Red Like Blood

Tomorrow I will officiate a wedding. This one is special. My son Jeremy is marrying a young woman named Kelly McQuillen.

The writer of Proverbs says there are three things too wonderful for him to understand, no four. The way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid. A wedding is both wonderful and a mystery. A man and a woman walk into a sanctuary as two people and walk out as “one flesh.”

Jeremy and Kelly feel like they are crazy in love. I think they are probably half right. Something has made them at least somewhat crazy. I think being on the verge of being crazy is a pre-requisite. It is that feeling they have right now that drives them to do what they are going to do. They are going to bind themselves to each other with an oath. They will weave that oath like a rope making promises to God and then to each other. They will do it all in front of their families and their closest friends.

They will say with a straight face that they will love each other for better or for worse even though they have no idea what that may mean. For richer for poorer although they don’t really expect to ever be terribly poor. In sickness and in health although they are both very healthy people and have no reason to think they will have to nurse the other through an extended illness. And they will think that the strength of the love they have right now will give them the strength to make good on these outrageous promises. That is where they are crazy.

The love they have right now is indeed burning with a white-hot intensity. Pre-marriage love burns like newspaper. There are few things that burn hotter but the paper burns quickly. Too many couples find themselves sitting in a heap of ashes in 18-24 months and have no idea what happened. After Jeremy and Kelly walk out of the church they will begin the long and wonderful journey of learning what love really is and how to stoke a fire that will last a lifetime.

What they will find is that love does not give them the strength to keep the promise, but it is the promise that will give them the strength to find true love.

The playwright Thornton Wilder said it well:

I didn’t marry you because you were perfect. I didn’t even marry you because I loved you. I married you because you gave me a promise. That promise made up for your faults. And the promise I gave you made up for mine. Two imperfect people got married and it was the promise that made the marriage. And when our children were growing up, it wasn’t a house that protected them; and it wasn’t our love that protected them- it was that promise.

If you are married remind yourself of your promise today. If you know Jesus, remind yourself of the promise he made you to never leave and never forsake.

Promises may be the best thing the world has ever seen. I promise.

Joe and I stood on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in the region known as The Gadarenes. Our tour guide pointed across the water to a steep cliff. “The pigs were up there.”

Jesus and his disciples stood in this very place. Suddenly they hear a man scream off in the distance, near the tombs. They look up and see a naked man running full speed—straight at them—waving his clenched fists and shrieking at the top of his lungs. Wild-eyed and foaming-at-the-mouth. Mark later wrote this about him:

No one could bind him . . . not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.

And he was a bloody mess because he continually cut himself with stones. His name was Legion and he was not the kind of person you’d normally seek out to learn about God. Legion was possessed by a multitude of demons.

Without Jesus at their side the disciples would have tucked tail and ran for their lives. But after all, Jesus had just calmed a raging storm with just three words, Peace. Be still. Jesus wasn’t running. He turned and stood his ground. The disciples packed in behind the Lord and waited to see what would happen next.

To their utter astonishment, the demon-possessed man fell on his face at the feet of Jesus. Matthew recorded the astonishing words that came out of his mouth:

And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

This is an historic, eyewitness account. Not a myth, not a metaphor. Demonic spirits exist and they believe in God. James affirmed this when he wrote: You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

Not only did these demons believe in God, they recognized Jesus as his Son, the one with the power to torment them. So they fell at his feet. Just think what all this means for rebellious, human, spiritual beings like us. While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son (Romans 5:10a). If demons fall at his feet, how much more should redeemed sinners like you and me do likewise?

In the next scene, the demons beg for permission to be sent into a nearby herd of pigs. Permission? Yes, they know they have no choice but to obey the word of the Son of God. This time it only took a single word: Go!

So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.

As our tour guide read these words, we pictured the scene. Dead pigs, two thousand of them, floating belly-up in the crystal-clear blue water. The terrified Gentile herdsmen fled the scene. They ran back into the city to tell everyone what they had seen.

And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid . . . And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

Hmm. More begging. The townspeople see the one person they fear the most, Legion, become instantly, radically transformed—and the only thing on their minds is to beg Jesus to go away? Were the unclean spirits still in the dead pigs? I wonder. Anyway, Jesus grants their request and prepares to leave.

The story climaxes with a new kind of begging. One that reveals the overwhelming heart-felt affection and gratitude of a person set free indeed by a single word from the Son of God.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.

For the first time in the story, Jesus does not grant permission. Instead, he gives a great commission:

Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.

The resolution of the story is a beautiful display of gratitude-driven obedience.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Isn’t this how our stories should resolve as well?

I’ve been fascinated by the human eye for as long as I can remember. It led me to pursue a career as an optometrist (which I still practice part-time). As an eye doctor, this short video about a blind baby got my attention. But little did I know what was in store for me…

This is a video about brokenness and grace. You will not regret taking time to watch it. On Mother’s Day, or any day. We need reminders of real stories like this one every day!

And by the way, the song you hear in the background is Give Me Jesus by Fernando Ortega. He will be at our church, Christ Community Chapel, this Thursday. For tickets, go to www.CCChapel.com

From an earlier chapter . . .

Life is like a book. Days are like pages. Each day we wake up and scratch out our markings on the page. Our schedules are templates that push us toward making the same type of markings each day. That’s why it feels like Groundhog Day sometimes. Every once in a while a chapter comes to an end and that is when we recognize how far we have gotten through the book.

My son Jeremy is getting married in a week. His wedding will mark the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in his life and the end of a chapter in mine.

The section of my life that is about Jeremy started thirty years ago when I was still a student in college. Karen and I got married while still in school and I found out the result of her pregnancy test while working the breakfast shift at the dining commons. Nine months later I staggered around the halls of the hospital like some ancient Indian chief mumbling, “I have a son. I have a son.”

This has been a wonderful section of my life. Jeremy has added joy at every turn of a page. I could not have asked for a better son.

Next Saturday he will begin a new chapter of his life. Perhaps he will have a son of his own. I hope so. I would love for him to have the chance to experience what he gave me.

During this week’s sermon I will mention the relationship God the Father has with God the Son. It will only be a short comment but considering the timing of Jeremy’s wedding it hit me pretty hard.

There is a time in the first chapter of Mark when Jesus is being baptized. God the Father can hold it in no longer and shouts out, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” The Son was a sheer delight to the Father and the Father shouted for all the world to hear. “That’s my boy. That one. I love you son. I’m so proud of you.”

There is something inside of me that feels like that now with my son. Shouting those words would bring me to tears. There is a sadness that comes with that kind of love especially when the shout comes when the Father can see the end of the chapter coming.

And that’s the point. God the Father could see the end of the chapter coming too. The Father was saying goodbye in a way. It was the end of a chapter but the beginning of a new one for all of us.

Life is like a book. God made it so. He is the author who determines the chapters. And he wrote the very best chapter the world has ever read. Don’t forget it as you turn a page today in your own life.

I can’t help it. Have you seen the news lately? All kinds of people are doing it. An ex-pro-football player. Seemingly countless teenagers all over the country. Even a prominent pastor caught in an affair. Who knows who’s next?

I long for the day I will depart from this world. I really do. [Read more...]

I have been blessed with good health. That means sickness always surprises me. Health just feels so normal that I take it for granted. I think there are some good things that happen through sickness even if it is just for a couple of days.

Being sick reminds me how fragile I really am. For weeks on end I wake up and feel good all day long. Then one day for no apparent reason a nagging cough begins and within a few hours my experience of life is changed. My body is like the receiver of life and when the receiver is damaged then everything that comes through the receiver is affected. Food doesn’t taste the same. Jokes are not as funny. Things are irritating that weren’t irritating yesterday.

I was sitting with my wife and we were talking about me being sick and she said, “Well, there is not much we can do.” That is a profound statement. I think I’m like most men. There is something to be done about almost everything. Give me a situation and I will figure out something that can be done. [Read more...]

I mulched the other day. I had been putting it off since as anyone knows who has ever mulched, it makes for a fairly tough day. The mulching was not what I was dreading. It was the preparation of the beds that made me put it off. Preparation involves digging up weeds and grass and anything else that doesn’t belong. Then the beds should be re-cut…with a straight shovel.

So, I went at it with my son Jeremy and my daughter Becca who chose to be home from college on the wrong weekend. I have often reminded my children during times like these that this was one of the reasons I wanted kids in the first place.

We cut and prepared and then spread the mulch one wheelbarrow at a time. When we finished it looked and smelled wonderful. Personally, I love the smell of mulch in the morning. It smells like…victory!

I’ve noticed since that weekend that I have been trying to stay current with my flowerbeds. I love the way they look and when I see a weed raise it’s little ugly head I go after it with a vengeance.

My flowerbeds are not unlike my heart. There are times when I feel I have neglected my heart and all sorts of little weeds have grown up. [Read more...]