Pastor’s Point:  Trees Talk (revisited)

There they go again, doing what they always do.  I’m talking about the trees in my yard, my neighborhood… everywhere, really.  As I watch them finally come back to life after a long, bitter winter, I marvel at the rhythm of it all…of all created life.  Like clockwork, these statuesque creatures seem to erupt in praise to their Maker. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah described it as “clapping their hands” for all the world to see and hear (Isaiah 55:12).

Experiencing the beautiful and sometimes fragrant blossoms sprouting from what appeared to be useless, lifeless branches, I can’t help but reflect on the words of 1Chronicles 16.  The psalmist David seems to call forth praise from all of God’s creation, not just humankind.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
Tremble before him, all the earth!
    The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
    let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
Let the trees of the forest sing,
    let them sing for joy before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.

One of the clearest voices God speaks through is the tree. Here, in this one beautiful symbol of life, we have all the stages, the actual rhythm of the human experience.  And ultimately, we have the reminder that through the use of a tree, God’s redemptive plan for his fallen creation was accomplished, and we are restored, we are made right with Him.

Several years ago, one of my favorite contemporary Christian lyricists, Nicole Nordeman, wrote a song called Every Season. If you want one of the most honest, insightful windows into the human experience, you need look no further than the songs of this gifted writer.  Read along and see if you don’t agree that God has given her wisdom into a language that is all around us, spoken almost completely in silence.

Every evening sky, an invitation to trace the patterned stars.

And early in July, a celebration for freedom is ours.

And I notice You in children's games, in those who watch them from the shade.

Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder.  You are summer.

As the seasons of life go, I think of the summer of our days as the best of the best.  And it’s not necessarily a confined season or stage of our life.  It’s just when life is good, when we’re hitting on all cylinders, and all seems right with the world.  This experience comes and goes, but when we’re in the middle of it, we don’t want it to end.  It’s also a time filled with discovery and awe.  We often find the drudgery and grind of the rest of our life tolerable because we anticipate summer’s arrival.

And even when the trees have just surrendered to the harvest time.

Forfeiting their leaves in late September and sending us inside,

Still I notice You.  When change begins and I am braced for colder winds,

I will offer thanks for what has been and what’s to come.  You are autumn.

Personally, autumn is my favorite season of the year.  The colors, the smells, the cooler temperatures, the activities unique to fall:  they all remind me that just because something changes does not mean it can’t be beautiful or purposeful.  And I have learned the longer I live, that something wondrous happens even in the process of dying—if I look for it. 

And ev’rything in time and under heaven fin’lly falls asleep.

Wrapped in blankets white, all creation shivers underneath.

And still I notice You when branches crack and in my breath on frosted glass.

Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter.  You are winter.

I can honestly say this is probably my least favorite season of the year and of life in general.  It is often used to describe that stage which precedes our own death, when we fall asleep and are ‘no more’.  We hear the phrase the winter of our years.  Actually, I usually greet the start of winter with enthusiasm.  Certain elements like freshly fallen snow, the warmth of a fireplace, even the beauty of dead trees and vegetation against the backdrop of a beautiful white landscape—all of these intrigue me…initially. 

But then comes the waiting, the frustration of life slowed down, the lack of freedom, the lack of life, the sameness of it all.  At times, the bitter winds and uncertain conditions actually seem to oppose me in my journey, blocking my forward momentum.   And then, it happens:

Everything that’s new has bravely surfaced, teaching us to breathe.

And what was frozen through is newly purposed, turning all things green.

So it is with You and how You make me new with ev’ry season’s change.

And so it will be as You are recreating me, summer, autumn, winter, spring.

You and I, along with all of God’s creation, are reborn, given a do-over, awakened to life as it was always intended. Solomon once wrote: “Lo, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone; flowers appear on the earth, and the time for singing has come.” It reminds us that even the bleakest of periods in our lives have an ending point.  It’s as if God hits the refresh button and voilà!  Everything gets restarted. 

Our Maker is always at work moving us forward.  He has made seasons to illustrate the spectrum of our human experiences. And He has made trees, including the one that was used for His own son’s death, to remind us, that in whatever stage we find ourselves, He is at work for our good.  Let the seasons speak to you. Let trees talk to you. And be reminded, God is not finished with you yet.

[Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins,

might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.  1 Peter 2:24 NKJV

tad

*“Every Season” © 2000 Ariose Music, Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing     

PASTOR’S POINT: The Logic of the Resurrection

Easter is upon us.  And here we are, some 2000 years after the roll out of God’s Big Idea, and we’re still preaching the resurrection of Christ as the unique and central core of our Christian faith.  If Jesus is not undead, He may have left behind some cool teachings and a good example, but He possessed no real unique power to affect us…in this life or the one to come.  And since He claimed, on several occasions, that He would die and come back from the dead, well, if He is still dead, why make such a big deal over Him?  Why follow Him?  But, in fact, His coming back from the dead established once and for all that “He is” who He said He is—both God and Lord.  C.S. Lewis said it best in Mere Christianity:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about [Jesus]: "I'm ready to accept [Him] as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 

At times, I think it takes more faith to believe that Christianity got its start from a lie.  Imagine a bunch of defeated loyalists spreading a made up story about how the guy they thought was the real deal got nailed to a cross in utter humiliation, then actually got UP three days later, and then flew up to heaven so they could start a new religion.  Seriously?  How about a more logical explanation?  These guys were actually eyewitnesses to something miraculous that happened.  It radically changed them and they, in turn, turned the world upside down.  Need more evidence that Jesus is undead? 

In his treatise Seven Proofs of the Resurrection, author Jack Zavada lays out the evidence that demands a verdict:

Resurrection Proof #1: The Empty Tomb of Jesus—The empty tomb may be the strongest proof Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Two major theories have been advanced by unbelievers: someone stole Jesus' body or the women and disciples went to the wrong tomb. The Jews and Romans had no motive to steal the body. Christ's apostles were too cowardly and would have had to overcome the Roman guards. The women who found the tomb empty had earlier watched Jesus being laid away; they knew where the correct tomb was. Even if they had gone to the wrong tomb, the Sanhedrin could have produced the body from the right tomb to stop the resurrection stories. Jesus' burial cloths were left neatly folded inside, hardly the act of hurrying grave robbers. Angels said Jesus had risen from the dead.

Resurrection Proof #2: The Women Eyewitnesses—The women eyewitnesses are further proof that the Gospels are accurate historical records. If the accounts had been made up, no ancient author would have used women for witnesses to Christ's resurrection. Women were second class citizens in Bible times; their testimony was not even allowed in court. Yet the Bible says the risen Christ first appeared to Mary Magdalene and other holy women. Even the apostles did not believe Mary when she told them the tomb was empty. Jesus, who always had special respect for these women, honored them as the first eyewitnesses to his resurrection. The male Gospel writers had no choice but to report this embarrassing act of God's favor, because that was how it happened.

Resurrection Proof #3: Jesus' Apostles' New-Found Courage—After the crucifixion, Jesus' apostles hid behind locked doors, terrified they would be executed next. But something changed them from cowards to bold preachers. Anyone who understands human character knows people do not change that much without some major influence. That influence was seeing their Master, bodily risen from the dead. Christ appeared to them in the locked room, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and on the Mount of Olives. After seeing Jesus alive, Peter and the others left the locked room and preached the risen Christ, unafraid of what would happen to them. They quit hiding because they knew the truth. They finally understood that Jesus is God incarnate, who saves people from sin.

Resurrection Proof #4: The Changed Lives of James and Others—Changed lives are yet another proof of the resurrection. James, the brother of Jesus, was openly skeptical that Jesus was the Messiah. Later James became a courageous leader of the Jerusalem church, even being stoned to death for his faith. Why? The Bible says the risen Christ appeared to him. What a shock to see your own brother, alive again, after you knew he was dead. James and the apostles were effective missionaries because people could tell these men had touched and seen the risen Christ. With such zealous eyewitnesses, the early church exploded in growth, spreading west from Jerusalem to Rome and beyond. For 2,000 years, encounters with the resurrected Jesus have changed lives.

Resurrection Proof #5: The Large Crowd of Eyewitnesses—A large crowd of more than 500 eyewitnesses saw the risen Jesus Christ at the same time. The Apostle Paul records this event in 1 Corinthians 15:6. He states that most of these men and women were still alive when he wrote this letter, about 55 A.D. Undoubtedly they told others about this miracle. Today, psychologists say it would be impossible for a large crowd of people to have had the same hallucination at once. Smaller groups also saw the risen Christ, such as the apostles, and Cleopas and his companion. They all saw the same thing, and in the case of the apostles, they touched Jesus and watched him eat food. The hallucination theory is further debunked because after the ascension of Jesus into heaven, sightings of him stopped.

Resurrection Proof #6: The Conversion of Paul—The conversion of Paul records the most drastically changed life in the Bible. As Saul of Tarsus, he was an aggressive persecutor of the early church. When the risen Christ appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road, Paul became Christianity's most determined missionary. He endured five floggings, three beatings, three shipwrecks, a stoning, poverty, and years of ridicule. Finally the Roman emperor Nero had Paul beheaded because the apostle refused to deny his faith in Jesus. What could make a person willingly accept—even welcome—such hardships? Christians believe the conversion of Paul came about because he encountered Jesus Christ who had risen from the dead.

Resurrection Proof #7: They Died for Jesus—Countless people have died for Jesus, absolutely certain that the resurrection of Christ is an historical fact. Tradition says ten of the original apostles died as martyrs for Christ, as did the Apostle Paul. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of early Christians died in the Roman arena and in prisons for their faith. Down through the centuries, thousands more have died for Jesus because they believed the resurrection is true. Even today, people suffer persecution because they have faith that Christ rose from the dead. An isolated group may give up their lives for a cult leader who was later revealed to be a fraud, but no one willingly dies (much less violently) for someone they know to be a liar.  For 2,000 years Christians have died in many lands, believing Jesus conquered death to give them eternal life.

The apostle Paul believed the resurrection to be not only logical but critical to our faith.  He wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:  “…if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!  And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.”  Now that’s something to celebrate!  The even better news is that Jesus has promised to come back and take us to where He is: 

“ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me

 that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3)

Let’s have a fantastic Easter in anticipation of that even greater Resurrection Morn to come!  To me, it just seems reasonable.

tad

Pastor’s Point: The Man in the Middle

As we approach Holy Week, we’ve spent much of our preparation talking and singing about the cross.  After hearing the passion story so many times, it is easy to almost grow numb to the incredible drama that was actually playing out in the life of Jesus and those within earshot of him that final week.  Perhaps no other scene grips my attention or imagination quite like the one which involves his encounter with the two thieves on the cross.  It was one of his last acts of ministry before His death.  One of the songs we will sing at our Good Friday service, Blessed Redeemer, really attempts to visualize that moment—

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer

 Seems like I see Him on Calvary’s tree; 

Wounded and bleeding for sinners pleading 

blind and unheeding… dying for me.

The scripture version is brief and to the point:

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.  When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.  One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Literally and figuratively, Jesus was the man in the middle.  That is how he died, between two others, two needy ones…like you and me.  Died right where he belonged, in a sense—at the center.  I don’t think it’s coincidental that the gospel writer pays attention to Jesus’ position in relationship to them. One was on his right, the other on his left. Both sensed that this Jesus was no ordinary criminal.  The one says, “if you are the Messiah…”  The other one suspects Jesus’s kingdom lies just ahead. “Remember me” then, he pleads.  And what could these two guys offer him in exchange? Absolutely nothing.  Or more specifically, their lives of brokenness and squandered opportunities. They are meeting The Man empty-handed, and would face Him, their Maker, again—in a few short hours.

What does this encounter have to do with you and me?  Everything.  If we don’t see ourselves beside Jesus on that cross, just as desperate for His salvation as those thieves, then we don’t understand Calvary at all.  The “place of the scull” was not just a place for the really bad guys…it was the destiny of Everyman apart from Christ.  On our best days, we fall short of the glory of God and deserve His wrath and punishment.  At one time, we were all “blind and unheeding,” and even now as followers we can choose to stray.  That’s why we need to hear “dying for me” over and over again.  I believe this scene is a kind of template for all of humankind, when we stand before The Man someday to be judged.  The hymnwriter, Augustus Toplady, wrote these words in 1763:

Not the labor of my hands can fulfill Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress; helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.

These were the very sentiments of the humble thief on the cross, bringing nothing to the table: like you and me, he came naked, helpless, foul.  The solution to his desperate situation was the same as yours and mine. 

As we near Holy week, I urge you to take time to position yourself before Christ—willingly, not reluctantly. Agree with the thief who found the Man in the middle to be His savior and king.  Admit your desperate need, and savor the grace that follows.  It’s what makes Good Friday so good.

tad

Pastor’s Point: To read or not to read... that is the question

(Part 2 of Soapboxes and other rickety platforms)

[Two weeks ago I spoke of inappropriately using a “soapbox” approach to address an issue about which I feel strongly.  In that article, I basically apologized for that ‘bully pulpit’ tactic and promised to clarify the actual issue in a subsequent installment.  Here it is.]

The Issue:  It is my observation that those leading worship and music in the contemporary church have, as a rule, less and less formal musical training, and worship and music departments, by default, are more and more limited in the style and diversity of their musical offerings.  This does not, of course, call into question their spirituality, love for God, or even their effectiveness to lead, for a season, a worship ministry.

But under such musically limited leadership, the use of actual musical scores and printed music is giving way to simple lead sheets and chord charts, often with not so much as a note of music, but rather simply lyrics with accompanying guitar chords.  In fact, what is now the generally accepted practice in many large, contemporary churches is learning music almost exclusively by rote. For the vocalists, this is mainly done by merely listening to professional music samples and imitating those vocal and instrumental parts after much repetition.

Those playing in most contemporary bands do so using “scores” with no written melody, no written rhythms, not an actual musical score or “roadmap” (containing such things as measure numbers, repeat signs, dynamics, tags, codas, etc).  One of the reasons I find this so frustrating is because of what it ignores; namely, the way we all learn language of any kind.  As children, before we can read (interpret letters, symbols, punctuation, etc.) we are forced to learn only through repetition.  If you tell me a story enough times, eventually I can repeat it back to you in a fairly close proximity to the original.  That is where many contemporary music ministries are parking.  But how much more freeing (and unifying) it is when signs and symbols begin to be understood, and we are free to let our eyes as well as our ears tell us what the music is saying.  And just like reading a book yourself, as opposed to having the book read to you over and over till you remember it, learning a musical language SAVES TIME.

But at the end of the day…hear this.  Musical knowledge alone does not a minister make.  Knowing the science of our craft does not change our hearts.  It’s a tool, a mechanism that is readily available to us if we will take advantage of it.  To ignore it means less people, not more, can be employed to use their artistic gifts.  “The speed of the leader, speed of the team” axiom often fits here.  If I can’t read a musical score, I can’t be of much assistance in teaching you how to, so you must adapt to my method of learning or limitations.  But what qualifies you and me to stand (sit) before God’s people and lead worship is, first and foremost, that we know HIM, not music.  Churches all over the country are filled with music ministries today led by consummate musicians who don’t know the Lord.  It’s just a place to practice their craft.

But for those leaders who love the Lord and are called or commissioned to lead such ministries, I challenge you not to dumb down the process of learning music by simply adapting a rote learning method.  I propose that all of us who desire to give God our best and lead with skill and excellence, be willing to grow in this area and take advantage of any method which helps our team learn quickly, skillfully, and effectively.  One of our core values in this ministry is “Excellence in all things and all things to God’s glory.” They are two sides to the same coin.  Excellence—not perfection.  It involves pursuit, growth, improvement (within limits), and assessment.  But only as it serves to help us better reflect and illustrate our amazing Creator.

Quoting from “Sweet Sixteen”:

“If the arts are considered a language through which we can communicate the gospel, that language must be clear, precise, and relevant to the culture around it.  In every area of this ministry, we can be moving toward higher ground.  Spiritually, we must agree with Paul that we “have [not] already attained [spiritual] perfection, but I press on to make it my own because Christ has made me his own.” (Phil. 3:12)  Artistically, we are entrusted with certain gifts which can always be improved upon, sharpened, and honed (Parable of the talents—Matthew 25:15ff). “

I would love to invite your input to this “discussion” and would ask each of you to pray about what your next step would be toward greater effectiveness as a music minister or worship leader.  The same God who loves a joyful noise inspired David to write: “Play skillfully, with a shout of joy!” (Ps. 33)  Can I get an Amen?! 

tad