Using God’s gifts to serve others, with Peter Johnson, Hershey, PA

But God gifts each of his children

Hosea 2:8 [The Lord said] It was I who gave her everything she has … But she gave all my gifts to Baal [an idol].

1 John 5:21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols [anything that might take God’s place in your hearts NLT].

The thing about the prophets is that they smack us right between the eyes. They have the courage (and often pay a high personal price) to confront us with our wrongdoing and to detail its consequences.

So the immediate question is, what are the gifts God has given me? And what have I done with them? And what are the name(s) of the idol(s) that tempt and seduce me into squandering those gifts and dishonor their Giver?

I won’t drag you through the sordid list of idols that the enemy uses to war against my soul. Instead, I want to give you a positive picture of a person who has overcome all kinds of obstacles because of his love for Jesus. He doesn’t bemoan what he doesn’t have. Instead, he uses what he does have, the gifts God has given him, not to serve himself but to serve others and to honor his Lord. Here’s one example from Christmas, when Rev. Peter Johnson stood outside for hours in winter weather night after night to listen to and pray for people. Pete describes it like this:

“A few weeks ago Hanoverdale Church hosted its annual Drive Thru Bethlehem. For several nights hundreds of cars drove through our church yard experiencing different stations of the Bethlehem Christmas story. From paying taxes to Caesar, to seeing the Christ child with his parents at the manger, to listening to the angel choir, and interacting with wisemen, shepherds, Roman soldiers and townspeople, the story of Christmas came alive.

The photos are dark because it was a dark night, but they give you an idea of Drive through Bethlehem.

“As pastor, I got the opportunity to pray for people in their cars at the last station before they left to continue their journey.

“Is it worth it to stand and interact with folks in the cold? Oh, yes!!! I met people who were asking for prayer last year and came back this year to tell how God answered those prayers. One couple asked that God might allow them to become pregnant and this year they introduced me to their baby. Another asked for comfort and healing for a sick loved one on hospice with cancer, and this year they wanted me to meet the one who did not die but was healed.

“After praying for hundreds of people over two weekends, who knows those whom God answered with a different answer. But I declare to you that God is still in the prayer answering business!!!

“If you live in central Pennsylvania and are looking for a place to worship, a place where the Bible will be studied and believed, give us a try. Hanoverdale Church, 577 Hershey Rd in Hummelstown, PA, 9:00 a.m.”

Rabbits in the garden

But God’s authority builds up; it doesn’t tear down July 1, 2024

2 Corinthians 10:8, 17, 11:3 Our authority builds you up; it doesn’t tear you down. … As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” … I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted.

I am grieving today. After a devastating aneurysm and stroke last week, our dear friend Donna left us yesterday. We will miss her so much.

At the same time, we KNOW where Donna is now, and that we’ll see her again (1 Thessalonians 4:13). God’s Spirit hovered over her and her family in precious ways these last sacred days. I hope, as I always do, that Karis was there to meet her and help orient her to the wonders of her new Home, face to face with her beloved Savior.

Another thing happened yesterday, before we knew it would be Donna’s Homegoing day. I was chatting with a friend in the hallway after the early service when she noticed a bunny in the church’s meditation garden. SOOO cute!

As we watched, the wee rabbit attacked one of the flowers. Suddenly it didn’t look quite as cute, even though it was simply acting according to its nature. My mind flipped to the morning I looked outside to see two rabbits devouring my flowers, and my grandson saying, “We should have looked for rabbit-resistant, not just deer-resistant.”

How did that bunny get into the completely enclosed “courtyard” garden at church? No idea.

Sooo cute — until it started attacking the flowers

I kept thinking about the bunny while participating in a discussion of a book by Michael Wear called The Spirit of Our Politics, in which the author calls us back to loyalty to God in first place, rather than allowing politics to usurp our Lord’s place in our hearts. Politics, Wear says, while important for the betterment of our society, is penultimate, not ultimate. It is prudential and conditional, not absolute. He calls us to daily growth in character, so we can become the people who faithfully live out the way of Jesus in every area of our lives, including politics. The fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—will be evident as we seek to serve our communities.

So, I wondered, how did the rabbit of self-interest get into the enclosed garden of our hearts, trampling and consuming the beautiful fruit the Spirit wants to grow there? How is it possible that we look to politics to meet our heart-needs? How can we justify allowing the precious, holy name of Christ to be associated with a political “brand,” while behaving nothing like him? How do othering, aversion, and misplaced moralism advance the Gospel (Wear’s terms—you’ll have to read the book)?

I’m grateful for the shining life of our friend Donna, who showed us so consistently the beautiful fruit of the Spirit.

Almighty God, your truth endures from age to age. Direct in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may speak your truth to make the heart of this people wise, its mind discerning, and its will righteous, to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BCP 51

Is life too fast and furious?

But God knows the way

Psalm 142:3, 143:8-10 When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. … Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you … Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

Do you ever feel like life comes at you too fast and furiously?

That’s how I feel now, and I hate that feeling. The last few Karis years burned me out on high stress. In the past I could convert pressure into productivity. Now I find it paralyzing.

What about you? How’s your relationship with stress?

I dislike pressure in part because I believe God wants us to live peacefully and joyfully, not uptight and frustrated. To feel the impact of this from Scripture, do this (which I just did): Go to BibleGateway.com, search “peace” and skip to the New Testament. Then scroll through soak yourself for a while in these 89 verses (or however many there are in the version you choose).

The corollary, I think, is this: if I am NOT living peacefully, I’m not paying enough attention to the Lord’s guidance about when to say yes and when to say no, and how to follow through on the “yeses” in a different way. I must take time each morning to connect with my Lord and in the context of his love for me, hear his marching orders for the day rather than responding too quickly to all the other voices I listen to. And I need to be more selective about the voices I prioritize, under the Lord’s loving guidance.

The area of my life that most easily pressures and paralyzes me seems to be the area I end up giving the least effective attention to even though it hangs over me all the time: marketing. This year it happened that I published too many books and parts of books to keep up with. Two of them were “supposed” to come out last year, but for various reasons didn’t. Each one of them requires marketing to become the blessing I believe God wants them to be, and to justify the resources poured into them by me and by others.

I woke up this morning finally able to accept what Dave has been telling me for a while: I need to hire someone to help me. I have leads; I just haven’t taken the time to follow up on them. So that will be my next task: reach out to some people who love doing what I do not and find out whether one of them can use their gifts to aid me. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Shutterstock: Andy Dean Photography

I am finally feeling hopeful about getting out of the whirlpool and back on solid ground. And making progress on Cally and Charlie Book 3 … haha.

What’s your next step toward living peacefully and joyfully?