Category: Pastor’s Corner

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Colossians 3:23-24

I’m putting some effort into keeping focused in these Patmos days. I hope you are too. There’s a calming effect to getting up at the usual time, getting dressed, having a list to guide my activity, and setting some profitable goals for the day and the week.

I know there’s a huge temptation to “let go” and treat this stay at home as one blurred slouch, but I would suggest that even Paul in prison did not twiddle his days with Netflix and sleeping in. Perhaps the toughest mirror we’ll face is to see what we prioritize and abandon when we have become the boss of our repetitive days–a mash up of Ferris Bueller meets Groundhog Day. Is it any wonder we often learn of discipline and obedience in the Word of God? It’s as if God really knew us, and knows what will profit us. How could that be?

The term “quiet time” has taken on a new meaning, because it’s really quiet around here. I could have a Bible study while laying down in the middle of our street and not worry about getting hit. We’re on a normally busy route that now looks like a set right out of The Ωmega Man. Forget using weed killer on the driveway cracks– I might have to spray the road.

Besides the extra time to read, write and ponder this Word, I’m also getting started on a couple of major projects I’ve not taken the time to tackle. It’s a plus that months ago I had purchased supplies for these jobs. Now, I am barred from those aisles in the home improvement store, where all stocked but “non-essential” materials cannot be sold. By decree, we the comrades of Michigan are to leave home only for food or medicine, or some form of solitary exercise. Just don’t try to do home renovations, gardening or landscaping as a form of that exercise. These activities are dismissed by our head as non-essential business, and certainly not important for any individual’s mental wellness. Happily, our leader has made an exception for us. We are granted a pass to procure the approved mental wellness therapeutic essentials of pot, booze, and lottery tickets. But for now, shopping for a gallon of paint to occupy my lockdown time could get me a hefty fine and/or some time in the hoosegow.

Hmmm. I’ll let you know when I get the logic of these permissions and prohibitions sorted out. I’ve plenty of time to think, as this gadabout has been placed in timeout.

So I’m teaching and sharing a couple of messages on patience this month. James tells us in James 5:7-8; Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

As in James, God’s Word links numerous truths with the cycle of His creation. I think of a few passages from Jesus’ teachings: The wheat and tares. A sower went out to sow… A mustard seed. The fig tree. A sycamore tree. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies…The fields are white for harvest… Observe the lilies of the field…

James uses that link to creation’s cycle in his admonition for us to work patiently in our day, even though we know Jesus will come again. The temptation to sit and gaze into heaven is not a new phenomenon here in these Corona Days. Throughout the ages, many who claimed to know Jesus have used the slightest excuse or inconvenience to be idle, and claim a spiritual pride for it. Idle is idle, no matter how much lipstick you smear on it…

James is practical and clear: The farmer starts early in the year, doing what he should do, with no guarantee that days will be easy and harvest will be bountiful. He is aware of what must be done, and gets to it because it is needful work. James likens patience to the long stretch from preparation to harvest that every farmer or hobby-gardener knows well. The farmer understands that to not do the first things will absolutely turn to catastrophe later on. The Lord will not “make up” for the things that were the farmer’s responsibility. Likewise, the farmer recognizes that the Lord sends the rains, and creates the harvest. So broadly, in our days until the Lord returns, He has purpose for us, and will work through us. That means we are to be focused on labors both spiritual and material.

Paul’s admonition to the Colossians that I began with today also mirrors that same thought, but he also points to the “why” of giving our best in our labors. I‘m not to do work just for my own merit, pride, benefit, or reasoning. I am to see a stewardship in all of my labors, and keep my thoughts on the Master, whether I’m preaching the Word or cutting the grass. All I do, in God’s accounting, sends out my opinion of my Lord. I don’t slap out the routine tasks, just to “git ‘er done.” In every task I should give my best, because He is worthy of my best.

Our testing by this pandemic has come in the Spring, and that fact is not lost on me. It is a glimmer of grace in the midst of the Lord’s allowance of this sifting for our lives. To have milder days under “house arrest” is a blessing I will not overlook, and I give Him thanks. Because of this grace, I am setting time each day to be in the garden and the greenhouse, for there is work in those places that is needful.

And so it goes. I’m turning over soil. Fertilizing, weeding, and composting. There are garden seedlings started, and soon with their first true leaves, transplant work. The lettuce boxes are erupting to life, requiring attention to maximize their yield. The pace will continue on, with differing jobs as the season slowly changes over these next weeks and months. There will not be idle time, even when the last of the harvest is gathered in.

I could delay. It’s an off year. So much is in upheaval. My calendar and schedule are completely off-balance. Excuses line up like the queues in front of the grocery store. There is an overriding “funk” that fights to grant me permission to put off these things, “Why bother at all, in a world so completely upside down?”

But this is spring. And there is little time to waste. The world around us is changing, but the seasons march on, set in God’s plan to continue, for all of earth’s days. When Noah emerged after the judgment of flood, God spoke this word to him and his tiny family: “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22

Yes, it is Spring. A time of renewal, and coming to life. The tomb is empty. The Lord has given us His Living Word, and every promise is true. This is the day to labor for Him, and testify of Him, in all we do. The things that matter, are changeless.

So I encourage myself, and hopefully you as well. Be patient. Be active. Learn endurance, not idleness. Find your rest in Him, as you find your joy in fruitful labors. There is a harvest, and an accounting, just ahead.

As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11

Is it worth it?

I never would have imagined that a hot topic for national debate this month would be the mandatory requirement of wearing a face mask when in public.

When I was a kid, ages ago, probably the coolest news I could have ever received was that I would be ordered to always fix my red bandana over my nose whenever I was around others. Of course, I would have also wanted to don my leatherette holsters containing the twin faux-pearl-handle 6-shooter cap guns to complete my ensemble. Oh, and the cowboy hat. Can’t forget the white cowboy hat.

I have used particle masks for much of my adult life, because I’ve worked in dusty shop and construction environments. I’ve also used respirator masks for catalyst finishes, spray booth work, enameling a cast iron tub, and other toxic fume encounters. Often, I mow and trim with a mask, because I paid to have my nose redone a few years back, and don’t want to carelessly mess it up again. For the curious– it was just necessary septum repairs; damage from a bad-hop grounder when I was a little leaguer. The cosmetic work is yet unscheduled. Paula says we’re going to save up, so we can get my whole face done. Stay tuned for that…

So, I know masks are a good thing. True, it’s not like we’re out just running around right now. You are staying in, except for essential duties and supplies, right? But to hear with passion so much debate about a simple homemade cloth face cover to ward off passing a virus when we are out and about– it’s kind of staggering to me. The bottom line: Is it worth it?

My short answer is “yes,” if only for the reason that it is something. In a time where we still don’t have solid answers on this thing, at least it’s something. If nothing else, it does send a good visual to our neighbors: “I’m doing this for your protection.”  And loving our neighbors sounds like something Jesus once said, right?

“Is it worth it?” I know you’ve posed that question a thousand times in your lifetime, as I have too. The range of situations where we’ve asked that is as huge as the total of our combined life’s experiences: purchases, jobs, relationships, health issues, parenting, marriage (dare I say!), recreational pursuits, and even the challenge of living for Christ when the heat is on… yep, we’ve asked that question a lot.

Our difficulty as mere humans (at least most of us would admit to that) is that we cannot see what lies ahead. We are prone to jump with enthusiasm, but that can fade quickly when difficulties and the storms of life start pummeling our tiny craft. The ease of following Jesus is never presented in God’s Word. Christians are not given a world’s “golden ticket” to health, wealth and ease by virtue of believing in the finished work of Christ. This truth flies in the face of much “gospel” kingdom/prosperity teaching today. For those who submit to such instructors, it is nigh impossible to reason them out, since they did not reason their way into that quagmire.

Jesus answered for His disciples that question on their minds, “Is it worth it?” Is obedience to Christ the right thing, given the cost? We can see our Lord’s answer is for our day as well:

And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.” Luke 18:29-30

…saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” ²³  And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. Luke 9:22-24

 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Revelation 22:12-13

So, it would behoove us to be settled in our heart and mind that indeed, it is worth it to follow Him. Worth it to obey His Word. And, worth it to consistently bear witness to Him through our obedience to His commands, even loving our neighbors as ourselves. If that can be evidenced by wearing my bandana, for the sake of Christ alone, I will do so.

It is a solemn reminder in this Holy Week that the Lord Jesus could have weighed that same question- “Is it worth It?” when it came to the terrific cost that He would bear for our sin. But we see no debate. No weighing of pro’s and con’s. There is but love, and purpose, and obedience, and mission. We, in the astounding, amazing love of God, were worth it.

There was immense, unimaginable suffering. Wrathful separation from the Father, as He took our sin upon Himself. Anguish as He hung on the cross, despised and rejected. The scope of Isaiah 53 is completely focused upon Him, our Suffering Servant, the Messiah, the Redeemer. Our Redeemer.

But get this: He knew. He knew. As that 11^th verse states, and I paraphrase, “He saw that through all the grief He would bear, it would be worth it in the final outcome…”

Perhaps in this season, as we contemplate all that we are currently laying down for self, family, community, nation, world, and church, we will be bolstered in our courage and composure by knowing that the Lord is still very much in control. Dying to self and living for others in His Name is to be embraced as the normal Christian life, not just in times of pandemic. Perhaps the Lord is sharpening us all in that point…

He would have us focused on the glorious things that lie just ahead, so that we endure the present trial with resolve and even joy along a hard path, remembering that we are

… fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:2-3

So mask up, because it is worth it. I might catch a glimpse of you, but I might not recognize you.

Me, I’m the one with the red bandana. And the cowboy hat.