This is part III of Maxie’s series on Core Convictions, you can find his prior articles here, here, and here.

I have long admired the great evangelist, Charles Spurgeon. I often wonder what it would have been like to hear him preach, He is high on any list of renowned preachers. People had to stand in line to get into worship in his church in London. The crowds were so great that sometimes he would urge the membership of his own church not to come to worship the next Sunday in order that there would be room for seekers, those who had not yet received the gospel for their salvation.

The Story of Spurgeon’s Salvation

It was only recently that I heard the story of Spurgeon’s salvation experience. As a young man, he was deeply convicted of his sin, but did not really know how to get his sins forgiven. He began to go to different churches, seeking salvation. He later shared that he heard some fine sermons on doing good and living right, but he never really heard anybody fully preach the gospel of salvation.

One Sunday, he had planned to attend a particular church but it had snowed so much he could not get there. He was walking on an obscure street in London and came upon a little Primitive Methodist chapel he had never seen before.

He went in and sat down. Only a few people were present, without the pastor. As Spurgeon started to get up to leave, a very thin looking man, a layperson, deacon in that church, walked into the pulpit, opened his Bible and read Isaiah 45:22: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (KJV).

Spurgeon said that when the deacon finished reading the text, he lifted up both of his hands and cried out, “Look, look, look! It is only look” At that moment, after all his seeking, Spurgeon said, he finally saw the way of salvation. All he had to do was look, by faith, to Jesus Christ and he was gloriously saved.

Spurgeon’s experience suggests two critical considerations. One, all people need and many are seeking salvation. Two, the gospel is far more than “doing good and living right.” What is that “far more”?  

Justification: The Miracle of a Moment

The two pivotal dynamics of full salvation are justification and sanctification. Both are works of grace. In justification, we are pardoned and reconciled to God; the restoration of the image of God in us is begun, which is the beginning of sanctification.

Justification may be the miracle of a moment but sanctification is the process of a lifetime. As I suggested in my last article, “the dynamic process of sanctification is to work out in fact what is already true in principle. In position, in our relationship to God in Jesus Christ, we are new persons; that is justification and new birth. Now our condition, the actual life we live, must be brought into harmony with our new position. That is the process of sanctification.”

Sanctification: The Journey of a Lifetime

Justification comes when we recognize ourselves as sinners, separated from God, then repent and in faith receive his forgiveness. This is also the starting point of sanctification. As Wesley said, “It is the gate to it, the entrance to it.”

Sanctification is a continuation of our trusting God’s grace that has saved us, trusting him to shape our lives completely into the likeness of Christ.

Why not take some time now to reflect and identify the time, process, conviction, decision—whatever was involved—when, like Spurgeon, you knew and, by faith, you made some claim on Jesus Christ for your salvation.

Romania is a neighbor of Ukraine, sharing about 605 km of border in the northern and southeastern regions. We have always considered Romania the quiet neighbor. Due to the communist and Soviet contexts, each country had preconceived opinions about the other. The Soviets sought to break any form of collaboration with us through various media manipulations and other means. 

The principle of “divide and conquer” was deeply embedded in the Soviet mentality. This spirit of division fosters suspicion, turning the other into an object of distrust. This approach sounds strikingly close to the weapon of the evil one: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1, NIV). Suspicion is what led to the separation of the primordial relationship between man and God, and this tool of unmerited doubt and suspicion has continued to lead many into “us versus them” situations. 

The Gospel is the good news that people of all races and nations share a common quality: being disciples of Christ. In God’s Kingdom, we are all His followers. There should be no separation between us, and there should not have been, but we were divided through manipulation. However, the years since the fall of the Soviets have been a balm. The relationship between Romanians and Ukrainians has transformed. 

Humanitarian Efforts: Offering Refuge and Aid

On February 24, 2022, what began as a celebration of my mother’s birthday quickly turned into one of the darkest days. That morning, the world was shaken by the devastating news that Ukraine had been attacked, plunging our neighboring country into the horrors of war. As the gravity of the situation became clear, I felt convicted. I couldn’t just stand by as a passive observer—I had to take action.

Driven by a deep sense of urgency, I began organizing a network within our ministries and churches to provide refuge for those fleeing the conflict. With the collective efforts of the Methodist Church, we successfully established a vast network of partners ready to welcome refugees. The media noticed, writing that we were the first to respond to the crisis by receiving refugees even before the Romanian state had a plan. We organized a website for people to enter their names and addresses to offer shelter in their homes. To our surprise, the response was overwhelming, and many people found refuge in the cities where our churches are active.

In my city of Sibiu, we received 28 orphans who had escaped from Kyiv, a city under relentless bombardment. These children, among the last to leave the besieged city, embarked on a perilous journey to safety. Our efforts to rescue them were fraught with challenges, including a tense 72-hour period when the children were nearly taken to an unknown destination in Italy. Thankfully, our prayers were answered, and the children safely arrived at our home. We welcomed them with open arms and messages of hope.

Evangelism and Mission Work

It was amazing how simple shelter and food could speak to their hearts and melt ours. One little girl, about five years old, one day embraced my wife with love. Then, when she saw me, she stretched out her arms wide towards me. I took her in my arms and felt an immense love for her.  God’s love was upon us. We shared the gospel with the children that night, I exclaimed, “You are God’s gift to me!” She looked right into my eyes and confidently said, “YES!” The word for “yes” is similar in both Romanian and Ukrainian. At that moment, my heart was healed of the suffering caused by the whole situation of trying to save them. It was worth it!

But this was only the beginning of our mission to love our neighbors. We also organized help for hundreds of people, with World Methodist Evangelism being one of our key partners in meeting the needs of refugees, especially children and mothers who had left behind everything, including their husbands and family members, not knowing if they would ever see them again.  Our church has expanded its efforts to provide ongoing support to Ukraine, sending aid on a weekly basis. To date, we have helped thousands of people, providing not just material support but also a message of hope in Jesus and solidarity.

In partnership with Global Hope International, we launched a project called Arms of Hope, dedicated to supporting 16 single refugee mothers and their children—more than 60 people in total—who receive help from us every month. This project is a lifeline for these families, offering not only the essentials they need to survive but also a sense of community and belonging.

A Call to Action: Spreading the Gospel in Times of Crisis

Our commitment to serving those in need extends beyond basic necessities. We have helped Ukrainian refugees find jobs, secure shelter, and access critical medical care, including surgeries. We’ve provided food aid, and recognizing the profound emotional toll of war, we’ve opened a counseling center in our church specifically for teenagers traumatized by the conflict. This center offers a safe space for young people to process their experiences and find healing.

Through all these efforts, we are guided by the belief that the Gospel is holistic—Jesus can be in everything, bringing salvation, comfort, and hope to every aspect of life. Our work is an embodiment of this belief, as we strive to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of those we serve.

We have also opened our home to refugees, forming deep personal connections along the way. One of my daughter’s closest friends is a young girl who fled the conflict. These relationships have reinforced our understanding of the profound impact of our efforts, bringing together people from different backgrounds and forging lasting bonds of friendship and support.

In addition to our humanitarian work, we have turned our attention to spiritual outreach. We have begun hosting evangelism events and are actively working on a mission-planting project, which aims to spread the message of hope and faith to communities near and far. These initiatives allow us to reach even more people, sharing the love of Christ and offering a ray of hope in these challenging times.

As we continue on this journey, we are reminded of Jesus’ commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39, NIV). This guiding principle has inspired our actions, leading us to extend our hands to those in need, knowing that through our efforts, we can make a difference in the lives of thousands.

Our mission is far from over, and we remain committed to supporting those displaced by the conflict, spreading the Gospel’s holistic message, and being a source of light in the darkness. With the help of our global partners and the unwavering support of our congregation, we will continue to offer refuge, comfort, and hope to all who seek it. 

It’s important to note that the support for Ukrainians did not come solely from us. The Romanian response, in general, was driven by evangelical churches, Orthodox churches, Catholic churches, monasteries, priests, and people from all walks of life. God healed our divisions, uniting us in a powerful spirit of compassion and solidarity throughout this suffering.

As the war in our world continues, not only in Ukraine but in other places, we, the people of the Good News, need to find practical ways to get involved. Throughout this time, we never know how the lives of people will be impacted, how people will actually receive faith in Christ, and be set free. I could spend many hours giving countless stories of how people received Jesus in the midst of trauma, war, and desperation. Jesus doesn’t stop saving people, so we should not stop preaching salvation! Let us take to heart the words of John Wesley: “You have nothing to do but to save souls; therefore spend and be spent in this work.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn8EoJp6oNU

In my last article, I sought to make the case that the Christian faith is all about salvation. John Wesley summarized the goal of Christian religion: The end is, in one word, salvation.

The British Methodist historian, William B. Fitzgerald, summarized Wesley’s theology of salvation with this fourfold dictum: All people need to be saved from sin, all people may be saved from sin, all people may know they are saved from sin, and all people may be saved to the uttermost.

I will refer to these assertions as we continue our reflection on Methodist Wesleyan Core Convictions. Consider now the claim: all people may know they are saved from sin.

Wrestling with Assurance of Salvation

Early in my Christian walk, I often fell into a chasm of doubt about my personal salvation. In all my years as a pastor, this has been one of the spiritual issues with which I have seen people wrestling most: knowing they are saved from sin.

The apostle Paul knew Christians struggled with this. He wrote to them:

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:15-17 NIV)

John Wesley’s Struggle for Assurance

The founder of our Methodist Wesleyan tradition of the Christian faith, John Wesley, is a dramatic witness to this struggle of knowing and claiming salvation.

John Wesley was nurtured by his mother, Susanna, and his father, Samuel, a priest in the Church of England. In 1725, while a student at Oxford University, he had a conversion to the ideal of holy living. Few examples in history show a more disciplined religious person: he rose at 4 a.m., read the New Testament in Greek for an hour, then prayed with his brother Charles and others in what was derisively called the “Holy Club.”

He spent time visiting prisons and gave to the poor all money he received except for what was absolutely necessary for his own living. Wesley was relentlessly driven to achieve salvation and assurance, yet he remained haunted by doubt.

The Aldersgate Experience: Wesley’s Breakthrough

After much religious striving, even going to the American colonies as a missionary and feeling like a failure, Wesley experienced a breakthrough. On May 24, 1738, during a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street in London, a layperson read Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. Wesley later described the moment:

“I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

This was the turning point for Wesley, giving him the assurance of salvation he had long sought. No wonder this became one of the four “alls” in Fitzgerald’s summary of Wesley’s understanding of salvation: all can know they are saved.

The Aldersgate experience transformed Wesley from a slave to a son. He knew that, in his words, “Christ had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” The apostle Paul might say that Wesley “did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but the spirit of sonship that would enable him to cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15).

How Christians Can Know They Are Saved

Assurance is the privilege of all Christians. It is a gift that we must accept and embrace. This witness of assurance is continually verified in at least four ways:

1. Repentance: We know that we’ve repented of our sins and continue to repent daily.
2. Spiritual Growth: Assurance grows within us as we see continual changes in our lives.
3. Character Development: Assurance is ours if we are aware of a new character being produced in us, as the fruits of the Spirit grow in our lives.
4. Joy in Service: We find joy in the service of God, and this joy confirms our assurance.

Two Challenges to Keep Your Assurance Alive

I close with two challenges to keep your assurance alive:

• Rejoice Daily: This day, and every day, rejoice in the salvation that is yours.
• Repent Continually: This day, and every day, repent of every sin and renew your faith commitment to Christ.

And the Holy Spirit of peace “will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

Statistics show that by 2034, many of the mainline denominations may cease to exist. The Presbyterian Church USA, Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church, and United Methodist Church have been in a kind of “free fall” in membership.

It is obvious; the Day of the mainline expression of Christianity in North America is coming to a close. 

It is clear, maybe condemningly clear, that these days call us to be certain about who we are and what are the core convictions that shape us in the Methodist/Wesleyan tradition of the Christian faith. That’s what I’ll be thinking and writing about in the next few weeks. We begin where the faith begins: it’s all about salvation.

A Return to the Foundation: Salvation

We can’t think and talk long about Christianity before salvation becomes the focus. It is at the center of one of the most familiar stories in the New Testament, Zacchaeus. We sing about him with our children,

Zacchaeus was a wee little man,

a wee little man was he

He climbed up in the sycamore tree,

For the Lord he wanted to see.

When Jesus called him by name, to come down, he responded immediately. Without hesitation he made his confession, to which Jesus made an immediate response, 

“Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Salvation! 

It’s all about salvation. For Zachaeus, and the people of Jericho, that day was something the prophet Isaiah had spoken of more than five hundred years before. For Zacchaeus, this was the moment God fulfilled a promise that was proclaimed over and over again: salvation.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

I delight greatly in the Lord;

my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels (Isa. 61:1-2, 10)

John Wesley’s Vision: Salvation from Beginning to End

It’s all about salvation.

In his sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation,” John Wesley summarized the goal of genuine Christian religion: “The end is, in one word, salvation.” In its broadest sense, Wesley understood salvation as the entire redeeming work of God in a human life, “from the first dawning of grace in the soul, till it is consummated in glory.” Indeed, Wesley includes within his concept of salvation “all the drawings of the Father”-which he terms “preventing grace-in the heart of a person as yet uncommitted to God. Whether or not it is ultimately embraced, this preventing grace is part of salvation in its broadest sense.”

The transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer was the chief theme of  Wesley’s life and work, and still is a distinctive contribution the Methodists make to the rest of the church. The British theologian, William B. Fitzgerald, summarized Wesley’s theology of salvation with this fourfold dictum: All people need to be saved from sin, all people may be saved from sin, all people may know they are saved from sin, and all people may be saved to the uttermost.

The Need for Salvation: From Genesis to Today

We don’t get far into the Bible before we are confronted with the fact of sin, and that all need to be saved. It began in the garden of Eden. The way the story is told doesn’t give a timeline, underscoring the fact that Adam and Eve didn’t live very long before they gave in to the serpent of temptation.

Chapters l and 2 of Genesis tell the story of Creation that is climaxed with God creating humans. All other dimensions of creation were described as good, but after creating humankind, God recognizes creation as “very good.” Chapter 2 closes with the beautiful expression of the marriage covenant. The last verse of the chapter is a superbly simple expression of innocence. “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25).

In this fast-moving drama, chapter 3 opens with the serpent convincing Adam and Eve that they didn’t have to pay attention to God’s instruction –  that they were not to eat the fruit of one particular tree in the garden of Eden. From that point on, sin in human life has been a universal fact; and sin is like quicksand. When we get ourselves into quicksand and try to get ourselves out, we only end up getting in deeper. We are not capable of extricating ourselves from the messes we get into. And since we have violated God’s way for us, we are helplessly estranged from him. We need a rescue, a savior. There is hope. Not only do all need to be saved, all can be saved. That’s the clear message of Scripture. Yes, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” but they can be “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).

It’s all about salvation! Do you know, or have you known, that you need to be saved?

Singing is one of our greatest expressions in the Christian faith and way, especially in the Wesleyan/Methodist tradition. We sing our faith. 

One of the hymns we sing often is Blessed Assurance. The hymn is emotionally overwhelming when we know about the author, Fanny Crosby. From six weeks of age until her death shortly before her 95th birthday… Fanny was blind. Sadly, the blindness was caused by a medical error when a doctor put mustard poultice on her inflamed eyes from a cold infection… resulting in immediate blindness.

Her widowed mother and grandmother even took her to the famous New York surgeon, Dr. Valentine Mott, but it was too late…the damage was permanent. He was heard to lament as they left the examining room, “Poor little blind girl.” However, Fanny never saw her affliction as anything but a blessing. When she was eight years old she wrote this simple little verse:

Oh, what a happy child I am

Although I cannot see

I am resolved that in this world

Contented I will be.

No wonder the first stanza of her hymn, Blessed Assurance, underscores assurance as “a foretaste of glory divine.” She had only words, but I don’t know anyone who has used words with greater depth of feeling. Pause a moment to relish it: a foretaste of glory divine. 

In our Methodist/Wesleyan tradition, assurance of salvation is one of the four “all” convictions about salvation: all need to be saved; all can be saved; all can know they are saved; all can be saved to the uttermost.

It may be my age, but let’s not lodge it there. The third “all” is life giving: all can know they are saved. There are few experiences that can provide more power in our lives than to have assurance of our salvation. Think what it could do for any one of us:

• Our timidity and uncertainty about witnessing would be dissolved.  We would not be intimidated by those “buttonhole” witnesses who come on like gangbusters. We would know that tenderness, patience, and understanding are authentic testimonies, as well as words.
• We would not get overwrought with our Christian friends who insist on future security, for we would be assured of our present relationship with Christ.  
• We would be joyous in our service for God, but not in our works, or mistaken in the notion that our works save us. 
• We would be delivered from frantic preoccupation with minute by minute temperature taking because we could relax in our trust in the Lord.

And all of that would help every one of us, wouldn’t it? 

Blessed Assurance …Oh what “a foretaste of glory divine.” 

Worship is often an understated matter for us church folks. Think about the last time you used the word “worship.” For many of us, it refers to the time of singing before the sermon at a church gathering. Some even call that gathering “worship.” For others, the last time we said the word worship, it was in reference to an intensely intimate time of communion with  the Spirit and fellow believers. While none of these are incorrect, none of them capture the full breadth of what worship actually is. These are better defined as expressions of praise. Don’t get me wrong—God is worthy of praise, and we should praise God exuberantly and often. But worship has always required more from us than a song; it is our life.  

What Is True Worship?

A basic definition of worship is to express reverence or adoration for something or someone. While for most of human history, this involved sacrificing the life of animals or burning crops, for Christians, worship is a heart surrendered to the lordship of Christ. It goes beyond declaring Christ as our Savior. Worship compels us to make Him our King, and therein lies our sacrifice. Instead of burning animals, we sacrifice the ability to be the lord of our own lives and follow Christ. 

This is what Paul is pointing to in Romans 12:1 when he says that believers are to submit our bodies as living sacrifices as our way of worshiping. He draws upon the practice of surrendering something of value as a way of declaring that our allegiance to the One we are sacrificing to is more valuable than the item offered. For believers, we don’t bring a dead, burnt offering. For us, the only appropriate sacrifice is our lives, poured out for our King as we live them.  

Worship and the Great Commission

In this way, worship is an integral element in everything we do, especially our shared mission  as disciple-makers. This mission is laid out for us in Matthew 28:19-20:  

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.  

Jesus gave these instructions to His first followers, and they have been passed down as part  of our inheritance as members of the family of God. This is not just busy work to maintain our attention until Jesus returns. This is vital work in the business of redeeming the Earth, and we have been entrusted with it. It is far more than just “what we do” as disciples of Christ; it is, in part, who we are and a key ingredient in our observed Lordship of Christ—our  worship.  

When Disciple-Making Becomes Worship

Making disciples is invigorating, but by no means easy. We are regularly challenged in this  effort, as we have an enemy with a vested interest in our failure. And even more challenging —humans keep changing. But that’s where the beauty of remembering that this work is a part of our worship comes in. When making disciples is more than a chore but an expression of what it means to be a living sacrifice, we think more creatively. We don’t give up as easily,  and we find ways to keep relational doors to unbelievers open rather than closing them due to our discomfort. 

When our mission is a part of our worship, we live it out with joy. And when that is difficult, we ask the Holy Spirit for help rather than discarding the mission as if it were a Christian hobby. Praise to our amazing God may bring you to tears, but worship will make you bring others to Him so they, too, will experience the full life we have been granted in Christ. May we worship God vibrantly.

I am not trying to be overly dramatic. Throughout these three articles on the Holy Spirit (check out Part I and Part II), I have voiced my conviction that we are at a critical point. I would even describe it as a life and death point…in our church and in our nation. However, the overarching conviction is that the Holy Spirit can be, must be our daily guide. 

If we will allow, the Holy Spirit will teach us. How? Primarily through God’s word. If we will stay with it, the Holy Spirit will teach us what God is saying.

If we immerse ourselves in Scripture, and discipline ourselves in prayer – if we tune our souls through worship, we can live in the Spirit. The Spirit will be our daily counselor, teaching and keeping us sensitive to the Mind of Christ.

The final work of the Holy Spirit we will consider is that of convincer and convictor. In his last conversation with his disciples, Jesus made it clear:

And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:8-11)

The New English Bible and Barclay use enlightening words in this translation: convict of sin, and convince of righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit does that work within us – convicting us of our sin and convincing us of righteousness and judgment.

Jesus is talking about the work he will do on the cross. Here the sin of man is exposed before the sheer righteousness of God in the gift of His Son for our salvation. And here, in the Cross, sin is condemned, judged and defeated. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and convinces us that only Christ can save us.

I have shared about some of the sinful forces tearing us apart as families, as friends, as communities, as a nation. Yes, we should desire good government, but we are not excused to be bad neighbors because of bad policy.  The Holy Spirit convicts us of the sins of racism, xenophobia, greed, etc. while also convincing us of Jesus’ words to love our neighbor. Will we be obedient?

 A closing story will challenge us. 

A small  girl and her mother were out together one day and saw a poor needy man on the street. “Oh, Moma,” she said, “let’s help him.” The mother answered, “Come on, dear. It isn’t any of our business.”

That night, when the little girl had said her, “Now I Lay me down to sleep,” she added, “O God, bless that old man on the street corner.” And then, remembering her mother’s words that day, she added, “But really, it isn’t our business, is it, Lord?”

Unfortunately, too many of us are living that tragic lie, whatever the social ill plaguing our communities. Still the Holy Spirit calls to us each in a personal way. It is our business because it is Jesus’ business. So I close by rehearsing our major thoughts.

The Holy Spirit is the one who takes the place of Jesus as Companion, Comforter, Counselor, Convictor and Convincer. One word must be added – the word of Jesus himself speaks, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14 RSV)

Everything the Spirit does in our lives is to bring us to Christ and glorify him. Christ is central always and evermore.

Will you allow that truth to dominate the responses you make to the divisions arising in your nation, your community…your church?

In my previous article I began a conversation about the Holy Spirit as someone to take the  place of Jesus. Knowing the cross was coming, in one of his last conversations with his disciples, Jesus made the promise, “And I will  pray to the Father, and He will give you another comforter, that He may abide with you  forever.” (John 14:16 KJV)

Acknowledging the limitation of our thinking of comfort in relation to sorrow and sadness, I suggested Phillips’ translation as more appropriate: “I shall ask the Father to give you someone else to stand by you, to be with you  always.” The Greek word is parakletos, and it means, “someone who is called to help, to be with us always.”

It’s difficult to find words to describe our feelings of need for such a companion. Studies show we are lonelier than ever before.  We are confounded, puzzled, taken aback, baffled. The word that fits my feelings these days is “swamped.” As I share with people, that seems to be where we are. We feel swamped, and we are not sure what is swamping us.

How desperately we need to claim the truth: we need never be alone. God has given us the  Holy Spirit to be our companion.

In our trouble and distress, our doubt and bewilderment, our being swamped, we have someone to call for help. And that brings us to a second word used to describe the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said a counselor would come. “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They hated me without a cause. But when the counselor is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.” (John 15:25-26)

In present day legal terms, when we go to court, we retain a lawyer, a counselor, who speaks on our behalf. The Holy Spirit who comes to take the place of Jesus, is not to speak on our behalf, but on behalf of Jesus.

It is clear. Jesus is, and must always be our focus. Nothing is more relevant in terms of where we are in our world today. In John 14, Jesus’ word, preceding his promise of the Spirit, was this, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” To our gospel writer, John, there is only one test of love, and that test is obedience. It was by his obedience that Jesus showed his love of God; and it is by our obedience that we must show our love to Jesus.

The violence in our streets, unrest abroad, resistance to immigration, and blatant expressions of hatred has put the issue of love in dramatic full focus. Racial division, call it human division if you like … but don’t do so to evade the truth: no division is as pronounced in our culture, no division is as painfully impacting all of us, as our racism and racial division.  

I plead with you. Let’s not allow the misuse of protest movements, and the violence that too often accompany them, to divert us from the racial division that is breaking God’s heart. Don’t be diverted from the love that is being called for, and the desperately needed healing of racial division, by taking issue with the language and demonstrations of different movements lamenting their pain. 

Friends, the evidence is clear. People in our country and abroad unjustly suffer and are denied privileges. Some for the color of their skin, some for their birthplace, some for the debts of the generations before them, some for their beliefs. These remain critical issues for the hearts of those in the church around the world.

Issues are not always clear cut and are too often politically motivated and used. Innocent persons are hurt, demonstrations become violent, people who are demanding aren’t held accountable and too often don’t take responsibility. It’s a mess and we want to throw up our hands and remove ourselves as far from it as possible. But that’s a costly decision, and it is certainly not a Christian one.  We are swamped but still called to love.

My experience is that most of us feel frightened and helpless. Jesus speaks to us here:

I will not leave you to struggle with this alone; I will not abandon you to your own strengths and skills to love in the way you are called to love. I will give you a helper, the parakletos, the one who will stand by you.

Be humble and honest. Allow the Holy Spirit to stand with you, comforting you, whispering into your soul the counsel of Jesus.

There is a familiar story line I sometimes see in movies or books that goes something like this. Someone is facing a crisis and wants to overcome the current situation. The hero of the story goes to a wise master for guidance. The master gives the new student a series of tasks to do to train for the work ahead. However, the tasks seem to make no sense at all, they seem to be unrelated to the ultimate goal the student wishes to accomplish. Yet, through the patient teaching of the master, the student learns that the tasks were, in fact, preparing the student all along. 

Maybe you feel that way about your encounters with God at times. There are occasions when God calls us to do things that just don’t seem to make sense. The account of Philip and the official from Ethiopia is but one example of such a call. I encourage you to take a minute to read about their encounter in Acts 8:26-40, but I’ll give you a quick recap. Philip is called to leave Samaria and Jerusalem to go down an out-of-the-way Wilderness Road. There he encounters an Ethiopian official, a eunuch. Philip shares the Good News of Jesus and the Ethiopian is baptized in his new faith in Christ. It sounds simple, yet it is a remarkable story. The truth of which has all sorts of meaning for anyone who wants to be used by God to share faith in Jesus.

To get a better appreciation of the radical call on Philip’s ministry that led to the encounter with the man from Ethiopia we need to go to the earlier part of the chapter. Acts 8 opens with the record of the young church being persecuted by Saul, before his conversion and renaming to Paul. The apostles’ response is enthusiastic and fervent preaching of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Philip is one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. John’s Gospel tells us that he was close to Jesus. We know he was from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter. He is among those preaching in chapter 8.

Philip is called to preach in Samaria. It would be hard to overstate the deep divide between Jews and Samaritans at this time. The ethnic divide is so deep, in fact, that Jews are told to not even take any dirt from the Samaritan towns on the soles of their shoes. No, they are told to shake that dust off and leave it at the edge of town rather than take it with them. 

Yet, the response to the Message of Jesus is strong. Signs, wonders, and healings are taking place. So much so that verse 8 tells us that the whole city was filled with joy. Miracles are happening. Lives are being changed. Numbers are growing. By all earthly measures, Philip’s ministry is exactly where it should be. Which leads us to an important lesson: Don’t fall into the trap of measuring your life with God in earthly metrics. It is tempting to measure our lives with God by things like our financial “net worth” (I loathe that term), our parents’ status in the community, our children’s success, membership in the right groups, or some other such thing. However, what God asks from us is faithfulness. He will produce every other success we need.

In the middle of all these wonderful things going on, God calls Philip back to Jerusalem. Maybe even that is seen as a bonus—you know, sort of like getting a promotion to the big city to take a big assignment. However, verse 26 tells us that God has something else in mind. An angel appears to him and tells Philip to leave his successful ministry. He is to go south (where very few people live). He’s to take the wilderness road to Gaza (which few people use). In addition, he’s to go in the middle of the day, according to the Greek (when few people travel). Everything points to a “reduced assignment”, we might say. Philip’s response is to go when and where he’s told.

There he encounters the Ethiopian official, headed back home after worshiping at the Temple. The fact that he’s riding in a chariot tells us that he’s particularly wealthy and powerful. Verse 29 shows us that Philip is listening to the Holy Spirit, and he’s told to go run alongside the chariot to talk with him. Which leads us to a second lesson: When God calls you to do something, it may not fit your sensibilities. See if you can capture the absurdity of the moment: Here’s Philip, a poor itinerant preacher. A fisherman by trade, now out in the deserted wilderness. He runs alongside the chariot to strike up a conversation as he overhears the official reading from Isaiah. Picture that for a second. 

We know that the official has questions. Lots of them. God leads Philip to answer them to the point where this one person is converted and baptized in a pool of water that they encounter along the way. Immediately after this, Philip is taken away, some 20 miles north. (We don’t know exactly how, but wouldn’t you love to see that instant replay?!) Third lesson: When God calls you, He’s already wherever you’re going. Look at what’s happened here: Philip is called to leave a ministry where the enemies of Israel are being converted in droves. Miracles are happening. Instead, he’s called to go in the middle of nowhere to talk to one person. Why did he ask Philip to talk to this one, nameless-to-us, person? Well, we will only find that answer on the other side of this life. However, there are a few things we can say. Christianity is not first a western thing, nor European thing. We know that it spreads to northern Africa. During the first five centuries of the church, this region of the world produced some of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time who still influence us today. They include Tertullian, Athanasius, St. Augustine, Aurelius, Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian, and Origen. These are directly influential (though centuries later) on Western thinkers like John Calvin, Martin Luther, John Wesley, and others.

According to the accounts of Acts, the Ethiopian official is the first convert outside of Jewish lineage. While we can’t be sure, it is reasonable to think that this person would have had some piece in spreading the Message of Jesus to the parts where it grew so strongly, and has influenced us so.

This is a reminder that even when things don’t make sense, pay attention to what God is doing. Philip’s call from God was clearly within his gifts. Yet, he was called to a time, a place, and a person that was clearly beyond what “normal” expectations might be. The result was far beyond what any of us could have imagined. That result began with one person faithfully following the Master’s instruction, even when they didn’t seem to make sense. Even when things aren’t the way we think they could and should be, remember that God wastes no person, no place, no thing. May we be faithful and obedient upon whatever wilderness road falls beneath our feet.

I’ve written two previous articles on this general theme, saying yes to forgiveness. If you have not seen those articles, you can see them here and here.

I make this claim now: saying yes to forgiveness is our clearest witness to the fact that we are Christian.

Here is a powerful witness. It was 1921 in the South of Poland, following the devastation of another war. A Quaker woman had driven herself in selfless service as a nurse to that war-torn land. She spent herself in tireless love, and she died — having literally given her life away.

A question arose: Where would she be buried? It was Roman Catholic territory and church law forbade any but baptized Roman Catholics be buried in the consecrated ground of a Catholic cemetery – and that was the only cemetery around. Yet the Quaker nurse was deeply loved by all. It was a far more serious question than we modern Protestants can grasp. Where would she be buried?

Finally it was settled. The decision was made that she was to be buried just outside the cemetery fence. So it was done.

During the night, however, after the funeral, Polish peasants, faithful Roman Catholics, moved the fence so that it would include the grave of their beloved nurse inside the sacred ground.

That’s what Christ does, and that’s the task of Christians – to move fences, to tear down walls. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:18-19)  

One of my heroes is Clarence Jordan. He comes to mind because he paraphrased this text about God being in Christ, “Putting his arms around the world and hugging it to himself.” Clarence was not a casual quoter of Scripture. He was a New Testament Greek Scholar.

His witness is more highly charged for me because he took his paraphrase personally. He founded Koinonia Farm, in southwest Georgia, as a primary witness for reconciliation in the context of rigid racial segregation and conflict. 

From an early age, Jordan was troubled by the racial and economic injustice he perceived in his community. Hoping to improve the lot of sharecroppers through scientific farming techniques, he earned a degree in agriculture from the University of Georgia. During his college years he became convinced that the roots of poverty were spiritual as well as economic, and became a Christian minister.

It thrills me to ponder how God used this person, his gifts and his training. He titled his paraphrase of Scripture the Cotton Patch Paraphrase of the New Testament. He was also instrumental in the founding of Habitat for Humanity. I quote him often. “God was in Christ. Putting his arms around the world and hugging it to himself.”

Saying yes to forgiveness is our clearest witness to the fact that we are Christian.

This post is part III in Maxie’s series on Saying Yes to Forgiveness.  Join us next week as we learn more about how we Forgive Others as We Forgive Ourselves