(My goal this week is to publish a series of blog posts that look back and chronicle our time at http://www.sosmemphis.org each post will begin with the theme verse for the week: Psalm 102:18-22.)
Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise YHWH: “YHWH looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.” So the name of YHWH will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem when the people and the kingdoms assemble to worship YHWH. — Psalm 102:18-2
One disclaimer: I do not intend to compare our experience at SOS with the experience of the missionaries who live in other countries for months/years at a time.
When I was a kid growing up in the Baptist church, we had a lot of missionaries who would come through the church and preach on Sunday evenings. I don’t remember much about their various countries, stories, sermons, or even names. One thing, though, that always stood out to me was the discussions about their re-entry to America and the American way of life.
While we were not serving for a long period of time in a remote third-world country, re-entry for me has been somewhat of a challenge.
Not from a physical perspective. We still speak English, still drive our cars, etc.
From a spiritual perspective it has been tough.
During the week at SOS, we prayed alot. (Standing on a roof, trying to hang the piece of lap-board that has now been cut for the third time and still doesn’t fit evokes a prayer response.)
We worshiped alot.
We spent time in the Word.
We grew our faith.
Coming home, we didn’t have that constant state of being in God’s presence.
Re-entry, from that perspective, has been a challenge.
As a people of God, we are called to continually dwell in the presence of God. Yet, we don’t always succeed (or in some cases even know how to) in doing that.
Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians that we must put on the full armor of God and “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18 NIV).
Paul gives us some further instructions in 1 Thessalonians 5 to aid us in living continually in God’s presence:
- Be joyful always
- Pray continually (cf. Ephesians 6:18)
- Give thanks in all circumstances
- Do not put out the Spirit’s fire
- Do not treat prophecies with contempt
- Test everything and hold to the good
- Avoid every kind of evil
Throughout Paul’s writings, he expounds upon each of these points.
In 1 Corinthians (chapter 13), after a long discourse on the works of the Spirit and how the Spirit uses us and the types of work the Spirit urges us to do, Paul says this:
And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
We’ve all read that passage. Most of us can quote versus 4-8. What many fail to see is the true context of the passage. It falls in the middle of a discourse on the Holy Spirit, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and proper usage of those Gifts (Chapters 12-14). What Paul tells us is that at the center of living continually with the presence of God is love.
Love is the most excellent way.