by J. Randal Matheny

"[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth" (1 Cor. 13:6, ESV).

Find the truth and sell it not, urges the Wise One. And once you find it, applaud it, praise it, acclaim it, says Paul.

Love is pained when others do wrong and teach falsely. Love may rebuke, admonish, and even expose evil, but it will never gloat over another's fall nor take pleasure at another's failure, to assume a posture of superiority or self-righteousness.

Love searches out the good. It encourages those who do right. It celebrates what is true and sound and virtuous and genuine. It discovers those things "worthy of praise" (Phil. 4:7) and not only ponders them, but praises them.

Many versions translate Paul's second phrase as "rejoices in the truth." But the verb "rejoice" (Greek, "sugcharei") in the second phrase is not the same as that in the first. The second comes attached with a prefix, which can be an intensifier of the verb action or indicate active participation, or, here, perhaps both.

Evil has more than its share of supporters. They will also reproach those who would insist on the truth. They are quick to tear down efforts to show where truth is being tramped upon.

Silence, with eyes only for one's own pot, will open the way for evil to prevail. The great need, then, is for the righteous to hold up and encourage and, yes, support financially, when appropriate, those works which bring glory to God by their respect for the truth and its proclamation.

Will you be one who loves like this?

Slow to censure, loathe to bite, Quick to praise the good and right. Flesh and blood to truth object, Pious saints rejoice unchecked.

by J. Randal Matheny

A friend in the U.S. wrote last week and mentioned how people are worried, with the high terrorist alert. And in his city, crime is up.

It's another variation on the theme, what does the future hold? Looking at it from "under the sun," nobody knows anything, the main thing is to stay alive, it's all in God's hands, and you can't even be sure of him (Eccl. 9:1-6).

Put God back in the picture, though, and the whole scene brightens. The righteous one says, with full trust, "My future is in your hands" (Ps. 31:15, NLT). Why is that?

1. The future is certain.

We worry with how and when we will die, with jobs and marriages or the lack of them. These are mere details. We know what is important to know, that is, no future threat can overcome the saving power of Christ (Eph. 1:20-21), and no future force can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:37-39).

If I am guaranteed his power on the one hand and his love on the other, I am set for life. And beyond.

2. The future is yours.

Paul wrote to Corinthian Christians who were divying up a spiritual pie, when all of them could have all of it. "For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or THE FUTURE -- all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (1 Cor. 3:21b-23, ESV).

What does it mean for the future to be ours? Paul's terms of the world, life, death, things present or things to come "are all the great powers that govern the life of man and before which he feels his smallness and dependence."/1 Gordon Fee called them the "tyrannies of existence," but for the Christian they become "gifts of God to assist and to enrich them, they constitute positive forces for good ..."/2

3. The future is close.

What does the near future hold? First, the end of all things is at hand or "nears" (1 Pet. 4:7). Some who want to push back the end say this doesn't mean the end of the world, but Peter puts "all things" (Greek, "panton") up front, in an emphatic position. There is nothing in the text to indicate that "all things" does not mean, literally, all things.

If we take "all things" as the final end of the world, was Peter then wrong when he wrote, as some allege? No, for as long as the world may stand, there is nothing in God's plan of redemption that must occur before the coming of Christ. The way is clear for his return.

Second, the nearing future means the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (Jas. 5:7-9). The same word in 1 Peter 4:7 is used in James 5:8 to speak of the end: "the coming of the Lord is at hand." For his coming, James says, Christians must be patient. They want the end to come NOW! For it means salvation and vindication of all who believe. In the growing light of the glory's arrival, they work for the spiritual harvest (v. 7).

Third, the nearing future means the judgment of all men. The angel tells John, "the time is near" (Rev. 22:10). Jesus himself says, "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done" (Rev. 22:12). His judgment will separate each one from what he is doing now (v. 11) to the place that has been prepared for him (v. 13).

Conclusion

Some look to the new year and the future with dread and fear. The Christian, however, sees it as providing opportunity to serve the Lord, preach the Good News, and bring him one step closer to eternity's gate. Because he belongs to Christ, and Christ to God, who holds the future in his hands.

1/ F. W. Grosheide, Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, NIC, p. 95. 2/ A. C. Thistelton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGTC (Eerdmans, 2000), p. 326-327.

by J. Randal Matheny

I confess: I'm the world's worst at buying gifts. OK, so I'm not attentive enough, too selfish to notice others, stick me with the label you will, and I'll own up to it.

They say the best gift is one that fits the receiver's interests, needs, and preferences.

That's the way that God gives -- at least, at the core. But once you think again, God's a lousy giver, too. He doesn't often give what we want, certainly doesn't give according to our preferences, nor what we often perceive our needs to be.

Whether it be the gift of salvation in his Son, or the gift of discipline and trials, we often exclude these things from our long list registered at the corner church.

God gives what he wants most to give. Summed up, he gives himself, his own heart, his own presence. And what we most need, but seldom recognize.

This Christmas, I, the world's worst giver, am going to try to be a "lousy" giver like God. And give more of myself and him to family, friends, neighbors, and strangers.

And not only on Christmas, but every day.

"Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15, ESV).

by J. Randal Matheny

Start with the end in mind. Those words of Stephen Covey reflect a wonderful Biblical thought. For a great beginning, consider the conclusion.

Solomon said it better, "Better the end of anything than its beginning; better patience than pride" (Eccl. 7:8, NEB).

As is common with Biblical truths, this wisdom seems madness to pagan man.

We don't want things to end. We want everything to continue as it is.

Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade wrote about the lost feeling after the party's over:

What now, Jose?
The party's over,
the light's out,
everybody's gone,
the night's chilled,
What now, Jose?

At the end of the poem, Drummond asks, "you're marching, Jose! / Jose, to where?"

What an awful feeling!

So Drummond would shake his head at the Christian's prayer, "Maranatha!" (1 Cor. 16:22). Come, Lord! Let's get it over with now! Usher in the end!

Perhaps that's the sense in which we should understand Peter's encouragement to those who were "waiting for and HASTENING the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!" (2 Pet. 3:12, ESV).

Because the end signifies the beginning of something much better, a never-ending blessedness at the side of God.

"But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (v. 13).

We can hardly wait for that day to come! The end is clearly in view. It's the destination I want, not just the journey.

So start your day today, start your week, start the new 2004, with the end in mind.

by J. Randal Matheny

Last Friday, my family and I celebrated nineteen years of work in Brazil. With three other families, we arrived early in the morning of 28th November 1984 in Rio de Janeiro on a flight from Miami.

When the customs officials saw our documents, they ushered us all into a waiting area and began an item-by-item inspection. The health documents for our family had been prepared by Dr. George Hobby, who grew up as a missionary kid in Africa. Mindful of bureaucratic officials, he included everything except the syringes with which he had drawn blood. As a result, we were cleared, while the other three couples rushed off in a taxi to repeat the full list of health exams. Vicki, Micah, and I babysitted four piles of new missionary luggage in the airport lounge.

We lost our connecting flight and failed to arrive on time in Belo Horizonte's new airport. Nineteen years ago, there were no cell phones to call colleagues waiting to receive us. But with the Lord's blessing, he did get us all to our destination on that day.

That entry episode made an appropriate analogy for the ensuing years of work. It reminded us of truths like these:

• One waits while another runs.
• Expect plans to be changed.
• Make the body perform on demand.
• Find joy (and humor) where you least expect it.
• Know the difference between a dial tone and a busy signal.
• Expect people to take a long, hard look at who you are.

• Be open, transparent, and learn to risk.
• Live and operate on a shoe string.
• Take time to listen. And then some.
• The long way around may be the shortest route. And maybe the only route.
• Let Brazilians criticize their own culture.
• Identify and be as Brazilian as possible, knowing you will never be completely successful.
• Don't sweat flight delays; you could be stuck on a boat.
• Sources of support may come and go, but the Lord will never desert you.
• Man may never see what you are accomplishing. Doesn't matter, the Lord takes note.
• If you start it, who will finish it?

But it's fun trying.

I learned that in nineteen years, too.

The date of 28 November 1984 is stamped on my National Foreign Registration card. More than that, it is stamped on our hearts by a wonderful people who have infected us with their joy for life in Christ and love for his presence and glory.

So it's nineteen. And counting.

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom" (Psa. 90:12, ESB).