July 18, 2020
Psalm 18 is part of my readings
today. I have long loved David’s words to God, “Thy gentleness has made me great.”
Have we come to know our Father in this way? Can others say this about us?
About our churches? About professing Christians in general?
I admit that I often cringe when
I hear the words “Christian” and “Evangelical”. Until I hear the context, I don’t
know what they mean.
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Can someone explain why, if
tragedy or upheaval happens in central Africa or in the Amazon, that no one in the
United States writes a book about the “End Times”? Cannot we see how self-centered
we are? Everything revolves around us in the States.
Can we not see how shallow our thinking
is?
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An African – American woman who loves
Gaelic dancing has been accused of “cultural appropriation”. Don’t we see that
we have so much more in common than we realize? We love music. We love dancing.
We love food.
Does this mean that Joe’s Diner at
the corner of Park and High streets can no longer serve tacos, hot and sour soup,
and pizza unless Joe has authentic ethnic cooks?
I’ve always, and I do mean always,
loved getting to know folks from other cultures – why even from New England and
the Deep South – imagine that!
What are we doing to ourselves?
Too each other?
Well lassie, I’ve got a good bit
of Scot in me and I say, “Dance, dance, and then dance some more!” Maybe I’ll
give a sword dance a try myself.
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God says that He will shake all
things, things in the heavens and on the earth, so that those things which
cannot be shaken may remain. Jesus tells us a story about two men, one built
his house on the sand, the other dug down and laid his foundation on a rock. Until
the storm came with the storm surge, both houses looked the same from the
outside.
How often do you visit a friend in
his house who says, “Let me tell you about the great foundation my home is
built upon”?
What is the foundation of your
life built upon? Humanism? Agnosticism? Atheism? Cheapo cultural “Christian”
religion that has a Cracker Jack – ‘n – the Box Jesus with prizes for everyone
and your very own flavor of cotton – candy?
Those who follow Christ are not
from Blue states or Red states, they have a citizenship that transcends the
chaos of poisoned humanity, they know there is no hope in the things of this
world – but they will live their lives for the blessing of the people of this
world, indeed, for the benefit of all of God’s creation.
Jesus Christ came and died and
rose again so that He could cross the greatest aisle of the universe, the great
divide, the immense chasm – so that He might plumb the deepest abyss imaginable
– the gulf between God and man – so that God might draw us, in Christ, back to
Himself into a loving eternal union as His sons and His daughters in Jesus
Christ.
We who call Jesus "Lord" now have the
incredible honor of following Him and His Cross, loving all, giving to all,
making peace with all in Christ – being God’s light in Christ in a confused and
dark and toxic world. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man
[or woman], He bids him [or her], ‘Come and die.’”
Mark 8:27 – 38; Galatians 2:20;
6:14
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