Archive for category: Encouragement

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

The improbable story of faith is more often born in the darkness and silence of life than in the light of certainty. The bright light of day allows you to see what is ahead to walk confidently forward. When the darkness comes and you see only dimly, your walk grows timid and shaky. Where am I going? What’s before me? You begin walking carefully, avoiding bumping into the wall or reaching out to find something familiar to hold onto. Spiritual faith is often walking in the darkness and silence of life, yet boldly reaching out to hold onto the promises and presence of God. Advent is the improbable story of faith.

The Vow of Silence has been part of numerous religious orders through the centuries. Though few orders require complete silence, they do encourage limited engagement. The story is told of a young man who wanted to become a monk and was accepted into the monastery. The abbot told the man, “You must take a vow of silence and can only say two words every three years.” The man agreed. After the first three years, the abbot came to him and said, “What are your two words?” “Food cold!” the man replied. The abbot made sure the meals were not cold. Three more years passed, and the abbot came to him and said, “What are your two words?” “Robe dirty!” the man exclaimed. The abbot ordered his robe to be washed. Three more years passed, and the abbot came to him and said, “What are your two words?” “Bed hard!” The abbot made sure the mattress got re-stuffed. Three more years passed, and the abbot came to him and said, “What are your two words?” “I quit!” said the man. “Well,” the abbot replied, “I’m not surprised, you’ve done nothing but complain since you got here!” (Jokes by BabaMail)

Malachi ends with the promise and warning that “I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” (Malachi 4:5-6) Then the pages of the First Testament are closed and the silence begins. Often called the 400 years of silence as there were no prophets to speak for God, no kings to lead them, and no word of the coming Messiah. Yet the people, generation after generation, stayed faithful and hopeful. These faithful followers would keep the law, offer daily prayers, and observe the Sabbath.

However, far from silence, God was busy preparing the stage for His coming. “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Gal 4:4-5) “During these four hundred years, many aspects of the Jewish culture of the New Testament were established. Palestine was strongly influenced by the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. This helped make the world more ready for the Messiah.” (African Study Bible)

When darkness seems to hide his face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the vale.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand. (Edward Mote)

These words from Edward Mote capture well the darkness yet give the hope we have in Jesus. Written in the 1800s, the song, The Solid Rock, may not be your normal Christmas Carroll unless you have lived through years of silence and darkness. Somehow the words express the hope of Advent in this season of waiting and looking. The improbable story of faith becomes probable because of God’s promises as we see the faint light of faith growing deeper and richer each day as we move toward the coming of Jesus.

Advent – the improbable story of faith became real after countless generations when an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. God saw in an aging, childless couple the faith and hope needed to set His story into motion. Elizabeth and Zechariah’s faith had stayed strong because of the one they were holding onto in the darkness. This unlikely couple, chosen to be part of the coming Messiah, “He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:16-17)

Advent – the improbable story of faith became real for an old man simply described as righteous and devout. Simeon had held onto faith that God’s story of redemption would happen and as he held Jesus’ tiny body in his arms, he offered his prayer of praise over the baby. Words that he may have been writing for years in his mind and finally the day came when he could recite them over Jesus. “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

Faith is improbable only when we stop walking where God is going. Mary and Joseph were given only enough details to move forward. They didn’t have all the details, only enough. The most important detail was simply they had the name of Jesus. God took care of the divine element but as Greg Laurie writes, “the very human element began with a godly young girl who looked into the face of impossibility and said, “Whatever you want, LORD, that’s what I will do.”

Advent—the improbable story of faith is never improbable because of Jesus. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” (Hebrews 11:1-2)

God is great!

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:29

Neighbors in Lebanon, Oregon probably wouldn’t agree with Carl Sandburg’s quote, “Love your neighbor as yourself; but don’t take down the fence.” Neighbors realized that Rebecca and Michael Kerrigone’s house desperately needed to be painted but the Kerrigones were unable to get it done. While the couple was gone visiting family, the Lebanon football team along with local and non-local neighbors joined together to get the massive painting project done before the couple returned home.

“I would have to say this is an incredible thing that you have done for us and I am so grateful and astonished, and it’s just an amazing thing. This huge outpouring of love for us is just something that’s going to sustain through coming months and years, and it’s just a beautiful thing,” Kerrigone said.

Edward Rust’s definition of a good neighbor is, “someone to be trusted; a courteous, friendly source of help when help is needed; someone you can count on; someone who cares.” Proverbs gives us warnings on how to treat our neighbors. “Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.” (Prov 3:29). Paul would later write in Romans for us, “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Rom 13:10)

Jesus listened intently as a religious leader and expert in the law gave a beautiful summary of how to inherit eternal life to which Jesus simply told him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” Case closed! However the man realized he didn’t like the possibilities of his answer, so he probed a little deeper with Jesus, now exactly “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-37)

Neighbors come in all shapes, forms, and likeability so we can understand a little of why the religious leader wanted to get a better definition of who is a neighbor. We may have had neighbors who don’t mow their grass every week, play their music extra loud on the weekends, or cook some “strange” foods that have a pungent odor. Yet Jesus understood it is not those little peculiarities that the religious man was talking about, nor what we may be thinking.  Jesus confronted a much deeper issue related to the question.

Jesus didn’t try to answer the question with a lengthy dialogue or lecture, he told the man a story. Jesus shared about three men heading home from Jerusalem when they came upon a beaten, robbed, and bloodied man beside the road.  The man was totally unknown to any of the men so how could this man be their neighbor? The first one, a priest, didn’t even slow down as he walked past the body. The next man, a religious worker, slowed down but kept on walking. The third man, who was considered an outcast as far as society was concerned, slowed down, took time as he treated the man’s cuts, and carried him into the next town for additional medical care, at his own expense. Jesus looked at the religious leader and simply asked the question, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor?”

Jesus’ penetrating question to the religious leader, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor?”  forced the man to come to terms with who was his real neighbor. It is a question that every generation has had to come to terms with, including our generation. C. S. Lewis wrote in Joyful Christian, “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”

The religious leader had the same problem of defining “who is my neighbor” as we do in our current culture.  D. L. Mayfield writes, “One of the sad truths is that many of us live lives where we only interact with people who are similar to us—from the same ethnic background, or socio-economic class, or religion, or even those who have similar interests. Often we go to the same schools, churches, neighborhoods, and even grocery stores of people who look, act, and eat like us. Think about creative ways you can change even one of those factors—and see what happens!”

For over three decades, Mister Rogers invited viewers to be his neighbor as he opened his front door singing, “It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, A beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Please won’t you be my neighbor?” (lyrics written by Fred Rogers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Mister Rogers’ iconic neighborhood captured the essence of a neighborhood that has slowly disappeared. There was a time when a simple American tradition created a unique sense of Mister Rogers’ neighborhood and that was the front porch. Regrettably, as technology has advanced, Americans have retreated from their front porches away from neighbors. This has contributed to creating isolation and suspicion among neighbors. The front porches of yesteryears allowed neighbors to connect, and enjoy fellowship and offered the gift of slowing down. As folks sat on their front porches, neighbors were no longer nameless, faceless homeowners but people we could talk to, share stories with, and most importantly, ‘love our neighbors as ourselves.”

Unfortunately rediscovering the lost art of porch sitting alone will not change our culture. What it can do however is create space for us to slow down and think about what it means to be a neighbor. “Passive righteousness tells us that God does not need our good works. Active righteousness tells us that our neighbor does. The aim and direction of good works are horizontal, not vertical.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

Jesus gave some amazing front porch wisdom that will change our culture, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV)

God is great!