Professional Listeners

In his Saturday afternoon workshop on spiritual warfare, speaker Dave Butts shared what is, in his opinion, the greatest deception in the church: hearing instead of doing the Word of God.

When we sit under an inspiring speaker, Dave said, we want to hear them again. When we read a powerful book, we want to go out and buy more that the author has written. Too often, that’s as far as it goes. Instead of being moved to action, we want to hear more. As a result, we become Professional Listeners.

“To suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear,” writes Paul in 2 Tim. 4:3. Yes, he’s speaking of those who enjoy a watered-down version of the truth, one that sounds soothing and requires no response. But am I much better when I thrill to a challenging Sunday morning sermon or a stimulating Community Life discussion... and walk out having already filed it away as a great experience, looking forward to the next time that my itching ears will be scratched once again?

James 1:22-25 challenges me:

“Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does” (NIV).

We need to spend time with truth we’ve heard. To begin a habit of studying Sunday morning’s sermon notes (perhaps on a quiet Sunday afternoon) and Bible study insights, asking the Spirit to show us practical steps to applying it to our lives.

For instance, we were challenged Sunday morning to boldness in prayer. To paying attention to Who we’re talking to when we pray, and to our surroundings in the throneroom of heaven. We were encouraged to pray the Word, using the avenue of prayer to discover and request what God wants, not what we selfishly desire. We were challenged to pray big prayers, prayers that will impact eternity, instead of little ones that have to do only with our protection, our health, our earthly life.

I was offered a glimpse of myself during that sermon... and I don’t want to forget what I saw in that mirror. Rather than looking forward to the next great spiritual truth that comes my way, I need to spend some time with what I heard. I need to let God make some permanent changes in the way I pray, and in why I pray. I need to follow the example of the crowd who listened to the Apostle Peter’s powerful post-Pentecost message: “They were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?” ((Acts 2:37 NIV).

We’ve been given some powerful truth regarding boldness in prayer.

What shall we do?

“No.”

I once heard theologian David Ashton speak on the topic, “Reasons Why God Says No to Prayers.” May I share from my notes?

Sometimes God answers with a “No”...

1. Although He’d rather say yes, but there’s sin in my life. (Ps. 66:18).
2. Because God is God. He has a mind and a game plan of His own. He knows what is best.
3. Because I do not persist in praying. In Mt. 8:7, the Greek actually means, “Ask and keep on asking... seek and keep on seeking... knock and keep on knocking... Why might He want me to persist?
.....my greatest need is for fellowship with God Himself
.....my desire for the answer will be increased and I’ll appreciate it more
.....my patience and frustration tolerance will be developed
4. God says no because my prayers collide with each other. In these cases, God wants to say yes to my greatest prayers. Ex: “Help me start attending Bible Study each Sunday night” and “Help me be picked for the skydiving team” (that practices Sunday evenings).
5. He may say no because I haven’t prayed about it with other people. Why might He want me to pray with others?
.....sometimes it’s hard to pray alone. When I’m dry or discouraged, I need the prayers of my own life primed by the prayer of others.
.....sometimes I can see the problem more objectively when I share it with another
.....they might be part of the answer to those prayers
.....I might learn how to pray better. “I love to eavesdrop to learn how saints pray,” says Ashton.
.....I am part of the Body of Christ, not a Lone Ranger
.....God is there in a special way when two or more agree (Mt. 18:19,20). Prayer unites us at the subterranean levels of our lives.
6. God only answers real prayers – prayers that are meant, not my lips saying one thing, my heart another.
7. God may say no to my prayers because they interfere with the freedom of my neighbor (their free will). Still, I should intercede because God wants me to be a participant in the salvation of the world.
8. God may say no because I have not prayed in the right way. There is a healthy way to pray [desiring His will alone], and an unhealthy way [my way].

My notes are incomplete, but one more point catches my eye:

It is not bad, Ashton asserted, to live with mystery. Many times I just don’t know what God is doing, or why He is saying “No” or “Not now.” I’m thinking that those are the times when it’s important, as Pastor Rick reminded us Sunday, to bank on God’s character or, as the Babbie Mason song says, “When you can’t trace his hand, trust His heart.” And His Word:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him. – 1 John 5:14,15 NIV, emphasis mine.

The Complete Works of Harry L. Girts

Following my stepfather’s funeral two years ago, my mom gave me a box containing an assortment of files and packets of sermon notes. The Reverend Harry L. Girts had served as pastor and traveling evangelist for over 60 years. In his painstaking style he’d carefully and prayerfully prepared and typed uncounted messages, delivering them at camp meetings, pastorates, revival meetings, interim pastoral assignments, Bible studies, and wherever else he had opportunity to preach.

As I stood looking down at The Complete Works of Harry L. Girts (give or take any missing files and folders), I could have thought, “So a lifetime of preaching, from age 20 to age 86, boils down to this - a relatively small pile of notes stored away in someone’s basement.” But it seemed, instead, something far more than that. Something that should be handled with reverence. An almost holy body of work. That box represented years of study, decades of prayer, repeated listenings for the still small voice of the Spirit, and then hours and hours behind, as he called it, “the sacred desk,” expounding what he’d heard in secret to anyone who would listen.

I was reminded of all this after reading something written by Franky Schaeffer in Addicted to Mediocrity. It applies to all of us who are carrying out Christ’s call – as pastor or Sunday School teacher or musician or discipler or daycare worker or whatever we are doing for Him. It especially applies to those who file away last week’s teaching notes with a tinge of disappointment in the lack of results. Who mail yet another seemingly insignificant card of encouragement, or explain a vital truth – again – to one who is struggling, or contribute a mere drop in the bucket toward a financial need. To such, Franky’s words are heartening:

“You cannot expect too much too soon. It is the lifelong body of work that counts. It is that body of work whose expression means something and changes cultures in which we live in terms of bearing fruit. One individual work cannot say everything.”

One individual work... like a single sheet of type-written paper in Harry’s files. It’s incomplete. It’s a part of something larger – a body of work. And so is the lesson and the song and the sermon and the little piece of ministry that we do this very day. For in the end, what we’ll present to God won’t just be our best effort, our finest moment, our most productive event, but the whole of all we did for Him.

That prospect encourages me to heed Franky’s conclusion: “Produce, produce, produce. Create, create, create. Work, work, work. That is what we must do as Christians... exercise our God-given talent, praise him through it, enjoy it, bear fruit in the age in which we live.”

And I think that in the age to come, when the veil is lifted to reveal our body of work, God will have added all the ripple effect, every speck of difference it made to someone else, and every way He used us when we had no clue it was happening... and we will stand amazed at all He accomplished through us.

To Dance in a Cave

It’s amazing what can be done to spruce up a cave, isn’t it?

For instance, in the Luray Caverns of Virginia you will find the world’s largest musical instrument – the Great Stalacpipe Organ, invented by Mr. LeIand Sprinkle, a mathematician and electronic scientist at the Pentagon. Stalactites covering 3 1/2 acres strike up a symphony when electronically tapped by rubber-tipped mallets.

Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave website advertises Diamond Caverns, where you’ll enjoy a “state-of-the-art lighting system with modern concrete trails and safety hand railings throughout.” Or you can take an underground boat tour of Lost River Cave, where a subterranean Nite Club operated until the 1960’s (the dance floor has been restored!). Or visit Outlaw Cave where, legend has it, famous outlaw Jesse James hid out. Join his memory for a “35-minute non-strenuous, guided tour filled with beautiful stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones and other breath taking formations.”

Or perhaps you would prefer Onyx Cave, billed as “a colorful cave... a cool, comfortable 60 degree temperature, year-round. Beautiful onyx formations can be seen throughout. Tours of Onyx Cave are not strenuous and may be enjoyed by young and old alike.”

I am ready to go. Seriously, sign me up for those cave experiences... they sound like great adventure.

But having already visited a few, I’ve noticed that people enter a cave in groups, with a leader and plenty of lighting and “modern trails and safety hand railings throughout.” Someone has already been hard at work to change the former look of the place. Take away the group and the guide and the light and the safety measures and the music, and where am I? Lost and alone in a claustrophobic maze, petrified by the blackness, praying for rescue.

When Pastor Rick spoke of the spiritual cave-dweller’s experience Sunday, he wasn’t talking about "something that can be enjoyed by young and old alike." No one calls ahead to book seasons in the cave of cancer or divorce or emotional illness or financial reversal, and there’s precious little inherent beauty in those circumstances...

And yet, thankfully, Somebody did brave the darkness and danger to bring music and lighting and safety and joy and, yes, even dancing into the lonely silence of those caves. Into my cave, and yours. Jesus went through death and hell to become Light in those places. He gave His Spirit to be a constant Guide. He makes His childrens’ steps firm (Ps. 37:23) and turns mourning to dancing (Ps. 30:11) -simply by bringing His Presence into it.

So sometimes, when all goes black, I have to sit down in the silence and let my eyes adjust to the Light... maybe you’ve found it so, too. Only then can I see that I’m not alone. Only then do I hear a faint melody of joy coming from deeper places...

Only then do I discover that His Presence has changed the look of the place forever.

Grape Arbor Theology

While visiting relatives a couple years ago, I fell in love with their grape arbor. Sturdy vines, like little tree trunks, grew up each side of the wooden structure, massed at the top, and spilled down over the sides in leafy abandon. Under this shady cave, a swing hung from a rustic log frame - clearly an invitation to while away a fall afternoon with a good book and a cup of tea...

My ooohs and aaahs were heard; my son came home and built me an arbor of my own. I immediately planted grapevines and began the slow quest for that shady cave. If leaf growth stays ahead of Japanese Beetle intake, in a couple years I hope to have my own hidden getaway!

Maybe that’s one reason I’ve been thinking a lot this summer about Jesus’ words: “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5). About what it means to be a branch – a good branch that produces the fruit He’s looking for. And I’ve come to this conclusion: The only thing I’m supposed to do is stay in connection with the Vine. Jesus’ exact words were “Abide in Me.” Remain. Stay. (v. 4). That’s where my time and my energy and my passion need to focus.

I’ve logged a fair amount of time on my arbor swing this summer, and I’ve witnessed what it means to "abide.” Without exception the branches have been rather low-key. They haven’t raised a sweat about anything. No whining if their clusters of grapes compared poorly with other’s, no fussing for a better place in the sun, no moaning or groaning in an effort to produce the yellow seedless grapes prophesied by the white plastic tag at planting time.

All they’ve done – ALL they’ve done – is hang onto that vine. Whatever happened as a result, happened. It was not their business. Frankly, some were pulled away from neighboring branches (tendrils ripping despite my care) and tied alone along bare beams. Some were bent at new angles as I trained them in different directions. Some lost their first precious clusters of grapes as they withered and fell off during the dry spell. And yes, the leaves of many were riddled by destructive beetles.

But they’re all still clinging to that vine, every last branch. And I’m tempted to write a lot more but I’ll resist. Instead, I’ll invite you to find a hidden getaway, open the good Book to John 15, and think about the Vine, the branch, and the only thing we need to do.

More Crumpets, Anyone?

I had a little tea party
This afternoon at three.
'Twas very small-
Three guests in all-
Just I, myself and me.
Myself ate all the sandwiches,
While I drank up the tea;
'Twas also I who ate the pie
And passed the cake to me.
(The Tea Party, Jessica Nelson North)

“Small.” I think that is the operative word in this little scenario – a small party, a small guest list, a small heart, a small world.

Been there. I’ve grown quite a few soul sizes since then, but... I wonder what would happen if we really threw the “tea party” of our lives open to everyone? If every person we met in the course of a day truly was received by us as Christ Himself? Is that a scary thought? (What if I run out of sandwiches? Out of conversation? Out of time? Out of resources? What if just anyone sits down next to me? What if it grows to be a very large party indeed, and I lose control of it? What if... what if...?)

Jesus answered all our what-ifs, leaving no excuse for sitting alone at the little table of our lives, munching crumpets and sipping tea in self-satisfied silence. “For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Luke 6:38). Give generously of your time and attention and compassion and energy, and the response will be generous – from people, and from Me.” In fact, Paul’s message to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 9:6-15) might be paraphrased this way:

Remember this: whoever invites only a few to his tea party will have fellowship with only a few. Whoever throws the party open to everyone will have a happy crowd! But God will not force you to broaden your world – He loves it when you willingly share the wideness of His heart. If you choose to do so, He’s well able to supply you with enough “tea in the teapot and crumpets on the plate” and grace and opportunity to bless others, so that you can always honor your guests like they were Christ Himself.

So set out some extra chairs. Pile the crumpets high in preparation. Today’s tea party is by open invitation, and every lonely, hungry person who stops by will be Christ Himself...

How to Paint a Fence

Privileged and honored. That’s the only logical response to the news we heard in Sunday’s sermon: God has made each of us ambassadors for His Kingdom, and through us He makes His appeal to those dwelling in a realm of fear and death. I’m afraid we don’t always embrace it for the privilege it is, though. It reminds me of a devotional given by Tom Anderson at a Bible quiz meet some years ago, with the help of Mark Twain...

Do you remember Twain’s Tom Sawyer? It seems that one perfectly delightful Saturday morning when “all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life,” Tom appeared on the sidewalk, a paintbrush in one hand and a bucket of whitewash in the other. The morning would be spent whitewashing the fence – Aunt Polly’s orders. Tom “surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank... compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged.”

By midafternoon, though, a succession of friends had swapped prized possessions (twelve marbles, a one-eyed kitten, six firecrackers...) for the opportunity to paint a section of that fence. After all, it was an exclusive job (Aunt Polly had insisted on Tom’s doing it!) and not just anyone could pull it off - but they could be a part of it! Tom had managed to make the job so appealing that they eagerly traded hours of personal freedom for the privilege of sweating and laboring with a paintbrush and a bucket of whitewash.

Sometimes when I’m doing something for the Lord, I remember those boys at the fence. One had a deep aura of gloom and looked for any way out of it... the others enthusiastically gave away a personal treasure for the privilege of doing exactly the same thing. One envied his friends’ carefree existence, while others willingly gave up their leisure. One was finally content to loll about, collecting trinkets, while the others actually accomplished something.

The difference, of course, is that when I work for the Lord I’m not just doing somebody else’s work for them; I’m carrying out God’s assignment to me. I’m not just joining a lesser cause that has been inflated to sound grand and glorious... there is no greater cause! And I’m not working for someone who didn’t want the job himself; I’m working with Jesus in a quest for souls that means everything to Him. I’m trading a brief “day” of leisure for an eternal Day of reward. I’m trading personal trinkets for treasure in heaven that will last a lot longer than the pop and fizzle of a half-dozen firecrackers.

Makes me feel honored to stand at His fence today...