Mercy Triumphs

Scripture says, “because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13)!” The context of James axiom is an expose against favoritism in which he exposes how the rich congregants are treated with special favor while the poor are marginalized and discriminated against. James reminds his audience that true riches are not in material goods but rather in the promised inheritance of the kingdom of God. Such wealth as Jesus taught cannot be stolen, tarnished or perish with time or use. Additionally, the reality was that many who controlled the wealth were enemies of the church slandering the good name of Christ. Brothers and Sisters should therefore have the utmost care for one another and allow mercy to triumph over judgment!
When I was a teenager I had a steady girlfriend that I often walked to class at school. Fueled like most teens with supercharged hormones and with the excuse that my girlfriend was not feeling well, I gave her a rather lingering kiss before she went to class. The teacher saw this school violation and reported it to the principal. We were called to the office and told letters would be sent to our parents the following day. So, we agreed to stay home sick the next day and intercept the letters. I did so. She did not. Her parents called mine and I had to confess to stealing the letter. I braced myself for the wrath of God delivered via my father but instead he put his arm around me and consoled me about the injustice of school rules and then grounded me for my dishonesty in stealing his mail and assured me it was a federal crime. Mercy triumphed over judgment!
Later, I found out that my Dad had been quite the kissing bandit in High School and that obviously tempered his judgment. God’s mercy is predicated on compassion while often man’s mercy is spurned by a realization that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Our hearts are soften by the reality that failure and sin are the common grounds we all find ourselves cast upon. None of us is willing to cast the first stone. All of us have known the poverty of the soul as well as the riches. We are in this boat together. So, let mercy rule the day and we’ll leave judgment to the one who knows the hearts of men. For the church this is a challenge to be fully aware of how we treat one another as well as strangers. I have no doubt we will slip here and there but I pray that what persists is a loving spirit that favors no one and exalts all! -DAN
P.S. The picture is of my Dad... O, yes -that's a kissing bandit if I ever saw one!

Immersion

I know some ministers who have a log of all the baptisms they have officiated. I don’t know if it revokes my “man of the cloth” card or not but I’ve never logged in, kept records or counted how many hungry souls I have assisted in their new birth. I’m with Paul, “…I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel… (1 Corinthians 1:16, 17).” However, I do remember some significant moments like snapshots in a picture album. I have immersed people into Christ in pools, baptisteries, lakes, bathtubs and now for the first time last Sunday in a baptistery where I stood outside and the candidate inside the water. It was also the first time that I set aside my planned sermon and spent my allotted time giving witness to the beauty and meaning of baptism… unscripted and from the heart. Rob, a recovering addict seemed to take it all in and after being immersed and standing next to George Moore who had been instrumental in leading him to Christ gave one of those memorable witnesses to the beauty and power of baptism. Rob whispered to George before he prayed over him, “I didn’t realize that I would feel so good!”
New life… the hope of the resurrection inaugurated… sins remitted… and heaven rejoicing filled the air of the evening as one and all embraced our new brother in Christ. However, lingering in the back of my mind ever so faintly was the scourge of legalism that has tainted many a celebration of the kingdom. You see, I was assured that there was plenty of water in the baptistery but the one filling it had forgotten to calculate that Rob being slight of build would not displace as much water as some of us more cheese burger endowed souls. So, when I immersed Rob the tip of his nose did not go under the water. I remember as a young preacher baptizing a young girl in the Navarro river and someone shouting from the bank, “She’ll have to be immersed again her hair floated to the top and didn’t go under!” Whether it was the right thing to do or not, I’m not sure, but I shouted back, “She’ll go to heaven bald!” My point is that even though some know that baptism is not about externals their attention to details makes them swallow camels while they strain out gnats (Matthew 23:24).
Now, do I think that Rob is going to heaven without a nose? The answer is as my granddaughter says, “Silly, silly Poppies!” Immersion is not in exactness or by ritual it is as Peter so succinctly writes, “…baptism that now saves you also –not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand –with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him (1 Peter 3:21, 22)” It’s about submission powered by a heart that’s at peace because it knows Jesus is the way, the truth and the life! -DAN

Skyping On The Floor

During this transition of our move from California to Oregon Pam and I have had to have some time apart while she takes care of loose ends in California. I love living in the information age and therefore able to take advantage of Skyping Pam. When I video call Pam, she is often accompanied by Lauryn our soon to be two year old granddaughter who is precocious and strong willed. Lauryn wants to talk to Poppies on the compooter. Lately she has been insistent that the computer be placed on the floor so she can lie down in front of it. I’m not sure if this about comfort or more about having things on her level? I do know that she is quite comfortable with the magic of Poppies being on the compooter to talk to her and though she stays quite mobile during the call she keeps one eye on the screen to see what I’m doing.
I sometimes wish that I could Skype God… you know so he could be on my level and I could keep one eye on him while I wander back and forth in this world. But then I come to my senses and realize that staying in a prayer frame of mind may not be as exciting or fit my comfort zone but ultimately it is a better connection. It’s a clear channel and the only static, discoloring, freeze frame interference comes from my side of the connection. God is always on the line static free and ready to hear what I have to say, feel, question, gripe, praise or repent. His silent but ominous presence keeps me alert to His will and weighing my own faltering ways with what I know He longs for me to discover. My imagination is a better screen for keeping an eye on Him while He keeps an eye on me. And to be honest I guess I still have some worries over that Old Testament thing about if you see God… you die!
As I write this I am filled with anticipation and can’t wait until it’s time to Skype with Pam and her demanding companion. Which, after all, is probably the most important principle that I should carry over into my prayer life? When was the last time any of us were so excited about slipping away somewhere so we could talk to God? Or when was the last time you thought, “I can’t wait to hear what we pray about at worship today!”? The key here is the joy of communicating with those we love. Sometimes I wish I could Skype God… maybe with special lenses that protect you! -DAN

Void

Have you ever felt the grip of emptiness? You know that hollow feeling where a dark void forebodes in the pit of your stomach and you ache with a desire for something to fill you up or brighten your eyes. You feel estranged from the world and even yourself. This is not just depression or a forlorn desire for companionship… it’s lost in space… unraveled… cocooned in one’s own misery! I recently read an article by a friend of mine, Mike Anderson, who has an excellent blog (http://ourplace-makeadifference.blogspot.com) in which he explored how Genesis one parallels the creative and redemptive work of God in our lives. In the beginning God took a world that was void and without form in which the darkness prevailed and gave it form, shape, life and light. Mike noted that God continues to do that with His creation dispelling the empty darkness that often prevails in individuals lives. God takes our troubled waters and divides them with grace and light that frees us to see His will and direction for our life.
Mike got me thinking and wondering as well. Yes, God often takes the horrible messes we find ourselves in and turns them into a witness of His light. And if Genesis one is as much about how God takes the voids of our lives and recreates us in His Son through His Spirit as it is about creation… then maybe it explains one of those “Hey, wait a minute there” moments in Scripture. Did you ever notice in the Genesis account that God first creates light (Genesis 1:3) and divides it from the darkness calling the result night and day. However, it is not until the fourth day of creation that God creates the sun and the moon and the stars (Genesis 1:14-19). God creates light before the physics of light are given form, that is, all that shines and twinkles was created after light was created. “Hey, wait a minute there… How does that work?” On one hand for those of us who love our awesome God the answer is, “Whoa, Dude that’s awesome!” But the other hand beckons with cautious gesture to suggest it is unquestionably a divine mystery but certainly has explanation.
I think Mike is right about Genesis one… it’s as much about the redemptive power of God as it is about the fiat of creation. Light is not bound by physics or scientific delineation but echoes the presence of God in bringing true light and life to man. The psalmist says, “For with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light (Psalm 36:9).” The apostle John says, “In him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it… the true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world (John 1:4,5,9).” Light, Shekinah, Glory and brightness point to the creator and sustainer of all things. God is and creates light for the life of mankind so we may see and know that He is God! -DAN

Trash

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure… so the saying goes. Maybe another way of stating that principle is to say that trash is a state of mind. The apostle Paul tells the church in Philippi that the pedigree that he once took such great pride in he now considered trash (Philippians 3:7-9). In the process of moving from Sacramento to the Oregon Coast we discovered how much trash we had that well, quite frankly we thought at one time was invaluable treasure. This is not just a matter of how quickly things become outdated (the computer that I’m writing this article with has more memory in RAM than my first computer had on its hard drive)… but is also the product of our capricious nature. That is, we are not about to bring out our bell bottom jeans… well, unless they come back into fashion like our skinny jeans did. And if Justin Bieber thinks he is the first heartthrob with bangs… he can trash that idea.
So, is there some spiritual principle that we can salvage from this collective trash pile of our cluttered lives? It starts with a reminder that we will always treasure something. Jesus sermon on the mounts, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).” So when we speak of treasure we are identifying what fills our hearts, our minds, and our imaginations. Do you ever watch “Antique Road Show”? I love when someone brings in Aunt Betty’s old doodad that she left them and they find out that at auction it could be worth as much as their house! They choke on their own air and then sputter with wide eyes of disbelief insisting they had no idea and that’s wonderful but they thought it was priceless anyhow because it always reminds them of fond visits to Aunt Betty’s house in the summer. And in unison we all think… “Sure it is. As soon as the cameras are turned off you’re headed to the nearest antique auction you can find!” But wait a minute… maybe this is the spiritual principle.
Value is not in the price tag. Did any of you see your kids or grandkids playing with the boxes your expensive Christmas gift came in? Value is in the affection, or the importance of the beauty that we perceive in what’s before us. Did you ever wonder why the story of the prodigal son begins with what seems like a couple of flakes who spend their time looking for one thing when they have 99 other sheep and 9 other coins? Answer is… treasure. They treasure what is lost and will do what it takes to recover what they value! That’s important for us because it means that even when we get lost and go into “a distant country” God pursues our hearts! O, he doesn’t go after us like mom did and drags us back by our ear… He lets sin scare us with it darkness and drive us to long for His light. How surprising it is to find that God treasures us! How important it is for us to never trash that relationship! And how rich are our lives to be in the grace of God! –DAN

Loved By God

Scripture is the remarkable product of earthen vessels filled with a divinely given treasure that spills over into our imaginations while it leads us to the feet of the Master. It is the malleable souls of the called inspired to write what their hearts were filled with assured that their words were escorted by the Holy Spirit. It is wisdom from above amalgamated with the frailty of a fallen world so that by contrast we might clearly see and turn to the only true light. It is rock. It is fire. It is the Word that was from the beginning that was with God and is God. So when we hold this library of 66 volumes in our hands we should not only long to hear its gentle whisper or resolute commands… we should be still and know that He is God! Such contemplative understanding of Holy Writ does not lead us to make the ancient words idol, tyrant, legal dictate or mysterious coded puzzle discerned only by the elite. It should simply yet unfathomably be seen as a love letter from God!
Paul tells the church at Rome that they are “loved by God (Romans 1:7).” What we sometimes call the little gospel tells us that “God so loved the world (John 3:16).” John in his first epistle reduces it to its most simple and clear affirmation: “God is love (1 John 4:8).” The Decalogue begins with asserting that God is a jealous God and we are to have no other gods before Him. That is, this love that we often relegate to abstract theology or Christian rhetoric is not a distant, better told than experienced affair but rather the passionate pursuit of the God of all creation who loves us like a groom loves his bride (Ephesians 5:31,32). So, when we affirm that we are loved by God it is not only witness to the grace we have received in Jesus but a proclamation of “How GREAT is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God (1 John 3:1)!”
At the time of this writing my wife is in Sacramento while I’m in Newport/Lincoln City… different states but yet the same state of missing each other. Our love bridges the distance but we long to be with each other. I dare say that when Paul alludes to the groaning of all creation (Romans 8:22) over its desire to be freed from a decaying world and transformed into a form suited for eternity, that it’s the same empty feeling when you are separated from loved ones. You long to be in their company. Paul goes on to say the Spirit intercedes in our prayers to bridge the gap. Prayer connects us with God and for a moment we are in fellowship and feel His love. But we will never be fully satisfied until that day we are face to face in the presence of the divine.
When Pam calls I get to talk to our granddaughter Lauryn. She always tells me that she loves me. That fills my heart! My heavenly Father always tells me that He loves me. That fills my heart! And it’s the good news that we all can share! -DAN
P.S. The pic is of the two people who first made the love of God real for me!