Learning from trees and straw

There was nothing spectacular about the tree but that's why it held his attention. In the midst of winter, the tree was stripped of life. Yet Herman knew that when April rolled around, there would be green buds on the tree. The tree was waiting out the winter.

He hadn't taken time before but this day he knew he was that tree, dead and dry. And in an instant he grasped that God held the same hope for him. He was in the winter of his life but spring was ahead, because of God's grace. What was dead could come back to life.

That realization changed Herman's life. And ours as well.

We know Herman as Brother Lawrence, who provided the wisdom that we find in Practicing the Presence of God.

You can read his story here. Better yet, read his book here.

From the winter tree, Brother Lawrence grasped a love for God that governed his life. The key for Brother Lawrence was serving God in the common business of each day. Whether he was washing dishes or cooking the evening meal, he found God in his duties.

Don't we sometimes assume that God has a splendid task for us and we're disappointed that we haven't uncovered it yet? Brother Lawrence would tell us to look for God, not for the splendid task. And God can be found in our common business.

For Brother Lawrence, a lifetime of serving his fellow monks through kitchen duty was not a waste of time, but a wonderful opportunity to worship. "It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God," he said.

Think what we can learn from a man passionate about his Redeemer.

Lighting the Reformation

Some said Johhan Tetzel could redeem the sins of the dead, if only you had enough coins. "When the money clangs in the box, the souls spring up to heaven," Tetzel said, soothing the consciences of many around Wittenburg, Germany.

It was October 31, 1517 when a simple professor and monk protested the redemption-by-payment, called indulgences, in a letter to his church superiors.

Martin Luther's first complaint stated clearly his position: forgiveness of sins was from Jesus Christ, not from the clergy. One of his points cut sharply into the pope's authority to forgive: "The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring and showing that it has been remitted by God."

Forgiveness of sins, according to Luther, was God's work and not that of church authorities.

As a professor of Theology, Luther gave lectures on Galatians, Romans, Hebrews and Psalms. In the study for those lectures, he discovered truth in God's word.

Luther's protests of indulgences put the match to the dry pile of tinder that had been gathering for centuries. Corruption within the church had rendered it more of an international business than a spiritual haven. Forgiveness was available to those with the money and offices were exchanged for wealth.

No one at the time thought Luther would lead a reformation of Christian beliefs and practices. He himself wanted only to correct the church. But people were fed up with the Church's corruption and rallied behind Luther's teachings.

A hundred years before, men died for what Luther was proclaiming, but the time was right. God raised up a courageous man to speak truth from God's Word.

Christmas new

Although we often shift in auto gear as Christmas approaches, where tradition rules, consider examining Christmas with fresh eyes. For a short walk into the first century, where an unwed mother might have been beaten and the newborn Jesus probably wasn’t surrounded by cows and sheep, take a look at Ben Witherington’s article on the Christmas story.

Christians you should know

Nikki knew something of the Apostle Paul and the story of the Exodus of Israel, but she’d never heard of Iraeneus. Jonathan Edwards, as far as she could remember, was a stern old guy who screamed at his congregation about dropping them all into hell if they didn’t shape up.

But she didn’t figure it mattered anyway because she was studying her Bible.

Followers of Jesus often don’t take time to learn church history. It sounds dry as sawdust and irrelevant as yesterday’s dawn.

But the story of people just like us, battling their own weaknesses and their culture’s responses, is important. How did they respond to criticism or weak doctrine? How did they brainstorm about the youth of their day drinking and carousing instead of coming to church?

Try reading 131 Christians Everyone Should Know. It is compiled from the pages of Christian History Magazine. The chapters vary in length but none is longer than 4 or 5 pages, each a short summary of the significance of each person.

History is people and how they make choices based on their surroundings. Sometimes those choices affect many generations (think of the Reformers, for example) and 131 Christians tries to highlight the significant points of each biography.

My one frustration is with how the chapters are organized. The editors chose to organize by topic, starting with theologians and concluding with martyrs. But if you know what category to place a person, you may know enough about the person to skip this book and move on to deeper studies.

However, just starting at the beginning and reading through the book, you’ll get a nice overview of many key players in the church. Each bio includes a timeline to help place that person in history’s chronology.

Overall, the book is easy to read and pretty accurate. It’s a nice place to get acquainted with some of our fellow believers who labored before us in the name of Jesus.

Learning from Justin Martyr

Justin Martyr is the most famous of second-century apologists, writing spirited letters defending the faith. He debated many philosophers and probably died after one, soundly defeated in a dispute, turned Justin in to the Roman authorities.

Justin Martyr was monumental in helping explain Christianity to unbelievers in the 2^nd century Roman Empire. Misunderstandings were clarified, practices accounted for, beliefs made clear. His courage and stout commitment were inspiring.

What can we learn from these early defenders of the faith? Here are some possibilities:

• We must learn to speak Latin for debating and study Greek philosophers. Justin was highly skilled in both and we should return to his disciplines.

• Debate must be taken seriously. Surely Justin was called, whereas I feel no similar call to debate, apologetics or martyrdom.

• There is no need to defend the faith today. Justin did a superb job and we’ll send people to his writings to get them straightened out.

• There is no need to defend the faith today. People no longer accept logical explanations such as Justin used in his debates. They are into feelings, not rationality today. Apologetics is dead, or dying.

What do you think?

Justin’s genius was in defending Christianity using well-known philosophical terms. He showed the rationality of the new belief, and why there was no need to fear it as a corrupting factor in society. He used the terminology and understanding of his day to make Christianity understood.

Can we do the same in our culture? When some media groups compare Christians to terrorist groups, when some politicians label committed Christians as dangerous, we must explain and defend as Justin did – in understandable language.

We won’t debate in Latin or write about Greek philosophies. But we can use many platforms – from the internet to newspaper letters – to explain the basis of our faith in clear terms. If you’re a blogger, blog with zest to reveal the grace of Jesus. If you’re a musician, write songs that will witness to God’s mercy and power. An artist can reveal eternity with a pencil and brush. And a friend, over coffee, can make known the mysteries of the universe.

Our duty, like Justin’s, is to witness to God in ways that others can understand.

The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

Acts 22:14-15

“Christians are no different from the rest in their own nationality, language or customs…they fulfill all their duties as citizens, but they suffer as foreigners. They obey all laws, but they live at a level higher than that required by law. They love all, but all persecute them.”

To Diognetus (a letter from an unknown 2^nd century apologist)

The royal service

The next time you see an elegant, white-robed minister standing before a professional-quality choir, be sure to thank (or blame) Constantine.

Constantine was emperor of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, coming to power after having a vision or dream where heard a command, “by this sign, you will win.” He put the sign of Christ on the shields of his army, and proceeded to beat back the opposition.

It was under his reign that Christianity changed from a persecuted religious sect to a state-endorsed religion.

Before Constantine, most church gatherings were simple meetings in homes. But a religion worthy of an emperor needed the pomp of an emperor.

Constantine financed the building of many imposing basilicas and instituted ornate robes for the ministers. He paid for professional choirs and introduced incense, grand gestures, and special signs. Processionals, just like the royal processional to the throne, now began the worship time.

Congregations transitioned. Where once they participated, now they became the audience.

The Christian church structure changed. We can debate the effects of state approval on church services, but we must remember one thing: many of our common traditions today come not from a biblical directive, but from Constantine’s hunger for style.

Tradition is not wrong unless it shields us from God’s commands. The challenge for the church throughout history is to focus on God's commands. The church must mandate what God mandates – nothing more and nothing less.

Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Acts 2:46-47

Which stand?

A small group of refugees have moved into our little farm town, bringing their Islamic beliefs with them. I heard just this week that they are hoping to build a mosque south of the tracks and have petitioned the school board to allow their youth to take moments out of class during the day for their regular pray times.

It’s a stretching sort of challenge and it made me think of Thomas Helwys. Thomas was a 17^th century Englishman at the forefront of the resistance that later birthed the Pilgrims and Puritans.

Thomas wrote a treatise for King James (yes, the one who commissioned the famous Bible translation) entitled A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity, which detailed his stand on religious freedom, the right of the individual (as opposed to the state) to interpret the Bible for himself, and the separation of church and state. In those days, the king saw himself as the head of the church and freely made laws affecting individual piety. Tithing and even the version of prayer book were dictated by the state.

You could go to prison for withholding from the offering plate or using the wrong hymnal.

Thomas died for religious freedom. King James offered to set him free the moment he recanted, but Thomas refused. He died in Newcastle Prison, passionate to the end for the right to worship without state control.

As I think about this Muslim group who wishes to take their religion into our school system, I am torn. Many in our community are angry – not a bad thing. In some cases, they are being forced to make a religious stand.

I know that, if the Muslims are allowed to disrupt class time for prayer time, that the Christians in our community will queue behind with requests for noontime Bible studies and permission to prayer walk the halls.

It’s an interesting can of worms. As followers of Jesus, we need to know something of our own history. Helwys and others died for religious freedom – for all religions. Helwys was wise enough to know that when we give the state permission to deny one, we have opened the floodgates for the state to regulate all.

What say you? Is our stand to deny other religions? Or to use the freedoms they demand for our own gain?

Flames of passion

The woman was indignant. “I’d better be in heaven someday,” she said heatedly, “because I know my mother is!”

She could have been a third-generation Puritan. In the mid-1600’s, the Puritans had fled English with the hot flames of persecution on their tails. Rather than adapt their beliefs, they adopted a new homeland.

But that first generation of Puritans, passionate and committed, failed to pass on the fervor. The following generations drifted toward spiritual lethargy. Churches once filled with energetic followers of Jesus were now seeing empty pews. The youth were out late, pursuing lewd practices with no time for Sunday morning worship.

We obviously expect too much, responded the Puritan fathers. They wanted to increase church membership, which had been based on spiritual conversion, and so decided to make it easier. Thus developed the Half-Way Covenant, which allowed membership based on baptism. If and when conversion occurred, the member was then allowed full membership but in the meantime, they were half-way members.

These half-way members couldn’t vote but they could inflate the membership roll. The hope was that the younger generations would eventually make a conversion to Christianity. Without the expectation of conversion, the younger generation became more and more self-indulgence and immoral.

By reducing membership to baptism, Puritans communicated that faith wasn’t necessary. Membership was. The sluggish results of the Half-way Covenant made the Great Awakening of the early 1700’s an amazing work of God, injecting fervor and commitment into the cool listless spirituality of the times. When people found Jesus, they responded with enthusiasm and ardor.

Jesus started with a large group of disciples but followers kept peeling off as the cost of following became clearer. Jesus didn’t come up with a Half-way Covenant to keep them. He upped the ante: in comparison to your love for me, it’ll seem like you hate your family. (Luke 14:26)

To follow Jesus means to leave attachments, to cultivate zeal, to risk all. He expected obsession from his followers. The Puritans were hoping to boost church membership with the Half-way Covenant. Their focus should have been on the passion of the people, not the numbers on the pews.

Jesus never made it easy to follow him and neither should we.

And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:27

Practicing the presence of God

Brother Lawrence didn’t like doing dishes any more than I do, but he found pleasure and peace in the business. That catches my attention.

He lived in the 1600’s but he was searching for the same thing that we hunger for today: peace and purpose. He started life as soldier, fighting in the Thirty Years War for the French. He tried studies, civil work (he described himself as a “footman who was clumsy and broke everything”), and spent time living in the wilderness. Searching.

But eventually he washed dishes in a monastery and thought about the presence of God.

That may seem a little tame today with our insatiable appetite for entertainment and a new adrenalin rush. We avoid dull tasks, convinced that life has new zest in adventure. But we are a troubled people, anxious to find purpose and peace as we rush to new quests.

Brother Lawrence found it.

Through a quiet life that embraced menial tasks, Brother Lawrence remained in God’s presence. It didn’t matter the assignment. No matter how our head is occupied, our heart can be melded with God. Anytime. In any task.

If you haven’t read The Practice of the Presence of God, you’ll find it surprisingly refreshing.

Samples:

“We should feed and nourish our souls with high notions of GOD; which would yield us great joy in being devoted to Him.”

"He was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of GOD, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts."

“In his business in the kitchen (to which he had naturally a great aversion), having accustomed himself to do everything there for the love of GOD, and with prayer, upon all occasions, for His grace to do his work well, he had found everything easy, during the fifteen years that he had been employed there.”