Shelter

PK’s Corner                                                                                                                     May 2013

Psalm 61:4 “Let me abide in your tent forever,
find refuge under the shelter of your wings”.

Yesterday, I looked out of my window and noticed that in the bush just outside a nest had been built, and on the nest was a Mourning Dove.  She sat there in that place of relative safety and quiet warming her eggs.  She was looking at the window and may have spied me, but she remained calm and quiet.

The bush outside is in a sheltered place.  It is on the end of the house where there is shelter from the wind and rain.  This is probably the best place for a nest and this bird knew that.

God offers us refuge in a world that is fraught with storms and upheavals.  But we seem to desire standing in the storm than finding shelter in God’s wings.  When you consider that almost one half of the people in any given town is unchurched, then you must realize that there are many who do not know what true shelter is.

God calls us to abide in him, to seek protection from the storms of life and find refuge in his holiness.  Why do we not listen, and for those of us that do, why are we not sharing that good news with others?

God calls out to us to take shelter, to ease our burdens and to simply believe on him.  I pray that someday we can all find refuge under the shelter of his wings, but until then, we need to show people where that refuge is.

The Mourning Dove got it right, why can’t we?

Amen

Falling Short

PK’s Corner                                                                 April 2013

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”

If you ever felt the desire to be superior to your fellow human, then this verse should bring you up short.  How many arguments have been made about who crucified Jesus? How many fingers of blame have been pointed to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Romans and Pilate?  But, how many have noticed that when we point fingers, there are 3 pointing right back at us.

Ask me who crucified Christ, and I will tell, “Kent Wilfong, he is the guilty one”; and so I am.  My sins nailed Christ to the tree, as did yours and the whole worlds.  No one is without guilt in the crucifixion of our savior.

So it amazes me, when I think about this, that we as Christians sometimes take on an attitude of superiority.  How can that be?  A man died for you and me, how can we be proud of that.  People are turned away from the church, not because of the love that poured out on Good Friday, but because of the attitude that has sprung up in our churches. 

We have managed to convince people that to come to church, you must be of good stature, dress in the right clothes and have a deep theological understanding of our doctrine.  The truth of the matter is that the church is for us who are steeped in sin and enslaved by the world and only Christ can set us free.  We come to church, not out of pride, but out of humbleness, not to be lords over the world, but to be redeemed by the Lord.  Church is not about power or prestige, it is about knowing that God is doing everything for our salvation, and we can do nothing but accept the gift of grace. 

The message we need to share is not one of condemnation, for the world does not need more of that. We need to share a message of hope.  This hope was born in an empty tomb.  Yes, we are all sinners, but the next verse reads “they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”.  You see, God has made a way of redemption through his son Jesus.  So we are all sinners, but we don’t have to stay that way.

As we leave the empty tomb, we need to be better about telling people what church is about, and what Christ has done for us.  Let them know that church is the place where brokenness can find healing and nurture. 

Amen