revmattil.org

The last six years have made me very aware that I am mortal. Without going into particulars, suffice it to say many of those ailments I listened to shut-ins and hospitalized members tell me about for years are a present reality. I’ve had more than a few procedures that were classified as “minor surgeries,” but you know what minor surgery is, don’t you? Minor Surgery is surgery they do on someone else!

As I said, I visited with lots of folks who have experienced the ailments and maladies that have now beset me. I prayed with them and tried to encourage them with God’s promises that He has recorded in His Word. Now I find myself needing those prayers and encouragement, and that is not the role in which I expected to find myself.

I guess I should not be too surprised. I have known all along that the cumulative effect of sin in this world is devastating. Sin is what brought death, and that often comes in bits and pieces, chipping away at our all too mortal bodies and, indeed, all of creation.

Isaiah 51:6 “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies.”

That is the reality that we don’t like to think about, but sometimes it is thrust upon us. And I think it is good for us to recognize our mortality. It helps us keep things in the proper perspective. While this life and this world may be all we have known and experienced, it is not all there is.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”

That is my future. Guaranteed. Not because of me or who I am or what I have done. Not because I was a pastor or because I tried to do my best. That future is assured because of Jesus and only because of Jesus. He paid for my sin. He purchased my redemption. He defeated death and the grave by rising from the dead. And He has gone to prepare a place for me. That is what I am counting on. That is the hope that sustains me through life.

I need to keep things in that proper perspective. A passage that helps me to do that is Romans 14:8. “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

The one who was triumphant over the grave, who rose with a glorified body, has assured us that we will share in that victory in eternity.

Philippians 3:21 “…by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

This world and those in it will come to an end. That is the consequence of sin. But for those who are in Christ Jesus, those who have put their faith and confidence in Him and Him alone, there is something far superior in your future.

Earlier I quoted part of Isaiah 51:6. Here is another of God’s amazing promises in the last part of that verse:

“But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.”

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

My taste in music is eclectic. One minute I am listening to country, the next classical. My digital music files include Kansas, Boston, James Taylor and Bread. There are contemporary Christian artists like Matt Maher, Chris Tomlin, Mercy Me, and Big Daddy Weave  alongside Bach, Handel and Mozart. As I write this, Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” is playing in the background.

Music has always been a big part of my life, whether it was singing or playing instruments or simply listening to it. And that was especially true in church. I grew up in a large church that had a fabulous pipe organ and someone who knew how to play it. I used to play a trumpet in worship services. There were large choirs that sang magnificent choral pieces. I sang songs in parochial school that sometimes were even accompanied by guitars! (Quite an innovation in the 1960s).

Something I have always known about music is the way it can touch your emotions and its ability to help you remember things. If I hear a hymn melody or a contemporary melody being played, I instantly start “singing” the words in my mind. Music is a powerful tool that enables people to recall a message.

In less than two months we will celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (Actually, every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, but I digress). Easter is the high point of the church year for me. It is the guarantee that I have forgiveness and eternal life because of what Jesus did for me.  “… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)

There are lots of hymns and songs that help us celebrate the Resurrection, and I’ll be singing those very soon. But first, before Easter, comes the season of Lent. I will be  soberly and somberly focus on the death of Jesus. And it was a terrible death. It was the death my sin deserved. And Jesus did it in my place.

A favorite hymn of mine that helps drive home the enormity of what Jesus did is “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.” I share some of the stanzas below and encourage you to reflect on them as you prepare to remember the death of Jesus this Lenten season, celebrate His resurrection on Easter, and live in the confidence that this makes all the difference for you and your future.

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown.
O sacred head, what glory
What bliss till now was thine.
Yet, though Despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine!

What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever!
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let not me never, never,
Outlive my love for Thee.

Be Thou my consolation,
My shield, when I must die.
Remind me of Thy Passion,
When my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee,
Upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfold Thee,
Who dieth thus dies well.

My good friend and neighbor left this world to be with Jesus almost two years ago. In yesterday’s devotion I used the word “amongst,” and when I typed it, I thought of him and smiled.

One of Gary’s favorite stories was Jerry Clower’s tale of a coon hunt. We listened to it together several times. Mr. Clower tells how He was out with his brother and their dogs coon hunting in the middle of the night when they came across two other hunters and joined them. One of these other hunters didn’t believe in shooting racoons, but would climb up the tree and knock the coon out of the tree with a sharp stick to give him a fighting chance against the dogs. So the dogs treed a coon and old John climbs up the tree in the dark. He takes his stick out of his pocket to poke the coon, but it wasn’t a racoon. It was a lynx, a bobcat. And they went to wrestling up there in the tree. His friends on the ground didn’t know it was a lynx, and they were encouraging him, “Knock him out, John, knock him out.” John cried out to his friend on the ground, “Shoot Him. Shoot Him.”  His friend cried back, “I can’t shoot him. I might hit you.”  Old John said, “Well just shoot up in here amongst us. One of us has got to have some relief.”  He shared that punch line with me many, many times over the years, and it always made him smile, and more often than not made him laugh, too. “One of us has got to have some relief.”

Gary has his relief now. As I said, he is with his Savior. He was a good, kind, caring, decent, funny and loving man. He was a joy to be around. Throughout his life, Gary befriended hundreds, if not thousands, of folks, truly making people feel their value and worth. He loved his family deeply, and joking around was his art form. His favorite verse was on a little plaque: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2). He certainly did that. He was both entertaining and hospitable. He was the kind of guy that would do anything for his neighbor, and he took the scriptural view that everyone was his neighbor.  

He was a good friend and neighbor to me. Just a couple of weeks before he died, Cheryl and I went to dinner with Gary and his wife. We just had a garage door put in our newly constructed garage. He told me he didn’t like it. I said, “What?” He said, “I don’t like it.  I can’t see if you are home or not.” He was always watching out for us.  

But Gary is not in heaven today because of who he was or what he did. Gary is most certainly in heaven with His Lord. He is there because of who Jesus was and is and all that He did for Gary and all of us. The passage I shared with him just before he left this world was… 

2 Timothy 4:6–8  For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.  

He kept that faith. He knew Jesus was born for him, lived a perfect life for him, died to pay for his sins and rose again to give him victory over death. He kept that faith and He has his crown of righteousness.  

Gary is home, even if the garage door is closed. Jesus took Him there. He has His relief. We can all look forward to that same relief because of what Jesus did for us.

Lutheran Bishop Stephen Bouman tells of standing behind an altar in a small crypt chapel of the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Holy Land, the place where Mary heard that she was going to have a baby. He saw some Latin words carved into the altar:  Verbum caro factum est, “The Word was made flesh.” But then he noticed that there was one other little word in Latin. That word: h–i–c. Hic. “Here.” Verbum caro hic factum est. “The Word was made flesh here.” Probably whoever authorized that inscription meant it to refer to that specific location, implying that it was on that exact spot that the incarnation took place. While I have not been to the Holy Land, I’m told there are a lot of places that claim to be the exact location of important stories from the Bible. But I’m not sure we can know with any degree of certainty the exact physical location of any event in Scripture.

What we do know is that it happened. God became flesh here, on earth, for us all. I guess we can speak of the “hicness” of God, the nearness of God, that He was here with us in the flesh. It was here that He lived, here that He suffered, here that He died and here that He rose again for our salvation. Right here amongst us.

In Ezekiel 37:27 God promised His chosen people: “My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Paul spoke of that promise being fulfilled in 2 Corinthians 6:16  “As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’”

John tells us there will be an even greater fulfillment of that promise in the New Jerusalem:  “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3)

John had also written about this in His Gospel: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)

The Good News is that even though He ascended bodily into heaven after His work here was done, and He is not with us physically as He was prior to that, He is still here.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Matthew 28:20 “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Right Here. Now and forever. Amongst us.

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide.

There are times when life appears very dark. We understand what the hymn writer meant by “the darkness deepens.” Recent headlines bear it out. Racial tensions. Political bickering. Police officers being targeted and killed. Christians being persecuted for their faith around the world.

And we know darkness on a personal level. Family members and loved ones dies. Watching Alzheimer’s and dementia take someone away from you. People suffering from debilitating diseases. Marriages die because of infidelity or just lack of trying.

All of this darkness would overwhelm us if not for the one who left the glory of heaven to take on flesh and become one of us. Listen to how He described Himself:

John 8:12  When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The one who first said “Let there be light…” would give us the light of His own presence to overcome the darkness of this sinful world. That light in our lives prevents the darkness from overwhelming us.

John 12:46  I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

The Light of the World gives us peace and comfort, because we know that He has defeated sin and death for us. He did that by paying sin’s penalty for us, offering His perfect life as sufficient payment for the sin of the world. Then He rose in victory over death, a victory that He gives to everyone who believes in Him. He gives us the light of life.

Shortly after I moved to this area, a dear woman from my former congregation died. Her family was especially kind to us while we were there, so we made the trip back to attend her funeral. Our oldest daughter was about eight years old at the time, and Cheryl was talking to our girls about the reason for our trip. Rachel asked, “Did Mildred die and go to be with Jesus?” Cheryl answered, “Yes.” Rachel responded, “Oh! I thought something bad happened to her.”

Lord, give us such a faith as this, and then whate’er may come
We’ll taste e’en now the hallowed bliss of an eternal home.

Life is all about the choices we make. When God created people, He gave us the ability to make decisions. One of the characteristics of the image of God was the ability to choose. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had everything they needed to sustain them in the loving relationship with God in which they existed. But in the middle of the Garden there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warned them to stay away from the fruit of that tree.  So they had a choice to make. They could follow the instructions of God and live forever in paradise, or they could eat the forbidden fruit and die.

You might think that an absurd choice. Who would choose death over life? Yet that is what they did. And the result of that choice not only filled their lives with sin, but they passed it on to successive generations. Because of sin, you are no longer able to choose God on your own. Your sin separates you from your heavenly Father, and you are unable to go back to Him without assistance. You still have a freedom of choice in the matters of what you do in this world, but your ability to choose God was lost in the Fall into sin.

Are we any wiser in the choices we make? Many choices people make today bring harm to themselves and others.

In the book of Deuteronomy, God was speaking to His Chosen people through Moses. They had been rescued from their slavery in Egypt and were on their way to the Promised Land.  Moses told them they had choices to make. He listed the good God would have them do and the evil God would have them avoid. Then he said this:

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him (Deuteronomy 30:19-20a).

God wants you to listen to Him, follow His promptings and the guidance of His Spirit, and choose life. The life that He offers is one that Jesus accomplished for you. He chose death “so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9b). Jesus chose suffering and death to pay the price we owed God because of our sin. Jesus chose death to destroy it once and for all through His resurrection from the dead. Jesus chose death and “brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10b). Jesus chose death to rescue you. Jesus chose death and He has chosen you so that you could have life.

As those chosen by God, you are His children. You can choose life. You can choose to uphold the value He gives to life and to defend the life of the vulnerable. You can choose life and care for those among us who are weary and burdened. You can choose life and share the forgiveness of Christ with one another when mistakes are made.

“Choose Life!” is a phrase can stir things up. What I pray it will stir up in you is your faith and trust in God. You can make good, God-pleasing choices because you are chosen by God in Christ.

This week a friend of mine is sitting at the bedside of her mother in ICU. They don’t know what is causing an infection and fever and pneumonia. Lots of folks are praying for her and her family. But what should be the content of those prayers?

The most common objection I hear when people are asked to pray in public is “I wouldn’t know what to say.”

Just before my father died, I stood by myself in a hospital chapel trying to talk to God but all I could do was sob and weep.

At a memorial service many years ago for a young lady who lost twin babies before they were born, she let out a mournful groan the likes of which I had never heard in my life. I like to think that was her prayer at that moment.

Romans 8:26–27 “²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

“Groans that words cannot express.” Sometimes that is all you’ve got. It is also all you need. The Spirit of God is there to understand and hear your plea. The Greek word rendered as “groan” here can also be translated as “sigh.” I have learned that groans and sighs can be very expressive, sometimes more so than words. And the best thing is that God knows what you are “saying.”

Of course, this confidence belongs only to those who have placed their faith in Jesus. We know He is God’s love incarnate, the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, the one who has bought us back from sin and death. Because of our faith relationship with Him, we have certain forgiveness and life and salvation. We also have God’s ear.

1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

That is true even if all we can do is groan and sigh.

About four years ago, a family gave a gift to our congregation in memory of a loved one who had gone to see Jesus face to face. After some discussion, it was decided to use it for new lighting throughout our facility. Almost all of the lights in our building were changed over to LEDs, which are brighter and more efficient than the fluorescent bulbs they replaced.

When Cheryl and I built and moved into our new home in 2017, we used LED lighting exclusively for the same reasons.

LED lighting shows up in hats and Christmas lights and automobiles and just about any application you can think of.

LED stands for Light Emitting Diodes. They can be bright or dim and made to shine with every color in the spectrum. They are a different kind of light bulb. They operate because of something called electroluminescence. Because the power goes into them, light comes out.

As those who have been led to faith in Jesus, you have been designed to shine. Each of you is to be an LED: Light Emitting Disciple. His light has shined into your hearts, and now it is to shine through you. How will that look? It will be different for each of you. Just as LEDs cover every part of the spectrum, so should Light Emitting Disciples! The important thing is to shine.

I read about a gathering of Christian teens in Germany several years ago. They were from countries all around the world. For two weeks these young folks ate together, worked together, and played together. At the end of the day’s official activities, they would sit and visit with one another. One night they were discussing the different ways individuals and churches share the story of salvation. Some teens from more technologically advanced countries talked about sharing Jesus through mass media and social media and handheld communication devices.

Of course, not all countries are technologically advanced, and some of the group were from such countries. One student who had been talking a lot noticed the silence of those who did not have the same technology, so she asked one of them: “Maria, how do you tell people about Jesus in your country?”

Maria said, “we don’t have TV or radio programs about Jesus. Most of the time we don’t have the money to purchase pamphlets or other things to give away. Generally what we’ve done in the past is send one or two Christian families to live and work in a village. We’ve found that when people see what Christians are like, then they want to be Christians too.”

Wow! Let that sink in for a minute. Would that be true of us? You and I have been led to know and believe that Jesus is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Lord and our God, the one who paid the penalty for sin so that we could be forgiven. Is that reflected in our daily walk and talk? Scripture tells us it should be so.

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12)

“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

You have been designed to shine with the Light of Christ as a Light Emitting Disciple. And you may be the one the Holy Spirit will work through to lead someone else to faith in Jesus.

The assigned Psalm for this past Sunday in the lectionary was Psalm 1.  At the worship service Cheryl and I attended, the pastor used this as his text and did an excellent job of tying it in to the other lessons read that day:  Jeremiah 17:5-8, 1 Corinthians 15:1-20, and Luke 6:17-26.  Take a moment to read this Psalm right now.

Psalm 1 “¹ Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. ² But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. ³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. ⁴ Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. ⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. ⁶ For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

One of the things the preacher pointed out that caught my attention was verse 1. It mentions “walks”, “stands”, and “sits”, things you do every day of your life. In other words, the Psalmist is saying “as you go about living your life, avoid sin and sinners.” Such a simple, straightforward suggestion, one that makes all the sense in the world. So why do we fail to heed it?

We are even given a better option as well. Verse 2 encourages us to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on that. (It should be pointed out that “law” is being used here to mean all of God’s Word, not just the Commandments or the “dos” and “don’ts.”) If you spend your time thinking about what God has told us, what He has done for us, and how He would have us respond, that is going to make a difference. Considering the whole counsel of God, you can apply what you hear and read in God’s Word to your daily living.

I know that is true for me. I’m a long way from being the ideal follower of Jesus. I mess up constantly. But when I reflect on what God did by sending Jesus into this world, I am overwhelmed. His life was lived for me. His death paid for my sin. His resurrection is my guarantee of eternal life. And that is my motivation to live a better life.

“The Lord watches over the way of the righteous.” That’s me, not because I have done good, but because God declares me righteous for Jesus’ sake. Hopefully that is you, too.