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LMC Update

June 2, 2020

Dear Church Family,

Greetings in the Holy Name of Jesus the Christ!

Just when we thought life couldn’t get any stranger, more chaos enters our world!  It is at times like these that our faith desperately needs to remain firmly rooted in the goodness and all-encompassing love of our God.  Psalm 62 is a great reminder of where our hope and salvation reside.   Psalm 62:1-2 states,  “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

If we look closely at the background of Psalm 62 we see that King David is the author of Psalm 62 and he served as Israel’s king for 40 years.  Psalm 62 was written to Jeduthun, who (according to 1 Chronicles 16:41; 25:1-3) was a musician appointed by King David to lead public worship. 

During his years as ruler, King David experienced numerous occurrences of chaos, political unrest, military coups, and yet he readily acknowledged that his salvation and rest came only from God.  Verses 3 and 4 attest to people attempting to undermine King David.  “How long will you assault a man?  Would all of you throw him down …..They fully intend to topple him from his lofty place; they take delight in lies.  With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse.”  

Recently honesty has taken a real hit!  Fact checkers have reported numerous public officials caught on video in blatant lies, but obviously people thousands of years ago were also not telling the truth and attempting to deceive people. 

King David’s response was to focus on his source of strength and hope.   “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.  My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.  Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”  (Psalm 62:5-8)

We can certainly learn from King David, both from the triumphs and the failures.  According to 1 Samuel 13:14 King David was “a man after God’s own heart.”  King David loved to worship!  King David loved to praise God and wrote 75 psalms/songs of the 150 psalms/songs contained in the Book of Psalms.  God loves to hear the sound of our praises, but God also desires us to be people of peace and justice.  In fact, peace and justice are the priority! 

In ancient Israel the Prophet Amos spoke the words of God against hypocrisy and injustice, “Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.   But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”  (Amos 5:23-24)

Jesus reiterates this theme in his Sermon on the Mount.  Matthew 5:23-24 states “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Recently there have been acts of gross injustice that have lead to the deaths of Ahmaud Arbrey in Georgia and George Floyd in Minnesota.  The public outcry has resulted in mass protests against the violence and injustice.  The vast majority of the protests have been peaceful but numerous protests that began peacefully have been turned by opportunists and criminals into rioting, looting and willful property destruction which only makes the tense situation much worse! 

Some people see this as a political problem, but I see it as a people problem directly related to who we are as the people of God and the ministry of Jesus.  This injustice impacts us all whether we are Republican, Democrat, Independent or whatever.  All people deserve to be respected and treated equally!  No matter what our ethnicity, nationality or skin tone, we are all created in God’s image.  (Genesis 1:27)

As Followers of Jesus, our lives, lifestyles and actions are to emulate and mirror Jesus’ life, lifestyle and actions of love for all people.  When we accept Jesus as Lord, we surrender all our own personal agenda and seek what will promote the Kingdom of God. 

Near the end of his earthly ministry Jesus was teaching the disciples and he said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  (John 13:34-35)

Our identity as Christians is absolutely connected to “how” we love other people.  If we truly love all people as Jesus loves all people, we will promote justice and equality for all people!  None of us can solve all the racial and social injustice in the world, but we serve a God who is able to accomplish far more than we can imagine!  I encourage you to listen carefully for the voice of the Holy Spirit and when God speaks please respond like Samuel by saying “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10b)

Please continue to join in “united prayer” at 2:00 PM each and every day in addition to maintaining social-distancing, and washing your hands often. 

Keep the faith!                                                                                   Pastor Brent