Aug 3, 2020 | Devotions
Thomas’ mother did not call her son “Doubting Thomas.” But that is what you may have heard him called. You know Thomas. He was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus and was referred to as Thomas Didymus (Thomas the Twin). But through the years he has been weighted down with a nickname “Doubting Thomas.” Even today we sometimes refer to a person who is habitually doubtful as a “Doubting Thomas.” He or she wants proof before they will believe.
Thomas’ nickname was accurate on at least one occasion. Jesus appeared to the disciples on the day He was resurrected, but for some reason Thomas wasn’t with the group (John 20:24). When Thomas showed up, they told him of Jesus’ appearing; but Thomas doubted their story. I think he wished the story was true, but Jesus being raised from the dead was just too good to be true. So Thomas said he would have to see and even touch Him before he would believe Jesus was alive again.
We might think Thomas’ doubts would be a strike against him. But that isn’t the way John’s Gospel portrays it. Doubt led Thomas to be the only disciple (recorded in scripture) who called Jesus “God.” When he saw Jesus a week later, Thomas said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). What kind of person was Thomas to make such a dramatic change and make that confession?
Thomas was a realist. When Jesus was ready to return to Bethany and raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus’ disciples argued with Him. Jesus’ enemies were determined to kill Him. But Thomas, understanding the danger, still declared, “Let’s also go so that we may die with Him” (John 11:16).
Thomas was a seeker, too. When Jesus comforted His disciples the night of His arrest, Thomas wanted to know more. Unafraid to admit his lack of knowledge, Thomas asked what must have been on the minds of the others that night. “We don’t know where you are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus’ answer was short and to the point. He answered Thomas with words that have changed lives through the centuries: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).
Realist, seeker, yet only a few days later Thomas was a doubter. He wanted to believe; he wanted evidence. He would not base his faith on wishful thinking. He wanted to believe the other disciples, but a risen Christ was too good to be true. But one week later Doubting Thomas became a believer and one of the first to confess Jesus’ divinity. Thomas’ brief words became the climax of John’s Gospel. John wrote his Gospel to show that Jesus is God. And who better to make that point than the realist who was a seeker and experienced the evidence that made him a believer.
How about you? Have you walked in some of the same steps as Thomas . . . realist, seeker, doubter, believer?
Are you a realist, facing the truth about yourself, humankind, this chaotic world. A realist soon recognizes our inadequacies in the face of life and admits their need for God. It isn’t realism to hid from reality or to devote one’s life to the many pastimes we use to avoid life as it is or to throw life away pursuing some futile cause. Or are you a seeker, still wondering how life is to be lived? Is life meaningful? Does it have a purpose; does it have a key? The Creator knows. This world offers a multitude of answers to life’s questions, but none of the answers truly deals with this world and the eternity that lies beyond. Only in Christ do we find not only answers but a way to live in the light of those answers. Jesus’ answer to Thomas said it all, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”?
Reading Thomas’ encounter with Jesus after His resurrection shows God does not condemn doubt. God has revealed Himself in the world, in scripture, in the Son of God Jesus Christ. We do not understand all of who God is or all He does; but we know He offers to us a personal relationship with Him. We can know God through Jesus Christ in a way that weathers doubt and confusion and fear. It leads in God’s time to the same sort of belief which “Doubting Thomas” could confess: “My Lord and my God.”
Jul 27, 2020 | Devotions
Looking back over the last three months or so, a respected survey group identified about one-third of practicing, church-going Christians as casualties of the COVID 19 pandemic. No, these Christians didn’t die from the disease. Few if any of them had the virus. They were casualties because they stopped attending church. The other two-thirds attended church electronically. Some participated in more than one church! What happened to make this one-third stop or never start attending electronically?
Folks who had always attended worship in person may have found on-line worship unfulfilling or awkward. (Maybe trying to sing choruses or hymns or praying while sitting in the living room in pjs, drinking coffee with the dog at your feet seemed odd.) People who relied on in-person worship to reinforce their fellowship with other believers couldn’t find that on a TV or computer screen. And, to be honest, some soon discovered that other people didn’t even know whether or not they were “at church.”
The reason why this large portion of regular attenders dropped out will vary. The effects and perhaps the remedy for their neglect of corporate worship may be more important.
We’ve been told many times that attending church does not make a person a Christian. True, attending church does not make you a Christian any more than attending a concert makes you a musician, or watching a movie makes you a film star. But, Christians, those God has called into relationship with Him through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have been called to be part of a group, the body of Christ. One glaring implication of this induction is that we need one another. Introvert, extravert, hermit, or social gadfly, we are to share our lives with other believers in whatever way is possible.
Some of us spent part of our Christian lives ignoring or playing down the church. When God turned our hearts and heads back toward Him, we knew we needed to hear the truth proclaimed. We needed to sing our praises, confessions, and doctrine. We needed the encouragement of other believers even if it comes sometimes in electronic form. We discovered, sadly, the longer we were apart from what the church had to offer, the easier it was to live our lives our own way.
The remedy for these spiritual casualties will not be a vaccine. Whatever remedies the Holy Spirit brings, there will be something for the church to do and something for the casualties themselves to recognize: the importance of accountability.
For a long time, churches have settled for a one-third, two-thirds (or worse) division in the congregation. One-third of the official members participate at some level, two thirds rarely or not at all. Afraid we would drive them away, we seldom discussed church attendance, giving, the spiritual life, the Spirit’s activity today with the inactive folks on our rolls. Accountability asks us to begin to think and talk in terms of Christian responsibility as a way of dealing with our COVID-19 casualties?
Perhaps if you have read this far, you may self-identify as one of the casualties. Electronic worship or socially-distant worship may be unappealing to you or unhelpful. Your plan is to wait until things are back to “normal.” In the meantime you can become comfortable with your own thinking, your own view of how to live as a believer, your own needs and wants, your own excused sin. You prefer private worship. One-on-one time with God is vital, but a faith nourished only by our own beliefs and practices and resources will soon prove to be inadequate. We need spiritual friends. We need others to whom we can give and from whom we can receive. We need folks who will ask how we are and care about our answers. God said it: We need the church.
“And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrew 10:24-25, NASB)
Jul 20, 2020 | Devotions
Today everyone wants to know how long this pandemic is going to last. So number-crunching, trend-predictors daily try to forecast the good news and bad. History-readers are sure the past is a clue to what will happen in the future. Christians read the future-oriented parts of scripture and try to understand what is happening now and what will happen soon. Everyone wants to know what’s going to happen and when. Is there a prophet in the house?
Prophets in the Bible spoke of the future but were more concerned with the times in which they lived. They did speak about the future—in order to change their own day. Think about the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah and about John the New Testament prophet who wrote the book of Revelation.
Over twenty years before it happened, Jeremiah prophesied the fall of Jerusalem and the exile of God’s people to Babylon. Was that because God wanted a generation of “preppers”? Did God intend for folks to stock-up foodstuffs, sharpen a cabinet full of swords and arrows? Were the people to form a militia to defend their land against the Babylonian invaders? Or were one and all, from King to servant, from priest to soldier, old and young supposed to listen to Jeremiah and prepare their hearts by turning to God?
In Jeremiah 18:5-10 God “tipped His hand.” God revealed the reason He gave Jeremiah and his nation a word about the future. Whether God announced a future of peace or a future of war, the purpose was to call His people to trust Him, in times of stress and times of calm, to trust Him. Old Testament history reveals the nation’s response.
But that’s all history. Jeremiah’s future is long past. What of the prophet John? (I know we seldom refer to this John, the disciple of Jesus, as a prophet; but he wrote his God-given message about the future in order to change his day—and ours.)
John wrote the book of Revelation because God revealed to him something of the future. And since John’s writing of the book, it has become a favorite for people who comb scripture trying to understand what is happening, what is going to happen, and when will it happen. Despite Jesus’ words that no one but the Father knows when the events are coming (Matthew 24:36), we can’t resist the temptation to try to figure it out. Was God teasing us with words about the future or calling us to trust Him for the future and the present? Was He calling us to insert our present crises into Revelation’s predictions (or the other future-oriented scriptures)? Or was He calling us to live with confidence and trust in this twenty-first century?
Throughout our nation, people are looking for rays of hope. People want to know when “this thing” will be over—the pandemic, the economic woes, the justice issues, the anger and fear these have brought. Even Christians have been caught up in this mood. We want out and our prayer is that God will get us out or bring an end to this. But God speaks about the future in order to change the present.
What if our lives begin to reflect faith and love as well as hope? What if our trust in God is such that we can pray truthfully “Father, if these times lead to greater trust in You, these times are good. If these crises teach us how to love as You love, these times are good. If these circumstances lead us to love the Kingdom of God and to seek it, these times are good.” Wishful thinking or God’s will for us today?
Jul 14, 2020 | Devotions
What does the word “disciple” mean to you? Jesus referred to His followers as His disciples. In our churches we often use the words “disciple” and “discipleship” to refer to the life of a Jesus-follower. So you may know that a disciple is a learner and discipleship refers to our learning what it means to follow our Savior. A few years ago, in the writings of Dallas Willard, though, I discovered another word similar to “discipleship.” And I think it can help us think about what it means to follow Christ, to learn from Him: apprenticeship.
I don’t want to set these two words or ideas against each other. “Disciple” is a biblical term, and, as far as I know, “apprentice” is not used in any standard translation of the Bible. Moreover, the ideas of discipleship and apprenticeship overlap a lot. Disciples develop skills and apprentices learn, sometimes in a classroom setting, and vice-versa. But I think there are a subtle distinctions that come to mind when we think about these two roles.
These are not absolute distinctions, but in our thinking:
- Disciples listen and learn. Apprentices watch and learn.
- Disciples gain information in order to know. Apprentices gain information also, in order to do.
- Disciples relate to a teacher who knows more than do the disciples. Apprentices relate to a master skilled in the techniques which the apprentices hope to acquire.
- Disciples are tested to show they have learned the information the teacher expects. Apprentices are tested to see if they have learned to do what the master does.
Jesus was a teacher. He communicated information and expected His followers to remember it. He taught them (and us) about the Heavenly Father, about the world and humankind. Jesus’ disciples in turn were to share the truth that truth with those who came after them. Of course, Jesus wanted His followers to learn to do what He did, also, not simply remember what He said. So let’s rephrase that “Great Commission.”
Jesus said, “As you go, make disciples (apprentices)…baptizing them (bringing them into an apprenticeship role)…teaching them (showing them how) to do all that I have commanded you (thus becoming like you/Me)….” (NOTE: This doesn’t mean we are to be “apprentice saviors.” We are to be apprentice “citizens of the kingdom,” people learning the truths and skills necessary to live in the kingdom.)
Going further in the idea of apprenticeship, an apprentice to Jesus is a person who:
1. Has trusted Jesus with her or his entire life.
2. Wants to live as Jesus would if Jesus were living in the apprentice’s own circumstances, doing the kinds of things Jesus did.
3. Joins other apprentices in a community of learning and practice.
An apprentice seeks to become increasingly like her or his master, so the apprentice needs:
- To recognize what the master does (vision).
- To decide to become like the master (intention).
- To grow in the ability to imitate the master through developing the necessary skills (means).
Remember an apprentice seeks to learn the skills of her or his master craftsman. More on this later. For now, what Jesus-skills are you developing?
Jul 7, 2020 | Devotions
These days we seem to go through a “cultural convulsion” in our land. Physical convulsions occur in our bodies when something goes wrong causing our muscles to contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly. We cannot help ourselves. We often lose consciousness and shake. Convulsions are a dramatic sign that a person needs help.
That seems to be where we are as a nation. Coast-to-coast, north-to-south we have movements and counter-movements, violence and arguments, charges and counter-charges. Many Christians choose to say “God is in control” as if that solved the problems. We often sidestep our responsibilities in that way, as well as our opportunities to be in a sense God’s “first responders.” But neither God nor His people can ignore the pain and anger and confusion around us. Instead, we are called to aid others. Like the Good Samaritan of Jesus’ parable, we are not to be drawing lines about who we will help and who we will not help. So, what sort of aid are we giving to the world?
We know that God is big on forgiveness. That’s how we became part of His family. But today there seems to be a shortage of forgiveness. Public figures are condemned for past incidents or words or photographs supposedly illustrating their sin. We do not forgive. We accuse. We do not pray. And we ignore God’s truth: “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”? That “all” includes all humankind today and all humankind of the past, those whose sins we discover and those whose sins are yet to be discovered.
This is evident in the way we are trying to deal with our nation’s history. We seem surprised and angry when we discover that our heroes, our founding fathers and mothers were sinners. So we try to erase the past. But can we destroy enough statues, change enough titles, put away enough symbols to change our past?
Nehemiah, Daniel, Ezra, our ancestors in the faith, knew that time does not flow backward. God was not going to change Israel’s history. He is not in the business of changing our history. These men prayed in difficult times brought on by the sins of the past. As they recognized those sins they did not pray but held God’s words, judgment, and mercy before them as they prayed. They were determined in so far as possible not to repeat the sins of the past. (Cf. Ezra 9:5f, Nehemiah 1, Daniel 9)
We cannot change the past of our nation. We cannot forgive those who have gone before. That is the ministry of Christ the great forgiver. We can, however, recognize the sins of our past, particularly as they have contributed to our present agonies. We can change what is in our hands today that needs to be changed. When we prioritize God’s mercy and grace, His use of fallible men and women of their own time, we can see more clearly the wonder of our nation’s history. We can deal with the present time, the only time that is ours.
These are enflamed times. Feelings range from disgust to fascination. Prejudice and arrogant pride sit in the same soul. There are no sinless among us. So, these are the times to hear James’ counsel, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20 ESV)
