It has been 13 days now since we lost power here in our part of the greater Houston area and, along with that loss, access to the Internet. Last night, however, the Internet appeared for us--as long as we have our generator going. The Houston Chronicle and various websites tell us that Centerpoint Power Company may be working in our particular zip code late this week, if that soon. We are in the final third of the second million group awaiting the restoration of power and light. So I post this on my computer powered by our home generator.
There is no need to comment upon the massiveness of Hurricane Ike as it swept in upon us from the Gulf of Mexico on September 12-13, 2008. It ranks near the top of all natural disasters recorded in this country. By God's grace there was minimal loss of human life. For this we give thanks.
Holy Scripture has much to say about storms and disasters, both in a negative and in a positive manner. King David comforts believers in the face of such storms. We are blessed, he writes, because our sins are forgiven. The LORD does not count them against us. The LORD, of course, here refers to our LORD Jesus Christ, as the New Testament clearly teaches (Philippians 2). Since we have Him and since He has called us to faith in His sacrificial death upon the cross, we are secure regardless of the storms that may move upon us. David writes,
"Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance" (vv. 6-7).
Sylvia and I watched and listened to TV on that Friday night until our power went out early Saturday morning. The storm was nearly as vast as the entire Gulf, some 700 miles in width. As it came ashore on Galveston island the counterclockwise winds roared down upon us from the northeast. The many trees of our and our neighborhood's land began to sway and swing back and forth in a violent dance. We have several pine trees next to our house reaching 50 feet or so into the air. Fearful that they might snap off and come crashing down upon our roof, we grabbed the cushions of our couch and huddled in the inner hallway, away from windows and doors--and prayed. The storm winds and rain howled and battered our shelter for hours before finally passing on, but when they were gone we were safe. Nothing had touched us, except the debris of small branches and leaves on the roof and in our yard. This was not so universally, as we later learned, but as far as we were concerned, we were singing a song of deliverance.
Many on Galveston and the adjacent areas did lose their homes and possessions to the mighty waters that rose from the sea and poured in upon them. Waves as high as 15-20 feet swept over the land and into the ship channel, engulfing homes and businesses in their wake. We, however, are 60 miles to the north and not near any swollen creeks or rivers, so flooding was not a problem. By God's gracious miracle, we remained safe.
In Psalm 77 Asaph teaches us to pray as we face distress and trouble. "I will remember the deeds of the LORD," he writes. "Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. . . You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples" (vv.10-13).
He goes on to recall how the LORD brought the Israelites slaves out of Egypt and across the sea out into the wilderness and ultimately to the land of promise.
"The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed. The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked" (vv.16-18).
I could not find better words to describe what we went through in this hurricane and yet the LORD had pity upon us and our city. Now, in His grace, He is permitting us to resettle ourselves in this land He has given us. We owe Him a deep debt of gratitude for sparing us poor sinners.
As I write, the country continues to go through a financial crisis approaching the seriousness of the Great Depression of the 1930's. Greed took over the leaders of commerce and business in this past decade and now the house of cards they built has come crashing in upon them--and upon those of us who invested in their business ventures. The United States government has continued to step in to rescue one financial institution after the other to the tune of billions and billions of dollars. The mortgage and housing industry is in grave danger. The storm of greed and selfishness is pounding down upon us.
What is left, but to remember the lessons natural disasters like hurricane Ike have to teach us? Several come to mind.
- Nothing happens outside the permissive will of our LORD. "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" (Mark 4:41 and parallels).
- The peoples of the LORD know He is leading them through the sea and the mighty waters, even though the unbelieving world does not see His footprints (Psalm 77:19).
- Wars, revolutions, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, fearful events and great signs from heaven are reminders to us who believe that we live in the last days of this present age. In such times we are warned never to attempt to escape them by turning to alcohol, drugs, sexual depravity or the squandering of our resources. Life in these days is indeed filled with anxiety and stress, but for us this is a time to keep our eyes open, watching and considering what is happening. It is a time to turn to prayer, humbly thanking the LORD every time He delivers us and waiting patiently for His return. When He does, we will be ready to stand before Him unafraid, filled with joy at what is yet to come (read Luke 21 carefully).
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Eternal Life Here And Now
Over the years I've used many different approaches to the study of the Bible for both personal and professional spiritual growth. For instance, when I served full time as a parish pastor I spent most of the week studying the texts for the upcoming Sunday's liturgy--the appointed OT lesson, Epistle and Gospel lessons. More often than not, liturgical churches of many denominations used the same lessons. I usually preached my sermon on one of those same lessons. My study then served to strengthen my faith and, in turn, allowed me to share what I was hearing from God's Holy Spirit with my parishioners.
More recently I've been working my way through one of the Gospels--in the original language. While I have studied both Greek and Hebrew I've never felt I was a master of those languages. And in these days I do not need to be, because some wonderful helps are available either on CD, DVD or online. One of my favorite online resources is the Blue Letter Bible. One doesn't need to be a master linguist to use that website, I find. Of course, it is most helpful to be able to read the languages, but beyond that the work of discovering things like the tense, verb form, etc. is all done for you. A less extensive, but nevertheless helpful website is Bible Gateway with all those translations by which you can compare how others viewed the passage before you.An approach I've been using this summer is to read a book by a systematic theologian in a devotional manner. That is to say, I've been studying a couple theologians' works very carefully, meditating and pondering the Scriptures quoted as I do and opening myself to the guidance of God's Spirit for my personal life. The book I'm currently using is from the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series, XII: The Lord's Supper by Dr. John R. Stephenson. As I read Dr. Stephenson's words today I was very comforted when he pointed me to the words of our Lord Jesus recorded in John 17:3:
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.""Eternal life," writes Dr. Stephenson, "is not merely a future state, but rather the one true life whose fullness we already possess, albeit hiddenly. Along with His presence in the other means of grace, Jesus sacramental presence sustains the struggling, pilgrim church as a prolepsis of His future parousia."
Now there you have it, a sentence by a theologian with mysterious words and phrases like means of grace, sacramental presence, prolepsis and parousia. I'll do my best to translate and share why this became so important to my heart this day.
When Jesus comes to us, he comes through means, not directly out of thin air as some suggest. He comes to us through His Word, our Baptism, His Supper, the words of forgiveness spoken by another believer and through the words and thoughts of others based upon His Word. These are the means by which His grace and mercy enter our lives to strengthen and confirm our faith.
The Bible further teaches that the same Jesus who was crucified upon the cross of Calvary is present in the Lord's Supper. In this Supper He is as bodily close to us as He was to Mary and Joseph, His disciples and apostles. In His Supper He meets us to comfort and encourage us with His presence.
The Supper thus becomes a prolepsis. In it we have a foretaste of what is to come - we with Him and He with us forever. Meanwhile we await His parousia, His return in glory. However it has been two thousand years that we have been waiting. Where is He? The answer lies in the promises and reminders from the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 3:8-9):
"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
It's coming. It truly is. This is as certain as the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. Meanwhile, we are not anxious. We already have eternal life in Him. He has claimed us. We are His. He is with us, here and now in bodily form in the Supper as He says, "This is my Body . . . my Blood." So we are patient, because we knows He wants everyone to come to repentance and find in Him the joy that we already have.
The wonder is we have so much to look forward to. So we join the early church in that prayer spoken in the Aramaic language used by Jesus: Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus. Come back and make all things new. Come Lord Jesus. Come even now in the blessed Supper to be with us, to comfort and strengthen us for the journey that still lies before us. Be for us the Bread of life, our Manna in the wilderness. Come, Lord Jesus, come!
More recently I've been working my way through one of the Gospels--in the original language. While I have studied both Greek and Hebrew I've never felt I was a master of those languages. And in these days I do not need to be, because some wonderful helps are available either on CD, DVD or online. One of my favorite online resources is the Blue Letter Bible. One doesn't need to be a master linguist to use that website, I find. Of course, it is most helpful to be able to read the languages, but beyond that the work of discovering things like the tense, verb form, etc. is all done for you. A less extensive, but nevertheless helpful website is Bible Gateway with all those translations by which you can compare how others viewed the passage before you.An approach I've been using this summer is to read a book by a systematic theologian in a devotional manner. That is to say, I've been studying a couple theologians' works very carefully, meditating and pondering the Scriptures quoted as I do and opening myself to the guidance of God's Spirit for my personal life. The book I'm currently using is from the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series, XII: The Lord's Supper by Dr. John R. Stephenson. As I read Dr. Stephenson's words today I was very comforted when he pointed me to the words of our Lord Jesus recorded in John 17:3:
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.""Eternal life," writes Dr. Stephenson, "is not merely a future state, but rather the one true life whose fullness we already possess, albeit hiddenly. Along with His presence in the other means of grace, Jesus sacramental presence sustains the struggling, pilgrim church as a prolepsis of His future parousia."
Now there you have it, a sentence by a theologian with mysterious words and phrases like means of grace, sacramental presence, prolepsis and parousia. I'll do my best to translate and share why this became so important to my heart this day.
When Jesus comes to us, he comes through means, not directly out of thin air as some suggest. He comes to us through His Word, our Baptism, His Supper, the words of forgiveness spoken by another believer and through the words and thoughts of others based upon His Word. These are the means by which His grace and mercy enter our lives to strengthen and confirm our faith.
The Bible further teaches that the same Jesus who was crucified upon the cross of Calvary is present in the Lord's Supper. In this Supper He is as bodily close to us as He was to Mary and Joseph, His disciples and apostles. In His Supper He meets us to comfort and encourage us with His presence.
The Supper thus becomes a prolepsis. In it we have a foretaste of what is to come - we with Him and He with us forever. Meanwhile we await His parousia, His return in glory. However it has been two thousand years that we have been waiting. Where is He? The answer lies in the promises and reminders from the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 3:8-9):
"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
It's coming. It truly is. This is as certain as the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. Meanwhile, we are not anxious. We already have eternal life in Him. He has claimed us. We are His. He is with us, here and now in bodily form in the Supper as He says, "This is my Body . . . my Blood." So we are patient, because we knows He wants everyone to come to repentance and find in Him the joy that we already have.
The wonder is we have so much to look forward to. So we join the early church in that prayer spoken in the Aramaic language used by Jesus: Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus. Come back and make all things new. Come Lord Jesus. Come even now in the blessed Supper to be with us, to comfort and strengthen us for the journey that still lies before us. Be for us the Bread of life, our Manna in the wilderness. Come, Lord Jesus, come!
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