Aug 30, 2020
Countdown to Conference 2021
By President Kevin Butler
When Pastor La Juana Morris was younger, she admits that she was extremely clumsy. Let’s just say that “Grace” was not her middle name. She said that if there was a piece of string on the living room floor, she would trip over it.
When someone fell in La Juana’s home, her mother would come to the rescue carrying a tray with an array of antiseptics, soap, water, sponges, and bandages. La Juana remembered, “I acted a fool every time this scenario played out. When Mom would apply the iodine, and the alcohol, and the peroxide, and the salves, and the ointments, it would sting! Each time I would beg Mom, ‘Just put a Band-Aid on it.’ And each time she would respond, ‘If I don’t clean it, it will get infected, and besides—it’ll only hurt for a little while.’
“Well to me, that 2 to 3 minutes of pain when that dropper dispensed the iodine into my gaping wound seemed like an eternity.”
“Finally, one day, when I was about 12, I fell down again. As usual, my Mom brought out the tray with an array of antiseptics. This time I decided I would take a stand. ‘Listen Mom, I think I am old enough to start making some of my own decisions, and I just want a Band-Aid on this sore.’ Mom said her usual, ‘If I don’t clean it, it will get infected; besides, it’ll only hurt for a little while.’ But I was adamant. I put my foot down. I was, after all, 12 years old! Mom conceded, put a Band-Aid on the wound, and I strutted away as if I had done a miraculous healing.”
Well, you can guess that there was no healing. After a couple of days the area became tender. Two or three days later, her leg began to swell. Pretty soon, the sore was oozing, and she couldn’t take the Band-Aid off because it was stuck. La Juana’s Mom had to take her to the emergency room. The doctor slowly peeled the Band-Aid away from her skin. He explained that if the infection had gotten any worse they would have had to lance it, pack it, and wrap it, and that the procedure would have been very painful. He said that La Juana would have been in the hospital for a day or two getting antibiotics. He cast a glance at the nurse. She left the room, then returned carrying a tray with an array of antiseptics. She remembers, “I began to whimper, and my mother chuckled and replied, ‘Well, it’ll hurt a little longer than it would have, but it still will only hurt for a little while.’”
2020.
This world is hurting, and so much of what’s going on seems like an “infection.” God is trying to pour some “antiseptic” onto our wounds, hurts, and pains. His desire is that we don’t take what seems to be the “easy way out” by using “Band-Aid fixes.”
We do that way too often, don’t we? If we don’t want to work on a marriage, we take out the divorce bandage. If we don’t want to pay our bills, we take out the bankruptcy Band-Aid. If we don’t want to wait on God and read His Word, we apply the “Dr. Phil” bandage or whoever the “Talk Show Host of the Day” may be. God is trying to tell us that if we don’t allow Him to apply the “Heavenly Antiseptic” to our spiritual and relational wounds, we will get an infection. What kind of infection? How about gossip, envy, jealousy; or the infection of pride and deceit; of laziness and rebellion.
So much of how the world is right now is because we applied “Band-Aids.”
True, the antiseptic will sting for a minute. It’s going to take some confrontations and some “hard conversations,” as our friend Lori Roeleveld would say.
—When God pours that “Antiseptic” into your wound, you will be reminded of some poorly chosen words, and you will have to go and ask that person to forgive you…but it’ll only hurt for a little while.
—When He pours the “Antiseptic” into your wound, you may feel guilty about the lies you didn’t stop, and you might have to retract your statement…but it’ll only hurt for a little while.
—When He pours on the “Antiseptic,” you might remember that you have not been faithful to the church and those in the church family, and you will have to make amends for it…but it’ll only hurt for a little while.
—When he pours on the “Antiseptic,” you could be reminded of some prejudiced thoughts and actions you participated in, and you will have to do what is necessary to make it right…but the pain will only last for a little while.
How has your 2020 been so far?
How do we get out of this mess? WHO gets us out of this mess??
1 Peter 5:10 says, “And the God of all grace, Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ—after you have suffered a little while — will Himself restore you, and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
Yes, the “Antiseptic” provided in the blood of Jesus is the total cleansing agent, the one thing that can wash away those sins and stains. What will Jesus do for us? The God of all Grace—through Christ—will cause us to be restored!
And we will be “RESTORED for a PURPOSE.”
That’s the theme for Conference 2021: “Restored—for a Purpose.”
God’s plan and ongoing “track record” for being a God of Restoration is all throughout history and His Word.
In the Old Testament, there are foreshadows of Jesus in God RESTORING:
The altar, the temple, the priesthood, restoring
Israel.
The many accounts of Jesus RESTORING:
The blind, the lame, the demon-possessed,
the lepers, the dead!
And for what PURPOSE? He restored people to:
Health and sight, relationships, peace.
He RESTORED joy, first love, leaders, life, hope.
What kind of RESTORATION do we need today?
Many of the same things, and more:
Health, relationships, strength, jobs, economy,
mobility, freedom, Church missions.
For WHAT PURPOSE?
I want Seventh Day Baptists—both as individuals and churches—to “wrestle” with the WHY, and for WHAT PURPOSE have we been RESTORED? (Both recently and in the past.) Why has God kept us together as a people in this land for so long? Our first church was founded in Rhode Island in 1671. That means in 2021 we will mark 350 years of being here.
During this pandemic, I know that our churches and our Conference leaders have had to change a lot of operations and procedures. I have the great privilege of meeting monthly with our Executive Director, Carl Greene. We catch up on life, talk about our ministries and our families, and get to pray for each other. At one of our first meetings, Carl was trying to tap into the “vast knowledge” and experience I had from working for the Conference. He asked how the Conference could strengthen its role with the churches and leaders. I thought for a bit, and came up with the word: “relevance.” What’s our connection? How can the Conference be more relevant for our churches? I know that during this year of challenge and change, the Council Directors, the Executive Director, and the Society Presidents have certainly “upped their game” and become more visible, more accessible, more over-worked (pray for them!)—and I feel the Conference has become more relevant and restored!
At the local level, I think that many of us turned off the “Auto-Pilot” switch and really had to re-think how to “DO Church.” As we worked hard toward re-gathering, we “suffered a little while” doing that. I believe that God is in the process of RESTORING our churches and our Conference to be more strong, firm and steadfast. In many ways, we have been RESTORED. But again, for WHAT PURPOSE? That’s going to be our main thrust this coming year: looking at stories of HOW and WHY we have been RESTORED. Or, seeking new ways that we need to be RESTORED.
I’m not going to announce any new program specifics for our next Conference week. Been there. Done that. Got burned. (Or learned.) It’s up to Him how it will work out.
I do invite you to stay tuned as the program is developed. It’s going to be a special time as we celebrate the 350th Anniversary of our first church in this New Land. We’re going to be next door to Rhode Island, where that founding took place, during the last week of July at Connecticut College in New London.
One more thing about healing old wounds…
Do you remember when your mother or grandmother applied antiseptic to your scrapes and wounds? She would always do one more thing that helped relieve the pain and make it a little more tolerable. She would gently blow on it.
To think about what Jesus did for us—as His blood ran down His body and the cross, and touched our wounds as He applied the “Antiseptic” (and the healing that we needed)—His promised Holy Spirit came alongside to comfort and to ease our pain. That Holy Spirit will “blow” on our wounds to cause the pain to lessen and eventually the pain will go away. But rest assured, “It’ll only hurt for a little while.”
And then we will be “RESTORED—for a Purpose!”
Lord willing, see you in 2021 in Connecticut!
