The Wind and the Whirlwind

Have you ever overindulged in something good?  Maybe you ate too much food at a pot-luck (I hope you are preparing for the pot-luck on Palm Sunday, just after our choir musical at 10am in the Sanctuary).  Maybe you were out in the sun too long  (a painful experience).  You know what I mean.  We can get too much of a good thing!

Hosea's message to the Northern Kingdom of Israel is, "don't be distracted by the façade of prosperity."  The economy seems to be doing good.  The political situation seems to be stable.  But, Hosea tells the leaders, this is the calm before the storm!  In Chapter 8:7, Hosea says, "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind."  What does he mean?

Here are a few thoughts!  First, the wind.  The Hebrew word here is Ruach.  It is the word for wind but it also means "air for breathing, "the wind of God's Spirit," and "air placed in motion by divine breath."  In English we think of the wind blowing through our hair, a breeze on a summer day or trees swaying as they are moved by the wind.  Wind can be pleasing and beautiful, and it is literally a breath of fresh air on an August day in Alabama.  But generally, wind in the Old Testament is predictive of something moved by God, put in motion by divine breath.  Hosea's message is, "you are rolling along in prosperity and peace, blind to the bigger picture that you have ignored God, ignored what is happening outside Israel and ignored God's law."

Second, the façade.  Last night the Oscars were awarded.  Lavishly dressed people, placed on a pedestal by some of us, went to an annual party where they hype old and new movies as being a bit more than they actually are.  One segment even honored the Godfather series as, "promoting family, loyalty, success and power," values the presenter seemed to believe we should all aspire to.  If you remember the movies, they were about organized crime, greed, revenge and the pursuit of control.  The dark underbelly of the lifestyles displayed reaped darkness, chaos and death.  They are not virtues to be sought, but pitfalls to be avoided.  Like Hosea's Israel, they sowed the wind, but reaped the whirlwind.

Finally, the whirlwind.  In Hebrew and English, the meaning is the same.  A whirlwind is a tornado.  One of our members had family in New Orleans, where, a few weeks back, a tornado hit parts of several neighborhoods.  We don't need a primer on the devastation and danger of a tornado.  Whirlwinds are perilous, deadly, chaotic and indiscriminate in who/what they destroy.  In Hosea, Chapter 8, God, through the prophet Hosea, lists the charges against the people of Israel.  Broken covenant (v:1), rebellion (v:1), faithless praise (v:2), ignoring God's leading when installing leaders (v:3), selling out to foreign interests (v:9) and setting up idols (v:4-6).  God also spells out the results of these behaviors.  They include crops that look good but provide no sustenance (v:7), being swallowed up (v:8), the obscurity of being like the other nations (v:8) and oppression (v:10).  It is not a pretty sight!  And neither was the tornado of Assyria that wiped the Northern Kingdom off the map in 722BC. 

Yet Hosea, like God the Father, expresses God's willingness to respond to repentance.  "Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love and break up your unplowed ground ... for it is time to seek the Lord until the time he comes and showers His righteousness on you! (Hosea 10:12)." "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them (Hosea 14:4)!"

At the Oscars, one of the people quoted Denzel Washington ... "When you are on top, that's when the devil will come for you!"  I heard a soldier say, "The enemy doesn't ambush you in the stark desert.  He waits for you in the oasis!"  I think both of these statements are correct.  Maybe some of the strife and chaos of our society is the result of exactly what Hosea was talking about.  We have been told that bad things are really good.  We have been given prosperity that is really a façade.  We have all the stuff we can imagine, and yet we lack things of real value.  We have sown the wind of complacency, apathy, haughtiness, superiority, self-righteousness, pride and idolatry.  Maybe we are wondering why we are caught up in this whirlwind.  

Maybe it is time to follow Hosea's advice ... "Seek the Lord."  Jesus reminded us that if we seek the Lord we will find Him (Matthew 7:7).  He also said, "Seek ye first, the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you (Matthew 6:33)."  Good advice I think!  What about you?  Randy

The Whole Thing

In the days when I was visiting Dairy Queen way too many times, my favorite treat was a parfait consisting of layered pecans, hot fudge, caramel and vanilla ice cream.  It was a version of the old treat called the Pecan Mudslide (doesn't that sound great!).  When I served St. Luke in Montgomery, there was a Dairy Queen just across the street.  It was not good for my concentration or my waistline.

There was an art to properly eating the Pecan Mudslide, if you were to get the full effect.  To fully enjoy the treat, you needed to relish each layer.  Pecans, hot fudge, ice cream, caramel sauce, and then repeat the whole thing.  It is way better than it sounds (and it sounds pretty good).

I was reflecting on this joyful treat, when I thought of two things.  First, a C. S. Lewis quote about reading old books.  "Every age has its own outlook.  It is specially good at seeing certain truths, and specially liable to making certain mistakes.  We all, therefore, need books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period."  He is saying, in a manner, we should stop demeaning the value of either old or new books, because they both have value and worth to where and when we are living.  It would be a mistake to ignore either the old or the new.

Second, the Bible understands this universal truth.  Isaiah 43:19 says "See, I am doing a new thing ..." as God proclaims the newness of His plan.  But God precedes this "new" message with a reminder of His history with the people.  "I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom ... (Isaiah 43:3)."  Do you see what God is doing?  God is saying, the present situation and the future hope of newness is built upon who/what God was in the past.  Over and over again, Scripture proclaims the connection to past, present and future, all held in the hands of a loving God.

Let me relate this to the Pecan Mudslide (and old books).  You will miss the point of the treat if you only ate the pecans that are sprinkled on the top.  You will go right past the genius of this dessert if you skip the hot fudge.  It only works properly if you eat the whole thing!

Last Sunday, at 1st service, we sang This Little Light of Mine (1920), All My Tears (1993), My Jesus I Love Thee (1864), I Will Wait for You (2018) and Above All (1995).  The 2nd service shared similar musical range with The Church's One Foundation (1866) and How Majestic is Your Name (1981).  I am honored by a music team that gets this eternal truth!  And I hope you are getting the point that the treat (and the depth) is better when we "eat the whole thing!"  

There is a parallel between old books and old music.  There is value in old, new and in between.  I could repeat C. S. Lewis' words about books, replacing "books" with the word music.  "We need music that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period."  So ... we eat the whole thing, realizing the value in all generations of music.  And, we read "all" of Scripture, realizing that Biblical truth and hope is built upon a God who commands our worship as demonstrated by the four living creatures in Revelation 4:8,  as they said ... "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."  AMEN!  Randy

Responses

It has been interesting to listen and watch as people formulate their responses to the war in Ukraine.  Some respond with distrust.  Some respond by giving.  Some respond by doing/saying nothing (yes ... that is also a response).  Some are outraged.  Others say, "It is the Russian leaders being who we know they are."  You can add your response here, but responses are telling!

When we enter Acts 4, the Church has seen/experienced some pretty telling events.  In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit descends on the Church, Peter preaches truth to all gathered in Jerusalem and "about 3,000" are added to the Church.  The people respond by gathering in fellowship, praying, Bible study, miraculous signs, worship and there was a sense of revival.  In Acts 3 Peter heals a crippled beggar and preaches another powerful sermon.  In Acts 4, Peter and John are seized and taken before the Sanhedrin, where they are told "not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus."  Peter and John are released because "all the people were praising God for what had happened."

From the mountaintop of revival to the valley of persecution to the uncertainty of the future, all in the space of a few days.  What do these new believers do about this "new thing" God had planted?  What is their response?  I believe we can learn a lot from their responses as we decide how to be led by God in our responses.

Here's what God's word says!  First, in verse 4:24, we read this ... "When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God."  They prayed, in the context of fellowship with one another.  There is power and community in that kind of prayer.  When friends, family and our brothers and sisters pray together, God does some pretty wonderful things. When we (the Church) pray in unison and unity, we can stand back and see what God does!  Prayer is a great place to start!

Second, God responded.  Verse 31 says, "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken."  God still shakes things, including people and His Church.  Also, "They were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."  God's response not only shook the early Church ... it filled and emboldened them!

Finally, all of this God-activity manifests itself in the people of the Church in a way that is contra-world (and really contra-human nature).  The people share everything!  Verse 32 says, "All of the believers were of one heart and one mind ... they shared everything they had."

What I hope to highlight with this short little blog is ... when the Spirit moves, the result is community.  It is 1) ordained by God, 2) inspired/enabled by God, 3) part of our Christian response and 4) a manifestation of who God is in His people.  It brings fellowship.  It causes us to bind together with those of like mind.  It is contra-world and counter-culture.

So, I will leave you with some questions.  How can we invite God's Spirit to lead us to be this counter-culture movement?  How does this happen in a way that we go together as a people of "one heart and one mind?"  Let's talk Sunday about some of these answers!  Randy

Barry and the Storm

In Florida I had a friend named Barry.  He was a great guy.  He loved life and his family.  He also loved fishing.

I never got to fish with Barry.  He did the kind of fishing I didn't have the time or inclination to do.  He liked to fish at night for flounder, and he and his buddies would brave the night and the cold, to catch their prizes.  One such night he was out with a friend and wind came up, capsizing their boat and dumping them in the cold water.  They struggled for hours, finally making it to shore, hypothermic and in need of medical help.  The ambulance took them to Sacred Heart.  They were treated for exposure and exhaustion, but doctors found something else.  Barry had cancer.  Over the next four years, Barry would tell the story of how getting caught in that storm gave him multiple years with his family and friends ... years he wouldn't have had if he had not been caught in that storm.  He died, knowing that his "storm" had been life-giving.

I bring this up because our media, our peers and our world focus on hype.  Everyone seems to get excited about the moment, wanting to "do something."  We often fail to reflect upon the lessons we can glean from the hard times.  We love God and people, but we are called to love God with our hearts, our souls, our mind and our strength.  I wonder if we, too often, think we are being smart by a quick reaction and fail to receive the lesson the crisis is teaching.

In Experiencing God the authors (Blackaby and King) describe our faith journey as pivoting on what they call a "faith crisis."  They remind us that we all come to faith crises, sometimes multiple times.  Something bad happens.  Something good happens.  A decision is placed before us.  How will we decide/react?  In Experiencing God, the authors recommend we sift those decisions on Scripture and the leading of God.  This is solid advice!

Last Sunday I presented a faith crisis happening in the United Methodist Church.  Our General Conference has been, yet again, postponed, and the governing body of the UM Church will not meet to make decisions until 2024.  This was the second postponement. The decision is largely seen as unacceptable by many in the church (and remember, we are diverse so some do not share this view).  How will we decide what to do with this decision?  How will we invite everyone to journey through this decision?  Here are some ideas for our perusal, all related to doing/viewing things from a God-perspective.

First, in Genesis 50:20, Joseph tells his brothers "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."  Do not underestimate God's ability to use faithful people embroiled in bad situations to do good (even great) things!  Joseph has moved from being outcast in a well, to being in prison, to becoming Governor of all of Pharaoh's stuff.  Yes, it is rags to riches, but the story is more than that.  It is God's pursuit (prevenient grace), God's rescue (justifying grace) and God's equipping (sanctifying grace).  Let's look at things from a God-perspective and see what good thing God is planning and unfolding.

Second, continuing to look from God's point of view, what can we learn about our church from what has happened?  One pastor said, "We have been too focused on a symptom of problems.  The focus on this being an LGBTQ issue is both myopic and short-sighted.  While the issues that are hyped by the news media seem large, they are only the lighting-strike that caught the roof on fire.  When the roof burned, we found out about the rotted wood, the weak structure and other foundational issues."  I agree!  My friend had larger issues than getting over the cold and wet of Choctawhatchee Bay.  In Matthew 16, Peter had bigger issues than pigeon-holing Jesus into "what everyone was saying."  Matthew's Gospel tells us that when Peter was asked (by Jesus) "Who do people say that I am?"  Peter responded, "some say John the Baptist.  Others say Elijah.  Still others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?  Who do you say that I am?"  There it is!  A faith crisis!  Jesus is getting Peter to think about reality ... not what people were saying!  Peter answers, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" Bringing the issues of the church to the surface allows us to rebuild on the solid foundation of Christ ... and that always works!

Finally, after reflecting on what God is doing and focusing on just who our Church is all about, we must ask that hard question.  Knowing we should think about God's plan/mission, remembering we are all about Jesus, who should we be as a church?  In The Revelation, Jesus reminds 7 Churches that it is time to reflect, refocus and remember who we are!  They are told "Remember your first love (Ephesus), don't fear suffering (Smyrna), discern/avoid false teaching (Pergamum), don't listen to Jezebel (Thyatira), wake up and live (Sardis), endure with patience (Philadelphia), don't be lukewarm (Laodicea)."  Jesus gave each Church the criticism and encouragement they needed to rebuild on a solid foundation.

Let's spend lots of time in God's word, learning Jesus' commands and mission.  Let's not refrain from keeping Jesus at the center of our discussions.  Let's decide who we will be as a congregation.  I will be sending lots of information out, and I encourage and invite discussion and conversation.  But I caution each of us ... let's not pool our ignorance.  Let's let this storm reveal where we need to rebuild the columns, shore up the rafters and replace the roof.  Maybe, like Joseph, our best days will happen when we follow God and endure some storms, being stronger and better in the process.  Randy