Jump Start # 3423

Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”

Cain and Abel—the first children born on the planet. They were the first to have earthly parents. And, as good Bible students know, the first murder and the first physical death of a human came through the wicked hands of Cain.

There is a thought about Abel that I had not realized until just now. Not only was he was the first person to die and the first person to be cast into eternity, but he was the first person in Hades, the unseen realm of the dead. Was he alone in Hades? How long was it until another righteous person joined him? Likely he did not have much of an understanding about what happens beyond death. You and I have Luke 16 and the rich man and Lazarus. Abel didn’t have that. You and I have Paul’s words about what happens in the resurrection, as the Corinthians were told. Abel didn’t have that. You and I understand that death and hades will be thrown into the lake of fire. Not sure if Abel got that before he died.

Now, here are some thoughts for us:

First, there are many curious things like this that one can speculate about from the Bible. One can chase down what the ancients wrote about this. One can spend a ton of time seeing if Luther or Calvin had much to say about this. One could even write a research paper on Abel in Hades. But at the end of the day, it’s just a curiosity shot in the dark. And, as we exhaust hours chasing down ideas, leads, thoughts, it doesn’t really help us in our daily walk with the Lord. What was it like being the first person on the other side doesn’t help me to be closer to the Lord or more righteous. What was it like being the only person in Hades, doesn’t really help me make the best choices today.

A person can spend a lifetime studying the Bible, but what is he studying? Is he finding ways to be more pure, more like Christ and more righteous or is he just chasing rabbits through the field of curiosity? We need to know how to navigate through this broken world and be the disciples that the Lord wants. There is a wonderful place for depth and academia in Biblical research, but at the end of the day, does it help me with the Lord? I fight this with my fascination with church history. Love to spend time learning about old congregations, long ago preachers and all their stories. But, does any of that help me with the Lord? That’s what we must remember.

Second, the nature of God and what we learn about Him from the Scriptures, assures us that Abel was ok being the first one in Hades. God will take care of us is such a comforting thought. Later on, Hades would be filled with many heroes such as, Noah, Abraham, David and the prophets. Abel may have been the first, but he wouldn’t be the last.

God has always been with His people. When that lion’s den was sealed and Daniel was alone, God was with him. When those prison doors shut tight, and Paul was alone. God was with him. Even disobedient Jonah, in the belly of the fish, was not alone. God was with him. And, the Lord will be with us.

Third, as Cain had to live the rest of his life knowing what he did, Abel was on the other side and was taken care of by God. Abel would no longer be tempted. Abel would no longer be plagued with the things we that bring misery and heartache to our lives. Pain. Sorrow. Disease. Disappointments. Abel was finished with those things and he rested in the comfort of God.

The faith of believers ought not to fear, nor even dread death. We do all that we can here, but we long to be clothed on the other side as the apostle put it. We desire to be with the Lord. Death is just the doorway, the passage, that takes us from here to there. Abel died violently. Abel died innocently. Abel was killed because he did something right. And, in many ways, Abel’s death points to a similar death that took place on the Cross at Calvary. The Lord died violently. The Lord died innocently. The Lord was killed for something He did that was right.

The first in Hades. Someday, someone will be the last.

Roger

Jump Start # 3314

Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”

Recently I used our verse today for a study with some teens. Great kids. Exciting always to be around them. There are two questions that naturally flow out of this verse. These are questions that ought to cause all of us to do a bit of thinking, observing and applying.

Abel: though he is dead, he still speaks.

First question: Who hears Abel? He is speaking, but who is listening? Have you thought about that? Obviously, not everyone. There are many who couldn’t tell you anything about Abel. If asked, where in the Bible would you find the story of Abel, a huge majority would have no idea. Asked, who were Abel’s parents, it’s no telling what bizarre answers some might come up with. That’s the world. How about us?

Who hears Abel? The answer must be the righteous. It is the righteous who know the story of Cain and Abel. It is the righteous that know why Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God and Cain’s was rejected. Abel is speaking. Who hears him? The people of God do.

Second question: What is Abel saying? Though he is dead, he still speaks. Well, what does he say? This is not some sort of spooky, mysterious, ghost like circumstance. This is not creepy. What he is saying is heard by those who are listening.

Abel, as the Hebrew passage puts forth, is an example of one who lived by faith. By faith, he offered to God a sacrifice of a lamb. That lamb wasn’t coming back. That lamb shed it’s blood. That lamb would be a picture of the sacrifices of ancient Israel and an image of the coming Christ.

Cain offered vegetables. There isn’t much sacrifice in picking a tomato off the vine. Picking one veggie doesn’t even kill the plant. Cain was convenient, Abel was sacrifice. Cain was easy. Abel was costly. And, what Abel reminds us of, what he is speaking is, that we must follow what the Lord says. Shortcuts, what feels right, what we want, what is easy, the cheapest way is not what God requires. It took time to kill a lamb and sacrifice it. Putting a cucumber on the altar is simple and doesn’t require much thought, let alone, faith.

Abel is a reminder to us in our culture that doesn’t like to be inconvenienced, that following God sometimes takes time, effort and costs. Abel speaks that. Though he died, he lives. Though he died, he continues to remind. Though he died, he still speaks.

The Burger King mentality of “Have it your own way,” has filtered into the church. What I want and what I like becomes the message of the hour. The theme of worship becomes fun. The focus turns to us. The attention is upon how we feel. God is squeezed out. We like hymns that have a beat more than a message. We like sermons that are lite and contain less doctrine. We are more interested in our fellowship than fellowship with the Almighty. These are the times we live in. And, yet with all this technology around us, there is a voice still speaking. It is a voice that is very, very ancient. And, that voice calls us back to the pure ways of God. That voice reminds us that God is upon the throne, not a stage. That voice echoes the message that it does matter what we offer to God. Worship can be wrong. Sacrifices can anger God. And, there is a way to do things and it must be God’s way.

A voice speaking to us through the pages of the Bible. A voice that reminds us that others may not agree with you, even your own family. Yet, that voice tells us that pleasing God is the most important thing.

He’s dead, but he still speaks. Do you hear him? Do you hear what he is saying?

Roger

Jump Start # 2918

Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”

To all of us he was simply Dee. And, my did we love him. He was your friend. He was my friend. He was everyone’s friend. And that just wasn’t a saying, it was the way he treated you. He knew exactly how to be a friend. The young, the old, the known and the unknown—it didn’t matter to him, we were all special to him.

Last Thursday, beloved Dee, our Dee, passed through that door of death to be in the presence of his greatest friend, Jesus Christ. Dee was special. He was unique, gifted and understood life. He could tell a story like no one else. As he talked about West Texas as a kid, you could just see those tumbleweeds as he put that picture in your mind. And, preach, my could he preach. His sermon about the road to Emmaus put us right there with his Cleopas, and you’d think that Dee and Cleopas were life long buddies. His preaching was effective because he understood how to connect with an audience. He could just stand in the pulpit and without saying a word just smile. Within seconds, the entire audience was smiling along with him and every person felt that he was only smiling at them. He could tell that story of the Velveteen Rabbit from memory and tuck that into a powerful and moving invitation. Not only could Dee connect, but he could communicate. He was a master of the English vocabulary and often broke words down into such a simple fashion that we’d never forget.

But that’s not all. My could he write. And, write he did. From the pages of Christianity Magazine for sixteen years, to sharing his journal entries in his books, Dee could take words that would touch our hearts and fill us with encouragement and hope.

Let me share with you three things that our beloved Dee did. And he did these things just being Dee. He never sat out to make himself known, have a name or be famous, but those things came because of his humble and encouraging manner which he carried himself.

First, in a season of gloom, Dee taught us that the Gospel is good news. It seems that some had forgotten that. When an audience heard Dee preach they went home walking on the clouds, They understood that it is wonderful to be a Christian. Dee presented Christianity the way our Lord did. It was filled with hope, joy and promise. Folks loved to hear Dee preach. It made them realize that they were doing right and he assured them of that. There was nothing to be ashamed about. We were following Jesus, and that filled our hearts.

Second, Dee restored the honor of preaching. He made preaching good. He taught us preachers to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. “Storming the will” was a Bowmanism. And, as polished and near perfect as his preaching was, he never promoted himself. It was never about Dee Bowman. It was always about Jesus. When pride enters a preacher, he loses focus and he becomes concerned more with a following than his own following the Lord. When preachers heard Dee preach, and most times the audiences were full of preachers, we’d go home wishing we could preach like that. But if he ever heard that, he’d have no part in that. He’d build us up, encourage us and be our best cheerleader. Preaching is honorable. Preaching is hard work. Preaching is pouring all that you are into your work. That’s how Dee looked at it. That’s how it looked when he preached. We preachers had no better friend or supporter than Dee Bowman.

Third, Dee was a master of encouragement. That is such a necessary aspect of kingdom work. Hand written notes from Dee didn’t just lift your spirits and make your day, they were treasures that you saved forever. His smile. His kindness. His joy. His interest in you. It reminded us that preaching is more than lecturing about facts, it was building people up. He showed us that what you do out of the pulpit is just as important as what you do in the pulpit. And, audiences left with a determination to do better. They had within their hearts the longing to help their fellow man. They understood the value of a kind word, a warm handshake and a quick smile. In a world of despair and darkness, Dee had a way of showing us the sunshine peeking through the clouds.

There comes, not very often, sometimes only once in a generation, someone that changes things. Elvis did that for Rock ‘n Roll. Mickey Mantle did that for baseball. And among the people of God, Dee Bowman has done that for us. My life has been touched and made better because of him. I have known him for nearly forty years. He has stayed in my home and I have stayed in his home. I remember getting ready to give a lecture and in walked Dee and Norma and they sat on the front row. Nervous, I thought I was going to die. When it was over, he was the first to speak to me and how kind and comforting he was. There was a time many years ago when some malicious hearts were writing and saying some mean and ugly things about Dee. It was intense. Much of it was coming from an area where I lived. How did Dee react to those attacks? Just as we expected he would, as a gentleman and as a man of God. He showed that often the best answer to a critic is silence. And, that some skirmishes are not worth fighting.

Dee has helped so many of us. He has changed the landscape of preaching. He is our friend. And, I expect this past Sunday, all across this land, the most used invitation was, “If you miss Heaven, then you’ve just missed it all.”

He called me just a few days before he died. He told me that he loved me. My final words to him, as I have often said, “You are my hero and you will always be my hero.” We are a blessed people to have known this wonderful disciple of Jesus. There will come a time when a new generation will not have known him. But in many ways they will because of the way he taught us through the Scriptures to do our part, to help one another and to be Heaven bound. His spirit will live on and on within us as we carry the saving message of Jesus to a new generation.

As Abel, though dead, still speaks, so our beloved Dee, now dead, will continue to speak. For that I am thankful. His words, his example, his character, his heart will remain alive to all of us who loved him and were loved by him.

God bless his dear, dear family, Norma, Russ, and Denise. Thank you for sharing him with us. Thank you Lord for putting in his heart a love for his Creator. May we all do better, love deeper and long for that heavenly home.

Thank you, my friend.

Roger

Jump Start # 2322

Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”

I was thinking about my mom the other day. I’m not sure why, but thoughts of her popped in my mind. Mom has been on the other side, in the other room, for twenty-four years. My kids were little when she passed away. I was still a young preacher. I preached her funeral and I still have a few copies of that filed away. I have moved twice since then. My kids have all grown, married and have their own families. Sometimes you hear people saying about a departed family member, “I think about them everyday. Not a day passes that I do not think about them.” It’s not been that way for me. It was at first, but life and the present fills the mind and the heart. I think about her around her birthday and the anniversary of her death, but most times I don’t think about her through out the day.

But when I thought about her the other day, I also thought about this verse. Abel was dead. He was murdered. The first crime in the Bible. The first human to die in the Bible. The good one died and the one with hatred, jealousy and issues remained. All these years later, the Holy Spirit begins the list of God’s faithful with Abel. All we know about Abel’s faithfulness is that he pleased the Lord with the sacrifice that he offered. It was in accordance with what God wanted. And, though he is dead, Abel still speaks. There isn’t a voice that people hear. It is the voice of influence, example, and trust in the Lord. Abel did right and yet he died. That bothers us. That isn’t the way things ought to be in our thinking. If you do right, then you ought to be rewarded and you ought to succeed. Being killed by your own brother doesn’t seem like God was really watching out for him.

Hebrews 11 marches us through the lives of God’s righteous people. They suffered. They had to make difficult choices. They pleased the Lord but often their lives were not what we would expect. We must move past the mentality of trying to make this place Heaven. It will never be. It’s broken, marred with sin and dominated by Satan. God’ people suffer. The righteous are chased down. Yet none of that changes a thing. God remains on the throne. The reward of the righteous in not a long life here, but an eternity with Him there.

And, dead Abel speaks. It would be easy to think, “Boy, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.” Killed by his own brother, what a terrible thing to happen. What a tough way to go. But look where Abel is. He is with the Lord. His life is honored by the God of Heaven and Earth. He heads the list of God’s righteous ones. And, what is it that Abel says? He tells us to worship God the way God wants. He tells us to be faithful to God even when it is hard. He tells us not compromise or look for short cuts. The easy and the convenient isn’t always the best.

And this example of Abel reminds me, and it reminds all of us that have had faithful loved ones pass away, the example and the footprints for us to follow. I can still hear my mom telling me to drive with both hands on the wheel. But I remember how hard she worked. She was always busy. She always would sacrifice to make us happy. She always tried to get us to be the best that we could be. She loved us. She never got to hear me preach very much. My dad tells me, when he hears me preach, with a tear in his eyes, “your mom would be proud of you.” I believe that.

And, with this, one must think about what impressions we are leaving for others. When we are no longer here, what will our family, friends and brethren be “hearing us speak?”

• How serious have we been in worshipping God? Have we played church all of our lives? Do we pay attention in worship? Is worship changing us?
• How careful have we been with God’s word? Have we played spiritual dodge ball, jumping around passages that makes us uncomfortable?
• How much of a difference have we made in the lives of others and in the congregations that we are a part of? Have we left footprints for others to follow?
• Have we shown love, grace and forgiveness? Or, have we been a real pain in the lives of others? Have we been demanding, ready to throw the book at others? Have we been judgmental and always talking about the faults of others?
• Has our journey of faith been enjoyable and wonderful or have we made the image of Christianity miserable and tough?
• Have we made the lives of others better? Have we lifted the burdens of others? Have we engaged in good deeds that have helped others?
• Have we lived in such a way that people would say, “I wish I was like you?”

I am blessed to have fond memories, pleasant thoughts, and a wonderful example when I think about my mom. Not everyone has that with their parents. For some, it’s been tough. For some, there have been more tears than joys. For some there has been no godly example and no footprints leading to Christ. For some, it’s been a nightmare. That can color you, define you and describe you, or, you can realize that God has loved you, blessed you and been there for you all these years. It is God who saves you. It is God who has never let you down.

Dead, yet speaking…someday, that will be said of me and of you. Our lives will speak. What will people hear? It’s time to put some thought and actions to this.

Roger

Jump Start # 1299

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, the first person to be murdered, is remembered all these centuries later in our passage today. God had not forgotten. To the suffering Hebrews, Abel is an example of one who did right. The righteous suffered. His death did not end him, nor did it end his influence.

Recently, a friend sent me some books that belonged to her husband. He was a preacher and a friend. He died suddenly nearly two years ago. I wanted a book with his name in it. That meant a lot to me. It was a reminder and a tribute to a great lover of God. Finding a new space on my bookshelves for these books made me consider many of these other books that I have. Many have the names of earlier owners. Many were written back in the 1800’s. The writers and first owners of those books are long gone, but here these books sit on my shelves, still teaching, still doing good. These old books are a lot like us. We will be gone someday, but the good we do will still teach and help others.

We often call this a legacy. We all leave something behind for others. Our initial thought is of an inheritance. There is a new show that I have been fascinated with called, “Strange Inheritances.” It’s about unusual and most times very expensive items that one generation has left for another. But our legacy is more than just the stuff we leave behind. We leave an impression, an image. Abel was gone, but his voice was still heard. As a grown child, we remember our parents and often do not appreciate all that they did until we are parents and they are gone. The legacy of honesty. The legacy of hard work. The legacy of devotion to God. Those are all footprints that we leave behind. We touch lives in ways that we do not realize. Through the years we notice others and their example leaves an impression upon us. My friend Billy has been gone for a while now. I still use his pens that he made. When I walk into the church building, I still see him by the front doors, greeting people and standing there with his arms opened wide to give me a bear hug. Billy, like Abel, is gone, but he still speaks. That will be true of all us, whether good or bad. We are all planting trees in the garden of life. Most of us will never enjoy the shade from those trees, but others, who are following us will.

We don’t think much about our legacy, other than possibly having a will and life insurance. We just live each day doing what we think we ought to do. But as each day is filed away, there are impressions left. Co-workers, church members, and especially our family are left with a view of us. The dishonest co-worker doesn’t see beyond himself. He does things that are not right. Co-workers notice. It’s known secretly around the office. That’s how that person will be known. That’s the impression he has left. For others, it may be sudden out bursts of anger. They blow their top at work, at home and in stores. People remember. Folks may remember you as always being at church services. Every time the doors were opened, you were there. They will remember that. Others will remember the smile. Others will remember and have benefited from the generosity.

Being dead, he still speaks. That is a fascinating expression. What does Abel say?

• Abel tells us that doing right is always right. He is most remembered for the sacrifice that he made. His brother, Cain, offered God vegetables. God rejected that sacrifice. Cain got mad. He should have been mad at himself. Instead, he was mad at Abel. Abel didn’t do anything to him, nor anything wrong. Cain killed Abel. Right is always right.

• The innocent suffer at the hands of the guilty. Abel tells us that. If Abel was doing right, why didn’t God shield him and protect him? The answer is that the world is broken and death is one of the consequences of that brokenness. Death comes in many ways. Death comes at all ages. God has appointed man to die.

• Abel is honored by God for simply doing what he was supposed to do. Abel didn’t write any books of the Bible. He didn’t preach. He wasn’t a prophet. He didn’t do any miracles. He wasn’t a missionary. He didn’t build churches. He was just Abel. He loved God and obeyed Him. He did what he was supposed to do. You may be a stay at home mom and think “I haven’t done anything worth while for the Lord.” You are. You are teaching your children. You are doing what Abel did, just what you are supposed to do. You might be one who sits in worship and hears about preachers going overseas and preaching in country after country. You may think, I’m not doing a thing. Maybe. Maybe you are. Maybe you are doing what Abel did. You are helping those preachers by supporting them. You are helping to keep a congregation going the right direction. You are doing what you are supposed to do. This is what Abel tells us.

• Abel tells us that in the end, pleasing God is never forgotten. God remembered. God wanted the Hebrews to remember Abel. When you read the list of greats in Hebrews 11, you have people who fought armies, left their homes, built an ark, marched around cities, hid spies, fought giants, and Abel who sacrificed to God. What he did was just as important as the others. He is named. He is on the list. It was by faith that he is united with all those others. It is by faith that we too are added with God’s faithful.

Abel still speaks. You still speak. You will continue to speak after you are gone. You will leave an impression and footsteps. Those footsteps will either point to Jesus and Heaven or they will point one away from God.

Legacy—we all are involved in this. By and by, as Dan Fogelberg once sang, we all become forefathers. The son becomes the father and each of us leave a legacy for others. We are planting trees in which others will sit in the shade some day. Make sure you do a good job!

Roger