ETERNAL OPTIMISM

During his retired years my grandfather would, go to coffee, as the expression was in the home, meaning he would go to a local diner where he and his friends met in the early afternoon; they would have a cup of coffee and discuss the local and global news. On several occasions during the course of my childhood, I would go with my grandfather to coffee, and on one particular occasion I happened to pay close attention to their discussion.

                Depending on the topic, the conversation, which was shared from the perspective of educated and well-to-do African American men who happened to be Christian, was more often than not relatively objective but grime. On this occasion my grandfather verbally painted a positive portrait of what America could be if she could ever purge the sin of prejudice from her soul. Needless to say the other gentlemen were shocked and rather dismissive of my grandfather’s hope-filled positive outlook. One of the gentlemen followed my grandfather’s remarks with this question, “what makes you so optimistic?”, and my grandfather replied, Jesus.

                In another instance, I am reminded of the captivating and wonderful film, The Color Purple. In this masterpiece there is a scene where Ms. Celie is in the corn field putting up a scarecrow. As she is in the process of doing this, a lively and rather angry Sophia comes marching through the corn stocks to confront her. When Sophia comes upon Celie she says to her, “You told Harpo to beat me!” Celie, who is obviously caught off guard by Sophia’s presence and temper responds in a way that suggests a sad acceptance of this life, but joy in the life to come; Celie says, “this life be over soon, heaven last always.”

                In both accounts I am reminded of Revelation 22:12; and that Christianity in its proclamation that history is moving towards the return of Jesus the Messiah, is eternally optimistic; but the history of Americans who are of African descent, scared as it is, by discrimination, slavery, terrorism, and deliberate oppression, is pessimistic. While this history is wrapped in a real and understandable pessimism; for those of us who are Christians, we look at those realities, be them past, present, or future, and inspite of them, because of Jesus we are eternally optimistic.

                Perhaps this great truth crossed his mind at some point, as he sat like John the Baptist or the Apostle Paul, in prison, waiting for the final result of absolution. Alone, yet not. Mocked, yet resilient. Criticized by his own brethren, and yet, undeterred, . . . with one prayer in his heart, and on his lips, . . . "Lord, come quickly."

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Z. M. D. McGregor is the senior pastor of The Relevant Church, in Dallas, Texas.

Encouraging One Another

 A Reflection on 1 Thessalonians 4.18:

“Therefore, encourage one another with these words.”

This verse became personal in my life when my aunt lost her battle with cancer in 2009. Thankfully, I was able to visit her, while on vacation in Detroit in the last year of her life. As I sat in her home with my brother, I could not help but notice as her voice, once strong and elegant, grew faint and weak with cancerous hoarseness. Besides that, she seemed to be in lifted spirits.

After sharing with us the seriousness of her situation, she shifted the conversation to bear witness to the strength of her faith. She prayed fervently that the Lord would heal her completely, so that she could enjoy the rest of her life. She even shared how her faith moved the doctors to affirm her attitude toward the cancer. After all, a lifted spirit is the best weapon against such a disease. Upon sharing this testimony, we prayed with her and agreed  to keep  praying in faith that God would heal her body completely.

Imagine the sorrow, therefore, when I received the news of her worsening condition. I was mature enough in faith to concede that God’s will trumps my will; and even that God did not have to say “yes” to every prayer. In fact, I knew that God required no explanation beyond His sovereignty and wisdom for rejecting my request. However, I considered myself justified in considering God’s “no” something to grieve over. In other words I considered her death a consolation prize of sorts, “God said ‘no’ but at least she’s in Heaven.”

In a real since, I felt like Martha when Jesus finally arrived at Bethany four days later. When she confronted Jesus about His tardiness, Jesus informed her that Lazarus would rise again. Her response revealed that her resurrection theology was abstract and cerebral, in that she affirmed it doctrinally, but not as a reality in which Christ had called her to live in and lean her life into. She rehearsed what she knew as if the resurrection was a consolation prize. Jesus’ response and subsequent miracle revealed that resurrection was not a far off theory, but an at-hand reality: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”.

He is the resurrection, and the one who is resurrection yields resurrection power. However, Christ does not call us to believe in His power, but to believe in Him. The former can bring temporary confidence, but such confidence fades away when God says “no”. To be sure, I have heard the testimony of those sick unto death, but was healed by the power of God. I know the testimony of those, who by the power of God were set free from addictions and sins. I must even bear witness that even in my own life; God has shown Himself miraculously strong. However, nothing compares to the degree of doubt I’ve suffered, when in the midst of all God’s “yeses”, He says “no”. Perhaps it is because faith in the resurrection power is limited unless at its foundation lies an even stronger faith in the resurrection person.

The former was my faith, the latter was my aunt’s faith. When it came close to the end, my father’s visits grew in frequency. At his last visit, he stayed until the night grew late and bid her farewell with these words, “Goodnight Mencie, I’ll see you at the Rapture”. To that, my aunt responded, “Junior, tell me about the Rapture.” Without hesitation, my father recited these words in the King James:

“The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

I heard that story retold at her funeral, and was encouraged. Not only did this comfort me at my hour of bereavement, but it reminded me that even I may one day face the grave in slumber. But unlike West, I am not a being towards death, rather one beyond it. If it pleases the Lord to send me to the grave, I need not go in anger that He has tarried His coming, nor do I have to go with Sam Cooke’s uncertainty for what’s beyond the sky. I will not go uncertain of my future, because I know that the one who conquered the grave, will one day descend with a shout, and I will be with Him forever.

Samuel J. Doyle