Good News Sense

“Love your neighbor as yourself” seems a pretty straight-forward command, a mandate plainly stressed in the life and ministry of Jesus and in the apostolic teaching that followed. Yet, it is clearly not as simple it appears for most believers. Christians are usually very nice people, who work hard, love their families, and try to be good citizens. They are generally decent people to have living in a neighborhood, dependable folk for employment or volunteer work, and pleasant people to have around for whatever reason. Of course, there are exceptions, but those are often living contrary to the plain teaching of the Word.

So why are Christians so despised by their political and social adversaries? Why have people written scathing attacks upon the so-called “Religious Right,” for example? What has inspired atheists to write books like God is Not Good? How could a Rosy O’Donnell honestly think that Christians are as bad as radical Muslim terrorists? Why are basically decent pro-lifers the target of suspicion when one crazed killer murders an abortion doctor? How is it that these nice people may find themselves in fear of breaking “hate crimes” laws? Is there more to these concerns than aggressive opposition inspired by the enemy? Are we “nice folk” in some way responsible for the suspicions directed our way?

Two of Jesus’ stories help us understand how his disciples should respond to others and, as important, to whom we are to respond.  Luke’s Gospel records the story of the Good Samaritan after a lawyer asks him, “Who is my neighbor?” in response to the Great Commandment.  How often have we turned that story around to suggest that we should be helping the “Samaritans” around us when, in the story, it was the Samaritan who did the helping.  Which is harder to help an undesirable or to be helped by one?  Of course, the victim in Jesus’ story had no choice; he was too badly beaten to resist any help.

In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Jesus bases the division of the saved and the lost on their care or rejection of a whole host of undesirables–the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned.  Jesus’ kingdom teaching always bothers those who preach salvation by faith alone.  Dare the saved assume they may neglect those in need and be secure in their hope of heaven?  Those who have truly been changed by trusting Christ for the forgiveness of their sins will reflect that change with compassionate hearts.  When such a heart is missing, what does that say about the person’s state of grace?  I would recommend thoughtful, prayerful reflection on that very question.

I have always cringed a bit at the phrase “social justice.”  Too often, those who use it seem to imply that we Christians need to fix the social and political problems of our world, structures dominated by unbelievers.  Moses didn’t fix Egypt; he left it, leaving behind a strong dose of divine judgment.  Christians are typically not the powerful in this world, and God warns those who are powerful that he will judge them in their use or abuse of that power.  Just to be clear, we should include the wealth among the powerful for surely money is power.

Nevertheless, we believers, especially when we enjoy much of this world’s goods, have an obligation to those in need.  Poor, imprisoned, widowed, orphaned, stranger, outcast–all deserve our loving, neighborly concern and ministry.  God didn’t bless so that the blessed could sequester themselves in a nice suburban community, far from the ugliness of inner city neighborhoods.  He doesn’t mean for us to look down on groups of people because we regard them more as threats to our way of life than as people in need.

Some rightly attack Christianity and Christians when we seem to have little sympathy for the plight of others, especially when we may be seeking to preserve traditional values politically.  I am ardently pro-life, but I have observed some painfully shrill anti-abortion protesters, who seemed to demonstrate little of the love of Jesus Christ.  I oppose gay marriage, but too many Christians seem to hate homosexuals (when Jesus said love your enemies).  I believe Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the light,” but I see Muslims no differently than any other unbelievers, those whom God would bring to himself.  I am politically conservative, nearly libertarian, and I hate what some on the other end of the spectrum seem to be doing to our country.  However, Jesus dealt with such people lovingly and reserved his anger for the evil inside the household of God.

Jesus practiced what he preached.  I wonder how different things might be if we, his followers, did the same?

A few months ago, I wrote about Life Without Rules, where I suggested that God gives us relatively few commands and leaves us free to find our own way within those guidelines. People often ask to know “God’s will,” as if as to say “God, tell me what to do and guarantee my success.” His way is really much more exciting. He guides us with wisdom about the basics and then says, “Go, discover, work, enjoy!”

Where do those principles of wisdom begin? Make the best relationships you can with God and your neighbors. Whenever I ask a class or audience what God puts first, people come up with things like live a holy life, tell others about Jesus, obey God’s commands, or be Christ-like. They all sound pretty good, but they’re wrong. As commendable as they seem, none of them are first. To be honest, I always wonder how we miss this because Jesus is so clear. He says it’s the first and greatest commandment; it contains all the others: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and the second is like it; love your neighbor as yourself.”

More importantly, it makes the others viable and effective. When a believer is inspired and motivated by love, all the other things he or she does work as they should. When love is missing, our best is far from good enough; it is nothing, empty, and worthless. Paul is just as clear as Jesus: ^“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

I find this so ironic. I work with young people, and it is obvious from adolescence how important they find relating to each other is for them, whether it is their friends or the beginnings of interest in the opposite sex. Older adults like parents and teachers begin to seem suspect and even out of touch; their peers seem so sensible, wise, and, most of all, critically important. Yet, despite such a powerful interest, they soon learn to mistreat the very people that matter so much. It is almost a puzzle. Why do people do damage to something that seems to matter so much?

We neglect love for love’s opposite. What is the force or motivation those works against love? An easy answer is hatred. A bit more reflection suggests apathy or carelessness. Yet both are wrong. Love’s opposite includes both. If love is caring for another person as much as oneself, then the opposite only cares for self. We call it selfishness, self-interest, or self-centeredness; it is an attitude that seeks more to be loved than to love. Much that is selfish comes from fear, but true love cares more about that which may harm another than that which harms oneself. It is an rather insidious complication and easily becomes fully evil and damaging.

What is the corrective? One might say just obey the commandment, but many don’t really know how. So self-involved, we our often don’t recognize their own self-centeredness. There is a skill that can be learned that will help. It’s called listening. We know people care about us when they take the time to listen. This is so important and so powerful that I define love as “listen, understand, and respond appropriately.”

The wise person puts first things first.  If we respect God at all, we will do what he says; that is where wisdom begins.  Jesus tells us plainly that love comes first…our relationships with God and with people.  We typically fall into the trap of self-centeredness but learning to listen can help us escape the trap.  It is a simple way of achieving God’s clear priority and, at the same time, finding what we really want.

So there it is…a simple prescription.  Now what will you do with it?

A Sonnet to God’s Loving Providence

by J. Roger Wilson, December, 2008

Behind us lies another year of progress and of pain—

Lingering thoughts of joy for some, of sadness mingled through;

Enduring loss, of grief, goodbyes, of seeing fortunes wane;

Some seeing growth in wealth or love—by these, time crept or flew.

So what of things beyond our power to stop or to control?

Elections, crimes, and “acts of God” have touched our lives before.

Doubts assail our confidence, experience plays a role;

Now fears of dark uncertain days seem all we have in store.

Everybody knows that sin marks each and everyone;

We’ve failed in oh so many ways; we all deserve the worst.

Yet God does not reserve His grace; none earn what Christ has done.

Escape we all if Him we trust, who were in Adam cursed.

A brand new year begins in hope, in love He’s promised good;

Rely on Him, invest His gifts, and live as faithful should.

Something in us craves the chance to start over, to begin again, and to leave the past and its disappointments behind. The custom of making resolutions is part of that desire; we feel if only we could overcome our worst shortcomings, then things would have to get better. At least, if we make the effort, we think we’d feel better. More often than not, we fail and become disillusioned.

We are all marked by failure; Paul reviews the problem shared by our entire human family in Romans. We fall short of our own ambitions and ideals, let alone the high calling of our righteous Creator. Being surrounded by sinners, some who are powerful, we easily blame our losses on them or even God. Our lives then become places of despair, from which many grumble and complain but do little to make things better. Rather than lift each other up, we tear each other down; we criticize the failures of others, feeling superior in our own self-righteousness.

God has already given us the “clean slate” we want; it is ours to use over and over again, every single day. In love, He has gifted us to enable us to serve him creatively, and He has placed us in a community, in a family, so that we need not work or even fail alone. That is the blessing of a new year, one that holds everything we desire, if only we tap into God’s tender mercies and His unbelievably amazing grace! It is in this sense that I pray you will have a blessed new year.

“ ‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la”–Really? No holiday is so filled with songs and traditions as Christmas, and no holiday is prone to more sadness and depression, for some anyway. On the one hand, Christmas is associated with powerful memories—sights, sounds, and even scents–recall happy childhoods that live only in memory. Sentimental stories and music tug at heartstrings creating idealized notions of the perfect Christmas that fill us with regret for a past that didn’t measure up or with fear that yet another season will pass without achieving a perfect celebration.

Merchants begin offering Christmas decorations with the sense that money will buy happiness. Many realize the lie in this commercialized approach, but they play along anyway. The idea of generosity is lost in children asking for the latest fad and in making sure that no gift received is unmatched by an equally valuable gift given in return. Television especially seeks to offer more sentimental stories drawn from the archives with a few new productions promising the genuine “spirit of Christmas.” The mythology of Christmas easily overshadows the true Christmas story.

Many who might otherwise enjoy the season face overwhelming burdens. The poor and those facing unexpected financial reversals cannot afford an expensive celebration that is the norm for many families. Some are caught in the midst of illness or unexpected death that make fun impossible, and others have lost the joy of Christmas in the memory of past tragedy and loss. Countless people find Christmas unbearably lonely—divorced, never married, widowed, elderly, or alienated from loved ones. The portrayals of happy families and gaiety only exacerbate the sadness they already feel.

The irony is that most of this has nothing whatever to do with the birth of Jesus that it purports to celebrate or that, at the least, was the original reason for the holiday. Biblical concepts that once fostered some of the traditions are either forgotten or only recalled in a token effort to make a connection back to the Christ of Christmas. Serious Christians strive to hold on to the day that commemorates the birth of their Savior, while some reject the holiday completely, saying it isn’t even the actual day of Jesus’ birth (which no one really knows).

In recent years, multiculturalists and anti-religionists have worked hard to remove any semblance of Christianity in what once was a Christian holy day. Some suggest that Christmas decorations with any religious connotation may offend non-Christians, and a few such people have willingly stepped forward to pronounce their offended sensibilities. Over-zealous teachers and others bend over backwards to take anything religious out of school activities and public displays, trying to turn Christmas into some “happy holiday,” stripped of meaning.

So what is its meaning?  “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” This is the awesome truth that Christmas celebrates, or should!  This is nothing precisely “jolly” about the incarnation.  The “joy” of Christmas is that God injected himself into the history of the humans he created to rescue them from the very loss and despair that many feel more sharply at the holidays but may face year-round.

“And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” This is far removed from the commercial sentimentality so prevalent at this season. The shepherds were scared, and later they were most likely puzzled. They had surely seen angels and a baby that was supposedly the Messiah. Yet we have no further testimony from the shepherds.

This remarkable event was God’s unspeakable gift, perhaps more than any other, that is, until the cross, where Jesus Christ completed his mission of divine rescue. While I think it is the greatest honor than nearly the whole world celebrate his birth, whether they acknowledge it or not, a personal response appropriate to the “holy day” need not be one of tradition or giddy happiness. Faith in the Savior who came and quiet joy in the salvation that comes by faith is more than enough. For those with burdens almost too great to bear, the real celebration is yet to come, when all suffering, sorrow, sadness, and sin will be gone forever!

What is a name. Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Names do not change the essence of a thing or person but should accurately reflect what that essence is. Last time, I wrote about the misuse of names as labels. We use labels to dismiss people, deceive, or confuse; we may generalize wrongly or intentionally to seek to alter the sense of who someone is. Bad names can do harm; name-calling can confuse a child for a lifetime. However, some labels are valid and, in fact, necessary because they are undeniable, because we choose them for ourselves, or because they help us communicate respectfully and effectively. A well-chosen name is a blessing as much as an inappropriate name is a curse.

Human is a useful label (I prefer the older, generic “Man”). It applies to every person, each individual created in God’s image, able to use words to think, record, and communicate and gifted to function creatively. Geneticists could tell us exactly what makes us human in terms of genes and DNA, and it begins at the moment that egg and sperm are joined in conception. Dolphins, whales, and puppies are not human, but a Downs Syndrome baby, an elderly Alzheimer’s patient, and an African tribesman afflicted with AIDS are most definitely human. A slave owner, whether in the antebellum South or modern-day Sudan, who regards a slave as less than human and yet conceives a child with that very slave, proves the humanity of slave and child.

Disciple is an important designation, because a person choses to follow Jesus Christ and learn from Him. This label is associated with several other quite remarkable appellations—chosen person, royal priest, child of God, and “little Christ” (the meaning of Christian). We may add other designations—Baptist, evangelical, protestant, Bible-believer, charismatic, Lutheran, or even fundamentalist. We use labels like these to clarify who we are and distinguish us from other Christians. To an extent, this is valid and acceptable; yet too often, people use them condescendingly to imply or state outright their superiority to other believers. Once we take the step of marking oneself as better than another, we have begun to misuse the label. It’s not our job to judge God’s children or evaluate their service to Him; indeed, Paul said that he didn’t even judge his own service.

A third useful and legitimate label is American, although it is a name we must use carefully and humbly. I dislike the use of hyphens to distinguish among Americans, as much as I object to them for dividing Christians. I regard this label as one to wear proudly because the United States has a noble heritage of freedom and faith. Like any designation, it comes without guarantee that all who use it will be honorable, decent, and kind. No matter the label, we all remain sinners, and none of us is perfect.  Still, I believe it is a good name and one I am proud to use for myself.

Other useful labels have value if properly defined and applied.  Man and woman, gentleman and lady, and the like are words that should inspire us to be the best of whatever we are.  I strive to be a good and godly man and a gentleman, knowing once they were largely synonymous.  Friend can be a rich and meaningful label if we use it thoughtfully, not casually.  I have over 100 friends on Facebook; others have thousands, but how many of even my hundred are true friends?  I limit my acceptance of requests because I want to be a genuine friend, more than a name on a list.

Personally, I aspire to labels such as leader, teacher, servant, prophet, counselor, and student.  These are good roles, and I hope you have certain roles in mind that you aspire to fill.  We live in an age of insult and name-calling, but in a culture of aimlessness and selfish pleasure.  We need the challenge of good names, good labels that motivate us to be better people and to respect other people more.  When we do that, we become the good news.

Freedom is a gift of God. It is a special gift for his children, but I believe that he wants all men and women to be free. He doesn’t have a problem with freedom, but we do. Fallen humans are slaves to sin, and sin restricts our ability to understand and enjoy freedom. Perhaps because we are bound in sin, we tend to resent the freedom that others have, regardless of its nature. We wish we were free; but, trapped ourselves, we despise the freedom of others.

Oppressors and tyrants thrive on controlling people; so, of course, they despise freedom of any kind. Ironically, religious leaders tent do dislike freedom, even some Christian leaders. It is too easy to use religion to coerce and repress its followers. Anyone who enjoys wielding power will not appreciate freedom, except perhaps their own; perhaps that is why the heads of cults often demand strict morality from their followers but practice what they deny others, whether secretly or openly. Of course, they are not truly free but bound in their own sin, doomed to death. God’s spirit operates contrary to the ways of power, i.e., “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.”  They demand service instead of being freed to serve.

Strangely, people who have freedom in Christ often behave as if they do not. Released from the “prison” of their sin through the mercy and grace of Jesus, they still hang around the jailhouse, like those who have served long prison sentences who struggle to return to normal life. Paul talks about this in Galatians 5:1, saying that Jesus freed us to enjoy freedom; therefore, we should not go back to bondage, slavery, imprisonment, or captivity. This problem, what Paul called “another gospel,” was already prevalent enough to warrant a letter to the Galatians. The problem is not just common today; it is nearly universal! Many believers are afraid to be free.

People do not only want to control others; they want to be in control of themselves. Such control requires a knowledge that only God has. Sinners, even saved sinners, have only known life in the bondage of sin; they cannot know the possibilities into the Spirit will take them, once they release control.

I have always reacted negatively to “let go and let God.” That attitude seems to say that we have nothing to contribute to the work God wants to do. The issue is “will” versus “effort.” “Thy will, not my will be done” is the key to freedom in the Spirit, but it is based on the effort we invest in study, preparation, effort, planning, meditating, skill development, etc. A writer must first learn to write, study writers, put effort into developing their skills, imagine, plan, and then release control into the Spirit. A farmer cannot pray “Thy will be done” without first planting, fertilizing, and cultivating the growing plants. As a preacher, I read, pondered, made an outline and notes, but then often found myself saying things I had not planned, things that blessed me even as I spoke them. That is freedom, and there is nothing we can do, when we insist on full control, that is anything like it. What a shame it is when we fear freedom, but what amazing things happen if we learn to use our gifts in liberty. Freedom is wonderful, awesomely good news!

We live in a time and place where people hate rules. Some hate them so much that they have tried to imagine there are no rules. This “relativism” says that each person may do as he or she thinks is best , what the author the Old Testament book of Judges describes as each man doing what is “right in his own eyes.” Those were tough times for the nation of Israel since God permitted their enemies to defeat them, time and time again. Each time, after ignoring God and suffering the consequences, they cried out and said, in effect, “We’re sorry. Please help us out of this mess.” Each time, after God delivered them, they went back to their old self-serving disobedience.

One of the reasons folks hate rules, even Christian folks, is that they feel like someone else is controlling their lives. That isn’t surprising since we live in a fallen world where many people do indeed want to run other people’s lives, but God doesn’t work that way.

“Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed him, ‘If you continue in My word, you are truly disciples of Mine. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

One translation I read rendered Jesus’ condition as “if you obey my teaching,” but I don’t think that’s quite right. A better translation would be “if you stick with what I’ve taught you.” It may seem a minor difference, but it isn’t. Far too many Christians fall into the trap of “following the rules,” what we call legalism. This is trying to satisfy God by following rules, despite the painful truth that no one can ever follow them well enough. Such people often become stern and humorless, either very self-righteous or defeated and grim, depending on their perception of success or failure in their piety. Where is the freedom in that?

Jesus said, in John 10, that he came to give us “life, real life!” He has “set us free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8), but you may wonder where laws, such as the 10 Commandments belong in a believer’s life. Aren’t they rules we should follow? They are indeed because they are an expression of the very character of God and a guide from the Creator on how to operate successfully among other humans. As such, we should avoid the activities they prohibit.

What is amazing is that there are so few, only 10, pretty simple warnings: don’t tell lies, don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t violate your marriage or the marriage of others, don’t want what belongs to someone else, don’t work all the time, don’t worship idols or fake gods, and don’t dishonor your parents, and don’t treat God’s name with disrespect.

The reality is that those rules are sensible; only a foolish person would ignore them. Otherwise, in Christ, we’re pretty much free to make our own way, to “be transformed and not conformed to this world,” to exercise the gifts he has given us, and to discover him “at work” in us both to “will and to do according to His pleasure.” Religions, governments, and control freaks want to run our lives and make us all the same, but God wants to release us to enjoy the unique individual life he has given each of us, to discover and use the gifts he has given, and to find the joy in really living. Those things don’t come through rules but through the guidance of the Holy Spirit who dwells among us. Of course to discover all this, we must “pay attention” to what he has taught us. That isn’t blind, dogged obedience to a control freak; that is the wisdom of following the one who understands what will make life work and work well. That’s the good news of life in Christ.

Perhaps the best news of all is that God, the Creator of the universe, loves each of us.  He made us and treasures his creation.  He is our father and loves his children.  Through the sacrifice of his son Jesus, he arranged for our redemption, the forgiveness of our sin, and the adoption of each of us who believe into his family.  As the Scripture and the song say, “There is no greater love!”

What are people so love to do?  You’d think it would be obvious, so obvious that no command would be necessary.  Yet, when asked, Jesus said that this was the greatest commanment, to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself.  As I said, it should be obvious, the most natural response to the greatest gift of love, to love in return.

Is it easier to love God or to love others?  Personally, I suspect that learning to love others is how we begin to learn to love God.  If we cannot love the visible and tangible, how on earth might we love the invisible and intangible?  Of course, Jesus tells us.  “If you love me, do what I say.”

Paul warns us in I Corinthians 13 to be careful in thinking we can serve God yet be careless of love.  It ain’t gonna happen!  Without love, nothing we do has any value–not work, not art, not ministry!  Loveless miracles are worthless.  Loveless teaching is pointless.  Loveless worship is a waste of time.

Some time ago, I took I Corinthians 13 and amplified it, paraphrased it.  I was trying to find a way to take something so familiar as to be ignorable and attempt to grab people’s attention.  Does it work?  You tell me.  I know this that when I was working on it, this evening, I was convicted by my own words.  Love isn’t easy; it doesn’t come naturally to us.  It is easier to be selfish, self-centered, and proud.  Love challenges our natural, fallen carnality.

The good news, of course, is that our savior and friend is working in us “both to will and to work” to get the job done, in this case to love.  Even when we fail, and let’s be honest, we fail a lot, he still loves us, forgives us, sets us back on our feet, and pushes us to keep trying, to keep loving.  Like Paul says at the end of I Corinthians 13, of faith, hope, and love, “the greatest of these is love.”

This year we have heard lots of bad news about banks, mortgages, and the economy. The cost of food and energy have increased. If you listen, you will find it easy to worry about the future. The Democrats and their political allies in the media want you to worry and blame the President and and the Republican Party. That way you will be more likely to vote Democratic, forgetting that they have controlled Congress for the past 2 years, ignoring their own role in the crisis. For the Republicans, the fear is that, in election years as usual, the voters will blame the President, even for things that the President cannot control.

Should we be concerned about this financial business? As citizens, of course we should. Government had a significant part in causing many of the problems, but not necessarily the Republicans alone. Don’t forget who has held the majority. Big government advocates tinker with almost every aspect of business in this country. They interfere with processes that would often “self-correct” without that interference. They’ve been doing it for decades, long before Republicans had their brief stint of power; but Republicans aren’t innocent of tinkering either.

They also love to overtax people because they think they know better able to spend that money. At a certain point, this is not much better than theft, but legalized theft by the strong arm of the government. Many people accept or even approve this approach, thinking they will benefit from the government taking from some to give to others. What would Jesus have to say about all of this?

He already said it: “Seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things—food, drink, clothing, the necessities of life—will be given to you.” We don’t have to worry about whether we will have what we need if we put His kingdom and His righteousness first. That is first a message to each believer, but it applies, in principle, to government and society, too.

Of course, many American Christians have neglected this priority. They have become materialists with a tendency to look first to their investments and retirement accounts, or they look to government to give them bigger benefits—medical, Social Security, welfare. They give priority to earthly security and neglect their heavenly opportunities. Earlier in the sixth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, he records Jesus saying, “Don’t store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where neither moth nor rust destroys and burglars break in and steal. Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven where moths and rust do not destroy and burglars do not break in or steal.” Does this mean investments and IRAs are wrong? Is the government God’s enforcer to make sure the “rich” don’t stay rich? I believe God meant for people to use what they earn to provide properly for themselves and their families, but he doesn’t intend for earthly security to replace spiritual security. Abraham was a rich man, but he trusted God first.

The accumulation of wealth is what the tax and spend folks in government most seek to confiscate. I’m definitely not wealthy, but I still oppose redistribution. I cannot deny the damaging effect of wealth on faith and on hope. If you put your trust in riches, then the news today must threaten your confidence in a future based on them. The news is not better for those who look for security in the government, since those with power usually disappoint those who depend on them. The good news is that God provides regardless of economic circumstances, despite the interference of government, and even in the face of the most frightening enemy or danger. Make His kingdom and His righteousness your priority. He will give you everything you need, and bad economic news won’t trouble you nearly so much!

(Originally posted August 3, 2008)

Does God know when we’re struggling, afraid, doubting, guilty, or lonesome? Of course, he does. Jesus promised never to leave or abandon us, and nothing can separate us from His love. No matter where we go or what we do, He is there. No one of us is some distant stranger or anonymous servant; we are his siblings and his friends. He is the very best kind of brother and friend to us; he is aware of our situations, he knows what we need, and he is capable of providing it.

Last night, I decided to look up some Josh Groban videos on the Internet. One of my students’ foster parents had introduced me to his music, and I find it remarkably beautiful and compelling. I bought one CD and then gave it to a friend. I think I have another, some place, but I had to move recently; I have no idea where it may be, exactly. So, I Googled “Josh Groban video” and listened to the first song that popped up (Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up”).

The Lord has spoken to me recently through Madeleine L’Engle’s Walking on Water and Lee Strobel’s The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity, which I picked up at the church library because they “caught my eye.” I have already written about that elsewhere. Now “chance” led me to play this song that was unfamiliar to me. Given the song’s history and popularity, I don’t know how I had missed it till now, but I couldn’t miss it relevance to my life now!

You see, though I have trusted Christ as my Savior for most of my life, like everyone else, sometimes I still have doubts and fears. I have been in ministry of one kind or another for over 30 years, but that doesn’t insulate me from challenges and difficulties, or from heartache and pain. Just because I have chosen to write about “good news,” that I believe is to be found abundantly in Jesus Christ, doesn’t mean I easily or automatically apply what I know, all the time. In fact, the big challenge for me is to get what I know in my head, with absolute confidence, to trickle down to that stubborn heart, just inches away. In that light, the opening words of Groban’s song fit me well:

“When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.”

For me, the stillness isn’t always patience, and the silence is often prayerlessness. My doubt has been less in God than in myself; yet doubting that God cares is doubting God. Yet, while I may be sulking or simply closed within myself, He still comes; indeed, he was always there, just as he promised. The good news, here, the great news in fact, is that we don’t qualify to be raised up by being self-sufficient—good, strong, wise, or confident—we warrant his encouragement and provision by needing it. So, cast all your cares on him because he will take care of you.

“There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.”

Tomorrow, part II will take this on into the redemptive power of love, not just God’s love, but the love of a godly parent, spouse, child, teacher, or friend to “raise up.” Hopefully, you will not only find this song a comfort, as I have, but a challenge. Stay tuned…

(lyrics of “You Raise Me Up” written by Brendan Graham)