The Porch Swing

The Mystery of Our Faith

Woe to Those Who Are at Ease.

Having been asked what his number one goal in life was, a middle-aged man once said, “To retire. All I want to do is sit on a porch swing and wait for the post office to deliver my retirement check.”

I understand. I’m tired. I don’t feel like going to work some days. Sometimes I feel like that the day before. Worst thing I ever did in terms of working was to get a camper. Once I’ve settled in to it, it seems sometimes I’d just as soon sit out there reading as go to work. Good thing our camper doesn’t have a porch swing.

Still, work has its way of finding me, even at a campground in Georgia. Truth is, even when I don’t feel like working, I still end up liking to work—once I get started. So, I study or work on a sermon or write a devotional in Georgia, at the beach, or some other camp.

But woe to those who put their trust in work. You don’t show up one too many times and your job becomes somebody else’s. And even if you’re great at your job, don’t be surprised when it’s handed to another.

It goes to show you that you can’t be at ease, even when you’re working.

Poof! Then It’s Gone.

And what why do we work so hard? It’s not just to pay the bills and enjoy life a little. Work isn’t just about the present; it’s about the future too. That’s why we have pensions and retirement accounts. I try not to look at my retirement accounts too much. It can be depressing. I must look to God instead. Regardless of our shrinking or enlarging account balances, God is our bottom line.

The story of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Luke 16:19–21 ought to tell us that even if we manage to keep wealth in this life, it will do us no good in the next and eternal life. Even there, Lazarus does not depend on wealth. He depends on God for everything. We would be wise to do the same in this life, at least as training for the life to come.

Psalm 146 also highlights God’s faithfulness, urging us to rely on him rather than worldly assurances. Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God...who keeps faith forever.

Politicians and Pulp Preachers

Woe to those who find their security in their country, political party, or for that matter, in their religious affiliation. Woe to those who find rest in the luxuries of their houses, the food in their pantry, and their idle time. Our security and our rest is in the Lord alone, for while all of these earthly things are easily displaced by exile and disaster, that security and peace that is the Lord cannot be taken from us.

Woe to Reliance on the World

Psalm 146

The next presidential election always seems to be right around the corner. People will soon be lamenting once again who gets elected, or be singing the praises of some new president. Christians should know better. We must not put our trust in presidents and politicians, for while they may do some earthly good, there is no salvation in them. They will return to the earth like everyone else, and their political platforms will perish with them. We must not place our hope in national leaders who promise to remake a nation over the course of a few years. Our hope is in Lord, who reigns forever.

Scrutinize Your Own Qualifications

1 Timothy 3:1–13

I’m beginning to think that all this yabbering about the character or platform or personal history of others might be a massive case of micromanagement. Maybe if we find enough fault with the governor or the president or even the pastor, we might end up deflecting folks’ attention from noticing us, that our character and work isn’t up to par.

I’m sure you’ve noticed how people tend to pick apart political candidates, scrutinizing their moral standards, as well as their platforms. Would that we would be so critical of ourselves. The qualifications of bishops and deacons should be the measure to which all Christians aspire.

1 Timothy 3:1–13 ESV

An overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

While we may not have much faith in politicians, if we serve the Christ’s church well, we gain a good reputation and great assurance of the faith that is in Christ Jesus. 

A Chevy or a Caddy?

Luke 16:19–31

The things of this earth that people accumulate for themselves are not a sign of God’s favor—despite what some preachers proclaim.

I remember a TV preacher telling some poor woman what kind of car God wanted her to drive. She wanted to know if it was okay to by a Cadillac instead of keep driving the Nova that she had. He informed her that God wanted her to have a Rolls Royce. And intimated that if she gave to his ministry, she’d be in the driver’s seat.

Yet, we all know instinctively that the increase of material goods does folks no eternal good.

However, the increase of belief in what Moses and the prophets taught leads to faith in Christ who was raised from the dead. If they will not hear and believe the bad news of the law, they will not hear and believe the good news of the resurrected Christ. 

So, listen. True and lasting wealth and power is not in anything this world can promise—or deliver. The best news you can hear today isn’t that your retirement account doubled over night, or that the President balanced the budget, or that you just got a 50% pay raise, or that you can now retire early—or retire at all.

The best news has always been the Good News. But it’s a mystery. It just doesn’t make sense to some people. So, thank God that it’s not a mystery to you, that you have been given faith in Christ Jesus through God’s grace...not because you worked extra hard, or have the extraordinary sense to figure out puzzles, or just held in there long enough for all the pieces to fit together.

No, the Good News, the gospel, is this: John 3:16–17

John 3:16–17 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

This is the mystery beyond all enigmas. The world does not get it. It makes no sense to them. “So you’re saying all I need to do is believe, and then I won’t perish. Impossible!”

“He can’t love me,” some will say. “I’m no good. I don’t even love myself.” Well, yes, he does love you.

“He can’t love her,” someone else will insist. “She’s unlovable.” Yes, he does love her; he loves the whole world.

“Well, if he loves the world so much, why is that jerk President? And why is life so hard? And why is there war and other evil? I can’t believe in a God like that.” Besides the fact of sin set loose in the world, and it causing such things, perhaps a better thing to say would be, “Well, if God loves the world so much, why am I such a jerk? And why do I make life so hard? And why am I so enraged and willing to think evil of others? I can’t believe God would love me when I’m like that.”

So, the next eventuality surfaces: “So, I must have to do something in order to be saved from my sin.” Nope. You don’t have to do a thing.

And that is the great mystery, the enigma, the conundrum that the world cannot and will not believe.

But God has given you faith to believe it and to hold to it with a clear conscience. For sometimes you too will be tempted to believe, “It just can’t be true. Someone like me?” Yes, you. And me. In spite of ourselves. Even seated on a porch wing.

For Christ’s sake.

This is most certainly true.