“Peace I Give You; My Peace I Leave You”

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Jesus is quoted as saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” (John 14:27). In the wake of the mass murders in Buffalo, New York, I am sure some are wondering just where is the peace Jesus promises.

The answer, my siblings in Christ, is that it is truly all around us. The confusion comes when we mistakenly look at the peace the world offers as being equivalent to the peace Jesus gives.

What is worldly peace?  Most would define it as a lack of conflict. Sounds good, but truthfully, isn’t there always conflict somewhere: globally, regionally, at home?

The world gives peace conditionally. I do for you, you do for me. There’s a sense of indebtedness, perhaps mixed with a little guilt trip.

Can we really have worldly peace? In prosperity? Does it give peace, or does it generate more angst about protecting it, or worrying if it is really enough.

Worldly peace is an allusion. A wispy, far off promise that never quite comes true.

Not so with the peace Jesus gives. The word for the peace Jesus gives in the original Greek is translated as serene in English. More than merely a lack of conflict, it carries with it the connotation of restored relationship; with God. Which is what Jesus had come to do (and has done!) and is still doing!

So my friends, I encourage you to live in and into the peace Jesus has given us. Use the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, that lives in, through and all around us. Need a reminder of these promises? One of the primary reasons she has been sent to us is to remind us of all Jesus has said, promised and done.

Lastly, don’t allow yourself to be afraid to live. Rather, bask in that serenity Jesus gives. Do we need to be evermore careful, even cautious as we live day to day? Sure. But don’t let that keep you from living lives of active, joy-filled love. Being aware of troubles in the world may just help us look for and find the serene peace Jesus gives. Here’s a little prayer that helps me remember to do just that:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Pastor Chuck

Thanksgiving First

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While working on a sermon for the Sunday before Thanksgiving, my mind wandered back to early grade school times and the lessons we were taught about that first Thanksgiving. The pilgrims, we were told, gathered to have a dinner of thanksgiving, though by today’s standards the amount of food was paltry. That first Thanksgiving was more about being thankful for being alive as opposed to being grateful for an abundance of food.

As I continued to ponder the differences between now and then, I began to feel convicted about taking the blessings of God for granted. How often or how deeply do I reflect on the fact that my every day needs are met. I am faced daily with deciding what to eat, not wonder if I will.

With these thoughts in my mind, I decided I wanted to be more intentional and genuine in my thoughts, words and deeds with regard to being grateful. The idea struck me, as I continued to contemplate the first Thanksgiving, to put thanksgiving first.

As you who have been with me in the blog-o-sphere for a while might guess, I found the inspiration to do this in the Scriptures.

The Bible is full of passages that encourage the reader to be thankful. Here are just a few from the New International Version:

1 Thessalonians 5:18: give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 107:1: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 100:4: Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise

I could go on, but you get the idea; being thankful to God encompasses all of the human experience. Realizing this, I still was not sure if my being grateful for the blessings I receive does not sometimes get delayed because I am distracted by this or that.

To help me with this issue, I came across the solution in another favorite passage of Scripture of mine: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV)

Did you catch it? We are first told to pray instead of worrying. And then we pray with thanksgiving as we are making our requests of God. Don’t wait for an answer, instead be thankful as you pray. This is how we keep God in the forefront of our hearts and minds. Basically, we thank God for being God. And if I might add, the request we might make most often is that the Almighty increase our trust in Him.

The wonder of the promise here in being a thanksgiving first people is that we are promised the peace of God. Let that sink in a moment. The peace of God. It is given to guard our hearts and our minds according to this verse from the Letter to the Philippians. In my opinion, the primary role of God’s peace is guarding our hearts and minds from worry.

I pray for all of us that we become willing to be thanksgiving first people and that as we do, the Holy Spirit will draw us to a place of deeper trust in God. As this trust continues to grow, we will experience more and more of God’s promised peace as our tendency to worry becomes less pronounced.

So not only a Happy Thanksgiving to you all, but also one that grows you and me in our love and trust of God as we give thanks for all God has done for us and as we do, pray that God keeps our eyes open for the opportunities to share these abundant blessings with the world around us.

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Pastor Chuck

Thank You, Jesus

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There are so many thoughts running through my mind this Resurrection Sunday as I consider again just what the Lord Jesus has accomplished for the world. The joy, awe and wonder are as fresh this morning as they were the many years ago when the Savior revealed to me His plan for saving my life, eternally. And yet, there is a sadness in me as well as I consider those near and dear to me who have rejected the love of Christ. Amidst the abundant joy in my heart there are sections that are broken for these people. In many of these cases I have attempted in my limited way to share what God has done for me with them in hopes they would grasp the availability of that same love for themselves.

But this is not a day for discouragement! Today my sole focus is on the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. With this in mind, I would like to share a list (by no means in total) of the things I am grateful for because of the saving power of God as it has been revealed through Christ’s ultimate victory over death. As you read, I ask you to do two things. First, reflect in your own way the ramifications of Jesus’ resurrection on your life. And secondly, be intentional about living out a life of thanksgiving for the incredible gift He has given you, so that others may be attracted to God’s light through you.

Where do I start such a list of things I am thankful for because Jesus rose from the dead to forgive us? The totality of His mercy shown to sinners like me (us) is mind-boggling. So in no particular order, here goes:

• Thank you, Jesus, for taking my place on that cross. You bore my sin in your body out of obedience to the Father and your love for me. Because of Your resurrection, You have defeated death and offered eternal life to all. You knew that there was no earthly way I/we could earn or deserve the Father’s mercy. So instead you demonstrated grace saturated in love to bring us to God.
• Thank you, Jesus, for the hope you bring to us because of the above. You have not only supplied, at great cost to Yourself, the way out of our eternal predicament, but because You have, I can be filled with hope in the here and now. I do not have to wait until physical death to be with You. Instead, because of Your love, I can be in a nurturing relationship with You now! This developing relationship carries with it the security of Your ever-present care and protection, for You have promised to never leave nor forsake those who follow You.
• Thank you, Jesus, of your on-going obedience to the Father, even after Your resurrection. By appearing to over 500 people, You made it known beyond doubt that You had come back to life.
• Thank you, Jesus, for fulfilling the promise of sending the Holy Spirit after You ascended to heaven. And thank you, Holy Spirit, for Your on-going fulfillment of the Father’s work here on earth. You make the Scriptures come to life and You encourage the Church to fulfill its part in God’s plan as well as You move individual members to walk in obedience to Him.
• Thank you, Jesus, for the many, many people You have placed in my path that have helped me to see You with greater clarity. These Saints are far to great in number to list individually here, but if you are/were a part of my life in Christ, I praise and thank God for you.
• Thank you, Jesus, for the opportunities to serve You and make Your name known in the world today. Please help me to always remember that obedience to You is a matter of great joy to You, as it should be for me as well!
• And thank you, Jesus, for the Scriptures. They truly are alive and active, filled with the very essence of the Father. May I/we in our gratitude for them continue to learn from them.

As I said, this is by no means a completed list, but I do believe it gets to the heart of the matter: I/we owe a debt to our Savior that we cannot repay. Yet out of His ever-loving heart, He has paid it for us. May we, in the lingo of today, take this love and ‘pay it forward’ in humility, love and gratitude.

May the blessings of the Resurrection of Jesus be deeply known to you today,

Pastor Chuck

Our Salute to Veterans

I love my country, and my country has been very good to me. However, like any relationship, there are struggles along the way. Injustice, violence and political stupidity all cause me deep pain. But on this Veterans Days 2020, I post our rendition of the Star Spangled Banner in respect for those who have served this land so bravely and well as well as for those men and women who continue to do so today with dignity and empathy. And I continue to pray that God heals America; not to restore it to some glorified past, but rather to a place that glorifies the Lord Jesus!

What, me worry?

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Many of my generation grew up reading Mad magazine. Therefore the iconic face of Alfred E. Neuman was not only easily recognized, many of us tried to play the part of being care-free about everything. Never much of an actor, I was not particularly good at hiding my worries.

Looking back, I realize that my worries were for the most part shared by my friends, we just wouldn’t show the weakness of uncertainty in front of each other. Hindsight has also revealed to me that my worries were quite similar to those of my adolescent peers: Girls, popularity, making money, getting a car, etc. Worrying about things seemed as natural as any other aspect of growing up.

I actually developed a much greater conflict over my worries once I became a Christian. I began to read the Bible and in so doing came across verses such as: Cast all your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (Psalm 55:22) and, When I am afraid, I will trust in you (Psalm 56:3).

I had naively assumed that once I had broken with my past life of debauchery to try my best to follow Jesus and His teachings, life would become a utopia. The worries of life, many of which still kept me awake at night, were going to simply melt away as bliss dominated my existence.

As the days of being a Christian turned into months and then years, my worries still far outweighed any times of care-free life. Oh, I had learned to put the brave face on, or maybe it was the smiling face of my childhood buddy Alfred E., when asked how things were in my life. But inside, the worries of providing for my family and how to be a good husband and dad were constant companions.

Thankfully, God knows me better than I do myself and His faithfulness knows no bounds. He continued to put caring people into my life who helped me, through the instruction of example, that living life with the confidence of God’s care and protection was possible.

My wife, Betsy, took the lead in helping me. Her calm demeanor was a direct result of her practicing her faith daily. Her long-term daily reading of the Scriptures opened up her heart and mind to the goodness of the Lord, and she lived it right in front of me, as she does to this day.

Eventually, I took up the practice of daily Bible reading. God, knowing that I am often a slow learner, has taken His time with me as I spent time in His word. The passage of Scripture that continues to help me with my tendency to worry first, pray later is found in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV).

Clearly, God wants me/us to take everything to Him in prayer, not just the needs and emergencies that tend to crop up. The instruction to not be anxious about anything is virtually impossible to perfect, but we can more than counter that by continually going to the Almighty. The direction to do this with thanksgiving also quiets my worries. When I remember to be thankful to God, much of the urgency or unmanageability of a situation lessens.

The next promise that our faithful God fulfills when we humbly come before Him expressing our needs and desires, is to guard our hearts and minds. The original Greek word translated guard carries with it a sense of shielding one from trouble. Because it is God who does the shielding, this becomes so much more than merely deflecting a problem away. In His divine providence, God will literally shield our minds from dwelling on an issue, which in turns allows us to come to the realization that He has protected us. This level of trust in our loving God helps us to not want to bury our heads in the sand hoping things will change, but rather to seek the shelter that His loving arms can provide.

As with most everything I attempt, I find keeping one of the ideas from Alcoholics Anonymous in the forefront of my mind helps: to seek progress, not perfection. I still find myself worrying over things and projecting negative outcomes that rarely come about. The progress I’ve made is that I fall into this trap far less often than I used to.

So Alfred E., like you I really do not have to worry and blessedly, being that I’m real and you are a cartoon caricature, I can keep turning to this Awesome God who daily invites me to travel through life with Him. By taking Him up on this invitation, I can know that my heart and mind are protected by Him as He gives me a peace I will never understand this side of heaven. Not to worry, everything will be revealed on the other side!

Blessings and thanks for reading,

Pastor Chuck

Hello to you all, both long-time and new!

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I would like to acknowledge and say a big THANK YOU to all of you who have recently started following this blog. I truly appreciate the time you take to read and respond.

For those who have been reading, putting up with, and/or groaning over the past 3+ years, a hearty thanks to you as well!

It occurs to me that those falling under the newer category might not know all the backstory that comes along with me. I’d like to take this opportunity to allow you the opportunity to catch up!

As I am embarking on a somewhat new aspect of my journey as a follower of Jesus Christ, I have been asked to write an essay introducing myself to the folks who will be considering me for a Rostered (ordained) ministry position within the Lutheran Church. The following is an excerpt from that essay. It is my hope that you, New Dear Reader, will take the time to get to know me a little better (and for those who have heard much of this, you may hit the like button and be on your way).

Thanks once again for sharing the ride with me.

Part 1: My Story

I was born on January 11^th, 1960 in Oswego New York to Kenneth and Evelyn Copps. I have one older brother, Carl. I had a happy home-life growing up in in that small town. My parents provided for all our needs and most of my wants in a caring way. Dad worked full-time as a machinist while Mom stayed at home. I had some close friends through the years and it seemed we always congregated at my house. It was warm and open to everyone.

My parents were Roman Catholic and raised my brother and me in that faith. It never meant much to me as I saw going to church largely as an inconvenience on my time. Other than Confirmation, weekly Mass was my only exposure to Catholicism. Things of faith were rarely if ever brought up at home. Tending to shirk responsibility in those days, I was more than happy to do my 60 minutes per week at church and leave faith at that.

At the age of eighteen I opted out of regular church attendance, going back only to be married in 1983. My wife and I attended her local church, Holy Family in Fulton, New York for a brief period after marriage, but that attendance soon faltered as well.

I was well into the downward spiral of alcoholism at this point. The ensuing years are a blur even now. Finally, with my health failing, my wife ready to leave and at the brink of financial disaster, I sought help. A three week stay in a detox-center followed by a 28-day rehab helped prepare me to live a sober life.

It is at the beginning of recovery that my faith life came to be. In fact, I count both my sobriety date and the date of my salvation the same: May 3^rd, 1991. It seems that the Bible stories I sat through as a child had some affect after all! I knew in my spirit that the Higher Power the AA literature speaks of was in fact Jesus Christ. I received His forgiveness at the detox-center and have been a follower of His ever since.

That last sentence hardly speaks to the wonder of these last 29 years. I owe a great debt of thanks to Pastor Brent Dahlseng. He took a great interest in my spiritual journey. He encouraged me to read God’s word and to become a person of prayer. He was a tremendous mentor and friend as he helped me navigate my new life with purpose.

God has been faithfully persistent as He continues to call me to His service. Starting as a Small-Group apprentice leader, I have now had the privilege of being on many different prayer ministries as well as hospital visitation teams.

As the Lord has helped me to discern His call on my life, I attended seminary (Rockbridge Seminary) and was granted a Master of Divinity in 2014. We had begun a home ministry by this point and the schooling and training the seminary provided me had enriched my ability to serve. This has proved especially true in my Hospice work as I provide pastoral care to patients and their families.

I was ordained by the Elim Fellowship of Lima, New York in April of 2018. I have had the pleasure to officiate at weddings and our home ministry is now ‘on the road,’ as we serve people in their homes by providing bible study, counseling and the opportunity to worship.

It is with much anticipation that I enter into this next phase of ministry. I continue to trust God will reveal His will to me as I embrace a deeper understanding of Lutheran theology in the service of the church.

Blessings to you all,

Pastor Chuck

Blessings to go

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As I have made mention of in the past, I am a person who is most comfortable in structured situations. I’m a planner, and as such like to have a back-up plan in place in case something goes wrong with my first plan. I work best from a list, using multiples ones each day to help me achieve what I need to.

You may rightly assume from the above that routine is something I embrace. Take the following as an example during these summer months as I return to my old painting job to lend a hand: Arriving home each day from work, the next day’s work clothes are laid out and lunch is made before showering. I find it comforting to know that these tasks are out of the way, allowing me to get into whatever is next on my home list for the evening. This also frees up time in the morning for devotional/bible reading.

Leaving my house to go anywhere also has a pattern that I follow: Wallet back left pocket, check. Phone front left pocket, check. Gates in place to keep the dog where she needs to be while I’m gone, check. Mask? Got it. You get the idea.

It occurs to me, however, that my leaving the house ritual has been missing something that I far too often leave behind: blessings! I was reminded of this in one of the devotionals I read this morning. It basically said that one should leave their home (or wherever) being intentionally ready to bless someone that you meet.

What a great idea! It’s another opportunity to share the love of God with the world around me. After all, I have been blessed beyond measure by the Almighty. Why not share some of that, in whatever form it takes, with the folks I encounter daily. Obviously, the blessing I share will vary upon each opportunity. The important point is that I remain mindful of all God has done for me and then be willing to share what I can of that precious love.

I realize this would look different to each of us. As I write this, I am not sure what it will look like for me. But I have decided this: Before going out my door, I am going to stop for a moment to get my heart and mind set in the ‘blessing way.’ I plan on doing this any number of ways. For example, I will realize that I have a warm and safe place to live. Carrying this thought with me may well prepare me to share with a homeless individual I meet.

Or maybe I’ll simply acknowledge the peace of God that reigns in my home, making me ready to share God’s peace with employees at the store I am going to.

Whatever the blessing you give away today, the world around you will be a little better off because of it. Now imagine if a majority of folks became intentional about sharing a blessing like this. Doesn’t that sound like something our world could use right about now?

If you have a moment, please share with me how you are going to carry this forward. Thanks.

Blessings to you (in case I don’t see you in person today!)

Pastor Chuck

Distress, Oppression and Tribulation

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Like so many, I am deeply troubled by the state of affairs in my country, the United States. Unlike others, however, I will not use this platform to simply re-hash the awful events of the past two weeks. I will state for the record that I have appreciation and respect for the brave men and women in law enforcement who serve all people with respect, dignity and understanding. I must also add that my heart breaks for all victims who have been mis-used, injured and even killed by those who have abused the power given to them in order that they can protect people.

I must also admit that a fair amount of defeatism has crept into my thinking this week. A focal point of the ministry God has given me is to be an encourager of others. I have found this most difficult to do when each idea in my head seems to be met with ‘What does it matter,’ or ‘what’s the use’ as one awful event after another comes to light.

Thankfully, God is infinitely more faithful than me! As I pondered these things this morning, He brought me to a familiar Scripture from which I have attempted to comfort others with through the years. It is John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (NIV)

As I looked into the original language in which Jesus spoke these words, I found again the peace that He promises. When Jesus referenced this world, John, one of the Lord’s closest disciples, was describing not just the physical world, but also according to Strong’s, “a system opposed to God.” It seems as if the prevalent world view then, much as it is today, had aligned itself in opposition to God.

But to get to that peace Jesus spoke of, I had to better understand the awful events of our recent past through the filter of God’s Word. As always, knowing the context in which these words were spoken is the best place to start. Jesus uttered this statement found in John 16:33 to His closest disciples just hours before He was arrested, tried and crucified. He certainly knew trouble was coming. Again using Strong’s concordance, I found that the trouble the Lord spoke of was not only what they were to face in their immediate circumstance, but it also speaks of tribulation and oppression to come. We certainly are living in times of oppression and tribulation.

After stating that His followers would face troubles, Jesus said what must have sounded as a peculiar thing: Take heart! Basically Jesus was telling them (and us) to cheer up, even in the face of current events. Not that He was telling them to grin and bear it; rather Jesus told His followers to put their full trust in God, the only One who is immeasurably greater than any world circumstance.

Jesus then said something that must have seemed even more incredible at the time: I have overcome the world. To his original audience, it certainly did not look like anything but what they were trying to accomplish had been overcome. Yet, a little over twenty-four hours later, the full depth of this momentous truth would begin to play out as God’s plan for the salvation of the world began with the crucifixion of Jesus. Three days later, as He arose victorious from the grave, the fullness of what Jesus had overcome came to light. Death had been conquered; eternal life was now possible for all those who would put their faith in Christ.

Having reviewed and renewed my faith in this awesome God who loves us all, I re-discovered the peace that Jesus said was to be found in Him alone. Here too a better understanding of the original word used is extremely helpful. This peace, as Jesus described it to be, went far beyond a conventional meaning of the word. Peace for most means the absent of strife. True as this is, the peace Jesus speaks of goes much further as it tells of having a reconciled relationship, as one has through faith in the Lord with God the Father.

As I said, God is faithful! He has seen me through this low time by bringing me back to a place where He is the focus and motivation of my life. For me, this means to be not only the encourager I have tried to be in the past, but to increase my efforts in these troubled times. As I have found (again), God is the only true source of hope that there is.

In practical terms, going forward I will make myself more readily available to those who are hurting while promoting the cause of justice for all people. God has more than enough of His peace to go around. We as followers of Christ must walk boldly in this peace as we make His love known to all; both the oppressed and the oppressor. Only when all sides are confronted with the universal love of God for all (and the call of everyone to respond to this love by loving each other), can the true peace of God be known. Jesus has in fact overcome this world; may we all live as if we believe it to be true!

Blessings,

Pastor Chuck

Addition by Subtraction

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Sacrifice can be defined as the act of giving something up in order to get something else.  For us as humans, there still seems to be a bit of selfishness attached to that definition.  If my goal is to simply get something else, assuming it’s something better or of more value, my motivation is gain, not true sacrifice.

This of course is not true across the board of sacrifice, using the above definition.  I’ll use my own example of stopping the use of all tobbaco products, of which cigarettes were my favorite.  I truly enjoyed smoking them.  Even with all the evidence of the harm cigarettes would do, and the loved ones I had seen adversely affected by this habit, I puffed away.  Believe me, I understand better than many how addiction works, but to hide behind that defense didn’t get to the deeper truth: I loved to smoke no matter the supposed consequences.

Twenty years into my tobacco use, I began to re-think my approach.  The relentless march of time brought with it a growing awareness that I wasn’t going to last forever.  Yet, this dawning realization was not enough in itself to make me want to give up my treasured habit.

Much as I would like to tell you, Faithful Reader, that God sent an angel or a lightning bolt to grab my attention, the journey to finally getting free from tobacco was a slow and unexciting stroll.  At the heart (and lungs) of the issue wasn’t doubt that God could deliver me, He sure had from terrible alcohol abuse, but my reluctance to want to be rid of my smokes.

Quitting smoking for good, some 23 years ago now, most certainly seemed a painful sacrifice to me at the start.  Thankfully, time as allowed me a better perspective on what giving up tobacco has done for me.  For example, there is the significantly reduced likelihood of lung cancer.  And of course there is the monetary savings.  When I quit cigarettes, they sold for $2 a pack.  Smoking 2 packs each day, as I did, cost me $1460 annually.  I now put that money to far more constructive use.  Then there’s things that are also gone like that awful smell on my clothes that I couldn’t smell when I was smoking and the small burn holes in the upholstery of my car.  The balance is fully tipped toward what I have received from giving them up.

Which leads me to the greater over all point, that my life in faith in Jesus Christ is all about addition by subtraction.  Let’s start at the top: I believe He died so that sinners just like me could be forgiven and welcomed into eternity.  That’s the biggest plus I know! I have lost a life of sin and anguish because of God’s love.  There is no greater addition ever than that.

Others gains though subtraction include, in no particular order, the realization that I am not at the center of the entire universe.  I am less significant in my own eyes, and instead see that I am important enough to God that He gave His all for me.

Also subtracted from me was the mirage of perfectionism I often hid behind.  This permitted me to do nothing because I told myself I couldn’t do whatever it was perfectly, I simply wouldn’t do it.  As we say in AA, “self-serving will slip away.” As it has, the great addition has been the room this created in my heart to try new things.  For example: Reaching out to help others.  What a concept! I had no idea that doing for others, simply because I could, would be so fulfilling.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.  The bottom line is this: My life is fuller now because there is so much less of me in it! I’ve always been good in math, but this formula took me a long time to start to comprehend.  I hope you get it more quickly than I did!

How about you? How has God added to your life through subtraction.  I’d love to hear about it.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read this,

Pastor Chuck

We’re Definitely One Day Closer

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I recently had a conversation with a young man about the escalating tensions in the Middle East.  Like many, he is convinced that the world is in great peril; that indeed the end is close at hand.  Because of this, he has decided that he wants to put a comfortable chair on his roof and watch as the missiles fly.

As interesting a take on current events as this is, I also believe that like many, this personable fellow is mis-interpreting current events.  To be clear, I am no End-times expert.  Having said this, I do give the following answer each time I am questioned (I guess many assume as a pastor I have special insight; spoiler alert, I don’t) about the end of the world: “Today, we are definitely one day closer to it than we were yesterday.”

Please understand, there is nothing flippant about my response and in fact I base it entirely on what the Scriptures record the Lord Jesus saying on this topic, starting with His answer to His disciples question: “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3)

Jesus, after giving an account of things that will precede His second coming, then answers His disciples by saying, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36) Jesus added, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will return.” (Matthew 24:42)

The young guy wanting to be on his roof, like others, are missing the point of Jesus’ words.  These most recent events in Iran do not singularly represent the nearing of the end of days, but rather are simply more on what Jesus called “birth pains” that the earth and mankind will experience throughout the ages.  I understand these “birth pains” to be all the nastiness, both created by Nature and by man, because of the fallen condition of our planet and those who inhabit it.

I know that we all would sometimes like a glimpse into the future.  Parts of life would seem to be easier to plan for if we had some insight into coming events.  The problem with this approach, concerning things eternal, is that the knowing would decrease or eliminate the need for faith.  I don’t mean to over-simplify this, but when Jesus said you cannot know the day or hour that the end will come, I’m good with that!

Faith, that wonderful gift of God, assures the believer that God has everything under control.  It is a blessing given from the Father that assures us of His never-ending dominion.  To truly trust in God is to trust Him in our chaotic world, where often times seemingly inexplicable things happen to us and to those we love.

Out of this growing faith ( for me it has taken time for me and I’ve still a long way to go!) comes the peace of God that the Bible says transcends all understanding.  Once again, faith leads me to see that there are things beyond me.  One of these is the knowledge of the end times.  Trusting in the forgiveness of the Lord for salvation allows me to rest easily at night even amidst the uncertainty of the world around me.

Therefore, if I can’t and never will figure out exactly the what and when of God’s plans, what am I left to do? For today, I will make my best effort to live out this faith in God by embracing today for just what it is: One day closer to the end than yesterday.  If I am to believe this, all of my actions, indeed all my motivation, ought to be to share this precious gift of faith I have been given with everyone I meet.

I realize this will look different for each of us, and that’s ok.  God is as diverse as He is immeasurable.  I do believe, however, there will be one common denominator: A life lived in faith will be recognizable in the joy present in our countenance.  Though our eyes will take in all that goes on around us, nothing we see with distract us from the awesome truth of God’s saving power.  This truth tells us that Almighty God loves us and in His love He calls us to live this life with the unshakable assurance that He has guaranteed our forever place with Him.

So if you see me up on my roof, I won’t be looking for missiles, but rather it will be to get a better view of the world around me, praising God for who He is and that He has given me this day to worship and enjoy Him, even (or especially) if it’s the last one I get!

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Chuck