April 29,2010

Numbers 6

I recently went on a campout with the families of my 4-H Outdoor Adventure Club. One of our lessons was on campfires. Our campout provided the youth a time to apply what they learned in building a campfire. Our fuel for the fire was a little damp from recent rains, so we did not accomplish our goal of starting a fire with one match. However, each campsite was able to accomplish getting their fire going. We kept the fire burning until late at night. At my campsite, I was the first one out of the tent in the morning. I decided to start a fire using the coals from the fire from the last night. It was very easy. The coals, although they looked dead, were still very hot. No matches were needed. All I needed was some dry tender and smaller sticks and soon I had a roaring fire going again. If properly tended, a fire is very easy to keep going.

Here in the midst of the instruction on burnt offerings, the priests are commanded, “A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.” The context within the passage is concluding instruction concerning trespass offering. These are offerings for sins that were intentional. The continual fire was representative of our continual need for forgiveness of sin. The writer of Hebrews tells us that these sacrifices are a picture of Jesus who is our High Priest, Heb. 8:3-5, and our sacrifice, 10:5-12. He is a priest who ever lives to make intercession for us. He never lets the fire go out! But the question remains, “Do I avail myself of His ministry?” Do I regularly return to the fire that He ever keeps burning? It is to His glory that He keeps it burning. After all, He died and rose that He might accomplish just that. The coals of His fire never grow cold. I remember a line from The Man from Snow River, “A fire can be a hard to find in the mountains, but you’re welcome at my fire anytime.” A fire that provides for the forgiveness and removal of our sin can only be found one place. It is the glory of the Lord that He tends that fire and He welcomes us to come. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

Luke 20:27-47

The first funeral I presided over was for a lady, whom I had never met. I had no idea whether she was in heaven or hell. It was absolutely the worst situation in which I have ever preached a funeral. I was asked to preach it because our church had done a VBS that her grandchildren had come to. The next week she died. Neither the woman who died nor her son, the father of the children who came to VBS, had a church home. In talking with her son in preparation for the funeral, it was apparent that there was open hostility among extended family members. There was no grace in the home. It was a simple graveside ceremony. It was raining. The only ones who came were the dead woman's son, his wife and their daughters. I had asked the son what were some of the good memories he had of his mother. He had none. What do you say?

A colleague of mine gave me the best advice I've ever received in conducting funerals. I've followed it ever since. He said, "You want to accomplish three things: 1) To remember together the life of the departed and in remembering, to honor them for the way that they loved each of those left behind. 2) To try to reach out to each other to comfort one another. 3) To prepare ourselves to pass through the portal of death. I did my best to accomplish those things at that funeral. Obviously, I had to focus on the last goal. I preached the gospel.

Jesus is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob call (present tense) Him Lord. David calls Him Lord. David called Him Lord when he, David, was living upon the earth. Yet, Jesus, the Messiah, is the Son of David. David still calls Him Lord. The glory of Jesus is that He had great glory before He added flesh to His person! In Him is life! His life is the light of men. What brings Him even greater glory is that He shares His life with us! He takes our deadness, which comes from our refusal to exalt His name over our own, and He raises those who place their trust in Him to new life! He has made it so simple and so easy for us to share in that life. He Himself said, "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Life is abundant in Jesus. You cannot dwell in His presence and not come alive Yourself. Remember those Star Trek movies where they have the Genesis project? Spock is killed and given a 'burial' in the Genesis project. What happens? He comes back to life in the next movie. Nice science fiction, yes? But it is fiction. Jesus is the real Genesis. He is not fiction. He is real life. He who clings to Him, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Nothing can abide in His presence and not come to life! Now, that is good news, which is what gospel means. Even in the depths of the despair of death, at the worst funeral situation possible, there is hope. There is hope because of His glory--He is the God of the living!

I wish I could tell you that the grieving family embraced the gospel. They did not. They continued in the bitterness death. They could have embraced joy of the life of Jesus. But their own pride was more important to them. So Jesus let them have their own pride. As far as I know, they are still embracing their pride and bitterness rather than the glory of Jesus and His ability to raise the dead. Don't be that way! Focus upon His glory, not your pride. If you do, it will make your funeral a time of rejoicing rather than bitterness. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john