Good News Sense

Why do we pray? Many of us pray when there are tragedies, serious illness, sometimes pending death, and other matters beyond our direct ability to fix. Do we pray in hope or hopelessness? Is prayer our way of asking for help when we are forced to admit we cannot do anything? How often is our prayer nothing more than a glorified wish?  Or motivated by desperation when all else has failed?

Given that God is our heavenly Daddy, I cannot quarrel with such prayers; they are typical of children who frequently ask their parents for the things they want. How often, I wonder, is our praying just Christians going through the motions? How many of us have such fear of God that we expect only bad things, as if he were an abusive parent tormenting his children? Do others of us pray without much genuine expectation because we see ourselves as unworthy, bad children who will only get coal in their stockings?

I sat in a Biggby’s coffee shop and settled into a feeling of hopelessness because my laptop was quickly becoming unusable, shortly after booting up. I was sure it was dying. Although finances are slowly improving, I couldn’t afford to replace it or maybe even repair it, right now. Was it some weird virus, or was something basic beginning to fail? Can I pray for God to “heal” a computer? I didn’t. I did finally uninstall the updated antivirus program; and, not only did the problems go away, but the laptop began to run better than it had in months. Apparently, the earlier version was interfering with the operating system, too.

It struck me that I often fail to pray, even as the thought comes to mind, because I’ve already decided it “won’t work.” Is it strange to pray for a laptop? Maybe it’s better to pray for oneself in trying to guess what’s wrong with it, but certainly praying is always appropriate. The car is getting old. Will it last another winter? If not, what will happen? Do I pray for another car? Do I pray for this car to last? Does God care about my need for transportation? My laptop? Maybe it’s my problem, not his. If it’s my responsibility, then why pray?

Was life easier when people only needed to pray for obvious necessities—food, protection, shelter, healing? We have so many things that we feel we need, but we won’t die without them. Yet, we work for those things, and our work requires cars and laptops and capital investments. We should pray for one, even as we pray for the other. God may say no at any stage, for reasons he holds in his wisdom; but he never says no because he doesn’t care. He never says no because we aren’t good enough; his love and grace always motivate his response, along with his wisdom.

James says, “You have not because you don’t ask. You ask and don’t receive because you seek to satisfy your lust.” Jesus promised so plainly, “Ask and it will be given…seek and you will find.” I am so grateful that God understands my reluctance and graciously responds to my need, even when I don’t ask, often because I doubt my worthiness. I wish I could be more “childlike” and just bug my heavenly father with every innocent thing I might wish. Somehow, I suspect that kind of praying would please Him, even more than our frantic, desperate requests for intervention when things go bad.

Back 40 years ago, when I was the age of my students, I expected to be married, a father, and grandfather by now. I have always loved kids—little ones, teenagers, and anybody who keeps the best qualities of kids. I love the energy, curiosity, eagerness to understand, and minds that are working, questioning, and planning.

Instead of being a father, I’m a tutor, something I’ve done most of those 40 years. Lately I’ve been helping refugees and other immigrants and internationals, many who have few others to help. I am appalled and disgusted at what happens to most of them in school, starting with NOT teaching them English. I want my guys to succeed, and most schools do not prepare them for that. One administrator actually said, “You’d be surprised how well some of them figure it out.” Just imagine trying to learn a foreign language by “figuring it out!” That is apparently their educational strategy for ELL students (English Language Learners). Such an approach assures that many will fail, end up in crummy low-paying jobs, and not even be able to communicate with their English-speaking neighbors. This strategy is evil, far worse than mere neglect or laziness.

I fear some would like to create a pool of low paid workers. Others would change this country away from the very things that have made it the place where so many have wanted to come—freedom, opportunity, and a better life. I want to do what I can to keep people from falling into the bottom of our communities, becoming our enemies rather than our friends, and importing the problems they were trying to escape when they came here. I want them to know Jesus.

This is not something our government should do, and I wouldn’t trust government to do it well, at that. I suspect the numbers of immigrants will increase, and only we ordinary folks can assure that these new immigrants are welcomed and assimilated. As Christians, we have an even greater challenge AND an opportunity to help them appreciate who we really are—kind, loving, and generous people who love our neighbors and our God. We have the chance to show them forgiveness and grace and a salvation not only for the next life but for this one, a life Jesus called abundant.

I am not opposed to overseas missions, but they are becoming increasingly difficult. Today, the mission is coming to us; and, while mission is our spiritual obligation, loving and caring for these often young strangers is also in our own best interest. I have never opposed immigration, but I do think that any sensible country regulates the influx of people from other cultures who speak other languages. “Being nice” isn’t a strategy; it is wishful thinking and a recipe for disaster.

One of my students arrived at his foster home from overseas much later than expected. When he finally arrived, he was a difficult person to accommodate in the home although he worked well enough with me on his English. After being here several weeks, the foster parents learned, when he needed a prescription filled, that this boy had tuberculosis, in fact, had been hospitalized before leaving his country. That was the reason he was late, but the foster parents were never informed! This was a legal entry. How many illnesses enter our communities with people who come illegally?

However, these children are not mere symbols of a controversial issue. They are real people, often the victims of tragedy, separated from family, if not orphaned, who have nothing in this world. Both wisdom and compassion says we must reach out to them and bring them into our hearts, our neighborhoods, and our churches. To do that, we much teach them, starting with English. As we teach them, we must also love them. They are not hard to love although they are normal teenagers, not angels.

What is the good news in all of this? Is turning 60 good news? I wrote about that, last time, but the answer is yes. While I wouldn’t mind younger, stronger body, I would not exchange it for the knowledge and experience I have gained. I would give up the places I have gone, the people I’ve met, or the friends I have made. I would not even trade my sadness or regrets for youth, because the hard things of life teach us to understand sin, appreciate grace, know Jesus, and love God and his children. My 40 years of adult living are a treasure without price.

It is also good news to know that we can overcome the challenges we face. I have learned to cope with many diverse problems over the years I have lived. I also know we have the ability to help others, like my refugee students and other immigrants, deal with difficult circumstances and triumph over daunting obstacles. We are “able abundantly to do more than we ask or imagine through the power that works through us,” if we will. Will you?

[My ultimate goal is to start a school, but I am beginning by raising money for tutoring, teaching ESL,  and perhaps even paying tuition to Christian school.  If this interest you or you think your church might be interested, just leave me a comment and I will be in touch.  Thanks. Roger]

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

My favorite pastor used this verse in a message at my ordination. It blessed me then, and it has long been powerful encouragement. Just consider what it says.

First, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” I don’t know about you, but I can imagine a great deal. I generally tend to be reluctant to ask, but I can sure think about it. What boggles my mind is to consider that he can do much more. How much more can He do? He can do more than anyone can measure. Add to the rather limitless scope of a person’s creative thinking the infinitely more limitless ability of God, and we have an amazing, awesome, rather unbelievable capability in the hands of our dearest friend.

This isn’t a power out there, somewhere. This power is “at work within us.” You might ask, “Doing what?” Once we start imagining, perhaps we are prone to wonder why He isn’t delivering. Selfishness tends to expect to get presents, lots of presents. Yet, we know what happens to children who get too many gifts, receive everything they ever ask for, and have someone cater to every whim. We call such children spoiled. When a self-centered person gets everything they want, they turn rotten. God doesn’t want rotten kids. He wants delightfully creative, imaginative, gracious children, and He’s working on that within us…if we let Him.

I suspect that, to an extent anyway, we can interfere with His work. We can hinder it, slow it down, and perhaps even prevent it all together if we oppose Him hard enough. He’s not in the business of fighting our wills, in spite of ourselves. That’s why I’m grateful for a similar verse:

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

Notice that, first, he says “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Growing spiritually is an awesome obligation; we should approach it with a bit of humble respect. God doesn’t terrorize or oppress us, but He is God! We should never trivialize or become overly casual about our intimacy with the creator of the universe. However, Jesus become one of us, and with that understanding he works in us. He is the master craftsman who “works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” His is the “power that is at work within us.” In other words, His limitless power beyond the limits of our imagination is working within each of us to enable us not only to do his will but also to want to do his will; in this, he supports our efforts to work into our lives a righteousness that he already credits as ours but desires us to produce in reality.

If you love Him, if you appreciate the costly gift of salvation He has already given, then you want to be the kind of man or woman he wants you to be. If you have been trying, then you also know how very hard the task is, how crippled by sin and pride each of us is. We need this limitless power, especially if, as I have, as Paul did, you wonder at the seeming impossibility of the task. “O wretched man that I am!” Paul wrote, as he pondered his own struggle. Then he also wrote, “Thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ!” “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

(Republishing an earlier post that was lost, due to technical difficulties-JRW)

Today, I want to talk about two of my favorite words: grace and peace. For some time, I have been signing letters and emails with “shalom x 3” for the 3 directions of peace—with God, with other people, and within ourselves. Grace (Greek charis) is perhaps the most uniquely Christian word, in that it represents the thing that distinguishes the gospel from religion. In religion, people try to find their way to God through ritual, good works, or correct theology; people use religion to be “good enough” for God. In grace, God rescues those of us who know we can never be good enough; his generous favor, at the high price of His own son’s death, saves us despite our unworthiness.

I just read an article that brought these two words together in a way that especially appeals to the peacemaker in me. Here’s what Al Hsu had to say about grace and peace:

“Grace” or “Grace to you” sounded like the standard Greek greeting, but was infused with theological meaning. On the other hand, “Peace” was a Jewish blessing that sounds weightier in the Hebrew: “Shalom.”

Paul knew that many of his congregations were torn by factional strife. But he didn’t say, “Grace to you Gentiles, and shalom to you Jews.” Grace is not just for Greeks, and peace is not just for Jews. God’s desire was for the whole community to receive his grace and experience his shalom—not merely the absence of conflict, but the fullness of well being, harmony, wholeness, and life.

So Paul said, “Grace and peace to you.” Paul addressed Gentile and Jewish believers together, as members of one body. He wrote in continuity with their cultural and ethnic backgrounds, yet pointed to a new, countercultural reality. He combined a Greek greeting and a Hebrew greeting to create a distinctively Christian greeting.

Hsu goes on to suggest that other words might suit the divisions of our present culture, but I don’t believe any words can replace the power or importance of these two. Grace is the means by which God brings us into his family, one family not a multitude of bickering clans. Peace is the intent, the goal, and the blessing, not just for individuals to have inner serenity, but for all of us to enjoy the end of war and strife among us.

The Church of Jesus Christ could use more grace and peace. Our world, from the neighborhoods outside our church walls to the trouble spots like Darfur and Iraq, need to see the power of grace and the blessings of peace. In far too many of our families, grace and peace are missing, in a day-to-day display of God’s presence; therefore, too few folk get to see what genuine Christianity is all about.

The good news is that God hasn’t stopped being the God of grace and peace. Our shortcomings don’t prevent him from redeeming us, and they don’t keep him from renewing us. I take considerable comfort in that because I have plenty of shortcomings. Yet, because of his grace, I have peace with him, with other people, and within myself, and even more grace to deal with day-to-day needs. The news just couldn’t be much better than that!