Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.” 2 Chronicles 7:13-15

Preambles are important to set the tone and expectations of a book or program, and especially nations. The original signers of the Declaration of Independence sought to set in motion a government for all the people. A mighty river begins from the tributaries of small rivers and creeks, coursing through the many bends and turns of its path until growing into a powerful, rushing river; so it is with nations.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Stephen Lucas writes that these words have been called “one of the best-known sentences in the English language”, containing “the most potent and consequential words in American history”. For 243 years the people of this nation have sought to capture the ideas set out in these words. Though our history has often been blemished and stained from our failure to live up to these challenging concepts yet the soul of our nation was filled with hopes and aspirations to be greater than any one event. It was the passion and desire of those who ratified the constitution to change the course of history and events until the goals of these words were achieved for all. For every wrong thing there have been multiple rights. Men of clay feet drafted the constitution but they had a desire that their children and their children’s children would someday embellish the heart of these words and make a better nation.

God set in motion a new nation in Genesis 12 when he appeared to Abraham with a most interesting preamble, “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” It is hard to imagine a great nation when you don’t have land or people or resources. God even goes one step further and enlarges the vision by telling Abraham, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.” (Genesis 17:6)

Nations and governments have come and gone on the pages of history since God set in motion a great nation arising from Abraham. Yet a mighty nation did arise and continues to arise as each day people come to Jesus as Savior and Lord.

As we approach our 244th birthday as a nation. we can either mourn our failures or look with hope to the future. Today we face a multitude of challenges that can either weaken or strengthen us depending upon where we put our hope and faith.

The stains of our past, whether as a nation or individuals will always be with us but we are not condemned to live in our past. The stains of the past, when brought to the foot of the cross can be reshaped to display a beautiful mosaic of color and designs.  Believers find at the cross the only beacon of hope. On the cross the words, “forgiven” are etched through our past because of the grace of God.

The founders of our nation had a vision of what we could become when we are untied. This is a time our nation needs us, as a church, to pray for grace-filled reconciliation, spirit-led unity and Christ-centered forgiveness.  As we celebrate our 244th birthday, maybe part of the celebration should be reading aloud the words that God gave Solomon in 2 Chronicles on the night of the temple dedication. Truly seeking God’s face, turning from our wicked way and asking Him to heal our land. For only in God can we truly live out the dream of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

God is great.

Pastor Lynn Burton

As You Go – Pray

“The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?” Proverbs 18:14

A crushed spirit seems to be a perfect description of how we are living through these first months of 2020. If the pandemic was not bad enough, during the last several weeks, newscasts have painted pictures of unwarranted deaths followed by destruction and anarchy. The ugliness of these months again raised questions about how we treat each other.  The picture painted by the world is one of despair. It offers false hope in the wrong ways and methods. When we hear the news and read the accounts of the day, we can quickly lose hope and seek to respond to the narrative in the world’s ways.

It is imperative that the church takes back the narrative that is being told. The church in America and around the world has not always responded well to race relations. We have blemishes in our history; yet when the church body is vibrant and walking closely with Jesus, the church has fought the injustice of slavery and its untold evils. We can offer the only true hope in how to care for each other regardless of race.

Andrew Murray penned the following powerful words in the late 1800s. Murray, a South African pastor and writer, knew the only hope for his nation would be in the unleashing of God’s power into the lives of the people.

“Note how God has placed the races side by side to see if our Christianity will enable us to overcome race hatred. Will we, in the power of Christ’s love, prove that “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11)?”

What an opportunity there is for the church to prove the power of God’s love to change race hatred into brotherly love! God has abundant power to make this happen. As Christians, we need to pray for ourselves and for each other that we would obey the Word of God and live in the power of Christ’s love.”

Evil will always seek to divide and destroy. Only as we seek to daily abide in Christ will we be able to change the narrative that is so desperately needed in our time. Each generation will face the same challenges and the same response will be given to them as to us, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4)

The narrative of the world will always be destruction and division. Our narrative must be one of unity and hope. C.S. Lewis wrote, “Jesus Christ did not say “Go into all the world and tell the world that it is quite right.” The Gospel is something completely different. In fact, it is directly opposed to the world.”

We change the narrative when we tell how from the foundation of time, “God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27).

We change the narrative when we proclaim, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

We change the narrative when we show the world the true church as being “a great multitude that on one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…” (Revelations 7:9)

We offer a narrative of hope because “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

 

Unleashed – As You Go – Pray

The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. — Jesus, (Mark 2:7, NLT)

America – the home of the free, the brave, . . . and the stressed.  According to a Gallup Poll in 2019, Americans were among the most stressed people in the world. In 2011, Norman Anderson, American Psychological Association CEO wrote, “America is at a critical crossroads when it comes to stress and our health.”  A poll conducted in late April of this year by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that a majority of adults, 56%, report that worry or stress due to the pandemic has affected their mental health and well-being.

“People often don’t realize that their difficulties with focus, memory, sleep and relationships can all be related to anxiety,” said Amelia Aldao, clinical psychologist and founder of Together CBT in New York City.

Stress and anxiety are nothing new to this nation or this particular time in history. Every age, every culture, and every nation has found its citizens struggling with issues of life that caused stress. Different names and different circumstances – but the same outcome: a stressed-out society.

God gave us a precious gift that speaks to the soul of the current crisis of stress but is often overlooked or downplayed.  It is the fourth of what we call the Ten Commandments, “Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy….” (Exodus 20:811) A simple yet profound teaching that changes one’s perspectives as the focus moves from self to God.

Sunday – the beginning of the week or the end of the weekend. How one looks at Sunday determines much of what the day means. If I see it as the end of the weekend, it is just the partner day of Saturday – a day to get the yard work done, the final shopping completed and maybe a quick nap.

If I see it as the beginning, it is the renewing day, the Sabbath. I see it as a gift from God and it is a day preparing me for what is ahead. In the midst of the storms, we receive the day as a gift to worship and rest with our focus on God.

Robert Morris writes “The Sabbath is a gift and our observance of it is a bold declaration of our trust in God’s goodness and ability to provide what we need.” Same day – Different perspectives. The calendar doesn’t change but my soul changes greatly.

Worship and rest are the trademark of the Sabbath, blended together to allow the body to rest physically and the soul to be renewed spiritually. Psalm 92 is the beautiful “song for the Sabbath Day” as the Psalmist captures the essence of rest and corporate worship. The sabbath as God intended was to be a delight rather than a burden.

Jesus pushed hard against the religious leaders for turning the sabbath into a laundry list of rules and regulations. Instead of allowing a beautiful gift to be enjoyed, they had made it into a burden. Today many have totally forgotten the day, neglecting the wonderful gift of the sabbath.

It is a challenge to make the Sabbath a priority and protect it but as Isaiah shared, “If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interest, or pursuing your own affairs; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (58:13-14)

We will still face all the same stressors of life; feel the same anxiety of this pandemic. The difference is we will face them having been refreshed and renewed as we enjoy the Sabbath as a day of delight, allowing God to meet us in a powerful and refreshing way. “The Christian needs to walk in peace, so no matter what happens they will be able to bear witness to a watching world.” (Henry Blackaby)

I would enjoy hearing from you on how you make the sabbath a day of delight.

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

As You Go – Pray

“The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” Psalm 138:8

“By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion” are the haunting words beginning Psalm 137. This powerful yet very unnerving Psalm of anger, frustration and lament moves the prayer to a heightened level of emotions. The Psalmist asks the penetrating question, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song?”  There are nine verses as the writer laments the loss of home and all the familiarity that makes up life. The Psalmist sits by the waters and weeps over all that is lost realizing everything that is remotely familiar is gone.

At some point in life each of us have found ourselves sitting beside the waters lamenting how we can sing a song to the Lord. Though we are not quite in the same place as the Psalmist, in some ways we have all experienced much of the same loss and disruption of life. The coronavirus pandemic can feel as if an enemy nation has laid bare the land and left us struggling to find our footing. Yet as the Psalmist did in 137, we find the words of hope and our future in our faith. Our faith allows us to move from the riverbanks of despair to the sanctuary of praise.

Adapting to change of any kind is often a challenging and even frightful exercise of life. Change comes as we leave home as young adults.  Change comes as we find our first job or move to a new one. Change comes as we marry and create our own family. Change comes when we move from what we have known to the unknown. The ultimate change comes at the gateway of Heaven.

Oliver Sacks in his book, “Everything in its Place” shares the story of his Aunt Len coping with her life of change. Sacks writes, “My favorite aunt, Auntie Len, when she was in her eighties, told me that she had not had too much difficulty adjusting to all the things that were new in her lifetime—jet planes, space travel, plastics, and so on—but she could not accustom herself to the disappearance of the old. “Where have all the horses gone?” she would sometimes say. Born in 1892, she had grown up in a London full of carriages and horses.”

Normally we find adapting to change not really an overwhelming problem. We adapt to new technology even though it can, at times, be frustrating. Never the less, we progress from flip phones to our iPhones. We learn to adapt to a new home and find it is OK once we’re familiar with all the light switches. No, what we find as the greatest challenge is the loss of what we had before the change.

In the same way that Oliver Sack’s aunt learned to drive a car, the loss was found in never seeing the horses and carriages on the streets again. We may enjoy the new, recently built restaurant but we reminisce the loss of the old café that previously stood on the corner. We enjoy the words of the new worship songs but we still find ourselves missing some of the old hymns.  We enjoy the new methods of communication but somehow there is a loss when we walk by the place where the old phone hung on the kitchen wall.

Yes, we walk through the emotions of anger and loss as the Psalmist did in 137. We vent our loss to God and yet through our lament we come to the place where we can pray, “I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” Psalm 138:1-3

We learn to adapt to the changes. What is hard to adapt to is the loss of what can never be again. Yet it is in the loss that we are able to begin writing a new storyline.  Gratefully, we come to the place where we can answer the question, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?” It is with friends, family and most importantly, God that our new storyline comes alive.

God is great,

Pastor Lynn Burton

As You Go – Pray

“Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know Him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” Hosea 6:3 NLT

 

Growing up in a fairly traditional small-town Oklahoma Baptist church, we had lots of church services during the week, which meant many opportunities to sing. The words of the hymn, “I Surrender All” still echo in my mind:

“All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence  daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine. Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.

All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.

I surrender all, I surrender all, All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

“I Surrender All” challenged me each time to live a surrendered life for the sake of Jesus. I came to my first understanding of “I Surrender All” as a young third grade child moving away from the comfort of my church pew during a revival service, as I surrendered my life to Jesus. Somehow, I found it easy to say the words but not always easy to live out a surrendered life.

I wish I could say I surrendered everything, every day but unfortunately that wasn’t nor is the case. Thankfully, I live in God’s grace. Living a surrendered life is a daily commitment that spans a lifetime. However, it is in the surrendered life that real living takes place.

“Readiness for God means that we are ready to do the tiniest little thing or the great big thing, it makes no difference…. Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready when God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the ready soul, it is ablaze with the presence of God.”  (Oswald Chambers)

Moses didn’t fully understand what surrender would look like for him standing before the burning bush but most likely he knew his life would never be the same when he responded to God, “Here I am.”  (Exodus 3:4)

Hannah’s emotions were probably raw and tender that morning as she extended her arms to surrender her toddler son to the priest making the decision, “For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” (I Samuel 1:27-28)

Samuel didn’t know the challenges of a surrendered life that night when he heard God’s voice and as he responded, “Speak, for your servant hears.” (I Samuel 3:10)

David could never have imagined what the surrendered life would be for him as the oil flowed over his head as Samuel obeyed God’s instruction to “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” (I Samuel 16:12)

Isaiah responded to God’s call of “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” by giving up everything with the simple words, “Here am I! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

Jesus understood fully what the surrendered life would mean for Him as He earnestly prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that night and reverently spoke the words, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

Moses would leave the burning bush to lead a people out of bondage. Hannah would grow old with other children out of God’s blessing. Samuel would anoint the head of the future king. David would become a man after God’s own heart. Isaiah would write of the future Messiah. Jesus would surrender all for us to be redeemed and restored to life with God.

I may have sung off key during “I Surrender All.”  I may have lived occasionally out of tune. However, God has taken my poor singing and turned it into a beautiful harmony as we sing a duet together in life. “I Surrender All” is worth every stanza of life.

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

As You Go – Pray

“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent, or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:11-13

“God gives where He finds empty hands” is still as true today as when St. Augustine wrote these words centuries ago. It is hard to receive gifts when your hands are already full. We laugh at the little boy who puts his hand into the cookie jar, grabs two cookies, but can’t get his hand out without dropping one of them. Unfortunately, even as adults we keep holding onto “things” preventing God from giving us better gifts.

“A man whose hands are full of parcels can’t receive a gift. Perhaps these parcels are not always sins or earthly cares, but sometimes our own fussy attempts to worship Him in our way. Incidentally, what most often interrupts my own prayers is not great distractions but tiny ones – things one will have to do or avoid in the course of the next hour.” (C.S. Lewis)

I am wondering if we might learn something about open hands during this coronavirus pandemic. Lots of us are realizing how full our hands had gotten in these last several years. We didn’t plan on getting so busy. We never planned to take time away from our family. We never planned to miss church because of other activities. How often have you said to your loved ones about the lack of time because you were so busy? How often as parents did you feel frustrated because of all the activities your kids were involved in at school, sports teams and yes, even church activities. How often have you said it would be nice to have a simpler lifestyle?

I don’t necessarily like the damage this pandemic has inflicted upon our families, communities, nation and world. However, maybe we can learn some valuable lessons if we take time to listen with open hands and hearts. God desires to be with us, talk with us and yes, even give us gifts every now and then. If our hands are always full of “parcels”, it is impossible to receive a gift.

“A little boy and his father visited the country store. Upon leaving the store the owner of the store offered the little boy some free candy. “Get a handful of candy”, the merchant said to the boy. The boy just stood there looking up at his father. The owner repeated himself, “Son, get a handful of candy; it’s free.” Again, the boy did not move, continuing to look up in the face of his father. Finally, the father reached into the candy jar and got a handful of candy and gave it to his son. As they walked back home, the father stopped and asked his son why he did not grab a handful of the free candy. The boy, with a big smile on his face, looked into the face of his father and said, “Because I know that your hand is bigger than mine.” (Source Unknown)

James reminds us in his section on testing of one’s faith that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17) The little boy understood the value of keeping his hands empty because his father’s hand would give so much more. Open hand living is not easy but so much more rewarding as you let the big hands of God place the gifts in your hands.

God is great,

Pastor Lynn

Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

Unleashed – As You Go – Pray

“Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” I John 3:2

 

“Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life: gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness, it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God.”

I enjoyed reading Oswald Chamber’s devotion the other morning and especially the title, “The Graciousness of Uncertainty.” I was greatly struck by how much I needed certainty in my life yet seldom could I say with certainty what certainty I had in my life. Growing up on a farm in Oklahoma I realized there was a rhythm of certainty others may not experience in their growing-up years. Life on a farm allows you to comfortably settle into a predictable routine; a certainty of life.  I could almost guess I am not alone in the need for certainty. This pandemic we find ourselves living through right now has taken countless lives but also has caused us to no longer live a settled, certain life.

I came to radically understand what leaving your comfort zone really meant on that early morning flight out of Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City. Connie and I boarded our plane that morning, leaving Oklahoma for our new home in Bophutatswana. There was uncertainty pulsating through every fiber of my body; leaving family, friends and the known; for a country whose name I could barely pronounce. Over the next five years, I came to understand ever so slightly the “gracious uncertainty of life” that God gives us.

I wouldn’t trade the uncertainty of those first days in Africa for anything. The morning I didn’t think I could take another day in this dry and desolate place, I walked out of the front door of our house in Mmabatho to see God’s signature in the sky. The most perfect rainbow took my breath away, a sight that even today is etched deep into my soul. Normally rainbows come after a rainstorm but God doesn’t always work normally.  Bophuthatswana was in the midst of a dust producing drought. I’m sure there is a scientific explanation for a rainbow without rain but for me it was God’s signature to me that He had me secure in the midst of uncertainty.

That first term we would still face frustrations of living in a different culture, experience the hurt of a miscarriage, overwhelming joy of two of our children’s births, the gut-wrenching despair at the near death of our son, civil unrest, and normal first term adjustments. However, I could settle into the uncertainty because I could trust in the certainty of God. He brought into our lives friends who still hold a special place in our hearts, ministry that encouraged us, and a rhythm of life that echoed God’s grace in our lives.

Chambers continued in his devotion, “If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and severe and have the ban of finality about our views’ but when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.” I truly don’t know what a day may bring but I do trust God. I can now say with certainty that I am learning to live in every uncertain day with an “expression of breathless expectation.”

“For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.” Psalm 62:5-7

Who needs a comfort zone when you can live in God’s unexpectedly glorious creation!

God is great,

 

As You Go – Pray 5/04/20

Unleashed – As You Go – Pray

“My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”  Psalm 63:8

“If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire; if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone. They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very centre of reality. If you are close to it, the spray will wet you; if you are not, you will remain dry. Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever? Once a man is separated from God, what can he do but wither and die?” C.S. Lewis

Sitting with David in Psalm 63 this week, I couldn’t help but marvel at the determination, worship and contentment as I read this Psalm. David composed this beautiful and powerful Psalm “when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.” Today, we seemingly find ourselves in a wilderness. Our wilderness is not of our making nor of our choice. Today we are facing challenges and problems we never imagined a few months ago as we “shelter in place” from an unseen enemy. What Psalm will we write in our wilderness?

David’s determination in this Psalm is expressed so powerfully as he writes, “O God, you are my God, I seek you,”.  You will not find an ounce of passivity in David because he is fully focused and determined to find God. I hope you are emotionally and spiritually encouraged and that your only desire is to be for God and you can say “my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

We have all found ourselves thirsty but few where our flesh faints as in a dry and weary land. Hiking the majestic and beautiful Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa years ago I understood this imagery in a real way.  Our water had run out during the hike and there was no water in this “dry and weary land”. No longer did my backpack feel so heavy, no longer did I focus on my tired body, no longer did I see the unbelievable beauty of the mountain range. No, my every thought became, “I need water.”

David still finds himself in his wilderness but his wilderness has been turned into a sanctuary.  He didn’t sit and mourn but actively sought God until he could say, “So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.” David may still be “sheltered in place” in his wilderness but the sound of praise and adoration comes from him as he lifts up his hands and calls on the name of God singing “because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.”

Wilderness life can be hard as I found out that afternoon struggling off the trail, tired and weary. Never had a bedroll and bottle of water been such a marvelous gift. David found contentment and hope in his wilderness and was able to write “my soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.”

David understood he could mourn and complain because he was in a wilderness, or he could praise God. He chose to seek God and worship. We didn’t choose to be in our “wilderness,” but we can choose our reactions and actions. We can mourn or rejoice.  We can weep over what we have lost or seek God as one whose “soul thirsts.” In our seeking God, we can rejoice and shout, “for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.”

God is great,

Pastor Lynn Burton

As You Go – Pray 4/27/20

Unleashed – As You Go – Pray

 

Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5

 

Things go bump in the night!  There is nothing more startling and fearful than things that go bump in the night. When you awaken out of a deep sleep at night, somehow sounds are intensified. There are sounds that strike the emotions, touch the deepest level of your soul and strike different chords of emotions and reactions. The sound of breaking glass alerts us to the danger of an intruder, creating fear. The mournful cry of the baby at three in the morning stirs our caring but bone-weary body out of bed. The ear penetrating tornado siren moves us into action for safety. The singing birds welcome the dawning of a new day.

Certain sounds soothe us. Other sounds alert us. The sounds of the teacher motivate us. The sounds of a mother comfort us. However, some sounds can penetrate to the deepest level of our soul. Such is the sound of a lion’s roar in the middle of the night. This is a sound that is not just heard with the ears but felt throughout your body; a sound of power and majesty. One never forgets the power of that roar.

“Don’t worry, they are not hungry” was the supposedly reassuring message of our driver in the middle of a game park in Kenya as Connie, our three children, and I found ourselves sitting in the back of a broken down, open top Land Rover in the middle of a pride of lions.  One is not greatly comforted by the words, “they are not hungry” when looking into the eyes of these majestic animals, even if they were really not hungry.

Scripture is rich in portraying the lion both as good and evil as well as a symbol of power, majesty and beauty. David in Psalm 22:13 describes his enemies, “they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.” Proverbs 20:2 says  the king’s anger is “like the growling of a lion; anyone who provokes him to anger forfeits life itself.”  The nation that God uses In Isaiah 5 to bring judgment on his people is described thusly: “their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey, they carry it off, and no one can rescue.”

The writer of Proverbs captures the lion as the first in the list who is stately in his stride for “the lion is mightiest among wild animals and does not turn back before any,” and Proverbs 28 tells us that “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”

C.S. Lewis captured the imagery, beauty and yet fear invoking power of Aslan, the beloved lion in The Chronicles of Narnia. “Hush!” said the other four, for now Aslan had stopped and turned and stood facing them., looking so majestic that they felt as glad as anyone can who feels afraid, and as afraid as anyone can who feels glad.”

Jesus the lion is mighty, powerful and conqueror. Jesus the lamb was sacrificed to give life. The Lion and the Lamb, both joined together in John’s Revelation, for the Lion of Judah has conquered, “so he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” The Lamb can now take the scroll and out of the prayers of the saints, they sing a new song:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth.”

It is not the isolation, fear and anxiety of the Corona virus pandemic, nor any other crisis that defines us, but the community, boldness, and peace that comes from the lion who roared deep within our souls as Savior and Conqueror.  “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13)

 

God is great,

Pastor Lynn Burton

As You Go – Pray 04/20/20

Unleashed – As You Go – Pray

A Lesson Taught Through a Bottle of Coke

“Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

In our media driven, egocentric, loudest voice age, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that God doesn’t work the way his children often do. Stop and take some time to reflect on these verses from I Corinthians. We can be arrogant and spiteful, rude and condescending, and given to allowing the loudest voices to garner all the attention. The world’s way though looks very different from the quiet, unassuming way of God.

Visiting in a small house in Zimbabwe, I saw this truth displayed in real life.  Connie and I were invited into the humble home of a woman that Connie knew from her childhood. While not rich in worldly possessions, she had something much better. Lacking the political power to make a difference, she had something much better. Not possessing academic credentials, she had something much better. She knew the source of her life in Jesus Christ.

As relatively new missionaries we had been through multiple training programs with the IMB supposedly preparing us for the work. Though neither of us were from wealthy backgrounds, we had always had what we needed. Sitting in this precious lady’s living room, sharing stories and enjoying our time of fellowship; she asked if we would like a Coke to drink. Saying “Yes.“, without considering what a yes meant, we watched her send her young granddaughter to get us something to drink. We then waited and waited until, finally, the young girl came back into the living room with a bottle of Coke for each of us.

I found out later that this young woman had walked close to a mile to the nearest store in the village, bought the Cokes with the little extra money the older woman had and carried the drinks back to the house. African hospitality shared with these American friends was part of her culture but, more importantly, was a part of her faith walk . For me, it became a defining experience of selfless sacrifice out of one’s overflowing love for Jesus. Over the years I would be humbled by the unselfish hospitality I found in Africa because these believers found Jesus as the source of their lives.

John’s Gospel captured the essence of this truth as he shared the story in John 12 of Mary pouring out a bottle of costly perfume on Jesus’ feet, anointing Him in humble worship. Others saw this extravagant expression as a wasteful use of money.  Jesus took what they saw as foolish and irresponsible and blessed the act as a priceless sacrifice poured out in worship of God.

The nightly newscast will broadcast the words of politicians, capture the vanity of superstars and flout the accomplishments of the cultural elite as if they were powerful stories.  However, the real stories are taking place in situations not covered in the newscast. The real stories happen in homes where children are loved and told about Jesus, in hospital rooms where caring health workers tend the sick with the help of the Great Physician, on mission fields around the world where missionaries encourage the low and despised to walk steadily with God, and through countless other venues of life where the weak, the foolish, the lowly and despised of the world live “boasting in the Lord.”

“Lord, I want to think of you, know you, love you. Let your love grow in me until you have changed me completely and I live as Jesus did. Amen” (St Augustine of Hippo)

God is great,

Pastor Lynn Burton