Legacy Church Blog

Slug Bug

It’s one of the most unique cars ever designed: the original slug bug- the Volkswagen. I should know; I had a 1972 VW Beetle when I was 17 years old. It was a stick shift with the air-cooled engine in the back, trunk in the front, and felt on the floor. The vinyl upholstery, baked in the west Texas sun, produced a smell that no car I’ve ever had could duplicate. It was yellow, riddled with minor dings and irregularities in the body. That, by no means, discouraged me from polishing it, so that every wrinkle in the steel was accentuated by a glossy sheen. I loved it. It was my freedom; it made me feel like a man. At that age I was starting to love things that made me feel like that, and hating things that didn’t. That is probably why I was beginning to hate Monday nights- scout meeting nights.

I was a proud member of The Boy Scouts Of America-had been since I was a wee cub scout. Olive green pants, red scarf, khaki shirt, merit badges and all. And, as if that wasn’t already feeling a little weird for me to wear at age 17, my overly pocketed scouting pants were getting too short, which revealed my thick wooly scouting socks. We had meetings every Monday night at 7:00 P.M. I was growing weary of being a boy scout, and was rapidly being influenced by the new friends I was making at the high school I had recently begun attending. I started there after I moved in with my dad, who taught math at the school, and I felt I was outgrowing scouting. My dad disagreed. He, like many wise fathers, wanted me to finish what I started. After all, I was getting very close to finishing up the requirements that would earn myself the honor of Eagle Scout. But, going to meetings and holding up three fingers, while reciting the scouting pledge, was grating on my too cool teenage nerves.

One night my friends called and invited me to play hooky from my scout meeting. Here was the plan: I, and the rest of them, would go out to one of their houses to hang out; then I would drive home at the time the meeting would normally be over. My dad would be none the wiser. The house was out of town a few miles down some dirt roads, surrounded by cotton fields; no one would spot me skipping the meeting. The scheme seemed fool proof, and my tempters assured me that I would not get caught. I went for it.

Things did not go quite as planned, though. (I know! I was shocked too.) Along the way, we got distracted by a large, low area of red dirt where water used to collect and sit. It was nestled between cotton fields. It had dried up, and was now calling to us, beckoning us to some good ole fashioned teenage fun. I drove my friends straight out into it to do some doughnuts, but to my sudden consternation, as we sped into it, we found ourselves tire deep in red, farm mud. The car had quickly sunk clear down to the chassis, but not, of course, until we had sputtered all the way to dead center of the dry “pond”. One of my friends called his uncle who owned a tow truck to get us out. He took his sweet time getting out there and assaulted us with a brow beating, peppered with cuss words that were drawn out through a stubbly, country accent. My alibi was shot. By the time I got the VW washed and drove up to my house, I was inexcusably and undeniably much later than my scouting meeting had ended.  My dad had gotten worried and called the meeting location; I had been caught.

Had it all been worth deceiving my dad? Had it been worth the discipline I received for my disobedience? The truth is, my dad would have taken us out to a dry lake to do doughnuts, if I had asked.  He was the one who taught me to drive that standard shift Beetle out on a dirt road, anyway. But even if he hadn’t, he would have had a good reason.   He did what was good for me. He was a good dad. I was blessed. Yes, but, I wasn’t satisfied with that. I didn’t like my dad’s rule, so I rebelled, and, as it turned out, it was much more trouble than fun (though some of it was actually exhilarating), and punishment ensued.  

This Psalm helps me comprehend it a little more:

Psalm 19:9-11English Standard Version (ESV)9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules[a] of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Great Psalm! One problem: We have not followed God’s rules. Does that mean, then, that this Psalm is useless, that it is bad news? No! Jesus did two things with the law. He took the punishment for our failure to keep it, AND he obeyed it for us. We have failed over and over again, but through Christ, we can begin again today living under God’s loving rule.  We can begin again tomorrow, obeying God’s good commands. “In keeping them is great reward.” Jesus kept them! Now, He leads us to His great reward, and, get this, He IS our great reward. Our encounter with Jesus is an encounter with His Father:

John 14:10English Standard Version (ESV)

10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

Some of us have not had the blessing of a good father here on Earth, but we can, through Jesus, by His Spirit, experience and enjoy The Good Father who is in Heaven!

In the Valley

Paul the Apostle sets forth an unusual turn of phrase in Ephesians 5:19. He says that we should "address one another with psalms". We tend to think that psalms are to be used to address God, and they are. However, we now see that they can be used to address one another. The phrase "one another" is seen throughout scripture, and it always relates to our community and fellowship with other Christians.   

So I would like to attempt to address you here with a Psalm. I specifically want to address your worries, stress, depression, and panic with the Gospel found in the Psalms. Let me try probably the most well-known and beloved psalm of all time: Psalm 23. This Psalm begins with David writing, meditating and singing about God. Do you notice how, at first, he speaks about God (not to God) in the third person? He says, "The Lord is my Shepherd...He makes me lie down in green pastures...He leads me...He restores", etc...  

First, the Psalmist starts out with acknowledging the great care that the Lord takes in the guiding and leading David. It is right (and encouraging) to acknowledge and thank God for the pleasant places where he mercifully leads us. David the shepherd is first thinking about good things that the Lord gives. He sings about His provision, the rest, stillness and peace that God causes to happen in David's soul. He proclaims how God sovereignly guides David to walk on the path that God wants him to walk upon, "the paths of righteousness."  

Then David gets real. He doesn't gloss over the bad stuff in His life. His mind (inspired by the Holy Spirit), begins to think about other paths that God has led him through. Not every path that David walks upon is lined with roses, rainbows and ice cream sandwiches. He remembers a time where a lion tried to kill him. He remembers being alone in the wilderness when he had to fight off a bear. He recalls how a man he loved and honored pursued David with a spear, intended to end his life. He describes these ugly places simply as "the valley". These paths are not so pleasant to David. They are nothing like the bright, happy paths that he just described. They are so dark, painful and lonely that David paints a picture of the valley being darkened by the shadow of death itself. Death is near. Life is ebbing away. As David walked along this path, fear stood at the door of his heart.   

Have you ever been in the valley?  

Me too. 

Hopefully we can learn something from David's poetic description of how the Lord handled his heart in the valley. Something changes. Something shifts in David's relationship and communion with God in the valley. Even the way he talks about God is different now. He no longer speaks of God in third person. Notice, he now speaks to God directly, not about God indirectly. He now says "You are with me, Your rod and staff...comfort...You prepare a table before me..." He is now in deep communion with God. Going through the valley was difficult. It was not a place he would have chosen to go. It was the place that God chose David to go, however, and David was the better for it. Why? Because now David knew in reality what he had formerly known only in theory. Before, he knew about the goodness of God, because the Rabbis taught him well. Afterward, he learned firsthand that God is so much better, because He is near. He is the One who came down from His lofty throne, and descended into David's little universe. He descended even further, by going into the valley with David, as a good shepherd should. Why was David unafraid? He said it himself: "...for You are with me." If the shepherd is with his sheep, they have no reason to fear.  The apostle Peter (quoting Isaiah 56) said: "For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." How did we return? Did we pull ourselves out of the valley of our own sin? Nope. We were unable. He did it. Our Shepherd Jesus (the One we should have been following but instead went our own way into the valley) followed us into the valley to set us back on His paths of righteousness.  

If a good Shepherd would do that for you when you first ran away from Him, how much more will He be with you in other valleys that you walk into, now that you are His? Are you anxious, worried, depressed, angry, or fearful? I beg you to find your comfort in knowing that God loves you, and is with you, even in the valley. Come to speak to Him directly. He hears and will comfort you. You will be so full that you will say along with David: "my cup overflows."