A Word about the Power of Presence from 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:10

Today I want to share a word about the power of presence  as I comment on 1 Thessalonians  2:17-3:10.

This passage reads:

But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?  For you are our glory and joy. Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone,  and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.

Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica was written by him when he was in Athens. Paul was only with the Thessalonians about three weeks before he had to leave due to threats on his life. His ministry there was short, but powerful and he left behind him a solid church.

Plundering the Egyptians:

Paul was concerned, however,  about the Thessalonian church because he had such little time with them. He felt that they needed more encouragement and more instruction in the Lord, so he wrote them two letters. 1st Thessalonians was the first epistle of Paul to a church that he had planted and it was the beginning of a new way of long-distance ministry for him.

Paul effectively used the Roman postal system to continue to mentor and encourage churches long after he had left them and moved on during his three missionary journeys. We think that we invented long-distance ministry by use of electronic media and social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Paul was way ahead of us.

Paul took advantage of the technologies of his day to conduct a powerful ministry: the Roman road system, commercial shipping, and letters among others. Paul knew how to “plunder the Egyptians” or, more plainly put he knew how to take advantage of the economy, society, and culture of his day to do ministry.

That said, Paul knew something else: there is power in presence that transcends technology and the written word.

Power in Presence:

When times are bad people need the comfort of presence; for example, when children are sick, they want their mother to be present with them.

When times are good, people want to share them with others. For example, when my wife’s parents returned from their two tours of duty in Germany with the US Army, they had hundreds of slides which they showed to their friends and family who could not be with them.

When we need hope, being with others gives us that hope. We can share our triumphs and troubles. We can share our hearts and our minds. We can comfort, encourage, correct, and equip.

Sometimes just being present with someone is all we need to do to have a powerfully positive impact. As one commenter has said, the friends of Job were doing well until they opened their mouths!

Paul knew that the Thessalonians were struggling. They did not have an extensive foundation in the Word, and they were faced with persecution and oppression. They were wondering why Jesus had not come back yet, and they were feeling isolated, and maybe even abandoned.  

Jesus knew what it was like to feel abandoned as He cried from the cross, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Well before the Cross, Jesus demonstrated that knew the power of presence as He sent out the Disciples two by two.

Paul responded to the need by sending Timothy, who was one of the closest members of Paul’s team. Timothy was young, but Paul wrote to the Philippians, “I have no one like him,” and later he appointed him pastor at Ephesus. Timothy was sent to represent Paul, and Paul, of course represented Christ.

Paul Embraced His Inner Popeye:

I like what Paul said here. Like Popeye, he had “stood all he could stand and he could stand no more.” I think God is that way also.

God wants to be present with His people.  He created mankind to have fellowship with Him and Jesus came to walk among us in-person and become our perfect sacrifice. Then God sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and someday, Jesus is coming back for us so we can be in God’s presence forever.

God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden in the cool of the day; it was as good for Him as it was for them. There is just nothing as satisfying as presence, as actually being there.

I remember very well the Iron Bowl when the University of Alabama tried to kick the winning field goal with one second left on the clock. That effort turned into the famous (or infamous depending on which team one supported) “Kick Six.” The field goal attempt fell short, and Auburn University's return man gathered it in and ran for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. It was an unforgettable moment, for sure, but how powerful it was for you might depend on where you were.

My son, who had been watching the game live with us had left to go home, and he did not hear of the play until two hours after it occurred. It was a great moment, but he didn’t actually live it.

My wife and I watched the Kick Six live on television. We saw it as it happened, from our living room. It was exciting, but not nearly as exciting as it would have been had we actually been in the stadium.

The fans in the stadium who were present were either elated or crushed in about equal proportions. And while they were filled with emotion from being present, even more so were the players and coaches on the field. You see, the closer you were to being present for the Kick Six, the more powerful it was for you. So, how does this impact our spiritual life?

I believe if Paul was alive today, I believe he would say, “Enough is enough! Hearing about what happened at church is good, and watching it on-line live or later is even better, but the best thing is to be present!”

Conclusion:

I know that some folks have chronic medical conditions, and I know that some people can’t take the vaccine. I know that from time to time the “ox is in the ditch,” but I also know that it's time to return to church if at all possible. God inhabits the praise of His people, and He wants to be with us as we gather to worship Him collectively in His house.

Could it be that God is looking down from Heaven and saying, “I’ve stood all I can stand and I can’t stand no more,” of our excuses for not gathering in worship of Him?

God is long-suffering and patient, but do we really want to test Him? I, for one, would not recommend it!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Being Careful What We Wish For

 

Today I want to share a word about being careful what we wish for as I comment on Mark 10 35-45:

In one episode of the popular TV show “The X-Files,” the lead character, FBI Agent Fox Mulder encounters a genie with a bad attitude. She was required to grant him three wishes because he had freed her from captivity, but because she was jaded and had a malevolent streak, she would interpret his wishes in ways that were literally true, but destructive. 

For example, when he wished for peace and quiet, the genie made everyone else in the world disappear. When Mulder protested that wasn’t what he wanted, the genie just replied that he shouldn’t complain because he got the peace and quiet he had wished for. This was a humorous but powerful lesson about unintended consequences. 

The story told by our focal passage today also teaches some powerful lessons. Mark 10:35-45 reads:

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

An Audacious Wish:

First, this passage reminds us that the disciples were human, with all the frailties and foibles that implies. In fact, the very term “disciple'' means to be a learner, and these men were still being taught by Jesus until the night He was betrayed and through the 40 days He was with them after the resurrection. We also need to remember that the Holy Spirit had not yet come to them, and they were limited in their comprehension and ability to follow Jesus. The disciples were real people, and this is never more clearly shown than in this passage. James and John were demonstrating their immaturity, which soon caused the other disciples to respond in frustration.

An Expensive Wish:

Another lesson this passage teaches us is that we often underestimate the cost of realizing our dreams. It is easy to sit back on our couches and say, “I’d give anything to be able to do X, Y, or Z!” The truth is, however, we really wouldn’t give anything to accomplish a goal, or we’d already have done it! 

Athletes don’t become champions without a dedication to practice, medical students don’t become doctors without years of study and practice, and musicians don’t play in symphony orchestras without hours upon hours of rehearsal. Obviously a few savants do exist who can excel in a skill without effort, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule. 

Growth in any area of life takes dedication and commitment, which people are often not willing to give. Our spiritual life is no different. We can grieve the Holy Spirit if we do not nurture and develop the gifts He has given us. 

An Inappropriate Wish:

Finally, we need to see that God’s economy is different from the world’s economy. In fact, God’s way and the ways of the world are 180 degrees out of phase. That’s why Jesus said that the path of righteousness is narrow and the path to destruction is broad. When God’s people adopt the ways of the world it never turns out well. Conflicts arise between Christian brothers and sisters, and the results are wrecked ministries, careers, marriages, and homes. The way forward is to drink from the same cup as Jesus, the cup of love, kindness, humility, truth, and righteousness.

Conclusion:

We truly need to be careful what we wish for. If we wish to gain the power of the world we can do so, but we will also experience the corrosive effects that type of power brings. The Bible is filled with examples of people who did so, and their end was not pleasant. 

On the other hand, if we wish to gain the power of God we can do so, and while we may experience rejection by the world, we will find ourselves drawn safely and securely into the bosom of God almighty.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about a Tale of Two Cities

Today I want to share a word about A Tale of Two Cities as I comment on passages from Jonah Chapter 3 and Joshua Chapter 2:.

One of the most famous works of Charles Dickens is “A Tale of Two Cities" which is a novel set in both London and Paris about the time of the French Revolution. The opening lines of this book are probably more familiar than the book itself:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way . . .

The citizens of the Biblical cities of Nineveh and Jericho might have had similar feelings about their situation. The outcome of their deliberations would be determined by a decision that their citizenry made. Let's look at these two cities:

Jonah 3:4-10 says: 

Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.  The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Joshua 2:1 and 8-14 says

And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

Two Cities:

Both cities were powerful in their own times, Nineveh was a huge city that took three days to walk through, and Jericho was a walled city which was virtually impregnable from assault by an army of its day. Both cities were prosperous, but they both lived their collective lives estranged from God. Nineveh was certainly a wicked place, and since the only citizen of Jericho named in the Bible, Rahab, was a harlot, we can guess that the moral character of that town was not the best. The citizens of both cities needed God; there is no questioning that fact. The Bible records that, in different ways, but to a similar degree, both cities were confronted with the facts of their relationship to the God of the Universe. 

Nineveh was confronted with the preaching of Jonah, who if he was the most reluctant evangelist imaginable, also turned out to be one of the most effective. His message was simple, and direct, as he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” An old saying is that there is no such thing as a bad short sermon, but this has to be the shining example of the most effective short sermon of all times.

Jericho, on the other hand, heard the truth of God through the grapevine, so to speak. They were not confronted directly with a preacher, but instead they observed God’s power and might as he dealt with other nearby kings and peoples. Actions speak louder than words, and the actions of God thundered in the distance, growing closer each day like the increasing rumble of an approaching storm. The people of Jericho knew as powerful as they were in human terms, they were as weak as kittens before the Lord God of the Universe. They heard no sermon, yet they trembled in their sandals as they contemplated the power of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Two Decisions:

While both of these cities had the same spiritual condition and they were both confronted with the might and righteous judgment of God, a great difference can be seen in how they responded to this knowledge. The citizens of Nineveh saw the wickedness of their ways and the approaching judgment of God, and they chose the way of wisdom. They repented! “They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.”  Their king agreed with them, and called for all people to entrust themselves to God’s mercy:  “Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

The people of Jericho, on the other hand, even as they quaked with fear, simply closed the city gates, and hunkered down, waiting for their fate to make itself known. Their response reminds me of the three possible biological responses to a threat or crisis: fight, flight, or freeze. Like frightened little bunnies, the people of Jericho, except Rahab and her family, froze in fear. They preferred their fear to the rule and way of God almighty, and their fate was sealed from that moment on.

This tale of two cities ends in a similar way to Dickens’s novel: justice is served. 

Two Outcomes:

Nineveh, the city that experienced a revival and whose citizens repented en masse, was saved. It was spared God’s wrath because the people repented and sought His forgiveness. Jericho, the city that was set in its ways and in its beliefs, was destroyed. It received the full measure of God’s wrath and judgment, because the people failed to repent and they failed to seek His forgiveness.

Just think for a moment. Nineveh, whose people received the frail and limited message of a frail and limited messenger, was saved. Jericho, whose people heard from many sources and in many ways the powerful acts of God, was lost. The difference was not the message or the messenger, but how it was received.

This tale of two cities reminds of a timeless and all important fact: regardless of how we hear the Gospel, the crucial element is our response. The only response that can save us is repentance. 

And that’s a fact.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Our Sovereign Lord from Psalm 8

Today I want to share a word about Our Sovereign Lord as I comment on Psalm 8. 

This Psalm reads:

O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

A PECULIAR PEOPLE:

We know that Peter called the church a “peculiar people” and while he didn’t mean that in a pejorative way, church people do have some funny habits and ideas. As unique as church members can be sometimes, we are not nearly as peculiar as the citizens of these United States can be, particularly when it comes to royalty.

You see, in 1776, we decided that we didn’t want to be ruled by a king, and we declared our independence. George Washington, who was our first president, was so popular he probably could have made himself into a royal figure of some sort, but he declined, and set a pattern for future presidents of only serving a maximum of two terms in office. This pattern lasted for over 150 years until it was broken by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Even then, once FDR was off the scene, we quickly approved an amendment to the Constitution which placed a two-term limit on his successors.

Although, unlike Old Testament Israel we apparently don’t want a king of our own, that doesn’t keep a large portion of our society from fawning over other people’s royalty, particularly the Royal Family of England. How strange is it for the descendants of the king we revolted against to be such objects of fascination and even adoration by many people in the United States today? I can only imagine how Peter would have described American society today! “Peculiar” might be the mildest term he would use!

THE RULE OF EARTHLY KINGS:

In contrast to our bizarre society today, the Psalmist David would have been very comfortable with the idea of a king ruling Israel. Not only was he, himself, anointed as king, David also honored the anointing of King Saul, and repented of even the minor assault that he committed when he cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak instead of killing him in that dark cave.

While David was comfortable with the rule of earthly kings, he was well aware of their limitations. He recognized that they only ruled as the stewards of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. David may have been sovereign over Israel, but God was Sovereign over the entire world.

THE SOVEREIGN LORD:

In our focal passage for today, David proclaimed the greatness of God, and he recognized the Sovereignty of God over everything. He also lauded God for His love for people, and His willingness to relate to the limited, frail, and fickle people of the earth. He reminded Israel that he and they both were merely the servants of God, given charge over what was not theirs, and also given the opportunity to bless the Sovereign Lord by their careful and righteous management of His creation.

In recognizing that only the One True God is the Sovereign, David stands in stark contrast to many other kings, not least of which was Herod. Luke, in Acts 12:21-23 records that, “On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.  They shouted, ‘This is the voice of a god, not of a man.’ Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.”

OUR FEALTY:

David knew that there is only one Perfect, Holy, Benevolent, Just, and Righteous, Sovereign Lord, and that he was not Him! This brings us to the question for today: who is our Sovereign Lord? Who is on the throne of our lives? Whom do we honor and laud? Whom do we obey?

If it isn’t the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David, then we are in serious trouble!

Every Blessing, 

Dr. Otis Corbitt