Sowing in Tears

Del Tarr served as a missionary for fourteen years in Western Africa, just below the Sahara Desert where the climate is similar to that of Bible lands. The rainfall comes in May through August. The other eight months of the year are blazing hot and bone dry. Dust from the barren wasteland gets inside everything—mouths, noses, cupboards, even wristwatches and Bibles.  

 One day during a prolonged drought like this, Del blew the dust from Psalm 126 and its meaning hit him like a hot wind. Especially verses 5 and 6, which read, “5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! 6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

 Del wrote, “April is the month that haunts my memory. In it you hear the babies crying in the twilight. Mother’s milk has dried up. Most of the days are passed with only an evening cup of gruel. Bellies are in agony for bread. Then, inevitably, it happens. A six or seven-year-old boy comes running to his father one day with sudden excitement. ‘Daddy! Daddy! We-ve got grain!’ he shouts. ‘Son, you know we haven't had grain for weeks,’ Dad replies.

           “Yes, we have!” the boy insists. ‘Out in the hut where we keep the goats, there's a leather sack hanging up on the wall. I reached up and put my hand down in there. Daddy, there's grain in there! Give it to Mommy so she can make flour, and tonight our tummies can sleep!’

The father stands motionless. “Son, we can't do that, he softly explains. ‘That's next year’s seed grain. It's the only thing between us and starvation. We're waiting for the rains, and then we must use it.’

The rains finally arrive in May, then the young boy watches as his father takes the sack from the wall and does the most unreasonable thing imaginable. Instead of feeding his desperately weakened family, he goes to the field and with tears streaming down his face, he takes the precious seed and throws it away. He scatters it in the dirt! Why? Because he believes in the harvest.”[1]

Del Tarr

What a stirring challenge to keep sowing Gospel seed, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense or when results are not immediately obvious. I have felt the sting of tears many times trying to serve the Lord. A sermon falls flat, as it seems people have cotton balls in their ears. A man I am witnessing to about the Lord rejects the offer of eternal life. A long season of spiritual drought when its hard to hear God’s voice and it seems like the Enemy is winning.

 But it’s the sowing in lean times that makes the harvest that much more joyful. The recent months during the pandemic have been discouraging in many ways. However, these past few weeks I have seen the Lord bring an unexpected harvest. More than once, I have shed tears of joy over the number of young people who have made professions of faith. The baptismal waters will be stirring again soon. As Paul said, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Gal. 6:9).

I’m glad for the struggle, because it has proven my God to be strong and the Gospel to be trustworthy. I will remember the harvest, so that when I must sow again in tears I will not give up before I see God come through. -DM     

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[1] Del Tarr, “Making Truth Memorable,” Leadership Journal, Spring 1983, vol. IV, no. 2, pp. 66-67.

Sinless Savior

Recently, one of CNN’s main anchors, Don Lemon, made a statement challenging the moral character of Jesus. Lemon said to another CNN host, “Jesus Christ — if that's who you believe in, Jesus Christ — admittedly was not perfect when he was here on this earth!”[1]  

Lemon’s remark may seem shocking to Bible believers, but in reality, he was just voicing the opinion of many people in our country. According to the American Worldview Inventory 2020, vast numbers of people who claim to be “Christians” have expressed shockingly unbiblical beliefs to pollsters. For example, 44% of self-described “Christians” in America believe that Jesus sinned like any other human being; just 41% believe (as the Bible declares) that He lived a sinless life.[2]

One must wonder how Jesus got such a less-than-stellar track record in the minds of so many people, especially since everything that we about Him in the Bible shows Him to be perfect.

·         The testimony of Christ’s friends

American’s have become accustomed to presidential scandal. Whether it’s Richard Nixon and Watergate or the sexual affairs of JFK and Bill Clinton, even the men who hold the highest office in the land are not what they seem. Several presidents have tainted their legacies with sin. In an era of media saturation, it’s difficult for presidents to hide unsavory facts from the constant presence of reporters. Eventually, some defect in their character leaks. 

Now apply this principle to Jesus. For three years he was followed by twelve disciples that observed everything about Him. They were given complete access to His life. They ate with him, traveled with Him and watched how He interacted with the crowds. Yet, even with that level of intimacy not one of His closest followers could ever report any blight upon His character. 

·         When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to be baptized he declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The implication is that Jesus was sinless or else He could not remove the sins of humanity if He was a sinner Himself. (By the way, John was Jesus’ cousin. Usually, family knows us better than anyone. Could you imagine declaring your cousin the Son of God?)

·         Peter would record in his first letter, “18 . . . you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1:18-19). Later on in that same epistle he said, “22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (2:22).

·         The Apostle John would also attest to the perfect character of Jesus by writing, “5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5).

·         After Paul met the risen Christ he said in 2 Cor. 5:21 of Christ’s atonement, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

Josh McDowell writes, “Throughout the Bible, the inconsistencies of all persons are revealed. None of the great Jewish heroes is presented without blemish, not even David, Israel’s greatest king or Moses, the Hebrew’s greatest deliverer. Even in the New Testament the shortcomings of the apostles are written about in almost every book, and yet in their close contact with Jesus for three years, they never saw in him the sins they saw in themselves. They got on one another’s nerves, they grumbled and argued, doubted and denied, but they never did see these things in Jesus. Try spending three days with someone, much less three years, and having nothing negative to report about their character. The fact that all of Jesus inner circle, those who knew Him best, came away with the same conclusion of sinless is astonishing.”[3] 

·         The testimony of Christ's foes

What’s even more amazing is that the people who wanted to see Christ’s demise and were out to find skeletons in His closet could not dig up anything on Him.

·         After interviewing Jesus, Pilate the Roman procurator said, “4 See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him” (John 19:4).

·         The Roman soldier who was there at the foot of Jesus’ cross declared, “Truly, this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47).

·         Judas who betrayed the Lord, recanted his actions and said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matt. 27:4).

·         As Jesus stood before the Pharisees He challenged them, “46 Which one of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46). But none of His detractors could bring a charge against Jesus.

In 2009 Mark Buerhle, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, accomplished something that only 18 other pitchers had accomplished in the history of Major League Baseball since 1871—he pitched a perfect game. For those of you who aren’t baseball fans allow me to explain, a perfect game occurs when all 27 hitters are prevented from getting a hit, also the pitcher cannot allow a single walk, and his team cannot commit any errors.

The baseball world was buzz, especially when it looked like Buerhle might repeat the amazing feat again. His very next start he pitched another perfect game for the first five and two thirds innings. He set the record for consecutive batters retired over a several-game stretch—45 batters up and down—but then, as it inevitably does, human limitation took hold. In the sixth inning, with two outs, Buerhle walked a batter. Hits followed. He got out of that inning, but in the seventh he gave up more hits and was pulled from the game. He had given up five runs on five hits, and the White Sox lost the game 5 to 3.[4]

Among human beings, if perfection is possible, it is only temporary. Eventually, we will strike out in some way. We will have an impure thought. We will say a cross word to our spouse. We will be tempted and succumb to it. As C.S. Lewis commented, “No man knows how bad he really is until he’s tried to be good.”[5] Our sins should cause us to bow in humility to Christ and it should highlight the spotless life He lived pleasing His Father in every thought, word and deed. Jesus’ sinless sacrifice on the cross should cause us to worship Him realizing that He did what we could never do. -DM  

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[1] Adam Ford, “CNN's Don Lemon: "Jesus Christ admittedly was not perfect when he was here on this earth,” DISRN, July 9, 2020 <https://disrn.com/news/cnns-don-lemon-jesus-christ-admittedly-was-not-perfect-while-he-was-here-on-this-earth>

[2] Michael Youssef, “Are We Prepared for Pandemic-Triggered Revival?” Decision, June 2020, p.22.

[3] Josh McDowell, Evidence for Christianity (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006), 412.

[4] Craig Brian Larson, “Mark Buerlhe is Perfect Temporarily,” Preaching Today <http://www.preachingtoday.com/ illustrations/2009/august/3081009.html>

[5] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (San Francisco: Harper One, 1952), 142.

From Siri to Salvation

David, a 20-year veteran police officer, wasn’t feeling well and feared he may have contracted COVID-19. Struggling with fear and anxiety, David came across a website operated by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s online ministry, Search for Jesus, where he clicked to chat with a volunteer. “I’m struggling with everything going on,” David typed.

Gloria, his chat coach, asked him a simple question: “Where do you look for peace in uncertain times?” David answered that he looked within himself. “I can understand that,” Gloria said. “The catch with that, though, is that our inner selves can be really disturbed by what we see and hear. That can lead to more anxiety, as you know.”

Gloria talked about how it’s possible to have peace with God through Jesus. David replied, “I just got tested for COVID-19 and I am waiting for results. My stress is at an all-time high. I’m not ready to go yet. I’m only 48. I still feel I have things left to do. I’m so lost and very scared.”

Gloria went on to share key Scriptures outlining God’s salvation plan—Romans 3:23, 6:23 and John 3:16. “But what am I supposed to do?” David asked. “Repent of your sin and believe,” Gloria typed. David did just that in his living room, turning from his sin and trusting in Jesus as Savior.

“Do you wanna know how I found your webpage?” David asked a few minutes later. “I went into Google, and I asked Siri on my iPhone, ‘How can I get saved?’ And your page popped up.”

As David began a two-week quarantine, God had given him a gift he hadn’t been looking for—the gift of time. The Lord had once again used a temporary crisis to lead a sinner to eternal life.[1]

David’s question to Siri is the same one that the Philippian jailer asked Paul in Acts 16. After a powerful earthquake that can only be described as the original “Jailhouse Rock,” Paul and Silas were freed from their shackles. According to Dr. Luke, here’s what happened next:   

27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:27-31).  

Just as David’s life was rocked by a sudden change of plans, so too was Paul’s. The Apostle didn’t originally plan to go to Macedonia, but because of a God-directed vision he changed course (Acts 16:9-10). How could he know that he would end up in prison there? But even that trip to jail was God-led because He used Paul to bring salvation to a jailer and his family.

Sometimes we find ourselves in troubling situations as the result of our service for the Lord. Doing that which we believe to be right and according to His will, we seem to end up in the “prison” of suffering, hardship, and loss, and are tempted to complain, “Lord, is this what I get for my faithfulness?” Then He comes and assures us that He “doeth all things well,” and that Romans 8:28 is still in the Book! When all has been accomplished, we shall be able to look back and clearly see His hand and purpose in it all.    -DM

“Our disappointments, are His appointments

Change one letter, then I see

That the thwarting of my purpose

Is God’s better choice for me.”[2]

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[1] Kristy Ethridge, “Quarantined Police Officer: I Asked Siri, How Can I Get Saved?” Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 10 May 2020 <https://billygraham.org/story/quarantined-police-officer-i-asked-siri-how-can-i-get-saved/?utm_source=ministry+update+ie+06.06.2020&utm_medium=bgemail&utm_campaign=bgemailnewsletter&utm_content=BS206YJET&SOURCE=BS206YJET>

[2] Dave Brannon, “Divine Appointments,” Our Daily Bread, 26 October 2011 <https://odb.org/2011/10/26/divine-appointments/>