Something Bigger Than Ourselves

Y'all, I met a bona fide purple-hearted World War II hero today. He made me cry.

As I was poking my nose into his past medical history, asking an endless list of personal questions, I noticed a veteran's hat lying on the table by his chair. The hat was worn and faded, but unmistakably notable for the WWII and Iwo Jima insignia.

I pointed toward the hat and said, “Thank you for your service, sir.” He ducked his head and drawled out a polite “Thank you, ma'am.”

His wife, who had been listening quietly, began to share a bit of this remarkable man's war history... stories of how he risked his life to save his comrades even as he watched others die. I was moved beyond words.

I knelt beside his chair and without thinking, covered his thin, wrinkled hand with mine. Only then did I remember I was wearing gloves. And a mask. And a gown. I realized how unapproachable I looked in all my COVID-protected glory and wondered if our upside down world seemed unrecognizable and strange to this 90-plus year old gentleman. Since he could not see my smile, I poured all the thankfulness from my heart into my eyes as I tried to express my gratitude for his service and heroism. Both our eyes filled with tears. I sniffled through my mask and said, “I can only imagine the full-length movies playing through your mind. After all you have seen and experienced, how can you reconcile the current craziness going on in America?”

He looked away for a moment then said, “It was different back then. We were simply young men doing our job for our country. It was about something bigger than ourselves.”

Something Bigger Than Ourselves.

They are known as the “Greatest Generation”. Men and women who fought not for fame or recognition, but because it was the "right thing to do."

They are the generation who fought a World War and survived the Great Depression. They were self-sacrificing, hardworking, God-fearing, disciplined and unwaveringly patriotic. They took time to write real letters (in cursive) and read real books with pages. This generation shared a clearly defined sense of right and wrong. They believed in Baseball, Mom & Apple Pie (made without artificial sweeteners).

Somehow in the intervening years between heroes risking lives in the Pacific Theater to today's Facebook pictures showing boarded windows in troubled cities anticipating election day riots... We the People have lost our way.

I don't know who will win tomorrow but I'm absolutely sure a very flawed sinner will be voted into the oval office, just as we - a similarly flawed electorate - have done for over 230 years.

That's why my hope has never been in Air Force One, but in The One Who Sits On The Throne.

[God’s heavenly throne is eternal, secure, and strong, and His sovereignty rules the entire universe. Psalm 103:19 ]

As believers, our true citizenship does not belong to this world. Before this nation was ever imagined, Jesus knew we would never get it right. That's why He promised us a New Kingdom.

So, while we wait for our King to return, we can waste precious time in endless fights over an elusive 'higher ground'... or we can love each other beyond political ideology and let Jesus make bridge builders of us all.

Babylon, Brew Baskets, & Brain Drains

The other night I couldn't sleep so I got up to read my Bible. It was around 3:30 a.m. I was just finishing the book of Jeremiah which is basically a journal of grief, written during a time of tragedy and suffering - not light reading, by any definition. Every time I read Jeremiah, my heart breaks with empathy over his suffering and loss. But nevermore so, as he was forced to watch his beloved cities burn and his friends killed or carried off to exile for doing as they dang well pleased instead of obeying God.

Suddenly, I became aware of a hissing noise coming from the kitchen.

I nervously tip-toed into the kitchen only to discover copious amounts of dark brown liquid flowing out of the coffeemaker onto the counter. [It's important to understand that I know NOTHING of the inner workings of Mr. Coffee. Nada. Zilch. I am a tea sipper and have always relinquished all things coffee to the Dickman.] All I knew is that the coffee timer usually set for 5:30 am had somehow triggered at 4:30 am, causing coffee to drip onto my kitchen floor while Dickman was snoring. I quickly unplugged Mr. Coffee and began sopping up the huge mess with paper towels, saying ugly words under my breath about coffee drinkers in general and the Dickman in particular because surely somehow this was his fault.

As a medical professional, I quickly surmised that Mr. Coffee was irreparably broken and also that it was time for me to go back to bed. So, I took a yellow sticky note and wrote in big, block letters: “I AM BROKEN”. I stuck it on the coffee pot as a warning and an epitath.

The next day, I was loading dishes into the dishwasher and noticed a coffee filter holder thingy in the bottom tray, right where I had put it the day before. I fleetingly wondered if this might be an integral part to the performance of Mr. Coffee but then I closed the door because the smell of tuna was emanating obnoxiously from the top shelf.

Later that day, my Dickman marched through the door proudly holding a shiny new Mr. Coffee to replace his “broken one”.

Only then did I remember the coffee filter thingy patiently awaiting the Wash Cycle...

“Uh... can I ask you something?” I asked while casually opening the dishwasher. "Is this important? Like, if you tried to make coffee without it might there be, say... leakage??”

Dickman gave me The Look that I have come to know well over the past 4 or 5 decades. It's The Look that says: "For-the-love-of-everything-holy-are-you-trying-to-make-me-lose-my-mind?"

He cleared his throat and replied in a nice – but shaky – voice. “Yes. It. Is. Important. What. Is. It. Doing. In. The. Dishwasher?”

“Well, I found it in the sink and it looked dirty. I forgot until I saw it today and meant to tell you but I didn't because the 'Rona is making my brain leak into my fat cells which not only causes me to gain weight in weird places but also means you can no longer count on me to be a responsible adult.”

My son who had walked in earlier, realized what had happened and began to chuckle. I mean, I think it was a chuckle but it easily could have been nervous laughter due to the realization that he is literally months away from dealing with senile parent(s). Plural. If I'm going senile, the Dickman is going with me because I take that for better or worse crap seriously.

Anyhoo... if I were able to better manage my brain cells or had the energy to look deeper into this story, I might could find some corollary existential meaning behind things not working right if any parts are missing or how important it is to communicate clearly and also pre-wash dishes before loading the dishwasher. Or maybe, even deeper, something to do with Jeremiah warning all the Jews to quit worshiping idols and return to God or they would be poured out of the Promised Land into Babylonian exile like so much wasted coffee...

But seriously, who knows what anything means anymore?

The Good News is that one of us sleeps better at night knowing there's a Brand New Mr. Coffee just waiting in the wings. The other one of us is stuck in Lamentations...

UNSINKABLE

I love this picture of Jesus reaching through the troubled waters...

I'm sure we've all experienced moments in life that felt like we were drowning... times when we needed someone to rescue us. 

Matthew 14:22-36 gives us Peter's unique perspective on such a rescue... a view from underneath. As he looked through the swirling water into the face of Jesus, Peter knew he was in for a good scolding. And he was right. As Jesus reached for Peter through the water I'm pretty sure He said, “Gimme your hand, ya knucklehead... oh, ye of little faith!” 

I can't help but feel sorry for Peter, bless his heart. Only seconds before, he was WALKING ON THE FREAKIN' WATER WITH JESUS. LIKE A BOSS! But all it took was a gust of wind to bring him down. Peter got scared. Freaked out. And... SPLASH!! He sank into the water like a proverbial rock. 

Over the past two thousand years, we've given Peter quite a pounding for taking his eyes off Jesus. I really think it's time to give the ol' guy a break. In all fairness, the flaw in his faith did not make Peter a failure. It made him just like us. 

Put yourself in his sandals... it had been a loooooong night... dark and stormy... crowded into a fishing boat with a dozen other men... tossed to and fro on the waves as they rowed their arms off. Cold and exhausted, they were scared completely witless when they saw a shadowy figure casually strolling by on TOP OF THE WATER. 

Not believing what he was seeing, Peter cried out into the darkness: “Hey, Jesus! Is that you out there walking on the water like a dadgum ghost? Cause if it is, hollar at me and I'll come out to you!” You gotta give Peter some points, here. He could have screamed like a little girl for Jesus to jump into the boat and rescue him. He could have begged Jesus to wave His arms and calm the storm. But no. Peter wanted to get out of the boat and GO TO JESUS. 

Jesus answered him with one word.

“COME.” 

He had to be shaking in his sandals, but Peter swung his legs over the side of that boat and stepped out in faith. BIG faith... though not big enough. Fear sunk him. 

Even so, Peter's faith brought him closer to Jesus while the other apostles-in-training never even left the boat. They just sat huddled together like a bunch of scared, soggy lumps, weathering the storm on their own. Unlike Peter, they didn't try to reach out to Jesus but chose to cling to the relative “safety” of their boat. 

Storms happen, y'all. We're going through a doozy right now and it looks as though it might hang around for awhile. I know many of you are feeling anxious and overwhelmed, understandably so. I just want to remind you that you don't have to endure this storm all alone. I'm with you. We're all in it together. And most importantly... JESUS IS IN THE STORM WITH US, walking beside us, ready to carry us through. 

It may not be easy... your faith might get wobbly and your hair may end up wet and soggy, but SEEK HIM. TRUST HIM. 

Keep your eyes on Jesus, He will not let you sink. 

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

I know you've heard the words, but do you really know what they mean? Cognitive Dissonance is the discomfort you feel when you struggle to justify two conflicting beliefs... when your values don't match up with your actions. And since nobody likes to be uncomfortable, we tend to make adjustments in our belief system to restore balance. In other words, even though the two beliefs remain contradictory – we learn to adjust.

Here's a simple example: Deep inside of me, there is a 140-pound woman screaming to get out. I know that if I will stop eating cookies and exercise, I can rescue this woman. Instead, I shut her up by feeding her sugar and justify it with the notion that being happy is just as important as being thin. Cognitive Dissonance. [Seriously, y'all... I don't know what it's gonna take for me to stop eating cookies but I have discovered that a worldwide pandemic is not it!]

At it's core, Cognitive Dissonance is deception. Based on information and preconceptions, we make our minds up that something is the truth and hold tightly to it – even when given certain evidence to the contrary.

Applying this theory to our current political climate might offer a bit of understanding to the predominant forces of division – not only in our country and in our communities, but also among our families and friends. When others belittle or dehumanize us for the way we vote, we tend to dig our heels in and defend our choice even though we may not fully agree with his or her platform, ourselves.

Cognitive Dissonance is rampantly non-partisan... mostly because the media plays to both sides causing us to retreat into our respective echochambers and surround ourselves with Those Who Think Like We Do.

It's not that we're uninformed... we are massively and purposely misinformed.

I just finished the Book of Isaiah, a book that enriches me more each time I read it. Isaiah's style of writing is unlike any other Biblical author... full of poetry and judgment and hope. Written contemporaneously, many would find Isaiah to be a 4-course dinner of political incorrectness served on a sterling platter of improbable prophecy.

But that would only be those who chose division over discernment.

In this world, we are bombarded by lies. Satan confuses us with many versions of the truth, designed to create confusion and discord.

As believers, the only way to avoid such confusion is to stay in the Word. Doing so brings us clarity even though our earthbound souls continue to feel the tension of expectation for Heaven.

Because therein (Heaven) lies the Truth. Our Truth.

Meanwhile, satan grows ever more creative in facilitating our earthly division... perfectly designed and right on cue.

Satan creates secular mindsets who push political propaganda and try to back us into corners of “all or nothing” relating to our belief systems. He causes us to judge each other with Christian purity tests based on our political affiliation, effectively shutting down reasonable dialog and discussions.

Even worse, he causes us to take our eyes off heaven.

When we align our Christian faith with our political party... we've taken our eyes off heaven.

When we trust the power of our votes more than the power of prayer... we've taken our eyes off heaven.

When the anticipation of an electoral victory is greater than our anticipation of meeting the Rider on the White Horse... we've taken our eyes off heaven.

My allegiance should not belong to a party. It should belong only to God.

As such, I believe I can be anti-socialist AND enthusiastically support programs for the disadvantaged and indigent.

I can also acknowledge the existence of white privilege & racism and advocate for equality WITHOUT screaming at someone or burning stuff down.

It's not contradictory for me to believe in the Right to Bear Arms WHILE supporting tougher background checks and controls.

And why in the world would I ever want the importance of securing our borders to interfere with taking care of homeless and refugees LIKE GOD COMMANDED?

I admire peaceful protesters who bring about needed social changes while supporting lawful arrests of anarchists who riot in the name of activism.

Call me crazy, but I don’t think it’s disrespectful to suggest there could be bad cops among an entire force of police heroes... or career criminals parading as politicians. On both sides of the aisle.

See how that works? As an American... more importantly, as a believer, YOU can make choices independent of a party platform. You don't have to be bullied into EITHER boot-licking OR blind hatred. You can avoid becoming a victim of Cognitive Dissonance.

All you gotta do is stop worrying about blind hatred. You can avoid becoming a victim of Cognitive Dissonance.

All you gotta do is stop worrying about BEING right and just and just DO right.

Do what Jesus would do.

Because Jesus never ever meant for politics to determine our moral compasses.

HE is our compass... HE is our way.

HE alone is the TRUTH.

HOLY BOLDNESS

Today is National Religious Freedom Day. 

I don't know what that means to you, but it doesn't mean much to the Muslim jihadists who murdered 13 Nigerian Christians a few days ago. 

Did you know that at least 16,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in the last five years? Or that worldwide, Christians are martyred at a rate of approximately 90,000 per year? 

Hundreds of thousands of believers who share our faith, but not our freedom. 

And yet, the community of Believers in oppressed countries continues to grow while researchers tell us that Christianity is on the decline in America. 

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, America is experiencing an ever increasing generational gap among those who claim to be Christians, with 84% of those born between 1928-1945, 76% of Baby Boomers, and only 49% of Millennials.

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In 2019, my Word of the Year was Humility. I asked Jesus to help me be a better servant... less of me... more of Him. 

Y'all. Do not EVER ask God to cause you to be more humble if you aren't ready for a soul-shaping smackdown worthy of the WWE. Suffice it to say that I am officially, fully, completely convicted of EXACTLY how much grace and mercy I need from God. 

ALL of it. I need every single drop. 

Halfway into January, I'm still finding whiffs of smoke from the refining fires of 2019. 

I ain't stupid.  I learned my lesson and without one ounce of shame, I had NO plans to choose a 'word' for 2020.

Silly me. 

There I was, minding my own business, bringing in the New Year with a study of Revelation. (Cause nothing says “Happy New Year!” like cracking open the chapters of Armageddon, amiright?) 

God didn't dilly dally around.  He started working on me around the second chapter... Revelation 2:8-11, to be exact.  

I began reading the apocalyptic letter to the Church in Smryna, where Jesus acknowledges the good works of the congregation and encourages them to remain strong and faithful – even through tribulation and death. The first century Christians of Smryna were not only being persecuted by Romans, they were also opposed by a large population of Jewish zealots. 

Curiosity about the persecution led me to a remarkable story about a martyr named Polycarp who was killed about 60 years after John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation.

In fact, Polycarp was traditionally believed to have been John's student. At 86 years old, he was a revered leader of the church in Smyrna. Upon learning the Romans were coming to arrest him, Polycarp's friends took him to the country to hide him. One night while praying, Polycarp had a vision that his pillow was on fire. He calmly told his friends that he was destined to be burned at the stake. Three days later, the soldiers found him and led him back to Smyrna straight into an arena filled with blood-thirsty Romans and Jews.  They had come for the sport of watching Christians being tortured and killed. 

The proconsul earnestly tried to get Polycarp to deny Christ and declare Caesar as lord. “Have respect for your old age, swear by the fortune of Caesar. Reproach Christ, and I will set you free.” Without wavering, Polycarp answered, “86 years have I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” It just so happened that the stadium lions had been put away for the day, so the proconsul threatened to burn Polycarp. His reply? “You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and is then extinguished, but you know nothing of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. Why are you waiting? Bring on whatever you want.” 

As they tied his hands to a stake surrounded by a great pile of wood, Polycarp raised his eyes to heaven and said this beautiful martyr's prayer: 

“O Lord God Almighty, the Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of you, the God of angels, powers and every creature, and of all the righteous who live before you, I give you thanks that you count me worthy to be numbered among your martyrs, sharing the cup of Christ and the resurrection to eternal life, both of soul and body, through the immortality of the Holy Spirit. May I be received this day as an acceptable sacrifice, as you, the true God, have predestined, revealed to me, and now fulfilled. I praise you for all these things, I bless you and glorify you, along with the everlasting Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. To you, with him, through the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and forever. Amen.” 

The fire was lit to blazing. And then... a miracle happened. 

As the great tower of fire arose, flames began to arch away from Polycarp's body. Instead of burning, his skin turned golden and those around him smelled a sweet scent. When the soldiers saw that the fire would not consume him, an executioner was commanded to slay him with a spear. As his flesh was pierced, blood poured from Polycarp's body and extinguished the fire.  A dove was seen flying up from the smoke into heaven. 

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BOLDNESS.

That's my Word of The Year for 2020.

The kind of boldness that the Apostles prayed for on the Day of Pentecost and was given to them through the Holy Spirit. 

The kind of boldness that glorifies God even unto death. 

Holy Boldness. 

Now, I'm pretty sure God isn't gonna ask me to die as a martyr. But it's no coincidence that after teaching me true humility, He is calling me to be bold. He's pretty tricky, that way. 

Without HUMILITY, I would have tried to be bold on my own. I know I would, I've seen me do it. And it didn't go well, because that's not how spiritual boldness works. 

Holy Boldness can only come from God - through humility - for the work of His Kingdom. I am weak. HE is strong. 

I have no idea what He's got planned for me in 2020... but I know it's gonna be good. Because there has never been a better time to boldly, unapologetically declare Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 

WHAT DOES IT MATTER?

What really matters to you? What brings you joy?

Even when you're afraid, or when someone has hurt your feelings really bad... what is the one thing you can think about that will always make you happy again?

In the Bible, the Apostle Paul had one thing that absolutely mattered the most to him. Do you know what it was? God was his Number One Priority and teaching others about Jesus made him super happy.

That's easy to understand, until you look at some of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things that Paul suffered because of his teaching. Here's just a few:

• He was in and out of prison for 4 years
• He beaten with rods 3 times
• He received 39 lashes with a whip 5 different times
• He was stoned and left for dead
• He was shipwrecked at sea 3 times
• He was in constant danger from both Jews and Gentiles
• He was often weary and in pain
• He went days without sleep
• He was hungry and thirsty, cold and naked

Paul had it rough. All the time he was preaching, Paul had lots and lots of reasons to be unhappy or feel sorry for himself.

During one of the times Paul was in prison, some preachers who were jealous of him started saying bad things about him, criticizing him, trying to ruin his reputation and his ministry. When Paul found out about it, what do you think he did? What would you do?

When people are mean or criticize us we either get mad and defend ourselves or maybe we just feel sad and give up.

But not Paul!

After all he had been through – chained and in prison – he said “What Does It Matter? I'm not gonna let anybody steal my joy! You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna rejoice and then I'm gonna just keep on rejoicing!”

He rejoiced! With all the horrible stuff happening to him, Paul still found a reason to be joyful. His focus was never on himself... it was on Jesus. What did it matter if he was in prison? He was still free to worship God and spread the Good News. What did it matter if others criticized him and spread rumors about him? His priority was to make God happy. Paul lived to fulfill God's purpose for his life.

No one on earth could steal his joy because Paul's joy came from Heaven.

[Philippians 12-26 (NIV)]

The Light of the Father

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PAST...

It's been almost two years since my mother-in-law found her way to heaven. We are finally cleaning out her house and getting it ready to sell. As you might imagine, our progress is often impeded with random discoveries of long lost treasures which tug on our heartstrings, evoking bittersweet memories. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, the Dickman was upstairs pulling up the old dusty carpet when I stumbled upon a small Mason jar filled with two Zippo lighters and a western belt buckle. Rather than interrupt his progress, I put it away to show him later. Because I'm only a few brain cells away from senility, several days passed before I remembered the jar. I took it to him, putting it in his hands without any explanation or preamble.  Immediately, his eyes grew wide and filled with tears. He opened the jar and shook the contents into his hand.  “Robin, do you know what these are?! My Dad's belt buckle and his lighters...  I haven't seen them in over 50 years!” The contents of that old Mason jar were clearly priceless treasures to the Dickman.

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THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT...

In between the Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie, we were visiting with our son and showed him the jar full of treasures. Lucas took immediate interest in one of the lighters, thoroughly inspecting it while wondering aloud if a new wick and some lighter fluid might bring it back to life. [Now, if you don't know my Lucas, it is important to understand that he is an absolute minimalist and has no interest in collecting 'things'. Not only that, but he also scores depressingly low on the 'Sentimentality Scale'.]  I watched as he turned the lighter over in his hands, imagining his grandfather holding the same lighter so many years ago. Impulsively I asked, “Do you want the lighter Luke? You can have it!” As soon as the words left my mouth, it occurred to me that the lighter was not mine to give. I quickly glanced over at Dickie who was [thankfully!] nodding in agreement. Luke looked at his Dad and said, “If you don't mind I would love to keep it.” It was touching that our son wanted to keep this unlikely link to the past – a connection to the grandfather he never met.

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THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE...

A few days after he returned home, Lucas sent this picture to his Dad. Not only had he managed to get that old lighter cleaned up and working again, but he and his family were using it to light their Advent candles. Our son had taken something broken and lovingly restored it to bring a glorifying light to God.

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Sweet friends, I don't have to tell you how broken our world is.  One look at the news, one headline on the internet, one trip through a forgotten neighborhood... that's all it takes to know. Satan has relentlessly filled our world with evil and corruption. Some days it feels like the bad guys are winning.

Today was one of those days. I'm ashamed to say that my heart was full of negativity as I opened my Bible.  My hopeful spirit sought to find comfort in His Word.

And man, was God ever ready for me! Only a few verses into Ephesians and this is what I found:

"... this was His purpose:  that when the time is ripe He will gather us all together from wherever we are - in heaven or in earth - to be with Him in Christ forever."

Wow.  I stand amazed that over two thousand years ago, through the inspired words of an apostle imprisoned and in chains, Jesus gives us hope for today... and for every tomorrow!

God will gather us together into ONE glorious kingdom under ONE sovereign King.  Holy. Incorruptible. Unimpeachable.

And in His perfect time, harmony between Heaven and Earth will once again be restored.

This broken old world has never been more in need of that harmony and unity.

The richness – the fullness – of that promise fills my heart with joy! And you know what's even more exciting? The gathering has already begun.

Can't you feel it... hearts that are yearning for so much more than this world has to offer? Eyes searching desperately for that which is meaningful? The increasing boldness of believers unashamed to declare His salvation in love?

It's happening, y'all. We don't always see it because satan distracts us with discord and division.  He limits our focus and depletes our hope, making us forget the Promises of the Father... His boundless mercy, His unfailing love, His piercing light.  His Perfect Plan.

The prevalent evil  in our world today is temporary. God is already transforming the world in big and small ways... the gathering has begun.

We can help Him, you know.

All it takes is a little dusting, a little polishing, some re-fueling... and God will ignite the Spirit within us with a light that defies a hopeless world and illuminates the darkness around us.