THE ROLE OF THE FAUCET

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”  (1 Corinthians 3:6-7 NIV)

Don’t make the mistake the associates of Lawrence of Arabia made. He took them to Paris after World War 1. They had never seen such sights. The Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon’s tomb, the Champs Elysees. But nothing impressed these men from the Arabian Desert more than the faucet in the bathtub of their hotel room. They turned it on and off, on and off, amazed that with a twist of the wrist they could have all the water they wanted.

When the time came to leave Paris and return to the east, Lawrence found them in the bathroom with wrenches, trying to disconnect the spout. “We need faucets,” they explained. “If we have them, we will have all the water we want.”

They didn’t understand the role of the faucet. Spouts carry water, not produce it. Spigots are the tool, not the source. The valve might direct fluid, but generate it? No. We know this…

Or do we? Through what faucets has God poured His love into your life? A faithful church or small group? A pastor or youth leader? A prayerful parent or spouse? Time-tested traditions or contemporary praise songs? A girlfriend in college or a grandma from childhood? God’s water passes through many faucets. His gift comes in many packages. The treasure, however, is not the plumbing or the box, not the container of the gift. No, the treasure is the Giver Himself! 

-- Adapted from Max Lucado in “Come Thirsty: No Heart Too Dry for His Touch”

#6358

THE MASTER GARDENER’S PRUNING

Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.”  (John 15:1-8 NIV)

In this passage, Jesus borrows a word picture from the plant kingdom. He explained that because God loves us, He must do some pruning in order for us to thrive, blossom and bare fruit. Do you understand how this principle works in gardening? Even with green things, God’s concept of discipline holds true.

But the Master Gardener is loving and devoted. Warren Wiersbe said, “Your Heavenly Father is never nearer to you than when He is pruning you.” That statement is right on the mark. You will find this truth consistently affirmed in the lives of wise, godly people who have faced disruptive moments. They will look at you and say without hesitation, “Never in all my life have I sensed the closeness and provision of God as I did when I came to the bend in the road. Never before have I been more fruitful than I’ve been since I came through that season when everything seemed upside down.” 

-- Adapted from David Jeremiah in “Keep the Faith: How to Stand Strong in a World Turned Upside Down” 

#6357

THE SOCIAL WITNESS OF CHARLES WESLEY’S HYMNS – Part 3 of 3

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”  (Isaiah 1:17 NIV)

If Wesley’s hymns seem to say little about social action as such, they offer a continual sense of strength for those engaged in the fight. One can hardly sing “Soldiers of Christ Arise,” for instance, without wanting to march for the causes that challenge our souls.

          From strength to strength go on,
                     Wrestle and fight and pray;
          Tread all the powers of darkness down,
                     And win the well-fought day.

We cannot say what Wesley had in mind by “all the powers of darkness.” He may have been thinking in the broadest sense of the total principle of evil, or perhaps he was reflecting upon the inner struggles that had characterized much of his life. But I think he would have agreed that anything which frustrated and limited the lives of his people – poverty, sickness, injustice, miserable prisons and mental institutions – was part of the darkness that must be trod down. Succeeding generations have gained strength from his vigorous vision.

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas (1923-2015) in “Our First Song: Evangelism in the Hymns of Charles Wesley” 

#6356

THE SOCIAL WITNESS OF CHARLES WESLEY’S HYMNS – Part 2 of 3

Here is the marvel of it: John and Charles Wesley did social action. They didn’t seem to pay a great deal of lip service to social reform, but they made it happen. Most church historians feel that the Wesleys were instinctively conservative politically, yet they brought about a social and economic reformation, the results of which continue in England and America to this day.   

Perhaps the text for their experience is Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” I am not by any means suggesting that we abandon or mute our call for social and economic justice, but I believe that call must be derivative. My reasons are both theological and pragmatic. If we believe, as the gospel declares, that human beings are eternal creatures, then we who are the unique advocates of the eternal dare not let that fact become obscure or secondary. And as we emphasize the eternal, and keep Christ as our focus, I am altogether sure that we will make a more effective social, economic, and political witness than we are now doing. So much of what we currently say seems to lack authority, or to be only an echo of the secular voices around us. We will regain our uniqueness and our power to the degree that we remember who our Lord is – Jesus, the Christ – and what manner of creatures we human beings are – eternal. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas (1923-2015) in “Our First Song: Evangelism in the Hymns of Charles Wesley” 

#6355

THE SOCIAL WITNESS OF CHARLES WESLEY’S HYMNS – Part 1 of 3

When we preach on social action, we are likely to use Charles Wesley’s “A Charge to Keep I Have” as one of our supporting hymns. The second verse, in particular, seems to apply:

          To serve the present age,
                     My calling to fulfill;
          O may it all my powers engage
                     To do my Master’s will.

But when we sing it, we ought to be instructed and perhaps corrected by it. Wesley’s impulse for serving the present age was very clear: “My calling to fulfill… to do my Master’s will.” He had a “charge to keep,” and he knew what it was:

          A God to glorify,
                     A never dying soul to save,
          And fit it for the sky.

 Further, Wesley had a sense of eternal destiny which modern congregations may find unfamiliar if not uncomfortable:

          Assured, if my trust betray,
                     I shall forever die.

He went about the work of this “present age” with an eye well-fixed on eternity and on the will of God. His social action was never in danger of becoming earthbound. I doubt that Wesley would ever have been content with social action or economic reform which was an end in itself. The “present age” has its ultimate significance in that it is inhabited by those who have “a never-dying soul.”  

--  J. Ellsworth Kalas (1923-2015) in “Our First Song: Evangelism in the Hymns of Charles Wesley” 

#6354