UNBROKEN CHAIN

UNBROKEN CHAIN

                “Jerry, we need to talk…”  “…sure, I will come right over…”  My wife looked at me and quizzed, “who…? What…?”  I told her that James wanted something, but did not say what.  I was puzzled and concerned that maybe my dogs had gotten out and killed his cats, or something worse?!  I drove around to his half of the forty, and he graciously offered some garden peppers.  “…no, thanks; heartburn… what’s going on…”  “My brother, Joe saw it first; I had not even noticed…” James then pointed to a fifty foot tall pine with no green needles on it!  “Whoa, James, I had not noticed it; but you need to park your truck away from its radius until …” “…not today…”  “Saturday?”

 
                In the mean time, my wife called our oldest son, Jeremiah, and our son-in-law, David.  With advice from co-workers, loaned chains, a 2-ton come-along, a winch, Jeremiah, James, and I began our safety work-order the next Saturday!  About half way up the tree, we wrapped a chain into itself, and attached two more lengths of chain, and finally attached a long-chain come-along, which was chained to the bottom of a tree some fifty feet away.  Jeremiah offered to run the chain saw, but I told him he had a family to raise.  “… if something happens, tell them I love them…”  And, with the chain tightened, to ensure the tree did not fall towards the truck shed, I made my first cut a bate on the side we wanted it to fall.  “Jeremiah, tighten the chain some more…”  Fearful of falling dead limbs, I began my cut on the other side.  I heard a crack, and I yelled, “Run; … run, NOW; it’s falling…”  Ka-whop!  “Jeremiah, you OK?!  Answer me, Jeremiah!”  A voice some thirty yards to the side came back, “here I am!”  My next words to James were “thank the Lord”  The chain held and nobody and nothing was hurt.

                How many links have to hold?  ALL of them!  If even one breaks, it does not affect just that one link?!  All sorts of things could happen, most of them bad.  But, all the links held.  Everybody went home safe.  And, a F150 can sleep peacefully, not to mention my wife’s concerns.  But, what if …?!

                I think of my departed dad, his children, their children, now, their children – four generations.  Like a chain, the generations are stretching out.  And I pray for the next two generations, yet unborn – them, their unborn spouses, their in-laws to-be, all who effect this chain!  I pray for people involved in the lives of my grandkids.  “…keep the chain of faith strong and going…”

                I have a nephew who has no time for Jesus, seemingly.  He has broken the chain.  Two little girls are dangling loose on the chain.  Their grandparents have stepped in, thank the Lord!  Some chains are double linked!  In fact, this inter-generational chain resembles a cross-linked chain web-net, in some ways!

                I am reminded of Paul’s comments to his protégé, Timothy – “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” (2Tim.1:5 NIV)  That’s what I am talking about!  (there is no mention of his dad, or grandfather?!  Do NOT be the missing link!)  Mothers, God bless them, hold together the family.  But, where are the “bull links”?!  I am not fully convinced of the state of the departed; but, I envision an Old Man, somewhere, pleading for his family?!  Much like Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke, “… I will be far more powerful than you can imagine…”?!  But, I do know that the living can pray for the future generations.  Join me in this prayer for your grandkids future grandkids and their spouses, yet unborn.

                Some hear slavery and confinement when they think “chain”.  Others envision a ship securely anchored against the storm by an anchor chain.  One could even imagine the protective shield afforded by the interlocked links of a knight’s chain mail armor.  Connection is fundamentally heard in the word “chain”.  Animals could be chained for their own protection from the highway, and for the protection of trespassing neighbors?!  Chains can transmit power.  Chains can lock gates and prevent escape and invasion or burglary.  The list goes on?  Chains serve many purposes.

                Another thought that needs to be developed is chain care and maintenance.  What weakens a chain?  What corrodes a chain?  What are chain abuses and misuses?  How does one protect and maintain a chain?  Just some things to ponder!

L - M - R

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L – M – R

(left, middle, right)

                Another generation is taking center stage.  One is nearly gone; another is fading away; and yet another, younger, is sitting on the sidelines watching.  But, another one, the parents of the sideliners, is taking front and center.  These are the 30-somethings.  They are not only the center of attention, but, every generation defines themselves as the center, in many other ways.

                My parents’ generation, the generation that fought world wars, gave so much of themselves, is disappearing rapidly.  Worse, their values are disappearing even more so!  Then, I look to the generation of my children, and they have seemingly shifted way to the left.  My parents lived in a time of “blue laws” and hard work.  It was “no beer” and “no queers” for them.  My children live in a time of diversity and moderation.  (such nice-sounding ideas)  For them it is “liqueur” and “lesbians”.  Maybe there is less racism, but there is, IMHO, more darkness.

                Sure, there is a fine line between being judicial and being judgmental.  We seemingly swing between lawless, loving, and legalistic.  The song says that you must stand for something, or you will fall for anything.  The Moral Argument (for the existence of God) makes a strong appeal for certainty.  But, we keep moving the boundaries and redefining the rules.  The prophets pronounced woes on landmark-movers; and the rebuked moral-re-definers who called right wrong, and wrong right.

                THE prophet, Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, warned us about specks and logs; and, He contrasted dropping stones and throwing stones.  Yet, he calls us to be “perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.”  Yet, seemingly Jesus was more about scribbling in the sand, than drawing lines.  (but, He then told her to stop?!)  He did not come to destroy the Law, but rather to fulfill it, a law that will not  bring righteousness, anyways!  But, this law should humble us into acknowledgment of sinfulness and into petition for mercy and grace.

                We so easily and quickly rationalize, twisting and distorting to our own destruction.  As quickly, we must tremble (and maybe even squirm/cringe?!) before the Holy One of Israel.  Like Isaiah, we need the angel to fly with the coal-laden tongs!  We need the washing from the fountain filled with the Lamb’s precious blood!

                God, have mercy on us!  Will the next generation move to a further extreme, or pendulum back to the Center?  Thank God for the “middle-man”!

WILL THE CHAIN BE BROKEN?

WILL THE CHAIN BE BROKEN?

                A broken chain means that some load has been dropped, or something stuck in the mud is still trapped, or some secured ship is adrift.  A weak link has caused failure.  Imagine a human chain linking hands stretching into the torrent to rescue a poor soul in danger of being swept away and drowning!  If a link is broken then all below that link is lost?!

                Maybe it would be more helpful to compare this inter-generational rescue effort to a tree.  From the roots, through the trunk, into the limbs flow nutrients from the earth.  Every year each tree limb adds three or four new branches.  What fruit will never be realized because a limb was broken off by a wind storm?  What flowers will never be enjoyed because of some diseased branch?  I have known whole families of reprobates because some grandfather took a wrong turn.  And, I have seen families that seemed so tuned to heaven because of a good foundation and network of believers.  Jesus speaks of the vine and the branches.  But, he also speaks of pruning and piling the branches for the fire.  Then, there is the redeeming analogy of grafting.  Much to think about?

                Or, one could view this concern like an irrigation system in a field – not an overhead spray, but a system of canals and berms.  Life giving water flows from the reservoir through the canals, through the ditches, through the channels, until all the field is supplied.  If one ditch is dammed, then a whole section of the field will wither and die.  It is a damnable situation.

                Fathers love their children and pray for them.  To mind comes the Prodigal Son’s father.  How many days did he strain his eyes on the horizon looking for his son?  (Lk.15)  The patriarch Job would regularly intercede sacrificially for his children. (Job 1:5)  John wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3Jn.1:4)

                I pray for my grandchildren’s grandchildren, even though I will never meet them in this life.  I want to meet them in the next life!  Sometimes I go backwards two generations and pray back down the chain and pray for cousins.  Pray for in-laws.  Pray for nephews and nieces.  Pray …

Will the chain be broken?  Satan takes our broken chains and uses them to bind us.  Surely, Jesus has come to release the prisoners and declare freedom.  He breaks those chains.  But, let’s keep the heart chain strong.  May He bind our wandering hearts to Himself.  I have seen double-linked chains, every link connected to two other links, not just one.  (maybe an Uncle as a spiritual mentor, and he has been praying for years for your mom!)  And, I have seen chain nets!  Like a safety net.

                And, know that Jesus is the cosmic Master Link!  He holds it all together in some mysterious way.  ”And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together)”  (Col. 1:17 Amplified Bible)  It is not all up to us, by any means.  But, we are his links to those around us.

Another generation wailed out the mountain song, "O, The Circle Won't Be Broken"  in its hope for an unbroken chain.  Pray.  Pattern.   Plead, if need be!  Will faith die or thrive in their hearts?

                Practicals:  1.  Personal devotion,  2.  Marry a faithful believer,  3.  Teach children,  4.  Share cross-generation – nephews, cousins, …

                Prayer – “Father, bless this family that we, all, may be saved, sincere, solid, spiritual, sold-out, sanctified, seeking-first, surrendering, sober, serious, sharing, single-minded … may this chain be secure and stretch to your strong hand.”