Deep Calling Deep

I keep to shallows. 
You are the deep 
that tugs my feet 
from under me, 
blasts ears with fury, 
floods each orifice 
until 
I’m swept away, 
my deep imploded 
to a black hole, 
resistance convoluted 
to a vacuum. 
Ravished, 
I find 
your waves and breakers
tender with the
tropic warmth
of a trillion suns,
millenia of moon tides.
You are
epic center,
unfound edge
of everywhere,
and now, 
un-now and if-then
Yahweh!
Waves of worship leap;
the welcome undertow
says “Come!”
I leave the beach.

When the weather heats up, many of us gravitate to water. It may be a cold drink, a pool, a stream, a river, an ocean beach. While we were on mission in Côte d’Ivoire, a favorite retreat for respite was the beach at Grand Bassam in the south on the Gulf of Guinea. Sitting on the sand under the shade of a beach umbrella I would watch the waves roiling in and out, heaving up like a wall when the deep waters would meet the shallows and then crash. The undertow was so strong that swimming was not recommended. We would just soak in the power of the waters.

One day the imagery in Psalm 42 struck me in a whole new way. There the psalmist is lamenting that the a crashing waterfall is overwhelming him while he is in distress in a foreign land:

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation 6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.

 8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”  (Ps. 42.5-9 ESV)

Verse 7 uses the metaphor of the breakers and waves of the waterfull roaring and sweeping over him, like oppression (v. 9)—but in verse 8 the psalmist reminds himself of Yahweh’s hesed, his steadfast love. He grabs onto his prayer song to God, who is the center of his life. He continues mourning that he feels abandoned and mistreated, but ends with this:

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Ps. 42:11 ESV)

That was his source of hope! He needed to remind himself that everything depended on the faithfulness of God.

It is intriguing the way the psalmist alternates lament and reassurance in his conversation with his soul and with his God. He admits that he is overwhelmed by his circumstances, but keeps coming back to confidence in Yahweh. The waves represent chaos, but much more. Let’s go back to the beginning of the psalm:

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. (Ps. 42:1-4 ESV)

He is thirsty for God, the way a deer thirsts for flowing water! He used to be able to praise God while leading singing at a feast day in Jerusalem, and now he was far from home without that fellowship of worship. He feels alone, not only distant from other worshipers but distant from his God. This brings out more water imagery:  he pours out his soul in distress.

One day when I was at the beach, watching the waves crash into foam, that “deep calls to deep” theme began echoing in my soul, and the poem above flowed out. I was recasting the lament of feeling abandoned, and without spiritual support, into the acknowledgement that God was using turmoil in my own life to draw me deeper into union with him. Meeting the All Powerful God, recognizing his majestic “otherness,” can seem like way too much to deal with. Talk about deep waters! As humans we way too often cower on the beach, scared of undertow that could grab us and carry us out into a deep sea where we have absolutely no control. On a literal ocean beach, that is wise. But when we are confronted with the depth of our God and invited to come live in him, inside his depth, our recoil keeps us stranded in the shallows. We don’t trust his goodness or the warmth of his invitation. If we did, we would jump right in and let him sweep us away to wherever he intends us to be!

I’ve mentioned before that realizing this truth was a turning point in my life, back in 1970 at the Urbana Missions Convention when I was 18. I had to admit that I was finding it easy to say stuff like “God is good” and “God is love,” but my heart was actually not all that sure that it was true. Paul Little’s message “Affirming the Will of God” hit me like one of those roaring waves: if I really believed that God is good and loves me, I would gladly say “yes” to anything he would want me to do! And that week I quit avoiding the pull of his work deep inside me. He was making it clear that he wanted me to go wherever he would lead me to share the Good News of rescue in Jesus. Yes, I quit suspecting that he had some nasty plan for me. I threw myself into the deep waters of his love and purpose, and wow has it been an awesome ride!

The best part of the journey has been discovering the intimacy of his Spirit living in me, guiding me and showing me more and more what it means to be wholeheartedly his. I resonate with Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian Christians to experience this:

16 I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:16-21 NET)

“Filled to all the fullness of God . . . by the power that is working within us . . . able to do far beyond all that we ask or think”! It all comes from Jesus Messiah’s Spirit living in us and revealing to us the immensity of God’s love. Sure, it is more than we can understand, but every little increase in our understanding works in us to shape us. We may not think it possible, but he can accomplish this when we give in wholeheartedly to him.

That would require ceasing to resist the powerful call to jump into the depths of God’s love and live there where we are nourished by it. Then we are able to live out the calling he gives us through his power, not ours!  We are no longer stranded on the thirsty hot sand, land-locked. Instead, he transforms us. Our lives take off in a new direction: his.

Thinking back on the radical changes that came with Pentecost, when thousands of believers experienced being swept into the deep for the first time, it was truly something they had never expected. They still had so much to learn. Some would die for their commitment, like Stephen did, one of the first to demonstrate his trust in God’s goodness and in Jesus as Messiah Savior by speaking truth against the current. Others would find their life paths radically reprogrammed to take the Good News elsewhere. Many would find ways to contribute to Family health that they never expected. Many would be persecuted.

They had much to learn, and so do we.

It may be suffering that Yahweh is using to grab us and draw us into complete surrender to him. That is what Paul experienced when he turned from Jesus-hater to fervent evangelist. Life did not get easy, but he experienced this amazing inner growth and empowerment. He wrote about it to the Ephesians, assuring them that the power working within them “is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think” (v. 20).

The essential entry into that deep ocean of God’s loving goodness is that “yes” that is a leap of confidence into deep waters. The welcome undertow says “Come!”  We may hear it in a season of trouble, but he uses that to speak:  “Just jump into my arms!” Then we live in his unending, majestic world, not just the thirsty beach.

Radical Change After Pentecost

Extraordinary hyper-power 
pulsates inside this fragile jar. 
Its fried glass, splintered to 
a mosaic of prisms, 
splits the beams 
to violet, green and red 
(shocked with gold) 
and casts pictures through 
the night onto dark walls: 
images of glory, 
stained glass come alive 
and radiating metaphors: 

a king bathing slaves’ feet
while a woman’s hair
wipes his with tears;
sliced and swollen shoulders
piled with brutal baggage;
bloody hands dealing out
clean mercy to the world;
the face of love.

Infinity cubed, crammed
in a container, is a time bomb
waiting for dénouement.  
When it explodes, this jar
will blast into a new dimension
where its very cracks will be
revealed as finest art,
unique in all the galaxies --
created for delight,
refined by every pressure
into silken glass
on fire with holiness.

 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  (2 Cor. 4:7 ESV)

This imagery is meant to make us stop and think. It struck me hard when it came to mind and the poem flowed from my pen. We are clay, yet we have divine power living in us!

Jesus was that kind of “infinity . . . crammed in a container.” It is such a wonder that God could come to earth in human form, to accomplish his purpose of love: salvation. He is light, he is love. When he showed his glory, like in the transfiguration, it would have been breath-taking.

In the Bible the metaphor describing us is that we are made from clay, which is inept and opaque, so when the Spirit of God lives in us and works through us it is obvious that the action is not human; it is Jesus living in us through his Spirit, transforming us, accomplishing his purpose in and through us. He did tell us to to let “our” light shine:

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt. 5:16 NIV)

So how do we get our light to shine before othersbwhen we are jars of clay?  God makes it happen, working in us:

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6 NIV)

So as I contemplated the gift God gave us when he promised to fill us with his Spirit when we are devoted to him, I couldn’t help but picture how the diverse spiritual gifts that he blesses us with (see the list in 2 Cor. 13) would shine in different colors in a jar that is no longer made of hard clay,[1] but transformed into stained glass that could be brilliantly lit by that inner light and shine his glory!

The only place I saw stained glass in Côte d’Ivoire was at the Basilica in Yamoussoukro (see the photo above), so it really made an impression. The stunning temple was built by the first president of the country, after independence. To me it seems an exhorbitant use of money when the people were so poor and could have used help. But it’s true that beauty like that, the sunlight shining through the varied colors of stained glass, is powerful when seen inside darkness.

That impact expresses for me what happens in us when we are filled with the Spirit who shines his light in us, and the way that impacts the world.

Yes, stunning changes happened to those who first experienced this new filling at Pentecost. Philip, for instance, had been one of the seven men chosen to make sure that no one was discriminated against in the Jerusalem church’s daily distribution of food. It was evidently a new step for Jewish leaders to give Greek-speaking widows equal status with other believers. They got classified as foreigners. But all seven leaders chosen had Greek names; they needed to reflect the diversity in the community and bring the excluded into the fellowship. “The narratives that follow [Pentecost] concern two of the Seven: Stephen (6:8–8:1a) and Philip (8:4–40). convert to Judaism. A former Gentile who at some point received circumcision and entered the covenant people of Israel.”[2]

Stephen became a famous martyr for his faith. Philip became an outstanding foreign missionary, the first one we hear about in Acts. His first trip was to Samaria, north of Jerusalem, to a people group despised by the Jews as mixed-race and heretics. There in the coastal area of Caesarea he shared the Gospel and performed many astounding miracles that reflected Jesus’ ministry. And people believed his message. This was such astounding news to the believers that they had to corroborateit.  “In light of the historical hatred and mistrust between Jews and Samaritans, the Jerusalem church ‘sent Peter and John to Samaria’ as an official delegation to check out the claims of Samaritan conversions.[3] (Acts 8:14)

Then, after they had testified and spoken the message of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, evangelizing many villages of the Samaritans. (Acts 8.25 CSB)

Peter and John were realizing that yes, they were to put in practice that command of Jesus to take the Good News to all nations, even the people who were minimized.

My life-connection to Africa takes me quickly to what happened next.

 26 An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.) 27 So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem 28 and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.” (Acts 8:26-29 CSB)

That was a long road trip for Philip! (Did he walk?) “An angel sends Philip from Samaria south to Jerusalem (about 65 miles) and on to Gaza on the far southwestern shore of Israel (another 34 miles). Following Philips path is a journey of around 100 miles.”[4]

And he didn’t stop at Gaza: he continue to travel the desert road until he met that chariot. The man the angel had told him to find had much higher status than Philip. He was a eunuch (castrated to make him a safe dignitary serving the queen), a dignitary. Eunuchs “were not allowed to participate fully in Israel’s religious life (Deut 23:1).”[5] But he was obviously a strong believer in Judaism. He had been worshiping in Jerusalem and was now reading out loud a passage in Isaiah 53 that confused him. Philip  was invited to join him in the chariot, and he explained it to him, showing how it depicted Jesus as the Messiah who would die to bring people into his Kingdom:

32 Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so He does not open His mouth. 33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him. Who will describe His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. 34 The eunuch replied to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about—himself or another person?” 35 So Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning from that Scripture (Acts 832-35 CSB).

There in the desert the two men came to some water and the eunuch asked to be baptized. Philip said: “If you believe comletely what I told you, I will baptize you.” Since the eunuch stated his belief firmly, the chariot was stopped and Philip baptized him.  A miracle happened:

 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer. But he went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip appeared in Azotus, and he was traveling and evangelizing all the towns until he came to Caesarea. (Acts 8:39-40 CSB)

Since Pentecost, Philip had traveled north of Jerusalem to preach in Samaria, then south to the desert road , then north again, spreading the Good News everywhere. This is powerful sharing of the Light of the Good News that the Spirit had shone in him. It also reveals the heart transformation that took palce when the Spirit took control, filling the believers. The fruit of the Spirit was now being produced, and one immediate impact was this focus on reaching foreigners. Philip’s mission shows us love erasing ethnic hatreds. And the Spirit has been doing this work ever since, leading certain disciples to “go tell” wherever he sends them!

The eunuch was from Nubia, called Ethiopia in this text, but not the modern Ethiopian area. It was “located in what is today southern Egypt and northern Sudan, between Aswan and Khartoum.”[6] He was the first known convert to take Christianity to Africa. Philip’s witness to him fulfilled what Jesus had said:

Jesus said, “You will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem … and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). One of the first places that the story of Jesus went was to Sudan when “the treasurer of Ethiopia” (probably Meroe in modern Sudan) believed the good news that Philip told him, was baptised, and took the message to Africa.[7]

From there it spread, with other apostles also evangelizing, notably Mark and Thomas, who are reported in tradition to have established the church in Egypt. Persecution came, and it actually led to the Good News spreading further. Check out this site that summarizes the history of Christianity coming to Africa : https://africa.thegospelcoalition.org/article/history-christianity-africa/

Christianity faded in importance and in congruence with the Scriptures over time in these early churches. But our Lord God continues to reach out to all the nations, all the peoples of the earth, including those in Africa who have still been living in darkness so long. That huge continent (you can fit the U.S. into it four times) has many ethnic groups separated from others by geographical obstacles (mountains, rivers, deserts etc.) or by disdain.

The Nyarafolo, the group my husband and I worked with, were subsistence farmers that were looked down on by other ethnic groups in the country.  They had migrated  south on foot from Mali several hundred years ago, looking for farm land. After they had settled near Kong, it was taken over by a Muslim empire and they were chased out. Eventually they found an unoccupied area northwest of Kong and not far from the Mali border in what has since become the Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast),the place where they now live. It was a region with some seasonal wetlands, which they needed as farmers. The Bandama River flowed south next to that region and became a barrier that separated them from the neighboring group to the west. Farming has been a challenge; they remained poor, living off what they could harvest. Their traditional religion, worshiping a variety of false gods and other spiritual beings, has remained firmly ensconced in spite of Muslim and Catholic conversions. Those who understand the need to devote themselves entirely to the High God, who they thought was too distant and unconcerned to respond to them, but discover his love even for them, they are delighted. Those who are Jesus followers are reaching out to spread the Truth. They are still a minority, but want their people to know the Way to God.

They are like a stained glass jar that contains a light so radiant that it stuns the one who sees it shining in the darkness. Where is that coming from, that changed life and new conduct they see in the one who used to be like a hard clay jar? Is it true that Jesus saves people from this bondage of continual sacrifices to an array of gods in order to have a harvest and children and long life? When they see the Light, accept it as Truth and it shines into them as well, there is yet more Light radiating all around! This past week they spent each day evangelizing in villages in an area where persecution by those in the traditional religion has been violent. And Saturday, after worshiping together all night with music and praise, they dedicated a new church building in Pisankaha—the village where the church had been burned down ten years ago by the Poro, the men’s sacred society in the traditional religion.What a great witness, illuminating God’s protection and provision for his people in that area!

Let the Light shine through us believers, over there and wherever our Lord sends us—to everey ethnic group and those who are different from us!

[1] D. A. Carson, “The Gospels and Acts,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1967.

[2] Ibid.

[3] D. A. Carson, “The Gospels and Acts,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1968.

[4] https://www.think-biblically.com/10-lucubrations/108-philip-and-the-ethiopian

[5] Carson, “The Gospels and Acts,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, 1968.

[6] Ibid.

[7] https://africa.thegospelcoalition.org/article/history-christianity-africa/

Passion Pumps Me

passion 
permeates 
my person 
pumps me 
then plummets 
unwieldy 
but willing 
for you 
to work magic 
transform 
passion 
into power 
potent 
patient 
wielded 
by you

Waiting is a challenge, especially when we yearn for what we’ve been told is coming. As a teen (that’s me in the photo above) when I was away at MK boarding school, I kept counting the days until Christmas or Easter vacation when I could be home for a while. When my mother was expecting her sixth child, I (the oldest) could hardly wait to hold that little one in my arms. But most of all, I was thirsty for spiritual growth. I knew I belonged to Jesus. I knew that he was teaching me how to depend on him for support rather than those surrounding me, at home or at school. But when I read books by spiritual mentors like A.W. Tozer, who gifted us with his classic The Pursuit of God, and Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His Highest, I wanted to achieve closeness to the Holy One that was beyond mere believing. I wanted to know he could work in me and through me. I wanted to be sure he lived in me.

When the missionaries gathered at the field conference one year, the scheduled speaker suddenly could not come. So a pastor who was there for another mission’s conference agreed to come. He spoke about the Holy Spirit in ways that made me yearn to know that I was filled with God’s Presence, his Spirit. One day many of the missionaries I loved and respected were joining the line that was waiting for the speaker to lay hands on them. Most of them were asking for healing. I turned to my dad, who was sitting beside me, and told him that I wanted to go and ask for prayer to be filled with the Spirit. He agreed to accompany me.

When it was my turn, I told the pastor what I desired and knelt in front of him. He prayed for me, but I was listening more to my own inner prayer. And after a moment there was a Voice audible only to me that said: “Hon, you already have me!” I stood, thanked the pastor, and returned to my seat.

What happened that day reassured me that being inhabited by the Spirit did not require flames of fire or a different language being spoken, as had happened to so many in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. They were gathered together, waiting for what Jesus had promised them. And on that day, the Spirit fell on them in a visible, auditory way, so that it would be obvious that they were entering a new era. Jesus had ascended but they would not be abandoned to live on their own. They had the assurance that the Spirit would be in them, gifting them as needed.

Pentecost was last Sunday, sometimes not mentioned at all in modern churches. It was a traditional harvest feast for the Israelites and became a time to remember the laws in their covenant with Yahweh, who had saved them from slavery in Egypt (Deut. 16:12). These Jesus followers in Acts 2 were now in a new covenant relationship with God, one sealed by Jesus’ blood. They needed to be equipped to serve their Master, and human effort was insufficient. With his Spirit in them, they would have the empowerment they needed. He had promised this when he spoke to his disciples just before he ascended to heaven:

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” 5 (Lk. 24:45-49 NET)

That was what they were waiting for, what Jesus said his Father had promised: a gift that would clothe them “with power from on high.” They were waiting, grouped together, about 120 of them, praying and encouraging each other in the wait. Ten days after Jesus had ascended, it happened: the Holy Spirit filled the believers.  The disciples had heard Jesus’ prayer after that Last Supper he had with them, a prayer to his Father filled with astounding words:

23 I am in them and You are in Me. May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me. (John 17:23 CSB)

The unity of Father and Son meant that when Jesus said that he was in them spiritually, God himself was in them. And then when he was ascending, he promised power from on high. This was the Spirit, who would empower them to take the Good News to the world. It’s true! As 1 Corinthians 13 makes clear, the Spirit is the one who decides which gifts each believer needs in order to fulfill their purpose in the Body. I know I could not have fulfilled the requirements of my ministry if it had not been for Spirit empowerment.

“To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be energized and controlled by the third person of the Godhead in such a way that under the acknowledged lordship of Jesus Christ the full presence and power of God are experienced. Spirit-filling leads to renewal, obedience, boldness in testimony and an arresting quality in believers’ lives.”[1]

And every single disciple—that includes us—needs the Spirit to empower them to love others, a crucial heart change (cf 1 Corinthians 13). It is not something humans do naturally. There are always divisions threatening to rip unity apart. But if we are truly submitting to the Spirit he has sent to us, to live in us, he will give us the power we need to love others. That is what is meant by “fruit,” the qualities the Spirit grows in us:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23 NET)

And he will give us whatever other gifting conforms to his plan. We may not know what it is when we start out, but he will teach us:

27 Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him. (NET 2:27)

That “anointing” refers to the filling of the Holy Spirit: he resides in the believer, who resides in him as well. We live in him and he lives in us. And this filling is not a one-time event. We may not realise it when we read our English translations, or when we listen to certain preachers. Here is a Bible dictionary explanation. The terms “baptized with the Spirit” (Acts 1:5), “filled with the Spirit” (Acts 2:4), and “received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 10:47) “are virtually synonymous when used of initial experiences of the Spirit, but ‘filled’ is also used to designate subsequent experiences and renewings of the same divine power[2]. . .For example, the command in Ephesians 5:18, “Be filled with the Spirit,” is in the present tense, so it “implies the need to be regularly filled and re-filled with the Spirit.”[3]

These are truths I had to learn during my long spiritual journey. It is easy to become lax in practicing the Presence of God in us and instead begin to trust in our own impulses. But by spending time in the Word and in conversation with our Master, we can keep ourselves open to that regular in-filling. I see it as similar to the way a cup filled with coffee can get jostled and spill when the holder gets distracted and trips, or how sin can rip a hole in the fabric of our close relationship with the King and the filling slips out. We need to stay open to what the Spirit is doing in us and saying to us.

In my poem I was expressing my own strong desire to know the Spirit’s empowerment, and acknowledging my weaknesses in maintaining that imperative connection. Maybe you are there too. Our desire for that ability to do what we are told to do by the Master can be transformed into the strength to actually do it when we submit, and daily make sure we are submitting, to the Spirit who lives in us.

That is what I was learning when I was that teen yearning for intimate relationship with my Lord. His reassurance that he was not resistant to “filling me,” that he already lived in me, has been an anchor throughout my life. May we followers all have that same filling over and over! It brings the transformation we yearn for. As Oswald Chambers wrote, words that incited my poem:

“Forge and transform my passion into power…” 

[1] Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies (London: Martin Manser, 2009).

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

But Wait!

“Go tell!” he said, “But wait!” 
What? Wait? We were so excited, 
overwhelmed with joy 
by all his words that made it clear: 
the Sacred Word had prophesied 
it all—his death but then 
this third-day miracle, 
life made new in him!
We touched his hands,
and he touched us.
This was no ghost:
he ate that roasted fish!

And he forgave our fearful hiding,
even Peter’s scared denying
that he knew him, yet another
prophesy we saw was true.
He loved us anyway!
But now he’s said goodbye.
And yes, we’d be his emissaries,
telling all the world this news
of radical forgiveness
now at hand, in his hand.

This is a gift of love for everyone
if only they would come to him,
say yes, accept it as the truth!
Jesus wants this whole big world
to know. “Go tell!” he said.
“But wait! You cannot do this
on your own. You have to wait:
I will be sending what you need!”

He blessed us all, then suddenly
was gone, lifted high
into the cloudy sky,
gone from view but leaving us
with hope. Everything he said
was always true, that we knew!
Two angels even came to say
he would be coming back some day.
“We’ll wait!” we all agreed.
We miss him, but we know
that anything he promises
will be worth the wait.
Now, instead of worrying,
we’re filled with worship
and undying trust.
As he said, his Holy Spirit 
would come soon and give us
all the strength we need 
to do his will: “Go tell!”
He will come through!

Waiting is always a challenge. When we have no idea when we will see what we’re waiting for, we fight impatience. When the resurrected Jesus was preparing his disciples for his exit from his time on earth, when he was  visible, they asked if now he would be setting up his earthly kingdom. “Only the Father has the right to set that date,” he replied. “But you will be able to do this work I am giving you, because I am sending the Holy Spirit and he will empower you!” (Acts 1:6-8)

So the focus shifted. Evangelism was to be their priority, and as the two angels came and told them, they knew that someday Jesus, too, would indeed return. So they began the first wait, for his Spirit to come and “baptize”  them. They formed an intimate group, constantly united in prayer: the eleven disciples, plus the women who had followed Jesus in his ministry and his mother Mary, along with Jesus’ brothers. At some point many others came to wait with them, 120 people in all! (Acts 9-26). The wait ended up lasting at least 10 days. That was a long prayer meeting!

They faced a test of trust in Jesus. Because what they were waiting for was so essential to their new phase of life with Jesus ascended to heaven, they joined together to stay in conversation with God. They could no longer see Jesus face to face to ask him questions. But they could pour out their hearts to the Godhead, praising God for what Jesus had accomplished and promised, waiting in faith for the next miracle to happen.

We face some similar challenges to our faith when we wait for God to answer our prayers, to come through as his Scriptures have promised. There are an incredible number of “waits” in the Scriptures, some of them centuries, some decades, some days. We do not have access to God’s calendar of future events; he is the Master of time and only he knows the details. But we must trust him, and wait in faith. Yes, Jesus will return. God hears all our prayers and answers in his way, in his timing. Gathering with brothers and sisters in community to pour out our hearts together can bring tremendous confidence and comfort.

And now we do have the Spirit to strengthen us—that will be next week’s focus, the blessing of Pentecost. The day commemorating Jesus ascension just passed, last Thursday, May 29th. Many of us did not even notice that, since in the U.S. it is not an official holiday. But the importance of that day should not be lost! The command Jesus gave and the promise of the Helper who was coming are both essential to how we live. We must not forget!

And some day Jesus himself will come. We wait!

Peter Speaks!

He said, “Love each other.” 
I asked, “Where will you be?” 
Evasive? or just sure 
we could not make the grade 
without him? 
 
He knew this too, and said, 
“The only way you can bear fruit 
is to stay attached to me.”
And yet, he went away.
Hope died.

When he came back he
twirled us into dreams
as he spoke peace to us,
and absolutely anything
seemed possible.

With each appearing,
joy grew more explosive – 
I even swam from ship
to shore to savor Jesus
on the beach.

But after breakfast, his words
scorched my heart.
He asked me if I loved him
(traitor that I’d been,
shamed coward)!

Silently I begged that
he would look into my soul.
and know I love him.
He’d always known my
every thought.

Then, having fueled the flame
of my tempestuous love
for all he is, for who
he is to me, Messiah,
master, friend,

he circled back to where we’d
started when our Judas left.
“Feed my lambs,” he said. “Care for 
my sheep.”  And once more:
“Follow me.”

I heard his thought as clearly
as he’d voiced it at the table:
“As I’ve loved you, in this way
now love each other.
Be like me.”

And this is how the world will 
recognize the Family:
our common cup of love
shared round in conscious copy
of our Lord.

I’ve spilled the cup a thousand
times, or maybe more.  But,
knowing what he said,
I bend to towel off the spill
with kindness,

and try to grasp each trembling
cup so tentatively offered
by a sister or a brother.
We’re caring for each other.
Loving him.

What would it have been like to be Peter?  He knew he was called, chosen (Mat 4:18-20). He had learned so much while following Jesus those years that passed all too quickly while Jesus was calling other Jewish people to follow his path. He eventually experienced incredible change: he went from promising to never desert Jesus, to denying that he even knew him in a critical moment of self-protection (Mat 25\:69-75), to being ready to die for him if he was doing what Jesus said. He wrote this to other believers:

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” (1 Pet. 3:14 NIV)

Don’t be afraid of persecution, opposition that comes from doing justice! Don’t be afraid (and so deny the Master)! And he did die for doing what was right, at the hand of Emperor Nero—tradition says he was crucified upside-down, having begged for that rather than to die the way Jesus did.

What changed him so radically? It was his growth in knowing Christ Jesus better and better, even after Jesus had died, risen and left this earth. He added deep spiritual growth to what he could apply to the knowledge accumulated as one of the twelve disciples. Now he knew personally that his faith was being refined, and his love for the Master was not only deeper but truly joyful. He shared this with other believers when he wrote his first letter:

5 You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials 7 so that the genuineness of your faith– more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire– may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Pet. 1:5-8 CSB)

Note the change in how Peter sees what he saw happen to Jesus and his present walk with the Messiah. He had been devasted by Jesus’ crucifixion—what a trial of his faith! How could the all-powerful miracle worker just let this happen? But he saw the risen Christ. And the risen Christ had underlined for him that what now counted was loving him, and seeing the struggles that came as spiritual refinement bringing praise, glory and honor—when Christ returns! Having seen him die and raised to life, he is now confident that his word is true and he will indeed return and be universally recognized, that his promise of salvation and everlasting life is true.

Not only that, Peter remembers how his last personal conversation with Jesus went. The walked along the lake shore and Jesus kept asking him, “Do you love me?”

When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to Him, “You know that I love You.” “Feed My lambs,” He told him. 16 A second time He asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to Him, “You know that I love You.” “Shepherd My sheep,” He told him. 17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He said, “Lord, You know everything! You know that I love You.” “Feed My sheep,” Jesus said.  18 ” I assure you: When you were young, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to signify by what kind of death he would glorify God. After saying this, He told him, “Follow Me!”  (Jn. 21:15–19 CSB)

His love for Jesus was now cemented; he would do anything for him, even move toward the death Jesus predicted. He would follow him anywhere.  He had seen him. Now the believers that he was writing to in his letter were following Jesus too, even though they had never seen him. And Peter was confirming that this what matters. He was passing on what he had been taught, what he had learned during his own refinement. He was shepherding Jesus’ sheep, showing them the right path to follow.

So how about us? Are we doing what Jesus said, loving him and following him? If so, we must do what is essential for all of us on this Jesus Road:

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. (Jn. 13:34 CSB)

The Chosen People had been told long ago how important it was to love God and love their neighbor, fulfilling the laws that came with the covenant God put in place with Moses:

Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh. (Lev. 19:18 CSB)

But now he was making a new covenant with his people. Jesus was clearly stating the conditions that came along with entering into this alliance with God. It would be lived out by humbly serving one another (John 13:14-15), and it would require a new standard of love:

 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another.” (Jn. 13:34 CSB)

 It is only “new” because it means our love is now measured by how self-giving it is, not by how much we love ourselves! It requires humility and putting the good of others above our own.[1]

And these were some of Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he was arrested. The next days were full of incomprehensible loss, for Peter and the others who loved this extraordinary man. They were made even more unbearable for Peter as he realized that his denial of knowing Jesus was contrary to the new covenant law: self-sacrificing love for others, not selfish safeguarding of one’s own interests!

We, like Peter, are empowered to move forward by Jesus’ forgiveness—not just once, when we join ourselves to him, but every time we fail and come to him with true repentance. We literally have to stay “attached to the Vine” (John 15) in order to have his strength flowing into us, making us able to do what he says and actually produce fruit.

Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. (Jn. 15:4 CSB)

And a crucial part of that fruit is love for others. Peter had to learn it, and he passed on this lesson in his first letter, underlining what it means to be an eternally living new being, born again by obeying the truth—and Jesus is the truth:

22 By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again– not of perishable seed but of imperishable– through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Pet. 1:22,23 CSB)

For what purpose are we to purify ourselves?  To be able to love each other sincerely, without corrupting our “love” with selfish motives. And where do we find the truth that we must obey? What attaches us securely to the Vine?  “The living and enduring word of God”! We need to take this seriously and digest that word, letting it become a part of us, living it out.

 Peter closes that first letter with an impassioned plea that applies even more to us now, since we are even closer to “the end of all things,” whenever that will take place. We are not to live in fear, or contribute to division. We are to cling to the Vine, spending time in conversation with him, our source of truth and strength. And we must love each other!

7 Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer. 8 Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 (1 Pet. 4:7 CSB)

Jesus taught his disciples and they passed it on to us: love each other the way Jesus Messiah has loved you! Even when we were still trapped in sin, he loved us and gave himself for us. Are we pursuing that intense love that forgives and produces the fruit our Beloved Master desires?

Peter moved from a life of just catching fish to working diligently for his Master, becoming a “fisher of humans”—bringing them into the Kingdom, and lovingly teaching them how to live as citizens and workers there. This is for us, too. We are now serving the Master who bought us with his own blood, “slaves” in the only wonderful sense of that word—rescued from bondage to evil and freed forever, given the gift of being servants to the God of love. Let’s show the world that this status is real! Let’s show love!

[1] [1] D. A. Carson, “The Gospels and Acts,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1923.

The Red of Love

Love—deep red love— 
came struggling through 
the pressure of the birth canal 
and landed safe in loving hands
that washed away the blood
and held him close.
They did not know, not yet,
that Love’s own blood
would someday spurt
from lashes to his back,
from nails plunged straight
through his own hands,
and through his feet—
blood of Life and supreme Love
that would bring hope to anyone
who trusted in his words
and in the power of his shed blood
to wash away the curse of sin.
It sealed a covenant of peace
between the Lord and his dear ones,
a document of liberation
signed in crimson blood,
the red of Love.

Blood is not usually something we love to talk about. But that can change! Being involved in the process of translating the Bible into the Nyarafolo language has put me on a steep learning curve, and the importance of blood is one part of that climb.

One of the most significant elements for me was learning about “covenant.” It is a concept we only mention these days when we apply it to marriage. And yes, marriage is a legal agreement—a covenant—between two people, with promises to support one another and stay together. But this year during the Easter season as I contemplated Jesus’ last words to his disciples and the incredible significance of his death, this struck me: a new covenant was being made between God and the humans who would accept the criteria.

In the early 2000’s, Moïse and I were launching into translating the Old Testament, just after Mark’s Gospel had been translated and printed. We realized that the New Testament would not be easily understaood without the background of the Pentateuch. So Genesis was the challenge before us, full of new terms to understand.

The hardest one was “covenant.” When we asked other team members for suggestions, the most popular proposal was a Nyarafolo term that meant “promise.” It didn’t seem to fit in logically for me, but we went with it. We were working in association with SIL (Wycliffe Bible Translators), and they require that each translated section be checked by a consultant before it is given to the people. When the consultant was meticulously going through the first part of Genesis with us, we got to chapter 15 and whammed into the problem of “covenant.”

“The word you have chosen in Nyarafolo means ‘promise,’ you tell me. But what would happen if someone were to break their promise?”

The team’s answer was, “Well, you wouldn’t be happy with them.”

“So, no consequences?” the consultant asked. “That seems weak, because this covenant was actually a legal agreement that included promises if it was kept, and consequences if it was not respected.”

That led to another long discussion. The one word that seemed to fit the bill had been pushed away by the Nyarafolo team because it was an agreement that was negotiatied with other local gods in the traditional religion, a practice that is still ongoing. But the debate came to a wonderful conclusion when Moïse told how his family had previously needed to renew their contract yearly with the god of their farmland territory in order to have a good harvest. One year his grandfather was standing by the stream that bordered their land, and when he threw the sacrificial chicken into the water a crocodile appeared, grabbed his leg and pulled him into the stream. He was able to kick loose but limped the rest of his life. And the crops failed; the family lost all they had. They knew that some family member had done something forbidden in the agreement.

Moise was just about ready to underline the creepy occult background to this when he stopped, choked up. “Wait!” he said. “This one in the Bible is different: it is not a human reaching to a god, it is God reaching to Abraham to make this agreement!  He is not far away—he is the one initiating the relationship with a human!  We have to use this word!”

So yes, it is the word in the Nyarafolo biblical text, and it has great impact. Nyarafolos assume that God exists but is far off, so only local gods can be interacted with. The Bible’s message is the opposite. God is always reaching out to humans.

And here is an element that struck me: I suddenly saw a crucial link myself between blood and a covenant. Read Genesis 15 and you will see it. Abraham wanted to know how he could have descendants, and Yahweh told him they would be as numerous as the stars. Abraham believed God’s promise “and it was counted to him as righteiousness” (15:6). Then Abraham was required to gather certain animals and cut them in half. He lined them up. The blood must have been flowing into the path between them. When it got dark, God revealed the hard trials that would be coming to his descendants, 400 years of affliction but afterwards they would have a land of their own. A smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between the bloody animal halves, and the covenant was sealed.

The Hebrew word for “covenant” is berith, “derived from a root which means to cut, and hence a covenant is a cutting, with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant (Gen. 15; Jer. 34:18, 19).”[1]

And the Nyarafolo word for “covenant” is nyakungɛngɛ, which means “cut-mouth-give.” Interesting links there!  They also cut the neck of the sacrificial animal so that blood flows, then agree to the words the mouth speaks! This opens understanding to what the Scripture is telling us about the extreme importance of a covenant agreement!

When Yahweh offered his crucial covenant to the people of Israel through Moses, blood also sealed it:

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exod. 24:3-8 ESV)

The shedding of blood for those ancient covenants in the Bible has great relevance for the application of that term to the new covenant that Jesus sealed with his own blood. We hear about it when we take communion, following the process that he went through with his disciples during that last Passover dinner he shared with them. He shared the bread, his body broken for them, then the wine:

20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”  (Lk. 22:20 ESV)

The wine represents his blood, shed on the cross for us. And that new covenant is the one we agree to when we come to Jesus, repent of our sins, give ourselves to him! He sealed it with his own wounded body and his blood. We enter it, this eternally valid legal contract that gives us life forever with him!

What Israel forgot, and what we often forget, is that a covenant comes with consequences for those who act against its requirements. Deuteronomy is full of those, and in one section where Yahweh was laying out the consequences of disloyalty to him when Israel turned their backs on him to serve other gods,  it says:

24 all the nations will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt . . .((Deut. 29:24-25 ESV)

On the other hand, there is so much in that covenant to benefit those who are faithful:

All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. (Ps. 25:10 NIV)

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (Isa. 54:10 NIV)

And Yahweh made it clear, through the prophet Jeremiah, that he was going to make a new covenant:

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  (Jer. 31:1 ESV)

Knowing him personally was going to come with the forgiveness he would offer! When Jesus was explaining that the new covenant was in process right then, he said:

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matt. 26:28 NIV)

I hope you’ve walked this far with me in this reflection on the deep meaning of the kind of death Jesus suffered, one in which blood flowed from his back as he was whipped, and from his hands and feet nailed to the cross. There is so much more to explore here, because we Gentiles are also offered participation in this covenant—which is why we are reflecting on this together. We are also his people! And we believers participate in the covenant that brings us into relationship with the God who brings us peace and everlasting life and shows us how to live for him. The person who wrote the book of Hebrews underlines this in their farewell:

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.  (Heb. 13:2 ESV)

Amen! May it be so for each of us!

[1] M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary and Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893), 164.

Photo: ancient Hebrew scroll, Adobe stock images

Open Home, Open Heart

The travelers walked in the front door, 
hot and dusty after hours on dirt roads. 
Mom always found room at the table, 
one built for her by Dad, big enough 
to welcome at least a dozen guests. 
She added another vegetable, salad, bread—
done! There was always enough.

Then, grown up, it was my turn.
I learned to serve the local friend
who showed up right at mealtime,
thirsty, hungry, startled that we knew
an open home was an essential virtue,
a demonstration of community,
a value held dearly: test of character.

Our village friends showed us more,
caring for us when we stayed all night.
A brother would move out of his hut
so that we could rest in that space.
Or a sister would open her hut to me
to stay the weekend, along with others.

They had little, but love overflowed.
We were each given names, accepted,
honored as one of them. Open hearts,
open homes—we kept on learning.
We opened our door to welcome them.
It became our way, too, as it should be:
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself!”

This past Sunday, Mothers’ Day, one of the men in our “Grow Group” (adult Sunday School class) asked each of us to share something we had learned from our mother. I wish I had remembered this one! Our family lived in a town that was on the main road between three countries and several major cities, so many other missionaries would be passing through. And many were coming for medical help or to have babies at this safe hospital. Mom’s open door to visitors made it easy for me to put that same practice into effect in my life.

Our Lord sent Glenn and me back to that same part of Africa, but with the charge to focus on the Nyarafolo people who lived all around that town where I had grown up, Ferkessédougou. Those people taught us even more.

Out in the villages, near their farmlands, they lived in simple mud-brick huts. We needed more immersion in the language, so our language helper eventually let us stay overnight with our toddler daughter in his man-hut; he moved out to live with other family. We brought a gift of fish, something they craved (and good protein). They shared their meals with us, and their time. They did not yet know Jesus, so by welcoming us they were not sharing with people in their faith community or their ethnic group. In fact, we were Whites, which automatically linked us to those colonist masters who had been so brutal. At first they were polite to us as we came to spend a few hours, waiting to see what kind of people we were. And friendships began to form in amazing ways when they at last accepted us as overnight visitors. They were planting seeds of love, and so were we.

Later, when I began asking questions to dig into cultural values, I learned that if anyone shows up at your door as you are ready to eat, the right response is to offer them a chair at the table. There it was: offer a sleeping space to the visitor, a place at the table to the person in front of you.

At the same time I dug into one of those books that was mentoring me: Open Heart, Open Home by Karen Mains. I was being shaped.

Living this way definitely makes me think of the command given to those following Yahweh:

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD (Lev. 19:18 NIV)

So loving others definitely reaches beyond taking in a traveler that is a good friend. It includes “love your enemy,” that person who opposes you, otherwise why would the preface to the command include not seeking revenge or bearing a grudge? Jesus made sure that this was understood when he was preaching on the mountainside:

 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matt. 5:42-45 NET)

People obviously had been reinterpreting God’s command to love their neighbor. They said it only applied to those who are lovable, who are like you and who are loving toward you. Jesus turned that upside down. Father God is not like that. The sunshine and rain, both necessary for the good of people, are not withheld from those who do wrong. Be like him! Show love to those who oppose you! Be merciful.

Someone recently told me that it is not possible to feel love for someone who has hurt you deeply. Yes, if love is defined just as that emotional bond that you feel for a spouse or parent or child, or even a best friend, that positive leap of your heart is not what you feel when you see that person who has criticized you unfairly or withheld what you deserved. No, when Jesus said to love your neighbor as you love yourself, he was talking about a kind of love that is communicated to us in the New Testament through the Greek word agape. The various lexicons try hard to define it. The Friberg Analytical Greek Lexicon speaks clearly to this situation of loving the neighbor who is kind and the one who is not. Then agape means:

“especiallly . . . love as based on evaluation and choice, a matter of will and action.”

In other words, even if that person does not deserve that you show them acceptance or even help when they need it, you choose to do so. Why? Jesus told us why: we are to be like God, who values people for being people. Of course discernment is also necessary, knowing what is truly helpful for someone, and when a person is dangerous. That requires Spirit guidance.

Jesus was challenged for teaching this radical love, so to make it reach yet further he told the parable of the Good Samaritan. The shock of his choice of the “good guy” as a Samaritan is lost on many of us. That ethnic group was looked down on by the Jews that were his audience that day. The last thing they would expect would be to have a Samaritan show such kindness and generosity to an injured man from a different group, lying on the street. How would Jesus tell that parable to an American today? Which ethnicity would he make the “good guy” to show you that this command is not about loving only people who are like you? It is about disregarding class and ethnic barriers, reaching beyond them to show compassion. It is “a matter of will and action.”

When it is your decision to reach out to help someone, it is free choice—a different version of freedom than the world most often cites:

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:13 NET)

By serving one another, by loving a neighbor who is brought into our lives, by showing love through action, we live out the reality of God’s loving open arms. He loved us so much that he took on human form, a body so minute compare to his magnificent essence, and lived a simple life of barefoot travel and suffering, and died for us—wicked as we are (Romans 5:8). He showed us the ultimate form of self-sacrifice for the good of others. He himself is love, and we are on a life path to be like him:

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Eph. 5:1,2 NIV)

By walking in the way of love we are obeying our beloved Jesus. When we truly love someone, we long to delight them. And in his last evening with his disciples he underlined how key this is!

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love (Jn. 15:9,10 NIV

This Mystery

It’s a mystery of unity 
beyond my understanding: 
One God, three Persons, 
One Essence in deep harmony, 
working together as one 
to build a home in me 
and move in permanently!

You live in us, each one
a piece of your Family,
each one with access to
the heart of the Father,
the love of the Son,
and the intimate reality
of your Spirit as our guide.

And yet it is reciprocal,
this miracle of unity!
I am in you, my Savior!
Attached to you
I drink you in, so
somehow we are “one”,
living life together, forever!

The ties that bind us firmly
the Enemy cannot sever,
a spiritual communion
beyond dreams, a promise
you made to your disciples
who wrote it down for us.
And they knew that it was true.

The disciples were surrounding the table, listening. They did not realize this was their final feast with the Master before he would be arrested and crucified. Jesus was saying words of teaching and encouragement that had to be overwhelmingly difficult to digest:

He had said he was going away. He told them that he was preparing a place for them and that he was actually “the way” to that place. He would be there with his Father—and if they knew him, Jesus, they would have seen and known the Father, God! It had to blow their minds. He explains:

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves.  (Jn. 14:11 NET)

And then he promises that he will send them the Spirit, who will actually live in them forever!

16 Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you. 19 In a little while the world will not see me any longer, but you will see me; because I live, you will live too. 20 You will know at that time that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. 21 The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. (Jn. 14:16-21 NET)

Did you catch that mystery in verse 20, the unity Jesus said would happen that would make community life with the Trinity a reality for the disciple?

20 You will know at that time that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.

I have been contemplating this for years. Chapters 14 to 17 in John have been one of the most comforting places I’ve found in the Scriptures. After I lost my first pregnancy in the seventh month, I memorized Jesus’ prayer in chapter 17. His desire for union in the Family, his picture of the individual believer living in him and him in them, is so very reassuring of his love in this very hour. He even told his Father:

20 “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, 21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.   (Jn. 17:20-23 NET)

So we are included! We read the words that John and other witnesses wrote and we believe in the Way, Jesus, who is in the Father. And the Father is in him. Their Spirit, the Spirit of truth, lives in us! And a crucial aspect of this relationship is that we believers be “in” this Father/Son/Spirit three-in-one God! It is indeed a mystery, even when we are living it. He lives in us and we live in him. What does that mean? I will take us to the words of a biblical scholar who explains it well:

What it means for Christ to dwell in believers is clear enough: with the coming of the Spirit to dwell in believers, Jesus also may be said to dwell in them because of the unity of the Spirit and the Son. However, what it means for believers to dwell in Christ is more difficult to explain. At one level, it appears to be a metaphor for loyalty and obedience to Christ—at least, this is what Jesus stressed about believers abiding in him. The key text is 15:4–10, where, describing the disciples’ relationship to him in terms of branches in the vine, Jesus says that they ‘remain’ in him by allowing his words to ‘remain’ in them (15:7), and implies that this is the same as abiding in his love by obeying his commands (15:10). However, more than loyalty and obedience is involved in their being ‘in’ Jesus, as his prayer in 17:21 indicates: ‘Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us.’ It is perhaps best understood in terms of a union brought about by the coming of the Holy Spirit.[1]

So although we cannot understand it all, when we belong to Jesus, his Spirit lives in us, and because of that, we are “in” Christ too.

What a privilege to be invited into this sacred harmony, this home, to live there every minute, to share it with the Trinity!

Are we living it out? Are we resting there, conversing with them in our home, reflecting God’s glory?  That is yet another deep subject to explore.

Let’s revel in this privilege of being unified with God this way! We live in Christ, attached firmly to him (the parable of the Vine in in John 15, is a key part of this teaching). You and I are both part of this Family and this mysterious union. What grace!

And yet it is reciprocal,

this miracle of unity!

I am in you, my Savior!

Attached to you

I drink you in, so

somehow we are “one”,

living life together, forever!

[1] Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. Eckhard J. Schnabel, Second edition, vol. 4, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 2017), 355–356.

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When My Heart Shrivels

When my heart shrivels 
thirsty for intimacy 
stretched by demands 
pressured and pummeled 

I come to you. 
Here in your Presence 
hope is re-seeded 
when I remember 

your love surrounds me
your power protects me
your tenderness holds me
your truth directs me.

And you are God:
the One who made me
the One who sent me
always with me.

Under pressure? Facing demands?  Feeling dry spiritually and emotionally, squeezed out?

There are days like that–we all face them sometime!

I admit there were moments when I was serving as a missionary that I felt like that. That is why I wrote the poem “When My heart Shrivels.” And there have been days like that here in the States, where “retirement” has become instead “retreading\:” getting back into being an exegete for Bible translation in Africa, but doing it with an online connection that may or may not work (very unstable on their end).

And then there are the days when the news squeezes the breath out of you: wars killing the innocent, rulers using their power to crush the hopes of the vulnerable, the rich skating through life with no concerns while the poor lose their access to healthcare.

Where is God in all this? The truth is, even when we cannot feel it, he is always with his dear ones. He is not a Father who is absent, always traveling and involved in business while his children struggle to grow up. He is not far away!

A conversation I had with a five-year-old the other day brought this reality to mind. She was staying overnight and had gotten up for breakfast. I was in the kitchen; she asked where my husband (a beloved “grandpa” to her) was. I said he had just finished his Bible study and prayer, and was upstairs getting dressed.

“So did he use his headphones?” she asked.

“You mean, to pray?” I answered. “No, he was just talking with God in his insides, in his heart and mind. God hears it all! In fact, he is always with us—he even knows how many hairs are in your head—he knows everything about us!”

“So no headphones?!” she exclaimed.

She knows that often people like to use headphones when communicating with a family member far away, using a computer. And “Grandpa” is often listening to things on his computer, wearing headphones. But this was a revelation to her: God is not just up in heaven, distant! He is beside you! He can hear your voice, even a silent prayer in your thoughts.

In fact the last words Jesus spoke to his disciples before ascending into heaven were these:

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matt. 28:20 NIV)

Always! Until this world as we know it ends!

There are two psalms that speak vividly to this issue. They underline God’s presence in the midst of personal distress and loss of hope.

Asaph, in Psalm 73, is wrestling with the way everything seems to be going right for the wicked who are prosperous, proud, and “with arrogance threaten oppression” (v. 8). People admire them and support them, seeing all their success and wealth. Whereas Asaph admits that in spite of trying hard to “keep his heart pure” and his actions righteous (v. 14), he suffers every day.Then he confesses that ultimately God will hold those wicked bigwigs accountable (vv. 16-20), and wishes he had not slipped into such bitterness. He grabs onto what would give him comfort in the middle of this swamp of evil, speaking to his God:

23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. 28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. (Ps. 73:23-28 NIV)

In Hebrew culture, the “right hand” was symbolic of action, particularly good action. With God beside him every moment, directing his life, “forever” carries a sense of delight and promise for Asaph. It is by being near Yahweh, King of the Universe, that he finds shelter from the storm, a secure refuge.

The other psalmist who underlines this constant nearness of God is David. In Psalm 139 he starts out with a detailed account of the way Yahweh knows everything he does and every thought he has. If he gets up or goes to sleep, if he says anything or thinks anything, Yahweh knows all about it. He admits that this is beyond understanding. There is no place on earth where God is not there, no place where anyone could hide from him.  This is his “omnipresence.” Is that a scary thing? Yes, if you are among those disobeying him and wish he didn’t see you! But for those who know Yahweh personally, is it precious reassurance:

 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand– when I awake, I am still with you.  (Ps. 139:1 NIV)

Wow! David thinks back to the truth that the Creator put him together, formed his being, in his mom’s womb! He made him to be who he is. He knew him even then, and not only that, God knew what his life was going to be like—he prepared him for what was in the plan!

 This psalm became my go-to place for processing hard times and resting my anxious thoughts. Sure, I was often living far away from my usual supportive cohort and family, even an ocean+ away from them. But I was never away from my God. He is not limited by geography, phone connections, internet stability. He is actually right here, wherever I am—wherever you are! The fact that he knows everything about how I am made, right down to my physical body (formed by him in the womb) and my life cycle from start to finish, affirms the truth that he is the one in charge of everything about me and will take care of me. He stays right beside me, whether I’m asleep or running through a field in the night (afraid of snakes), whether I am at work trying to do my best or resting in my chair to enjoy the company of friends or read a book.

Evil is still active in our world, but in the end, he is the one who will take care of the wicked (vv. 19-22). He sees me, inside and out, and yes, he holds me accountable too! I’m so glad he is forgiving and the one who offers empowerment. He knows my heart intimately. And that is not scary, but deeply reassuring—when I am walking life with him. He will show me how to change course or behavior, and the will walk with me all the way through my life path to the end goal:

 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Ps. 139:23-24 NIV) 

All of this is true for you if you are a daughter or son of this loving Father!

That is where there is peace in the midst of turmoil or bigger-than-me challenges. And what makes this yet more personally thrilling is that Jesus has made these promises even more astonishing. We will be digging into that!

Serve the Word!

This is our calling 
when we follow Jesus: 
we are “servants of the Word.” 
He is the Word! 
He speaks to us, 
through Scripture texts 
(the written Word) 
and also through his Spirit, 
our Counselor, our Guide.

He lives inside me,
makes my heart’s eyes
see the highlights
he has stroked across
those texts so relevant
to me, my life.
Do I take note?
Do I get up and follow through?

How do I feel the nudge,
or hear that still small voice
that is the GPS 
showing the path ahead;
note the amber alert  
when danger is near;
hold to the word of truth
that tells me to go,
to keep on running 
to spread the news?

My part is to be still,
to stay attached
and welcome his instructions
and then to carry through.

My inner ears will learn
to carefully discern
that precious voice
that worms its way
through all distractions
to direct my moves,
my steps, my words –
to guide my growth
in this profession,
this divine obsession:
that I might learn the ways
to be a servant of the Word!

Easter worship brought intense joy as we contemplated all that Messiah Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, and reveled in the truth that he is alive! Then his last words to his disciples hit me in a very personal way: “I am now the authority over the universe, the Savior of the world! Go and tell this news to everyone, your kind of people and those who are very unlike you, even far away! I have died and risen for you all, for them all, and I long to offer them the gift of life that never ends! Cling to this: I will walk with you and guide you the whole way. Just serve me, doing what I give you to do.” (my interpretation–see Mat 28:18-19).

His disciples wrote his words down so that they could be passed on. They also did as the Master had said, traveling to many places in the Roman Empire including Greece and Lebanon to tell people the Good News about Jesus. Thomas went to India, Matthew to Mediterranean regions and Ethiopia. All were martyred except John, who nevertheless was confined to the island of Patmos because of his faith.

This has always underlined for me the truth of the historical account of the resurrection. If it were not true that Jesus died and rose to life, and had then told his disciples to go spread the news, would these men have given up their lives rather than be killed or imprisoned? No! They had known Jesus intimately and experienced his living presence after his resurrection. It was worth losing their lives. It was also worth doing exactly what he had said to do. One of them stayed in Jerusalem to lead the church there and do what the Lord gave him to do. The rest scattered, wherever they were led to go.

They were serving the Word of God! As John, one of them, wrote in his introduction to his written account of Jesus’ life and ministry:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (Jn. 1:1-5 NIV)

And Luke, making sure that his friend, Theophilus, would know the whole truth about Jesus, started his  book by writing:

I have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. (Lk. 1:1 NIV).

 The disciples themselves told the congregation in Jerusalem that this was their priority:

We ourselves will continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.”

If it had not been clear to them that the “word” was Jesus himself, this calling would not have meant so much. They had known him intimately, and they knew that God had communicated his good news of salvation through Jesus, through his teaching and his life. To serve the word was to serve him!  I would write it this way: to serve the Word was to serve Jesus! And that was what life was now about.

Is that our passion too? Do we do what he says to do, go where he wants us to go, live out his love? When he is the Master, that is our life work. We can trust his goodness and his plans, since he is God and God is completely good. And God is love! He has given himself for us. We need to give ourselves over to him in gratitude and joyful obedience!

So how can we know what he is telling us to do? First of all, let him renew us, change us. When our inner focus switches to him we will be able to discern how he is leading. Paul put it this way:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is– his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom. 12:2 NIV)

The world is enticing, with all that it offers in the way of fun and riches and even power. But walking with Jesus requires turning our backs on those as goals. They are not what we are to spend our lives grasping for. Instead, when we are transformed we will learn to listen to our Master and recognize when he is the one speaking. He is the Word, the one trustworthy Word, and he does gift each of us with ways to spread his Good News. He will empower us to bless others, to serve them with the best of food: the bread of life and living water! Remember these words:

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (Jn. 6:35 NIV)

Let’s keep on serving the Word who supplies us with all that we need to accomplish what he has planned for us! May we each learn the ways he has in mind for us to be a servant of the Word!