Alpha and Omega

 Many of us have heard the term “Alpha and Omega” applied to God. It usually means that God is in the beginning and the end of all things – that God himself is the Beginning and the End. While I do believe that this is true, I once had an experience that placed this divine designation in a different light.

 My mother usually came from Michigan to visit me and my family in Oregon every summer. We would all go together to the beach in Lincoln City for a week. Each year we looked forward to this time with great anticipation. We were in the process of making plans again for our special time, when my mother informed me that she would not be able to come this summer. She was seriously ill from cancer and could not make the trip.

 

We were devastated from this news. I knew I had to go back to Michigan to see my mother before she died. I thought to myself, “If my Mom can’t come to the beach, I’ll bring the beach to her.” She loved the beach, the sand and water. “I’ll go to the beach and dig up some sand and bring back a bottle of the sea water for her.”

 

When I arrived at the beach to collect my gift, it was storming; wind and rain drenched me. I went over to some rocks and filled up my water bottle. As I was getting a little teary eyed, thinking of how much my mother loved the ocean, I turned to look at the sand. The sand is ALL blackened from a recent oil spill. I’m soaked, emotional, and really needing to quickly find some clean sand.

 

I notice a patch of sand near the beach grass. It has an odd orange spot within it. I wonder, what is that? Walking over to the clear bit of sand, the orange spot begins to come into focus through my water spattered glasses. I get on my knees and the orange spot resolves into a toy shovel, probably left behind by some child. I use it to conveniently fill my bag with sand. It occurs to me that God has provided a tool for me so I can put the sand into the bag without having to use my hands. How kind!

 

But then my heart breaks. “Why is it,” I pray out loud, “I can see you in the small things, like this shovel, but it is so hard for me to see you in the big things, like my mother dying of cancer?”

 

A thought, right then, came to me: “If I am in the little things, I am also in the big. I’m the Alpha and Omega.” This concept instantly brought me peace. I could trust that God had not abandoned my mother in her time of need. The picture was bigger than I could see from where I stood.

 

Yes, my mother died of cancer a short while later. We buried the sand and water with her. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega -- the Beginning and the End -- who is in the Small and in the Big.

Fruit In Old Age

I have always wondered about that part of scripture where Jesus curses the fig tree for not having fruit, even though it was not the season for bearing fruit. Here is that passage of scripture:

Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 (NIV) The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"

Why did Jesus curse this fig tree? Maybe it was just a setup to show the power of believing? Since every time in the Gospels when this incident is recorded Jesus uses it to teach the power of faith, this could make sense. Except that it still doesn’t answer my question, why did Jesus do this? Why was it right for him to expect fruit on a tree in the off season?

Psalm 92:12-15 gives us a clue. “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."”

In this passage the righteous old folks will still bear fruit and be fresh and green. Yet old age is not the normal time to bear fruit. Having children is for the young. Older folks begin to wither since God has bound all things over to decay. How then do they do have fruit at the wrong time? By proclaiming that the Lord is upright and that there is no wickedness in him.

How do they know this? They have lived a full life. They have seen good and evil. How did they prevent their hearts from bitterness from seeing all the evil that happens to people and that may even have happened to them? They knew God as their Rock. They have come to trust Him and His word. The confessed the truth about God in worship and praise. They have seen and declared that there is no wickedness in the Lord their God.

Their fruit is a supernatural fruit that does not depend on the anything natural. Jesus was looking for supernatural fruit. This is why, I think, that Jesus had a right to expect fruit. He wasn’t looking for naturally generated figs, but supernaturally generated figs. The fruit God is looking for from us is not the kind we can produce on our own, but the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us. 

Anger

 If you watch the news, listen to your friends (or former friends!), wander around Facebook, or any social media, something is bound to give you an opportunity to be angry. Seems as if our entire social environment is purposely feeding people’s anger, flaming it into a bonfire of rage. It doesn’t matter whether you are Indigenous or non-native, democrat, independent, or republican, white or black, there’s plenty of real things happening to get the heat to rise.

 

So, what do we do with all this anger? Years ago I had severe lower back pain. The doctors could find no physical cause that would produce the level of pain I experienced. After a while, I discovered I was very angry, yet I wouldn’t admit this to myself. Why? Because I was angry with God. How could I, as a Christian, justify my being angry with God? I couldn’t, so I sublimated my anger. I hid it from myself, yet the physical effects still happened. My lower back tightened, causing real pain. Eventually I found, by admitting to myself that I was angry with God, that my pain went away. It wasn’t the anger in itself that caused my pain, it was the denial of my anger that did that deed.

 

The Bible has a lot to say about anger. Two verses come immediately to mind. One is Ephesians 4:26-27 (NIV) - “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Another is James 1:19-20 (NIV) - My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

 

Additionally, the Psalms often are concerned with anger, and much of it is about God’s anger. In the Psalms, God’s anger with evil and wicked people is explored in depth. Yet with God, anger is not about being offended or wanting to retaliate, but about justice. When God acts on his anger, justice is carried out.

 

Our anger does not make God nervous. Nor does it surprise him or cause him to reject us. We don’t need to hide our anger from God. God’s way of dealing with His anger was the cross. Jesus, God incarnate, took upon himself on the cross all the evil humanity has done. Jesus gave his life to forgive all those who angered him. So when we pray, expressing our anger to God, God has the opportunity to help us see things the way he does.

 

When the writers of the Psalms are angry, they turn to God for justice. To leave God out of the equation when we are angry is to experience anger with no hope for justice. This kind of anger progresses to bitterness, hopelessness, and violence. When you are angry, communicate to God about it in prayer. Then wait for God to help you see how to respond out of concern for the people who angered you, instead of getting revenge.

Playing the Music

 Playing the Music

 

I was asked a difficult question this week by a man who was seeking understanding. He asked me, “What is the biggest problem the church has in communicating its message to our society?” I was stunned for a moment trying to think of my answer. I then remembered something I had read recently (I don’t know where), which was an excellent summary of this issue.

 

My answer went something like this: Bach was a great composer. His music was some of the best that was ever written. Yet when someone who is not yet skilled tries to play a Bach cello sonata, it doesn’t sound very good. If your only exposure to Bach’s music was through people who couldn’t yet play it very well, you might conclude that Bach wasn’t a very good composer. The problem wasn’t the music, but how it was being played. So too the church’s problem in communicating its message to our society is not a problem with the message, but how it is played.

 

The church’s message, its music if you will, is the greatest and most beautiful ever written. But it is also, like many of Bach’s compositions, very difficult to play well. Our music has lines like “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16) Or “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) The church’s ability to communicate this first line has to do with how well they play the second.

 

Like all music, to play it well takes practice. One has to put in the effort to master the material. It is not enough to just know which note follows which, although that is very important. To play music well, it has to become part of you. Your focus is on the music itself, not the mechanics of playing.

 

When Christians learn to love well, our message can then be heard. We won’t obscure it with a mechanical rendition, or by faking what we have not yet mastered. There needs to be examples from those who play the message well, so the rest of us can know how it should sound.

 

Fortunately, such examples exist. Jesus Himself is the message, and an example of how the message is to be played or communicated. The apostle Paul encouraged us Christians to “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” (Romans 15:7) When we do this, Jesus, and Jesus’ message, is heard clearly. The music is being played well.

 

So to those who are not Christians, I want you to remember that the music of Christ’s message is much deeper and more beautiful than anyone of us can ever play it. Hopefully, from time to time, you see glimpses of the grandeur of the music God wrote through Jesus. I invite you to come and learn, and become a person who truly loves God and people.