DYING TO SELF: IN MEMORY OF WILL MINER

John was with two of his disciples when he saw Jesus pass by, and he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying? He said, “Come and see.” (John 1:35-39) If you want to know more about me- if you want to experience my compassion and my power to heal and restore- if you want to know that you are forgiven and loved… come and see!

 

“Come and see” is a great slogan. “Do I have to sign anything? Or agree to something that’s written on your walls? “No, not at all. Just come and see!” Come and see how we feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Come and see how loving we are. Come and see! And if you are lead to know more… we will help you understand the Bible and grow spiritually. Oh, just come and see!

 

But being a Christian is not an academic pursuit or a fan club, and when we invite you to give Jesus a hand, we don’t mean applause! We mean in ministry, in work, with emotions, and in spite of our biases and fears. We will invite you to sing, even if it’s off-key, and deliver food to people who don’t seem to need or deserve it. Jesus noted that, in community and with Holy Spirit power, we will do greater things than He did. So, “come and see” will give way to “come and do.” Please come and do what God has called and equipped you to do- visit, pray, call, cook, serve, clean up, organize, support… and much more!

 

But we don’t do things just to be doing them, and we don’t do things to make others think more of us. We do things for Jesus… and we feed the hungry just because they’re hungry, and serve others without regard to race, gender, political leanings, their ability to repay us or help us in some way… and we serve them, empower them, and brighten their day with compassion and love. If we’re doing things for Jesus, we will do them without judgment and just because love demands. Thus, “come and do” becomes “come and do for Christ’s sake!” “Come and do without any thought of self” because doing things for Jesus will be our highest priority.

 

When Jesus calls a person, he bids him or her to come and die to themselves and live for Him! He is the Lord and we do His bidding. And so, “come and see” becomes “come and do” and then “come and die”… to self. And what is “dying to self”? Well… when pleasing God becomes our greatest joy and loving others in His name becomes our vocation, we are dying to self. When we’re not forgiven, shunned, and no longer count… but it is well with our soul, we are dying to self. When we see our brothers and sisters prosper, and honestly rejoice with them, while our own needs are far greater and unmet: we are dying to self. When we see others, first, as God’s creations, and then as our own brothers and sisters, who need to be loved and forgiven, and helped if need be… we are dying to self.

 

Over the years I’ve known many people who are struggling to “let go and let God,” and they fight against self-will everyday. I am grateful to have known them because they have given me hope… that I too will find peace and joy in surrender! They have shown me that there’s no need for scorecards in God’s kingdom, and they have reminded me that Christ has already set me free… to serve only Him.

 

I will conclude by mentioning elder Wilbur Miner, who lived his life to please God. He had a job and a great family, for sure, but his main goal was to “be Christ” to people in need, and to see “Christ” in all others. Will lived for Christ and he died with God on his mind.

His son, Dan, just told me that when Will was dying in hospice care, he reached the point where he was in considerable and relentless pain. And instead of wondering “why me?” or suggesting that he somehow had earned a better ending, he asked Dan to open his Bible and read the book of Job to him! He died soon after that… be he had already died to self!

 

 

 

 

 

JOB AND THE ACCUSER

 

JOB AND THE ACCUSER

 

The book of Job is a difficult story. It’s easier (for me) to talk about than Jesus’ comments on marriage and divorce (Mark 10), but it’s still difficult because it cuts against the grain of the American dream, and also the “me first” theology that many people hold dear.

A long, long time ago, God was meeting with a number of His “lieutenants” when Satan walked in, The Hebrew word “ha-Satan” means “accuser” and it is one of the few Hebrew words that came to us intact. Satan was known as “The Accuser,” and he was on top of his game when he appeared. He had been “going to and fro” on the earth and God asked if he had paid attention to His servant, Job, who was a man who obeyed God’s law and gave generously to others.

God was pleased with Job, but Satan said that Job would turn on God if God took away all of his wealth, Job was a very wealthy man. The Bible says he had 7 sons, 3 daughters, 500 oxen, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels… and many servants. Satan noted that It’s easy to praise God if you are on the top of the world. But God was sure that Job’s love ran deeper than that… so He took away Job’s family, servants, cattle, sheep, cattle and everything else! It was all gone… but Job remained steadfast. Well, the Accuser wouldn’t let it go! Job had not suffered enough personal pain, Satan noted, and he would surely turn on God if he did! Well, with a caveat not to kill Job, God gave Satan the “go-ahead” to prove his case. And  Job was attacked with sores from head to toe, and left with nothing… but a pile of ashes and three friends, who insisted that Job must have brought all of this on himself, by sinning!

It’s a challenging story- in part because God is involved in it, and in part, because it goes from riches to rags instead of from rags to riches. We believe that God will bless us if we’re faithful and reward us if we are “good.” And Job’s tale is our worst nightmare because a good person ends up losing everything! And so, what went wrong? Who’s to blame? Is it God, who according to Scripture, let: all of this happen just to show that Job’s faith was NOT based on circumstances? Is it Satan, who seemed to be “hell-bent” on challenging God from the outset? Is it Job himself, for reasons that we don’t know?

Well, the story doesn’t offer an easy answer. Bad things do happen to good people. Sad things do happen to believers. Faith cannot be based on what we want and what we have. In a time when many people expect God to meet their every need and wish, something is haunting about Job’s story. I’ve known of people who pray for a parking place as they’re driving around the parking lot. I’ve known people who pray for their teams to win, even though they know that their friends across the field are praying for the other team. Some people think that prayers aren’t answered… because the pray-er didn’t pray right,

But grace isn’t a permission slip or a reward of some kind. Other than the number of times we forgive other and the extent to which we love, care for, and invite those people who are “other,” or “different” than us, grace is hard to find here on earth. But it abounds in heaven. In fact, grace is the only hope we have! Do we work harder than our neighbors- maybe, maybe not- but we don’t work hard enough to get to heaven! We aren’t good enough to keep bad things from happening. Only God is! And recognizing this is what it means to have real faith and abiding love!