Coffee With The Lord

I remember as a boy when something would upset me – something I considered unfair or frightening… When that happened I’d express my concern and frustration in emotional, even frantic terms.  My mother would look at me, and in a controlled (almost commanding) voice reassure me and say, “Now LeRoy, don’t be a fuss’n – stop you’re fret’n!  It’s going to be OK!”

Well, that’s very much like the voice I heard from God’s word this morning from my Heavenly Father in Psalm 37…

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! … Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the person who carries out evil devices!  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil!” (Psalm 37:1, 7, and 8)

Now perhaps, you, like me, are sometimes given to “fretting” and “fussing” like this.  You really need to read the rest of this wonderful Psalm!  It declares that God is in control regardless of how things appear!  It assures us that justice will ultimately be done!  It reminds us that God will reward and care for those who are faithful to Him.  The Psalm tell us that although the wicked may seem to prosper now and have their way, the Lord will have the last word!  So we can stop our “fretting” and “fussing” and trust our loving Heavenly Father to work things out fairly and faithfully!

Here’s just a taste of the assurances the psalm provides… I don’t have time or space for them all…

“Evildoers – wrongdoers will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.  Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart!  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and He will act!  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him… For the evildoer shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land… Better is the little that that righteous has than the abundance of many wicked… The Lord upholds the righteous!  The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they will have abundance… The steps of a man are established by the Lord and He delights in his way; through he fall, he will not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.  I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.  He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing!”

And that’s just a few of the things the Psalm declares… So LeRoy… “Stop fussing!  Stop fretting!”

Jesus said, “do this in remembrance of me…”

I did an informal poll around our house this morning.  My question?  How many of you have ever asked your mother on your birthday, “What was my birth like?  What do you remember about it?  What did you go through to have me as your child on that day?  What was the experience like?”  The answers were almost unanimous… They said, “I cannot recall ever asking my mother that question?”  The fact is, I think we’d discover almost no one has ever asked that question to their mother on their birthday!  You see we tend to think our birthdays are all about us!  And yet, mothers especially, would have stories to tell about the pregnancy, the effort, the pain, the labor, and the challenges of bringing a new little life into the world.

I think “Good Friday” (in fact, all of “Holy Week”) is a little like that.  We tend to focus on and celebrate the victory of Easter morning and are inclined to minimize “Good Friday” with it’s pain, its suffering, the anguish, the bloodshed, the death and the grave.  Yet it is precisely “Good Friday” that procured our salvation for us… It is “the precious blood of Jesus, as of a lamb without blemish or spot” that “redeemed us from the futile ways inherited from our forefathers.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

That’s why I think remembering “Good Friday” during our Easter celebrations as Christians is such a healthy reminder for us… Why regular participation in the Lord’s Supper (the “Eucharist”) is so important!  It’s also why movies like “The Passion of the Christ” can help us understand the costliness of salvation.  These things force us to recall what Jesus went through to pay the penalty for our sin and procure our salvation on the cross.  After all His cry as He concluded His sacrifice for us on the cross was, “it is finished!” (John 19:30)

So here’s what I read during Easter week in My Bible on “Good Friday”…

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks, He broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you!  Do this IN REMEMBRANCE of Me!’ In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, IN REMEMBRANCE of Me.’  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”  (From 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV)

So at the close of this Easter week I’m remembering… I’m reminding myself of “what it must have been like to provide for my salvation (and yours) on the cross.

You’ve seen it… Everyone seems to be hanging back. No one will take the lead and act. Then someone says, “Well, OK… I’ll do it! They step out – they take the needed action – and it isn’t long before everyone is participating!”

Authentic, heartfelt praise is like that sometimes. Worship is a little sluggish… Someone needs to take the lead and enter in. Someone deep in their heart says, “I’m going to! I going to offer “the sacrifice of praise! The ice of self-centeredness is melted with the authentic warmth of worship! God is glorified and it isn’t long before everyone is swept into a wonderful worship experience!”