Okay, I’m ‘creeping up’ on middle age {:-) and I’m willing to admit that. And I still don’t know everything about the Gospel. I keep listening and reading and still find things to add to the ‘old database’ every week. I’ve told family and friends that when I write a newsletter I never write it with the idea that I’ve got all things put together. I write them mostly from a point of view that: today, and I don’t know if I’d say it the same way tomorrow, here’s some of the things currently going off in my brain.
I’ve always described the Gospel as a flowing process. I compare that to the first thing we read about God in Genesis, ‘He moved upon the earth,’ and I believe He’s still moving today. Part of the Gospel’s nature, or perhaps genius, is found in those few words. Simply, He’s moving and we’re well advised to be moving as well. I don’t mean in and out of our Faith, I mean more like being comfortable with what we know about God now and at the same time being amazed at what we will discover about Him as we grow and mature in age and Faith. I make that statement because this letter is suggesting things I trust and believe, but not in such a way as to imply ‘you need to believe exactly like I do; I’m right and you’re wrong.’ Rather I’m saying here’s what I’m hanging my hat on today.
I love the scripture in Isaiah 1:18: ‘Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’ I had a conversation with a Bible teacher years ago and it was interesting the way he expressed that particular scripture. His expression: ‘Come, let us reason together, let Me be the umpire, I’ll call the balls and strikes. I created this and I’m able to clue you in on what works for you and what works against you. Let Me talk and walk with you through this.’ (There was one little caveat in that scripture: ‘If you are willing…’ If we’re not willing there’s some pretty heavy stuff following that; if we don’t depend upon Him to set things straight, chaos can follow.)
I’m calling this letter Mountain/Valley. They’re both common to everyone. Jane and I being in that middle-aged territory, we’ve had a few of each kind of those experiences. Actually, more of them than I’ll be able to share with you here, but enough of each, mountaintops and valleys, having been dealt with many times. The two that most of you might be familiar with are Mountaintop: WBVN / Valley: Jane’s 2012 Paralysis.
The WBVN experience has been unimaginable, unbelievable and overwhelming. If you knew Jane and me prior to 1988-90, at the beginning of the ministry, you could never have anticipated such an amazing, wonderful, heartfelt life as this station has been to us. You would never suspect either one of us would do this: staff, volunteers, listeners, and on top of that almost 230 concert events, 420 newsletters. Neither one of us could have ever thought that our lives would be anything like what we’ve experienced. I’m not exaggerating one bit to simply say ‘it has been a miracle.’ A miracle so complicated that I wouldn’t have the space to expound on it in a letter. It has not been just one miracle but a cluster of miracles. Most of it I’d label: People/Relationship. Meaning we have experienced wonderful relationships with people– people we’ve met, people we’ve worked with and people that we’ve spent time with and people we respect. And above all, knowing, experiencing, and seeing a relationship with the Spirit of God, leading and inspiring for 35 years.
This is the short version of Jane’s story. In March of 2012, Jane, within 10 days, went from a normal everyday life to being paralyzed head to toe. She was in the ICU in Chicago, vented. She was so damaged, she quit breathing 3 times while in that ICU. She was experiencing a ‘GBS’ moment, where the paralysis was caused by a virus (actually 3 at the time), the nerves in her body being stripped of their protective sheathing. That stripping resulted in unimaginable, indescribable pain. However, in that valley experience-and I’m not exaggerating one bit- miracle after miracle occurred. God was again obviously present in the valley just as on the mountaintop; same Comforting God, same Amazing God. What was common during both mountaintop and valley situations wasn’t so much how we changed during both, but how we handled both environments the same way. Life places all of us in mountaintop experiences and valleys. The significance in both experiences is: what we do when on top and what we do when in those valleys. Not only what we confess verbally with our mouths but what we believe in our hearts.
Paul writes about being content no matter the environment: ‘for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things in him that strengthens me.’ (Phil 4:11-13)
In our world today, we’ll be forced to practice that a bit. It’s not that believers are immune or isolated from valleys; not that we live only on mountaintops. I think the way I’d express it is: our Faith is more akin to being insulated by His Comfort and Peace; knowledge that God is with us (Immanuel). By Faith, intense hot is not hot and extreme cold is not cold. Jesus Christ predicted Peace and Rest and at the same time alerted us of trouble; trouble He alone overcomes in our lives. We’ll not, in this life, escape stress or the consequences of our bad decisions, or just things that show up on our doorstep, perhaps dropped off by others. But there is water that is Christ Jesus by which we will never thirst again, and we can be confident and joyful no matter the cultural or financial challenge.
The Gospel provides an unwavering ‘settling’ that does not depend upon the flesh to define the spirit. Believers shouldn’t use our five senses to define the moment, we have a sixth sense: Spirit. Cultural, political, economic challenges hit us each day. They’re hard on all of us; however, as followers of Christ, those don’t change what we believe. Emotionally we’ll feel moments of questioning, but that doesn’t disqualify us from snapping right back into Faith. Perhaps we play a doubting Thomas role for a moment, but we can still be a Disciple of Christ. Our daily lives can sometimes resemble a photograph. We can take a picture with a camera and be discouraged with what we see at that moment, but it’s only a picture of one moment. Our lives are made up of picture after picture, more like a movie than a photo. (Here is a ‘dad’s’ advice to his three daughters over the years: don’t define your life by today. So many times we’ve imagined a single moment as the way our lives will be in the future. In my experience, 100% of the time it didn’t turn out exactly the way I expected or interpreted it.)
Believers believe and hopefully trust that Jesus is same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. Measuring my today by what I know he was, is, and will be in the future settles a lot of panic in my life. By rejecting Christ, our culture is missing out on something very fundamental: we’re moving away from the opportunity to love and reap its benefits. Just look at what the culture preaches. In print, at the movies, in schools, in politics, on TV, on the internet. The ads alone are frightening when we think about their priorities and our future. It’s a good time to (in spite of any ugly) cherish the moment. There’s a future out there that’s Gospel. Matthew mentions tares (in Matt. 13) eight times. That word literally refers to ‘false grain.’ The only observable difference between wheat and tares is the color of the grain head once matured. Young tare plants look good. But they’re bitter and poisonous, not good at all. In Jesus’ parable, the field was full of tares mixed with the wheat. Jesus’ wisdom was basically to be patient and at the appropriate time he will expose and destroy the tares in our lives. We need a dose of confidence in that.
In this exact moment, we may not change the world. But we can have a confidence that someday the world will be changed; and changed in the way we all hope and pray for– today maybe, but on this calendar day, maybe not. However, the Gospel can change your world no matter the day. In the Old Testament, God named Himself simply: I AM. When Moses asked God who he should tell Pharaoh had sent him, God told Moses to simply tell him I AM sent you. That’s exactly how he identifies Himself today. Bottom line: no matter the situation, no matter the environment, no matter the ability, no matter the moment, I AM is present. He is all knowing and He’s ‘got this.’ As believers, part of our journey is to learn that simple Truth, trust that Truth: Immanuel (God is with us) is present today. Merry Christmas!