The Seventies

Photo courtesy of potus-geeks.livejournal.com

It is easy to look around at American society today and feel like the world is falling apart.

The nation is polarized--we see and feel that in a very raw way after the recent presidental election.

Gun violence seems to be at an all-time high.  The War on Terror is raging, both at home and abroad.  We see the current corruption in politics, lament all the abortions that kill millions of babies, hear the battle cry about gay rights and personal rights on every front.

However, if you want a bit of perspective, I'd love to offer you this television series that I have worked my way through recently on Netflix: The Seventies.

Now, being born in 1978, I missed out on experiencing this groovy decade in its own right.  However, in school I learned about the Vietnam War and about President Nixon's impeachment and lots of other not-so-glamorous aspects of this time period in American history.

But.let.me.just.tell.you...

I had NO idea about all the gory details, the angst and sin and just-plain-awfulness, that characterized this decade!

Oh, the serial killers like Ted Bundy and deadly cult figures like Jim Jones and Charles Manson...

The ludeness and crudeness of shows like "All in the Family"...

The deception and corruption of the government in Washington, Watergate, the blatant lying to the American people, culminating in President Nixon's resignation as President....

The legalization of abortion with the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision...

The ugly Vietnam War, the flagrant mistreatment of war veterans coming back home, and the deadly riots which ensued on college campuses as a result of anti-war protesting...

The women's liberation movement...and their marches for free abortions on demand!

Oh, the list could go on and on.

But, dear friend, times are no different today!

In fact, I could watch a documentary series about the 1960s or the 1930s, or truly any decade in history, and be appalled to see the wars, atrocities, and out right sin and licentiousness associated with each and every period of history.

In fact, did you realize that Ronald Reagan ran for the office of President using the exact same campaign slogan as Trump did: MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN ?!

These are dire times, yes, but remember that the face of the Earth was so wicked in Noah's day that God brought a flood to smite it out (saving only 8 people on the planet!).  Remember that Jesus Himself said that this time--His time--were the end times.

The end will come.  Just as surely as we celebrate in this Advent season and look back to the coming of Jesus that first Christmas morn, He will surely come again...a second time...this time, not to bring salvation upon the earth, but to bring judgement. (See John 3:17 and Acts 17:31)

Will we--will you--be ready?  Do you know Him personally?  If so, do you wait for Him expectantly, like the virgins with their lamps of oil? (See Matthew 25:1-13)

Times...they aren't a-changing.  Humanity (since Adam) has always been in bondage of sin and in need of a Savior. I pray we would all acknowledge that, confess and repent, and turn to Him, both individually, and corporately as a church and as a nation.

The other thing that really struck me after watching this documentary series about the 1970s is how patient our God is with the likes of us!  I must admit--if I were him, I would have nuked us a long time ago.  What sin!  What flagrant licentiousness!  To parade and march for it! To kill for it!

But, thankfully, God is not like me!  He is patient.  Why?  The Scriptures tell us:

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."   2 Peter 3:9

Let us seek to spread the Good News in this generation, like every generation before us.  God is still at work!  He always will be!  And I praise Him that He is patient, and He is good, and He is God (and I am not!) 

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The Rescue Mission

Photo courtesy of ashtonwoods.com

God has always been on a rescue mission.

We see this in a very profound way in the incarnation of Christ, here at the time of the Advent season. Jesus, the God-man, stepping out of heaven and leaving behind all its glories, to be born of the virgin Mary in the manger, to save us from our sin.

But it is not just in the Christmas story that we see God taking such great means to reach out to us to redeem us, restore us, and rescue us.

We see it in the flood of Noah, as God tells Noah to build an ark that will save 8 people and pairs of every kind of animal from the deadly flood waters.

We see it as the Israelite spies rescue Rahab and her family from the sudden and devastating destruction of Jericho, as they see the scarlet cord out of her window.

But there's one Bible story I want to focus on today that profoundly shows us how God rescues His people from sin and its inevitable destruction, and that is the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

As we reflect on this passage of Scripture, I'd like for us to not only see how much God loves us, even in our sin and in the midst of a sinful world, but to also be keenly aware of what great lengths God goes to to save us from ourselves.

Let me just give you some quick background before we jump into our passage: Lot has just taken in two man-angels, and they are staying overnight in his home.  He struggles to turn away a violent mob of men outside his door who want to rape these men (he even offers up his daughters to them, but fortunately they had no interest in these women!), and the mob becomes so angry that they want to harm Lot as well. Now let's dive in, as Lot is in the doorway, and see how these men respond to the situation.

Read with me, starting in Genesis 19:10...

"But the men [man-angels] reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. 13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” 

Let's stop there.  You might recall that Lot does indeed escape, but unfortunately his wife looks back and is turned into a pillar of salt.

Now, did you catch how Lot was saved?  Was he merely advised--or strongly urged--to escape?  Well, he was advised to do this, but only AFTER he was physically pulled into the house, safe from the angry mob (rescue #1).  Even after he was told to gather up his family and leave, I find it interesting that the scripture notes that "he lingered" in verse 16.  In fact, we see the man-angels literally seize him (and his wife and daughters) and bring him out of his house so they can flee (rescue #2).

THAT is what our God does.

He does not just offer a plan of salvation--to repent and believe and be saved--for those who are sensible enough to follow it.

No! He seizes us (in the most gentle way, of course) and pulls us out of a burning city, even as we linger.

Let me put it another way: He does not throw us a life raft to swim up to as we are floundering in the deep end.  He jumps in Himself and pulls us out of the pool, and then He resuscitates us with His own Holy Breath (did you know "spirit" is also translated "breath," in the scriptures?).

You see, I did not understand this, even growing up in church, and even as a Christian for many, many years.

I had to come to realize that I did not choose to "accept" Christ and become saved.

No! I have been rescued.

God has reached out, placed me in His all-powerful grip, and lifted me out of sin, a place I could not leave, even if I wanted to (which I wouldn't, as a sinner).  Paul tells us in Romans 3:11 that we are all like this:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
     no one understands;
     no one seeks for God.
 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”

Do you see it, dear one?  Do you see the amazing grace of our Lord God, that He would step out of Heaven and enter into humanity, that He would reach out to us, and pull us out of a burning fire, not based on what we have done or thought or chosen, but based upon His perfect character, full of sovereign mercy?  Do you see what this tell us about God...and what it tells us about ourselves?  That even with an angry mob outside of our door and with certain destruction looming...we would still linger?  Praise God that He saves us from ourselves!

Let us praise Him in a fresh way this Advent season, as we see God dive into humanity, having a body all His own, knowing every limitation that goes with that, feeling our burdens and sadness and rejection, and reflect upon how far God goes to save us!  If we do, dear friend, our Advent, and our lives, will never be the same.


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The Rooster in the Church

My husband and I had the pleasure of touring the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, a few weeks ago, while he was away on business.  We enjoyed a canal boat tour, shopping the street markets, and exploring several palaces and castles throughout the city.

One of the most memorable places we visited was Frederik's Church, commonly known as The Marble Church, right across from the palace of the Danish Royal Family.  It truly spoke to my spirit; let me tell you why.

Frederik's Church is a beautiful Lutheran church in its own right, with a towering rotunda and ornately carved marble (hence its nickname).  Here are a few pictures to give you an idea...

However, it wasn't until we wandered around inside that I saw something that truly caught my breath and gave me a lump in my throat, all at the same time.

You see, I've been accustomed to seeing Christian symbols like this in churches:

The Easter Lily...

The Vine and the Branches...

The Dove of the Holy Spirit...

But I have NEVER been confronted with a symbol like this:

A rooster!

All I could think about was Peter's denial of Christ, and how much I am like him in so many ways.  It was a powerful symbol for me, reminding me that even (or especially!) in the grandeur of a cathedral like this one, that I cannot forget how far I can fall, and how faithful God is to pick me up and bring me back.  It caused me to reflect upon my humanity and sinfulness in a fresh way, and its juxtaposition to all the other regal and holy symbols around the room declared to me that God knows I am sinful, and yet, He still loves me and cares for me and makes me a part of His redemptive plan to save the nations.

Revisit this story with me today, as found in Mark 14:66-72

66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

The parallel account in Matthew 26:75 adds the description that Peter wept "bitterly."

Can you picture it?  The man who boldly declared in the face of Christ's questioning, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." The disciple who was zealous about Jesus never having to suffer and die (and rebuked by him for it); the follower who cut off the ear of the high priest's servant who had come to the garden to seize Christ. Can you see how Peter had to face his utter sinfulness and his humanity in such a real and raw and agonizingly painful way, when he heard that rooster crow the second time? (See Matthew 16:16, 21-23, 26:51)

I am reminded in a fresh way how similar I am to Peter, as I have denied Christ in big and small ways, throughout my life, my week, my day.

And yet, thankfully, that rooster is not the end of the story!  For just as Peter thrice denied Christ, we see how Jesus thrice asked Peter, "Do you love me?" and how Peter was restored and redeemed as a child of God by God's abundant grace.

And so the circle is complete, as I panned around that beautiful sanctuary in Frederik's Church--the rooster, the lily, the grapes, the dove...all a part of the amazing story of God's grace.

Praise be to God!

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