Keeping Hope Alive

Tomorrow, thousands (we might wish it were millions) of folks from Michigan will go to the polls to participate in the process of electing leaders to lead our community, state, and nation during difficult times.  As I go to polls tomorrow, I go with a sense of hope that the selections I make will be able to begin to make a difference in turning things around and restoring hope.  At the same time, if I am honest, I do not have much confidence that those we elect this fall will be any more effective at bringing change and restoring hope to our communities.

 Where do I find hope today?  Do I find hope while watching TV and cable, reading the paper, or listening to talk radio?  Rarely.  Do I find hope for the future when I look at my retirement investments?  Hardly!  Do I find hope when I listen to politicians tell us their plans and hopes?  Occasionally.  Do I dream of hope when I listen to Jim Schwartz talk about his plans for the Detroit Lions Football team this fall – mistakenly, I sometimes do (a guy has to dream).  In most of these areas, we look for glimmers of hope and glimpses of a better future, but often these glimmers and glimpses are more of a mirage than a reality.

 Where do I find hope today?  I find hope in the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; the very one who kept all the promises made to them.  I find hope in the God of Jesus, who never abandoned Jesus to his fate, but was always there to share the worst that was to come.  I find hope in the God who kept the promise to raise Jesus from the dead, destroying the power of death, and granting us new life.

 Where do I find hope today?  I find hope in the God who walked with me through the many dark valleys in my life.  He was my companion, while I was growing up without a father (he died of Lymphoma when I was seven), sending me loving and supportive male mentors to guide me through many difficult situations.  He was my guide, leading me to meet my wife, who loves me (though I do not always know why) and tempers the excesses of my personality.  He was the rock I clung to over the past few years, as my mother struggled with various illnesses and near-death experiences.  He was my motivator, filling me with energy and enthusiasm for sharing his love with my church and the world around me.

 Where do I find hope today?  I find hope in local churches and individual Christians who reach out in faith and compassion, despite their own struggles and challenges.  Why does the church exist, if not to tell the world about Jesus and his love?  How can the church be relevant if it does not actively show God’s love by welcoming hurting people and attempting to help them in the best ways?  Churches need to be places where people can talk openly and honestly about their pain and struggles, their fears and desires, as well as their hopes and dreams for the future.  We are people of hope, because we worship a God who feeds multitudes (both by multiplying loaves and fishes, as well as through a semi-truck of food in a parking lot), parts seas (Red Seas, as well as figurative seas of hatred and racism), and brings healing and hope.  The church is a vessel of hope in the midst of stormy and troubled seas – this is our great calling today.

 Where do I find hope today?  I find hope when I see a child dip their finger in a baptismal font and make a cross on their forehead remembering that God is their Abba – their daddy – their constant companion and guide – the one who will never leave or forsake them.  May we all have the faith of a child, trusting and believing that we are all God’s beloved children.

Where do you find hope?  How do you keep your faith alive?

Is the Devil for Real?

When people think of the devil, they often have a figure in their mind that is eternally opposed to God, with the power to devastate and destroy those who love God.  In the media, the devil is often pictured as either a character in a red suit with pointy ears, a pointy tail, and pitchfork; or a smooth-talking, sharp-dressed character in an Armani suit.  In both cases, the characters are very obviously evil in their words and deeds.

Do I believe in ”the devil”?  If you mean the scary-looking guy in the red suit with a pitchfork, then the answer is “no”.  Instead, I believe in many small “devils” in our world, which are much more insidious and dangerous than one “devil” could ever be.  These devils are around us to subtly tempt us, telling is the very things we most desire and want to hear.

In the Bible, what we think of as “the devil” goes by various names – Satan, the devil, the adversary, and the serpent.  In each case, the entity is opposed to God and God’s agents.  We see Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness, trying to get him to look out for himself and turn away from God’s mission of salvation for the world.  In the Garden of Eden, the serpent tempts Adam and Eve to turn their backs on God and become like God themselves.  In each case, temptation is the tool that the Adversary to God uses.  One only needs to look around us in the world to see that temptation has been, and always will be, around us.  If temptation is present, there will be “devils” who attempt to lead us away from God.

I have just returned from a week at confirmation camp.  While there, the campers were cut off from the internet, with no access to media, computers, phones, and most technology.  Even the adults leaders had greatly reduced access to technology, which I can say was difficult at times.  Evidenced by the fact that I couldn’t write this blog until the end of the week. 

At the same time, there was a sense of freedom from being away from most emails, phone calls, TV shows, and computers with their websites and even blogs.  I took time to walk in the woods with Nathaniel (my son) watching deer and hunting for turtles, talking with good friends, and listening for God.  It is not that technology is evil.  Tehnology is a tool that can be used for good as well as evil purposes.  However, there are many times those who would turn us away from God use technology to draw us away from our ultimate source of hope, healing, and love.  When we use the media and technology around us, it gives us unlimited access to both the good, and the evil, in the world. 

Do I believe in devils?  Yes, I do.  They are all around us and they draw us away from God.  The Bible talks about powers and evil forces that are arrayed against us, that draw us away from God, and that seek to drive a wedge between us and God.  Jesus regularly cast out demons and evil spirits.  Those evil spirits did not go away with Jesus death and resurrection.  I believe they are still alive and well, working to subvert God’s people.  Maybe they work in more subtle ways, but they are still around.  The very fact that they work so subtly is perhaps the greatest - they are all around us tempting us with some of the greatest things we love and depend upon – replacing God with things of our own creation. 

Devils are certainly real, but so is God, and God is the one who has the greater power.  In Romans, St. Paul says, 

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

While there are certainly thing in creation that oppose God, God is the ultimate victor.  Jesus has defeated death and the devil or all time.  While devils are all around us to tempt us, they can never completely separate us from God.  Good is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good.

Will God still love me if I do bad things?

Will God Still Love me If I Do Bad Things?

I still remember the feeling…I was in my late teens and I had made some really bad choices and done things that left me feeling really guilty.  The guilt became so bad that I couldn’t even go forward on Sunday morning to take communion, because I didn’t feel worthy.  My sin had created an ever-widening gap between God and me.  I wasn’t actively rejecting God, in fact, there was a part of me that needed and wanted God more than ever.  At the same time, I didn’t feel like God could really love me, knowing the sin that was within me.  In the end, I worked through my feelings, confessed my sin to a trusted pastor, and once again felt at peace with God.  However, it took time and effort to work through everything.

Have you ever felt that way?  Have guilt and fear ever withered your spirit, like a newly planted flower on a swelteringly hot spring day?  Have you ever carried around a sin that you believed that God could never forgive? Perhaps, it isn’t your own sin that you have a hard time imagining that God could forgive.  Maybe, it is the sin of a family member, friend or co-worker that you cannot imagine God forgiving.  Does God still love us if we sin?  What do we do about our sin and the problems that our sin causes us?

The Bible is very clear about God’s response to our sin.  God hates sin and the effect that sin has on us, on our world, and on our relationships with God and one another.  God condemns sin and those who sin (which is everyone), as St. Paul says, “The wages (the price) of sin is death.”  The truth is that our sin destroys us, our relationships, and our world.  Just as surely as God condemns us, our actions condemn us and lead to our deaths.

At the same time, because of God’s great love for us, God sent Jesus to die for us.  Now, when God sees us, God doesn’t see the sin, God only sees Jesus, who gave his life for us.  John 3:16-17 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For the Son came not to condemn the world, but to save it.”  As he was being crucified, a convicted criminal hanging on a cross next to Jesus asked to be remembered in Paradise.  Jesus offered that criminal forgiveness, promising him that he would be with Jesus in Paradise.  Jesus offers us the same promise.  Our sins will be forgiven, and we will be with Jesus in Paradise.

There is a wonderful parable told by Jesus about a man with two sons.  The youngest demanded his inheritance, left home, and blew the money on wild living.  The oldest resented his younger brother and was bitter about his brother’s wild living, as well as his father’s leniency.  After losing everything, the youngest son comes home to throw himself on his father’s mercy.  The father, for his part, had been out watching every day for his son to return.  When he sees the son coming home, he runs and greets him, welcomes him home, and throws a massive party for him.  Because, “This son of mine was lost, but now he is found.”  The Father never demanded that the son repent or abmit his failings – instead the Father went to him. 

So, it is with us, dear friends.  We all are lost, and we all have been found by God.  We all have made mistakes, and we all are welcomed home again.         

Will God still love us, if we make a mistake?  Absolutely, unequivocally, without a doubt – YES!  God knew you before you were even born, warts and all, and he sent Jesus to die for you.

Can a Christian Have Doubts?

Can a Christian Have Doubts?

Have you ever experienced a time when you wondered why God allowed something painful to happen to you? Have you ever struggled to understand one of the mysteries of faith, like where God came from? Have you ever wrestled with some of the beliefs of our faith, but were afraid to admit that you didn’t believe the same as what you imagined other Christians believed? These are all very real challenges for people of faith, and they all lead to the question, “Can a real Christian have doubts?”

The truth of the matter is that all Christians – all people – doubt. We all have times when our trust in God is not complete. Whether we are confronted with challenges that look to be impossible to overcome or are faced with situations that we cannot understand, we experience doubt and fear. These emotions are a regular part of human existence, and in fact, they may actually be helpful.

Lord Alfred Tennyson once said,
“There lives more faith in honest doubt,
Believe me, than in half the creeds.”
– “In Memoriam A.H.H.”

Tennyson understood the important place that doubts and fears can play in our faith lives. Our doubts and fears keep our faith alive and active, growing and evolving. If we take everything as absolute fact, our faith can never grow and evolve from challenges that are overcome. We need doubts to nip at our preconceptions and assumptions, to force us to think through our faith and the reasons for it, and to lead us to rely on God and not on ourselves. Some of God’s most faithful followers and servants were people who had doubts and fears. Jesus regularly referred to the disciples as, “You, of little faith.” Later, of course, they went on to do great things. Along the way, though, they all had doubts. Doubt is a regular part of the human experience. Abraham and Sara doubted that God would give them a son at almost 100 years of age. Jonah was filled with doubts about God and God’s mission for him. The disciples in the terrible storm at sea doubted. And, famously, Thomas doubted the Resurrection of Jesus.

Doubt is a natural part of the human experience. It is healthy to question God, wondering out loud why things happen the way they do or where God can be found in various situations. In fact, these kind of doubts can help our faith, because engaging God with these questions can lead to a deeper and richer faith. Doubt becomes a problem when it causes us to pull away from God. This is why it is so important for the Christian person to have those in their lives that they can talk with about their fears and doubts. Sharing our questions allows us to work through them, without pulling away from God.
Can a Christian have doubts? Absolutely, in fact, they wouldn’t be honest if they pretended that they didn’t have any. The problem is not the doubts, but what you do with them. May God lead you to openly and honestly share your doubts. A final quote from Frederick Buechner – “Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.”

Do you ever experience doubts and fears?  How have those doubts effected your faith life?  Have your doubts ever drawn you closer to God and God’s people?  Share some of your thoughts on doubt, as well as the ways that you have worked to overcome doubt before it can be too much for your faith.