Coronado Bible Church

Whistling in the Dark … as an idiom, can refer to speaking confidently on a subject about which you have little knowledge. But I’m talking about something whistling in the dark outside my bedroom. It’s driving me a little crazy. It’s a loud, distinct and often repeated “puh-weoh” (accent on the first syllable). The mystery creature seems to be up all hours of the day and night, but most active when I’m trying to sleep. It could be a neighbor with a strange sense of humor, but I’m leaning towards some sort of bird. To date, I’ve been unable, with flashlight or binoculars, to spot the vociferously vocal vermin. All I can say with confidence is that something’s creating a racket. To say more would be whistling in the dark.

 

To some degree, Christians are whistling in the dark. Even with all that God has revealed about Himself through the pages of Scripture, the Apostle Paul still admitted the limitedness of our spiritual knowledge. In 1 Corinthians 13:12 he wrote, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” The concept of seeing in a mirror dimly comes from the Greek word from which we borrow the word “enigma.” We live with questions and confusion, but also with confidence that a day of answers is coming in the presence of Christ.

 

“Whistling in the Dark” also speaks of putting on a brave front despite one’s uncertainties. Christians need not do this. We should share and discuss our honest quandaries about our faith. The fact that we cannot see everything clearly is not a denial of faith, but rather a proof of it. I live in darkness on some questions, but also hear a loud, distinct and often repeated refrain that calls me to believe in a kind creator and the truth of His gospel.

 

 

I know God exists as confidently as I know there’s a creature that belongs to that whistle in the darkness.

 

 

 I have always loved words. I suppose it is somewhat genetic … or at least inherited. My paternal grandfather was a playwright and author. My father had a broad and constantly growing vocabulary and both my parents played with and invented words. Although spelling was a struggle for me, I always tested several grades ahead when it came to vocabulary. My parents only deprived me in one area of language … foul language. I am still grateful that my parent’s vocabulary of vulgarities was so anemic. I’m not saying I never heard swearing in the home. My father’s knowledge of “choice words” was probably as robust as any World War 2 veteran … but he was very strategic in their deployment. The effect of him not normally swearing increased the affect when he did. Still, by today’s standards, my parent’s language would be strictly G-rated.

 

One of my father’s indulgences was calling things with which he disagreed by the initials B.S. When chided by my mother (every time), he would respond (every time), “It just stands for Basic Sediment.” Basic Sediment was the useless black sludge left in the bottom of holding tanks in the oilfield industry. Judge for yourself if my dad’s interpretation of the initials was any less insulting than the common vernacular.

 

My mother’s strongest denigration was to call a person a “stinkpot.” This word, she applied only to the most cantankerous, obstreperous and ornery rapscallions. I’m not sure why, but I was recently intrigued about the derivation of this word. It turns out that the term “stinkpot” originally referred to a weapon employed by the Chinese in Naval warfare. They were thin metal or earthenware containers filled with sulfur and other suffocating concoctions. When hurled burning onto the deck of an enemy vessel, they burst into a cloud of toxic smothering fumes. The enemy was either overcome or forced to abandon their ship in search of oxygen. 

 

Think of the implication of applying this word to a human. When you are heated, jostled or shattered, what spills out of you? How does it affect those around you? Jesus said, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:45

 

 

Just one street off the Interamericana, I was driving on a road that could easily be mistaken for a dry riverbed. The dry spaces between its mudholes are paved with small boulders. It’s one of those paths that doesn’t allow a driver to look away for very long. Even though I was only going five km/h, I thought it prudent to look up at the intersecting road. When I did, a magnificent tree caught my eye. I’d never seen its kind before. It was an arching, verdant palm covered with clusters of brilliant white flowers. The second glance that it begged for helped me better understand what I was seeing. It was not one, but two trees.

 

The Frangipani tree puts on clusters of snow-white blossoms prior to developing its leaves. Well … one of those trees had grown up and through a standard coconut palm. The combination created the illusion of a new and beautiful species of tree. It was as if they were lending what the other lacked; one tree supplying the foliage, the other the flowers. This again reminded me of 1 Peter 4:10 and how the body of Christ is supposed to function,

 

 

Last month I explained that in this verse, the word “serve” is the same word elsewhere translated “ministry.” The application question was, “What’s your ministry?” But 1 Peter 4 also talks about God’s grace coming in “various forms.” The Greek word translated there literally means variegated or many-colored. God’s grace is expressed with variety and beauty as we pour into others what He has poured into us. One lends leaves, another flowers as the church paints a living picture of God’s glorious undeserved favor towards the world. What are you contributing toward the picture of Grace?

 

 

If the book of Judges were rendered as a massive mural, the careful observer would find it strangely incomplete. Two elements that should have been prominent in the life of the Israelites are noticeably absent.

These elements are missing by design of the author. They were so neglected in the life of the Israelites that they had become invisible in daily life. Their absence proves the authors opening charge against God’s people. “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel … they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the Lord’s commands.” Judges 2:10 & 17

 

When we read in Judges 4 that “Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time … and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided,” it is further evidence that all was not spiritually right in Israel. This casts no shadow on Deborah. She was undoubtedly God’s messenger, doing God’s will and she proved a capable leader. It was just simply not the plan that God had laid down for his people.

 

God used Deborah to call Barak as Israel’s military deliverer. Despite a direct command from God, Barak refused to go to war unless Deborah accompanied him. Deborah’s response is telling,“I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman.”Judges 4:9

 

Women have proven themselves extraordinary leaders in all facets of life and should be recognized and rewarded accordingly. And yet … God still calls men to take the lead in the spiritual life of their homes and churches. (Ephesians 5:22-32; I Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:6-10, I Peter 5:1-3)

 

 

Since we moved to Panama, Sue and I have been cliff dwellers. We loved to perch on our balcony and watch the coming and goings of people, clouds, tides and storms. Besides the interesting and beautiful vistas, twenty stories up has some other advantages. In all our time there, I had never seen a scorpion. In all my life … I had never seen a scorpion.

 

Now that we have descended to earth, we have dispatched two in the space of less than a week. I screamed when the first one scuttled past my foot. I didn’t want to go near it, but I also didn’t want it hiding in the bedroom. I grabbed the nearest thing I could and wacked it like Thor swinging his hammer. I backed away trying to see where it had gone and nearly stepped on its twitching carcass. It had somehow followed my backswing and landed behind me. I don’t even want to think about the “Dancing with the Stars” gyrations that would have ensued had it landed in my hair. When the deed was done, I realized that my heart was racing faster than when I’d recently gone paragliding. How could a creature, maybe three inches long, induce such alarm?

 

Misinformation played a part. Prior to that encounter, old westerns were my only source of information on these arachnids. In films, the equation is simple; One sting = One dead cowboy. The scorpion trots happily through the desert sand and into Chester’s boot. Chester wakes and grabs the weathered piece of footwear. “Don’t do it Chester!” Too late … he’s already doing a death scene of William Shatner proportions (and quality).

 

Some scorpions are poisonous, and what you don’t know could kill you. But not all scorpions are deadly and what you don’t know could keep you bound in fear. John 12:42 tells us that many of the religious leaders believed in Jesus …“But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue.” They feared the wrong thing in the wrong proportion. Otherwise they would not have preserved their status and tradition at the cost of a relationship with their Messiah and Savior. See Luke 12 (especially verses 4 & 5).