Dialog

Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached the same message: “Repent for the kingdom of God is near” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17), so it seems strange that we hear so little about the kingdom in most churches. Perhaps democratic Americans are averse to kings and kingdoms, but Jesus went about “preaching the good news of the kingdom” (4:23).

Let’s begin at the breakfast table. Some of us get our news from the internet, while others unfold newspapers as we sip our coffee. Have you noticed, we rarely read about good news? I suspect we begin our days with the news for the same reason we drink our coffee. It gets our blood boiling! Shootings, scandals, murder, and mayhem – our world is in chaos! As the elections approach, the candidates promise things will be good again, but were they ever as good as we remember? Anyone longing for the good ol’ days doesn’t remember dentistry from the 1950s, polio, smallpox, or segregation!

On the other hand, think about the good news of the kingdom of God: the end of evil, the end of chaos and fear – a new heaven and a new earth.

Let’s take a moment today and look around for some good news. It could be we haven’t tried to find it in so long, we’ve forgotten what it looks like!

The Business Insider (Australian edition) asked, “Have you ever snuck off from work early? If you answered ‘No,’ you’re probably lying.” [1] Here are the top excuses people gave:

1. Pretending to be unwell — 68%.2. Having a doctor or dentist appointment — 57%.
3. Family member ill — 25%.
4. Avoiding bad weather and associated transport issues, such as snow — 23%.
5. Collecting children from school — 13%.
6. Being concerned about others at work catching my illness — 11%.
7. Broken boiler — 6%.
8. Taking a pet to the vet — 6%.
9. Family member or flatmate being locked out — 4%.
10. Going to vote — 2%.

Since these excuses were used in Australia, I had to wonder about people claiming they had to leave work early because of snow, but who am I to judge? Buzzfeed News regularly prints “bad excuses.” Here are some excuses High School student have used:

Once during my high school spirit week, it was “superhero” Thursday. I didn’t have a costume and didn’t have time to buy/ make one. I had a genius idea. I skipped school that day, and then on Friday, everyone was demanding a reason why I wasn’t at school, and my excuse was, “I was here; I just came as the Invisible Woman.”

I used the excuse that I missed the bus for months until the school caught on that I lived across the street. I could see my high school from my porch.

And finally, as a Batman fan, I liked this one:

I once signed out of school because I didn’t want to be there, and the excuse I put on the books was, “Gotham City needs me.”

I’ve been preaching for over 40 years, and I’ve heard my share of excuses from people for not attending. (I wonder what answers you would give these people? Write to me: John@JohnMcKeel.com. )

• “The church is full of hypocrites.” (Answer: “We always have room for one more,” or “If you are letting a hypocrite come between you and God, he’s closer than you are.”)
• “I’m against organized religion.” (“Perfect! We’re highly disorganized.”)
• Church people hate women/gays/divorced people/ethnic groups/interracial couples/insert group here. (“Ouch!” What would you say?)
• “I don’t believe in God.” (“That’s okay. God still believes in you.”)
• “Church people are too judgmental.”
• “I’m just not being fed.”
• “Ten years ago, someone at some church somewhere was really awful to me.”
• “I feel like I need to get right with God before I can come to church.” (“It’s not going to happen.”)

“Churches just want my money.” (“No. God wants all of you! The church can survive without your money (we’ve been around for 2,000 years), but you will be more likely to thrive if you’re willing to share it with others.” [2]

Jesus has heard enough excuses! (Do you remember the parable in Luke 14?) It’s time for honesty.

  [1] Downloaded October 17, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-most-common-excuses-people-use-to-get-out-of-work-early-2017-6

[2] Thanks to the www.doubtingbeliever.com for some of these answers.

“Just a sec,” she said, but I wonder if she understood what that means. “The official definition of the second was first given by the [International Bureau of Weights and Standards] at the 13th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1967 as: ‘The second is the duration of 9192631770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom.’” After reading that definition in Wikipedia, I’m still not sure I know what it means!

Originally, a second was derived by dividing a day into 24 hours. An hour is 60 minutes, and a minute is made up of 60 seconds. Therefore, a second is 1/86400th of a day. Of course, the length of a day isn’t an exact measurement, so a second is only an approximation, or what scientists call apparent time. Clocks, being scientifically calibrated, measure mean time. That’s still too hard for me to understand, so let’s look at some examples:

If you drop a rock, it will fall 4.9 meters (16.08 feet) in one second. A meter-long pendulum will swing one meter in one second. Wikipedia continues, “the fastest human sprinters run 10 meters in a second; an ocean wave in deep water travels about 23 meters in one second; sound travels about 343 meters in one second in air; light takes 1.3 seconds to reach Earth from the surface of the Moon, a distance of 384,400 kilometers.”

Seconds are divided into smaller parts. A 10th of a second is a decisecond. A hundredth of a second is called a centisecond. Most of us have heard of the millisecond (a thousandth of a second). There follows the microsecond (10-3 S), the nanosecond (10-9 S), the picosecond (10-12 S), femtosecond (10-15 S), attosecond (10-18 S), and the zeptosecond (10-21 S). Do not confuse the yoctosecond (10-24 S) with the yottasecond, which equals 31.7 quadrillion years!

A friend of mine pointed out the shortest perceivable moment of time is the time it takes for a stoplight to turn green and the California driver behind you to honk his horn! 

For our devotional today, I’d like you to think about three times in the Bible. God created the world in seven days. We shall all be changed in the blinking of an eye, and, in heaven, time shall be no more.

Mark and Tom were “best buds” all through High School. They played football together. They hung out together, double-dated, and seemed inseparable. They couldn’t imagine being apart, so they decided to be roommates in college. The only problem was, they had never spent the night in the same room, and it turns out Tom had a terrible snoring problem. It was awful. The walls would shake, and Mark was certain the next breath would be Tom’s last. Poor Mark couldn’t get any sleep. After the first week, people were beginning to think Mark was a druggie. His eyes were red. He was falling asleep in class. He had no energy and looked terrible.

Finally, one night as he was lying awake staring at the ceiling while Tom “sawed logs,” Mark had an idea. He pulled back his covers, tiptoed over to Tom’s bed, bent down and gave him a big smoochy kiss, then sprang back into his bed as Tom sat bolt upright – and watched Mark sleep like a baby all night long.

Friends. They’re great. C.S. Lewis once observed, “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather, it is one of those things that give value to survival.” Lovers see each other face-to-face while friends stand shoulder to shoulder.

However, it seems to be an unhappy fact of life that in our mobile, rush-rush society, friendship is either superficial or non-existent, and that may be one of the great tragedies of our time.

Don’t you remember having a “best friend” in school or a buddy in the service? Do you remember laughing, working, telling stories, and helping one another? But often, something gets in the way. We go off to school or get married or invest in our careers, and friendships get sacrificed or grow cold.

Well, it’s time for that to change! It’s time to focus on friends and revive relationships. Let’s make some new friends and invest in old ones!

In churches, I’ve noticed there are Youth Ministries, Young Adult Ministries, conferences for Young Parents, Marriage Enrichment Seminars, and on and on and on. The culture of youth is very much alive in the church. When it comes to ministry for those of us with silver hair, we are shuffled off with euphemisms: “Senior Saints,” “Young at Heart,” and so forth. We no longer believe “Gray hair is a crown of splendor;” (Proverbs 16:31). It seems when someone retires from business, they also retire from service!

This is entirely wrong, and the 92nd Psalm illustrates this.

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him” (Psalm 92:11 – 15 NIV).

Consider palm trees and cedars for a moment. They are contrasted with the grass in verse 7: “the wicked spring up like grass.” In the Bible, a cedar tree is the symbol of strength and prosperity. People line their closets with cedar planks. Doesn’t it smell wonderful? Likewise, palm trees bear clusters of fruit that can weigh over 300 pounds! The Psalmist declares, “They still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green.”

How is that possible? For those of us with silver hair (it’s not grey – it’s silver!), when we look in the mirror, we may not feel entirely “fresh and green.” The person staring back is hardly the person staring out! Inside, I am still young and alive, even though my outsides tell a different story.

Think about the story of Caleb. As a young man, he was one of the twelve spies sent to scope out the land of Canaan. Caleb and Joshua were the only two who brought a favorable report. After wandering in the wilderness for forty years and fighting a war of conquest for another six years, it was time to receive for the Israelites to receive their inheritance. No one wanted to live in the mountains. The land was harsh and still largely unconquered.

Caleb was to receive his inheritance first. He was 85 years old. Surely, he should have a quiet little place beside the lake, but listen to his speech:

Lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain! (Joshua 14:10 – 12 KJV)

How is this possible? Where does this strength come from in our old age? The Psalmist tells us. By “proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright; He is my Rock!’” (Psalm 92:15) Don’t focus on the wrinkles. Focus on the strength of the Lord! Moses was 80 years old when he led the Exodus (Exodus 7:7). Daniel served 70 years! (Daniel 1:21) Zechariah and Elizabeth “were well advanced in years” when they raised John the Baptist. The best is yet to come!

Helen was a wonderful, loving, second wife to my grandfather, but she had a problem. She couldn’t let go of things, and by the time Papa died, they had three houses full of stuff. You could barely navigate through the home they lived in because it was packed with books, papers, knickknacks, and who knows what else.

Papa loved horses and always wanted to visit the bluegrass country of Kentucky. Helen loved him and decided they would drive there to fulfill Papa’s dream. When they looked at a map, Helen realized they would have to cross the Mississippi River, so she bought an eight-man rubber raft and stowed it in the trunk, “Just in case the bridge is out.” I’ve had many laughs imagining the two of them arriving at the Mississippi only to discover their worst fear had been realized. The river was above flood stage, and the bridge had been washed away. Everyone else was turned back, but Papa and Helen pumped up their raft and began rowing across the raging river. People look on with wonder as the two eighty-year-olds, paddles pumping furiously, cross to the other side and walk on to Kentucky.

Before I begin judging Helen, I need to look at my own life. Do I own my things, or do my things own me? Are your closets bursting with clothes because someday, “I’ll fit back into them!” Why are you hanging on to those eight-tracks, 8-inch floppy disks, magazines, and newspapers? It reminds me of the old question following the funeral, “How much did he leave behind?”

“All of it.”

A Baptist minister, Gene Wilks, asked the pointed question, “Are we a ‘warehouse church’ or a ‘factory church’?” Warehouse churches are in the business of seeking out ready-made Christians, while factory churches take the raw material of unbelievers and make disciples.

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:18, 19)

Peter, Andrew, James, and John had a successful fishing business. Galilee was famous for bottling a highly prized fish sauce that probably was exported to Jerusalem and the palace of the high priest (John 18:15). Their successful operation employed many men (Mark 1:20), so what compelled the apostles to leave it all behind and follow Jesus?

Perhaps it was selfish ambition. They knew Jesus was the Messiah, and they wanted places in his kingdom. 

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” (Matthew 20:21, 22)

On another occasion: 

Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:27, 28)

I don’t believe selfish ambition is the answer. As Christians, we derive so much from our occupations. “I’m an engineer!” “I’m a businessman.” “I’m a doctor!” A great job is one we would gladly do even if we weren’t paid to do it, but to become a fisher of men means we have become agents of God. The Lord has called us. 

Notice the process. “Follow me.” First, we must surrender our will, and then Jesus will empower us. Do you remember the story of Simon Peter standing waist-deep in fish?

Jesus had been teaching the crowd from the bow of Peter’s boat while the fishermen cleaned their nets. Afterward, Jesus invited Peter to go fishing. The big man must have smiled skeptically and replied, “We toiled all night and took nothing!” In other words, “You’re a pretty good preacher, and I like what you have to say, but I’m a professional fisherman, and now is not the time to fish.”

Jesus didn’t argue, but those eyes – can you see Jesus’ eyes? Peter continued, “But at your word, I will let down the nets.” You know the rest of the story. “And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink.” Follow the story through Peter’s eyes. There is nothing as exciting for a fisherman than “Fish on!” Can you see the water boiling with fish as they haul in the nets? Can you feel the excitement as the fish pour into the boat? Now the boat is about to sink! It’s so full of wiggling, leaping, wet flopping fish, Peter shouts for his partners to launch their boats and help.

Where is Jesus in all this? I picture him still sitting in the bow, watching and smiling, surrounded by silver fish. Then their eyes meet – those amazing eyes again – and Peter’s world changes. His heart is laid bare. “He fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’”

It was the flash of understanding. Jesus is Immanuel – “God is with us.” That is the calling! God is real, and he invites us to become his agents: fishers of men. It begins when we, like Peter, realize we are in the presence of God.

And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:10, 11)

In October 2017, a fire destroyed several buildings in Santa Rosa, but left the Carl’s Junior fast food restaurant unscathed. In gratitude, the employees began making 165 Super Star double hamburgers with cheese for the firemen, but the heat from the overworked grill caught the restaurant on fire. Fortunately, the six employees were uninjured. The same cannot be said about the building or the burgers.

Have you ever had a day when it seemed like you just couldn’t win? Everything you do goes wrong. It seems like the universe is conspiring against you, and sometimes we mistakenly lay the blame on the Lord. James wrote:

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13).

People often try to comfort the grieving by explaining, “The Lord took your son (or daughter, or mother, or father, or friend),” but that’s wrong. James explained:

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:16, 17).

So, where does all the pain and evil in this world come from? We can trace it back to the Garden of Eden – to the Fall. Thorns and weeds, sickness and death – even flaming hamburger joints – came as a result of rebellion. All of the disorder, disease, and despair are a result of a world out of harmony with God. 

Now do you understand why Jesus taught us to pray “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done”?

“If Only” is the name of a specter that has haunted each of us. “If only I would have stayed in school.” “If only I studied a little harder.” “If only … if only … if only.” Abel Kiviat set the world record for 1500 meters three times in fifteen days in 1912. In Norway, at the finals for the 1500 meters later that summer, Kiviat was one of seven Americans in the final event. He was the favorite and led in the homestretch. Kiviat roared across the finish line, but not before a lone Englishman came out of nowhere to beat him by one-tenth of a second. For the first time in history, the race was so close it had to be decided by reviewing a photograph.

Psychologists call the If Onlys “Contra Factuals.” They come in two flavors. Downward Contra Factuals often result in feelings of gratitude (“I’m sorry the car was destroyed, but it could have been worse! Thank God I was wearing my seatbelt.”) Upward Contra Factuals are haunted by regrets: If Only.

Consider again the Olympics of 1912. Three medals were awarded in the 1500-meter race. Think about how each competitor felt. It’s easy to imagine the joy Arnold Jackson felt. He was the winner of what sportswriters call “the greatest race ever.” Jackson had no reason to think he had a chance. He wasn’t even a representative of his country. (Private citizens were allowed to compete in those days.) For training, Jackson walked and played golf! His win was fantastic. Jackson went on to become one of the greatest generals of the First World War. Sadly, after being wounded three times, he could never run again, but no one could take away his Olympic medal. He was a winner!

What about the third-place competitor – the winner of the bronze medal? Norman Tabor was grateful to receive any medal at the Olympics (Downward Contra Factuals). The competition was that fierce. Later, in 1915, Tabor went on to break the twenty-year-old world record for running the mile.

What about Abel Kiviat, who won the silver medal, but lost the gold medal by only one-tenth of a second? In 1995 he was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times 83 years after the event. He laughed and admitted, “I wake up sometimes and say, ‘What the heck happened to me?’ It’s like a nightmare.” He was haunted by the If Only demon until his dying days.

We all have failures and disappointments. Re-read the story of Jesus, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, making breakfast for Peter and the other disciples after the resurrection (John 21). Do you remember Peter denying Jesus with an oath at the time Jesus needed the big fisherman most? Don’t you know Peter was haunted by If Only? Jesus ended that pity party with the words “Feed my sheep!” and “Tend my lambs.”Part of the glory of Christ is our freedom from If Only. Christians can march boldly into the future because we have been freed from the tyranny of the past.

Are you having a bad day? The Apostle Paul has a surprising announcement for us:

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong”(2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV).

Frankly, that sounds a bit masochistic! How can illness, insult, distress, persecution, and trouble be occasions for celebration? Because Paul has realized when we rely on ourselves – our cleverness, power, intelligence, and resources – the result is desperation: weakness. We come up short. It’s easy to be overpowered.

Life is not fair. Bad things happen to good people. Like my grandmother used to say, “Where there is light, there are bugs.” In other words, when we live as Christians should, when we let our light shine, not everyone is going to be pleased! It is going to attract trouble, but what kinds of trouble can we expect? Look at the words Paul uses to describe what we will be up against:

Weakness (astheneia, ἀσθένεια) This word describes debilitating illness or feelings of inadequacy. It is the opposite of power (dynamis, δύναμις).

“Lord, I just don’t think I can do this anymore!”

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Insults (hybris, ὕβρις) Can you imagine how seasick you would be after enduring two weeks on a storm-tossed sea? The word Paul chooses; next, hybris is found only three times in the New Testament: here and twice in Acts 27:10, 21 where it is translated “injury” and probably means debilitating seasickness. If that’s true, then the sickness we encounter in 2 Corinthians 12:10 could be called “insult sickness.” Taunts and ridicule can weigh us down and, if we worry about what other people are saying, it can destroy our confidence and joy. The NIV Reader’s Version translates hybris “when people say mean things about me.”

“Father, have you heard what they are saying about me?”

“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14).

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11, 12). 

Distress (anagke, ἀνάγκη) This word describes great trouble, such as will occur in the last days (Luke 21:23). It can even mean torture! Most often, the term refers to overwhelming pressure and distress. Pressure can even come from good things, but it can still overpower us. The key to survival, Paul says, is patient endurance.

“Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance,” (2 Corinthians 6:2-4).

I love optimist/pessimist jokes. The optimist believes this is the best of all possible worlds … and the pessimist is afraid he’s right! It’s hard to be optimistic and upbeat when it seems like everything (and everyone) is working against you! The Apostle Paul has an important message for us when we are down:

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV).

“When I am weak, then I am strong.” That doesn’t sound very realistic, but consider what the apostle was up against:

Persecution (diogmos, διωγμός) Sometimes, our opposition is systematic. If so, you are in good company!

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14).

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Trouble (stenochoria, στενοχωρία) Do you ever feel like you are out of options? Do you feel like it is all closing in on you? This next word describes a set of stressful circumstances, distress, difficulty, anguish, trouble.

“Lord, I have nowhere to turn!”

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, 

“For your sake, we are being killed all the day long; 

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 8:35-39).

When I am weak, then I am strong

So, in this one remarkable passage, the apostle tells us that we need to embrace our weakness rather than worry about the challenges we face.

Once my wife Jan was swimming in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. Jan is a good swimmer, but suddenly she found herself being carried out to sea by a riptide. She was helpless. No matter how hard Jan tried, she couldn’t fight against the tide. She feared she was being swept out to sea. Then she turned onto her back and prayed. It was a prayer of despair. She quit trusting in her strength and asked God to show her the way back. Then it came to her. Instead of swimming against the current, she swam across the current and escaped the tide.

As Christians, we don’t need to rely on ourselves, but we need to rely on the Lord. Give your troubles to God. He specializes in the impossible! Paul observed, “When I am weak, then I am strong!”