My View From The Ridge

            Well, the elections are over and it seems that the whole world is holding its collective breath to see what happens when President-elect Obama begins his term as our 44th President.  The pressure is enormous on this man.  I hope that you will pray for him and the whole team he must bring on board to serve our nation.  It is too much for one person.  He will need wise and competent advisors to help lead him.  Please be praying for strength and guidance for all concerned.

            I know there are folks who are “chomping at the bit” to get their agendas passed and there will be great pressure on the new president to care for those who helped him get elected.  On the other side, there will be folks who are equally as dedicated to being sure that the opposing side’s issues are at least put on the back burner.  It will be challenging to try and sort out what is the best way to lead this nation that is so divided over every sort of issue.  What is best for the people; all the people?  What is best for the nation and not the Special Interests?  What does God have to say?  Does God want all of our personal wants and needs to be the laws of the land?  Is that really what is best for us? 

            Do you remember the story lines in the Old Testament Book of Judges?  Over and over again the Hebrews are called to follow God’s lead and time after time they run amuck of it. 

The writer of Judges says over and over again;

 

“And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served Ba’als; and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around about them, and bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger.”

 

            Where is the high idealism that this nation was built on.  Whether or not one wants to believe it, this nation, flawed as it is was built on moral principle based on Biblical Authority.  We can’t continue to thumb our noses at God and expect him to continue turning his head.  I am not so certain that the economy we are struggling with right now isn’t due to God’s wrath.  In so many ways we have put other things before our relationship with God.  We have given many things in our lives the status of gods, not just our money.  We have been a pretty self-absorbed people ever since the end of WWII with each succeeding generation wanting more and more first for their kids and then for theirs until we have lost the ideas of moral and fiscal responsibility. 

            It is my hope that President Obama will lead our nation back on the road to being responsible citizens and not citizens that always want our own way, the rest of the population be damned. 

            For the church, the stakes can not possibly be higher.  Liberal and Conservative church men and women from the pulpits and the pews must come together to be a part of the conversation, calling our citizens to take responsibility for their actions.  We cannot continue to chase after whatever makes us feel good.  We have to begin focusing our attention back on the Lordship of Christ, on the authority of God’s Word and the real transformation that the Holy Spirit does on the human heart.  His instructions are clear for us to follow and are in place that we might have quality relationships with God and humanity.

            Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, ” `Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 

            I believe if we as the Church love God with all our hearts, souls and minds AND love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves that many of our sociatal problems will be resolved.  Continue to live the way we are now, I am afraid life as we have known it will cease to exist.

God Bless

 

Hand to the Plow

Some years ago I was just setting down to the dinner table when I got an irate phone call from a parishioner of mine.  He had been a member of the church I was serving for several decades a fairly regular attender.  This guy was totally bent out of shape.  He had gone home after worship fuming I guess, but not over what I had said in a sermon or a prayer or anything like that.  He was all twisted up over the Bulletin Cover that morning.  Now I’ve got to tell  you, I really wasn’t expecting anything like that. To his credit though, he did make the call.

The Scripture Reference on the Bulletin cover was Luke 9:62 and the context was about the cost of following Jesus.  The verse says, “Jesus replied, ‘No on who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’”  However, the Bulletin Cover only quoted the text not the reference.  It was written on the back cover and obviously this man hadn’t seen it.

This man, a retired farmer was upset that someone would be so biased against farmers and how dare I use such trash.  I was so taken aback that it took me a moment or two to get my head on straight about the whole matter.  It took a minute for me to be able to explain that it was a Scriptural reference and its context.  I was also fortunate that I had grown up on a farm and knew a thing or two about agriculture. 

Today many modern farmers use GPS instruments to guide their machinery across vast fields, keeping the plows, planters and harvesting equipment in straight rows.  In the old days though, my Grandfather would go to the opposite end of the field and tie a white rag to a bush, tree, fence or pole and carefully keep an eye on it as he crossed the field.  I asked this gentleman if he had done something similar to which he replied that he had.  I also asked him if he had ever been on the cultivator and just for a moment stole a look back and what happened when he did.  There was silence but I knew he had and I knew the results.  Its a normal thing.  Corn or bean plants were laid waste, uprooted and tattered as the cultivators tines slid beneath them, ripping them up several rows at a time depending on how many rows he was tilling at the time. 

Don’t ever look back, it brings disaster

The gentleman was beginning to get the picture and never spoke of it again.  I shared with him that what Jesus was saying was that if we continually are looking back as we try to be a disciple of his, we will be distracted by the things of life and fail in our duty.  We will be drawn after our family, friends, portfolios, jobs, etc. instead of doing what it takes to follow faithfully, especially when times are tough. 

I am afraid that many folks have been on the edge of a Christian life for a long time when all of the sudden God gets their attention in some small, seemingly insignificant way.  They have been committed to doing great things, working hard for the church, working hard to do good; all the right things for what they believed to be the right reasons.  However, they were often left feeling unfulfilled.   It is not uncommon that the first reaction to God’s new call upon them often seems to be an argument instead of an “ah ha”.  Ever been there?  I sure have.

Recently, I heard that someone questioned some wording found in a Confessional Statement:  “Forgive us, Lord, for the times we have set our affections more upon our children or upon our lifestyle than upon you.”

Let me say, these words weren’t new.  These are more words from Christ himself, written into a liturgical form.  Jesus said in both Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospel that if a man (person) would love father, mother, wife, children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life more than they love him, they cannot be his disciple.  (Matthew 10:37-38 & Luke 14:26).

It is clear that these questions (farmer and children, etc.) are not just found in the young people of this generation or folks who have never been a part of the Christian Community.  For generations the church or at least parts of the body have done a lousy job of teaching the Word of God.  The church hasn’t trained up people to be IN THE WORD.  Preachers have preached great sermons (and meaningless ones too).  Dedicated folks have offered wonderful, thoughtful Bible Studies.   I think part of the problem is that while many of our sermons or Bible Studies are about how the Bible lessons might work into our daily journeys, we haven’t been taught the Bible – the words of the Lord.  And, I know many folks don’t read and study on their own so they have not received these words and notions into their hearts. 

Friends, this conversation is still about one’s willingness to follow after Christ at any cost.  There are many, many references as to what that cost might entail.  Each and every person must come to that place where the decide what price they will pay.  The Rich Young Ruler found in Matthew 19 did all the right stuff but that wasn’t what Jesus was asking him to do.  Jesus asked him to give the last thing that kept the man from fully committing to Christ and eternal life, his money.  As we read, the man went away very sad.

I know that following after Jesus is not an easy task.  In fact, sometimes it is painful.  There are decisions that have to be made, many of which have eternal consequences.  I also know that if you put God first in your life; order your life in and through him, you will have time and treasurers you never dreamt of.  You will have better relationships, more peace and joy than imaginable. 

Let me know what you think.

MHP

My View from the Ridge

Greetings readers, Glad to have you aboard.

This is a new feature of the Cherry Hill UMC website and we are excited to roll it out for all to see.  All of us here at Cherry Hill hope that you enjoy what is posted here and that you find it helpful on your journey to know God a little better.

As for the title “My View from the Ridge”, we are on the Ridge Road, an ancient Sand Ridge that once was the border of the Great Lakes and later an Native American trail.  Today the Ridge is still a bit of a border between “country” and “suburban” living.  As for the trail part, well, it is one really busy road connecting points north with Ypsilanti to the South.

It is my hope to keep this blog updated often and I invite what ever comments you might have.  Some of what you will find here will be humerous (hopefully), light hearted (as oft times we take ourselves way to seriously), informational and I will always try to be encouraging.  The journey of life is a trying one with many pitfalls and disappointments along the way.  If I can add to someone’s life by bringing a little joy for the journey I will have been successful.

While I hope to bring some joy, I also want to leave you thinking about God.  What better task is there than to be thinking about the One who gives us life and and purpose.  Currently I am using a daily devotional book entitled: “The Making of a Man” by Richard Exley.  I found it a local yard sale a month or so ago.  Unfortunately I have not read it daily but at least three times a week I have read a passage.  This morning I was reading a selection entitled, “Investing in the Eternal.”  The thought for the Day quotes a man by the name of David Shipley and says, in part “One hundred years from today your present income will be inconsequential.  One hundred years from now it won’t matter if you got that big break…  It will matter that you knew God.  It will greatly matter, one hundred years from now, that you made a commitment to Jesus Christ.”

If we can fully commit our lives to God as revealed in Jesus Christ the world will be forever altered.  If one soul comes to know Christ because of our relationship with the Lord and becomes a committed Disciple (follower of Christ) thousands of others over generations will also come to know God.  Communities will be changed and missions will be started, preachers, teachers and evangelists will be raised up to serve the Lord.  How committed are you to the cause of Christ?  Think about it won’t you?  MHP