Set wide the window. Let me drink the day. Edith Wharton
My wife loves open windows. If she had it her way, she would have our windows open year-round, rain or shine. It’s about the fresh air. I’m thinking about the NPR program, “Fresh Air” and what a great title that is. Open windows let in fresh air.
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. John 17:12
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. John 17:15
Highway to the danger zone
I’m gonna take you
Right into the danger zone
Highway to the danger zone
Right into the danger zone
– lyrics by Tom Whitlock
With the Presidential campaign in America in full swing, and the issue of safety already turning out to be one of the key elements being addressed, I thought it might be good to talk about what the Bible promises about safety, and the answer is a resounding: Not much.
The only time safety is talked about directly in the New Testament is in the prayer Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17 when He knew that His time with them was drawing to a close. In His prayer He tells His Father that He has protected the disciples while He was with them, and only one had been lost (Judas) and that was a fulfillment of scripture. And then He asks His Father to protect them, after He leaves, from the evil one while they are in the midst of a dangerous world.
If this is God’s intention for us in relation to safety, it’s a pretty radical departure from that safety that so many are seeking, and politicians are falsely promising. (I say “falsely” not to purposely put down any candidate, but to drive home the point that no one man or woman can keep every citizen of this country safe; I don’t care who they are.)
Here, Jesus is clearly praying for our protection in the context of an unsafe environment. And the strategy of even Jesus is not to make the environment safe, but to protect us in the midst of a dangerous world. Jesus makes the point that in a dangerous world, He will protect us, and not necessarily protect us from harm (think of the harm that immediately came upon many of the early Christians who were severely persecuted), but He will protect us from the evil one. He’s talking about protecting our faith. The evil one cannot sway us from our belief and trust in Christ. He may be able to harm our bodies, but he cannot touch our souls.
So this is where God pats us on the head and sends us out into the “danger zone” of faith. It’s not necessarily going to get any better; it’s just going to get more exciting. Don’t go looking for a safe, soft place for yourself. For that you would have to run away from the world. He has no intention of removing us from the danger, just to protect us in the middle of it. So if you’re feeling the heat, good news: you’re probably in the right place!
Where is God sending you, today? Where is your danger zone?
For a deeper insight into faith and politics, check our BlogTalkRadio show last Tuesday with special guest Randall Balmer talking about his newest book Solemn Reverence, The separation of church and state in America.
The year’s at the spring
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hill-side’s dew-pearled;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn:
God’s in his heaven—
All’s right with the world!
– Robert Browning
Someone described America in the paper today as a dystopia and I had to look it up. I figured it was something like a dysfunctional utopia and I wasn’t far off. “An imagined place or state where everything is unpleasant or bad.” With everything that’s going on right now, a case could be made for this, except for the fact that God has not abandoned us.
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right
Here I am stuck in the middle with you.
– Stealers Wheel
Our friend made a comment yesterday that made me laugh. It also made me think of a silly song that suddenly had new meaning in the currently polarized landscape in which we live.
John Shirk works as a “missionary” to poets and artists in downtown Chicago. He walks a fine line between his mostly conservative Christian constituency that supports him on one side, and the mostly liberal artists he lives among on the other. His comment was that he often feels alone, caught in the middle between two factions. “I’m not conservative enough for my friends on the right and not liberal enough for my friends on the left. I’m stuck in the middle.”
I immediately thought of the Stealers Wheel 1972 song, “Stuck in the Middle with You.” If there are clowns to the left of us and jokers to the right what does that say about us who are stuck in the middle? How about knuckleheads, or nincompoops, or nitwits? To be stuck is the worst part. Stuck means you are going nowhere.
John may feel stuck, but he is not. He is one of the few people I know who is actually going somewhere. He’s attending our Wednesday night study; he has bought into the church we are forming, claiming his gifts of leadership and volunteering to lead a discipleship group, this, on top of an online church he is already leading from his own home, and an open mic session he is starting online with inner city artists in lieu of the shut down of the local bar where they usually meet.
Actually John is in a unique position to be a bridge between the “clowns” and the “jokers” and everyone in between because that’s what we do in the body of Christ. We bring believers together to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And what a time to do it — when there’s so much division that we can all bridge. Come on, everybody, get into the act. We’re all just a bunch of clowns and jokers and nincompoops, all loved by Jesus Christ and all forgiven and one in the Spirit of God. Whatever is supposed to divide us is not stronger than this!
So if you’re feeling stuck in the middle, don’t. First, appreciate the diversity of all of us, right to left and in between; second, have lots off great discussion with one another because we are so diverse; and third, embrace the unity that we already have because the Spirit lives and loves in us all. We are already one because of that Spirit. That oneness will show up every time we come together whether in real time or cyberspace.
For a surprisingly good YouTube rendering of the 1972 song, “Stuck in the Middle with You” by four Gen Xers, click here. Proof that the kids like our music. They nailed it. This is in some ways better than the original.
Look at us over the last week and a half. Go to our website and scroll down through the recent Catches and you’ll find they are all about Jesus.
“Jesus is the answer” 8/28/20
“The truth about Jesus never gets old” 8/27/20
“It’s still all about Jesus” 8/24/20
“In the presence of the Lord” 8/21/20
“ Jesus unscathed” 8/20/20
“Do you know Jesus?” 8/18/20
“Looking unto Jesus” 8/17/20
We are stuck on Jesus. What a wonderful, glorious place to be! We just can’t get enough of Jesus. And why should we? What else is there we could talk about? A pandemic? An election? A tanking economy? Racism? Street protests? A fractured country? A divided House? Who’s going to buy TikTok? Yes, we can and should talk about all these things, but at the end of the day — at the end of the week, for that matter — where will we be? Will we be any closer to where we want to be? Will we be any closer to solving anything? Will we be further down the road? Or will we be stuck?
Why don’t you look into Jesus?
He got the answer.
Jesus is the answer for the world today.
Above Him there’s no other; Jesus is the way.
It seems so simplistic. Jesus is the answer. It’s sweeping. It’s all-encompassing. In an election year, it sounds a little like a campaign slogan — too good to be true. Promises, promises …
It hasn’t been since the 1960s that there was so much division and political and social unrest in America, prompting some to speculate that other parallels might exist between then and now. For instance, it was out of the 60s that the Jesus movement was born, which makes you wonder if we might be on the brink of another spiritual revolution among millennials and Gen Z youth. There was a huge disillusionment with politics and institutions 50 years ago, and a great distrust in those who were in power, not just in the government, but in the church as well. That certainly is true today. That’s why so many young people were taking a fresh look at Jesus.
EVANGEL: the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ for you and for the sake of the world.
ICALISM: other stuff; might be good, might be bad, but it’s not the evangel.
I received the quote above from a pastor friend of mine and thought it a fitting introduction to an important Catch. Here at the Catch, we are and will always be about the evangel — “the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ for you and for the sake of the world.” As for the “icalism” part? We could care less.
All last week Jesus was our theme. It was to be a reminder that it’s always all about Jesus. We are so easily sidetracked onto other things. We nod our heads that it’s all about Jesus but then suddenly we are talking about and debating theology or social issues, or doctrine, or politics — not that these are supposed to be off limits, but they become the dominant themes of our discussions on Christianity as if there was an official Christian position on any of these things. There is no Christian politic, or Christian social doctrine, or Christian theology that we are all supposed to agree on. There is no Christian agenda, and no Christian culture. No, practically speaking, there is just Jesus, and then there is all the rest.
I have finally found a place to live
In the presence of the Lord
That was then; this is now. My purpose for turning back the clock on the Jesus movement (see yesterday’s Catch) was to show how God periodically breaks in on history, and when He does, it’s to bring us back to Jesus. Jesus alone. Simplify. Clear out the clutter. And it’s not just the message about Jesus we’re talking about, it is the person and presence of Jesus. Jesus and nothing else. It’s the presence that changes everything.
John Fischer The Catch 