“Paraclete?” (John 14:15-17)

Holy Spirit?

If you use email, probably you received an email from me this past week with this question:

“What is the best word you can use to describe the Holy Spirit? i.e. Who is the Holy Spirit to you?”

The following are the answers from some of our church members:

·       Breath of life, invigorator

·       God’s agent for unity, Action in life

·       Counselor

·       Empowerer, guide

·       I would have difficulty choosing. They all are important to me. 

While Jesus was having the last supper with his disciples, he promised the Holy Spirit, saying,

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate [παράκλητος, romanized: Paráklētos], to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you” (John 14:16-17)

Literally, the Greek word paraklētos means “someone who is called to come alongside.” In Greek culture, a paraclete was like a family attorney. So, a paraclete was someone who came alongside people and defended them, who gave them strength and courage in times of trouble.[1] It is very hard to translate this Greek word paraklētos into one word. For instance, paraklētos is translated into 보혜사 (保惠師) in Korean, which literally means “the one who protects, who helps, who teaches.” So that is the Paraclete. The One who is alongside us always, defending us, helping us, comforting us, encouraging us, guiding us.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

So how can we receive the Holy Spirit? D. L. Moody and R. A. Torrey were very close friends and ministry partners. They led many Christian conventions and revival meetings together. D. L. Moody always asked R. A. Torrey to preach the same sermon, “The Baptism of the Holy Spirit.” In his sermon R. A. Torrey tells us seven steps to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or to be filled and empowered with the Holy Spirit. But this is not a formula, but rather a guidance to cultivate our relationship with the person Holy Spirit. About 16 years ago I read this sermon in my seminar dormitory room and followed each step by faith. Since then, my relationship with the Spirit became much more real and personal.

_1.          The first step is to repent. What does "repent" mean? Change your mind; change your mind about what? About Christ. Change your mind about Christ. Change from a Christ-hating and Christ-crucifying attitude of mind to a Christ-accepting and Christ-exalting attitude of mind. Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

_2.          The second step is also to repent. But this time change your mind about sin. A change of mind from a sin-loving or sin-indulging attitude of mind to a sin-hating and sin-renouncing attitude of mind. It is to renounce sin, all sin, every sin.

_3.          The third step is to openly confess that you are a sinner and that you accepted Jesus. That is what is baptism about.

_4.          The fourth step is obedience. What does obedience mean? It does not mean merely doing some of the things, or many of the things, or most of the things, that God bids us do. It means total surrender to the will of God.

5.     The fifth step is intense desire for the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. When our children are thirsty, they cry: “Water! Water! Water!” In the same way, we need intense desire and thirst, crying out, “The Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit!”

6.     The sixth step is to ask. When Christ has been accepted as Savior and Master, when sin has been put away, when there has been the total surrender of the will, when there is real and holy desire, then we need to specifically ask God for the Holy Spirit. It is given in answer to earnest, definite, specific, believing prayer.

7.     The seventh and last step is to pray by faith. In Mark 11:24 Jesus says, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” The simple step of faith. Pray by faith, receive the Holy Spirit by faith, and keep in step with the Spirit by faith.

 

Experiencing the Holy Spirit

Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? How do you experience the Holy Spirit today?

For me personally, I experienced the Holy Spirit as the Comforter yesterday. I had to make difficult visits – Reita Briggs and Don Woods. They both are currently admitted in the hospital. They both are longtime church members and pillars of the church. I prayed God for his presence, his Holy Spirit. When I entered the room, Reita was smiling. I felt the Holy Spirit was already in the room. As a pastor, as a last responder, I often ask, “Are you at peace with God?” So I asked Reita. She replied, “Yes, I am. I am ready to die. I wanted to make it to 90 like my sisters. And I made it. God gave me one more year. My boys are doing pretty well. I am ready to go.” She shared a reflection of her life with me. We exchanged some comforting words to each other. Sad but comforting. Sorry but accepting. Grieving but hopeful.

Then, I entered Don’s room in the same floor. He has not been able to swallow for a week. He is now in comfort care. He was resting in bed, pretty much sleeping most of the time. Don’s son and his two grandchildren were all there. As I entered the room, again I asked God for his Holy Spirit to be with me. At first, Don was sleeping. I asked the son, “How are you holding up?” He said, “It has been a hard week. Dad was confused, scared, agitated. But much less now. He seems more comfortable and peaceful.” After a while, Don was awake and recognized us. He said to me, “Keep smiling! Keep it up!” Then he was able to sip water and eat a spoonful of ice cream. Then he went back to sleep. It was hard, but the family and I were processing it together. We laughed together, we cried together, we prayed together. The Holy Spirit was with us.

The Holy Spirit is our Comforter when we mourn. He is our Encourager when we are down. He is our Guide when we are lost. He is our Counselor when we are confused. He is our Friend when we are all alone. Did you receive the Holy Spirit? Do you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? As Jesus promised, ask, keep asking in his name, and you will receive, and your joy will be complete (cf. John 16:24). Amen.

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[1] Barry Cooer, “Paraclete”, https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts/simply-put/paraclete

“Active Waiting” (Acts 1:6-14)

Enrique’s Journey

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey is a true story about a 17-year-old boy from Honduras who travels to the United States in search of his mother. When Enrique is five years old, his mother, Lourdes, too poor to feed her children, leaves Honduras to work in the United States. Her plan is to send money back home to Enrique and return quickly. At first, his mother promises that she would return around Christmas. Enrique is waiting and waiting. He feels lonely, frustrated, abandoned, and angry. But after eleven years apart, Enrique decides he will go find her. Without money, in order to pass through Mexico and make it to the United States, his only choice is to cling to the sides and tops of freight trains. He travels through hostile, unknown worlds. Each step of the way through Mexico, he and other migrants, many of them children, are hunted like animals. Gangsters control the tops of the trains. Bandits rob and kill migrants up and down the tracks. Corrupt cops all along the route are out to fleece and deport them. Enrique is repeatedly arrested, beaten, robbed, and deported. I am still reading this book. I don’t know yet whether he will be able to reunite with his mother. In the chapter I’m reading he is now waiting for a favorable time, making an eighth attempt to cross the border and find his mother in the United States.

Disciples’ Journey

We find parallels between Enrique’s story and today’s scripture reading. After the disciples met the risen Christ, they expected that the Lord Jesus would restore the kingdom of God right away. They expected that the paradise would come right away. They said, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?"But the Lord said to them, "Wait for the gift my Father promised." After he said this, he was taken up into heaven by himself. The disciples stood there, staring into the empty sky. They must have felt left all alone, empty, lost. Then they heard the voice from heaven, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." The disciples had to wait for 3 days for the resurrection of Jesus. They had to wait for another 10 days for the Holy Spirit. Then they had to wait for life for Jesus' second coming. Like the disciples, somehow our life seems a life of waiting in the wilderness. We are anxiously waiting for the day when our Lord will return and wipe every tear from our eyes. For me personally, I can't wait the day when I will meet my grandparents again and live together with them forever. Yes! The day will come when we will see our loved ones and worship our Lord with them forever. But in the meantime our journey must go on. In this regard, we can learn from the disciples' example how we may live a life of "active waiting" here and now.

“Vertical” Active Waiting

While the disciples were waiting for the Holy Spirit and Jesus' second coming, basically they did two things. First of all, they prayed continually. Acts 1:14 says, “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer.” “Vertically” active waiting means being fully present in the moment, in the conviction that we always stand in the presence of God. The disciples' whole life was a life of prayer, especially after they met the risen Christ. They prayed to receive the Holy Spirit. They prayed before making important decisions. They prayed to overcome persecution and suffering. They prayed all the time. All spiritual giants in church history have one thing in common: They spent so much time with God in prayer. For instance, John Wesley spent two hours daily in prayer. He began at four in the morning. One of his close friends wrote about Wesley as follows: “I have seen him come out of his closet with a serenity of face next to shining.” John Fletcher always said, “I would not rise from my seat, without lifting my heart to God.” Martin Luther said: “If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day… I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” Joseph Alleine arose at four o’clock for his business of praying till eight. If he heard other tradesmen working their business before he was up, he would exclaim: “O how this shames me! Does not my Master deserve more than theirs?” Active waiting means to be mindful of the presence of God by spending much time with Him through prayer.

Praying continually, or spending much time with God is not about “how many hours” we pray. Rather, it is about "how intimately”, “how honestly”, “how fervently” we pray to God. Enrique and many other migrants carry small Bibles, wrapped in plastic bags to keep dry when they cross rivers or when it rains. Some pages are especially worn. For instance, the Twenty-third Psalm: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”[1] Perhaps Enrique prays this Psalm dozens of times a day. For me personally, vertical active waiting in my journey is to come to the sanctuary and kneel down and pray every morning. One of spiritual heritages from my grandparents and my parents is early morning prayer. They would always get up early in the morning and go to the church to pray for each of the church members before starting the day. This precious heritage was lost for a while, but now it has been restored in my spiritual journey. Afflictions and crises drew me closer to God. “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” (Ps 119:71, ESV) Prayer is to open our hearts to God, who is already with us, waiting for us with open arms. The other day I felt overwhelmed. I felt surrounded by troubles on every side – no way out, no hope. I felt like I was in a hell for that particular moment. I couldn’t feel God’s presence. Then, I silently but desperately cried out to God, pouring out my heart like water before God. I opened my heart to God. Then all of sudden, I felt God’s presence. I felt heaven was restored in my heart. Then I realized that God is always near and that it is my choice to have hell or heaven in my heart. Active waiting in our journey means to continually open and give our hearts to God in prayer.

“Horizontal” Active Waiting

Secondly, the disciples did actively bear witness to Christ while they were anxiously waiting for their Master's return. "Horizontally," active waiting means being fully present in the moment, in the conviction that we are the perfume of Christ. In Acts 1 while they were waiting for the Lord, the disciples devoted themselves to prayer all the time. And along with that constant prayer, they replaced Judas Iscariot and chose a new apostle. There was a clear purpose for that. Acts 1:22 says, “For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” Yes, we must pray always, but at the same time, we must not let our praying trap us into a state of paralysis. Not only did the disciples go into their closet to pray, but also they went out to the streets and market places to bear witness to Christ. Of course, they preached the good news in word. But at the same time, they preached Christ through their life of service. They shared their possessions and resources with those in need. They shared bread with their neighbors. They served the community. So they had favor with all the people (2:47a). They were truly the perfume of Christ.

Enrique is able to keep moving forward because of the kindness of strangers – Christians in Mexico. He is clinging to the top of a freight train. As the train approaches – especially where it slows down for curves or bad tracks, people along the tracks bring food, water, or even just prayers out to the trains. The people who live near the rails are often the poorest. But they give. If they have one tortilla, they give half away. They throw sandwiches. They throw bean burritos. They throw oranges. They shout to the migrants on the train, “May God watch over you!”[2] I believe these people are the perfume of Christ. If we are the disciples of Christ, we are to send forth the aroma of Christ. Wherever we are in our journey, we can do at least one thing that advances the kingdom of God. We can serve and love others as well as we pray for them. Here is a challenge for us. Let us reach out to at least one person this week whom we haven’t for a while and do good to that person in Jesus’ name. This is the pleasing aroma to God. This is active waiting.

Our Journey

Yesterday my family and I attended a Bike-a-thon fundraising event for Christian school. Grace was my buddy. We did ride a bicycle for about five miles together. There were a lot of uphills and downhills, potholes, passing cars, and blackflies. There were the moments when Grace said, “Dad, I don’t think I can do it.” Each time I encouraged her. I cheered her up. Toward the end of our journey Grace said something like this, “아빠랑 같이 하니까 너무 행복해요. Dad, I am so happy to do this journey together with you.”

So are we there yet? No, we are not there yet. We are still actively waiting for the Day. That means we may still have life problems to solve, we may get sick, we may have to say goodbye to our loved ones. But we have good news: God is with us all along the way. For now, that is sufficient. We don’t know the times or dates, but we do know where we are headed. And with God all the way to heaven is heaven. With God every moment can be heaven if we open up our hearts to God in prayer and faithfully do what he tells us to do.

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide

The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me

 

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[1] Sonia Nazario, Enrique's Journey (The Young Adult Adaptation) (p. 95). Random House Children's Books. Kindle Edition.

[2] Ibid., 99. 

“Bitter to Pleasant” (Ruth 1:1-18)

Naomi to Mara

It’s often said that of all the men in the Bible who suffered, Job was the greatest; but of all the women of the Bible who suffered, Naomi was the greatest. Naomi’s story begins this way: “In the days when the judges ruled, there were a famine in the land” (v. 1). If you know a little about the Book of Judges, you’ll know something about the hard times in which Naomi lived. The Book of Judges concludes as follows: “In those days there was no king in Israel, all the people did what was right in their own eyes” (21: 25). Naomi lived in the era of spiritual darkness. To make things worse, there was a severe famine in her hometown, Bethlehem, so her entire family was forced to leave their homeland. Then, shortly after, Naomi’s husband died. And within 10 years her two married sons died without any children. That also means her two daughters-in-law seem to be barren. Now Naomi is left without either her two sons or her husband. After this, she comes back home. When she arrives in Bethlehem, the whole town is excited by her arrival. They say, “Is this really Naomi?” But Naomi replies, “Don’t call me Naomi (“pleasant”). Call me Mara (“bitter”), because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.” After all these trials and hardships Naomi becomes a bitter woman. And God seems silent and distant. She even believes that the hand of God was against her.

Hesed

But the truth is no story in the Bible demonstrates the meaning of hesed (“God’s steadfast love”) more powerfully and beautifully than the Book of Ruth. Though it’s hard to find the word “God” in this book, the Book of Ruth is full of the power and presence of God who is at work behind the scenes so diligently and strategically. When Naomi came back home without any hope, God was already at work and preparing something good for her: “They [Naomi and Ruth] came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest” (1:22). It is a good time to show up. Not only that, guess who it was that was already in Bethlehem, already prepared by God! The Bible says, “There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz” (2:1). This man Boaz was a truly great and godly man. He was Naomi’s kinsman-redeemer. A kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who has the responsibility to help a relative in need or danger. Naomi desperately needed a near-relative to take her and her daughter-in-law into his care, and buy them out of their situation of need. Boaz made a great sacrifice. Not only did he help their financially, but also he became one of them. He restored and preserved their family by getting married to Ruth.

There is a story about the SEALs’ covert operation, freeing hostages from a building in some dark part of the world. They flew in by helicopter, made their way to the compound and stormed into the room where the hostages had been imprisoned for months. The room was filthy and dark. The hostages were curled up in a corner, terrified. SEALs entered the room, they heard the gasps of the hostages. They stood at the door and called to the prisoners, telling them they were Americans. The SEALs asked the hostages to follow them, but the hostages wouldn’t. They sat there on the floor and hid their eyes in fear. They were not of healthy mind and didn’t believe their rescuers were really Americans. The SEALs stood there, not knowing what to do. One of the SEALs got an idea. He put down his weapon, took off his helmet, and curled up tightly next to the other hostages, getting so close his body was touching some of theirs. He softened the look on his face and put his arms around them. He was trying to show them he was one of them. None of the prison guards would have done this. He stayed there for a little while until some of the hostages started to look at him, finally meeting his eyes. The Navy SEAL whispered that they were Americans and were there to rescue them. “Will you follow us?” he said. The hero stood to his feet and one of the hostages did the same, then another, until all of them were willing to go.[1] That’s what our Lord Jesus is to us. He is our “Kinsman-Redeemer,” who became one of us. He redeemed us and bought us from out of our hopeless situation by his own blood on the cross, taking us under his care, and bringing us under his protective love forever. God didn’t deliver Naomi from her distress right away. Instead, God first participated in her suffering, accompanied her, sustained her, then brought about her good in His perfect time.

Ubuntu

God is at work. God is working on his restoration and reconciliation project in our lives. God will do it. Then, what would be our part in this project? There are two things we can learn from Naomi and Ruth. First, horizontally, we can practice Ubuntu. The word Ubuntu is a Zulu proverb, saying, “I am because we are. I am because you are. My humanity is tied to yours.” When we are hard pressed, or when we are in conflict, we can easily become selfish, blame others, or fall into self-pity. But in times of sorrow and suffering Naomi and Ruth practiced Ubuntu. They saw each other with compassionate eyes. They put themselves in each other’s shoes. Naomi said to Ruth in the best interest of Ruth, “Go back to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you. May the Lord grant you a new home and a new husband.” (1:8-9). Ruth answered with selfless love, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die--there will I be buried. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!" (vv. 15-17). Naomi and Ruth came from such different worlds. They had more differences than similarities. Naomi was Jewish; Ruth was Moabite (gentile). Naomi was elderly; Ruth was a young woman. Naomi was a mother-in-law; Ruth was a daughter-in-law. But they were keenly aware that they were given to each other by God, and that they needed each other. They practice Ubuntu: I am because you are.

In his book Blue Like Jazz, Don Miller shares his story with us when he was in Reed College. Each year at Reed they have a festival. They shut down the campus so students can party. Don and some of the Christian students decided this was a good place to come out of the closet. They decided to build a confession booth in the middle of campus during the festival. But it was not to accept confessions from students in the campus, but to confess to them. So Don humbled himself and confessed his sins to those who visited out of curiosity. He confessed that, as a follower of Christ, he had not been very loving; he had been bitter and judgmental, and for that he was sorry. He apologized for the Crusades, he apologized for televangelists, he apologized for neglecting the poor and the lonely. He told them that in his selfishness, he had misrepresented Jesus on this campus. He asked them to forgive him, and told them that Jesus loves them. One of the visitors said, “This is cool what you are doing. I am going to tell my friends about this.” That night Don talked to about thirty people. After this, Don said, “I was being changed through the process. I went in with doubts and came out believing so strongly in Jesus I was ready to die and be with Him. I think that night was the beginning of change for a lot of us.”[2] I don’t know about you, but for me, some of my personal and communal relationships are broken and estranged mainly because I have been trying to defend my position or justify myself rather than to acknowledge their humanity. I failed to acknowledge my humanity is tied to theirs. Now I begin to see that.

Trust

On the foundation of Hesed, horizontally we can practice Ubuntu. And vertically, trust is the key. We are to trust God. Naomi didn’t see it coming, but she trusted in God. Naomi struggled greatly, but she trusted and remained in God. When Naomi hit the bottom in her life, she turned back to God, crying out to God. God seems silent and indifferent to her pain, but in fact, he has done everything that is needed to bless her eternally. God sends Ruth and Boaz into her life, and through them God gives to her a little baby, Obed, grandfather of King David. 

The Bible says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Co 10:13) The story of Naomi was written to help us to trust God even when the clouds are so thick that we cannot see the sun. Her story reminds us that the sun is always shining above the thick clouds.

Let me close with the story of Henri Nouwen. He always loved a flying trapeze. One day he had a chance to talk with the circus team leader, Rodleigh. He said, “People might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.” “How does it work?” Nouwen asked. Rodleigh said, “The secret is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything… A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.”

On this Mother’s Day, we are grateful. But some of us are mourning the loss of the loved ones, the loss of the relationship. But let us remember this: God’s “hesed” (steadfast love) for us endures forever! God is at work today. God is always at work behind the scenes for our good. In his perfect time God will turn our “bitter” trials into a “pleasant” outcome as we trust him. Sisters and brothers in Christ, let us trust, trust, trust. Trust God the Catcher!

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[1] Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz (pp. 33-34). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[2] Ibid., 125. 

*Ruth and Naomi, Yael Harris Resnick

“Flourish” (Acts 7:54-60)

A Live Tree or a Dead Tree?

One afternoon during the spiritual retreat I was walking on the lakeshore. I saw a big tree. As I was coming closer, I noticed the tree was dead because it had been stripped of bark. Perhaps squirrels did it. We don’t know for sure. Perhaps once this tree produced much fruit with its dense foliage. But now it is abandoned and dead – no leaves, no fruit, no life. I prayed, “God, may my life not be like this tree.”

About thirty feet away I saw a very similar size and same kind of tree, but well maintained and tended. I saw the green leaves begin to bud forth on that tree. There was life in it. And I prayed, “God, may my life be like this tree.” In many ways, life is like a tree. Psalm 92:12-15 describes the life of the righteous this way:

The righteous flourish like the palm tree

and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of the Lord;

they flourish in the courts of our God.

In old age they still produce fruit;

they are always green and full of sap,

showing that the Lord is upright;

he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Here we find at least three characteristics of a flourishing life: proximity, longevity, and productivity. The first mark is proximity. “[The righteous] are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.” (v. 13) This is the first and most important quality of the flourishing person in God’s eyes. They are deeply rooted and grounded in God’s love. And they stay close to God’s presence always. The second is longevity. “In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap.” (v. 14) For them, their twilight years are their highlight years. The older, the better – more wisdom, more godliness. The third mark is productivity or fruitfulness. By their fruit, they show that God is good and just and life-giving.

Life of Stephen

This morning we will explore the life of Stephen through this lens of the flourishing life: proximity, longevity, and productivity.

Proximity

Who is Stephen? Let us take a closer look at how the Bible describes Stephen. The first time we hear the name of Stephen is in Acts 6 when the early church chooses seven leaders, saying, “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit” (v. 5). The Bible also says, “Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people” (v. 8). We can easily sense how close Stephen was to God. He was a man full of the Spirit, faith, grace, power, and wisdom, a friend of God.

Michael Ramsey rightly said, “Do not worry about status...There is only one status that our Lord bids us to be concerned with, and that is the status of proximity to himself...”[1] Then, how do we know how intimate we are with Christ? One of the ways to measure proximity to Christ is to examine ourselves to see if our hearts are at peace, because our Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The Jews falsely accused of Stephen, seized him, and brought him before the council. And they saw that his face was like the face of an angel (6:15). Stephen’s heart was at peace rather than at war. He saw the humanity (the image of God) in those attacking him. He saw them as his brothers and fathers (cf. 7:2) rather than as his enemies. And in today’s passage when the Jews were about to stone him to death, “Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit” gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Heart at peace in all circumstances is the essential mark of proximity to Christ and flourishing life in him.

Longevity

Here longevity has more to do with the quality of one’s life rather than the quantity or the length. Whether he or she is given 8 years or 80 years, a flourishing person is like wine. In general, wine tastes better with age. The older, the better. Their later years are their best years. Stephen was about 30 years old when he was killed. But the highlight of his life was the moment he died a martyr for his faith. He finished well and strong.

In his book The Life God Blesses Gordon MacDonald asks the following question: “What kind of old person do you want to be?” He started looking around for other older people who were at their very best in their twilight years. Then he said, “One thing quickly became clear. I have known a lot of old people, but my list of ‘emulatable’ old people was alarmingly short.” Some had drifted into self-centeredness, while others had become impatient and cynical toward the next generation. Some had become grumpy and critical, others simply lived in the past and were no longer leaning toward into the future. Then he said, “When the list was finished, it included just a few names. In fact, I could count the names on the fingers of one hand.”[2] Let us pause for a moment and think about these questions: “Who is an older person you would like to emulate? What qualities would you want to learn from them? What does “finishing well” mean to you? What adjustments will you need to make to finish well?”

Productivity

Now I would like to invite you to think about Stephen’s legacy. From a human point of view it’s hard to understand his early death. Stephen became the first martyr in the early church. What legacy did he leave behind?  When the Jews dragged him and stoned him to death, the young ringleader named Saul was there and approved of his execution. While they were stoning Stephen, Saul heard him saying “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Stephen’s last words didn’t change Saul immediately. But I believe those words did ring in his ears and made him wonder, struggle, and eventually turn to Christ in God’s time. The blood of Stephen became the seed of Paul’s conversion. Life begets life.

Have you heard of the name Edward Kimball? Probably not. But his legacy proves what a “nobody” can do when he cares about people and God’s kingdom. Edward Kimball was a Sunday school teacher in Chicago in 1855. He visited one of his teenage students at the shoe store where the teen worked, and shared the gospel with him. Kimball nurtured the young man’s faith in the Sunday school class he taught. That young man was D.L. Moody.

1. Moody shared Christ with a man named F. B. Meyer.

2. F. B. Meyer’s preaching led to the conversion of J. Wilbur Chapman.

3. Chapman’s preaching led to the conversion of Billy Sunday.

4. Mordecai Ham was converted at a Billy Sunday meeting.

5. Billy Graham was converted at a Ham meeting.

6. Graham preached the gospel face-to-face to more people than anyone else in history.[3]

As a Christian, we have one same question to ask ourselves: “How can I make a lasting investment in others’ lives?” When I visit the homebound and nursing homes, sometimes I hear them say, “Why am I still here?” But as long as we have life and breath, we have a purpose. Every person can do three things for others: love them, serve them, and pray for them. By this, we bear much fruit.

The Best Is Yet to Come

In her book The Five Silent Years of Corrie ten Boom her caregiver Pamela Rosewell tells us a beautiful story of ten Boom’s final days on earth. In her eighties ten Boom had a major stroke and became bedridden and mute, but she still found ways of serving and loving God and others. Rosewell wrote[4]:

There had been a tremendous change in her way of life, one that could crush her spirit—but that had not happened. . . . I could see no difference in the attitude of this weak and silent Aunt Corrie to that of the strong speaker whom I had joined nearly three years earlier. She served Him then; she was serving Him now… She had served Him in her youth; now she was serving Him in her old age… Her lips could no longer say, “Jesus is Victor,” but her life could, and it did… She still had a great love for people, and God enabled her to communicate that love without words. 

In her final months on earth Corrie ten Boom was virtually helpless. She needed assistance just to turn over in her bed. She could barely speak. She had become skin and bone. One day, all of sudden, Corrie surprised her caregiver by saying a word in Dutch [ten Boom’s native language]: “Blij” (“Happy,” more literally, “joyful”). Rosewell asked, “Are you happy, Aunt Corrie?” “Ja [yes]” she replied. On the morning of Corie’s ninety-first birthday, April 15, 1983, she breathed her last. Today, her grave is marked with her name, her birth and death dates, and three simple words: “Jesus Is Victor.” Truly Corie Ten Boom lived a flourishing life.

Where have you been? Where are you now? Where are you headed? What do you want your epitaph to say? My prayer is that Psalm 92 may be your and my epitaph.

 S/he flourished like the palm tree in God’s presence.

In old age s/he still produced fruit

s/he was always green and full of sap,

showing that the Lord is upright.

 

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[1] John Stott, The Radical Disciple (p. 74). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[2] Gordon MacDonald, The Life God Blesses (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 98.

[3] Kenneth Boa and Jenny Abel, Recalibrate Your Life (pp. 200-201). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[4] Ibid., 69.