When It Rains It Pours

Today's message at Calvary Chapel Sydney was titled, "When it Rains it Pours."  What has become a modern cliche was first coined and copyrighted as a company slogan by the Morton Salt company in 1911.  It carried quite a different connotation than it does today.  Morton Salt was marketed as superior because of an additive which kept the salt pouring freely even in damp weather.  Today people say "when it rains it pours" to convey how bad or trying circumstances seem to come in bunches.  There are plenty of problems in this world and our lives to be sure, but as children of a loving heavenly Father we can turn our focus in all situations Him with joy.

A common response of all people in the midst of a trial or unfathomable pain is "Why?"  Often God does not give explanations but responds to the humble seeker with a fresh revelation of Himself.  It is good for us to recall to mind how God has already blessed us with life, love, grace, and mercy.  He has continued to rain down blessing on us.  The probing question we are faced with is, are such blessings pouring from our lives?  Pride and selfishness could be compared to the damp which caused salt to clump and hinder it from pouring freely.  We are the salt of the earth, and the Holy Spirit enables us to shed abroad the love of God He has placed in our hearts.  An additive will do us no good:  we need transformation obtained only possible through spiritual regeneration through faith in Christ.

Can you say concerning your life, "When it rains it pours?"  Does the joy, light, and life of Christ have a free release in your thoughts, words, and deeds?  May it be so LORD Jesus!  

The Crown of Glory

"The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendour of old men is their gray head."

Proverbs 20:29

It was in 1994 when I started shaving my head, and this regular practice has continued until this day.  I never really knew what to do with my hair and for years combed it to the side, but a simple buzz cut answered many of those questions.  It looked decent as well.  I find it amusing people pay money to regrow their own hair and I invest in quality clippers to keep it shaved short!  When my hair grows back after a couple of weeks, I often receive comments from friends about how gray it is.  I don't know if having gray hair makes me feel magnificent, but it is a welcomed mark of maturity for someone who historically has maintained a youthful look.

The days of any glory in my strength are near their end, and for me the distinguished splendour of age increases daily with silver bristles.  It is a common practice among many people to dye their hair, so perhaps turning gray is seen more as a curse than a blessing.  But the reality is, not everyone lives long enough to grow gray hair or have it fall out.  I have heard it said the gray head is a sign of wisdom, but this is not a guarantee.  It is true wisdom may grow with age, but all true wisdom comes from God - not from time served on this planet.  Anyone can grow old and gray and be just as foolish, polluted, and dark as ever.  It does not require skill for people to advance in years, but how good it is for your latter years to be deemed your best and brightest.

Long life is a blessing from God, and those who walk in His ways are a blessing to all.  Proverbs 16:31 says, "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness."  There is great beauty and much wisdom to be gleaned from those venerable saints who have faithfully followed Jesus.  It is a glorious sight to behold a person who loves God and walks uprightly as the shadows lengthen.  They have no physical strength to be desired, but they possess the rare quality that when you converse with them you approach holy ground.  A person's temporary hair colour is insignificant in the gleam of eternity, for it is the adornment of the soul in righteousness that is precious before God.  It is renewing of the inner man day by day by the Holy Spirit which is of great value, not the cutting, arranging, or dyeing of hair.

If the colour, length, or condition of hair on our heads matters to us, how much more important ought it to be for us to live righteously before God and man!  Hair is here one day and gone the next, but God and those who fear Him will endure forever.  It is written of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:28-30, "Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ²⁹ "Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all." ³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."  A gray head is glorious when it found in the way of righteousness, through faith in Jesus Christ.  May we receive God's grace to walk righteously!

The Arbitrary Risk

I am always wary of arbitrary attempts to catagorise people.  When I worked primarily as a youth pastor I grew weary of hearing the phrase "at-risk youth" which was often used to heighten awareness of need.  This arbitrary term was employed most often to describe unchurched youth raised in a single-parent home.  Statistics were shared to prove how this combination led to many social problems, incarceration, drug and alcohol addictions, teen pregnancy, and violence.  How can you argue with statistics, right?

Since we all have our lenses through which we view the world, I am aware of another group of people which are equally "at risk" because I have experienced and seen it firsthand myself:  those who have been raised in relative comfort with two parents, who grew up attending church, and grew dull and spiritually proud through knowledge.  Seemingly inoculated to the power of the Gospel by much exposure without true repentance, these "churched" kids often grow up to lead lives which rival that of any heathen.  What does it mean, to be a youth "at risk?"  Aren't all young people exposed and susceptible to dangers of all kinds, whether it is pride, lying, hypocrisy, self-righteousness, youthful lusts, fornication, deceit of this world, and greed for riches?  There is a risk which comes from ignorance, and another risk from self-confidence and pride.  There are great needs all around us.

I suppose the reason why this terminology and focus bothers me is the implication particular groups of kids should be more of a priority in ministry than others.  The way it sounds to me is we don't need to worry about the kids already going to church, but those outside the church we need to labour to reach at any cost.  Now I believe we ought to do what we can to sow the good seed of God's Word and be faithful to water wherever God has us, but not to the neglect of one group over another.  I think we miss out when we begin to categorise groups of people instead of seeing individuals with needs and seeking to minister to them as God leads.  Jesus went to the lost sheep of Israel, but He was deeply concerned with individuals.  He addressed crowds but also conversed with people one-to-one.  His did not adopt strategies which translated people into numbers but souls which were hungry, thirsty, and lost.

We cannot solve a single problem of this world  or in the life of another person ourselves, but as Christians we know a Saviour who is able to do everything.  Life brings with it inherent risk for all people, for we live in corrupted flesh in a world under the sway of Satan.  We run the risk in Christian circles of measuring our efforts by worldly and superficial means.  Should I congratulate myself for addressing a million people with the Gospel when I am a dad who is largely absent from the life of my kids?  Is it a divine badge of approval should God use me to lead thousands to profess Christ as Saviour when I place my marriage at risk through sin?  Is it right to exclusively target men, women, youth, or children as a arbitrary ministry strategy based upon statistics and overlook the single person God brings across my path?  How we need to be attentive and led by the Holy Spirit in our ministry.  In spreading the Gospel Jesus did not promote a niche ministry but ministered to all whether they were disciples, family, foreigners, children, groups, and individuals according to the leading of the Spirit at the time.  May His Body today do the same!

Glory in the LORD

"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence."

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

Isn't it amazing the God who created and sustains the universe and all living things would use the weak things of the world to put to shame the mighty?  In the scope of eternity a single man is a little thing indeed, yet the Word became flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus Christ.  He was not born into wealth or high social standing, nor was he privileged with private tutors or schooling.  The life afforded Christ from His beginning on this planet was common to all men - without the advantages or luxuries of the learned and respected.  From His humble birth in Bethlehem to His crucifixion on Calvary, Jesus epitomised how God has chosen to use obscure, common people to glorify His name throughout the world.

Consider for a moment who Jesus claimed to be when He claimed to be the Son of God.  The Jewish religious leaders were infuriated, for this was a clear claim to deity and oneness with the Almighty God! (John 5:18)  Though Jesus Christ was, is, and forever will be God, think about the word pictures through which He portrayed Himself:  the door, the bread of life, the good shepherd, the light of the world, the true vine, the resurrection and the life, and the way, the truth, and the life.  Now I can't imagine a ruler or leader today claiming to be "the door" or "the bread" or "the true vine."  It is true Jesus spoke to people from an agrarian society, but He chose the most common, unimpressive things with which to align Himself.  A door is not a complex thing, nor is bread novel.  But they are practical, useful, and serve a necessary function.  Joseph told his father shepherds were despised by the Egyptians, but this did not hinder Jesus from comparing Himself to a good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.  As the Good Shepherd Jesus brought to nothing all those who claimed to be somebody in their pride.

What was God's divine purpose in choosing and using the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise and the weak things of the world to put to shame the mighty?  So "no flesh should glory in His presence."  When a woman was caught in the act of adultery, men rushed her to Jesus and posed her case as a legal conundrum.  The text in John 8 says it was not because they had a genuine question, but they hoped His answer would provide an opportunity to accuse Him.  Jesus could have debated those men silly, but He refused to take the bait.  Instead of citing precedent or laying out legal arguments, Jesus silently stooped and wrote in the dirt.  Think of it:  the One who had all wisdom and who would become wisdom for all who believe said nothing.  As they continued to harass Him, He replied:  "He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." (John 8:7)  He continued to write on the ground.  These powerful men of great influence were convicted each by their own conscience and left the woman and Jesus alone.  The men who hoped to seize upon Christ's glory were put to shame.

The chapter in 1 Corinthians directed to the saints finishes with verses 30-31:  "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- ³¹ that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD."  Through Jesus and the simple Gospel God has provided riches of wisdom and love beyond measure.  God uses the foolish to confound the wise so He will be glorified.  God has chosen the weak, foolish, and despised to do His work in this world so both friend and foe have no choice in truth but to say, "Glory to God!"  The One who has called us is worthy of all glory, honour, and praise.