The End of the Earth

I had another reminder yesterday of the importance of the church in extreme rural areas. A younger couple recently moved to a nearby ranch, had met one of our congregation’s members at the post office, and had accepted the invitation to Sunday worship. Let me make this less normal: “nearby” is 45 miles. The ranch was down near a border port-of-entry. 45 miles away. There is no town, no other church between us and them. They would have had to travel 30 miles from us to the west and 45 miles from us to the east to find another congregation.

This is my Sunday afternoon passion.

I love Tim Keller, even with his passion for the large city. My denomination’s North American mission organization has made its focus cities on our continent with 1,000,000+ residents. I agree that cities are important (it’s where the people are), but cannot, cannot, cannot forget the nowheres.

“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Lord has graced me with a “remotest part of the earth” in which to serve on my Sunday afternoons, and a congregation I serve full-time in a small city of 10,000 residents 90 miles away which not only allows, but encourages my service elsewhere.

The risen and glorified Christ sings about my beautiful nowhere: “From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations” (Psalm 22:25-28).

One of our men called us to worship yesterday morning with Psalm 98 in the “city church” in which I serve. It was his last Sunday with us – he and his wife had to move to a “big city” in another state for medical services. He read to us:

“O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth” (98:1-4a).

Isaiah shares this witness:

“Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!” (Isaiah 42:10).

“I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (49:6).

“The Lord has bared His holy arm
In the sight of all the nations,
That all the ends of the earth may see
The salvation of our God” (52:10).

Pastors, deacons, Sunday School teachers, seminary students…got three or four hours free (like on a Sunday afternoon)? I’m willing to wager there’s a nowhere within reach of you who cannot afford a full-time (or even part-time) pastor. But there are souls there. Souls which need the Gospel. Souls who know Jesus and therefore need the latter part of the Great Commission: “…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). Small church buildings need to stay open, casting light over towns that are nearly ghost towns and further, 45 miles away and beyond. The Church must gather, even in the beautiful nowhere where God still walks. Can you give that kind of time to a nowhere? “Big city” churches, can you support and encourage such efforts to keep the lights on where very, very few will see them?

Six years ago my “city church” gave one of its vans to a small church in a town on the other side of the state (population 300). The older man who was serving that congregation at the time was an experienced church planter. He knew of my Sunday afternoon work in the nowhere. He looked at me, squinted his eyes, and said, “I used to do what you’re doing – it made me old.” I think of that often. Thought of it - or rather, felt it - yesterday as I drove the 98 miles back for evening service.

But it’s worth it. God has blessed me through that ghost-town congregation more times than I can count over the last nine years. We have baptized new believers and buried saints who have graduated to glory. We have reached out to help this shrinking town (70 residents when I started, 30 now) several times a year. I learned how to preach to 2 to 3 people here (that’s how we started). Souls for whom Jesus died. Souls that need the Word taught and explained and fed to them.

Do you have time? There are nowheres with souls out there. Don’t forget them. Please. When I travel I am sensitive to these little isolated collections of people - especially when there's no church in their midst. They are a mission field as surely as the isolated African village or the North American metropolis. Who will serve them?

A young couple drove 45 miles to worship yesterday afternoon. And, in the middle of nowhere, there were open doors and a welcoming congregation ready to receive them.

The King, His Kingdom, and His Power

On the Lord’s Day nine days from now I’m speaking on the Davidic covenant from Romans 1:3, so I’ve been thinking about the importance of David in the Gospel. From the first chapter of the New Testament (Matthew 1:1) to the last (Revelation 22:16), God’s promise to David and its fulfillment in Christ is a massively important theme for the Book.

When we think about the Davidic covenant, I’ve usually limited my thinking to the King Himself.[1] Especially during this time of year, the Advent season, we read the promise of Gabriel, messenger of God, to Mary: “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:30-33).

Who was the king under the old covenant, and Who is the King under the new covenant?

David → Jesus Christ

Yesterday, meditating on the Davidic covenant, I began to think about the further implications beyond the King Himself.

Where was David’s throne under the old covenant, and where is the new David’s throne under the new covenant?

Enthroned in earthly Jerusalem → Enthroned in heavenly Jerusalem

While David reigned on his throne in the earthly Jerusalem under the old covenant (1 Kings 11:36; 1 Chronicles 23:25; 2 Chronicles 6:6; Jeremiah 3:17), the King of kings reigns on His throne in the heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 3:12; 21-22).

What was David’s kingdom under the old covenant, and where is the new David’s kingdom under the new covenant?

Reigning over Israel & Judah → Reigning over heaven and earth

During the regency of David and his son Solomon the boundaries of the kingdom expanded to the range promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:18; 1 Kings 4:21). But this was the old covenant. As Christ is infinitely greater than David, and the heavenly Jerusalemite throne is infinitely greater than the earthly Jerusalemite throne, so, too, is the new covenant kingdom exponentially greater than the old covenant kingdom.

The new covenant kingdom is not limited to a single nation, a single people-group, or a single piece of real estate. The new covenant kingdom is “in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Why? Because that’s where the citizens of the kingdom are. They are from out of “every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9) on earth. They are counted in heaven.

The “gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, Who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:1-3), is the same Gospel which is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (1:16). “The Jew…and also…the Greek” is a Pauline concept which means “all people groups.” The King is Jesus Christ, Seed of David. His throne is in heaven. His kingdom is over all of heaven and all of earth, and His loyal subjects are found scattered in every corner of the earth and enthroned in heaven. In the first chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul reminds us that the Gospel of the Son of David, the King, is the Gospel that is God’s very power. The power of His reign is the proclamation of His Gospel, not the strategies and means of worldly power. It is about the Gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed by His Church everywhere. And until we re-learn this lesson, Church, we will continue to see our power and influence get smaller and smaller.

Your efforts to rebuild the kingdoms of David, Solomon, and Constantine will fail, because each of these would be a pitiful, small, Gospel-denying step backwards.

It’s about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Imagine if our efforts, financial support, energy, and speech were thrown behind this evangelistic global mission as much as it is behind the little political games and conspiracies of the world system!

The Gospel, and nothing else, because it’s the means of the power of the King of kings throughout His all-encompassing Kingdom. Return to your Bibles, Church! Read the whole Book, Church! And repent. It's all bigger than you think it is, and the power is simpler (and mightier) than you think it is.

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[1] The Davidic covenant is described in 2 Samuel 7:8-16; 1 Chronicles 17:1-14; Psalm 89:26-36; Acts 2:30. There are many, many other passages I could cite, as well, but these are the foundational ones.

I Love You, But Your Flowers Stink

Starbucks™ takes snowflakes off their red holiday cups and does not use the phrase “Merry Christmas.”

Christians freak out.

Sigh.

Just a reminder (again) of one of my rules of life: do not be surprised when non-Christians (or companies owned and run by non-Christians) do not act like Christians. They cannot act like Christians and should not act like Christians. If you got your wish, they’d look Christian on the outside but would still be unconverted and on their way to hell. The counterpoint to this life-rule is: always be surprised when Christians act like non-Christians. Always.

“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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written [in Habakkuk 2:4b], ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16,17).

Snowflakes aren’t the Gospel. Neither is Santa Claus, red cups, or the phrase “Merry Christmas.” Neither is Christendom, a “Christian culture,” or a “Christian nation” (three ideas not found in the New Testament).

I meet with a group of men on Thursday mornings. We’re reading slowly through Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology. We meet in a local coffeehouse. The barista is a New Age sort of guy who listens to Peruvian flute music and is seeking divinity through natural medicines. I have no idea what that last part means, though I ask him and listen when he tells me. We call each other by first names. I offer to pray for concerns he mentions and always try to inject Gospel views on things he brings up. I don’t remember if he says “Merry Christmas” or not. I will not yell it at him if he doesn’t next month.

Only the Gospel saves. A “Merry Christmas” culture does not. I say that as someone who loves the Christmas season more than all of you put together. We will pass out bags of candy (with a Gospel tract in each bag) at our town's Christmas parade at the end of this month. Next month we'll go caroling in two towns in our county. We aren't trying to establish Christian culture. We are engaging our community with the hope of presenting the Gospel to individuals, praying the Holy Spirit uses that presentation to save souls through faith in Christ. They can decorate their cups however they want and use whatever greetings they want. I don't care about their culture or business. I care about their lost souls.

By the way, some of you wanting to exert pressure on Starbucks were the same ones rallying to Chik-fil-A’s defense a few years ago. And then Hobby Lobby. I was with you on all those things, but where’s your freedom of speech, freedom of liberty, and desire for a free marketplace now? I thought we believed business owners could follow their conscience. I had these same thoughts long ago when my denomination (the Southern Baptist Convention) tried to boycott Disney. Meanwhile, it’s quite a struggle to get our resource company (Lifeway) to keep from selling heresy.

By the way, the same folks wanting to build a Christian culture have (in my estimation) pretty lax views on other cultural issues (Halloween, entertainment choices, alcohol, and the setting aside of the Lord’s Day). Consistency, anyone? The 50’s you’re trying to rebuild wouldn’t approve of some of your choices, my friend.

Anyway, I had one of those days last week. One moment I (jokingly) felt like an awesome life coach. Then I sat with an elderly woman in an assisted living facility for an hour while she told me repeatedly that her husband had just stepped into the next room (he had passed away two days earlier). A bit after than (same morning) I tried to counsel someone with some issues I’ve dealt with – how do you counsel someone into a maturity it’s taken you decades to barely reach? Still determined to stay positive (life-coaching myself, I suppose), I decided to bring my bride home a 12-pack of Coke and some roses. Coke, check. All the roses, though, looked tired and wilted. I grabbed some stargazer lilies and brought them with the Coke instead. Guess what: stargazer lilies have a pretty strong smell. After a day of torturing the family, I relocated my stinky love flowers outside our dining room window. My bride could see them, but no one was given a headache. Sometimes, in our desire to do a good thing, we unintentionally cause harm to the household.

She appreciated the flowers, but nobody in the house enjoyed the smell. I appreciate your desire to fix our broken society/culture/nation, but don’t care for the fact that you’re using the wrong flowers to do it. Yours stink. Your militancy for Christian culture is missing the Gospel. I'm sorry for my snarky tone (snark takes no maturity or skill, and it comes way too naturally to me), but I have lost friends. I work continually to maintain relationship with them and am thinking of them in every word I say in person or post online. You should see what they're saying about your misplaced priorities and wrong facts. It breaks my heart because this is a stumbling block to them ever receiving the Gospel. Jesus said pretty serious things about being a stumbling block.

Only the Gospel saves. It doesn’t save a culture or company, but individuals, “the Jew first and also…the Greek.” Read the Book again. Remember the Gospel. Say it out loud. Write it down. Tell it to each other. Tell it to the barista instead of yelling “Merry Christmas” to him or her.

Only the Gospel saves.

Only the Gospel saves.

* * * * * * *

By the way, a sister in the Lord posted this perspective-giving pic. I concur.

Another sister posted this. Just as true.

The Need to Play Tree-Fort

“I wish I could go all the way with you to Rivendell, Mr. Frodo, and see Mr. Bilbo,” said Sam. “And yet the only place I really want to be is here. I am that torn in two.”

“Poor Sam! It will feel like that, I am afraid,” said Frodo. “But you will be healed. You were meant to be solid and whole, and you will be.”

* * * * * * *

As Paul walked in the Lord’s ministry for his life, he frequently felt a desire to be with the Church as it gathered in far places (Romans 1:11; 15:23; 2 Corinthians 9:14; Philippians 1:8; 2:26; 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:17; 3:6,9,10). My heart has resonated with this idea the last few months. I’ve been thinking about brothers and sisters overseas and longed to see them. The Lord is full of comfort, though. Last week, as I stood at the Lord’s Supper Table looking at the congregation, their communion in the “sharing in the body of Christ” in the “one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16,17) was a easing salve to this pilgrim’s soul.

I am unashamed to confess that I need your coming “together as the Church” (1 Corinthians 11:18). It is that picture of the Home to which we are all wandering. Whether in open-air buildings surrounded by crowing roosters in the jungle or in the comfortable, HVAC’d confines of the gathering in the cities of the U.S.A., it’s all booths...the momentary congregating of a people eternally unified by a Savior-God, adopted by the Father-God, and indwelt with the Presence-God...all three Persons one God...all people in all congregations everywhere one Body...

I need the Gathering more and more and more as I go along.

“Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD. On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work. These are the appointed times of the LORD which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to the LORD - burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day’s matter on its own day - besides those of the sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts and besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD. On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God”’” (Leviticus 23:33-43).

One day the sojourning Church will be Home, and the wandering pilgrims will enter the City of their citizenship, and the memory of the days of travel will be like the child-like fun of building a fort from sticks in the back yard on a lazy summer afternoon...and we shall rejoice before the Lord our God forever.