Life Set Apart

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Don Merritt

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

2 Timothy 1:9-10

I must confess that there was a time in my life when I would have cringed at the use of the word “holy” in a passage like this. Am I “holy”? Do I have my act together, my life all sorted out and squared away? Am I more righteous that my friends and associates?

I have a very long way to go before I am perfect!

How can I really answer God’s call to live a holy life if I’m not perfectly righteous? You see, if that’s what is meant here, then my life is just another train wreck, and I think that I would have quite a bit of company at that particular crash site.

Yet, that is not what it means to be called to a holy life.

This is an occasion where we find a great deal of confusion between the actual meaning of a word, and the way it is commonly used in contemporary American culture, and for all I know, it may be used the same way in British or Australian English- I’m sure some of you who know might want to let us know about that. Here in the US, the word “holy” is frequently used more as a pejorative as in “So what are you- holier than thou or something?” In that sense the person is saying they think that you are lording your righteousness over them, which of course, wouldn’t be all that righteous.

The word “holy” does not mean a self-righteous hypocrite, it means set apart, and in a New Testament context, it means set apart for God’s service.

When we accept God’s offer of grace through faith in Jesus Christ we receive salvation from sin and death, eternal life in Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and are set apart from this world to serve God’s purpose in building His Kingdom on this earth. This life has been there since the beginning of time, it was present in the Garden of Eden, yet it was forfeited through human rebellion. Yet Jesus came to the earth in the fullness of time and revealed it once again to humanity, and we have accepted it for our own lives through Him.

Another word for this is “gospel” or Good News.

My life is in better shape than it was 40 years ago, but I’m still a work in progress, just like everyone else. From where I’m sitting, this is very Good News indeed, for even though we may not have achieved perfection, we can still serve His purpose, imperfections and all.

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Photo of the Week: April 6, 2022

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Don Merritt
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All But Forgotten

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Don Merritt

A very unlikely pair of men adorned the Republican Party ticket in the election of 1880; neither of them wanted the office he was running for.  James A. Garfield was the party’s choice for president because after more than 30 ballots none of the main candidates could secure the nomination.  Chester A. Arthur accepted the second spot on the ticket because he thought that it would be an honor, and because the Vice President didn’t have to really do anything…

In a tight race they won election, and then their troubles began…

Garfield found himself in the midst of a party power struggle in the Congress between the “Stalwarts” and the “Half-breeds”- between those who favored the old patronage system of Federal appointments and those reformers who desired to hire on the basis of competence (horror!). The fight was divisive and brutal in the US Senate and in the end, the leader of the Stalwarts, New York party Boss Roscoe Conkling, resigned in a political stunt and returned to New York where the State Legislature (controlled by him) was supposed to quickly re-appoint him to the Senate. As they left Washington, Conkling and Arthur, ever the dutiful machine hack, were denouncing Garfield for his daring to interfere in what they considered the patronage decisions of the New York party machine.

Then something happened that was amazing and truly shocking:  On July 2, 1881, slightly less than four months after becoming president, Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau who promptly told the police that he had killed Garfield and “now Arthur is president.”  For good measure the assassin also added that he was a Stalwart. The stunning news was telegraphed all over America within minutes, and suddenly Arthur, who had nothing to do with the shooting, was afraid for his life.

Arthur’s fear came not because he suspected a wider conspiracy, but because he was nothing more than the chief political hack of Roscoe Conkling, and with this juicy news people jumped to the conclusion that Arthur was actually behind the attempt on Garfield’s life.  Garfield did not die however, and with decent medical care would have survived, but this was 1881.

Arthur, as it turned out, was utterly mortified; the last thing in the world he wanted was the presidency; he knew that he was not up to the job.  He was also sickened at the thought that people would assume that he had wanted Garfield killed; while they were rivals, he held no personal ill-will for him.  And the waiting began…

Garfield finally died from his wounds on September 19…

Something interesting happened to Arthur during these 70-plus days that would change the course of history: He got a letter in the mail.

Chet Arthur was considered by those who knew him to be an ‘OK’ guy, but not terribly bright.  He was a creature of Conkling’s machine, a good trooper, and as corrupt as anybody in politics at that time. Arthur may well have had a similar view of himself.  During that long period of waiting, he was in agony…

The letter he received in the mail came from a lady, herself an invalid, who pointed out to him that if he became president, he would have been put there “by God Himself”.  Her whole point was that with this being the case, it would be up to Arthur to govern in a manner that would do something for good, after all God wanted him there for a purpose.  Then another thing happened that was amazing: Arthur replied to the letter and asked what the lady considered God’s purpose to be…

More than 20 of the letters that passed between the two still survive.  When Arthur finally took the oath of office, he was a different man.  Boss Conkling travelled to Washington shortly after Arthur took office to deliver his marching orders for the new president who told him that his demands were “outrageous.”  Former President Grant, also a Stalwart, contacted Arthur with his demands, and he also was rejected.

As president, Arthur made a clean break from his old corrupt friends, became known as highly competent and in the way he conducted the office became the first “modern” president. Eventually, he signed the very first Civil Service law which began the process of eliminating patronage from the Executive Branch.  As thanks for his actions, his party denied him the nomination for a term in his own right in 1884, and he died of kidney disease in 1886.  Roscoe Conkling was never again a force in politics and died in 1888.

Who says that with God, lives cannot change; who says that God cannot affect the course of history?

And, who says that an insignificant invalid with a pen can’t be God’s means of changing the world?

Interesting thought, isn’t it?

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Where my trust belongs

Posted on April 4, 2022 by Don Merritt

I’ve been following the news lately, more so than I have for a number of years now. I used to be a sort of news hound; I was up on all the latest, but over the last few years I backed off quite a bit. Yet over the last month or so, I’ve paid more attention. Maybe it’s the war in Europe, maybe it’s rising prices or the pandemic or… ???

I’m really not sure.

One thing I’m sure of however, is that it seems a bit difficult to catch someone in power telling the truth about anything. More than at any time I can recall, it seems almost as though we’ve taken stupid and made it some kind of a virtue.

Surely, I have that wrong, yet I don’t think so.

Well, here I am with my early morning coffee. The only thing I can hear are the night sounds, the frogs, the insects, the symphony of the forest around me, and in the predawn it comes at me like a bolt of lightning:

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 91:1-2

Solomon wrote that there is nothing new under the sun, and that is as true now as it always has been. Yes, it seems like this world has gone mad, but there’s nothing new about that; people have been writing about it since people have known how to write, and that goes back a very long time. Governments keep secrets, leaders lie, steal, cheat and make war. People are influenced by rubbish arguments and claims of all kinds. Ridiculous notions are all the rage for a time, and are then replaced by something else; we all mess up our sandbox our fair share of the time. None of this is new or novel.

Yet God is true; we can rely on Him. We may be weak, but He is strong. We may despair, but He lifts us up. We may feel unease, but He is in ultimate control. He is my refuge and my hope. He is my sanity in insane times. Yes indeed, all is well; today is a glorious day because I am in the shelter of the Most High.

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Bowing Down Before Him

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Don Merritt

Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice

Psalm 95:6-7

Abraham Lincoln once remarked that there were days when he found himself on his knees before God, for there was no other place for him to go during the dark days of Civil War; I think there are times like that for all of us.

We don’t need to be enduring hard times to fall on our knees before Him, for there are times for us to jump for joy in His presence, and times to fall on our knees in thanksgiving before Him as well. Let’s face it, there are also times when we come before Him in reverent prayer just to keep our priorities straight and to acknowledge His great love for us. The most important thing, whether we are living in good times or bad, is for us to remember that we need to be near to God.

After all, God is my joy and my sustenance; my happiness and my comfort.

God is my life and my strength; my creator and my redeemer.

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Photo of the Week: March 30, 2022

Posted on March 30, 2022 by Don Merritt
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Priorities of Life

Posted on March 29, 2022 by Don Merritt

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:19-20

Leading up to these verses Paul gave a list of attributes that he attributed to Christ, and here, as a way of summing up he goes the next step and puts all of the fullness of Jesus Christ into perspective.  Notice that God was “pleased” to have His own fullness residing in Jesus, and to have Jesus reconcile all to Himself. If you think about it, if there was reconciliation, there must first be a conflict…

We know that there was indeed a conflict, a conflict that engulfed all Creation the moment that Adam entered into sin way back in Genesis 3. It’s a funny thing, but for most of us, we don’t really think of sin the way we should, for we tend to think of it as a violation of some sort of rule or ordinance. Yet sin is much more than a simple violation; it’s rebellion, rebellion against God. So here we are, God was pleased indeed to place all of His fullness in the Person of Jesus and to have Jesus establish reconciliation on the cross, for in doing so He paid the entire cost of the rebellion: There is now peace between Man and God.

Why should He do that?

Love.

His love was so great that He placed His fullness into His Son and sent His Son to make peace with humanity; that’s quite a thing to ponder wouldn’t you say? I realize that this statement doesn’t pay the bills, nor does it solve all of the problems we encounter in this life, but it does something much greater than simply taking away problems and circumstances. Instead it transcends the problems of the day-to-day and empowers us to see greater things, to set higher aspirations so that the complications of the here and now are put into their proper perspective.

When you come right down to it, what God has done for us through Jesus Christ puts the hassles of life where they belong… on the low priority list.

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Morning’s Stillness

Posted on March 28, 2022 by Don Merritt

I guess that I am what you might call a morning person; I get up earlier than most. I don’t have to; I just like it. Morning is my favorite time; I like to be up long before the sun. Early morning is the time most of the posts on this blog are written, the time when the mind is clear, creativity is greatest, and when God seems so very near. I don’t want to miss such a glorious time!

Listen to my words, Lord,
    consider my lament.
Hear my cry for help,
    my King and my God,
    for to you I pray.

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.

Psalm 5:1-3

Yes indeed, glorious is only word for it. I remember when I was much younger, hearing an older preacher say that everyone should rise early to pray as Jesus did. I didn’t want to do it, for in those days I was of the opinion that getting up around 7 am was pretty early.

Boy, was I wrong.

I suppose we’re all different, and God will meet us where ever we are, but for me, the early morning is by far the best time of any day…. There’s just something about it that’s hard to describe, something different, something… special.

One time I read a letter George Washington wrote to an associate in which he spoke about his daily routine. In it he made several interesting comments, things that kind of made him come alive, seem like a real guy. One of them was that he always went to bed early and rose before the sun, because people who are happiest in this life, and people who are most productive in this life, skip the foolishness of the night, and enjoy God’s presence in the morning.

George Washington was a very wise man.

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Sunday Sermon Notes: March 27, 2022

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Don Merritt

Ephesians 6:10-20

Ah yes, the famous passage on the armor of God, a passage many know by heart, a favorite sermon passage and a favorite devotional passage rich with metaphor and meaning; a wonderful passage. I thought that I’d approach it a little differently this time. Accordingly, I’ll not really comment on the metaphoric aspect, but focus on the underlying strategic circumstances that all of us face every day.

The whole armor metaphor is a way of communicating an important issue that for most of us is not easy to understand, the issue of spiritual warfare. Over the centuries, people have understood this in various ways and many legends and ballads have been the result, both in literature and other art forms. There have been times when people in superstitious cultures have gone to bizarre lengths, burning witches, so called heretics and almost anyone who incurred disfavor in high councils; history is full of such insanity. I can’t help but wonder how otherwise good people couldn’t see where the evil one was really operating, but then maybe they forgot to put on their armor!

In our day, the idea of spiritual warfare is often limited to the oddball fringe, “nuters” as our British friends might say; you might hear a lot on the subject on radio talk shows that air in the wee hours, along with spacemen and such. Oh my, how clever our adversary can be!

The truth, as Paul points out, is that we are very much involved in a spiritual war; in a sense we are on the front lines. Yet as physical beings, we can’t always see the action, even though we might discern the result. Putting on the armor of God is a series of metaphors that are telling us that we need to be centered on our relationship with Christ, who is the source of truth. In a close and vibrant relationship with Him, we are not likely to be fooled or sucked into things we have no business getting into, as well as being protected from spiritual attack. This requires maturity to understand… and maturity is attained through relationship with Him, so we must not neglect that relationship.

Spiritual discernment is something that all of us should have, but not so many actually attain. Spiritual discernment is not a matter of seeing spooks in the dark, but rather the comprehension of the source of certain things. There is also a spiritual gift of discernment which some have; a person with the spiritual gift of discernment can discern the source of a teaching or the source of a person’s personal issues. Yet, we don’t need the spiritual gift of discernment to be discerning, the gifted person may understand more and more easily, but any of us can be discerning enough to stay out of trouble.

Look at the world situation today; consider cultural trends, trends in families, homes and personal habits of people. Include values, morality and motivations. Also consider items in the news, and our various institutions…

God is at work in our midst, and so is the other guy. Ask yourself where God is working, and where the Adversary is working; can you see the difference? I’ll offer a hint, one that I mention quite often here:

Nothing in this world is quite what it appears to be at first.

This is Paul’s message in our passage, and is the reason that he concludes it with an appeal for us to be in prayer. Verses 18-20 deal with this: Pray for each other, pray for Paul, and others who spread the gospel, pray for the gospel, for many to receive it, for others to grow in their relationships, for God’s Kingdom and will to be done: Grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ.

That dear reader is the summation of the armor of God, that we grow in our relationships with Him and remain in His presence, and that is also the summation of the entire letter to the Ephesians:

Have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Cherry Blossom Festival

Posted on March 25, 2022 by Don Merritt

I’ve heard on the radio that this weekend is the high point of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. Everyone should see this time of year in Washington at least once, as I was fortunate to do back in 2014.  This is what I posted after that on April 2 of that year; I thought I’d share it with you again today.

Yesterday afternoon, I received an email from She Who Must Be Obeyed, telling me to meet her at the Pentagon at 4:30 so we can run over to DC and see the Cherry Blossoms.  Her reasoning was sound enough; it’s the high point of blossoms for this year, and Friday rush hour wouldn’t be as crowded as the weekend… and Saturday (today) is the parade and hoopla. Yes, opportunity knocks! Off I went…

Last evening was glorious in Washington, slight breeze, clear skies and temps in the 70’s; so nice after a long and harsh winter.  There were a large number of people walking around the Tidal Basin enjoying the early evening, the weather, the beauty of nature combined with the creativity of men in a setting that recalls the heritage of an entire people.  For once, they got it right in Washington!

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Looking to the southwest toward the Tidal Basin, there’s a stunning view of the Jefferson Memorial with the bright color of the cherry blossoms and the people out to see the glory of spring.

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The blossoms are thick on the trees right now both in white and varying degrees of pinks, gifts of the Japanese people nearly a hundred years ago, and carefully groomed and maintained by Americans as a reminder of our mutual desire to live in peace… and created by our loving heavenly Father to testify of His glory!

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Sadly, it’s hard not to forget that in just a couple of decades after receiving this wonderful gift of 2,000 cherry trees from the Japanese people, we found ourselves at war, and what a terrible conflict that was!  I hope that when we remember that, and when we consider the friendship that once again developed after that terrible war, we can all take hope that decency will prevail over the folly and avarice of men when we view these beautiful trees…

CB2014 032-LRAmerica has not always lived up to the ideals of its founders, and the Church has not always lived up to the designs of God, but how can anyone help but be inspired when we view something like the Cherry Blossom Festival? Being immersed in an environment where two cultures come together with the backdrop of a heritage of unity, surrounded by visitors from every culture, speaking a myriad of languages, all gazing in wonder at the glorious creation of God?

I don’t see the nations of the world learning the lessons God has for them any time soon, but what about the People of God; can we learn to serve Him in unity? Yes, I realize that most will say that’s not possible, but I’d like to ask this: Why not?  The Old is gone, the New is here!  This is not a theory, and it isn’t just a hope, for God has declared it a Fact.  Can we set aside our differing views on minor things long enough to be united around the important things?

Time will tell…

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