A Little Bird Told Me

One of my favorite Christmas time stories tells of a man who was not really much of a Christian. In fact, he considered himself more of an agnostic. He would believe in God if he could see any sense in it, but he never really went to church, because he felt no need. His family, however, and especially his wife were very devout. They went regularly to services and worshiped with the others there.

One Christmas Eve, the family dressed and went out into the cold and snowy night to church. The man preferred to stay home by the cozy, warm fire and read. As he was sitting there alone, he heard a thump or a crack at the window. He looked out, but saw nothing. Then he heard it again. It was as if someone were throwing something against the glass. When he went over to the window, he saw a tiny sparrow lying stunned in the snow, and he watched with interest as the little bird slowly got up and fluttered to a nearby branch. The poor creature sat there all huddled and cold looking in the window where it was obviously warm and dry. Then it flew toward the window and hit the glass with a thump. Again, it fell back into the snow.

Finally, the man realized what the sound he had heard was. It was the sparrow trying to get to a place that was warm and dry. The man felt sorry for the little bird, and decided to let it in. He opened the window, but the bird became frightened and fluttered away. Then the man went to the door, and opened it, but the bird only hopped to another branch further from the large scary figure of the man. The more the man tried to encourage the bird to come in and be warm, the further away the bird went, until, finally it flew away all together.

This bothered the man extremely, and he couldn’t say why. He thought of all the ways he could have tried to get the little bird to come in. He might have put out some seed or suet to lure it in. He might have left the door open and gone away, but then the house wouldn’t have stayed warm and inviting for long. He thought of all kinds of things, but the only way he could think of that would have effectively gotten that little bird to come into the house would be if he could become a bird himself. Then he could have told the bird that the man wasn’t so frightening, that he meant no harm. He could have led the way, showing the bird how to come in and where to get warm.

Just then his family arrived home, with the children all excited and singing merrily. And his wife asked him how his evening had been. He thought about it a moment and then he said, “Very good, indeed. A little bird came and told me a Christmas story about how God came to earth to be human like us, and to show us the way to heaven.”

Help in the Midst of the Storm

This week has been one of worry and even a sense of panic for many people on our island of Grand Bahama. We have all watched the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in south Texas, and now there is Hurricane Irma breathing down our necks. Many of us have barely recovered from Hurricane Matthew, and many have not recovered yet. The question that keeps coming up over and over again is, “Where is God in all of this?” Some theologians have suggested that it is the failure to answer this question adequately that has led to so much apathy and agnosticism about God and faith in our world today.

            Whenever I deal with this issue in a sermon or Bible study, people are eager and anxious to get answers to the questions they have been wrestling with, sometimes for years. This is no exception. How and why are we seeing one hurricane right on the heels of another?

            You all know I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe God guides our steps and orders our path. This week, we looked at Romans 8:35, where Paul says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” An excellent question, to which Oswald Chambers responds, “God does not keep His child immune from trouble; He promises, “I will be with him in trouble . . .” (Psalm 91:15). It doesn’t matter how real or intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate him from his relationship to God. “In all these things we are more than conquerors . . .” (Romans 8:37). Paul was not referring here to imaginary things, but to things that are dangerously real. And he said we are “super-victors” in the midst of them, not because of our own ingenuity, nor because of our courage, but because none of them affects our essential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. I feel sorry for the Christian who doesn’t have something in the circumstances of his life that he wishes were not there.

“Shall tribulation . . . ?” Tribulation is never a grand, highly welcomed event; but whatever it may be— whether exhausting, irritating, or simply causing some weakness— it is not able to “separate us from the love of Christ.” Never allow tribulations or the “cares of this world” to separate you from remembering that God loves you (Matthew 13:22).

“Shall . . . distress . . . ?” Can God’s love continue to hold fast, even when everyone and everything around us seems to be saying that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?

“Shall . . . famine . . . ?” Can we not only believe in the love of God but also be “more than conquerors,” even while we are being starved?

Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver, having deceived even Paul, or else some extraordinary thing happens to someone who holds on to the love of God when the odds are totally against him. Logic is silenced in the face of each of these things which come against him. Only one thing can account for it— the love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time.

The thing to hold on to as we face difficult and uncertain times is that God is with us, even in the midst of the storm. When we ask, “Where is God?” the answer is, “He is right by our side.”

The Sin of Racism

 This week I did something I have never done before in 35 years of pastoral ministry. I preached a sermon on racism. It seemed odd, because racism is one of those topics I had assumed that everyone understood was wrong. I always thought it was something that was self-evident, like love your neighbor. Apparently that is not the case.

I was reminded of that very clearly this week by the events in Charlottesville, VA. A group of white supremacists, including neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Clan, planned a rally to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from a local park. But it turned violent when the group was met by another group of counter-protesters. Fists flew, the police were called in, three people lost their lives and dozens more were injured. It was clearly one of the darker days in American history.

What fascinates me is that people on both sides of the issue are claiming that God is on their side, that faith and religion plays a central role in what they believe and how they express their beliefs. What does our faith teach us on the issue of racism, and how should we respond as Christian people? How should our faith inform our politics? How should what we believe affect how we live our lives each day?

There are lots of people who have strong opinions about racism. But where do those opinions come from? Is it their religion or is it their politics? How can you tell the difference? On many issues, it may be difficult to discern the difference, but I think the Bible is pretty clear on this one. There are a couple of things that I believe very strongly and that I want to make perfectly clear.

First of all, the Bible makes it clear how we are to treat one another. It is not with bitterness and hatred and violence. I think we know what scripture says. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Eph 4:32). And Jesus said, “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) Anyone see any love in Charlottesville? Anyone see any kindness or compassion? If you didn’t, then you didn’t see Christians acting like Christians. I am not saying they weren’t Christians, I am saying they weren’t acting like it. Anytime we engage others in political discussion, or even protest, it must never be with violence or hatred, no matter how much you disagree with their views. That person, too, is a child of God. That person, too, is a person for whom Christ died. Each one should be treated with dignity and respect. We should be willing to “Do unto others as we would have them do unto us”. That is the Christ-like way.

Secondly, I think we have to recognize that racism is a sin. I need to be very clear when I say that. Racism means much more than merely recognizing that different races have different characteristics. That much is self-evident. When it becomes dangerous, and even sinful is when a prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism is directed against people of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. When you begin to think that you are better than somebody else because of the color of your skin, no matter what color it is, that is when racism becomes sinful. When I say, “sinful,” I very specifically mean that it is counter to, and opposed to what is taught in the Bible.

Let me give you some examples. In Acts 17, Paul is addressing some Greek philosophers in Athens. The ancient Greeks saw other races as barbarian, and thought of themselves as superior – the very definition of racist. But Paul makes the case that we have all descended from one common ancestor, and we all have the same Creator. He says that God made all nations, and that we all come from him. Therefore, all human life is precious and valuable, and we should not put ourselves or our own race above that of others.

In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul is discussing the clash between Jew and Gentile, a racial clash if there ever was one. But he says that through the blood of Christ, we are no longer separate in race or religion, but one. Beginning in verse 14 he says, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” That is powerful language, that Jesus has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, and has created in himself one new humanity out of two. He says something very similar in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We cannot hear such words and continue with the sinful attitudes of racism.

As many of you are aware, there have been lots of comments this past week about racism by Christian leaders. After, all it is our Scripture that speaks so powerfully against it. But I think Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, said it extremely well. In his blog this week, he said, “We must see claims of racial superiority–and mainly that means claims of white superiority–as heresy. That is not a word we use casually. Heresy leads to a denial of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the eclipse of the living God as revealed in the Bible. A claim of white superiority is not merely wrong, and not merely deadly. It is a denial of the glory of God in creating humanity—every single human being–in his own image.”¹

Let us not mistakenly think that the whole world will line up behind us and appreciate this biblical position. There are powerful forces lined up against it; forces of hate and anger, forces of greed and political power. The Christian must always deal with the impact of these forces when he expresses the truth and the implications of his faith. 

In Charlottesville, Heather Heyer was killed as a car was driven into a crowd of protesters. I doubt she had any idea she would be in physical danger that day. She just wanted to stand up for what she believed, for what the Bible proclaims; that we are all God’s children and that he loves each and every one of us, no matter the color of our skin. We should not be surprised that the message of the Gospel is still an offensive message today. The Gospel writers knew this first-hand. Many were arrested and tortured.

I have been reminded this week that anytime we proclaim the truth of the gospel, there will be those who oppose us. There will be those who will be angry with us. Perhaps even those who would do violence to us. We are shaking up their world. God is shaking up their world.

1. http://www.albertmohler.com/2017/08/13/letter-berlin-lessons-history-heresy-racial-superiority/