Looking Up

Pastor Stu Krogman -

Looking up has become a habit for me. It began, I’m sure, in my early years of dependence on the strength and good sense of my parents. I remember the view from the floor. In the defeat of fear or frustration, I can still hear my little boy voice crying "Up Daddy!" to the tear blurred image of my father’s face beyond my outstretched arms and pleading hands. Before I ever heard the Lord’s command to honour my parents I looked up to them, depended on them, wanted their approval and needed their help.

Another phase of my habit started at about eight years of age when I noticed the sky. My childhood and adolescent reason for happiness became the romance of wings and my imagination was fired by the passing of aircraft over our farm. I studied the boxes of dated Flying magazines my parent’s pilot friends had passed along to me. I eagerly drank the realized dreams of those first joyrides that came my way. And today I am still looking up at every opportunity and if I hear an airplane, let me apologize now, I am likely to leave you standing without a word as I run to see what is flying by.  It takes many forms for me but looking up is a habit I don’t really want to recover from.

Recently my habit took on a new dimension. Over the past 20 or 21 years, the Lord’s call has been strong to bring comfort to His people. I have visited, as pastors do, at the bedsides of many sick or dying people. Until the third week of March 2011, I thought I had a fairly good understanding of how people felt in the hospital bed and I often imagined myself in their place. But everything changed when I was admitted to my own hospital bed because of an arterial blood clot in my left arm. When I awoke in the middle of the night that first night I realized I was looking up at my first real view of a hospital room ceiling. I was listening to a very difficult and unhappy exchange between my roommate and our night nurse. 

That difficult atmosphere continued for days. Twenty four hours a day. My roommate was suffering, angry, spiteful and mean. And I couldn’t do a thing for him. I knew that I was there as a patient, not a pastor. I would simply observe. I heard the Lord say, "NO" several times when my mind would obsess about what I could say. It got worse. But I observed, listened. I focused on the pain and frustration of my neighbour and the effort and energy and care of the staff. I became so focused on everyone else, I forgot about my own rest and healing. I wasn’t sleeping - my anxiety was peaking. Favourite scripture passages like Isaiah 55 and 43, and John 15 comforted me and at one point as I prayed, I heard the Lord say, "You are so very focused on others". I agreed and felt His discipline and said, "Yes Lord, help me; I need to focus more on... me." He said, "Yes, you need to focus on ME!"

I knew in my "knower" and in my heart that the Spirit of Christ was there. A young nurse had just left the room having been verbally abused again by my neighbour and he lay there cursing under his breath. A moment later he became quiet and I heard the LORD prompt me to ask if I could pray for him. "You’re sure having a rough night," I said. Silence. "Could I say a prayer for you?" My voice sounded so weak. More silence. Then in a soft tone he said, "OK, that would be nice." I prayed a simple prayer for him asking God to help him. Silence. "It’s been a very long time since anyone has prayed for me," he said softly and he drifted into sleep. The next morning he was full of stress again but was to be transferred to another hospital that afternoon. He was out the door with his cane without a word to me. Then asking the nurse for a moment because he forgot something, he came hobbling back in. "I want to thank you for putting up with me. God bless you." He shook my hand and was gone. 

I only spent 10 days looking up in the hospital. I am so grateful for the care I received from doctors, specialists and nurses. Many well wishes and prayers offered on my behalf have truly brought peace and joy to my heart and strength and healing to my body. I can honestly say that I have never before felt so cared for and such a sense of belonging in my life! Like the old chorus says, I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God! I am glad to be in His community with you. Many of you know exactly how it feels to look up, to reach up, for healing or help, for hope. And many of you like me have received hope. The Lord has asked us, out of the hope we have received from Him, to be givers of hope to others. I am asking you to join me as we seek the Lord, looking up together, to bring His hope to our church family and to the community and even to the ends of the earth. We can focus on Him, looking up with our hands raised to our Father for His Glory and for the sake of  His people.

This article was originally published in the June 2011 edition of The Crossing.

The Other Six Days

Wilma Vanderleek -

Doing life with Jesus is a journey but not always an easy one. As we look through the book of Mark, we will see much and have the opportunity to learn a great deal. Are you ready to look carefully into your life and see how you are living the other six days? Mark is a great example for us – let’s dig a little right now.

Mark does not name himself as the author of the book. Could it be that he carefully plans it so that we focus only on Jesus and not get distracted by Mark?

Mark was never really a ‘number one.’ He is seen in many places, but is acting in the background behind other great leaders. He was a personal assistant to leaders like Barnabas, Paul and Peter. It is from Peter that Mark receives his information for his gospel.

Peter’s character is obvious in Mark’s gospel. Action Man is what Peter is! He often speaks before thinking; it is difficult for him to sit still and wait when there is something to be done. Peter jumps right in even while the others cautiously move forward. It is Peter who walks on the water, Peter who jumps into the water when John claims that it is Jesus on the shore; Peter who quickly claims that even if the others desert Jesus, he wouldn’t!

In the first part of Mark, relatively little time is spent on the first two and a half years of Jesus’ ministry. It is written at a fast pace as Mark seeks to excite the reader with what is happening. But in the second part he spends more time on subsequent months, then even more time looking at Jesus’ last weeks, until he focuses right down on the last week and last day, when every hour is described. It would be similar to looking at Google Earth, North America, Alberta, Red Deer then CrossRoads Church; in the front doors, through the main sanctuary doors, down the aisle, up the stairs, onto the stage and finally honing in on the cross – emphasizing that this is something that you don’t want to miss!

The gospel of Mark gives us some great themes:

• The first theme is a clear picture of the person of Christ. Mark makes it clear that Jesus revealed Himself to His followers gradually. Mark reveals the person of Christ, and still highlights the fact that Jesus wanted to keep His own identity quiet.

• The second theme is the work of Christ. He emphasizes the death of Jesus. The cross dominates the content throughout the Gospel. 
• The third theme is the people’s reactions to the teaching and miracles of Jesus – their fear and faith are common threads that travel throughout the gospel. From the beginning to end of the gospel, it is as if those who meet Jesus are faced with a choice between the two.

 

Mark shares stories and examples of how Jesus lived His life, called people to follow Him and cared for people’s practical needs, and ultimately how He loved us through His sacrifice, death and resurrection.

The gospel has a peculiar ending – like ending mid sentence. Like this gospel the Jesus story doesn’t end there – it continues; we are part of that continuation here in Central Alberta.

What will be our focus?

Do you demand the public eye or are you more like Mark, pushing all the focus to Jesus?

Do you adjust your life, your days, your hours, minutes and thoughts to what Jesus wants you to do?

The gospel of Mark may be a great place for each of us to really look into our lives and ask: "How will I choose to respond to Jesus? Will I respond in faith or react in fear?"

Let’s learn how to make the best of the other six days!

This article was originally published in the May 2011 edition of The Crossing. The Other Six Days sermon series ran from May to July 2011. You can listen to it in the Messages section.