knew it, he was moving forward so quickly that the distance between us began to grow. “Maybe I’ll catch him at the stop sign,” I thought. But the distance between us continued to grow. And as we headed up Cromwell Harbor Road through Kebo Golf Course he was further and further ahead.

            We weren’t racing. He did not even know I was there. He was just going at his normal pace. I had kept quiet and hadn’t spoken, even though I was pretty sure it was Mike Ross in front of me. I just figured I’d catch up at some point. As I turned to ride up Eagle Lake Road he was already down his street (Arata Drive) finishing his ride. I thought, “Man, he is in great shape. He dusted me!” I had planned to mention this event to him, but had forgotten it until recently. So if he reads this, it will be “news” to him.

            There are times as I follow Jesus that I “meet” others on the same path. I hear them preach or teach… I read their book(s) and I think, “S/he is so far ahead of me. I don’t think I will ever understand the things s/he does about being Christ’s follower.” Then there are others that I see who have an incredible level of love, peace, joy, hope, or some other evidence of the presence of Jesus’ gift of the Holy Spirit. And I think, “Man, I wish I could love that way… I wish I had that kind of joy… wow, I’m so lacking in peace compared to him/her. I have so far to go. I’m not anywhere near where I should be.” There will always be people “out in front” of me spiritually. That’s a good thing, because it spurs me on… it encourages me to keep going and keep growing. I’m thankful for what I can learn from them. The depth of faith of others and their victories in Christ inspire me onward in Christ.

            There is also comfort, though, in knowing that Jesus never makes me “play catch-up”. He’s not unreachable. Of course He actually is because He’s God the Son. I can’t even rightly compare myself to Him. But at the same time, He’s with me wherever I am, always encouraging me to go deeper with Him… to know Him and His Word better, to love Him more. You could say, “He rides with me even though He’s beyond my ability to keep up with.” And He does that with any one of us who will ask Him, “Would you ride with me?”       

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV) ¹  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV) ⁵  Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for the presence of Jesus in my life through the Holy Spirit. What an amazing thing to know that God is with me… that Christ is in me – the hope of glory. In some ways this is beyond the scope of my mind to even grasp. Thank you for all those you have put in my path who have encouraged, educated, and been an example to me. Please bless them. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott

Eternally Father

            The first chapter of a book I’ve been reading in preparation for our upcoming “Thinking About God Thursdays” has a question for a title: “What Was God Doing Before Creation?” The book is Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith by Michael Reeves. In this chapter he emphasizes the foundational fact about God: that he is Father. All that God does he does as a Father. All his ways are beautifully fatherly. A few excerpts…

            “… the Father is called Father because he is a Father. And a father is a person who gives life, who begets children. Now that insight is like a stick of dynamite in all our thoughts about God. For if, before all things, God was eternally a Father, then this God is an inherently outgoing, life-giving God. He did not give life for the first time when he decided to create; from all eternity he has been life giving.”

            “The Father, then, is the Father of the eternal Son. There was never a time when he didn’t exist. If there were, then God is a completely different sort of being. If there were once a time when the Son didn’t exist, then there was once a time when the Father was not yet a Father. And if that is the case, then once upon a time God was not loving since all by himself he would have had nobody to love.”

            “… the way the Father makes known his love is precisely through giving his Spirit… It is all deeply personal: the Spirit stirs up the delight of the Father in the Son and the delight of the Son in the Father, inflaming their love and so binding them together ‘in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’ (2 Corinthians 13:14).”

            As I think about these things, the truly awesome thing for me is that Jesus “folds me in”, if you will, to the “family”. When I received Christ, God became my Father (John 1:10-12). When Jesus teaches me to pray, he invites me to begin by saying, “Our Father…”. After Jesus rises from the dead, he tells me (via Mary in the garden), “I ascend to my Father and your Father.” And I am permitted to speak intimately to the Father (whereby we cry, ‘Abba, Father’) just as Jesus did. It’s all so much deeper, wider, and higher than my human understanding of “father”. Earthly fathers may range from being great dads to evil monsters. But every earthly image and idea of fatherhood falls short of the perfections of God the Father. And it is so truly awesome to be the child of a holy, loving, and perfect Father. All glory and honor to him for making me his child!

John 1:10-13 (NIV) ¹⁰  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹²  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- ¹³  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

Matthew 6:9 (NIV) ⁹  "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

John 20:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶  Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). ¹⁷  Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

Romans 8:15 (NIV) ¹⁵  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

PRAYER:  Father, thank you that I can call you so. Thank you that your very nature is to give life. You have done so in me. The life you give is so much greater than just a body that breathes with a heart that beats. You have placed eternity in my heart and made me an object of your Fatherly love. You have made to be in your family. This is truly amazing and wonderful. I am blessed. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott

"Boastable"?

      While preparing for my sermon this past week I couldn’t help but notice what the Apostle Paul had determined to be “boastable”. What were the things he refused to boast about… and what were the things he gladly boasted about? 2 Corinthians 11 details an incredible list of accomplishments, experiences, and challenges in his life. It is quite impressive to consider. But later in the letter he determines that only one thing in his life is worth boasting about: anything that gave opportunity for God’s glory to be magnified. He realizes that it is in his weaknesses that God’s strength is manifested. Conversely, he recognized that the unremarkable things… the unimpressive things… it is through these that God’s glory is lifted up.

      How very opposite of the world’s kind of thinking. This attitude of the Apostle has me evaluating a number of things in my life, including my use of social media – most notably Facebook. I’ve found that I have to be careful that Facebook doesn’t become “Bragbook”. I looked over my posts and could find a definite trace of times when I might have a hint – or a truckload – of trying to impress others. In subtle ways I see some of my posts communicating, “Look what I did!... Look how good I look in this picture!… See how clever I am!...  

      Is everything on Facebook this way? Of course not! But I find myself wanting to pay a little closer attention to my motivation when I post something. Facebook is just one subtle opportunity for me to become “boastable” about me or something that makes me “impressive”. I don’t get that from Paul. It seems like the only thing he wanted to be impressive in his life was Christ. He felt like he had missed the mark if anyone but Christ (including himself) was magnified.

Paul’s life and experience reminds me also about what I am impressed by in others. Too often it is worldly gain, human accomplishment/achievement, physical beauty, financial success, athletic skills, and on and on… that captures my imagination and interest. And herein is another reminder of how God is not like me. I am in great need of an adjustment of my vision and my understanding.

I pray – for myself and for you – that we might lift up all those things that God would find “boastable”, and that His glory might shine through them in our lives. May Jesus Christ be praised!

Philippians 3:4-8 (NIV) ⁴  though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵  circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶  as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. ⁷  But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NIV) ²⁷  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, ²⁹  so that no one may boast before him.

1 Corinthians 7:31 (NIV) ³¹  those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

Luke 21:33 (NIV) ³³  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

PRAYER:  Father, teach me what it means for Christ to be glorified in my body, in my mind, and in what I communicate. Help me to see reality as You do… to know that the things of this world are as nothing to You. Enable my focus to be on that which magnifies Christ… especially those weaknesses in me through which Your strength can be manifested. I pray, in Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott