Author: Pastorbrentmiller

‘Shine like stars in the universe‘ – Philippians 2:15

Well here it is, my first post on my new blog, Stars Above Me. Those of you who know me well may get the name, but others of you may not. So let me begin by telling you what it means. What follows is the story of my calling into ministry, a story I never get tired of telling.

It was years ago, and I was an unhappy attorney who wanted more out of life. I didn’t like what I was doing, and felt as if I was moving in the wrong direction. Discontented to the core of my being, I turned to God to discover what he wanted me to do with my life. There were many ways in which I sought Him, but by far the most significant was this: I would go out into my backyard each night to pray and watch the stars. I did this for many months, gazing at the wonders above me, talking to God, and hoping for the moment when he would talk back.

It all came down to one night when the moon was absent, the air was crisp, and the stars shone brighter than usual. As I gazed above, my attention fixed upon the light of two planets. On my right was the gentle, yellow glow of Venus. On my left, the soft orange-red of Mars. A canopy of stars in between. I got to thinking of being a traveler between two worlds. I stood between two planets, in a solar system of nine (yes, I’m counting Pluto), in a universe filled with countless more, revolving around billions of suns.

As I contemplated my place in the universe, an image from a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon popped into my mind: Calvin, six year old philosopher that he is, stands under a sky full of stars and shouts for all he is worth: ‘I’M SIGNIFICANT!’ only to add, in a more subdued tone, ‘said the dust speck.’

I felt pretty small in that moment.

But soon the moment passed, and the lyrics to the song His Eyes by Steven Curtis Chapman came into my heart: ‘Sometimes I look above me, when stars are shining, and I feel so small. How could the God of heaven, and all creation, know I’m here at all? But then in the silence he whispers, ‘My child, I created you too. And you’re my most precious creation. I even gave my Son for you.’

It was in that moment that I heard God’s voice. I was overwhelmed by God’s unconditional love. And like that (snap!) I knew exactly what God wanted me to do. I knew that it broke God’s heart that so many people live in the dark concerning his love. I knew that it was my calling to help make as many as possible aware of it. Suddenly the thought that anyone would ever stand between two worlds, under a canopy of stars, and feel insignificant was unbearable. People need to know they were priceless. They need to know that no matter how battered, beat up, broken, or bruised they may be, everyone, in God’s eyes, is more precious than the stars.

Before long I was in seminary, and the rest, as they say, is history. For nearly twenty years, I have done my best, as a student, pastor, writer, and neighbor to let others know of God’s love. It is my hope that this blog will be an extension of the mission God gave me: to let my world know that there is a God who loves, universally and without condition, and that he has been revealed to us in Jesus.

Yet there is more to say. There was a time when I thought my mission was to be carried out primarily through acts of compassion and telling the story of Jesus. These remain central to the mission, but in recent years my journey has taken an unexpected turn into the realm of activism. The world we live in is becoming increasingly characterized by hate, fear, and violence. Evil, ever present, is on the rise. There is so much that is antithetical to God’s love. Worse yet, this hate, fear, and violence (not to mention apathy toward it) exists within the Church. The very place that should be most loving is often the least loving. I have seen Christians I once admired pulled into the darkness, supporting cruel and heartless policies. Misrepresenting God. Misrepresenting Jesus. Misrepresenting the unconditional love that deems every life significant and worth dying for. Not all Christians are doing this. Many are speaking out. But many are not. Many are, by their action and inaction, complicit in the cruelty.

And so, in this blog I will write positively to tell stories and faith lessons about faith, grace, and the unconditional love of God. But I will also write in the spirit of resistance. I will write against all that distorts God’s love, all that mischaracterizes Jesus. My goal will be to point away from a misguided world (and church) to the way of Jesus’ Kingdom, which is all and always about the expansion of God’s love in the world.

I hope you will follow my posts. I pray they will point you to the one who spoke to my heart on that night long ago from beyond the stars above me. I pray that you will come to know the real Jesus, the one sent from the heart of the God who loves.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

‘Is anyone worthy?  Is anyone whole?  Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?’ – Andrew Peterson

‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered – To receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’ -Revelation 5:12

The island of Patmos.  John is a prisoner of Rome, another victim of Imperial power.  But hope abounds, for John has of late received glorious visions.  Gazing across the cerulean sea, he beholds sights no eye has seen or tongue can adequately describe.  One such sight is before him now. 

The Father is on his throne.  The view is dazzling.  He is surrounded by angel armies, representatives of creation, and the people of God.  In His hand is a scroll sealed seven times.  When this scroll is opened, history as we know it will be come to an end.  God will step onto the stage and set the world to rights.  No more war.  No more violence.  No more disease.  No more pain.  The home of God will be with His people.  Creation restored.  All things made new.  That scroll represents, in a word, hope: hope that all that is wrong will be vanquished and all that is right will conquer.

John knows this. 

An angel cries across the landscape of heaven, ‘who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’

John nearly bursts with anticipation.  This is the moment.  All things will be made new. 

But then, nothing.  For there is no one in heaven or on earth who is worthy to bring about the grand renewal of all things. 

Now, if you know the rest of the story, forget that you know it for a moment.  Imagine this were actually the case.  That there was no one worthy to break the seal and open that scroll.  How would you feel?  Devastated doesn’t even come close.  Imagine if, in the end, nothing is made new, and things go on as they do forever.  Exploitation of the powerless at the hands of the powerful.  The subjugation of peoples at the hands of empire.  Disease.  Death.  Violence.  Racism.  Hate.  War.  Slavery.  Sex Trafficking.  Imagine if these things were to continue forever.  If no one was able to put an end to them.  If humanity’s hope for a better world turned out to be a farce.  If the worst thing that ever happened to you continued to haunt you until the end of your days.  If sorrow would forever have the last word.  If wrong would never be put to right.

John ‘wept bitterly’ at such a thought (Rev. 5:4).  As well he should, for his dreams of restoration, dreams that had been the driving force of his life and had empowered him to endure suffering for the sake of a better world to come were, in that moment, completely dashed.  The love he built his hope upon would not win.  The world would continue as it always had.  Death would win.  Violence would win.  Cancer would win.  Cruelty would win.  Yes, John, weep bitter tears, for the world will remain bitter until it simply is no more. 

Thankfully, this is not true. 

I don’t know how long John wept, but while he wept, a visitor entered the heavenly court.  With the meekness and appearance of a lamb, Jesus steps before the throne of His Father.  One of the People of God shouts, ‘Stop weeping!  Behold – the Lion of Judah.  He has won!  He is worthy to break the seal and open the scroll!’

Slowly, reverently, Jesus approaches the throne of the Ancient of Days and takes the scroll from his Father’s hand.  In an instant, the angel armies, creation, and the People of God fall to their knees.  Their joy is beyond description.  For the day has come.  All things will be made new.  Love will win. 

The People of God begin to sing:

‘You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe, and language, and people, and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they shall reign on earth.’

Then the angels add their voices:

‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered – to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’

And finally, all creation joins the chorus:

‘Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever. Amen.’

Incredible.  At the end of history, the one who will bring things to a close will be the one who was slaughtered like a lamb.  Not the power brokers.  Not the generals.  Not the Presidents or Prime Ministers.  Not the rich and powerful.  But the King who served rather than be served.  The Lover who loved in the face of hate.  The Lion who lived like a lamb.  The warrior who overcame the world, not with a sword, but with a cross. 

The scene John describes in Revelation 5 has been on my mind a lot these days.  Part of the reason is that I recently discovered Andrew Peterson’s song that describes it, ‘Is He Worthy?’  It’s been weeks since I first heard that song and I’m still waking up at night feeling the sheer joy of its words.  The other part is that I’ve been thinking a lot about the Lordship of Jesus; what it means to say that Jesus is Lord. I live in a world where people have mixed allegiances.  Even Christians, who should be single-minded in their devotion to Christ, often practice a syncretistic faith that seeks to honor Jesus alongside of other gods: nationalism, militarism, consumerism, and a thousand others.  Those gods, or at least those who follow them, are constantly being held before me, even by professing Christians, as worthy of adulation and imitation.  I am asked, in one way or another, to give them my praise and allegiance.  But when I remember the scene in Revelation 5, I am reminded that Jesus alone is worthy of imitation, praise, and allegiance.  He alone deserves blessing, and honor, and glory, and power. 

The Lordship of Jesus reminds me that He is the only one I want to follow.  He is the only one whose life I want to imitate.  At the end of history, it will not be those who were powerful in this world who will claim the victory.  No, every one of them will fall and cast their crowns at the feet of the One who is worthy. 

If that is true, and it is, then every one of us who claims to follow Jesus needs to recognize that Jesus is Lord, not only on that day at the end of history, but in our lives right now.  And that means that we need to truly follow him, we need to imitate him, we need to praise and give our allegiance to him.  We need to strive with all our might to be like him. 

As for me, I’ve decided that’s all I want to do.  I want to be like Jesus (Lord knows that leaves me with vast room for improvement!).  I don’t ever want to do anything that Jesus himself did not or would not do.  I only want to do what Jesus did and would do.  I only want to be like Jesus. 

And if that means that I have to serve rather than be served, to love in the face of those who hate, to live like a lamb in a world of wolves, to fight with a cross instead of a sword, to deny myself as I take up my cross and follow the way of Calvary love, well, so be it.  Because if that’s what Jesus asks of me, what else can I do, what else would I ever want to do, but follow my Lord?

For after all, He alone is worthy. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Pastor Brent

Note: Artwork featured in this post by Karen Snyder, quote at top from the song, Is He Worthy? by Andrew Peterson