Many of us have had some sweet years with things going along pretty well. We know what our faith was like during those times. We got to dabble with this or that idea or imagine a ministry initiative of one kind or another. The thought process was calm. The stakes were manageable. This thinking at the shallow end of the pool was comfortable. And nothing much had to be done in the near future. No crisis loomed.
To be sure we have all had various crises in our personal lives and families. Still all those difficulties took place against a backdrop of relative comfort and ease for most of us in middle-class in America. Now the world of worry and want that the poor have long known has become a world that threatens to dominate. A sane and sober man has looked into my eyes within the last 24 hours and said, "I think that we may see levels of need and people in situations within the next two or three years that we never thought we would see here."
Hmmm. What to do? What if the life that folks on the margins of life have always known becomes more the norm? What if more and more of us take our place living on the margins of life where money, work, time and comfort are scarce? What becomes of our life and faith then?
What we found in 2 Timothy is still a good place to start when framing a faithful answer to how to live on the brink.
The first thing we do is recover our weak flame of gift and calling and claim the power of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, standing unashamed in this world with all of its challenge and trouble.
The second thing we do is focus with greater clarity on the word of God — the God-breathed word that is unchained, powerful and life-shaping in all situations.
The third thing we do is lift our eyes from the immediate and urgent and lock our vision on the promises of God that stand today and stretch out into a richly satisfying and rewarding eternity.
This life may indeed become more uncertain. We may see the sand on which many, and perhaps even we ourselves, have built their lives for what it is. This wild, raging sea of a world is the right place to stand on the ever moving wave of the present as it absorbs the future and leaves the past. We are on the edge, the brink, the wave. Let the metaphors roll and tumble to describe where we are, but … really this is where followers of Christ have always stood and demonstrated their faith to the world.
Don't be afraid.
God bless us all.
2 comments:
Thanks, Eddie. Crisis by definition indicates a crossroad and a call for decision -- as you indicate, the near future may call for us to ask whether we are building on sand or rock. My impression is that God is okay with our comfort only so long as it does not come at the price of counting on sand to sustain us.
I think those sobering voices are prophetic. We all need to pay closer attention. This crisis is also an unparalleled opportunity, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Post a Comment