About Us Quarterly Magazine Meditation: Fill the Gap
Meditation: Fill the Gap Print E-mail
Monday, 19 April 2010 22:02
By Rev. Greg Bylsma

It was January 12, 2010, when the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Since that day, prayers have been significantly increased for the people of Haiti and the work of various mission organizations within that nation. Where able, gospel workers sought to continue their work there, bringing the gospel to as many people as they could in as effective a way as possible. In a nation that had literally come unhinged, some saw with increasing clarity the dramatic need for the gospel and, by God’s grace, were rising up, Word in hand, to fill the gap.

In times of crisis, God frequently reminds us of the importance of the Gospel that has been entrusted to us. Let us remember:

The Urgency of the Gospel Call (Luke 13:1-5)
When Jesus was faced with the tragic loss of human life, He used the situation to drive home to His listeners the urgency of repentance. He told a parable of a barren fig tree with which the owner of a vineyard had become disgusted. The tree simply never bore fruit, and hence its time had come to be torn up. After the command came for it to be cut down, however, the keeper of the vineyard interceded: ‘One more year of care. If it hasn’t born fruit in one more year then you can cut it down.’

I remember as a young man being terrified with the thought, “What if my year is almost up?” Looking at the devastation in Haiti, this is a message we need to consider again. The urgent call of the gospel cannot be ignored or put off. Today must be the day of salvation.

The Task of the Church
The urgency of the gospel is not to be applied merely to ourselves and our own need to turn continually to Christ, but also to the millions who stand outside of Christ even as you read this letter. In Jesus’ earthly ministry, He repeatedly looked upon the crowds with compassion and mourned the lost state of sinners’ souls. He called His church to make disciples of the nations, and commanded them to begin their witness in the very city that had rejected Him (Acts 1:8).

The calling of the church to be witnesses for Christ is no less urgent today than it was hundreds of years ago. If anything, the knowledge that our “salvation is nearer than when we first believed” should drive us with increasing zeal to be found faithful in the calling God has laid upon us. The work of the gospel, both at home and abroad, is not to be delayed for passing pleasures and comforts. Jesus has given the command, and the front page news of our day has reminded us of the need.

If we have eyes to see, life all around us reminds us that there is a dramatic need for the gospel. Similarly, the Bible reminds us that in Christ, and by His Spirit, we have the means to meet it.

May we rise up with Scripture in hand to fill the gap.

Greg Bylsma is the pastor of Bethel United Reformed Church in Woodstock, Ontario.
 
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