IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS

Every once in a while something happens that makes you feel really good inside. Such was the case for me last Saturday morning.

Our church has two Guatemalan cleaners, a husband and wife, both in their early thirties. Wonderful people, Christians, assigned to work at our church about two years ago by the cleaning agency that employs them. During their time here we’ve grown to love, appreciate and admire them for the grit they’ve exhibited in leaving their home country to come to the United States in legitimate pursuit of a better life.

Louis and Sylvia tried to have a baby for several years, but each pregnancy ended in a miscarriage…four in all…and with each crushing loss the non English-speaking Sylvia sank deeper into melancholy. Often Louis, his brow furrowed with concern, would pull me aside to ask for prayer, first for the well-being of his wife and then for the blessing of a baby.

By now you’ve probably guessed where this story is going. Three weeks ago the Lord said yes to Louis and Sylvia’s fervent petitions and baby Louisa was born, dark-haired, robust and ready to turn her parents’ lives upside down. Louis and Sylvia believe with all their heart that this baby was a gift from God and so they asked if I would join them to formally thank him for his precious gift of grace. Of course I said yes and at 11 am last Saturday we came together in our sanctuary, along with several members of their family, my wife Nancy and the Lacorazzas to praise and thank the Lord for his faithfulness. There were no dry eyes.

Ministry has its burdens—people problems, funerals and the like—but ministry also has many blessings, not the least of which is the opportunity to come together with believers for occasions of unmitigated joy. Last Saturday was one such occasion and I’m inordinately grateful to God for allowing me to be a part of it. As I said, it made me feel really good inside.

Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever (Psalm 106:1).

Love and blessings,

David

WHAT A CONSOLATION!

Sometimes people look to us preachers for answers that we can’t provide. Last Friday was one such occasion as I presided over the funeral of a gentleman who died in the youth of old age. His passing came as complete shock to his family and friends and left them full of questions, deep questions—Why did God let this happen? Does God care? Is this death just a pointless occurrence?

Believe me when I say, I suffered with and for these distraught congregants and I totally understood why they craved some kind of explanation that would help them find meaning in this tragic loss.

Allow me to share with you an abridged version of what I shared with them…

I don’t have an explanation for you this morning. Explanations for events like this belong only to the mind of God, and I’m not God. What I can offer you, however, is consolation, the consolation of Jesus Christ whom I know beyond a shadow of a doubt shares your grief. I’m reminded of one place in the gospels where John records these remarkable words, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Why did Jesus weep? He wept because his dear friends, Mary and Martha, were distraught over the death of their loved one. Just imagine —God, in human flesh, weeping with and for his earthly friends. As an earthly friend of Jesus by virtue of your faith in him, Jesus weeps with you too. In your season of bereavement take this consolation to the bank—you have our Lord’s never-ending companionship. You need not bear the pain of your loss alone. More than once in the New Testament Jesus reassured his brokenhearted and emotionally fragile friends with these words, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

But the consolation of Christ goes far deeper than the emotional comfort of his enduring companionship. It reaches to the soul and instills in the soul an implacable confidence that beyond this life there is eternal life and that the cross and resurrection are the lasting pathway home to God. As Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me” (John 14:6). I strongly encourage you to take this path. Seize this season of sorrow and make it into a defining moment in your personal life journey. Put your faith in Christ and come to know with confidence that death is not the last word on life and that when all is said and done, somehow, some way, some day this loving Christ will make sense out of this seemingly senseless event that has turned your world upside down.

Did my grieving congregants hear and not just listen to my words? Truthfully, I don’t know, but I pray that they did.

Love and blessings,

David

A SPECIAL VISIT BY A SPECIAL PERSON

If you were in church last Sunday then you know that we’re going to have some special guests in worship this Sunday. Dr. David Lewis, our church’s first associate pastor, will be with us, along with his wife Eileen and fifty four men’s and women’s soccer players from Houghton College in New York. They’re in the Boston area for a weekend soccer tournament. For the overwhelming majority of you David Lewis is just a name, but for me and a handful of current members who were active in the church back in the early to mid 80’s, David’s name evokes a warm smile, many fond memories and a lot of admiration.

I mentored David during his last two years at Gordon Conwell Seminary and his performance here at FBC was so stellar that I recommended to our Advisory Council that we call him as our church’s first-ever associate pastor. They agreed, as did our congregation, and in 1982 David began a four-year full time ministry with us. We all knew that we needed this infusion of gifted youth leadership for our church to grow. At the time it was a bold step of financial faith, but believing that God would provide we forged ahead. Looking back now I can see that this was the genesis point of what has developed into a twenty-five year growth trend for our congregation.

After leaving us in 1986 David went on to earn his doctorate and is currently working as an Associate Professor and the Faculty Director of Sports Ministry at Houghton College. I invited him to take my place in the pulpit this week, but he declined, preferring to sit with his wife and students. He did agree, however, to do a Ministry Moment interview.

I hope you’ll join us this Sunday for what promises to be a wonderful homecoming and a rich celebration of our love for Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Love and blessings,

David

ON JOINING A NEW DENOMINATION…

Yesterday Dana and I attended a regional clergy conference for the Baptist General Conference (aka Converge Worldwide), held in Quincy, Mass. As most of you know, this might be the new denomination with which our church affiliates. All morning I was sputtering to myself about having to relinquish so much of my day for this event…so much to do and so little time…you know how it is…but what a mistake it would have been for me to stay home!

I can’t speak for Dana, but personally I was exhilarated by the experience. After years of suffering through the theological mish-mash of ABC ordination councils and annual meetings, spending time with colleagues who are on the same theological page was in itself an enormous breath of fresh air, sending me home feeling good about the “rightness” this denomination for us. Time will tell if the First Baptist Church body agrees.

As many of you know, post-worship this Sunday we’ll vote on whether or not to pursue the application process with the BGC. May I remind you, this vote is not a decision to affiliate, but a decision to pursue the process of affiliation. In other words, upon deeper investigation, if something turns up that proves unacceptable to us (or to them) we’ll call a halt to the application and move in some other Holy Spirit-led direction. I’m not expecting this, but you never know. Joining a new family of faith is a big deal, one that we all hope will significantly enhance the effectiveness of our church’s mission. Please pray for God’s counsel.

One more thing…in response to the inquiries of a few of you, there’s no plan/intent/desire to change the name of our church. In other words, a new denomination is not tantamount to a new name.

Hope to see you this Sunday.

Love and blessings,

David

ONE WEDDING TO GO…

Five down one to go. A while ago I mentioned in a blog that I had six weddings coming up in the next eight weeks. Well, it’s five down, one to go and this one promises to be extra special since it’s the wedding of my middle son, Justin. We love his wife-to-be whom he’s been dating for over six years, so we’re thrilled about their pending union, but adding to the excitement is the fact that I’ll be doing the ceremony. I choke up every time I look a couple in the eye and say, I now declare that you’re husband and wife. I can only imagine how I’ll handle it with my own son and his bride!

Weddings are joyous occasions for parents, but those of you who have been through it understand that there’s also a lot of grief mixed in. Not surprising really, since there’s just as much goodbye as hello in the coming together of a new couple…hello to the new family union, with all its hope-filled promise and goodbye to the old family union, with all its shared history. But isn’t this what God planned from the get-go? “Therefore, a man shall leave his parents and unite with his wife and the two will become one flesh”. (Genesis 2:24).

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not feeling sad, just a little wistful. More than anything, I’m deep-down glad…glad that a major phase of my parenting is now over, glad that my son is in love, glad that I’m about to gain a daughter and glad that a new generation is about to become the stewards of their own little place in history. My prayer for them, as for all young couples who are starting out, is that they’ll lavishly embrace Christ in their marriage mix.

Love and blessings,

David

WHAT THE GOOD CHRISTIAN DOESN’T KNOW

“You don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian”. If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a thousand times. By nature I’m a pretty easy-going guy, but I have to be honest, every time I hear this comment I bristle because it always seems to spring from an attitude of superiority, not to mention the fact that it’s just plain false.

I ask you, why would Jesus lay down his life to birth the church if the church were a take-it-or-leave-it proposition? Also, what does being a “good Christian” really mean? Ask this question of the one who pooh pooh’s the need for the church and you’ll probably hear something like this…being a good Christian means believing in Jesus and living a good moral life.

Ridiculous!

On more than one occasion Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) This is the measure of the good Christian life, nothing less. What Jesus is telling us is that the good Christian life involves sacrifice. It involves sitting with the dying neighbor, having breakfast with the lonely widower, sharing pain with the depressed colleague, standing up for the social loser and showing love to the hostile adversary. In short, the good Christian life is hard, very hard, so hard that the believer who takes it seriously doesn’t run from the church, he runs toward it. Why? Because the good Christian life is so physically, emotionally and spiritually draining that it craves the renewal that only God’s community can provide.

The next time someone tells you that a person can be a good Christian and avoid the church remember this, their comment says more about them than it does about the church.

Love and blessings,

David

THE IDOLATRY OF THE MIND…

“David, your brain on the edge of a razor blade is like a BB on a four lane highway.” That’s what my seventh grade friend shouted at me one day when he was upset at something I’d done. I’ve long since forgotten what provoked the comment, but after all these years this vivid image still brings a smile to my face.

I have to confess that it was this comment that popped into my mind recently when I listened to Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned British physicist, talking about his “proof” for the non-existence of God. In the realm of theoretical physics he’s an unparalleled genius and yet, in the realm of philosophy or religion, he’s inordinately ignorant…or biased. Take your pick. I kept wondering as he spoke, does he really think that by explaining the material origin of the universe he can eliminate what the philosopher Aristotle referred to as the “prime mover” or what the theologian Thomas Aquinas later referred to as the “first cause”? In his Summa Theologica Aquinas wrote extensively about the so-called cosmological argument for the existence of God. Simply stated, it goes like this. Everything in the material universe is the result of previous causes, but this series of causes cannot possibly go back in time forever. Therefore, there must be a “first cause” and that first cause is God.

Don’t get lost in the headiness of this. Just note the fact that a celebrated atheist like Hawking has proved nothing about God when he expounds on how the world came about. Should we be impressed with his prodigious intelligence? Sure, but don’t let this translate into believing that his argument for atheism holds water. It doesn’t. Science might speak to the HOW, but it can never speak to the WHO. Only Biblical faith can do that. And what does Biblical faith teach us? Simply this, that behind all that we see, touch taste and smell, i.e., behind the entirety of the material world, lies the great I Am, whose spoken Word brought all there is into being. Does this tell us all there is to know? Of course not, but it’s the starting point for all we need to know. John the apostle, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, expressed it this way, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:1-3)

In my judgment Stephen Hawking and many like him are victims of an idolatry of the mind. To them, if it can’t be understood it isn’t real. But just imagine what a small world this would be if the human mind were the final measure of ultimate reality. Should we learn from Hawking and others like him? In matters of science, sure, but in matters of religion, forget about it. As brilliant as they are, they’re out of their league.

Love and blessings,

David