The Kind of Faith God Values Most Seems to Develop Best When He Remains Silent.

There have been times in my life when the presence, plan and leadership of God were so clear it was if He was walking beside me telling me where we were going and why.  There have also been times when I desperately wanted and thought I needed that presence, plan and leadership God in my life and He was silent.  While we would often prefer God to openly communicate and guide our lives, extensive Bible study shows that He is frequently silent.  There are times when He appeared, talked and displayed His presence in powerful ways.  There were direct personal conversations with Adam & Eve, Abraham, Samuel, Moses, etc. There are also long periods of time when God remained silent.  He promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation.  At the end of Genesis, we see a small group of Isaacs's descendants then Exodus opens with these descendants of Israel growing larger but enslaved be the powerful nation of Egypt for some 400 years.  Think of the stories of the promise of becoming a great nation that parents and grandparents told their children and grandchildren who were born into slavery and would die in slavery for generations with no word from God following up the promise…until a man on the run from Egyptian soldiers for murder saw a burning bush in the desert.  God clearly spoke to Moses and then showed His power and presence in such dramatic ways that even the Egyptians believed and let Moses walk away with millions of Hebrew slaves headed to the ‘promised land’. 

They were about to set off on a journey directly guided and protected by God in powerful visible displays never seen before or since.  The sea would part to let them pass ahead of the pursuing Egyptian army.  Once they were on the other side God closed the sea and destroyed that threat.   His presence was manifested as a pillar of cloud to guide them in the day and a pillar of fire to comfort at night.  Moses would go up the mountain and have direct conversation as one man to another.  God protected them and supplied all their needs.  Deuteronomy 29:4-6 says; “But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”. 

They were fed Manna from Heaven and never received a bill.  Rarely in the Bible did God show Himself, His power, mercy and grace so frequently to such a large group.  And how did they respond to the powerful presence and dramatic displays of His power?  They complained on a regular basis and when Moses was on Mount Sinai, conversing with God interceding for the Hebrew people, they made a golden calf to worship instead of the God who had been repeatedly performing miracles displaying His power and presence! 

The Old Testament is filled with examples of God exhibiting His power and presence.  Look at the example of Elijah on Mount Carmel.  He challenged 450 prophets of Baal to a public contest to prove whose God was real.  They both would build an alter then place a sacrificial bull on the alter but not light the fire.  “Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”  I am sure you are familiar with the story (1 Kings 18) as they tried in every way to have their god respond.  Elijah ridiculed them and then saturated his alter with water so much that it filled the trench around the alter.  Then he prayed; “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”  Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.  When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”  Well, that revival, sadly, like many didn’t last long.  Elijah was soon found fleeing from Jezebel in fear of his life. 

What happened?  Well, it seems that we are and have long been a people with a very short memory and fickle faith.  Even the most dramatic display of God’s power and presence in our midst, when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), was met with doubt, skepticism and rejection.  Scripture tells us that “not even his brothers believed in him” (John 7:5). Jesus' own family rejected him as the Messiah.  In spite of the miracles and power that He possessed Jesus was scorned and rejected.  I think one of the saddest verses in the Bible is John 1:11; “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”  After mankind's negative reaction to these most demonstrative revelations of God's power and presence, who could blame God for the 'silent treatment'?

The last sermon series I preached before retirement was on Hebrews 11.  This entire chapter is devoted to faith.  Verse 1 begins with; “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  Then the chapter begins to describe the faith of people we consider spiritual giants such as, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, etc.  This chapter is often referred to as the ‘Hall of Faith’ as it lists the people whom we would consider giants of faith.  However, the chapter concludes reminding us that ‘Hall of Fame Faith’ remains even when God is silent as verses 11:39 & 40 remind us that; “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”   I always found it remarkable that “none of them received what had been promised”, but none lost their faith! 

So, when we look at the crazy world in which we live with growing violence, war, climate changes, political insanity, illness that affects us and our loved ones and we pray for God to act; what should we do when He remains silent? We should remember to do as the members of Hebrew’s ‘Hall of Faith’ did in holding on to the “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  Whether we like it or understand it, the kind of faith God values most seems to develop best when He remains silent.  Therefore, if you are at the end of your rope of prayers and faith…tie a not and hang on.  God may remain silent but remember Hebrews 11.  He has planned 'something better for us so that we will all be made perfect'.  At least that what He has promised! 

Always Leave It Better Than You Found It!

Years ago, when I was working to make an honest living as a minister, I participated and led many mission trips and disaster relief trips.  It is considered a mission trip when one goes to another part of the country or to another country to assist the residents in a spiritual or physical endeavor.  A disaster relief mission is one where a trained team goes into a region that has just experienced a natural disaster, such as a flood, tornado hurricane, etc. and renders immediate help that is needed for residents to try to recover from the disaster.  

In either case we often stayed in homes or churches as there were often no other accommodations available.  I always had a motto that I shared with my teams, whether we stayed in a church or someone’s home.  “Always leave it better than you found it!”

I noticed that especially on disaster relief trips where we would often be housed in a church or facility with teams from other states or areas in camping type situations because many motels or other resources had been destroyed by hurricanes or tornados, that some teams would leave the areas in a mess.  I guess they did not realize that church volunteers would have to clean up their mess in addition to recovering from the tornado, flood or hurricane that had brought the teams to their area in the first place.

I always told our teams that we would follow our motto; “Always leave it better than you found it!” That applied not only to the area where we would clear downed trees, make necessary repairs to downed homes, etc.  But we would also leave the area/church/homes that hosted us without having to clean up behind us when we left.  We would leave every place better than we found it as much as possible.  I felt that this would leave the most positive impression on those we came to assist. 

I still think this is a good way to look at life.  I admit that some of this philosophy comes from my OCD tendencies where I hate to see things left undone, trash left in the parking lot, pictures hanging crooked, etc.  I know I should probably be in therapy.  My wife calls me a “Boy Scout” when I return shopping carts left in the parking lot to the proper place or pick up trash that someone threw out the window. 

But think about it, what if we all decided to leave things better than we found them?  We would all be seeking to improve the world around us rather than consuming and leaving things for someone else to take care of it.   

I have now long been retired and no longer lead people on mission or disaster relief mission trips but I still try to leave things better than I found them.  And I still think this is a good philosophy.  I think the world would be better if we left things better than we found it so others would not be having to deal with a mess left behind by someone else.

This is one of my shorter blogs but I think I got my point across.  I hope that wherever you go and whatever you do from this day forward you will try to “Always leave it better than you found it!”

The Last Word

Years ago, I was serving 50 churches in various capacities.  We organized Disaster Relief ministries to help those recovering from hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and any other natural disaster.  We removed trees from houses, rebuilt homes and cleaned out flood damaged homes.  We also rebuilt and repaired homes for poor people in our home area and in other states.  We organized teams of retired, middle aged and young people who connected in the name of Christ to minister to those in need.  I was also privileged to participate and lead teams to go overseas to dozens of countries to share the love of Christ in many ways; through construction, medical and Bible teaching teams.  Some of these third world countries required extreme focus on security as we often were in places that would be dangerous.  I have had armed soldiers stop our van seeking a bribe before we could pass.  We went to places where we had constant police escorts that were necessary to grant us safety for the work and ministry we sought to give. 

I never thought about my personal safety.  I always assumed that “God would take care of me…as long as I didn’t do anything too foolish.”  However, my wife would always worry about me.  That’s what people who genuinely love you do…and I am blessed as she genuinely loves me! 

She once asked me which one of my pastor friends would I want to conduct my funeral should something happen.  Being the natural born smart-alecky person I have been most of my life, I answered; “Don’t bother anyone.  I’ll do it myself!”   I then began thinking about recording my own funeral. 

I decided that I would film myself kayaking down a creek and stopping at the camera I had previously set up to share some final thoughts and wisdom with a sense of humor.  (hey, it’s my funeral, I can call it wisdom and humorous if I want to!) I would record a DVD that would be placed in a safe deposit box not to be opened or viewed until my death.  I picked out the perfect spot.   It was a creek that had a bend that came to a perfect place to put the camera for recording.  I would set everything up and set the camera to record then go off camera to get into the kayak upstream and paddle into the camera range, pulling over to share greetings and my final words.  After sharing whatever wisdom, I thought I had obtained over the years, I would pause and look over my shoulder and say, “Well, I guess it is time to see what is around the next bend.  See you later!”  I would then reach out of camera range and hit the remote to start the CD that would begin playing Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World", Movement 2 (Largo).  William Arms Fisher, who was one of Dvorak's student's, put words to the melody that became the popular song; ‘Going Home’.  What a perfect ending!

I couldn’t have been more excited and pleased with my funeral…then as if God Himself tapped me on the shoulder, I heard in my mind; “OK, smart boy if you want to toy with and be cute about the end of your life be careful!  I hold your life in my hands.  It is not something to be trifled with.  It is a precious fragile gift that is to be meant to be lived to the fullest every day I give you breath!”  OK! OK! I get the point!  When we are not to focus on dying, which we will all do, but on living and making the most of each day that we are here.  When our time comes the way which we lived our lives should be the testament we leave. 

At the risk of jumping completely off the theological ledge, on which I am always precariously balanced, I am reminded of a conversation from my favorite western book and movie; Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.  Augustus McCrae, the philosophical Texas Ranger cowboy is sharing his thoughts about life with his best friend, Captain Woodrow F. Call, who is the total opposite of Gus.  Call is hardworking, pragmatic and simple in his way of viewing life usually totally frustrating the thoughtfulness of Gus, who is discussing the life of someone they both knew who could have possibly lived a more fulfilling life outside of the confides of the dead-end town of Lonesome Dove.  Call responds, missing the point completely saying that “she could have died anywhere!”  Gus rises up in his saddle and says; “It ain’t dying I’m talking about, it’s living,’ Augustus said. ‘I doubt it matters where you die, but it matters where and how you live.”

What one says about us after we are gone matters less than where and how we live.  If we live each day to the fullest of our ability loving our neighbor and God as we love ourselves, we have already left the most eloquent words that will be repeated about us after we are gone.