Always Arrives On Time

49 Listen to me, you islands;hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,in the shadow of his hand he hid me;he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,and my reward is with my God.”

5 And now the Lord says—he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am[a] honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength—6 he says:

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

7 This is what the Lord says—the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers:

“Kings will see you and stand up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” - ISAIAH 49:1-7

Good morning. Plans. We all make them and use them to give structure and purpose to our lives. Plans get the kids to school on time, land us our dream job, and ensure someone cooks the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. However, we have lived long to enough to know that life rarely goes to plan. We often find ourselves amending plans to accommodate other obligations or adjust to surprise emergencies.

Next week I had planned to host a large dinner reception in honor of my parents 40th wedding anniversary, but then in early March the setback arose. Governors in Ohio and Kentucky issued executive orders prohibiting large group gatherings to keep people safe. At the time of the executive orders, I had 90 people had rsvp’d for the dinner. Of course, most of them were in same high risk category as my parents given their geriatric ages :).

Consequently, I felt that the best and safest choice was to delay their anniversary reception to April 2021. Of course there was no harm done in pushing back a dinner party, but what do believers do when he or she experiences spirit crushing setbacks and faith-draining delays? I suspect all of us would agree that the greater the setback the more our purpose can feel hidden from us. Nor do I think anyone would disagree that the larger the delay the less strength and motivation we have to press on.

Thankfully I came across Isaiah 49 earlier this week and I think it provides a healthy framework for us to endure the setbacks and delays that will inevitability come our way. First, Isaiah 49 declares that the Lord uses setbacks and delays to prepare His servants. Even before we draw breath, Isaiah 49 declares that the Lord was already at work preparing His purpose for our lives and that even now the Lord makes preparations for purposes not yet revealed.

This point deserves special consideration in a time of quarantine and isolation. Some believers see the virus as a test of faith and will not allow the risk of spreading infection to suppress their urge to do something. However, Isaiah 49 invites us all to consider the possibility of using these setbacks and delays not to put others in danger, but instead to use this time to prepare ourselves for even greater works once the danger passes.

For not only does the Lord prepare His servants, Isaiah 49 also makes clear that the Lord protects His servants as He hides them is the shadow of His hand and conceals them in His quiver. Therefore, as servants of the One who protects, let us provide for those in need and care for those in pain in ways that protects ourselves and those we serve. I realize leaving groceries on a porch isn’t as satisfying preparing and sharing meals, but during this time it is enough.

And having been prepared and protected, Isaiah 49 reveals to us both a task and a gift which God bestows to us. Though setbacks can cause adjustments, our task to bring the light of salvation to the ends of earth goes unchanged. While delays may require amendments, our gift of having God display His splendor through us remains undimmed.

So this week I want to encourage us all to keep preparing plans to take light into dark places. May we also continue to allow God’s splendor to be displayed through our words and actions. For even amidst the setbacks and delays, Isaiah 49 speaks of a faithful God whose love and mercy always arrives on time.

CJE

Tomorrow Is A Gift

Good morning. So I thought this morning would serve as an ideal moment to get back to being more consistent with posting. Of course, today marks 52 years since MLK, Jr.’s life came to an tragic end on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee.

Now this April 4th takes on a greater significance for me. It’s a sobering thought to realize that I am now the age as MLK, Jr. was when he stepped out onto that hotel balcony. 39. It’s incredibly frustrating to think about all his work that went unfinished. But more than that, it’s profoundly heartbreaking to consider how little time his kids had to laugh and play with him.

As a sophomore at Lipscomb University, I had the opportunity to travel to Memphis with my biblical ethics class to visit the Lorraine Motel and the Civil Rights Movement museum adjacent to it. It was the first time I came into contact with the words and images of a time in history that had been kept hidden from me.

Before that trip my only knowledge of MLK and the Civil Rights Movement consisted of the I Have A Dream speech that was played for me at school almost every February during Black History Month. That was it.

Teachers never once made mention of unarmed men, women, and children being assaulted with firehouses, nightsticks, dogs, chains, steamy hot coffee, eggs, lead pipes, brass knuckles, bullets, tear gas, dynamite, and nooses; all for wanting the chance to cast a vote and a place to sit on their bus or at their local lunch counter.

But suddenly there I was walking through the museum reading and viewing everything I could about this pivotal moment in history. I spent the whole bus ride back to Nashville trying to process what I had just seen. And in a moment of profound awareness it became clear to me what MLK and all the anonymous heroes of the Civil Rights Movement were trying to accomplish.

While politics certainly made for good headlines, MLK and the brave foot soldiers who worked along side him never set out with the intention of starting a political movement. Rather, they came together with seismic aspirations of causing a spiritual awakening. You see they were convinced that segregation not only violated the Constitution, but also represented a gross betrayal of God’s will expressed most powerfully in the person of Jesus Christ.

Yes, they dedicated themselves to overcoming injustice by securing equal rights and protections for anyone deemed, “separate, but equal.” However, it was understood early on that they not could triumph by achieving justice alone. History made clear that justice absent of righteousness eventually withered and died.

While they certainly sought to put an end to the political realities of segregation, they wanted even more to see the sin of racism put to death. For racism served as the architect of segregation and only by destroying it could both sides declare victory.

So this April 4th may we all find a moment to consider the true essence of the conflicts and dangers that confront us today. Is our fight really with some external “threat” that we have to resist at all costs. Do our struggles truly breakdown into Black v White, Red State v Blue State, or Boomer v Millennial? Or do our battles and divisions actually arise from the profound brokenness residing inside all of us?

More than inviting us to contemplate, April 4th also implores us to take time to dream about triumphs we wish to see in our time. For there remain many victories we have yet to achieve (equal pay for women, sustainable healthcare, our children going to school without fear of being shot, etc.). And let us not plan to put off to tomorrow those actions that can lead to a victory today. Because if we learn nothing else from April 4th then it is that tomorrow is not a plan, tomorrow is a gift.

CJE

You Will Never Be Fatherless

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

- Matthew 19:25-26

Good morning. Of all of the assurances Christ gives to the disciples, I find myself depending more and more on this assurance that Christ proclaims in Matt 19. This is especially true any time I am reminded of being without the things I desire greatly.

Whether it be lofty ambitions like the desire to possess a trust in God so complete that my selfishness and fear no longer hold me captive; or more simple desires like wanting a brother to call on the phone, having a wife to care for in sickness, or getting to tell the kids their favorite bedtime story.

Now this morning I have neither the time, nor the interest to relive all the circumstances and choices that contributed to the enduring absence of such ambitions and desires in my life. I share them only in the hope it might strengthen the bonds between all of us.

A bond  that comes from a mutual understanding where each of us knows how it feels to go through our day without those things or people that matter most to us. And though our astonishments and disappointments take different forms, the assurance that Christ gives to us is the same and again that assurance proclaims, “...with God all things are possible.”

Of course there exists an addendum to this assurance that does not present itself until later in the text. Yes, Matt 19 makes it known that with God all things are possible, but then comes Matt 27 with its addendum that shows us that all things are possible...BECAUSE. 

All things are possible BECAUSE the God of the Universe was without a place to lay his head. All things are possible BECAUSE the Lord of History often went to bed without food or water. All things are possible BECAUSE the Son of God went to the cross without the Father or a friend. 

I suppose the question each of us need to ask is, “what will we do with all the possibilities that God provides?” Will we tell ourselves that we are too busy to pursue them, or worse convince ourselves that we are unworthy of God’s possibilities? Or will we commit to following after God’s possibilities whatever it costs and wherever it leads?

These are not easy questions to answer and I confess my own fear of answers that would prolong the possibility of being without things or people I love most. This week, however, PS 68 spoke to this fear and reminded me of how grateful I am that there remains at least one possibility I will never have to consider.

In v4, the psalmist declares, “...4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,extol him who rides on the clouds[b]; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.6 God sets the lonely in families,[c]he leads out the prisoners with singing;..”

Even though I commit myself to the notion that all of God’s possibilities for my life remain as tangible at 39 as they were at 19, there still exist moments when I feel a great deal of uncertainty as to the possibilities that await me. 

But in those moments of uncertainty that I hear PS 68 assure me saying,, “Chris, should you ever become homeless or remain childless; always trust that you will never be fatherless.”

 CJE