giving thanks in all circumstances

I was thinking this morning that Thanksgiving could not have come at a better time this year- a person is hard pressed to find much good news these days (unless of course you are a Sooner fan and your team obliterated the number 2 team in the nation last week!).

Providentially, our text and memory verse this week is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:16-18)

I will never forget my New Testament professor at Southwestern Seminary, Dr. J.W. McGorman lecturing on this verse one day in class. He said to us in his thick Nova Scotian accent,

"Give thanks IN all circumstances, not FOR all circumstances. One never gives thanks for those things that break the heart of God. But one can always find reason to be thankful."

C.S. Lewis has famously said he believes the first words we will say in heaven are the words, "Ah hah, now I understand..."

I think of a classic example of this in the story of Corrie Ten Boom, the committed Dutch believer whose family provided refuge for Jews during the German holocaust of World War 2.

She and her other family members were caught and as a result were thrown into several prison camps before eventually ending up at the infamous Ravensbruk concentration camp in Germany. She tells the story in her autobiography, The Hiding Place, of complaining to her sister Betsie about the horrible filth surrounding her bunk in that prison- and especially the flies. Her sister reminded her of this very passage- give thanks IN all circumstances. The two women sat on Corries bed and Betsie led them in a prayer of thanks for the flies.

Corrie commented that she could be thankful for just about everything in her life- except for those blasted flies.

It wasn't until years later after Corrie had been liberated from the prison that she had a conversation with one of the men who had been a prison guard at the camp that she learned the reason she and Betsie were provided relative freedom in their rooms- and thus were able to keep Bibles and to hold Bible studies and to develop somewhat of a Christian community in that horrible place-

The reason was that the guards couldn't stand the flies.

We may not always know why we are giving thanks IN the circumstances- but God does.

This Thanksgiving in between watching football and cooking meals and catching up with family-why not spend some time thanking God for those blessings you can see all around you- and then devote some time thanking Him even for the things you don't understand right now-

but one day will.

new day at imb

This past week I have been in Houston Texas for the latest installment of the International Mission Board. Here are the highlights:

1. The Board has definitely changed. I am truly amazed at how quickly the complexion and dynamics have changed over the past year. We are no longer bogged down in meaningless controversy over senseless minutia. There is a strong sense that what we are dealing with matters and that we are putting our energies into those things the convention has assigned us to- reaching the nations for Christ.

2. Paul Chitwood is proving to be an excellent chairman. He is professional, concise and fair. I appreciate how he handles our meetings. He is well informed on the issues and anticipates problems before they come to the public meetings. He is well liked and seems to have a great relationsihp with staff.

3. The Board is setting a course for radical change within the IMB. The details have not yet been hammered out, but to summarize we are moving from a strategy that is regionally based to a strategy that is more oriented to people groups and will seek to more concisely partner with local churches to reach clusters of people groups around the planet. Although there are still many questions, I am excited about what these changes may mean for the future of misisonal strategies for churches like ours. The hope of the board is that we will be ahead of the curve in implementing this strategy as missional philosophy changes in the coming years from a more institutional centric approach to a more local church sending approach.

4. There is more harmony and synergy on the Board than at any time in my five years. We are finally working together WITH staff to accomplish objectives. The divisiveness, power plays and suspiciousness of the past has given way to a dedicated commitment to accomplish a big and meaningful objective. The controversies of the past have practically evaporated. Trust levels are high and the spirit is positive. We all seem to be driven the same agenda.

5. We commissioned one of our largest groups of missionaries in the history of the Board this week. I continue to be blown away by the quality of new missionaries coming in. The young men and women coming on the field are the absolute cream of the crop! There is no question about it- the best thing we do as Southern Baptists is world missions.

In a day of great skepticism regarding convention politics and power plays, at least from my little corner of the world within the IMB Trustee Board, I will tell you I am increasingly optimistic that though we are not perfect by any stretch, we finally seem to be spending more time focusing on the mountains than we do the molehills.

For that I give God the glory!

why so downcast?

Have you noticed that there is more than a little paranoia going around today? What is our response as believers?

I have always found it interesting that Psalm 42:5, 42:11 and 43:5 all say the same thing.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

The implication of this passage is that if I look on the inside and see that I am downcast, it can only mean that I have been investing my emotions in the wrong stock.

My "downcastness" tells me some things about myself. Worry is an indicator of a spiritual condition- it is a sure sign of lack of faith.

All of this is a good reminder for us that as Christians we have a view of history that is unique in all the world. When the Psalmist says "Why so downcast Oh my soul?" he is not just soul searching, he is making the point that the way we believe about our faith (trust in the Lord) will impact the way we see our future.

So how are we as Christians to see history and our future? Here are a few things to keep in mind while living in times of uncertainty:

1. To understand the meaning of the future is to understand the meaning of history.

The reason so many are paranoid about the future is because they don't have a proper understanding of history. Hedrikus Berkof observes:

"Our generation is strangled by fear: fear for man, for his future, and for the direction in which we are driven against our will and desire. And out of this comes a cry of illumination concerning the meaning of he existence of mankind, and concerning the goal to which we are directed. It is a cry for an answer to the age old question of the meaning of history."

He goes on to say that the church should provide the answer to this question since we have it in the Bible. We have in scripture all we need for a complete theology of history. But because we don't have it and don't contemplate it, we are struck down by our fears and fail to live in the full light of the Christian interpretation of history.

He continues:

The twentieth century Church is spiritually unable to stand against the rapid changes that take place around her because she has not learned to view history from the perspective of the reign of Christ. For that reason, she thinks of the events of her own time in entirely secular terms. She is overcome with fear in a worldly manner, and in a worldly manner she tries to free herself from fear. In this process (her view of) God functions no more than a stop-gap."

So it is good for us to have a clear understanding of history. The Bible teaches us plainly and effectively that all of history has a beginning, a middle and a glorious ending. This is unique in all world philosophies and religions. Only Christianity sees history and the future as a linear plane from beginning to end.

Ancient Greek philosophy and Eastern religions saw history as cyclical- nature and creation are constantly reincarnating and reinventing itself. Things occur in endlessly repeated cycles so that what is happening today will somehow be repeated in the future. This is the common world view of most Eastern religions today. In this perspective of life, the individual is devalued and life cannot be seen as moving toward any significant end. Time and history are not on a linear plane, therefore the only relief from the bondage of time is to somehow be released from it. In other words, in this view life is something to be escaped from- there is no sense of destiny or hope or future glory. This is the predominant view of most of the world's population.

Another view of history is the atheist view that we are all here by chance. The atheist sees no purpose for history or the future and believes that life has no meaning whatsoever. This is the existentialist view that says "get all you can out of life, can all you get, and then sit on the can!" Life has no meaning in other words, history is just a chance conglomeration of events that have no significant meaning or course.

There are many Christians today who are practical atheists. That is to say they profess Christianity but they live like atheists. In other words they live as if man is at the center of history. They live as if life has no meaning or direction. They live as if they are the center of the universe and "if it is to be it is up to me!" They live as if they are the captain of their own ship and the master of their own soul.

That is the atheist view of history.

But it is not the Christian view.

a. First of all, the Christian sees that everything in life is working out for the good.

This is what we call "sacred history". That is to say the redemptive plan of God is working all throughout history from the time of the Old Testament to it's fulfillment in the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ. All of history points to that central event. The Christian perspective since that time understands that we have entered a "new age" in which the purposes of God will finally culminate in full fruition at the final redemption at the end of the age in the second coming of Christ.

b. God is the Lord of history.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, happens in this life without the knowledge and direction of God. He turns the heart of the king wherever he wishes (Proverbs 21:1), He accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will (Ephesians 1:11), and he has set the times and determined the direction of nations (Acts 17:26) and all things work together for the good of those who know Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Because He is in control, history has direction and meaning and purpose.

c. Christ is at the center of history.

Have you ever wondered why we live during a time that is called 2008? The reason is that we mark our calendar by the time of Christ. All of history is marked by B.C. and A.D.- "Before Christ" and "After His Dominion". This illustrates an important biblical understanding of history- that the central event of human history was the coming of Christ. The central truth of our lives is the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for payment for our sins and the redemption of mankind.

d. The new age has therefore already been ushered in.

The Christian in the early church believed he was living in the last days and in a new age. Every believer since that time has seen that he or she was living in a new day that was ushered in by the coming of Christ. "The Kingdom of God is among you" Jesus told the disciples. When Jesus said of John the Baptist in Luke 7:28, "Among those born of women none is greater than John, and yet he who is the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John" He is making an important point about the Kingdom ushered in by Christ. He is making the point that John the Baptist is the last of an old age- he is an Old Testament prophet pointing to Christ. But that those who become a part of Christ's kingdom will begin to live in a new aeon- characterized by the work of His Spirit and the formation of the Church. We are living in a new age brought about the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ.

But just because Christ rules in our heart and has begun a new age, it does not mean that there are not other forces at play. We are in the "already not yet" time of the Kingdom. The wheat continues to contend with the tares. The kingdom of man exists alongside the Kingdom of God. There will come a day when the Kingdom is experienced in full fruition after the coming of Christ, but until that time we still deal with "this present darkness". In other words, just because Christ has won the victory, it doesn't mean that all of creation has figured it out yet. I can see that in those times when my soul is downcast it is likely because the enemy has done a good job of convincing me that I can be my own salvation. John Marsh illustrates this point well:

Hitler had occupied Norway, but in 1945 it was liberated. Suppose that up in the almost inaccessible north, some small village with a Nazi overlord failed to hear the news of the liberation for some weeks. During that time, we might put it, the inhabitants of that village were living in the "old" time of Nazi occupation instead of the "new" time of Norwegian liberation. Any person who now lives in a world that has been liberated from the tyranny of evil powers either in ignorance of, or in indifference to, what Christ has done, is precisely in the position of those Norwegians t o whom the good news of deliverance has failed to penetrate. In other words, it is quite easy for us to see that men can live in B.C. in A.D.

e. All history is moving toward the ultimate goal of the new heavens and the new earth.

The Bible sees all of history moving toward a divinely appointed goal. Every line, paragraph and page of scripture points us to the centerpiece of history in the coming of Christ and moves us forward toward the ultimate day of His second coming when all of creation will be healed once and for all.

This leads to the second important point about understanding history:

2. The Christian view of history is overwhelmingly optimistic

The cosmic dimensions of history are clearly taught in scripture in glorious passages like Ephesians and Colossians 1 and Romans 8. Scripture is replete with enthusiastic passages that are incredibly optimistic in their scope and future outlook. All of scripture is escatological in nature. That is to say scripture is continually pointing us to the future. Christianity, therefore, by it's very nature is optimistically futuristic.

We will live today exactly the way we believe about the future. If you have hope for a glorious future, it will impact your present.

As an example, think of two people who both have the same boring and difficult job. Imagine that they both work 10 hours a day doing the same laborious task over and over again- but one of them believes that at the end of the year he will make 10,000 dollars while the other one believes he will make 10,000,000 dollars. Do you think they would see their work differently?

Of course they would! The one who believes he is only making 10,000 dollars at the end of the year will probably quit after a few days while the other one who believes he is making millions will see his work as joy.

The way you believe about your future will absolutely impact the way you live today. So when the Psalmist asks, "Why so downcast?", he is making the point that when we have our trust directed at those things that really matter and really count, it will impact the way we see life to the degree that we are not overwhelmed by life's circumstances. This is why we say a proper theology of history will help us to see current events no matter how daunting or discouraging, in a realistically optimistic light.