In John 13:3, the scriptures tell us that “Jesus knew that He hadcome from the Father and that He would soon return to Him,” and with thesecurity of that knowledge of His origin & destiny, pursued His calling asServant-Savior of His bride, the Church. Most of us develop a curiosity atsome point in life to also know where we came from (from a humanperspective) and where we are going. I suppose my interest was peaked earlyby my own father’s interest and investigation of the Stubbs’ family originsfrom a pair of brothers that came over from England during the colonial daysof the 1700’s. On several visits over to the “homeland” my dad traced theStubbs back to a town outside of York, England in the north calledNairsborough. My mother and I retraced those steps almost a decade ago andpleasantly discovered a plaque hanging on a wall near the center of town inhonor of Bishop Stubbs back in the 1600’s. Happy to know that our originalkin included some clergy of esteem, my dad’s demeanor toward his ministerson took a new course in the later years of his life, for the better. Andso, with the recent reading of David McCullough’s John Adams, I too waspleasantly surprised to better understand the origins of this central figureof our nation’s foundation. But the more revealing story within thismasterful biography is Adam’s relationship with Thomas Jefferson for over 50years, and how the two giants of America’s foundation reflect the very soulwhich this nation continues to exhibit even today. Meeting for the firsttime in Philadelphia during the 1776 Continental Congress, called the“school of political prophets” and the “nursery of American statesmen,” theydeliberated over war with Britain. Who knew at that point that theirrelationship would last for 50 years and end in God’s providence on thenation’s 50th birthday of July 4, 1826 with both of their deaths. Over thosefirst 50 years of America’s life, Jefferson, the southern aristocrat fromVirginia, and Adams, the middle class farmer/lawyer from Massachusetts woulduse all of the intellectual gifts they possessed to shape the principles andpolicies upon which the nation would be guided until this day. Jeffersonchiefly through his pen and Adams through his oratory skills of persuasioncrafted and proclaimed the founding documents, though they were men cut fromvery different cloth altogether. The son of Deacon John from First ChurchBraintree, Mass, “Adams was both a devout Christian and an independentthinker, who saw no conflict in being both” wrote McCullough. “Whatpreserved this race of Adamses in all their ramifications in such numbers,health, peace, and comfort,” John would comment to his friend Benjamin Rushlate in life, “was religion, without which they would have been rakes, fops,sots, gamblers, starved with hunger, or frozen with cold.” It was his deeplyheld Christian convictions that kept Adams “attending services twice, eventhree times on the Sabbath,” on Congress’ only day of respite. And hisnatural trust in God led him to support a proposal for a “day of fasting andprayer” for God’s direction of the Congress in their deliberation ofdealings with Britain during 1776. Indeed, throughout his political lifewhich took him, along with Jefferson, from the halls of the ContinentalCongress, to the palaces of France as an ambassador, back to the newAmerican nation as its first vice-president and then as its secondpresident, and then back to Massachusetts to live out his life as a farmerand father of the future president, John Quincy, Adam’s life & characterevidenced the virtue & faith which adorns a Christian and leads his heavenlyfarther to tell him “well done good and faithful servant” on Jordan’sdistant shore of death. Though a Yankee, Adams reflected the Christian soulof America which God has caused to live on today. Not so with our southernbrother from Virginia, Thomas Jefferson. Though as well educated as Adams,Jefferson came from a family of power & money which had little need ofreligion. And while the stress of Adam’s upbringing was on character,Jefferson’s was on image. He was gracious, diplomatic & polished and“devoted to the ideal of improving mankind, but with comparatively littleinterest in people.” And as their relationship unfolded and their politicalpositions revealed in their decisions as ambassadors and leaders in theWhite House, Jefferson revealed himself as the consummate secularEnlightenment humanist liberal, believing in the goodness & nobility of manand his ability by his own reason to build a nation without the help of Godor religion. And so, devoid of Christian theology or moral convictions, thepolished politician from Virginia opposed the “national day of prayer andfasting,” supported the slander President Adams while he is in the whitehouse, carried on sexual affairs with the ladies at the French court whilein Paris and his own slave women (ex: Sally Hemings) and even edited theBible to create his own, ridding the authoritative Scriptures of allreferences to Jesus as atoning Savior for fallen man, an idea anathema to asecular humanist. But still, Jefferson reflected the other side of theAmerican soul which battles to this day the other half, committed to aBiblical worldview and a trust in Almighty God. Both sides of our Americansoul have had leaders in every branch of the government which those twofounding giants created so long ago, with Jefferson’s man in the White Housetoday. Ironically, President Obama lives under the very roof (rebuilt afterthe 1814 fire) first built under Adam’s presidency in Nov. of 1800 andblessed with the simple benediction over its front door,

“I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all thatshall hereafter inhabit. May none but honest and wise men ever rule underits roof.”*

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? It’s become a cultural phenomenon for most people that fades as the winter days of January slip by. Still, there is the promise of new beginnings which the turning of each year, and in the case of 2010, the changing of the decade, brings. And as people of new beginnings who serve a God of new beginnings, we ought to make time at the beginning of each year to review, reflect, and revise, not on “resolutions” as the World, but on goals. Regrettably, I have lived most of my life without setting any goals, and I believe sadly, most Americans and Christians have as well. Not until a sales manager challenged me a decade ago did I ever begin to really set goals and work towards them. Since then, I’ve kept a list of goals for my physical & spiritual life in my journal that I review annually and it has made a significant difference in my growth as a person, pastor, husband & dad. The truth is, our God in whose image we were made and are now being redeemed is a goal setter & planner. “Before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4) He had mapped out the redemption of the church. Calvary was no accident, but the careful accomplishing of the eternal Creator’s detailed plan of saving His chosen people through the sacrifice of His own Son. And Jesus’ “face set like flint towards Jerusalem” was no passing whim, but the fulfillment of His father’s plan of long ago. And when the grave was empty and Christ had ascended, the goal of rescuing His people wasn’t done. Though the work of penalty paying was completed when Jesus breathed “it is finished” on the Cross, the work of applying that salvation to future generations was still to be done. Each day the Lord is providentially  “working out everything for His own ends” (Prv 16:4). No day drifts by without purpose, effort, & execution.  

  We too should live each day intentionally, with goals & plans. In this way we will live like our Lord and find growth & accomplishment that He intends in a measure we never dreamed. Of course we are not independent like God, and depend upon His directing of our plans, shaping, curtailing, and altering them for His own purposes. “To man belong the plans of the heart, but the Lord directs His steps” (Prv 16:9). So we find this spiritual principle at work in the Christian life regarding planning & goal-setting: neither a drifter nor a controller be. Regrettably, many in the younger X & Y generations see “drifting” through life without any plan or purpose as an art form. They are content with living from weekend to weekend under the “carpe diem” view of life; long term plans keep you from having immediate, short term fun. Hear again Hebrews 12:1 “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” There is a race marked out for each person and church to run, and we are exhorted to “run with perseverance.” So if “drifting” seems to be your sinful tendency, hear this exhortation: REPENT. 

The “builder & baby boomer” generations have no problem planning, goal-setting, and executing their days, weeks and years. They built families, businesses, industries, churches, and a nation, and there is much that younger generations can learn from and appreciate in these older generations in our church. “Drifting” is no problem, but “controlling” is. They struggle with trusting the Lord’s providential alteration of their plans. They fight anger at a worship service that cuts into their lunch plans, at traffic that delays their visit to a friend across town, at doctor’s who make them wait, even after they were early for their appointment, at cars & appliances that need unplanned fixing. These are the faithful Pharisees, attentive to the detailed obedience of the law, and angry that the New Covenant messed up their plans of salvation. These are the believers resistant to the Holy Spirit moving the unexpected and the unplanned. To you brothers & sisters (myself included), we need also to REPENT of being “controllers.” Let us set our goals and “run the race marked out for us,” but let us remember that the “Lord directs our steps,” AND be glad about it. And so intentional but flexible to the guiding hand of God’s providence, we will enter 2010 and a new decade, running toward the goals the Lord has laid upon our hearts and those of our church.

 As the Christmas season approaches, I begin to notice which toys Luke, my 5year old, is still playing with from last year's batch of gifts. If the giftis still out, functioning, and being used in November, it's a keeper, andthe kind of gift I want to put under the tree this year. One evening I camehome to find him quietly building a Lincoln Log cabin (a gift from lastyear). The makers of this basic, wooden kit must be retired in the Caribbeansomewhere for all the millions of barrel shaped units of this toy sold sincebefore I was born in 1964. But what struck me about Luke's use of this toywas that the cabin he was building was very different from the one he builton Dec. 25, 2008. On that day, I built a small palace and he built a boxnext to it, and complained that his was "no good." Fast forward 11 monthsand he is quietly building a small palace of his own, different, even betterthan mine. What happened? Luke developed the gift, he took a cartoon full oflittle brown wooden logs and green planks (for the roof, of course) andlearned to make more and more complex "cabins." It took time and I showedhim some patterns & pointers, but what looked like a simple "dumb" non-gameat the start, turned out to have more than meets the eye, and he's not doneyet; we haven't built the monster Tower of Babel to be knocked down by Godyet.

So, back to the approaching Christmas season. The gift in the manger in thatquiet village stable so long ago can seem like a toy we've kept in thecloset since last year, like a decoration we take out once a year or so tolook at, then put it back on the shelf. But like a diamond that we keep inan astray on the counter with our spare change, breath mints, and car keys,we don't realize what we have in Jesus or His birth. We and the worldreceived a gift that has everlasting value and use and like those LincolnLogs can develop in complexity and maturity over time, if we "come untoHim." You may be able to describe your spouse to me in 5 sentences, but tothe observant spouse you married not a 2-dimensional character but an oceanfull of life to be explored and a mountain range to spend a life timewandering through & discovering. The gift of Christ is a universe you and Istep into like Lucy & Peter stepped into Narnia when they walked throughwhat seemed like just a wardrobe closet. The fact is, many walked by thatwardrobe and never gave it a second thought; it was simply, definable anduninteresting. Because they didn't know what they really had in the wardrobe(i.e. the world of Narnia), they never appreciated, discovered, or werechanged by the world that lay beyond. Those of us who show up like theshepherds to see some baby in an animal pen this Christmas, will likewisehave missed what we got, the ever-lasting, supernatural, life changing,redeeming, savior-King, God's miracle gift so long ago in a dark corner ofGod's creation earth.

19th Century S. African pastor Andrew Murray wrote in his famous devotionalAbide in Me, "We know that all that God bestows needs time to become fullyour own; it must be held fast and appropriated and assimilated into ourinmost being; without this, not even Christ's giving can make it our veryown in full experience and enjoyment." Despite living in a culture obsessedwith immediacy, the gift of Christ, which is the life He came to bring usmust be absorbed through the lining of our soul over time, just as the rainwater puddled in my backyard must be absorbed into the earth over time. Comeunto the manager this Christmas considering what you and I really got inChrist, and seeking to receive, be changed, and matured evermore in His spirit & love.

_____

* But there is another strong voice on the radio spectrum of lifewhich we too often listen too. In fact, he speaks through some of those verypeople most influential in our lives, but his intent is not for our good. InMatthew 4 the Lord Jesus encountered this fallen angel in the desert afterfasting 40 days. The purpose of the meeting was to test which signal Jesuswas most strongly locked on to and whether He would believe the lying voiceof the weaker signal. In telling Jesus to “turn the stones into bread” tosatisfy his hunger, Satan tempted him to believe that physical satisfactionwas his and man’s most pressing need. This is one of Satan’s most commonlies piped through every media portal in our culture, urging people tobelieve that life & happiness are found in satisfying their physicaldesires. “The body is preeminent” Satan lies, and so we are tempted to focuson the body’s shape through dieting, or look through cosmetics or clothingor hair styling, or age through surgery, or sexual gratification as the keyto our happiness. Jesus replied “man does not live by bread alone but byevery word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” It is the soul, Christdeclares, not the body which is the priority. “Dust to dust” goes our body,but the soul is immortal. With that priority Jesus forgives the lame man inMark 2 of his sins first, even though his friends lowered him through thethatch roof to have his legs restored. This Jesus also did, but afterestablishing the greater restoration needed, that of the soul over the body.“What does it profit a man,” Jesus said, “if he gains the whole world yetloses his soul” (Lk 8:26). We should care for the body that God has given usand for the physical environment that He has made man a steward of, but benot deceived by the lie that the body’s condition is the goal of life orGod’s design for us. By God’s hand we are physically satisfied, but only inGod are our soul’s fulfilled, the deeper desire all people have.*

In future columns I’ll come back to the other two lies in this Matthew 4passage crying out to us by Satan in our culture today and the strong Voiceof the Lord that gives a stronger and truer signal.

Let’s take a real life example that I know about. A local newspaper wrote afactually inaccurate story that slandered the good name of a local business.When confronted about the article and its inaccuracies, the reporter arguedthat he tried to get a response to the article from the business beforepublishing the article, but was unable, so he went to press. Big, foolishmistake. Nonetheless, all the business (which happened to be run byChristians) wanted was a public apology and a published retraction in thenext edition. Instead, of following the simple, biblical exhortation to“settle disputes on the way to the court” and “if you find yourself…go toyour,” the paper chose to raise its defensive, legal shield against thesmall business, bringing no resolution, restitution, or justice. And as theproverb says, “before his downfall a man’s heart is proud.” The Christianbusiness owners, who suffered loss from the defaming article, found littleother option than to pursue a lawsuit against the larger, state-wide paper.What could have cost the paper a humble apology and a quarter page oflegible ink, will now add up to $50,000 in legal bills and over a quarter ofa million in settlement money, further hurting the economic condition of thepaper.

America has become the most litigious nation in the world, producing morelawyers per capita than any other country. How does this square with ourother reputation as being a “Christian nation,” “one country under God” asour pledge goes, and a nation of churches? The answer is, it doesn’t.Perhaps the Death & Resurrection message of Easter can lead the Church & theNation to repentance on this issue once again. Perhaps when we consideragain that we had our lives reconciled with God by the death of His own son,we might remember the power of reconciliation next time we offend a neighborby backing into his mailbox. The Cross reminds us that even the greatestdebts which must be paid, can be paid with love & humility.

Alexis De Tocqueville was a French aristocrat who traveled around Americain the early 1820’s to survey and better understand the success of our youngconstitutional republic. From his travels came a now famous bookcalled *Democracyin America*, in which he states that America is great, because America isgood; and when she ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. DeTocqueville had been struck by the numerous churches that dotted thelandscape from Georgia to Massachusetts and believed this vibrant piety tobe the catalyst to the young nation’s moral character, unity, and vision.The absence of these qualities in his own native France, spelled the doom ofa similar attempt at “revolution of liberty” around the same period of 1789.The result was anarchy and Napoleon, in that order.

And so we come to America’s worst economic downturn since the 1930’s, andthe question remains, will America return to greatness, and if so, how? IsSocialism more trustworthy than Capitalism as an economic system? Are theleaders of Congress more trustworthy than the wizards of Wall St.?Remembering De Tocqueville observation might serve to steer our course backto economic health, for evil resides in the hearts of all men, whether onWall St., Pennsylvania Ave., or Main St., and therefore natural man, left tohimself, can never be fully or continually trusted. But that same evil isovercome with the goodness & virtue that flow from a heart, mind & soulconverted and ruled by Christ. And so America, make more disciples of Christto oversee industry and government, and more leaders, like Truett Cathy ofChick Filet will seek to care for his employees and shareholders, ratherthan line his own pockets. Make more disciples and we’ll have fewerpolitical scandals in Washington and state houses around the country, ashusbands will remain faithful to their wives and constituents, seeking tohonor and serve them, rather than misuse and abuse them. Make more disciplesof Christ, and at every level of every institution, there will return asoundness of wisdom and judgment and truth, which will benefit all of ournation. “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a disgrace to any people”(Prv 14:34) and “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps 33:12).

Pastor Berry Stubbs