“Nothing Between”

Scripture: Matthew 13:47-50; Romans 8:31-38

Charles Albert Tinley, the author of “Nothing Between”, was a black Methodist Episcopal pastor in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Born in 1851, with a father who was a slave and a mother who had been set free, he grew up as a freed man, while living in a slave community. He knew what obstacles existed in a society that considered descendants of African heritage as being less important than those of European descent.

Even though he would be denied formal education, he learned all that he needed for life through personal initiative and the help of others. Even though he never earned a college degree, he would be ordained as a deacon in 1887, and as an elder in 1889, and was assigned to serve as an itinerant pastor in a number of churches until he was finally appointed to the Bainbridge St. Methodist Episcopal church in Philadelphia.
Under his pastoral leadership, the church would quickly grow from an initial membership of 130 to over 10,000 before his retirement. And as if his pastoral duties didn’t keep him busy enough, he would also write over 70 hymns, including “Nothing Between”.

He knew what a life of struggle was all about, but he also knew that he had no intention whatsoever of remaining where the world wanted to keep him. He refused to let anything come between his human life and the life that his Lord and Savior had laid out for him.

How many of us can say as much?

“Nothing between my soul and my Savior, naught of this world’s delusive dream;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure; Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.”

Read Matthew 13:47-50

Charles knew that he had to make a choice, just as Matthew was pointing out, and he made it. Throughout scripture, people were given this same opportunity - to either choose the way of Jesus, or to settle for the ways of earth.

Remember the story of Mary and Martha? (Luke 10:38-42) Mary had chosen to sit at Jesus’ feet to learn from his teaching, while sister Martha busied herself with worldly chores, which we read “distracted” her from what was truly important. Mary chose to set the world aside for a time so that she could learn of “the better way” from her Lord Jesus, and she would gain immensely.
Her sister, on the other hand, allowed the world’s demands to come between her and her Almighty God, and she lost immensely!

Remember the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira? (Acts 4:32-5:11) The faithful had been selling property and giving the proceeds to help the poor and needy. Ananias and Sapphira also sold some land, but kept a portion of the sale for their own purposes - and then lied about it. And when they were called to account for their deception, they admitted their sin, and both were struck dead on the spot. They had chosen the ways of earth over the ways of Christ, even while they wanted others to believe that they were solidly behind all that the Lord had taught. A desire for the earth’s riches had gotten between them and service to their Lord and his people.

Remember the parable that Jesus told about the ten servants who were entrusted with caring for their Master’s estate while he went off to be crowned king? (Luke 19:1-27) Seven rejected allegiance to their king, and would suffer greatly for their decision; two were faithful in their service, and would be honored greatly; and one, who tried to appear faithful, would be found to be traitorous, and would suffer nearly as badly as the seven did.
Eight of the servants choose to act against the truth of their Master, and lost it all because of their self-centered decisions. False truth and poor decisions got in the way of receiving the Master’s praise and reward.

All of these folks had been given the chance to choose on behalf of Christ and against the busyness, against the pleasures of earth, but most had chosen poorly, and would not only gain nothing for it, they would lose everything they had ever possessed. They had allowed the ways of earth to come “between their soul and their Savior”.

And Matthew’s gospel gives us the definitive answer – that our choices in this life will come to bear on our final judgment – have we chosen the Lord in trust and wisdom, or have we been foolish and chose to follow in the ways of the earth?

Read Romans 8:31-34

“Nothing between, like worldly pleasure; habits of life, though harmless they seem,
Must not my heart from him ever sever; he is my all, there’s nothing between.”

What are some of the habits that we cherish most? I don’t mean drugs or theft or other illegal activities – I believe that Charles is calling us to consider those things that society believes are perfectly acceptable. Things like living together outside of marriage; ungodly speech (James 3:5-12); gossiping and lying about others; hateful acts and comments that we choose to be part of.
You know what I’m talking about – those things that heighten our personal esteem, while diminishing the integrity of others – those things that say “I’m right, you’re wrong, and you have no right to disagree with me!” Jesus, of course,
- had to deal with these same attitudes all the time, and
- it was usually from the very people who were the religious leaders of the nation.
The attitudes exhibited by the Pharisees and Sadducees fell into this category – “Don’t listen to him – he’s a liar. Trust us – we know what is best for you, and our way, the way of the law, is the only way.”

For Christians, sin is the “habit” that we find so harmless. So many people today believe that they get to define what immorality is, what sin consists of, but the truth is that sin is a violation of God’s way, and we don’t get to second guess the ways established by the Creator of all that is, both seen and unseen! And Charles wants us to know that this can never be our way – that we can never – that we “must never” – sever our ties with the Lord and his commands.

And this is the very thing that God has freed us from. At Calvary, he presented the new way – the way that is only by faith in Christ. The old way – the way of the Pharisees and their interpretation of God’s law – became a total failure. The law demanded perfection in following every nuance and every letter that it held – which, incidentally, no one can ever do! But by the way of the cross, we receive perfection, by faith in the Perfect Son of God, and by following his way and his teachings. And by faith and trust in his sacrifice, our condemnation will be overturned, and by God’s grace, we will be pronounced worthy of eternal salvation.

“Nothing between, like pride or station; self or friends shall not intervene;
Though it may cost me much tribulation, I am resolved, there’s nothing between.”

In the final beatitude from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he tells us “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:1-12) And in Matthew 10:34-39, Jesus boldly proclaims that his way is not one of peace with the world, but rather one of constant conflict and strife.

Charles Tinley knew what he was writing about. He knew that there were times that he was his own worst enemy in faith, but he also knew that it was the attack that came against him from the outside – both as a man with an African ancestry, as well as his being a bold and confident Christian pastor – that it was these things that caused his greatest persecution. And persecution, with its pain and conflict, brings with it a great temptation to do anything to make it stop.
But we will shortly sing the answer to this desire for relief from worldly opposition – that even though our faith, and a steadfast commitment to Christ-like ways may bring even more troubles, our best choice in this life will always be to allow nothing to come between us and the call of our Lord to live the righteous life.

“Nothing between, [even] many hard trials, though the whole world against me convene;
Watching with prayer and much self-denial, I’ll triumph at last, there’s nothing between.”

And here is the bottom line to the question of worldly denial and opposition to the teachings of Jesus Christ – that no matter what they say; no matter what they do; no matter how convincing their arguments may seem; no matter how great the discrimination and conflict may be – if we keep our focus on Jesus; if we stay true to his teachings; if we consider the hateful and hurtful actions of earth as evidence that we are walking firmly, arm in arm, with our Lord and Savior – if this is our life, then nothing will ever come between!

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” No one and no thing!
“It is God who justifies!” This is our eternal hope, that the world has absolutely no say in the final Judgment!
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” In Faith, nothing can ever come between!

Read Romans 8:35-38

Are we truly convinced that Christ’s victory over sin and death can be our victory, too? That faith in the Son of God, and trust in his word, will strengthen us, and empower us, and will justify us at the Judgment and for all eternity.

Nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” – nothing can ever come between our “soul and our Savior” – nothing, that is, except our own ignorance, and our own weakness, and our own self-dependency.

Will we “keep the way clear?” Will we let nothing come between?