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The Unexpected Elevator Ride

I was on my phone, answering a text, completely unaware that I didn’t even push “Floor 1.” Suddenly the elevator started going up (when I needed to go down) and then I realized what I’d done. We got to the 4th floor in the Pediatric wing at Mission Hospital when Jose got on. I still didn’t notice him (I was still focused on answering that text). Another stop on the 2nd floor and it was just him and me…going to the first floor. I looked at him and his eyes told the story.

“How are you?” I asked.

“Not good,” dropping his head.

“I’m so sorry. What’s going on?”

The elevator stopped, we got off on our floor and stood there. “We’re expecting twins. We lost one heartbeat (and his voice started to break…he looked to be in his late twenties)…”

“What about the other one?” I asked.

“We don’t know. And too…(he paused), the mother, her life is in danger.” He could hardly put words together.

I hope my furrowed brow showed how his words had stopped everything in my world. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “Why? What is going on?”

“Two weeks ago everything was fine. She was good. Our babies (these are their first) were good. Then something happened and we ended up here. I don’t know about our other baby. And my wife is hemorrhaging right now…as we speak.” His head dropped again. By this time we had walked to the front of the hospital. He was meeting Sarah’s (his wife) dad in the cafeteria.

We stopped again, people passing us by. “I’m a pastor,” I said. By now, my heart was breaking for him. It still hadn’t dawned on me that we never would have met if I had pushed the right button on the elevator. “And our church would love to pray for you. Is it okay with you if I ask them? There will be a thousand people on their knees praying for you and Sarah.”

“Yes, yes” he said. And reached out his hand. I grabbed his hand. I assured him we would pray. “Do you mind if I get your name and number? I want to check in on you.” I typed his number in. Again he reached out his hand…and I assured him we would cover him in prayer.

As I drove home in the pouring rain, reflecting on how the day began with Terry and Tony Miller, as Terry bravely waits by his bedside, and the Woodys, whose 11-year-old is battling a hard case of pneumonia, and now Jose and Heather, this song came roaring into my mind. (Same God)

So here’s your call to pray. For Tony and Terry, the Woodys (especially Gunner), Jose and Sarah and those twins. To the Same God.

The God who controlled storms then controls elevators today.

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Today’s Vow, Tomorrow’s Joy

Psalm 61 couldn’t be more fitting for the new year.

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah

For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day. (Psalm 61, ESV)

David begins with a prayer. Hear my cry, when (not if) my heart is faint. At times in 2024 your heart will be faint. So will mind. If you reflect on 2023, you’ll remember times that took your breath, that stopped you in your tracks and caused you to wonder what would be next. (And if you know me well, you know I have enough real-life fainting stories to fill a small book–I’m convinced I’m a fainting goat!).

We have a choice. Focus on the faint or focus on the faithfulness of God. Lead me to the rock. Why? Because you have been. How would you complete that sentence for 2023. God, you have been my ___________________________. For David, the words refuge and strong tower come to mind. As a result, King David wants to worship. He lives in a palace. He wants to dwell in God’s tent. Forever!

In the first stanza, we see the greatness of God. In the second, we see the mundane of Mondays. Yes, New Year’s Day 2024 is on a Monday. David writes, “you have heard my vows.” And later “as I perform my vows day after day.”

It is in the mundane of today that the joy of tomorrow resides.

Days determine years. If David’s years are going to endure to all generations, it will be because he fulfills his “day after day” vows. Eugene Peterson described discipleship as a “long obedience in the same direction.” It is in the mundane of every day that the joy of tomorrow resides.

What does your daily need to look like in 2024. Determine that today. And make a promise (vow) to yourself, to someone else, and yes to the Lord, what you’ll do every day.

Don’t forget to look behind you. You’ll see goodness and mercy (Psalm 23), or as David writes here, steadfast love and faithfulness, watching over.

Happy New Year!

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When I Don’t Want to Forgive

Sometimes forgiveness doesn’t come natural–maybe most of the time. In simple terms, to forgive is to let go, to release someone of the debt they owe you for what they have done to you or to a loved one. Yet Jesus’ addendum to the Lord’s Prayer is unrelenting:

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14, ESV)

This begs the question: does my forgiveness of others bring about Jesus’ forgiveness of me? The answer is “No!” Jesus’ forgiveness of you comes out of his great grace toward you. When you receive Christ as Savior, you are forgiven, redeemed, justified and free to live a life you never dreamed possible.

But what about those who hurt you? Why should you forgive them? Why would Jesus add such difficult words at the end of such a beautiful prayer?

R. T. Kendall offers these motivations:

  1. Salvation is unconditional; fellowship with the Father is conditional.
  2. Justification before God is unconditional; the anointing of the Spirit is conditional.
  3. Our status in the family of God is unconditional; our intimacy with Christ is conditional.
  4. Our eternal destiny—whether we go to heaven or to hell—is fixed, but receiving an additional reward is conditional.

If your relationship with God is strained, if you struggle to sense God’s Spirit at work in your life, if your intimacy with Christ seems nonexistent, ask yourself if there is someone you haven’t forgiven. And forgive…Now! Do the hard work of forgiveness.

I offer a prayer to help you get started.

Father, I honestly don’t want to forgive ______________________ (the person who has hurt you). They have __________________________ (whatever they’ve done). Yet I want and desperately need your forgiveness. I need your help forgiving _____________________ (the person).  I trust that you, through your Spirit, will give what I need to forgive __________________________ (the person). Thank you for forgiving me.

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What if Someone Doesn’t Want My Forgiveness

Yesterday’s (10/29/23) sermon raised some questions. This week, in the blog, I’ll attempt to answer some of them!

Can you forgive an unrepentant person? What if someone has hurt you deeply, or is still hurting you, but is unrepentant. They know what they have done (you’ve told them…or it’s obvious) but they refuse to accept responsibility. Can you forgive such a person?

First of all let’s define forgiveness. I’ll give you the short and the long definition. My favorite (short) definition of forgiveness is this: the refusal to punish someone for something they’ve done to you. We punish usually by our words. When someone hurts us we hurt them–by the things we say to them or about them. My favorite (long) definition of forgiveness: “When do we forgive others? When we strive against all thoughts of revenge; when we will not do our enemies mischief, but wish well to them, grieve at their calamities, pray for them, seek reconciliation with them, and show ourselves ready on all occasions to relieve them. (Thomas Watson, Body of Divinity)

Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

So what does this mean for the unrepentant person? In short, you can’t give someone what they cannot receive. John Piper says, “When a person who wronged us does not repent with contrition and confession and conversion, he cuts off the full work of forgiveness.” As such, you cannot forgive an unrepentant person. Now I know what some of you are thinking. Whew! I didn’t want to. Now I’m off the hook.

Not so quick! Notice Watson’s definition and Romans 12:18. The phrases “strive against all revenge” and ” so far as it depends on you” show up. While you cannot forgive an unrepentant person, you must release them. Piper again says, “We can still lay down our ill will; we can hand over our anger to God; we can seek to do him good; but we cannot carry through reconciliation or intimacy.”

While you cannot give someone what he is unwilling to receive, the question is are you really willing to give it? Piper breaks down Watson’s definition like this:

Here is forgiveness: when you feel that someone is your enemy or when you simply feel that you or someone you care about has been wronged, forgiveness means:

  1. resisting revenge,
  2. not returning evil for evil,
  3. wishing them well,
  4. grieving at their calamities
  5. praying for their welfare,
  6. seeking reconciliation so far as it depends on you,
  7. and coming to their aid in distress.

Ouch. This requires a real heart check.

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It’s Friday

adapted from a sermon by Tony Compolo

It’s Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter’s denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It’s Friday; but Sunday’s a coming.

It’s Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, “Father, forgive them.” It’s Friday; but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God, who will not abide with sin, pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, “My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?” What a horrible cry. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. And at the moment of Jesus’ death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that’s because it’s Friday, and they don’t know it, but Sunday’s a coming.

And on that horrible day 2,000 years ago, Jesus the Christ, the Lord of glory, the only begotten Son of God, the only perfect man, died on the cross of Calvary. Satan thought that he had won the victory. Surely he had destroyed the Son of God. Finally he had disproved the prophecy God had uttered in the Garden and the one who was to crush his head had been destroyed. But that was Friday.

Now it’s Sunday. And just about dawn on that first day of the week, there was a great earthquake. But that wasn’t the only thing that was shaking, because now it’s Sunday.

And the angel of the Lord is coming down out of heaven and rolling the stone away from the door of the tomb.

Yes, it’s Sunday, and the angel of the Lord is sitting on that stone. And the guards posted at the tomb to keep the body from disappearing were shaking in their boots, because it’s Sunday. And the lamb that was silent before the slaughter is now the resurrected lion from the tribe of Judah, for He is not here, the angel says. He is risen indeed.

It’s Sunday, and the crucified and resurrected Christ has defeated death, hell, sin, and the grave. It’s Sunday. And now everything has changed. It’s the age of grace, God’s grace poured out on all who would look to that crucified lamb of Calvary. Grace freely given to all who would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary was buried and rose again. All because it’s Sunday.

It’s Friiidaaaay!

But Sunday’s coming!

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Patience

by Jerry Lewis


Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

Psalm 37:7-9 (NIV)

Martin Luther says this: “The sum of this Psalm is, Suffer; that is, learn patience.” As I ponder this phrase, suffering seems inevitable, but how much more do we grow through the valleys versus the mountain tops? In these valleys, suffering is accompanied with waiting. Waiting is hard. We wait for diagnosis, in road construction, for our next paycheck, our kids to grow up or reach that next stage in development, or to hear from God. Our lives seem to be in a constant state of waiting. Waiting can lead to anxiety, to stress and we can’t make the waiting go by any faster.  How hard is it to be still in the waiting; to not rush ahead before God leads? 

Patience means the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. There is a gracefulness to patience, a quiet calm that resonates deep in the soul. It helps keep the anxiety at bay as others around you seem to be getting everything they ever wanted, in a world where we see snapshots of everyone’s best life plastered for everyone to see. We rest in the stillness of God and His love for us. 

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 

Romans 5:3-5

I was always told to never pray for patience because then you would end up in a situation where you would have to put it into practice. However, as Christians we should practice patience on a regular basis, whether it’s with our children, our spouse, or our coworkers. David tells us that those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. May this be a reminder to you that though the wait may be long there is always hope and joy through the valley if you only look for it. 

Lord, I ask that you teach me patience, to show grace and mercy to those around me. Give me the strength to endure the waiting, to focus on You through the suffering to grow closer to You. As in David’s case, let me place my hope in You. Amen.

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Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise

by Jerry Lewis

Do you know the most compelling evidence to me of who we are in Christ? He is unnamed. We’re not exactly sure the crime he committed. We just know that it wasn’t by accident that he was scheduled to be executed the same day Jesus was crucified. Most executions were not attended by crowds. Most crucifixions didn’t cause a stir. For this unnamed criminal, his most embarrassing moment became his most exhilarating. His most confining moment became his most liberating. He was crucified…and rightly so. He was guilty of crimes.

Jesus was crucified right beside him…and for no good reason. He was falsely accused.

This unnamed criminal, hanging naked, bleeding, writhing in pain on the cross, saw something in Jesus that the Romans soldiers refused to see. He saw something in Jesus that the Jewish leaders refused to see. He saw something in Jesus that the other thief refused to see. He also saw his sinful self.

Do you know what happened? That day, the naked, destitute, friendless, guilty criminal became a saint. What grace from the cross when Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” He had no time to join the church, no time to mend fences, no time to make restitution. He didn’t have to. He was crucified with Jesus…literally…and he was crucified with Jesus spiritually. He had a new relationship.

From criminal to citizen. From outcast to insider. From a thief to a saint. In just one moment.

If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, that’s what happened to you.

I know. It’s scandalous.

Grace is.

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Triumph in Humiliation

by Jerry Lewis

Lord, our master, whose glory fills the whole earth, show us by your Passion that you, the true eternal Son of God, triumph even in the deepest humiliation.  —Bach in John’s Passion

Triumph and humiliation do not usually belong in the same sentence.  God excels in the ironic situations of life.  When Joseph’s brothers worried over the consequence of how they had treated Joseph, he responded, “You intended it for evil; God meant it for good.”

The suffering of Jesus is the supreme example of triumph in the deepest humiliation.  Jesus was beaten mercilessly.  Isaiah completely called this sequence of events:

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
(Isaiah 53:2-3 ESV)

As one from whom men hide their faces.  People couldn’t bear to look at Jesus.  I wonder, in Pilate’s interrogation of Jesus, if Pilate looked at the ground–did he look him in the eye?

Majesty was veiled by blood.  Glory was masked by groaning.  Royalty hid behind repulsion.

What is your humiliation?  Your shame?  Your embarrassment?  In Jesus’ hands, and under Jesus’ blood, you can triumph even in the deepest humiliation.  This Easter season, call out to the humiliated Jesus who is now exalted.  Cry out to the One who cried out to His own Father on the cross.

It may be Friday…but Sunday’s coming.  Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

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It May Be Sunday

by Jerry Lewis

It may be Sunday, but Friday’s coming.

The sun is shining brightly. The crowds are brimming with excitement.

It may be Sunday, but Friday’s coming.

They find a donkey. They pull off their cloaks to saddle the donkey. Jesus, their supposed king rides down into Jerusalem on that donkey.

It may be Sunday, but Friday’s coming.

The crowd throws their coats down in the road. They cut palm branches and soften the path for Jesus as rides into the eastern gate. They are shouting “Hosanna!” They’re waving palm branches.

It may be Sunday, but Friday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The crowd tears their clothes with anger. They clench their fists. They wave in defiance.

It’s Friday. Jesus is hanging, bleeding, dying. The crowd is mocking. The disciples have fled. Mary weeps. Jesus is crying. To his Father.

They took his clothes. And gambled for them.

It’s Friday…but Sunday’s coming.