Moderator's Musings
February 10, 2020
DO SOMETHING
An acquaintance I like and respect just sent me and several others a link she thought we might find interesting. Due mostly to my trust and esteem for the sender, I opened the link. It was for a new “miracle” remedy for multiple ailments…CBD oil and it promised I could get a free bottle. I followed through, but I could never find the free bottle, but I could “buy” 1 bottle and get one free for $64.95 plus shipping and handling. I’ve tried some local CBD oils or creams and had mixed feelings about them, from “worthless” to “helpful.” My own experience led to my declining the offer and erasing all my personal info.
So why share this little experience with all of you? Because it came to mind after listening to our pastor’s message in church this morning (Glenn Matlock at Ingle Chapel) and his homework assignment to not be satisfied with being part of a “crowd” surrounding Jesus, but like the friends who broke through the roof to get their friend to Jesus, to DO SOMETHING about sharing my belief. I do try to live my belief so that my actions reflect it, but like my acquaintance and the friends of the paralytic in this morning’s message, I felt challenged to DO MORE. My CBD e-mail acquaintance took a risk because she cared about me and thought I might benefit from something she, perhaps, had found useful. Could I not take a risk on something even more important and accept my pastor’s challenge to DO SOMETHING to share the good news? So, this is it. I am taking that risk.
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” ~ Romans 1: 6
Therefore, if I believe, and I do, it is required of me to do what I can to share that belief with everyone I know, especially those I care deeply about. A number of you are in that category…people whom I truly care about and want to have the same kind of comfort, assurance, and hope my belief gives me.
Although I was brought up going to a Lutheran church and then a Baptist one, then a Pentecostal one with Bob when we were initially dating, my belief then was immature and under-developed. Then when I went on to college, I found it harder and harder to have much faith at all. It seemed like a cop-out or a crutch for the weak to use, too preposterous to really believe fully. A number of poor “Christian” examples further deteriorated my floundering faith. Even though I wished I could believe, because it promised such peace and hope, there were way too many roadblocks for my whole-hearted acceptance of the Christian belief.
As the years progressed, I had a kind of tepid, half-hearted faith, until I finally realized, that maybe if I purposefully looked for reasons TO BELIEVE instead of reasons NOT TO BELIEVE, it might produce a different outcome. I am so thankful for that change in perspective because it has made all the difference in my attitude and belief! That reborn faith has helped me handle so many of life’s horrible hurdles – the death of my mom, my sister, dear friends, and most recently, the premature death of my beloved husband. My faith doesn’t eliminate the pain and loss and aching emptiness that so often surfaces to no longer have those so dear to me out of sight, but it does offer the firm belief that we will be reunited someday…and what a joyful reunion that will be! Read Randy Alcorn’s HEAVEN for a legitimate picture of what Jesus promises us in Heaven. YOU WANT TO BE THERE. I WANT YOU THERE.
So what am I DOING with all this?
I am inviting you to develop a belief. I am offering to share why I believe with any who want to have this peace and comfort and love. I don’t seek to impose my faith on you, but I want to invite you to develop your own relationship with God. Your faith doesn’t need to look exactly like mine, nor does mine need to look exactly like any particular church’s dogma, but it must espouse LOVE of God and LOVE of ALL God’s creatures. God welcomes us all. He offers us all grace. He forgives if we ask it. He wants us all to join Him. I know those I love who believed, like Bob, my mom, my sister, and my friends, are with Him now. I am hoping that even those who have died without professing their belief, like my dad, might have had a last minute change of heart, or that God, in His infinite wisdom and compassion, might have understood the causes for his lack of faith and offered a final chance to accept God and His LOVE.
I am not a mature or perfect Christian. My faith still hits some road blocks and wobbles a bit. I do struggle with some things as I go to Bible studies or read the Bible and work on my faith, and have questions and concerns for which I have not yet found satisfactory answers…but I still believe. The longer I live, the more reasons I see to believe.
“Every time I hear a newborn baby cry, or touch a leaf, or see the sky, then I know
WHY, I believe,” is a song lyric whose sense of awe and wonder I embrace. Another hymn lyric…“Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand, but I know Who holds
tomorrow and I know Who holds my hand…” helped both Bob and I endure the fear and worry of our oldest son’s sudden heart attack with 6 heart stoppages, life flights first to Kadlec in Richland and then to Portland’s OHSU and the doctors there saying , “don’t rush to get here, because if he’s still alive, he will likely be brain dead.” Prayer and Jesus saved our son and he ultimately walked on his own steam out of that hospital, an apparent “miracle.” Jesus kept us hopeful despite Adam’s additional brushes with death, a heart transplant, a nicked diaphragm then, pneumonia, and at last a second chance at life. That experience and “miracle” really cemented our faith. We know Jesus intervened and we are so grateful.
My belief might seem wrong or at the very least “unconventional” to some, but God isn’t finished developing and maturing it, yet. I am surprised I often find myself sounding like my wonderful mother, who was one of the BEST most SINCERE Christians I ever knew. That amuses and pleases me. Her, too, I bet. She is no doubt smiling at me now and thinking “Finally!” I know Jesus knows my heart and my faith, too, and I am so thankful to feel I know Him. Faith, especially as a Congregationalist, is individualized and very personal. It’s a one on one relationship with God. I am aware of and grateful every day for that relationship.
I care about you and want you to feel that joy and hope, too. I invite you to explore your spiritual side. There is room for you and your doubts and struggles, too.
