How Not To Forget

     The headlines, the twit feeds, the blog posts all declare that we, America, will never forget today.  Yet for the most part, unless there is a loved one fighting the war or a lost one to the tragedy, America has done a pretty good job at forgetting this ail for 364 days.  Long before the clean-up of the rallies is done we will be a nation that goes back into its homes and turns on its televisions to watch and escape to some other place or some other time.  The American flag pics on our avatars will be replaced with whatever is next and we will wait until this time next year to never forget again.  September 11th has become the third Christian Holiday, after Christmas and Easter, which reminds us to remember, to pray, and to maybe attend worship.

Did you ever wonder if you approached your salvation in the same way?

"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling."  Philippians 2:12b

     Last term I had the pleasure of a wonderful professor whose life example for this verse was by far testimony and testimony again.  I'd like to share that with you and pray that if it is done well you will have high thoughts of him and if I should fail to convey his story as beautifully as I remember it being told, you will reserve your low thoughts for me.

     Dr. C lived in a country where Christianity is not as freely accepted as it is here in our country.  In fact, he lived there during a time of great persecution for Christians and was finally compelled to leave his homeland and seek safety and refuge in America.  As he prepared to leave most of everything he had behind to come live with a host family here, he had the thoughtfulness (my words, not his) to bring along an antique vase as a gift for his host.

     When he boarded the plane that would begin his trip to America, Dr. C asked that he be allowed to carry the vase instead of having to stow it in baggage where he was certain that it would be smashed to smithereens.  By grace he was given such an exception and he began the long trip to his new home holding securely onto this vase.  He pointed out to his students that this vase was very much like our own salvation.  As he held it tightly on the airplane he was never worried about losing it but he was mindful to know that if he wasn't careful he could damage it.  A drop here or a bump there and the vase could be cracked or chipped or even worse, broke in a number of places.  Certainly, he would still have every piece, but where would be the beauty or the usefulness in an antique vase of broken pieces?  It was his desire to deliver this vase to his host as a beautiful and most useful gift.

     Christian, today we are reminded of many things, not the least of these being the fragility and temporal existence of life itself.  We are reminded that nations rise and nations fall and our own has not been guaranteed eternity.  We are reminded that nothing that man can make will last and nothing that God has made, but man, has the hope to do so either.  And finally, we are reminded, that if we wait to remember only once a year, we will most certainly forget.

     If you are looking back to a moment in time to define your salvation, you are looking for a vase that more than likely has been stowed in baggage.  The late and great Adrian Rogers reminded us in his book, What Every Christian Ought to Know, that the word believe is an active verb in the Bible.  It is not a moment in time, a memory past, an event that occured and was soon forgotten, it is there - now - or it might not be there at all.

     "Work out...." not work in, or work for, but work out.

     I learned quite a few things from Dr. C this year and more than one of them didn't appear in the textbook.  In this story, I learned to look at my salvation as a gift I'd like to present to my host, as yet unseen, as something beautiful and useful.  I didn't make it, I certainly can't improve upon it, but I believe that I can be so grateful for the grace that allowed me to have it that I could protect it from that which could damage it.  And, if I had any undo worry, I am told in the next verse of Philippians that I will not have to work this out alone; amazingly He will work in me for that also is to His glory.

     It's a personal question but it's a blog, no one but you will know how you answer.  How many times these last 364 days did you stop to remember 9/11 or have a moment of silence?  In the cry of never forgetting that we do every year on this date - did you?  For that is man, is it not, to leave a marker and then never go back to see it.

          Don't let that be the story of your salvation.  A remembrance that occurs two or three times a year, a donation that is dropped into a pot at the sound of a ringing bell, a family picture because you are all dressed so nicely, a vase that was left in baggage.

     Instead, let today be the day that you remember how fleeting this promise is, how quickly a candle is blown out, how you - and me - were never promised one more day.  Let today be the day you recommit to reading your Bible, praying with your wife, making plans to get back in your Bible Study group and, if necessary, answering a call if the Lord is speaking to you.  Let today be now - because now is such a great time.  Thank you, Dr. C and as you would write,

In His Grip.   

    

        

Do You See What He Sees?

     The other day a few of us were discussing the media's uncanny ability to come into your town during a tragedy or disaster and pick the absolute worst representative of your county to interview.  There's a certain queasiness you feel later while watching the news reports and waiting for your Joe Neighbor to say, "....and I don't believe anyone has ever really gone to the moon....."

     It's the same queasiness I feel when the football audience here is panned and I'm wondering if I will recognize the owner of the painted belly highlighted on the jumbotron and, I confess, it's the same queasiness I feel when Christians are given a turn at the microphone or the blog or the half a bajillion places everyone can go now to have their voices heard.  It never ceases to amaze me what people will say while, at the same time, confessing Jesus Christ.  It makes me wonder if we're getting it at all.

     A beggar walked up to a woman who was about to enter a coffee shop and exclaimed, "Lady, I haven't eaten in a week."

"Wow," exclaimed the woman, "I wish I had your will power."

     Would it be okay to suggest that we stop and think a little bit more?  And, while I'm there, would it be okay to suggest that we stop and think a little bit more before we say what we do about healthcare?  Because, while it is certainly one of the last things we want to see government run, it's not the A to Z argument that Christians are making it out to be.  It's the A argument  - and you can stop right there at abortion.  What else does a Christian need to say?  If the government gets a hold of healthcare you can safely assume that it will not be long before the Hyde Amendment is repealed.  What is the Hyde Amendment?  The only thing that would prevent the government from using its healthcare plan to federally fund abortions.  Obama is already on record as not supporting it.

     So there you go, you can stop at A.  And you just might want to consider that because a walk through the B-C-D-Etc doesn't bode as well for the Christian.  Government should not have such a great hand in social programs.  Churches should have a larger presence.  When that gets out of balance, like it has, I think that we have to own the portion that is ours.  You can't take what people give away willingly and any walk down history lane is a good reminder of the human tendency to forego freedom when they forget responsibility. 

     Maybe it doesn't merit the queasiness I feel when I hear Christians voice who does and does not deserve healthcare but I still cringe everytime I see the church head towards a revolution when it truly needs to be working inwardly towards a revival.  What are we to tell those who continue to look to us for answers?  What do our words sound like when they are no longer wrapped in love?  Look, I'm with you - there are some very good reasons to oppose government run healthcare.

There are some very bad ones too.

     You should know what your motivations are and what witness those motivations are carrying to the world around you.  Your turn at the mic or the blog might or might not convey a great grasp of the Constitution, though that would be nice.  But as a Christian, it should convey first and foremost a biblical worldview born from a clear grasp of His Word.  Revolution has never changed a world like Revival has.