A Special Anniversary

On September 2, 2007 my husband and I became members of Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene. It was an extremely important event for us. God is so good! We are blessed to be under spiritual covering. One of the interesting aspects of membership in a prophetic community is that, every now and then, God shows up and manifests His presence in ways that confound and humble us. Events occur that cannot be attributed to anything but the work of God. We see the impossible made possible and we marvel.

But, just as in the days of Christ, the community also contains those who are staunch skeptics. We heard this reiterated in the sermon example of the Pharisees and Sadducees who would listen to the words of Christ only for the purpose of looking for flaws in His teaching. And we have seen this reiterated in the present-day example of persons who are in attendance at church, but have their hearts set on criticism and doubt.

Part of the text that precedes Matthew 25 says 'no one knows the day or the hour'. Sadly, that truth seems not to be sufficient for some of us. If anyone needs incentive to trim their lamps and carry extra oil, what better incentive can there be than not knowing what time the Bridegroom will appear? If we know that our Master is returning to settle accounts, shouldn't that be incentive enough to maximize our talents? If God has indicated that His heart is for 'the least of these' and our eternal destiny is at stake, then why not embrace His heart?

The Matthew 25 passage warns us that one day the ride will be over. The passage has an undertone that hints at the subsequent tragedy of Ananias and Sapphira, a wonderfully prominent couple in the early church who were in the right prophetic community but with the wrong motive. We would do well to learn from their failure.

Interestingly enough, sometimes it takes a manifestation on the level of an 'Ananias and Sapphira' event in order to shake communities and deliver people from apathy and doubt. Yesterday evening I spoke very briefly with Pastor Sam on the aspect of apathy as a form of wickedness. Tomorrow's blog will offer some reflections on that topic.