The Old Man in the Back of the Sanctuary

If you scroll down to the bottom of the right column and click on that first month of this blog, you will see one of my favorites titled Time Flies. Someone once told me that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes. It has been nearly ten years since I wrote that post and time has picked up speed. The irony is the less time I have remaining is even more valuable, but my desire to  share it with others to encourage and inspire them is even greater. i’ll keep sharing until God calls me home.

 

I have noticed over the years that scientific theory often disagrees with the Bible and religion, but scientific facts always confirm the truth of scripture. A good example is when the Supreme Court ruled on abortion in the mid 1970’s, there were several theories by biologists about when human life begins. But after the advancement of ultrasound and the indexing of the human genome, 97% of biologists worldwide agree that human life begins at conception. When scientists announced the indexed human genome at a press conference, one said that we now know the first living cell was much too complex to have happened by chance. I remember thinking, “Goodbye evolution and hello creation.” I recommend a You Tube video titled “Believe In God In 5 Minutes” narrated by Dr. Gerald Schroeder, with a Phd  in physics and planetary science from MIT. who is also an Orthodox Jew.

God has had His hand on my life since I was born. I survived nearly every childhood disease. When I was home recovering from measles at age 9, my mom and I escaped a house fire that destroyed all our family owned. At age 12, I got sick and our old family doctor was treating me for the flu and my condition was becoming deadly. My grandmother was baby sitting for a young doctor and his wife and she told him about my condition. Mom took me to his clinic the next day and he diagnosed it as Histoplasmosis and hospitalized me for treatment. After I got home my breathing got worse. He told my parents if it was a recurrence of the disease, there was nothing more he could do for me. He returned with the test results and a smile telling them it was pneumonia. After recovering, I was stronger than ever. Since then, I survived a very strong typhoon on Okinawa in the Air Force, two deadly infections at the same time, two cancer surgeries, and a nursing home that tried to trap me for life; which wouldn’t have been long with the lack of care there. Now I’m 83 and I know if I die tomorrow I will be with my Lord. If I live tomorrow my Lord will be with me. Whatever happens He’s got me.

You probably know the song It Is Well With My Soul. You may even know Horatio Spafford wrote the words. But do you know his story? In 1871, the great Chicago fire destroyed his wealth and all he owned. Just two years later, his wife and four daughters were in a shipwreck. His wife survived, but all of their daughters died. He wrote that song at sea to join his grieving wife. Now when you hear or sing, “When sorrows like sea billows roll” you will know the pain behind them.

There is another popular analogy of the process God uses to sanctify us. It is a refiner purifying gold. He applies extreme heat to burn away all impurities. He knows the gold is pure when he sees his reflection in it. God gets rid of all of our impurities and when He is done He can see His image reflected back from us. However we describe it, the process completes our transformation to a son or daughter of God. Our family resemblance is there for all to see.

When we experience  spiritual rebirth by repenting, believing in and following Jesus Christ, it is hard to imagine it is only the first step of what God is going to do in our life. But a process begins to sanctify us and make us more like Jesus each day. An old Gospel song describes that refining process. “I’m just an old lump of coal, but I’m going to be a diamond some day. I’m going to shine and glow until I’m blue pure perfect. I’ll put a smile on everybody’s face. I’m  going to pray every day, lest I become vain along the way. I’m just an old lump of coal now Lord, but I’m going to be a diamond some day.” It takes a lot of time, heat and pressure to turn a lump of coal into a diamond and God’s refining process in us is not always comfortable or easy, but it is so worth it. After all these years, I may not be blue pure perfect, but I do put a lot of smiles on faces as they see my family resemblance with Jesus.

It was on that cross two thousand years ago that God’s love, mercy and grace met as God’s Son paid the penalty for our sins and offered us eternal life.  Salvation is a gift from God that we can’t earn or merit. Like any gift, to take possession  we must open it and put it to use. We do that by confessing that we need salvation, then believing in, and following Jesus into God’s presence. I opened my gift and have been putting it to use for the last 72 years.

Some Bible scholars refer to the 8th chapter of Romans as the great 8, and so do I. Paul reminds the church in Rome (and us) that when we repent of our sinful nature. believe in and follow Jesus Christ, God not only gives us a new born spirit and a new identity as a son or daughter of God. He also plants His Holy Spirit in our heart to help us serve Him. That is the same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead, so we have plenty of power to overcome temptations and opposition. God’s Spirit gives us the power to see the world and scripture as God sees them. The Holy Spirit does not “possess” us. We keep our free will. When the Holy Spirit prompts me to do or say something I have two choices, do it or regret it. Once I realized I had enough regrets, I became an obedient son of God. Jesus called that Spirit the Comforter, with the power to give comfort in the most stressful situations. I have been relying more on that comfort lately. Maybe you have too.