JESUS WALKING ON WATER

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DOING A LOT WITH A LITTLE

For more of this art go to Biblical Art on the WWW and look for the artist, Isabella Colette.

Do you ever wonder how to get more bang for the buck, more go to the gallon, more bounce for the ounce? One of the secrets of doing more with less is given to us in the miracle of feeding the multitude, with just enough for a boy’s lunch.

Almost apologetically, Andrew announces: “There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people” (John 6:9, Contemporary English Version)? They estimated 5,000 men in the group; how many women and children? No wonder Andrew felt embarrassed to even mention it.

During those wonderfully exhausting and stressful years of raising five children on the modest salary of a pastor and a gifted stay at home mom, who with her homemaking skills got the most out of every dollar; I found myself, at times, slipping into the Andrew syndrome: What a limited budget with so many mouths to feed, how can we possibly make ends meet?

One week as I was preparing to preach on our Lord’s miracle of feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish, I made a great discovery. As John records it: “Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God.” Anyone can be thankful after the marvelous miracle of multiplication. Jesus gave thanks before this embarrassing scarcity became an amazing surplus. The story tells us that after everyone had eaten their fill, the disciples gathered up the remaining fragments and they filled twelve baskets.

The trick is to be thankful before the miracle occurs. Isn’t it true that those who are less than thankful seem to need more of everything and have less to show for it? It’s so easy to grumble about what is lacking and fail to celebrate what God has provided as limited as it may look to our financial calculations.

Now, with the children gone and providing for their own children, my focus of gratitude has shifted a few degrees. When I walk into church I want to say with Andrew: “There is a boy here,” and there is a girl there. They are growing up all around us. We dare not look past them as if they didn’t count until they grow up. The young lad in our story counted when he turned his lunch over to Jesus. Do you suppose he thought of holding back a portion for himself? But when he surrendered it to Jesus his little suddenly became a lot. Some of these children are in our church family and believe me; God will use them to change the world.

THE CHRIST OF THE COSMOS

The above article appeared in The Vine and Branches Vol. 24, Issue 4, 2009, published in Ohio. It reminds us that the historical Jesus has become the Christ of faith. Our Jewish carpenter, the lowly Galilean who lived in the first century, has been exalted and glorified by the power of the resurrection to become the Lord of the universe.

If there is life on other planets, in other galaxies; they too have a Savior who offers them eternal life. The One who in the days of his incarnation never left the land of Palestine, never journeyed more than 100 miles from Bethlehem of Judah, his birthplace, is now available to the furthest reaches of space. To infinity and back communion with our cosmic Christ is available to all who remember him in his broken body and his blood, shed for the remission of sins.

I invite you to take that step of faith to believe that the man known in history as Jesus of Nazareth is risen to dimensions of eternity. This is not a small step; it is rather a giant leap in a person’s understanding of the love that drew salvation’s plan, the grace that brought it down to man and the mighty gulf that God did span in the incarnation and glorification of his son.

DIGGING FOR NUGGETS OF TRUTH

Embedded in Scripture and lying just below the surface, one can find nuggets of spiritual truth. With daily diligence, one can dig them out and turn them into the gold of Christian character. This daily devotional guide is intended as a tool to assist in the mining of such treasure. The secret is to dig into the Word of God on a daily basis.

Like the Manna in the Hebrew Scripture, which would spoil if gathered weekly and stored; fresh insights must be gleaned from the Bible every day. This kind of daily discipline can maintain a growing and glowing personal relationship to our Lord and Savior that can not be done in a hit and miss fashion.

During their wilderness wanderings the people of God gathered the Manna every morning before the sun melted it. This devotional guide recommends that we reserve a period of time in the morning to meditate on the daily Scripture reading, ponder the key concept and reflect on the devotional study, closing with a prayer for the day. Because of its flexibility, this exercise can be done in five minutes or extended to a longer period of time. By the time you get through the three hundred and sixty five days, you will have the foundation you need to begin composing your own devotional literature.

There is a river of life flowing through the Scripture. As you pan for gold, you will discover nuggets of truth that will enrich your faith.

The Cross Stands Fast

The Southern California fire fighters that were near to this cross, as it was engulfed by flames, felt sure that it was gone. Gene Blevins, a photographer, returned to the scene the next day to get some more shots. He was surprised and amazed to find that the cross was not incinerated; it was not even scorched by the heat.

Some would say: “Big deal, this often happens in a fire. One building is destroyed and the one next to it escapes damage.” True, but this cross was right in the middle of a conflagration and surrounded on all sides. Nevertheless, those who are so inclined can explain this away as a coincidence that has no special meaning. For those, however, who choose to believe, this kind of phenomenon can have deep symbolic and theological significance.

Around the middle of the 19th century, it is reported that Sir John Bowring was involved in a ship wreck. He was able to cling to some drift wood and the currents carried him to an island. As the fog lifted, he saw a cross standing on a mountain, keeping watch over the bay where he was swept ashore. Reflecting on this, sometime after his rescue, these words came to mind which have found their way into our church hymnals: “In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time; all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.”

The Bible tells us that in the eternal plan of God, Christ was crucified before the foundations of the world. Some of us believe that long after those foundations are shaken to their core, the cross will still be standing over the wrecks of time.
Many of us believe that the cross is history’s clearest revelation of a love which survives the worst that man can do and keeps on loving.

Building Bridges

In one of our previous blogs, we summarized our Savior’s ministry as breaking down barriers. He is continually working to chip away at those “Berlin walls” which divide man from man, man from God and nation from nation. To take that one step farther; he would also build a bridge over the ruins of those manmade barriers; bridges of understanding which connect classes, cultures and creeds.

When the French started building the Panama canal in 1870, the thought was to dig a gorge deep enough to cut through the isthmus of Panama and connect the two oceans at sea level. Despite their dedication to the task and their outstanding engineering skills, they ran out of time and money and were not able to complete the task.

What enabled America to succeed where France had failed? For one, by 1907 medical science had made dramatic progress in understanding the causes of tropical diseases and how to control them. In addition, engineering technology had also made huge strides.

But there was something else that was equally important: A new concept had emerged. Instead of cutting through at sea level, why not build over the isthmus, a series of locks, which would use water power to lift the great ships, on the Pacific side, 85 feet over the land barrier and then another series of locks that would lower them back to the level of the Caribbean? Instead of cutting through let’s build over. It was this new concept that enabled the Americans to succeed where the French had failed.

Often times we fail because we think we can, with sheer effort and determination, blast our way through mountains of difficulty. With American ingenuity and ambition we can achieve anything we set our hands to do. History has made it clear that had we endeavored to cut a canal deep enough to connect the two oceans we also would have failed. The topography necessitated not a gorge but a bridge; a water bridge to lift the huge ocean liners up and over to provide a path between the seas.

When we maneuver ourselves by faith into the lock of God’s love, a power flows around us, lifting us to the next higher level in our journey through time toward an ocean of eternity. On the cross Jesus reached out in both directions and provided just the bridge we need.

I’ve heard it said: If you can’t get around a problem then climb over it. If you can’t climb over it, dig under it. If you can’t dig under it, then tunnel through and turn it into a gold mine. I like that kind of can do philosophy. But the day comes, trust me, when no amount of trying in our own strength can avail. That’s the time to start trusting in the overarching love of God which provides just the bridge we need. Next time you see a rainbow, remind yourself of that.

Starlight Navigation

A father and son were fishing beyond the breakwater of San Diego Harbor. It had been a long day, so they decided to hoist anchor and head toward the dock. As night fell the father decided to give his son a lesson in navigation. He pointed out the Big Dipper and showed him how to identify the Little Dipper. From these two reference points he showed him how to find Polaris.

Turning the wheel over to his son he gave him these instructions: “Just run along parallel with the North Star on your port side and you will be going east toward the harbor.” Dad went to the stern of the boat to take a little nap. The son became drowsy at the helm. As he dozed, the boat made a slow turn toward starboard in a southerly direction. Awaking with a start, the son didn’t realize that his guiding star was now behind him. He called out to his father: “Dad, wake up and give me another star, we just sailed right on past that other one!”

Those of us who live in the 21st century are tempted to think that we have gone beyond the guiding lights of the ancient past. The 10 commandments sound so old and obsolete; surely we need a more contemporary standard of ethics to chart our course.

I beg to differ. For thousands of years, ancient mariners have used the sun by day and the stars by night to plot their course and keep an accurate chart of their position. There are some things that are the same, yesterday, today, and forever, because they are grounded in the unchangeable and immutable nature of deity.

In my view, these pinpricks of lights from the past are our best reference points to navigate on the sea of life. In the Book of Revelation the Savior is described as “the bright and morning star.” Like Polaris his teaching and example remain fixed in the heavens. We can get our bearings from them and steer a straight course toward our home port.