These Thy Gifts

The Newsletter Thoughts of Pastor Fish

Vol. 10   No. 2

What are you all about?

Jack LaLanne died on January 23, 2011.  He was ninety-six.  The article announcing his death described his eighty year obsession with physical fitness.  I remember seeing Jack on television when I was a grade-school-er.   He was all about exercise, even before it was cool.  He celebrated his sixtieth birthday by swimming from  Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco — handcuffed, shackled and towing a boat.  The last couple decades of his life, he sold power juicers and promoted the health benefits of fresh fruit and vegetable juices.  He was quite a remarkable figure.

I never knew anything about Jack LaLanne's spiritual life or religion.  He never addressed the topic publicly, that I am aware of, and the article about his life said nothing about it.  His life-long advocacy of fitness apparently won him a relatively long life on this earth.  He got what he paid for.  But now that is all over.  It is suddenly as if he never existed, or lived only a short time.  If he had a secret spiritual faith-life, it is not public knowledge, but he is with his Maker.  If he did not have such a secret life of faith, all of his life is gone, it is like a dream from which he has now awakened, and he faces the greater realities of eternity with the one who was, in truth, his lord.  I cannot judge the man, and have no desire to do so.  That is God's job, and He does it reliably, justly, and for every man and woman.  I am just mentioning Mr. LaLanne as an illustration.

He had a long life, and he seemed to be a decent human being, outwardly and in a social sense.  He had all that one could reasonably expect or hope for out of this world, but in an instant, it was all over.  If his public witness as I have seen it is an accurate representation of the man's spiritual condition, he is lost for all eternity, and the ninety-six years of his life were but a brief whisper, and now he faces eternal darkness and misery without end.  His legacy is exercise equipment, power-juicers, and a commitment to being in shape for as long as this life endures.  He stands as the symbol of a brief life of good health and physical well-being leading to an eternity of shame and sorrow.  The thought is truly sad.

It raises the question for each of us, though, "What are you all about?".  If you are reading this on paper, the chances are good that you are known to me as a Christian, but how would your notice to the public read?  What would you be remembered for by the people around you who observe your life, or parts of it?

More to the point, I suspect, is what would you want to be remembered for?

It is okay to hope to be remembered for the work you do, the things you create, or the passions in your life.  It would be strange if you did not want to be remembered for the things you spent your life working at, even if they were not of earth-shaking significance.  I would just hope that while someone is remembering you, your faith in Jesus Christ and the importance of eternal salvation in your life was also something that someone would remember and point to as one of the things that impressed them about you.  Such a hope sort of echoes the idea Jesus expressed when He said, "And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man shall confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God."

I choose to write about this as I approach the famous February 3rd surgery. I have no idea how it's going to turn out, although I anticipate a good result. Nonetheless, it would be foolish of me not to prepare for any result that might come, and this might be the last newsletter article I ever write. What I want to be known for is being the faithful pastor, a faithful confessor, a faithful Christian, And a good example of how to do the Christian life.  

I have, throughout my ministry, been accused of showing off, presenting myself as the perfect Christian, and trying to make myself look better than I really am. My goal, assigned to me by my call, is to set the example of a Christian life and a Christian faith. I confess that I am not perfect. I fall far short of that mark. I am not trying to put on a show, but what you see is what you get. If you think that I'm trying to be perfect, thank God. You have not seen all of my faults which lay before you. Should I be able to come back as pastor to this congregation, I hope to continue to try to show you how to do it, how to be a Christian in this world of pain and suffering and challenges. If the results of the surgery deprive me of office, I want you to remember me as a pastor, a Christian, one who tried hard to do it right and failed as all of us sinners do, but finding my comfort in the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

In the wisdom of God, it was made clear that there is nothing any man or woman can do to save themselves.  We are, by nature, spiritually blind, dead, and enemies of God.  We cannot sense our need, and if we were by some means able to sense it, we are unable to do anything to answer our need.  According to Scriptures, even if we were finally able to summon the ability to do something about our need at the extreme of life as we know it in this world, we would not, because we are, finally, hostile to God and enemies, even against our own self-interest.  God knew this and so He took matters into His own hands.  He saved us.  That is what the Bible says, in Titus 3:5, "Not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit."

Because of human nature in sin, God knows that He cannot depend on us to choose life and decide we will believe or follow Him.  He has placed the power of conversion and believing into His Word, which He causes to be proclaimed from countless pulpits and by numerous servants of His throughout the world, so that all men can hear the good news and believe it and be saved.  He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.

The second half of that verse, as you probably know, is "but he that does not believe shall be condemned."   That is why the question is so urgent for each one of us, "What are you all about?".

Yours in the Lord,

Pastor Fish