YOU and GOD

Father’s Day is this coming Sunday, so I will dedicate this post to dads of all ages. And, simply, what I would like to do is pass along to you, fathers, and anyone else whose eyes have fallen upon these lines, a poem that I wrote to my godly father on the occasion of his 86^th birthday in 1998. It is a bit different than the usual poem to a dad, but I think you might find it thoughtful.  I hope you will enjoy it, and if in any way you could use it, feel free to do so.  Dad would live to celebrate eight more birthdays, getting his Iowa driver’s license renewed on his last, at the age of 94. His wife of 72 years had passed on to glory just a few months before Dad would.  He came through the depression and cut wood in freezing weather, eating frozen jelly sandwiches if he could get them, and I respect him and loved him dearly. As I might have written earlier, Dad was the “hand-shaking” kind and never offered a hug, except for receiving one from my sisters who would not be denied. But his eyes spoke volumes and I never doubted his love, and will always be grateful to God for his memory. Oh, by the way, very late in his journey, I finally screwed up enough of whatever it took to give Dad a hug.  He did not of course resist.  I think it was a first and last for us, but I am glad I have the memory. I have tried to remember to give our son a hug whenever we part.

Time and Beyond
Time, the treasure given to each
With worlds of successes just out of reach;
Time past, ‘twas so fleet,
Time future, not certain:
We race to the finish 
To beat life’s last curtain.
Too often the fury with
Which life speeds by,
Keeps us from seeking 
Or asking just why.
Why are we here,
And where came we from?
Where will we be 
When all of life’s done?
Who are we, anyhow?
What is our goal?
Is there inside of
This body a soul?
Sages through ages
Have sought these I know:
God in His wisdom through 
Grace did bestow.
In His good Book
The answers we read;
By His bright light
Our souls He doth lead.
Leads through the maze
Of this trip to each given;
Leads by His grace and
Through faith on to Heaven.
Time will one day be
Forever no more; 
Heaven’s ahead on
Eternity’s shore.
No death there above,
No sorrow or pain:
Only His comfort and
Just what is gain.

Happy Father’s Day to all!  
ALS
June 19, 2022

In the grand hymn penned by John Wyeth “Come Thou Fount” the third stanza reads “O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be; May Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above.”’

Most everyone will readily admit that “prone to wander” is not a foreign concept. It is something that, because of the “world, the flesh and the Devil,” believers will struggle with until they leave their body and this world for heaven. In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet took a whole nation to task because of their wanton wandering spiritually.  He called them backsliders:

“Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?” (3:6) “Backsliding Israel committed adultery.” (3:8) “Backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.” (3:11) “Return backsliding Israel saith the Lord.” (3:12) “Turn O backsliding children saith the Lord for I am married to you.” (3:14) “Return ye backsliding children and I will heal your backslidings.” (3:22)

An old preacher said of the backslider: “It is miserable to be a backslider. Of all the unhappy things that can befall a man, I suppose it is the worst. A stranded ship, an eagle with a broken wing, a garden covered with weeds, a harp without strings, a church in ruins—all these are sad sights, but a backslider is a sadder sight still.”

That state did not occur overnight. There is an observable progression (or should I say regression) that leads to a backslidden state. In fact, Jeremiah details the steps of spiritual regression that took Israel, God’s chosen nation, to the backslidden state that he addresses. Follow with me that prophet’s points in chapter 2:

•  Forgetfulness, vss. 31,32 Forgetfulness contains the seeds of spiritual rebellion. “Can a maid forget her ornaments or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.” Jer. 2:32 In verse 31 Jeremiah had quoted them as saying “We are lords; we will come no more unto thee.” i.e., lords, as beasts that had broken their yoke; unharnessed people, rambling about unbridled.

Forgetfulness breeds forgetfulness “days without number.” What had they forgotten?

• They had forgotten God. Ps.78:11: “And (they) forgot His works and His wonders….”
• They had forgotten the name of God: Jer.23:27: “Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.”
• They had forgotten God’s Word. Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God….”
• They had forgotten their resting place. Jer.50:6: “My people hath been lost sheep…they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.”
• They forgot God their Savior. Ps.106:21: “They forgot God their Savior which had done great things in Egypt.”

When believers forget the works of God, the Word of God, the name of God, their resting place in God and God their Savior, then they have taken step 1 in the backsliding downward spiral:

“He that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” (2 Pet.1:9)

•  Step two is compromise, v. 33.  When we slide back spiritually, we trim our ways and often justify it by claiming to do it in love. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

In the pre-World War I days of America, Teddy Roosevelt blasted the German-American population for what he considered at that time “divided loyalties.”  He said, “America is not a polyglot boarding house.” He called them “hyphenated Americans?” And said “If a man is an American and something else, he is not an American.” The application for believers is that we are either for Him or against Him, and a “worldly Christian” is a contradiction of truth. Billy Sunday said, “Worldly Christian? You might as well speak of a heavenly devil.”

The backslider will not only go down and away from where he once stood with Christ, but he will take others with him. Jeremiah said: “Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? Therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.” (2:33)

Compromise is dangerous. During the Civil War the man who lived by the North/South border not wanting to be identified with either side decided to wear blue pants and a grey coat. The result was not a pretty one:  The Yanks shot him in the coat and the rebs shot him in the pants!

In the later half of the 19^th century in England, truth was taken to the stake and Charles Haddon Spurgeon would have nothing of the compromise of his day. Of the prince of preachers, Joseph Parker, a contemporary, said, “The only colors Mr. Spurgeon knew were black and white. With him you were either up or down; in or out; alive or dead. As for middle zones…he only looked upon them as heterodox and as implacable enemies of the Metropolitan Tabernacle.”

• Step three:  Living in known sin, Jer.2:34: “In thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.”

• Fourth: Insensitivity to sin, Jer.2:35–, trying to justify sin and attempting to avoid judgment for it. (Read Jeremiah 42:14-16 where God reminds His people that they can run from Him–to Egypt– but they cannot hide from Him and the “sword which ye feared shall overtake you there….”)

Hard words?  Yes.  Tough lessons?  To be sure. But backsliding was not unique to Israel. It would eventually bring upon them the judgment of captivity in 722 B.C. when Assyria swept down and took captive 10 of the 12 tribes, the northern kingdom, the “10 lost tribes” which will not be returned again to their Israeli homeland until the King of Kings accomplishes His promised restoration at His 2^nd Coming.

So, learn with me of the severity of the sin of backsliding.  We who have been born again are each capable of doing what the backslidden nation of Israel did. There is a remedy and it is stated plainly in 2 Pet. 1:10 right after Peter warns us about having forgotten that we have been purged from our old sins: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”

Selah.

“The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.” (Provs.14:14)

Jesus, walking along the shores of Galilee followed by six to eight disciples, had just returned to His home in Capernaum from a preaching tour that had taken Him throughout all of Galilee.  He had healed broken and burdened bodies, cast out demons, and instructed His disciples concerning the coming Kingdom of God.  He had preached repentance and righteousness to the multitudes.  He might well have been physically exhausted, but there was a meeting that He would not miss. So He made His way to the Gate of Receipts where the Tax Collector, Matthew or Levi by name, was stopping people so that their goods could be inventoried, with special attention given to what might be an import or export subject to taxation.

Matthew was hated by the people of Capernaum for two glaring reasons: (1) He was a religious misfit, for according to Jewish tradition taxation was more than a nuisance—it was illegal and immoral. Tithes were paid to God, but to be required to pay taxes to the state, especially to a foreign entity, was contradictory to their customs, laws and traditions; (2) He was also a political renegade, aligning himself in his employment as a representative of the Roman empire, a traitor to his own nation. He was, therefore, hated and despised.

Yet it was to this man at that place that Jesus made His way, and with the bustling city of Capernaum on one side and the beautiful blue waters of the Sea of Galilee on the other side, Jesus and Matthew met.  The Tax Collector that day had no business with Jesus, for Jesus owned nothing, not even a place to lay His weary head. But Jesus had business to do with the Tax Collector. He was to lay claim on his very life, his soul’s destiny.

In Matthew’s later account of that life-changing encounter, recorded in Matthew 9:1-13, the conversion of this rebel Jew is recounted. One would have to conclude that it was sovereignly wrought. There was nothing religious about the man Matthew. He was not moral, and his friends were “publicans and sinners.” Yet, he was instantaneously converted when he heard the invitation of Christ to follow Him. Jesus saw in Matthew not only what he was, but what he would be. Matthew did not have to be told that he was a sinner; he lived with that reality daily. And, meeting the Savior, God’s Spirit had prepared his heart to believe and to receive the invitation of this itinerant preacher who had come to seek and to save that which was lost. Matthew, Levi, was on the spot saved by grace through faith, repenting of his sin and accepting the Messiah as his Savior. The same way every person, great or small, has ever—or ever will be—saved.

We see Matthew’s conversion and also his call to be a disciple. It is said that, immediately, Matthew left his tax table and followed Jesus. He surrendered for service and his first act in service was to testify to his fellow publicans what had happened to him when he met his Master. He prepared a dinner and invited all who would come to enjoy company with his newly found Lord and Savior.

I thought of what Matthew could have said in response to Jesus’ invitation: “Follow Me.”

• “Hey, Man, been thinking about what all I have heard about You since You moved to Capernaum; I might be interested, but just let me finish what I am doing here and I’ll be right along. OK?”
• “Me?  Follow You? Well, You’ve got too many hypocrites aboard Your ship. I know Peter, James and John; they can cuss right along with the rest of us reprobates and sinners.  No, I’ll stay here with my own crowd. Thanks!”
• “Hey, I think I’d like to, but come around next year. I’ve got to get caught up on some bills, and get better established, but one of these days I’ll really give myself to following You. Serious.”
• “Do You know who my father was? He was the late Alphaeus, one of the most religious men in these parts. Why do You think I have a name like Levi anyway? I come from a very religious background.  No, I’m alright, Sir. You’d better spend Your time trying to get the bad boys straightened out.”
• “So, You want me just to get up and follow You? What do You think my family would say? They’d call me a religious fanatic for sure.  I can’t just traipse around the country following Someone I’ve never met before. Besides, I have a certain income requirement I doubt You could meet. No, I had better pass on this one.”
• “I’ll follow You, but there are some things I don’t understand that You’ll have to answer for me first.”
• “Follow You? Not on Your life! Why, I’m rich; I’m well liked by other publicans, and we’re just having a ball. Your religion is for old ladies.”
• “Well, I might, but You see I once knew this prophet who claimed to be a man of God, and he ran off with the Temple secretary and I decided right there this religion stuff was not for me.”
• “So, You want me to follow You? I know what You are after…You want to rake your fingers through some of these coins; you’re just after me for my money. Nothing doing!”
• “Well, I’d like to, but it just seems too simple; there has to be more to it than to just ‘Follow You.’”

But the text says that when Jesus told Matthew to “Follow Me,” Matthew “arose, and followed Him.” No questions. No hesitation. No protestations. He arose and followed Jesus. He would be numbered among the Apostles of our Lord. And the Tax Collector, faithful as a follower in a few things, would be responsible for great things in the Kingdom of God. He became a leader in the early church, and through him God would give the world the Gospel of Matthew, proving to the Jewish world that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Son of David, Son of Abraham, Son of God, the long -awaited Messiah.

“And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall save it.” (Luke 9:23,24)

“The process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another” is a dictionary definition of the word conversion generally.  It would fit a New Testament scriptural description of someone who had been “changed” by the Holy Spirit upon the person’s “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:2) The person who has undergone this personal experience is a “new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor.5:17).  Other biblical terms to describe this are “salvation, new birth, born again, regeneration, saved.” It is personal, through faith, by the Holy Spirit, and it results in an instantaneous, permanent “reset” with eternal, irreversible consequences.

In this post, for the encouragement of all who read, I want to share a few testimonies of those who have experienced spiritual rebirth, conversion.  How God works in each individual who trusts Him to bring about this radical life-changer is amazing and undeniable.

I read of world-renowned opera singer Jerome Hines, whose career at the Metropolitan Opera spanned 41 years. In 1949, the basso began to compose “I Am the Way,” and in doing so he searched the scriptures diligently, putting music to words. He would write in his 1969 memoir, This is My Story, This is My Song, that he would learn the impossibility of writing about Him of whom he knew nothing.  Hines testified that in the work of composing this opera on the life of Jesus, God showed him that He was not interested in his beautiful voice but in his message.  Hines put his faith in Christ, affirming that he would rather sing bit parts in a second-rate theatre and belong to Christ than be the most highly acclaimed singer in the world without Him.  During his 55-year musical career, he reportedly sang the lead role of Christ in “I Am the Way” in over 90 performances.  Hines had experienced, through faith in Christ, what is meant by biblical conversion. (Chris Pasles, Los Angeles Times, cited in Hines obituary South Coast Today via Wayback Machine/Wikipedia)

On a more personal note, back in the early 1980s, a gentleman in the church I pastored here in Indianapolis shared with me that before he was converted, he thought nothing of conning Christians and later laughing and boasting of it. He said that he used to wear a ‘booster coat’—a coat lined all the way around inside, with pockets to carry goods out of stores, such as bottles he had stolen. My friend, an upstanding member of our church with a clear testimony of genuine conversion, said, “I got saved at a mission in Ft. Wayne, and the man who led me to Christ said, ‘You won’t be needing that booster coat anymore.’” Having become a new creature, he received a new robe of righteousness.  He was a new creation—old things having passed away, and all things having become new!

The daily devotional Our Daily Bread printed a testimony some years ago that describes what conversion can and will do: “I’m a 72- year-old cattle rancher in eastern Tennessee,” it read. “A friend has been gifting me Our Daily Bread for years and I never read them—right into the waste basket. In April of this year, probably holding a new issue ready to toss it—Jesus Christ tapped me on the shoulder out of nowhere and completely changed my life in being born again. After 72 years of spiteful hate, rage, selfishness, and hurting everyone, I left the darkness of despair and misery for the incredible joy of goodness! Now I read Our Daily Bread from cover to cover!!” (Ray, TN)

Cyrus grew up in a Christian home, but he never had much time for the Bible. He loved Shakespeare and history, and as an adult he established a successful law practice. One day, a friend confronted Cyrus and asked him he had not become a Christian.  That simple query set off a chain reaction of thoughts in the legal mind of Cyrus, who determined to learn God’s Word. The result was that he not only became a believer—having been converted to Christ through the search of scriptures that he would call “sweeter than honey”—but, thirty years later, in 1909, he published the Scofield Reference Bible. Cyrus Ingerson Scofield was gloriously converted because a friend had simply asked him one day why he had never yet become a Christian.

Dr. Fred Moritz—one time pastor, evangelist, and former Director of Baptist World Mission—told the story of preaching a revival meeting in 1982 in the 4^th Baptist Church of Minneapolis, MN, where the late Dr. R.V. Clearwaters, mentor to many, pastored. In that meeting, at the conclusion of one of Dr. Moritz’s messages, two old ladies came forward (it took them three stanzas of “Just As I Am” to make it to the front) to publicly confess Christ. The rest of the story goes like this:  One of the ladies had been baptized into the membership of the church in 1921; the other of the two, her daughter, was baptized in 1933. Dr. Clearwaters had pastored there for 43 years but did not know either of them, as their names were on the church rolls but they had never experienced the new birth, or conversion, until that day. It is a sobering reminder that conversion, salvation, is not by works but by the “washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Tit.3:5) It does not come by joining a church, being baptized, or turning over a new leaf—but, rather, by receiving a new life in Christ Jesus.

I have many more similar conversion testimonies to share, which I hope to do in future installments of “You and God.” But let me leave you with a startling statement from the pen of William Biederwolf, made in one of his evangelistic sermons: “In an audience one time of 4,000, I found that 3,200 had come to Christ before they were 20 years old, and about 400 came between the years of 20 and 30; of those who came between 50 and 60 there were but 17 and between 60 and 70 just one and past 70 there was not one in all of the 4,000.” If you are reading this post and you are still not “born again,” the “chances” of your being converted are overwhelmingly slim.  Come to Christ today. Do not delay.

“…behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2)

I have Melvin on my mind and have had for several days, so let me share with you some of his story. He and his family attended the church I pastored in Indianapolis and they always sat on the second row from the front.  Melvin, his wife, his mother, and their daughters–a special needs adult, and another daughter who was caregiver to her sister. 

I’ll give them a name, for the sake of this post, and call them the Talbots.  They lived in a modest home on Indy’s east side.  By the time I became acquainted with them, Melvin was retired from a job with the city and was probably in his 70’s. His daughters lived in a small framed house right beside where Melvin and his wife, along with Melvin’s aged mother lived. They were closely knit together, depending upon each other for care and loving nurture. Their means were meager. They were the simplest of people and almost seemed “out of place” trying to keep pace with a fast-moving world around them, but they were positive in their outlook, always welcoming to this pastor when a visit was made, and as regular as they could be in attendance to church. Their abode was humble, minus most of the modern gadgets that adorned typical living rooms of that day, and their furniture was more than well worn, what there was of it. I do not know if they had a television as I never saw nor heard one.

The mentally challenged adult daughter could not speak intelligibly, but she could make sounds when she got excited about something, and either at church or at the Talbot home, when she saw this pastor she would somehow manage to exclaim loudly “SLUTZ!”  She had mastered that sound. Always with a wide, if contorted, smile and happy face.  We were friends though our connection was non-verbal and communication was through the eyes and countenance.  Her family always saw to it that she was cared for and there was never a lack of love in the Talbot household.

So, why has Melvin been on my mind of late?  Well, as pastors who may be reading this post will attest, some memories you have of those to whom you have been privileged to minister through the years are etched indelibly upon your mind. Memories of Melvin in my mind are such. He had a face that exuded kindness, but that had demonstrably worn life’s cares deeply. His frame was average and topped with a full head of hair that had never had too much attention in grooming. Melvin was clean but would appear fairly disheveled in dress. His brow boasted deep furrows and his hands were rough and spoke of physical labor that had molded his fingers and hands into instruments of toil through the years.  His speech was broken and were one to estimate what level of education Melvin might have had it would probably not exceed the eighth grade if that. His eyes were kind and his mannerisms methodical and somewhat mechanical.

Melvin has been on my mind of late because of the picture that I have treasured, call it a memory, of him on a weeknight years ago, sitting across from me in my office at church, sharing in his broken English a testimony that he wanted me to hear.  Melvin had been in the Army and had served in World War II and had fought in battles in the cause of freedom for not only America but for Europe and the world. On that particular office visit, he took me back in his military memory to an exceeding fierce fight somewhere in Europe when, taking enemy fire into his fox-hole, Melvin said that he thought his life was about to be over.  In his own words, with difficulty framing each syllable, he said, “I bowed my head and said to God ‘If you get me out of this alive, I promise you I will say the Lord’s prayer every day and will be in church with my family.’” Those were probably not his exact words but the essence of what I remember of them.  He was very moved in his spirit when he related that fox-hole experience to me and it was apparent that it had been a life-changer for Melvin and he wanted his pastor to share that with him and to know of his commitment and sincerity.  I have never forgotten it, nor have I forgotten Melvin and his humble, sweet family.  They were what one might consider the “weak” of this world, but in their simplicity, they were unique and testaments to the truth that God will take care of His own.

Melvin’s mother was aged, probably in her 90’s. She never spoke much, but her searching eyes and countenance, through deep, time plowed wrinkles, communicated volumes.  She was always in her place with the family at church for worship.

On Mother’s Day, the last few years that Talbots were able to attend together, Lonial Wire, long-time song leader of our church, and I would do a special tribute featuring Mrs. Talbot.  We would have her come to the platform where a rocking chair had been placed for her to sit in.  Lonial would then sing, “Tell Mother I’ll be there, in answer to her prayer….” It was an old song, and sung by Lonial with his empathetic tender, tenor voice, with the aged mother sitting in her rocking chair.  A good many mothers in the congregation were seen wiping tears that streamed down their cheeks. Between the song’s stanzas, I would quote a reading that epitomized the old, godly woman, a reading which began “There she is, the dear old mother….” It was a Mother’s Day tribute to not only Melvin’s mother but to all of the dear mothers who had invested the labors and love of their lives in the service of their families.

So, Melvin, his life, his simple faith, his sweet family, his commitment to his vow, will, I hope, always be on my mind from time to time as I remember the privilege, the honor, the joy of being pastor to this special family.  I was blessed to attend the finest of schools in my ministerial studies and ministry preparation, but in the school of everyday ministering, God used the Melvins along the journey to teach me truths and applications of truths that could never have been learned in the classroom or clinic.  I will be ever grateful.

This weekend and on Monday, the 30^th, Americans will celebrate the 154^th anniversary of Memorial Day, begun shortly after the Civil War ended. We honor it annually through picnics, vacations, races, family fun and a day off work. It has become—a day when we remember not only the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice—their lives—for the cause of freedom, but when many “decorate” the graves of loved ones in their memory. Thus it is sometimes called “Decoration Day.”

Poets, preachers and historians have written and spoken eloquently about those who have fought for our freedoms. We do well to reflect upon the incalculable sacrifices made by men and women in and out of uniform, and their families, in the cause of securing our liberties.  Thank you, mothers, for sending your sons and daughters to serve at home and abroad in the greatest armed forces ever assembled.  Thank you to fathers and sons, brothers and husbands, wives and daughters, sisters and best friends who have waved good-bye to a G-I as he or she embarked on a journey not knowing when or whether they would return.  We pause, thankfully, to remember all who have bid that final farewell in the cause of “duty, honor, country.” May their memory live on!

A friend of mine prayed this solemn prayer: “Father God, as we pause on this weekend, I pray that You will move in the minds and hearts of all who profess to know You; Lord, make of us the men and women whom You are seeking to make a difference worth remembering if only in our own sphere of influence. Restrain us from personal compromise and corruption. Remove complacency and confusion far from us, and replace caution for self-interest and correction with courage.  May we be the people who know their God, display strength, and take action. And thank You, Father, for Your manifold and untold blessings upon this land. Forgive us for lack of gratitude for Your goodness, and our indifference to Your Person and Presence. Speak to our President and our leaders. Remind them that though they vainly boast transparency, a far greater accountability awaits them. Protect the men and women of our military, and use them for good. Keep between them and their families while they are separated by the call of duty. In whatever way You can, O God, and in whatever way You choose, awaken our people to truth and righteousness, and to You. And bless all to whom You are both God and LORD. Amen. (John Aker, retired military, and minister of the gospel).

No doubt you have been blessed by reading Psalm 91, called by some the “Soldier’s Psalm,” which begins: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” In World War II, there was a brigade that recited the Psalm daily, so much so that they were given the name “91^st Brigade.” This unit was engaged in three of the bloodiest battles of the war– but did not lose a single soldier in combat. (From “the Father’s Business,” Birmingham, AL). We, too, are engaged in fierce warfare, every day, with principalities and powers of darkness.  Let us claim, through reading and mediation on Ps.91, God’s refuge, deliverance and protection.

When I think about Memorial Day, I usually recall the 1919 poem a young soldier penned shortly before his battlefield death on foreign soil.  You no doubt have heard or read it many times. The first, sad stanza reads:

 “In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row that mark our place; and in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly, scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead, short days ago, we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow; loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be it yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.” (John McCrae) (Sorry, I could not stop with just the first stanza!)

If you know me personally, you are aware that I love great poems, so, I beg of you to read the conclusion of this Memorial weekend installment of “You and God,” with just the first stanza (promise) of an 1847 poem— a very sad one by Theodore O’Hara, titled “The Bivouac of the Dead,” in memory and honor of all of our fallen heroes and their sacrificing families:

“The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat,

The soldier’s last tattoo;

No more on life’s parade shall meet

That brave and fallen few;

On Fame’s eternal camping-ground

Their silent tents are spread;

But Glory guards with solemn round

The bivouac of the dead.”

*****************

Ellen and I wish you and yours a happy, fun, meaningful Memorial Day as you pause to “remember.”

“The memory of the just is blessed….” (Proverbs 10:7)

One of the most profound thoughts that could ever enter the human mind is this: that God loves me!

You do not have to be old to come to that realization. Even little children can know that God loves them. Nor is it an assurance that is attained by graduating to higher levels of learning through prescribed disciplines. Yet is it profound: to think that a holy God; -a majestic and almighty God; – an omniscient, omnipresent, altogether righteous Creator God, who fills heaven and earth with His presence, and could destroy the sum total of His creation at any moment-it is profound that He loves the individual, and that you and I can say, “God loves me.”

But that’s exactly what the Bible teaches. It is said too often, and in too many different places and ways through His Word for us to doubt it: “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom.5:8) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” (Eph.5:2) “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jer.31:3)

Yes, incomprehensible as it may seem, God loves you. God loves me. Paul, in Ephesians 3:17-19 speaks of this transcending love: “That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height: and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.”

The breadth of God’s love. Its fountainhead is in the bosom of the Eternal Godhead and it reaches into the heart of the chiefest of sinners: “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is none else.” (Isa.45:22) His love is as broad as humanity and all of humankind lies within the compass of His loving reach.

The length of God’s love is “from eternity to eternity” an “everlasting love.”  However long and drawn out is my sin, His love surpasses it. He is the “eternal lover of every wandering sinner/soul.”

The depth of God’s love reaches to the deepest hell and raises from condemnation all who by faith will look to Him to be saved: “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” (Ps.40:2) From heaven above to the earth beneath; from God’s throne to a manger; from the glories at the right hand of God to the grossness of man’s groveling depravity—that is the depth of the love of God.

The height of the love of God. God’s love can lift the sin-sunken sinner from the deepest gutter all the way to the heavenlies’ highest, wash him, clothe him in spotless righteousness and proclaim Him to be “in Christ, a new creation” so that, with the Apostle, he can exclaim:  “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only but unto all them also that love His appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:8).

I apologize that I cannot credit the following, but I am sure someone who was basking in the blessedness of God’s wondrous love penned these words: “No eloquence lavished upon the love of God can do it justice; no picture of it can look anything but dull and poor compared to its reality; go to the gospels and behold it as He lived and wrought for you and me; go to Calvary and stand and gaze upon His disfigured form upon the rugged tree;  in all the mystery of Christ there is nothing more wonderful or past finding out than His love. In the final analysis, it defies analysis and ever escapes our definition. ‘Never man spake like this man,’ it was said of Him, but it could also be said, and rightly so, ‘Never man loved like this man loved.’”

The beloved song expresses the inexpressible as well as it could be said or sung: “The love of God is greater far, than tongue or pen can ever tell; it goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell; the guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child, He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin. Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure, the saints and angels’ song!” (Frederick Lehman, 1868-1953)

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might be saved through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (I John 4:9,10)

“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Provs. 10:22) Every believer is indeed rich, “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3). Those blessings include such “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph.3:8) as forgiveness of sins, freedom from condemnation, adoption into the family of God with Him as our Father, objects of His love and unconditional grace (favor), plus peace with God through Jesus and the presence always of His indwelling Holy Spirit. If you are a child of God, you are rich in blessings, period!

F.B. Meyer said that “whatever blessing is in our cup, it is sure to run over. With our Father, the calf is always the fatted calf, the robe is always the best robe, the joy is unspeakable, the peace passes understanding…there is no grudging in God’s benevolence.”

Sir Walter Raleigh was all the time submitting requests to Queen Elizabeth on behalf of convicts. On one occasion, the Queen asked Sir Walter when he would stop being a beggar, to which Sir Walter replied, “When your Majesty ceases to be a giver.” Our God has never, nor will He ever, stopped being a Giver!

Count your blessings, name them one by one: “Blessed is the man whose transgression is covered; blessed is the man who maketh the Lord his trust; blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.” (Ps.32:1; Ps. 40:4; Ps. 84:4,5; Ps.89:15)

Oswald Chambers struck a chord in hearts when he observed that “the great difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and it is His blessings that make it difficult. Troubles nearly always make us look to God; His blessings are apt to make us look elsewhere.”

Troubles: we as individuals and as a nation and world are deep into them on almost any day. “Everything is going up.” (Inflation!) Yet, rain is still coming down; birds are still singing; joy still costs nothing, and love is never in short supply from the heart of our heavenly Father. A smile is no more costly today than ever; a kind word, a timely touch, or a caring presence.  Yes, everything material, it seems, is going up today, but those things of eternal value are still moving from heaven to earth, and on earth from heart to heart, home to home, and the supply chain is unbroken!

A child described an elevator thusly: “When I got into this little room, the upstairs came down.” (George Gardiner) And, so it is, “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.”

My friend, Evangelist Leon Foote, once shared what he called, “The biggest blessing of the year!”  His words: On a trip to Texas, “I stopped to see my older brother, Joe. He is a Marine from WWII.  I have prayed for and witnessed to him for over 40 years. I have prayed at the altar in some of your churches. Joe has cancer, and this time he was willing to listen to me. There in his home on a Friday night, Nov. 5, he prayed and asked Jesus into his heart. Amen, Amen!”  Talk about blessings!

What have you received of late, today in fact, for which to “praise God from Whom all blessings flow?” The blessing of salvation always tops our list, Eph. 2:8,9; then sanctification, I Thess. 4:3; service, Luke 18:29,30; soul-winning; Ps.126:6, supplication, Matt.7:7; and stewardship, Luke 6:38, among a multitude of others.

So, yes, the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich! Stop with me now and bow your heart, casting all your burdens on the Lord, and just thank Him for the riches of His grace. In Christ, the pauper is rich; without Christ, the prince is a pauper.

In the mid 1700s, Robert Robinson’s father died when he was 17. His mother sent him to London to learn a trade, but while there he fell into drinking and gangs. But Robert once heard the mega voice of Evangelist George Whitefield preaching on the subject “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee the wrath to come?” Robinson felt as though the message was directed right at him, and in faith he responded, calling upon and falling upon the grace of God for salvation. He would later write of God’s amazing grace and abundant blessings:

“Come Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise.” (Robert Robinson, 1735-1790)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph.1:3)

I hesitate to pen this post because it is about a personal experience, and I would rather talk about what happened to you or someone else than myself. But what I am about to share did happen and I am still trying to make some sense of it, so I am going to put it out there and, in so doing, would welcome your response if you have any thoughts to pass along.

One day in late April, I was alone in our driveway planting a few flowers in some flower boxes. My back was turned toward the street, and I was facing the house, when, though not aware of any other presence, I turned to face the street and discovered that a late model suburban vehicle had eased into our driveway and was parked a few feet from where I was standing.  The driver, when our eyes met, quickly said, “I am from Dubai and I have lost my billfold; I need help getting to California.”  He had a pretty thick accent, looked like he was from the Middle East, and he was well dressed.  Immediately, as I walked toward the car to talk with him, he held up a gold necklace and, on the necklace, a beautiful gold ring.  He said, “I need money to get to California. I lost my billfold.  Here, you take this (the gold jewelry), and when I get home, I will send you the money and you can send this back to me.”

I held both hands up, palms facing the stranger, indicating that I would not do what he had proposed. He rolled down the back passenger window and I saw a teenage girl with a phone or computer in her hand; there appeared to be others in the car, his family, though I did not carefully look at each person. The girl looked well dressed, never took her eyes off the phone or computer in her hand, and the man continued to plead. “Here,” he said, taking a gold Rolex watch off his wrist, “Take this; this is a $25,000 watch.” Again, I held both hands up, pushing back, saying as I did, “I cannot do that.” He said, “I need $300-400 dollars; you can give me that. I just need to get to California.” He continued “begging” me to give him some money, and if I understood him correctly, he even mentioned that I could give him a credit card to use.  I was adamant in refusing to touch the gold chain or watch. I have to admit, the man, in a beautiful late model suburban Yukon, looked every bit legitimate, and I really thought at that time that his story was real.

Of course, I have thought that on other occasions, such as the time I received a call one afternoon from a man who, in a dead earnest voice, and an Irish accent, said he was in the library of the University of Indianapolis (close to our church) reading the gospel of John, and he wanted to know if I could tell him how to be saved.  I made arrangements to pick him up, brought him to my church office, and explained the gospel to him. On our knees, he prayed, even with a tear or two, and I was sure he had accepted Christ as Savior.  He was well groomed, with a suit and tie. It was not until I was taking him back to the library that he told me he was a clock master, and the clock he had been working had taken him longer than he had anticipated. He was, consequently, in a bind for money as his rent was past due.  I asked him how much he needed, and it was $125.  This was probably 20 or 25 years ago and I did not usually have an extra $125 at the end of the month, but I did on that day. So I went to the bank, made the withdrawal, took him downtown where he said his landlord had an office, accompanied him to the 4^th floor of the downtown Indy office building and then, acquiescing to his request that I let him talk to and pay his landlord alone, I waited. When he returned, I took him back to the library, got his home address and made arrangements to visit him that evening for a Bible Study. I had barely gotten back to my church office when it dawned upon my feeble mind that maybe I should drop by the address he gave me, also close to the University, just to confirm that I could find it.  A sick feeling began to take over my stomach when, yes, you are probably ahead of my story, I could not find the address.  I had been conned and what a slick job it was, compete with suit and tie and tears!   As most pastors have probably likewise experienced, that was not the first time that I had been taken, nor the last; but I think it hurt so badly because he was such a good actor.  It just hurt!  And, still does to think about it!

Back to the Dubai gentleman.  After prayer meeting the night before, Ellen had come home and we discussed the Pastor’s midweek Bible study. It was on the subject of love and how we can and should demonstrate Christ’s love to a needy world. I had not heard the lesson because of my semi-quarantine due to cancer chemo treatments, so she shared with me the essence of the lesson, and we had a good discussion.  How do you consistently, biblically, and in the spirit of Christ, demonstrate God’s love to a needy, hurting world?

So, the next morning, the aforementioned incident occurred. Was it a test? I have not doubted that for whatever purposes, known only to Him, it was ordained of God. It happened so suddenly. There was no way that I could have contemplated what I would do or what and how I should respond. It was split-second decision-making time. No friend, no counsellor, no wife to consult.  Bang. There he was, a foreigner in a strange land if one could believe his story, desperate, pleading for help.  I told him that to give him hundreds of dollars was not something I could do.  I also told him I was a preacher, and he said, “Jesus will help you.”

So, there you have it. You may be wondering about now, “OK, Pastor Slutz, what did you do?” Well, that’s what I wanted to ask you. What should I have done?  What would you have done, if you could somehow recreate in your mind the same circumstance?  A well-dressed, Middle Eastern man who said plainly as he pleaded, “I am a wealthy man,” and buttressed his claim with a supposed $25,000 wrist watch? You are a Christ one.  Do good to all men, Paul admonished.  This stranger knows you are a follower of Jesus.  You make the call. 

I do distinctly remember praying that morning, at the breakfast table before eating, asking God to guide us and to give us wisdom in all that we would do during the day.  I distinctly remember that because I do not usually ask God for wisdom at the breakfast table before eating!

So, what would you have done?  What should I have done?

“For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” (James 2:13)