Stench.

There is a stench to injustice.  But you have to get close enough to the issue to smell it.

Proximity is the variable.  How close are we willing to come so that the rankness of this odor apprehends us?

Back when William Wilberforce and the other abolitionists were trying to awaken the British people to the stench of the slave trade, they purposely cruised the luxury ships of the upper class close to the slave ships, so that the sights, sounds, and smells of those ships would assault the eyes, ears, nostrils, and souls of the rich passengers.  Wilberforce knew that the stench of the horrors of slavery needed to ruin the card games, gossip parties, and tea times of the wealthy.

Proximity was the game changer then and it’s a game changer now.  As long as our lives are falsely sanitized and disinfected of the sights, sounds, and smells of injustice, we easily miss the struggle and plight of our neighbors. 

God does not excuse lack of proximity.  In fact, He sent His son Jesus into the world so that He could fully experience the sights, sounds, and smells of humanity.  And He didn’t just get near to us, He became us (without sin) in order to regain the authority that Adam had lost.  Restored relationship with us was so important, that He chose an excruciating death on a cross to satisfy the penalty of our sin.  The cross was the ultimate act of justice.

Injustice Breeds Chaos

Injustice breeds societal chaos.  The effects may not happen immediately, but seeds sown will produce a harvest eventually, whether for good or for evil.  The riots in our streets, the mass shootings in our schools, the opioid crises in our own families are just some of the sights, smells, and sounds of the harvest of injustice in our nation.  And social media is one of the vehicles that has allowed us to get close enough to be offended by what we see.

But it’s not just social media that was opened our eyes.  The crises have saturated our culture to such an extent that rioting is happening in our city, it’s our brother who’s become addicted to meth, and it’s our local school that was shot up once again by a bullied youth (or almost shot up as in the case in our region)….our “yacht” has gotten close enough to the crisis that our eyes are opened and our souls are affected.

Now that we know, what will we do?

Marching, walk outs, petition drives, donating to causes, voting for those that will uphold justice for all, serving in public office, are practical solutions that our democratic society offers to us.  And if we believe that legislative changes need to be made, then we need to do the above actions to make sure our voice is heard.

However, I want to suggest that political or philanthropic action is not the only response God is looking for.  In the book of Joel, when pestilence, plague, and invading armies were threatening to destroy the nation of Israel, God offered a remedy: He called for the nation of Israel to gather together and repent (and fast).

Repentance Is Heaven’s Key To A Turnaround

Repentance is heaven’s key to a turnaround.  Repenting for our lawless actions (as an individual and/or as a nation) or for our apathetic inaction is a Kingdom catalyst.  God’s mercy and grace are released to those that humble themselves, pray, and turn from personal and national wicked ways.  And repentance is both horizontal and vertical.  It’s a divine transaction between us and God and between us and others.  

What is the fruit of repentance?  According to 2 Chronicles 7:14, God hears our cries.  He then forgives our sin.  And He heals our land.  Without repentance there is no restoration.  The blessing we seek only comes through the doorway of repentance.

I’ve noticed that in my life, when I come before the Lord in humility and tears, He drops ideas and strategies in my heart on how to specifically release justice and righteousness in my realm of influence.   He reveals how on a practical level I can be a minister of healing and reconciliation.  And I’ve noticed that as I have begun to implement His ideas, the impact of these solutions have begun to expand that initial realm of influence…so that more eyes are opened to these powerful Kingdom truths, more people are helped and healed, and injustice is increasingly eradicated.    

So would you join me today?  It’s time to release the fragrance of Christ.  

Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.  To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?  

2 Corinthians 15 - 16 NLT

Do you ever feel really small?  But on the inside feel so big?  I have often felt this way.

That’s one of the powerful things about pulling aside to be with God.  When I spend time with Him in worship, prayer, and in His Word, His presence makes me feel so loved, so powerful, so….noticed.

I grew up as the third child of four in my family - and the only girl in the busy mix of three brothers.  I know what it’s like to try and participate in my older brothers’ games and to always feel like I needed to be loud and sometimes even annoying to be noticed.  As I grew up, this desire to be noticed evolved: the quest to make people laugh….the need to express my personality with unique, unusual clothing…to desire to make bodacious statements and do risky things.

Some years later when I began serving in [Christian] ministry, I still had this longing to be noticed.  Awkwardly feeling my way through formal district councils, messy church politics, and still always feeling like the girl who was jumping in between her brothers’ game of fast pitch baseball, trying to participate and be noticed.

And then I found Him.  Or maybe He found me?  In one of the most painful seasons of life and ministry I had yet experienced, because off sheer desperation, I dove into the secret place.  "Doing" wasn't working for me anymore.  All I knew to do was simply be.  In Him.  Just be.

I would sit on the floor of our bedroom and pray and worship.  And then I would ask Him to come with his tangible presence.  I would ask the Holy Spirit to rest on me.  To fill me to overflowing.  And He would.  He would come in such power.  I was undone.  My heart was captured by the healing love of a perfect Father who loved me completely just as I was.  No expectation to do, to prove myself as “worthy of the call.”  Just the glorious joy of being with Him and in Him.

And I was found.  

Sometimes I still catch myself as that little girl in the back of the classroom wildly waving her hand, hoping someone will notice me.  But then I feel Him gently hold my hand and I remember - I’ve been found.  I’ve been noticed.  I can just be.

Have you ever wiped away the tears of a stranger?

Today at church we had a young lady come up to the front during our prayer time.  She and her partner, and their two babies, have been attending our church now for just two weeks.  While holding one of her babies, this young lady confessed how hard and broken her life has been this last year: loss of loved ones, stress, tensions, and various personal crises.   She broke down and began to cry, in front of our little church, standing there next to our pastor.

Suddenly, one of the ladies from our little congregation came forward with a tissue and wiped the tears from this young lady’s cheeks.  And all of a sudden, the ladies of our congregation arose from their chairs and surrounded this woman and her infant. They began to pray for her, loving on her with their gentle prayers and comforting touches.

Their compassion was stunning.  No one made them do this.  No one coached them.  They saw a young mama with a broken heart and they rose up to surround her with their fierce and tender love.  There was no judgment in their actions or words.  This woman was their daughter.  This woman was their sister.  This woman and her baby, though little known to most of them, was family.  

It was stunning.  Truly stunning.  Once again, my definition of revival expanded.  

Who are these women who are learning to love so well?  There’s the one who recently celebrated one year clean after 10 years of devastating heroine addiction.  There’s the one who was beaten by her boyfriend, dumped in a field and left for dead and had to crawl on her hands and knees to find help.  There’s the one who has suffered through addiction and multiple toxic marriages riddled with infidelity.  There’s the one who worked faithfully at a car manufacturer for over 30 years and raised two daughters by herself.  There’s the one who travels to a third world nation every year with her husband to serve missionaries and local ministries for three weeks.  There’s the one whose marriage was recently restored…  And the list goes on and on.

What we all have in common is that each of our lives were changed by the Man from Nazareth.  A Man who rescued us from incredible brokenness and restored our souls.  And because He loved us so well, we are learning to love.  We are learning to wipe each other’s tears…even when they belong to a stranger.

Isaiah 61 came alive in my spirit this morning while I was watching this beautiful scene.  

We are the ones that "will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”  And at least in our little church, on the corner of  North Burdick and Paterson, we’re beginning by gently wiping away one tear at a time.

Our city is being rebuilt.

Was talking with Sarah, one of our Kalamazoo House of Prayer staff, on Thursday about the manifest presence of the Lord (one of my all time favorite subjects!). I was telling her the story of the moment I encountered His thick, tangible presence in a building. It was Jan. 1, 1996 and I was 21. I was with a small group of young adults and a few "older" adults (like my dad) and we were visiting the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship for the first time - during the height of the outpouring up there. I walked through the front doors of the church (which used to be an airport hangar) and I stopped. I raised my hands and began slicing through the air, as if I were cutting a piece of bread, and commented out loud, "Do you feel that?" I did not know that the Lord could dwell in a physical location like that.....it was like walking into a living river that went way over my head. That week [in Him] marked me for life. My eyes were forever opened to the fact that He is way more awesome than I had imagined, He is fun, He heals, He can call you out of a crowd when He wants to, the devil can't stand His presence or pure worship, and God can flow through me....not just use me, but His Spirit can actually flow through me.

Although I have since learned to cultivate my personal relationship with Him in secret and realized I can encounter Him in beautiful and profound ways when it's just me and Him....there is still something to be said for the magnificent corporate enouncter with our beautiful Savior. What would it feel like to walk into KHOP and walk into a literal cloud of His glory. What does it look like when He blankets a city like that? What does it look like when He envelopes an entire region in His glory? I don't know. But I'm looking forward to finding out.

Temptation is not sin. Temptation can lead to sin, when we give in to it, but it can also lead to triumph, when we overcome it. Remember how Jesus overcame those strategic temptations from Satan? He used the Word to bind and break the power of the temptation. I've heard Bill Johnson say before that he uses the Word to wash his mind after it's been exposed to junk. He opens the Bible and reads until he feels his soul becomes cleansed. I love this! What if you're not near your Bible and you are experiencing a temptation or have just been exposed to disgusting images or conversation? I have "go to" passages that I've memorized that I speak aloud to myself in times like that. One of my "go to" passages is Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd...). I also love praying some of those powerful apostolic prayers from Ephesians over myself: "I pray that you, being rooted and established in love..." Or, I speak 1 Corinthians 13 - the "love" chapter....or Psalm 27 or Psalm 91, etc. Use the Word as your weapon against the devil and his schemes. His word WINS every time and in every situation. "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

I’ve heard it said that when we pray God changes us and that is how He “answers” our prayers. And this is true!  Spending time with God, talking with Him, worshipping Him, studying His Word, DOES change us. However, scripture clearly reveals that our feeble prayers do move the hand of God (Matt. 6; James 5:16...). In fact, there are even passages that suggest that there are times He desired to move but could not based on the fact that He could not find an intercessor (Ez. 22:30 - 31). Wow! I encourage you today to pray. Feeling a need to complain? Make it a prayer and direct it to God. Feeling excited about something? Make it a praise and direct it to God. Are you mourning a terrible loss? Tell the Lord exactly how you feel. Need a financial breakthrough? Make it a prayer and direct it to God. Are you not feeling well? Don’t just reach for the Tylenol and call it good - first pray and ask for His healing to be made manifest. If He directs you to then reach for the Tylenol or go to the doctor, then do whatever He leads you to do. Who is this God? He is a faithful Father who listens and answers. He is the One who sent His Son into the world to die on the cross in order to pay the penalty of MY sin, so that I could be reconciled to Him through Jesus. And this Faithful Father LOVES us and LOVES to hear us pray. What are you waiting for? Right now - begin the conversation. Take this moment and PRAY.

How beautiful are the feet of him that brings good news. Yesterday (Nov. 9, 2017) I had the privilege of listening to a young man lead prayer at KHOP. Just six weeks ago he had tried to take his own life, but God dramatically intervened and His life was spared. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the words “thank you” at the prayer mic in one prayer set as often as I have heard them during this man’s two hour block. He reminds me of the woman who poured her anointing oil over Jesus’ feet. Truly, those that have been forgiven much, love much. Sometimes I need to be reminded just how amazing it feels like to be freshly saved, freshly healed, and freshly delivered of addictions. Wow. Jesus is real. And He still heals, still delivers, and still saves. And these feet testify!