Do You Mean It?

This past Sunday, we were singing the hymn "I Need Thee Every Hour." 

Every once in a while, I pause as I did this Sunday, to remind the people to pay attention to what they are singing.

Here it was a prayer to God acknowledging our need for Him.

Sometimes as in "I Surrender All" we're actually promising something to God - something pretty big in fact.

So often we sing the great hymns of the faith with gusto because they are so familiar. Or because they are our favorites, Or maybe our mother's favorite. In the moment, we forget what we're actually saying when we sing the text of the hymn. I know I've done it.

In my Bible reading this week, I actually found a text that I believe we can adapt to this subject.

And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. Ezekiel 33:32 NASB

God is talking with His prophet Ezekiel and telling him that when he prophecies the people will listen thinking how eloquent he is and what great things he is saying, but they won't do it.

For us, we have great texts: texts that are prayers to God, texts that are words from God, and texts that are directed to each other about the things of God. We sing the lovely words to the beautiful melodies, but our hearts and our lives are not impacted.

So, the next time you sing, look at the words. What are they saying? And do you mean it?

Blessings,
Richard

Which Side Is God On?

In our political climate at this time, we read or hear about people on all sides of the aisle claiming God's agenda. Members of both sides claim religious affiliations. They pray and they read the scriptures. It's as if we all want to say that God is "on our side."

It's probably not so crazy since we also want to claim that God is on our side for wars and ball games.

However, if anybody in history could claim that God was on their side, it would be the ancient people of Israel. God had sent Moses to lead them from Egyptian bondage. He had led them through the wilderness in times of obedience and disobedience. They were His people.

Yet, I find a very interesting story in Joshua 5.

The people have crossed over the Jordan River into the promised land and they are preparing for their assault (as unusual as it would be) on Jericho.

It appears that Joshua was doing some personal surveillance of Jericho when he looks up to see a man with a drawn sword in his hand. So, Joshua steps toward him and asks a logical question, "Are you for us or for them?" Then, comes the surprising answer, "No."

Actually, it's a little longer than that: "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord." (NASB)

Here we have the leader of the Lord's armies telling Joshua, "No, I'm not on your side." Then, Joshua falls down before him and asks, "What has my lord to say to his servant?" (NASB)

To me, this appears to be a pre-incarnate appearance of our Lord, as he says to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." Remember Moses and the burning bush? Then Joshua did as he was commanded.

In our lives it is imperative that we remember that God is not "on our side." Not in ball games, not in politics, not in war, not in church, not in anything. What is imperative is that we bow before our King, ask, "What do You want me to do?" and then act in obedience to His command.

There is an old hymn that I grew up with entitled, "Who Is On the Lord's Side?" by the great hymn writer, Francis R. Havergal who also wrote, "Take My Life, and Let It Be Consecrated." Now, the lyrics don't necessarily speak to our theme here, but the title can be helpful.

It's important that you and I are on God's side and that's very, very different than Him being on our side.

Blessings,
Richard

PS: Please understand that I am not addressing the fact that God is for His people, loves and cares for His people, or supports His people.

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Listen to Him

I was reading my Bible the other day and the text was from Mark 9:2-8.

As I read, I was reminded of texts that included the words "the law and the prophets."

Here are some of them:

• Matthew 11:13 - For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
• Matthew 22:40 - On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
• Luke 24:44 - And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
• John 1:45 - Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
• Acts 28:23 - And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.
• Romans 3:21 - But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Now, in our text, we have the Transfiguration scene. Moses, the giver of the law, and Elijah, one of the prophets, appear with Jesus. Peter wants to honor all three, but then the voice speaks: "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him." (NASB)

We need to hear the law and the prophets, but recognize that they lead us to Jesus. Jesus is the One we must listen to. More than hearing with our ears, our hearts should grasp what He says followed by an obedient response.

After the voice, when they looked around, they saw only "Jesus alone."

I hear the Savior say, "Thy strength indeed is small,
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all."
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
          ("Jesus Paid It All" words by Elvina M. Hall, music by John T. Grape)

Jesus alone. Listen to Him.

Blessings,
Richard

For God So Loved the World

As I've mentioned before I'm a Baptist, and I grew up a Baptist, and we celebrated Christmas and Easter, but we never ran across most of the traditional church feasts or celebrations. Advent we didn't know about and Lent, well, it belonged to another segment of the Christian church.

I'm developing an understanding, sometimes an appreciation, of many of these celebrations, even those which I will probably never embrace myself, but I came upon one several years ago that seems really, really important.

In the scriptures of the Old Testament, we run across some clues to it:

In Genesis 26:4, we read this promise to Abraham, "And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

Then in Psalm 72:8-11 KJV, we read this: 
8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

And again in Isaiah 60:1-6 KJV:
1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.

Within the church, this festival is called Epiphany or Three Kings Day. It's the day that follows the 12 Days of Christmas (January 6), and as the name Three Kings shows, it celebrates the arrival of the Magi, or Wise Men to worship the Christ Child.

And why is that important?

Look with me at Romans 15:10-12 KJV: "And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. 12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust."

Here it is: Jesus came to bring salvation to all people!

In the church, Epiphany (related to a Greek word meaning "reveal") is celebrated as the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles, and that my brothers and sisters is most of us. In fact, this celebration, as I understand it, pre-dated the celebration of Christmas because it was so important.

It gets really personal. If Jesus had not come to bring salvation to Gentiles, then I would not have the opportunity to know Him as my Savior and Lord. But He did, and that is a very big deal!

So, if you celebrate Epiphany in a big way, I encourage you to do so with gratitude and thanksgiving. And, even if you choose not to make a big deal of the day, recognize what it means and give glory to God for His great mercy, love, and grace.

Thanks be to God! Amen.

Blessings,
Richard

PS: In what ways are you grateful that Christ came to save you? Let me know in the comments. And if you'd like to sign up for my email newsletter so you can know about new blog posts as well as videos and other opportunities, send me an email at richard@rsdickson.net.

Christmas and Good Friday

Subtitle: The Cradle and The Cross

Good Friday, of course, is the Friday before Easter when we commemorate the crucifixion: the death of Christ for our sins.

Often preachers have mentioned that we can see the cross in the cradle. It seems that artists have pictured the manger scene with a cross foreshadowing in the background, and if memory hasn't failed me yet, I believe there was a song about the same tree being used for the manger and for the cross. 

However, this thought came to me because, in this year (2020), Christmas fell on a Friday.

To me, that makes it a "Good Friday."

The world has pretty much learned to celebrate Christmas, sometimes to the point of moving the Christ child from the center to the periphery. Then Easter comes and again we dress up in finery, maybe even go to church again and eat candy eggs and chocolate bunnies. But Good Friday...

We have to realize there would be no Easter, definitely no cross, without Christmas. On this "Good Friday" of Christmas, God became man, Immanuel - "God with us." It was His coming as one of us that showed us God's love. It was His dwelling among us that showed us how we could and should live.

It was His death, on that other Good Friday, that gave redemption from our sin.

Yes, as much as the world doesn't want to think about it, those two wonderful events are intimately bound together. The cradle and the cross; Christmas and Good Friday. Two blessed, glorious days for those who trust Jesus as Savior and Lord. Thanks be to God for His great Gift!

When I survey that holy Child,
There in a manger, God, yet man,
See as He lies so meek and mild,
Born thus to die for all my sin.

When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

[Isaac Watt's deserves credit for the great hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." I'll take all the blame for the imitation in that first stanza above.]

Blessings for a wonderful Christmas season!
Richard

Celebration vs Introspection

I grew up a Baptist. I'm still a Baptist. We didn't know about Advent. All we knew was that Christmas was a celebration of Christ's birth. We missed something in the process...

For many years, I've been concerned about how the church has allowed the world to give us guidance. And how we deal with Christmas is one of those areas.

Although the shopping season has gotten earlier and earlier, when I was growing up, Christmas arrived when Santa Claus waved at us from the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

After that it was a flurry of activity as we decorated, shopped for presents, attended parties, and prepared for Christmas music at church. Then, on Christmas Day...it was over. The food was consumed, the presents were open, and the garbage can was full.

One day I learned that the broader church throughout history had observed something called Advent.

Advent means coming, and to the church there is a dual understanding. While we prepare for the observance of Christ's first coming, we recognize that we are also preparing for His second coming.

Now, I had noticed something along the way, and it wasn't in church. I watched the Walton's Christmas movie. Perhaps you did too. Did you notice that they didn't even cut the tree down or decorate it until Christmas Eve? What?

In the history of the church, Advent has not been, nor is it, a time of celebration. Advent is a time of contemplation and introspection. In the time of Christ, the Jewish world was subject to the troubles of their times including being under the heavy hand of the Roman Empire and their vassal kings. They longed for the Messiah to come to set them free from their bondage. They were certainly not celebrating.

Today, in much the same way, we should take time to contemplate the world we are living in and the need for Christ's love and compassion in our relationships. It's a time for introspection as we examine ourselves and our relationship to Christ whose birth we are preparing to celebrate. Do our lives reflect Emmanuel, God with us?

Too often, as has been stated by others, we save our introspection until after Christmas when we contemplate how we're going to pay the bills.

But, then comes Christmas Day. Now, let's party! The promised One came to set us free from our sin. He came to give us abundant life. He even died that we could have eternal life. It's time to celebrate. You realize that Christmas doesn't end on the 25th. No, no, no! The church has set aside 12 days to celebrate.

What? You thought the 12 days of Christmas were leading up to Christmas? Too many do. No, the Twelve Days of Christmas start on Christmas Day. Even the song talks about gift giving on each of the 12 days. Of course, the greatest gift was on Day One - the Partridge in a Pear Tree - Christ the One and Only Savior of the World! Whoop, whoop! Are you ready to celebrate yet?

Now, I'm not going tell you to stop your parties and Christmas music. No, but I would encourage each of us to ponder, much as Jesus' mother, Mary, did, in our hearts the meaning of Christ's coming to the world and the implications it has for us. Perhaps we need time for introspection.

Then, when Christmas arrives, we might be ready to truly celebrate.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven's peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Blessings,
Richard

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Christmas at the Cemetery

Well, that's not what most people are thinking about at this time of year!

Well?

Although the season is wrapped up in jolly holly and smiling faces, we often hear of the number of people who feel a deep sense of loss, especially those who have recently lost a loved one. In ministry, we learn that there is much sickness and death in the interval between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then, there is the depression that weighs down on so many.

Photo by Alex Dugquem from Pexels

A few years ago, I was privileged to officiate, just before Christmas, at the funeral service of a dear, sweet lady. It was a graveside service.

Much of what I shared were the wonderful things that I had learned or knew about her, interspersed with scripture passages that related to those thoughts.

However, as we drew to the end of the service and the reading of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, my favorite passage of encouragement at this time of grief and sadness, I swept my hands out and called attention to all of the graves around us.

"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus...For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first."

As we looked around, we were reminded that Jesus came to show us that death is not the end; the cemetery is not our final destination. Because of that child born in Bethlehem, who grew up to be the One who died on the cross for our sins, and who rose from the dead, those who know Him as Savior and Lord have hope in eternal life.

Christmas at the cemetery? Think about it.

The cemetery can be a perfect place to celebrate Christmas.

"Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release;
Let us find our rest in Thee."

Blessings,
Richard