A Week of Tragedy

This week has been one of tragedy around my family. Not within my family, just around it. Sunday evening the grandfather of a young man that attends the church I pastor passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack. The young man, his wife, and child are in Florida to be with family and attend the funeral. That same evening a young man that attends Jackson High School with my oldest son, lost his mom. Tuesday, my son's favorite teacher, along with her husband who is also a teacher, lost their home to a fire...everything was destroyed. Wednesday morning, a former pastor of Stark United Methodist Church, passed away suddenly leaving behind two beautiful daughters and a son. One of those daughters attends Jackson High School with my oldest (I suspect he has, at minimum, a crush on the young lady) and she is sure to be devastated. Cade, the oldest of my two sons, said to me yesterday, "This week is one of the worst weeks ever, one friend's mom died Sunday night, Mrs. Braswell's house burned down, and now Mr. Drake passed away, and it is only Wednesday...the week isn't even over yet." I watched his face and understood that he was feeling pain for those that were in the middle of tragedy and my eyes teared up. Welcome to my world, son. I am proud of you for feeling for others.

Additionally, earlier this week, a precious 4-year old boy, whose family lives locally, was killed in an automobile accident as well...what does one say?

A friend of mine blogged, I Don't Know. Here, http://www.jasonlsanders.com/2013/01/31/i-dont-know-why/ , take a look at that. He does an excellent job with this piece. One of my favorite preacher/teachers has this to say...

 

 



about bad things happening in the world and to good people. It is quite sobering, actually, to place everything in its proper context. To my son I have this to say,

"Buddy, it makes you stop and think doesn't it? We never know how long we have, and we do not know how long others have. You claim to be a believer in Christ Jesus, so offer yourself to help those who are hurting. Take the time to offer yourself to others before they hurt in these ways again, so they may know where to turn the next time -  because there will be a next time. It is how it is in this world. Take time now to grow your relationship with God, cultivate it, nourish it, be consumed with it, because growing closer to Him, and learning what it means to abide in Him, fulfills the Great Command (to love God with everything you are and your neighbor as yourself) and in fulfilling the Great Command, we can not help but fulfill the Great Commission (to go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them). Rest in the fact that we are not so important that we have to know the reasons why, but we know the One who does. Rest in the fact that God is truly Sovereign, and He is the only One that needs to know everything, and He is the One that saves us, builds us into what He desires, and restores us. He is the One who firmly plant us in His courtyard Psalms 92:13 , by the streams of water Psalms 1:3 , and keeps us for Himself Jude 1:1. Rest in Him now! Don't wait! Love Him with fierceness, and through Him love others in like manner. You don't have to have all the answers, but be there for others who may need help in a time of need to find the One who does have the answers, and be brought to the realization that they to don't have to know why, just know the One who does."

It is only Thursday. Bad things happen, and beyond all the easy, pat answers, I don't know why. It is not my place to know, God is the Sovereign One, and He is my Father. I rest in that, because in Him and Him alone, is where we find rest.

Christian Rights

Sometime back I delivered a message to a church in Newton County. I was filling in for a pastor who was out of town, and I suspect I was the only person available. It was July 3^rd which obviously comes just prior to July 4^th and what we call Independence Day. It was a typical Southern Baptist service filled with patriotism and the honoring of our heroes who have or were wearing the uniform of all branches in our military. Our veterans are worthy of honor and respect, and they should be prayed for, cared for, and loved…make no mistake about this. A group had been brought in to sing patriotic songs, and the excitement level was high among those in attendance as I stepped into the pulpit. The sermon started in this manner:

            This weekend we celebrate the holiday called Independence Day, and it is to         celebrate the United States formally declaring its independence from Great Britain. As a former member of the Armed Forces, I thank each of you that have served in any capacity within our nation’s military, and I thank your families for serving with you as well… It is both an honor and a travesty to fall on the field of battle for this country. It matters not whether you agree with the particular war, the fact remains that if there were not those who died for our ability to be free and stay free, we would not be here today gathering together to worship the One, true God. But…this nation, our rights, and anything in this country or in this world and   closer to home – anything in your house, your family, or even a patriotic thought process is temporal.

A man may have to die for our country: but no man must, in any exclusive     sense, live for his country. He who surrenders himself without reservation to   the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself. ~ C.S. Lewis

            The things of this earth will not last, and while we will give our lives to defend     those things, and particularly our country, it pales in comparison with the eternal. Who will give their life for the eternal? We have been called to follow in his footsteps. That means we are called to lay our lives down. What a foreign concept to us who have been raised here in the United States of America. We are proud people, always ready to stand up for our rights and if need be, create more rights to have. Here in the southeastern region of the United States it is even more dominate that we stand up and rebel, as it were. "We ain’t submitting to anything!"…are we? Laying our lives down and the idea of submission is something we struggle with.

I will never be asked back (for several reasons) but here is and was the point. We should celebrate the country we live in because God has placed us here. We should live in reality, and reality says that our freedoms here are disappearing. We should speak out when rights are being taken away. We should mourn the loss of those rights as we have the God-granted right to do so by virtue of the fact that He is the One who places governmental authority in its place(s) according to His word, and it has been those governments that grant rights within the country. But…

Those rights granted here in this country are not our rights to give and take away…that right is reserved for God. If He chooses to place a governmental authority over us that limits our rights, then it is to His word we must go to understand how to live a Christian life within that context. If He chooses to allow guns to be taken, freedoms of speech to be limited, the right to life to be snuffed out, then it is to His word we must go to understand how to live as a Christian within that context. We must speak out as the Holy Spirit leads, and we must live as the word commands which is illuminated by that same Holy Spirit.

The right to live in a free America is not the right of the believer. That is ultimately in God’s hands, it is not our right. To believe that Jesus is coming back because of the turmoil within the United States is to elevate the United States to a status far above reality. Living in reality with a Biblical worldview dictates that the imminence of Jesus’ return is not predicated upon what the United States does or does not do…the U.S. is not mentioned in scripture. The imminence of His return is dictated by Him and Him alone. He has stated He is coming back. Until then - there is many a civilization that has risen and fallen since the ascension, and the United States is no different. The Christian has laid down his or her rights for the sake of the cross. Our job is to live for Him, because of Him, and through Him no matter the circumstances we believe we are in. Whether slave or free, armed or unarmed, with national consequence or not - we are compelled by the Word to live for His honor and glory and that alone.