Count Me In: One at a Time

Posted on August 3, 2009 by Robert Franklin

“So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:20-21, NLT)

One of the early tasks we accomplish as children is learning to count to ten. Parents patiently repeat the names assigned to numbers and children practice until they master this basic set of knowledge.

“How old are you?” the adult asks. “I am ‘free'” the child replies while holding up three digits in an attempt to make sure she is understood. I have watched in amusement as children sit on the floor of a play area and recite “1 to 10” while moving the appropriate fingers as a self-reminder and marker of progress.

Fingers are wonderful things. Fingers are just the right tools to grasp and manipulate things, to help us communicate and emphasize our “points” and even to help us remember things we may otherwise have forgot. The index finger is “number one” and the finger upon which to tie “remember” string. The index and middle fingers raised simultaneously are “two” and also the sign of victory. The third finger is “three” when combined with one and two and by itself can indicate much by the wearing of a ring. The fourth finger is assigned the little tasks, but still conveys higher value than the first three. Thank God for thumbs! Five is its number and without it the ability to “hold on” would be nearly undone.

During the next five weeks Main Street will be investigating the “top five” things we believe are essential to being a follower of Jesus. The “number one” thing is worship of the Most High God, this must be our drive. Two is to lead people to a conversion experience with Jesus, this is our direction from Jesus to obey. Third is to teach people toward maturity in Jesus, this must be our destination. Fourth is to serve our community and world in Jesus’ name, this is our Christian duty. The “thumb” of our hand is to be a “sieve people” who together form a “sieve church.” The ability to be a utensil through which God’s resources flow is our distinctive.

It is my prayer that keeping these five basic (even foolish?) things always “at hand” will allow us to be of great use in our Lord’s kingdom: In the present day, and for the future.

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Hungry Lice

Posted on July 30, 2009 by Robert Franklin

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? (James 2.15-16)

I am currently in Eastern Tennessee with 54 of my friends.  We are doing all sorts of things: repairing homes, visiting elder-care facilities, working in the Boys and Girls Club.  My assignment is the Boys and Girls Club.

The children we have been working with are delightful, undisciplined and some are very poor.  The club facility is really quite nice and is located in the midst of an old fashioned “Section 8” neighborhood.  The third day we were there I spent about 3o minutes on the front porch doing head checks (why I am qualified to do this is a story for another entry).  Six to nine children had head lice and had to go home.

The most heartbreaking of those who left were “Julia” and “James.”  They live in the same family unit with a single dad although they are not really related.  Julia would show up each morning at 10am so hungry she was lethargic.  I am no medical expert, but she demonstrated all the signs of malnourishment: sallow eyes, dull hair, extremely thin.  Our team started bringing “breakfast food” and making sure she (and others) ate right away and, sure enough, the children brightened up within just a few minutes and were able to join the festivities.

I get to meet “dad” and go shopping with J & J. tomorrow.  We are going to Wal Mart to get some school clothes and maybe some non-perishables for her to sock away so that she is not hungry during the next few days until school starts.

I am praying I get to share Jesus with dad.  He is leaving the children with his drug-addict sister so he can move to Florida and establish residency there (and then call for the children).  I can’t imagine there are too many jobs in Florida…maybe he knows something I don’t.

This summer I have looked into the faces of black children and white children who are hungry through no fault of their own.  It is becoming almost more than I can bear…it is more than I bear. 

I know I cannot change the world or feed all the children, but this thing I do know, I cannot ignore the need presented me, nor seek to stay so far away from the needs of those I may help so that I can bask in the comfort of the goodness I have known all my life.

I will not.

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You Expect Me to Do What?!

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Robert Franklin

“This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step. He never did one thing wrong, Not once said anything amiss. They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing.” (1 Peter 2:21-24, The Message)

The great Shepherd and Guardian of our souls set the example for those who follow him. I find it utterly distasteful!

Rather than doing what seemed right to him at the time, Jesus instead sought the will, direction and best purposes of God, in everything!

Rather than bending the facts of a matter to suit his comfort, his reputation, his purposes, Jesus instead spoke the truth without exception!

Rather than verbally striking back to defend his “rightness” and rather than calling down fire from heaven to redress wrongs done to him, Jesus chose instead to defer to God’s judgment and action in all things!

Rather than pitying sinful humanity for our inability to attain right standing with God, Jesus bore the pain of our punishment at the cross, so that the gift of salvation could be extended to everyone!

I am expected to follow this path? “Sheer lunacy,” I say! I much prefer pretending to obey the Ten Commandments, to give some of my money and to suffer the company of fools once a week on Sunday mornings. This whole call to the “normalcy of suffering” for the sake of reflecting the presence and power of Christ in me is bah humbug!

Or is it?!

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How Good is Your Shepherd?

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Robert Franklin

“Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:25, NLT)

One of the longstanding debates amongst the followers of Jesus is the efficacy of salvation, or “If a person is saved by grace can they subsequently lose that salvation?”

This passage is one of many which address this question. The answer is explicit in the text, since Jesus is the Shepherd and Guardian of my soul, I cannot overpower his work by act or attitude. Jesus said of himself that he is the “Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep” and that “I know my sheep and my sheep know my voice” (John 10.11, John 10.27). The Bible gives witness that it was for the “love of the whole world” Jesus came (John 3.16) but only those who receive him shall be saved from judgment of sin (John 3.18). If we can somehow overcome that grace given to us, the name by which Jesus calls us, it would seem to quickly follow that Jesus is confused about his role since he doesn’t really know his sheep since the sheep he “now has” may not be his sheep at a later date.

Jesus wanted to make sure that his disciples knew how seriously he took the role of shepherd of souls. Toward the end of providing a peek into his heart, Jesus spoke the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18.12-14). Bottom line is that Jesus just is not into “losing” sheep and when “sheep” are lost, he goes and finds them.

It amazes me that so much valuable time has been expended on this singular question when Christians ought to be wrestling with the much more pertinent set of questions under the header, “How can I honor my shepherd?”

Peter, who knew a thing or two about being “lost”, admonishes the church with the answer. He tells the Christ-follower, “Since Jesus suffered on your behalf, you ought to also follow his example of suffering for his sake.” (1 Peter 2.21-23)

I know my shepherd will keep my soul until such a day as I am delivered into eternal rest; what I don’t know is whether or not I will honor the great price paid for my assurance with a life that reflects the enormity and value of the gift I have received. It seems to me that I have been given some measure of choice in the matter of whether or not to honor the one who gave up everything for me. It is my deepest hope that the sum of my life equals honor to the Shepherd and Guardian of my soul.

May it be so!

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To Disdain Repentance

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Robert Franklin

“Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:3-4, ESV)

 
What distress could cause a man to ask God to strike him dead?: The pain of watching the wicked turn from evil and violence and be passed over for judgment by God. It seems easy to judge Jonah’s unrighteous anger, but how often do we feel the same way. When we are wronged, it is not the case that we desire more that the perpetrator of the wrong be punished than we desire the offender to repent and be restored?

 We do not do well to be angry with God for withholding retribution in favor of grace and mercy. Such anger declares us unworthy of the same holy wrath being directed toward us. In other words, I am saying by my demand that God do something to punish the wicked that I am not in “that” group. Most of us do not want to be counted in the congregation of the wicked, but if we peel away the layers of our overly optimistic self-concept, we may find that we are not quite as pure as we may like to think.

 
We know this to be true of Jonah. Jonah possessed a task list given to him by God. Jonah refused to obey. As Jonah begged for mercy whilst he was in the belly of the great fish, he admitted to God that he had failed to keep the vows he made to the Lord (Jonah 2.9). Afterward, when Jonah was literally placed by God where he needed to be, Jonah did as little as possible to fulfill his commission and then hoped against hope that he would be unsuccessful. God didn’t destroy Jonah for his disobedience and recalcitrance, however, and allowed Jonah to instead to see his character, a God of great compassion even toward those who are wicked (Jonah 4.2, 10).

It is a fact in evidence that Jonah was not nearly as wicked as those God chose to save. I may not be as wicked as someone I want God to “take care of” because they have caused me pain or other harm. It is true of both Jonah and of me that we need God’s compassion worked through mercy and grace: the withholding of judgment and the offer of unmerited gifts.

 The Bible comforts us to with the promise that God will righteously judge (Psalm 7) at just the right time and that those who plant wickedness will receive a harvest of the same (Galatians 6.7). For my part I am glad that God tempers these promises with the same compassion he extended to incredibly wicked Nineveh so long ago.

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and guilt! Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured—there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt…Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin!—Julia H. Johnston “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”

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“For the Sake of the Children”

Posted on July 20, 2009 by Robert Franklin

And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.” (Nehemiah 1:5-6, ESV)

 

Nehemiah’s prayer, offered over several days, was not only the recognition that his current generation was living apart from the will and direction of God, but also a confession that his ancestors had done the same. Nehemiah’s reality of captivity in a foreign nation was not the direct result of his actions or the actions of his fellow Israelites, but the consequence of the actions of those who lived long before he was born.

 

In our culture we are constantly bombarded with dire warnings about the effects of our corporate actions on our progeny. “Reduce carbon emissions, stop growing the national debt and our personal debt, reduce the amount to sugar intake and lower your body mass index, use less healthcare, don’t cut old growth forests…” From my perspective I see these pervasive and persistent cries for repentance for “the sake of the children” largely ignored. We pretend to care, but we are really much more interested in our own common comforts. Though most don’t desire our children to suffer and do really want them to have a “better” life than we experience, we are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to make a real difference.

 

This is most evident, I think, in our spiritual lives. We may make some minor adjustments to our lifestyle to “slow global warming” but the major changes demanded by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit are too foreign to our pampered existence to be acted upon. Since we are largely unwilling to “leave all and follow Jesus” we are neither model spiritual maturity to our children nor challenge them to lives of desperate obedience to Christ. The outcome of parental apathy and disobedience regarding the commands of Christ is a heritage that will, in the end, invite the same kind of reality as Nehemiah experienced: desolation of our spiritual home and contemporaries who are largely disinterested in doing anything to repair the lost relationship with God.

 

The wonderful part of God’s character is that he is not overcome by our generational drift and he is willing and able to restore to himself all those who call upon his name. We would do well to ponder the fact that the God of Christianity has been declared dead again and again over the last one hundred fifty years and yet still seems to be able to engage people in every culture and place in a real and life-changing manner. For my part, my grandparents were not driven by obedience to Jesus, yet God interdicted the life of my parents and gave them a passion to follow him, no matter what the cost. This is my heritage, one that I am determined to do all I can to pass along to my children. To each generation is given the choice to receive or reject the Lordship of Jesus, it is my prayer that those presently alive in Jesus would be about the business of doing all they can to make sure that Nehemiah’s prayer does not need to be repeated.

 

Make it so Lord.

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