CYBERCOLUMN:
The great separation
___By John Duncan
___I’m sitting here under the old oak tree pondering the great separation. Tragic events of more recent days send my mind in a swirl about eternal destinies and the last days.
___ "Preacher, do you think we’re in the last days?" one saint recently asked. CNN may say no. Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye say yes. Jesus said he did not know the hour when the end would come.
___"It’s hard to tell," I replied, adding, "A lot of people thought the end had come when Hitler was on the march during World War II."
___C.S. Le

JOHN DUNCAN

wis talks about the great separation as the "great divorce," that longstanding gap between heaven and hell that began when the angel Lucifer fell like a star from heaven. Lewis is too philosophical for me when he says, and rightly so, "There is but one good; that is God. Everything else looks good when it looks to him and bad when it turns from him." That C.S. Lewis. He always had a way with words.
___I tend to think more practically—Jesus in heaven; Lucifer and his cohorts in hell; and the last days when comes the "great separation," the division between the sheep and goats.
___Then my mind drifts to that November Saturday when the sun rose high over the Locker community, some 30 miles from Brownwood, Texas. On Saturdays I visited the saints of Locker Baptist Church, where I was privileged to be pastor.
___The little box of a church painted white with wooden slats had a steeple, wooden pews and floors, and an outhouse to boot. On my first Sunday, this nervous preacher requested the use of the restroom. Now, I grew up in the city. The control for the cooling and heating mounted on a wall. Windows were for looking through and keeping thieves out, not for opening. Plumbing lay beneath the foundation, indoor stuff with all modern conveniences. Merle Taylor, on that day, gave directions, "Go outside, take a left, and you’ll find the restroom behind the church, right next to the cows."
___"Oh my, outdoor restroom! Outhouse!" My nerves tightened, but I made way to the outhouse and cautiously took care of the business.
___Locker Baptist Church, what memories. We averaged 12 a Sunday. High attendance thrived on the Sunday we had 28, only because the Boy Scouts showed up. Thank the Lord for Boy Scouts! I don’t think I ever preached a sermon on the "great separation," but a dog entered the church and walked the aisle one Sunday before the invitation. Have you ever tried to talk to a dog when the whole church stared?
___One Saturday, I experienced an eyewitness view of the "great separation."
___ I stopped by to visit Merle Taylor. His wife directed me to the back where he was weaning animals.
___I walked to the back, peered through the fence and watched him separate the babies from their mothers.
___Searching desperately for pastoral words of conversation and encouragement, I said, "Mr. Taylor, I like your sheep." Life sometimes sends us on a mission, and in the quest for the right words, we observe and open our mouths. After all, Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." So I spoke, "I like your sheep."
___Merle Taylor lassoed a wide smile as he glanced at me while sending a whining baby into a fenced pen, "Preacher, them’s goats!"
___He chuckled and kept right on working the great separation. We never discussed it again, not baby goats being weaned from their mothers, not the difference between sheep and goats, not the great separation.
___So, is it the end? I cannot tell you. A wall plaque that I saw recently assumes it. It featured painted words hung on the door of house: "When I die, bury me at Wal-Mart." Two bumper stickers predict it. One said, "If the rapture occurs, this car will be unmanned." It threw me for a loop, because a woman was driving. Why not "unwomanned"? The other bumper sticker commanded: "Jesus is coming soon! Look busy!"
And so the question, "Preacher is this the end?" I don’t know. But I am talking to Jesus and praying and believing in him and serving him with all my heart. And I do understand that when the end comes, Jesus can tell the difference between the sheep and the goats and at the "great separation," he will separate the sheep from the goats. Trust me, when that day comes, being a sheep is what you want to be, a sheep under the Shepherd’s care.
___And me? Come to think of it, I am looking "real busy." And it has taken me a long time, but I am starting to tell the difference between the sheep and the goats, believe me.
___"All I can say, is, when the end comes, you better be ready!" I pontificated to the lovely saint.
___So if the end comes, you better get ready. Until then, watch out for goats. Make friends with sheep. And, by all means, get to know the Shepherd.
___ You’ll be glad you did when comes the "great separation!"

___John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines.





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