Comfort Food – The Care of God – Psalm 23

The first time I talked publically about Psalm 23 was on a Mother’s Day.  At a funeral. For my mother-in-law, Gayle.  It was a very, very hard day. 

            Gayle had died suddenly of a heart attack at the young age of 55.  Pam and I were in Chicago and immediately thrust into the surreal chaos, raw emotion and numb pain that unexpected death brings.  Rushing to find plane tickets, struggling to understand the details of what had happened, coordinating schedules, embracing fond memories, weeping over regrets – they all came rushing in.

            Gayle’s husband (Pam’s step-father) was already an abrasive personality and the pain of his wife’s death accentuated his sharp edge.  He did things that weren’t nice, he said things that weren’t nice – for crying out loud, he scheduled the memorial service on Mother’s Day because there weren’t any other services scheduled that day!

            In the midst of such tremendous pain and unfairness my wife Pam exuded a level of grace that could only have come from the presence of her heavenly Father holding her and leading her.  God cared for us.

            The 23^rd Psalm from the Bible has long been embraced by our culture at large.  There is a strength and peace that exudes from these brief six verses that draws us in to its power.  The dominant metaphor for God is one of shepherd.  Even those who have never been on a farm or around farm animals still understand what this means from the Psalm.  A shepherd has the responsibility of leading, caring for and protecting his sheep.  It was a combination of being a scout, nurse and warrior all wrapped together.  When you have been shepherded well, you recognize it clearly after-the-fact.

            To be shepherded we have to accept the shepherd.  We have to realize that we indeed need someone to direct us where we should go, to bind up our wounds and fight off the wolves that surround us.  This is life.  It is very lonely and frightening when we go about it on our own.

            It was 21 years ago when we got that horrible call about Gayle.  There have been other very painful valleys we have traversed during that time that have been oh so very dark.  The Shepherd has always calmly, patiently, gently, lovingly walked before us to show us grace on the journey to the table of his provision.

            God cares.

Peace and grace,

David

A Heart For The Father

            I’m blessed.  I’ve got a great father.  I’ve never had to wonder who he is or where he is.  I’ve never had to guess if he loved me or not – he showed it tons throughout my life and regularly reminds me that he loves me.  For over half my life I have lived in a different part of the country than my father yet our relationship remains strong and deep.  We have been intentional about making time for each other by going hunting together, playing with old cars, reading books and talking about the important and the mundane.  As I said, I’m blessed.  I know many that would love to have what I have.

            Fathers are so very important.  But it isn’t an easy job.  Pretty much every father I know feels inadequate to the task, struggles with knowing whether they are doing it right and wrestles with the multitude of demands on their time – work, chores, bills, friendships, play, marriage, family.  It constantly feels like a juggling act with balls ready to fall out of the sky all of the time and then the hope that you can catch it on the bounce without dropping anything else.  Lots of Dads live with a low electrical charge of guilt in their gut over harsh words that have been said, a sense of not measuring up, emotional and physical exhaustion yet an unwillingness to do anything for themselves because it seems too selfish.  Often times Dads are also the ones who draw the hard lines and say “no” to their kids when they are testing the boundaries.  So, having someone mad at you is a prerequisite.  It is not easy to be a Dad.

            Malachi gives us a small hint of what happens when God is on the move.  When God’s rule gets established, one of the things that happens has to do with fathers, children and hearts.  When God moves, there is a restoration of the heart connection of a child to their father and the father to their child.  It shouldn’t be surprising.  It is the earthly picture of the heavenly reality.  God is described as our heavenly father and there is nothing he wants more than for his children to turn their hearts toward him.  The heart of any true father is that their heart be connected to their child’s heart.  It is the essence of fatherhood – taking responsibility and saying to their child, “I love you.  You are mine – forever.”

            So here’s my encouragement to you – encourage a father.  Yep, they are imperfect and some of us have screwed up royally.  There is no one who knows it and feels it more than the father himself.  But it is never too late to begin turning your heart to your father and the father’s heart to his kids.  God can do it – it’s what he does.  You might even see Jesus in the journey.

            Peace and grace,

David

God: “I love you.”

            She hugged the card to her chest, covering it up to keep anyone from seeing it.  It was a special card she had made for her mother and she wanted it to be a surprise.  So, I looked around, found some purple construction paper and we made a special envelope for her to put the card in.  She was so happy!  Now she could give her mom her special love letter.

            Love letters are special to make and special to receive.  That someone would take the time to write words of love carries deep meaning.  When I went to Ethiopia for the first time I made Pam a series of love letters for each day I was gone.  I made a set for the kids as well.  I wanted them to remember me!  And I wanted them to remember that I loved them and cared for them.

            Some have said the Bible is God’s love letter to those he cares deeply about.  We may read some of its content and think, “That’s a weird thing to say in a love letter!”  Yet, through the words of scripture we begin to see God’s heart and hear God’s voice.  It helps us understand God, know him personally and recognize his plan for us.

            The book of Malachi is truly a letter of love to the people God has chosen.  The very first thing God says is “I have loved you.”  God’s love isn’t sentimental though.  God’s love is based on a promise that he will never break.  That is the essence of covenant love – a promise held intact by the character of God.

            When it comes to experiencing God’s love, many times we can be like the people of Israel who responded to God’s declaration of love by asking, “How have you loved us?”  Have you ever felt that way?  You may not have said it but you thought it.  In the middle of a difficult time, when all seemed dark, you are wondering “Where is God?”

            The book of Malachi reminds us one of the evidences of God’s love for us is his sustaining grace.  Yes, you are taking many blows.  Yes, life is very hard.  Yes, you have many questions.  And you are still standing.  That is God’s grace.  That is evidence of his love for you.

            So no matter what you are going through right now, remember God’s covenant of love to you.  God always keeps his promises and he will never leave you.  He loves you.

Peace,

David

“My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:8, ESV)

“…fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10, ESV)

Life-Giving Stories - The Story of the Soils

In my garage is a 1929 Model A that has been in our family since it was brand new.  My Grandfather purchased it in January of 1929 and drove it until it wouldn’t go anymore.  He was a man of the earth, running a business that had a florists shop and huge greenhouses where he grew wonderful plants.  Every Christmas one of those greenhouses would be filled with beautiful red poinsettias that he had grown.  He was a master.

            One of the things that Grandpa Sam understood was if you are going to grow great plants, you must have great soil.  So, every year he would hitch a trailer to the Model A, drive up into the hills of Idaho where the best dirt was and replace about 15 tons of dirt in his greenhouses.  Every year.  Trailer full by trailer full.  As a kid I remember the planting shed where Grandpa Sam made his special dirt mixture that smelled so rich and earthy.  If dirt can be beautiful, Grandpa Sam knew how to make beautiful dirt.  And that beautiful dirt produced beautiful flowers and vegetables.

            Matthew, Mark and Luke all record Jesus’ parable of the soils.  (Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8)  In his story he identifies the different soils that seed falls upon and what happens.  There is hard soil where nothing grows, there is shallow soil that can’t sustain growth, there is contaminated soil, full of weeds that block out the good stuff and then there is good soil that produces a beautiful, rich, plentiful harvest.

            When Jesus explains his story to the disciples, he makes it clear that the soils represent the lives of people.  The seed that is sown are the words of God and, in particular, the teachings of Jesus.  The point of Jesus’ story is what happens in our life is a result of the type of soil of our life.  If you resist God’s truth, it won’t take root.  If you are shallow in your interest in truth, something might come up but it will quickly die.  If you contaminate your life with worry and things, it will kill your faith.  But, if you carefully open up the soil of your life, God’s truth will take root and put down deep roots that will bring change.

            The key way we have good soil is purposefully obeying what we hear from Jesus.  There is an old song of worship that goes like this – “Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”  Do you trust and obey?

            There are two motivations for obedience.  The most common is fear.  I obey the speed limit because I fear the CHP Officer’s ticket book and the pain it would bring my life!  Obedience because of fear doesn’t transform us, it just contains us such that, once that constraint is no longer a threat we do whatever we want.

            The other motivation for obedience is love.  I love my parents and want to please them so I live a life of obedience to them.  I love my wife so I obey her desires and wishes knowing it will bring a blessing to her and me.  I love God so I choose to obey his words because I want to honor him and please him.  Obedience fertilizes and tills the soil of our heart so God’s truth can take deep root in our life.  God’s deep rooted love will change us to be more like Jesus.

            Changing out 15 tons of dirt every year is not easy.  Especially if it is via a Model A!  But Grandpa Sam wasn’t thinking about the work, he was thinking about what he was committed to producing – beauty and excellence.

            Changing the soil of your heart isn’t easy and you will fail if that is all you think about.  But if you focus on the beauty God wants to bring, you will do it.  How is the soil of your heart?

Peace and grace,

David

Life Giving Stories – The Rich Man and Lazarus

            I wondered if he was dead.  He was just lying there, sprawled out beside the road.  It was dark as we drove by but it was definitely someone.  As we continued driving, I thought “Welcome to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.”

            It was my first time to Ethiopia, my first time to the continent of Africa.  I have lived in cities before so I knew a little bit what to expect but going to a third-world nation assaults all of your senses.  And it is almost overwhelming.  I had similar experiences when I worked in the inner-city of Chicago, touring abandoned apartment buildings that still had people living in them and when I went through Tijuana, Mexico.

            Our natural instinct when we come face-to-face with poverty is to turn away.  We change the channel to not look at the starving African children, we avert our gaze from the panhandler on the off-ramp, we drive by the bag lady pushing her shopping cart.  In our community, we don’t have to avoid scenes of poverty nearly as much because they are more hidden.  We don’t see the elderly woman sitting alone night after night with a solitary dinner that barely provides enough calories but it is all she can afford.  We don’t recognize the eighteen-years-old-and-one-day young man who just aged out of the foster care system and has now been put out on the street to figure out how to survive.  We don’t know about the teen mom with the new baby living with her mom who was a teen mom herself and both too young to have kids and grandkids.  But they are all there.  And Jesus loves them.

            The Bible makes it clear God has a bias toward the poor.  He is especially fond of the widow and the fatherless.  (“ ‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’” Deuteronomy 27:19, ESV.)  It is also clear that God does not hate the rich.  But it is quite true more often than not that the rich tend to hate God.  So, if we are a follower of Jesus, what are we to do?

            I remember asking my friend Steve Bryan, who has lived in Ethiopia for the last 20 years, how he deals with all the poverty and need around him.  He clearly couldn’t help every person he saw who was needy.  Steve said he helped the people he could, the people God put in front of him.

            As followers of Jesus, we can’t meet every need – and that is not sin nor failure before God.  What IS sin is helping no one.  Greed and envy are not exclusive sins of the wealthy – some of the most greedy people I have met were those of little resources.  And generosity is not exclusive to the rich – some of the most generous people I have met have had tremendous needs themselves.

            Cold Springs Church is committed to growing up disciples that see with the eyes of Jesus.  We want to be people who see the needs God places in front of us and then begin doing something to meet those needs.  And that is what God wants from us – to be willing to see the need and meet the need.  That is what a disciple of Jesus does.  The rich man’s sin against Lazarus was ignoring the person at his gate.  (Luke 16:19-31)  Jesus tells us that ignorance nor ignoring is not an excuse.

            God doesn’t want you to save the world.  That’s his job.  But he does expect you to open your eyes to the needs at your gate.  And do something.  A heart like that makes God happy.  And a heart like that will be a blessing and experience blessings.

            Who’s at your gate?  Are you willing to do something?

            A Prayer:  God, show us who you put at our gate.  Give us the courage to see and then the wisdom to do what is right.  Amen.

Peace and grace,

David