Video – When Visiting, Remember That You’re No Great Shakes

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Pastor Foley

Video by Pastor Foley – As we practice the Work of Mercy of visiting and remembering, let’s be reminded that we’re no great shakes!  Pastor Foley says (in an impressively high falsetto voice, no less) that “there’s not a lot that we can do to help people!”  He says that Romans 8:19 points out that all of creation is awaiting the revealing of the children of God.  In other words, the valuable thing that we have to offer is not our flesh-and-blood selves but rather God in us.

For all of the latest podcasts on Visiting and Remembering and on past Works of Mercy visit our Seoul USA Podcast Page!

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Remember The Prisoner As If You Were In Prison

Posted on May 15, 2013 by tdillmuth

WLO_visitrememberPost by Pastor Tim – I had just been arrested, and at the time, the terms of my bail were very unclear.  This meant that for a few weeks , I was practically confined to my home without the ability to take my kids to school or to go to church.

It would be anti-climactic to say that I was feeling “down,” but without the close interaction of my church family and friends it was pretty difficult.  But then the flurry of visitors came.

It seemed that visitors from all over creation  wanted to stop by our house and see me for various reasons.  I wasn’t real comfortable with any of these visits, but I didn’t refuse anyone who wanted to stop by our home.  Some came to offer their pity and to share in my sorrow.  Some came to offer their advice and perspective on the whole situation.  And still others (like Job’s friends) came to tell me, in painfully precise detail, just how I was wrong in what I did.

There is one particular visit which really exemplified the Work of Mercy of visiting and remembering though.  A middle-aged couple with whom we were friends, asked to come and visit us.  We didn’t quite know what to expect, but we invited them to come over anyway.

As they arrived at our home, they came bearing gifts – they had brought dinner!  And as we sat down to share in a meal, they did ask how we were doing and gave simple words of encouragement to us.   Immediately after dinner though, the man pulled out his guitar and we shared in some hymns/songs, read Scripture together and prayed.

They never really gave their opinion on the situation or tried to give us their advice on how we should proceed.  They had simply come to share their bread and to share a church service together right in our home.

As much as we appreciated all of our visits, this particular visit, even in its simplicity pointed us to Christ the most.  And I can’t help but think that the man who visited us, who was once in prison himself, remembered Hebrews 13:3, which says,

Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

This passage is undoubtedly referring to Christians who were suffering as a direct result of their faith, but we should be quick to visit and remember any brother or sister in Christ who is suffering for any reason.  If you want to learn a simple model of Christian visitation, I would suggest following the example of my two friends.  First, provide for the physical or emotional needs that are present.  Second (and most important), provide for the spiritual needs that are also present.

And if you don’t know how to provide for spiritual needs, read some Scripture, sing a hymn and pray together.  The great news is that you don’t have to be a super-Christian or have a seminary degree to do that.  This is a simple act of Christian visitation that God will use more than you can imagine.

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What Troubles God Is Not What We Do But Our Astonishing Lack Of Interest In What He Does

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Pastor Foley

WLO_visitrememberOur contemporary spiritual myopia is most clearly revealed in our obsessive and endless debates about whether God is more focused on our actions or our beliefs.

Answer: Neither. Instead, God focuses on whether we are focused on ourselves or on him. He delights in those who are focused on him and has surprisingly constructive thoughts about those who take him seriously, even those who do ill. Check out Zephaniah 1:12-13, in which the Lord talks about the visit he will conduct on That Great Day:

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who are complacent,
who are like wine left on its dregs,
who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,
either good or bad.’
Their wealth will be plundered,
their houses demolished.
Though they build houses,
they will not live in them;
though they plant vineyards,
they will not drink the wine.”

The favored, flawed contrast in much of our preaching today is between relationship and religion. Yet this is a false dichotomy: both relationship and religion have the same eerie focus on our attitude/knowledge/perspective. The less favored contrast in our (and every other) generation, however, is the one consistently highlighted throughout the Bible: Who is the principle and primary force and actor in your life today? You or God? (Or, frequently, another god?)

If the answer is God, then a number of things follow on as a result–things like humility, prayer, fear, worship–and yes, good works. There is a word that describes the source of humility, prayer, fear, worship, and good works in your life. That word is faith.

You are not saved by your faith. Instead, faith is simply the description of a life lived centered on him. Faith the size of a mustard seed is ample–and this is not because faith is so powerful. It is because he is so powerful. After all, the Lord can endow even rocks with faith. Faith, in other words, is no great shakes. The great shakes is always him.

This is why Paul’s contrast in Ephesians 2:8 isn’t faith and works. It’s grace and works. Yes, grace is apprehended by faith, according to Paul (and everyone else in the New Testament). But the difference between grace and works will always be misunderstood if we look through the wrong end of the telescope. The wrong end of the telescope is us–i.e., our faith versus our works. This, as James points out, is a false dichotomy. The right end of the telescope is God. The question God is constantly asking, in places like Zephaniah 1:12-13, is which direction our telescope is facing. Telescopes facing the wrong way will not much enjoy the visitation of the Lord on his great day.

Always gracious, Jesus credits our faith with a vital role in the process. Always prone to wander, we mistake our faith as the object of assurance and adoration. We become obsessed with our faith the same way we previously were obsessed by our works and the same way we are obsessed with  everything about ourselves. Like the flea which rides on the elephant’s back as the elephant thunders across the bridge, we theolo-fleas shout, “Look how we shook that bridge!” Nope. Faith is the flea. It is the elephant that rocks the bridge.

In the end, there is often precious little difference between the lives of those who say “I will go to heaven when I die because I am basically a good person” and “I will go to heaven when I die because of my faith.” Both statements have in common a lifetime subscription to the card-carrying cult of me. We love us some us. But it is neither our actions or our faith that save us. It is Jesus who saves. Faith–small, shaky, unseen–is the God-granted apprehension of that, a miracle but nothing more.

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