Pastoral Meditation, June 10, 2007

The following is the meditation that Stu gave on June 10, 2007, during the first worship service after the fire of June 9, 2007.  The text comes from 1 Peter 1:3-7.

Last Sunday I preached from First Peter on how the trials of life burn away the dross, the worthless things, and leave what is truly important.  I did not think God would take me this literally… but because He loves us, He did.

God has given us the rare privilege of seeing first-hand what is of prime importance.  It cannot be destroyed in the flames.  In time we will all see God’s handiwork and be humbled that God loves us so much. 

As I watched the building at 9th and D erupt with flames and met with you, with neighbors, with friends from all over Lincoln, we wept and spoke of a house full of memories.  A House built by simple immigrants 80 years ago, yet built to the glory of God.  I have marveled over the past 10 years how families with such humble means came together to build a structure that seems impossible to replace.  This house held over 4000 worship services, hundreds of weddings, fellowship dinners with homemade noodles, baptisms, and funerals.  For many, it feels like the death of a dear old friend.  Tell your stories.  Express your grief.  Your sadness isn’t about the bricks and mortar, it is about a shared life that holds great meaning.  The mourning will pass, but don’t hurry it out the door.  It has a role to play, and will fade in the proper hour.  For some it has passed already, for some lingering a bit longer.  A house that is truly a home holds many memories, and this was a big house.

So what is it that God is burning away?  What is the dross that this trial is driving out?  These are questions we must be willing to wrestle with in the days to come.  The elders and deacons are asking the congregation to make this a matter of prayer.  Trials always put us on our face before God, asking Him to teach us, lead us, show us His purpose, and for that we must be a humble and prayerful people.  Don’t ask these questions because you need the lessons of an angry God; ask them because you want to learn at the feet of a loving and gracious Father.  He has our attention.  What is He going to say?

The first answer to that question is found in what He has already said: Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Jesus wants us to find our rest in Him. There will be challenging days ahead, and we must be able to talk to Jesus about our sadness and questions, and to rest in Him.  What does that look like?  An interviewer met with Verna Damm yesterday and as she lamented the horrible disrepair the of the smoldering church, without skipping a beat she reminded herself, and those standing near, that “Jesus is still on the throne.” Life is filled with trouble, but not with random accidents.  There is a purpose to everything because Jesus is still on the throne.  His purpose may be mysterious, shrouded, or completely covered, but His purpose will stand.  You can rest in that.

On family vacations my Dad used to drive our station wagon and camper through the winding roads of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.  One time he drove it all the way up Pike’s Peak!  On particularly narrow and windy trails we all used to get a bit anxious, reminding Him—in the most polite tones—to keep his eyes on the road!  He would laugh and shrug off our fears.  He was a good driver, and in time I learned that I could enjoy the ride while my father was at the wheel. 

Your father is at the wheel.  He is an excellent driver, and you can rest in Him.

A second word from Jesus speaks of the purpose of the journey: The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

This journey is actually a caravan that calls men and women everywhere to drop what they are doing and follow Jesus.  This is not just any man who calls, but one who gave up the glories of heaven to be born in a barn, raised by a carpenter, live as a wandering prophet, suffer at the hands of cruel men, and bear in His soul the weight of God’s eternal wrath.  Why would he do this?  To seek and to save what was lost.

Why would you trust this driver through the treacherous, winding trails of life?  Because this is not just anyone who calls.  It is Jesus, the eternal Son of God who broke into history to seek and to save you at the cost of His own blood.  From all eternity past He calculated the cost of having a deep, personal relationship with people like you and me, sinners who by nature are deeply rebellious, and He said, ‘Yes’.  He came to seek and to save what was lost.  And He has told us that his mission is now our mission, as we ‘make disciples of all nations’.

Jesus’ call is not simple, it involves time, relationships, questions, searching, sacrifice, prayer, and a dramatic change of life called worship.  As good Presbyterians we actually enjoy these complexities.  I was headed to General Assembly this week, where 15 years ago I experienced the Achilles heel of Presbyerianism, when we debated for 45 minutes over how to trim the docket by 15 minutes!  For many of us, complex questions are in our DNA.  But Jesus could boil down his mission to a simple statement: seek and save.  We have boiled down ours too, not that we shouldn’t ask questions, or search out mysteries, but that behind it all there is a purpose and focused mission we are on and we must never lose sight of: Transformed by Grace, Poured Out for Others.  We, like our Savior, are on a mission.

A third and final word from Jesus tells us the certainty of the outcome: I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Jesus is building a church, a living Temple, and you are the stones.  As he seeks and saves He draws us into a broad-scale building project that is not build by human hands and can never be destroyed.  Paul describes it this way: “you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ… Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.  In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:12-13, 19-22)

The building project didn’t get delayed or disrupted, it has never stopped.  Jesus is building His Church and the devil himself can’t stop it.  Notice that Jesus is on the offensive, not the defensive.  He is bashing down the strongholds of Satan and the gates won’t hold.  “I will build my Church.”

Many emotions are stirred when looking at the ruins of 9th and D.  When some ask you how the ‘church’ looks tell them you saw Zion Church on Sunday… and she looks just fine.

I have been deeply moved by what I have seen from the church of Lincoln.  Within hours of our disaster I was contacted fellow pastors, church members, and prayer teams, with no less than 10 churches offering their facilities to us for extended use.

Before ten o’clock yesterday morning (while the flames were still burning) Pastor Steve from St. Paul’s had tracked me down to offer their building for this service.  God is at work in Lincoln.

I have seen partnerships between churches where competition and jealousy used to run the day.  At a recent funeral one woman noted that she parked her car at New Covenant Community Church, was shuttled by someone at First Evangelical Free Church, attended the funeral at Faith Bible Church, and listened to the sermon preached by the Pastor of Lincoln Berean Church.  God is at work in Lincoln.

I have seen pastors and Christian leaders come together to pray for the lost souls of our community, devoting two and a half days to prayer, meditation, and worship. God is at work in Lincoln.

I have seen six churches come together to fund a church plant that will not bear their name or hold their denomination, but will preach the gospel of Christ to a neighborhood that needs it.  God is at work in Lincoln.

The building project didn’t get delayed or disrupted, it has never stopped.  It cannot be stopped.  And we have the privilege of helping her go up.  Trusting and resting in Jesus, embracing His mission to seek and to save lost souls, and witnessing a building project that cannot be destroyed, for it is not built with human hands.  It is built and purchased with the blood of Jesus.  Amen.

Posted on June 14, 2007.