erdiecarter

Sunday I began a new series called Faith, based on the book of James.  In the opening verses to the book, James reminds us that our trials are present to help us become faithful and steadfast in our relationship with God.  In a Leadership Journal article, John Ortberg argues that stressful and painful situations help us grow. Ortberg creates the following scenario:

Imagine you’re handed a script of your newborn child’s entire life. Better yet, you’re given an eraser and five minutes to edit out whatever you want. You read that she will have a learning disability in grade school. Reading, which comes easily for some kids, will be laborious for her. In high school, she will make a great circle of friends, then one of them will die of cancer. After high school, she will get into her preferred college, but while there, she will lose a leg in a car accident. Following that, she will go through a difficult depression. A few years later she’ll get a great job, then lose that job in an economic downturn. She’ll get married, but then go through the grief of separation. With this script of your child’s life and five minutes to edit it, what would you erase? Psychologist Jonathon Haidt poses this question in this hypothetical exercise: Wouldn’t you want to take out all the stuff that would cause her pain?

If you could erase every failure, disappointment, and period of suffering for your children, would that be a good idea? Would that cause them to grow into the best version of themselves? Is it possible that we actually need adversity and setbacks—maybe even crises and trauma—to reach the fullest potential of development and growth?

Ortberg contends that God doesn’t always erase all our stress and pain before it starts. Instead,  God  uses the failures, disappointments, and periods of suffering to help us grow.   James says it this way, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2–3)

Although it is easy to say count it joy when you’re not the one going through the trial, remember trials are God’s way of helping us become Christ-like.

John Ortberg, “Don’t Waste a Crisis,” Leadership Journal (Winter, 2011)

I am never at a loss for words when someone asks me about Cecilia Baptist Church.  I am so grateful for so many people who serve and volunteer to make Cecilia such a wonderful place to serve and worship.  Sunday, I had the privilege to thank one of those volunteers who serves so faithfully, JoAnn Taul.

Joann has served as Cecilia’s organist for at least 50 years (there is some debate as to whether it is 51 or 50). JoAnn just knows it’s been a long time.  Each Sunday she has helped our music minister lead us in worship. She has played offertories, preludes, specials, and congregational hymns.  If you think about it, there are 52 weeks in a year and let’s just say she has played 45 weeks on average per year. That means Joann has played 2,340 worship services, not to mention the revival services, special services, and Sunday night services.

About her fifty years of playing for Cecilia Baptist Church, JoAnn said, “I did it for the Lord.”  I know JoAnn was surprised yesterday and I know she was grateful for the recognition, but I also know her faith and her understanding of what it means to serve the Lord is what causes her to serve so faithfully.  She never set out for her own glory; she only humbly wanted to do what she could to bring glory to her God.

I am grateful and blessed to serve with JoAnn Taul and many others like her.

The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 2:6-11, “He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” Paul reminds us that God will judge each of us according to our deeds.

But what about justification by faith as Paul writes in Romans 3:28, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”  Romans 3:28 reveals how we are made right with God, but Romans 2:6-11 reveals how God judges the reality of our faith.  Think for a moment about two school children on the playground at school.  One makes the claim he can dunk a basketball in the goal, but the other does not believe him so he asked for proof.  However, the one who makes the claims says I don’t have to show you because I know I can.  There is no revealing of the claim, only words. Faith saves us; our deeds reveal our faith.  A.M. Hunter said “a man’s destiny on Judgement Day will depend not on whether he has known God’s will but on whether he has done it.”

Ask yourself, “Do my deeds live up to my claims?”  “Am I seeking the smile of God over the applause of men?”

I remember many things about Christmas past. I remember going to the store as a family so each of us children could pick out the Christmas gift we wanted to get for our siblings, then Dad taking us all to the car while Mom went back and bought the gifts. I remember having a hard time going to sleep on Christmas Eve because of the excitement that Christmas morning would soon be here. I can recall the many covert spy missions my brother and I had as we tried to get a glimpse at what Santa had brought us. Who could count the number of times we asked if we could open presents during the night only to hear, “It’s not time… go back to bed.” Maybe that was because it was 4 o’clock or something like that, who knows.

When the time finally came to open presents, I remember we would all tear into our gifts and we could not believe all the cool things we had received, from toys to clothes. Okay maybe we were not excited about the clothes but we were about the toys. I remember our first video gaming system the “Intellivision.” It was the coolest thing ever.

I have a lot of wonderful memories about Christmas; however, my favorite memories all have to do with the church and celebrating the birth of Christ. I remember as a boy my family participating in the live nativity scene out in front of our church. Talk about a miracle! We had to behave because people were watching us. I always love watching the smiling faces of the shut-ins and others as we go Christmas caroling each year. I remember Christmas Eve services and delivering Christmas baskets with my family. As the years have gone by, I have truly understood the meaning of the season. As a child, it was all about the gifts, but as an adult it is all about the Gift, Jesus Christ.

How do your neighbors see you?  This is an important question that everyone should ask; unfortunately, many have chosen not to care what their neighbors, co-workers, or acquaintances think of them.  They believe that the only thing that matters is what they think of themselves.  The problem with this thinking is that it is prideful.  In fact, the Bible tells us Pride leads to destruction, and arrogance to downfall. Proverbs 16:18 (GNT)

What kind of person do we want our neighbors to see?  Matthew 22:39 says, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus reminds us of what God said in Leviticus 19:18 that we are love those around us.  But revealing a loving heart to our neighbors is not always easy.  Sometimes it means sacrifice.  We have to sacrifice time to help when they need help.  It means looking past the little things in order to build a relationship with them so we can share the most important thing, Christ’s love.

Our neighbors should see as content.  Exodus 20:17 says You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. This command tells us not to desire or covet something of our neighbors.  We should live with peace and contentment in knowing all we need comes from God, not with the desire for more stuff.

Lastly, we should desire our neighbors to see us as honest people, someone whom they can trust.  Proverbs 12:26 says, One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Our responsibility is to lead our neighbors in the right way, to be people they can trust.

So how do your neighbors see you?  Are you prideful?  Do you care about them?  Are you always looking to get more, never satisfied with what you have?  Moreover, are you a person they trust?

Examining how others see you can lead to insights into your effectiveness as a witness for Christ.