CWE Pre Camp Devo #6

2 Peter 1:-5-6b

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance…”

Hebrews 12:1-7

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children.  For what children are not disciplined by their father?

“THE PATIENTS”

The first time I saw him he was singing in the church choir.  Now, let me tell you right up front: I am not a choir guy.  I love to listen to choirs sing, in part because I can’t sing a lick. But as for participating, sorry, that’s just not me.  Now the choir at our church is very large so in general, when you look up at the choir, or at least when I do, all I see is this big blanket of blue robes with good music bellowing forth.  Normally, I don’t focus on or recognize individual faces in the choir.  But on this particular Sunday, it was almost impossible to miss this one particular guy, because it was so obvious he was having so much fun doing what he was doing.  I mean he was rocking and rolling and gyrating, all at the same time, with a huge grin spread across his face.  To be perfectly honest, I am usually a little bit cynical about people who are a little too expressive when they are worshipping through song.  (I know I may be stepping on a few toes here, but I have to be honest.)  The lawyerly cynic in me often wonders just exactly how much is actually worship and how much is just for show.  But with this guy, there was no doubt.  It was all about worship, all about expressing joy and thankfulness, and I must say, it made an impression on me. 

I didn’t think much about it until an hour later when lo and behold the guy is making a beeline straight for me in my Bible Study Class.  He introduced himself (Paul), and his wife (Sharon), and thenout of the blue, he asked me to join the choir.  What had started off as a very promising conversation ended very quickly with me blowing him off and trying to get as far away from choir recruiting as possible.Over the next few months, though, I learned a little bit about Paul’s life.  He had endured a successful liver transplant about 10 years earlier. But because of the anti-rejection drugs required to keep his liver healthy, his kidneys had begun to fail, as had his heart.   As the months went by I begin to notice that Paul and Sharon were absent more and more as his conditioned worsened.  He was placed on dialysis and subsequently told that he would require a kidney transplant.  He was in and out of the hospital, often in the ICU as his condition seemed to worsen and his body seemed to fail.  Throughout these months I didn’t see Paul much. But every time I did he was smiling.  Every time I heard about him he was encouraged not discouraged.  Every time he communicated, it was with great hope and optimism in spite of the multiple life-threatening scenarios that seemed to engulf him almost on a weekly basis.  To my knowledge, he never blamed God.  He never whined, never asked why.  Rather, he persevered, consistently, constantly, daily, hourly.  Regardless of the circumstances he never lost faith, never lost hope, never lost joy, and never gave up or gave in. 

Paul’s conduct in the face of the potential of premature death is exactly what the authors of 2 Peter and Hebrews are exhorting the believers to adopt in their walk through life.  In the days of the early church, life was difficult for believers; there was real persecution, real prejudice, and real hardship.  Peter is absolutely clear in his teaching that perseverance is a requirement of a maturing and enduring faith.  This summer at camp, you will not be persecuted like Peter and the apostle Paul were. In all likelihood you will not face a life-threatening illness like my friend Paul was. But you will be challenged.  You may not like everything you are asked to do.  You may be required to work harder than you are imagining.  Amidst all of the fun, you may be required to persevere through personal doubts, insecurities, fears, thoughts, and commitments that are difficult.  Remember this fact.  Take hold of this requirement.  To be mature and complete and effective as a believer and as a summer staff member, you must persevere.  There is nothing in scripture that says perseverance is optional.  There is nothing in scripture that says everything about the walk and path of a believer is easy or comfortable.  Quite the contrary, actually.  You are going to have more fun this summer than you can imagine…but I guarantee you, you’re also going to have to learn to persevere…and you will be much better off for it…guaranteed!!!

As my friend, Paul’s condition worsened, and it became very difficult to find a suitable kidney donor.  His outlook seemed bleak, that is until his wife, Sharon, requested to be tested as a potential match.  Unbelievably she did, in fact, match.  So after some very tough, touch and go circumstances involving Paul’s overall condition, he and Sharon checked into the hospital in Houston, Texas and a kidney was removed from Sharon and placed in Paul.  So far, so good.  Last Sunday, as I looked up at the choir, there they were, side by side, rocking, rolling, and gyrating to the goodness of a loving God.  Thank you, Paul and Sharon.  You have both taught me a lot…a whole lot.