Not Forsaking ... Together Time!

It's the same word that the writer of Hebrews uses when he says, "He will NEVER leave you nor forsake you." So, what word is that?

On this Easter morning the verse that comes to mind is that which in found in chapter ten and verse twenty-five of the New Testament book of Hebrews. There the writer says, "Not forsaking the" ... I love how the writer of one of most used Greek-English Lexicons, Joseph Henry Thayer, defines this word. He says that the word describes one who is abandoned ... or deserted ... or left helpless. Perhaps you've been there before. Have you cried out, feeling "helpless"? Have you experienced times in your life when someone of whom you depended upon left you? ... They deserted you! Or perhaps you're sensing abandonment during these crazy days upon us, when we're called to "social distance". 

Please know two things ... One, that our Father --- our God who is Creator --- and Redeemer --- shall NEVER leave you or forsake you! And two, that we as followers of Christ are NOT to forsake ... abandon our meeting together. --- Another very cool word is this 'meeting together'. You've likely heard it once or twice :) It is the word 'synagogue', with the little preposition 'upon' tagged onto the front. Synagogue itself means leading together. So we ... the body of Christ are not to abandon our synagogue time together.

Now ... if there is a 'not' ... as in the forsake or abandon part, might the writer as well include that which we are to accomplish? And the answer is a definite yes! For he concludes that we are to be ones that are encouraging. This participle is such that it expresses a 24/7 --- 365 days of the year (oh yeah ... 366 for this year :) ) kind of action.

So in these bizarre times that we find ourselves in here in the Spring of 2020, where we are mandated to abandon our meeting together ... might we continue to encourage each other. It is my hope that this video does some of that encouraging as well.

To Him be the glory for He is risen. He is risen indeed!!!

'Cast Your Cares' --- Upon Him!

Recently while sitting in our vacation home in Central Oregon and “sheltering in place”, I was once again struck by the power of words found in song. How words, simple words, can be so weaved as to stimulate emotions, and in turn bring such a confidence, such a hope. By themselves … well, they are simply … words.

Much is found in the words, “Cast your cares upon Him”. Timely words for this very moment that we find ourselves in. And the very words of which the apostle Peter was inspired to write in verse seven of chapter five. Words which in turned have become the source of countless songs over time, though it is two that capture my attention this day.

Perhaps we can reverse our reading of what Peter has written in order to discover how he arrived at this conclusion. In verse six he says that God will lift, or exalt us, at the proper time. Wait a minute! Is God going to ‘exalt’ us? Look, this is what Peter says. But first, we must place ourselves under the mighty hand of God. The very idea of Peter’s command in which he began verse six, that is, ‘Humble’ yourselves!

Casting cares ... from the sunrise

This idea of ‘humility’ is perhaps THE keystone of the Christian faith. For it was our Savior who humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross. The same humility of which Paul, the prisoner of the Lord, says is the believers call in Ephesians four. And it is with humility that Peter exhorts shepherds to care for the sheep, to do so without ‘domineering’.

As we continue to reverse our reading, we discover that Peter uses three words to describe himself. He is a fellow-elder, a witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker of the glory to be revealed. It is the suffering that I want to emphasize. Yes, Peter was a witness of our Lord’s suffering at the cross, but as well how he must have suffered personally. For it was this same Peter, the one who denied the Christ for the third time, whom Luke says that the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Can you sense that glance? Can you sense the pain, the suffering? Peter did! For Luke says that he went out of the courtyard and wept ‘bitterly’.

Peter had been at the side of the Master as he healed many. Often Jesus would say, “Go, your faith has made you well”. Peter, like all of us, had his moments being weak in faith. I can not think of a more significant moment. Can you?

Later in chapter five Peter says to resist him … that is the devil, our adversary, our opponent. Be STEADFAST in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by the brotherhood throughout the world. Though that suffering was due to their Christian faith, we find ourselves in a unique moment of time, here in the Spring of 2020, when the brotherhood and the world is in a moment of suffering.

,,, to the sunset

And so, might we … the brotherhood … through suffering, learn humility. To place ourselves under the mighty hand of God. To be those who cast our anxieties … or literally I like the idea of ‘throwing off’ … its like having something that is heavy upon you, that you must lift up ... and throw with force. What do we throw? That which is ‘distracting’ us. And where do we throw these distractions? Peter says, “Upon Him”. Peter, had become weak in faith, distracted with fear ... Through the years he had come to learn to cast or throw off those anxieties, those distractions upon our Lord. 

Oh … my … goodness! Might you, might I, might we cast, or throw off all these anxieties, these distractions upon Him. Why? Because He … our Creator and Redeemer CARES … FOR … US!

The ultimate act of His care is shown at Peter’s conclusion. In verse ten and eleven Peter says, “The God of ALL grace, the One having called you onto His eternal glory, after a little suffering … He Himself will restore, establish and confirm you. To Him be the power forever and ever, amen!”

Can we all say with Peter, AMEN!!!

So on this ‘Good Friday’ of 2020 I conclude with two songs which go by the name ‘Cast My Cares’ and these words from the Scottish missionary to Canada, James Nisbet, who writes:

“Who has not some anxiety to cast away? For, remember, God has never told His children that they shall be without anxieties. They are inseparable from our condition in this world. It is in human nature to feel them, and God wishes us to feel them; they are essential in God’s spiritual government. But when rightly received, and rightly used, and rightly passed through, they will be found to be blessings, even though they appear in disguise.”