November 30, 2008

“Hands of Hope”

Jeremiah 18:1-6

In today’s scripture we see that God can change God’s mind. Whether it is in Exodus, Jeremiah, Amos or Jonah, when God changes God’s mind it is in favor of us. That is, God changes God’s mind from the intent for destruction to the intent to save. From the intent to do harm to the intent to do good.

“The vessel the potter was making of clay was marred in the potter’s hands, and the potter reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter.”

I find in this verse three things. First, the vessel was a work in progress. It was not complete. Second, the vessel was in the potter’s hand, although spoiled it was in the potter’s hand. Third, it was remade into a vessel that the potter was pleased with. Thus it might be said, “Messed up! But in the Mater’s hands.”

At first glance, when reading this passage, it might seem to be a message of doom. But in verse four, I found the message of hope. Hope for the future. Hope for the present. Hope for our lives. Hope for our churches. Hope for our nation.

In today’s scripture, we must remind ourselves that we are the clay. While it may appear that we are headed for destruction or disaster, there is still time. As the potter’s wheel continues to turn, there is hope!

The potter does not set out to make a flawed pot, but sometimes it happens. The potter plans one thing of beauty; yet, sometimes it is marred, messed up, but thanks be to God, it is still in the Master’s hands.

When God created this world and His most prized beings…Adam and Eve…it was to be a thing of beauty. But Adam messed it up. God wanted to discard the marred vessel and start over. He did. With the flood, He discarded the old vessel and started another one through Noah and his family. But, you guessed it! They messed up. But God has already promised to Noah that He would never destroy the vessel again…He gave Noah His word…a rainbow that He would no longer destroy the messed up vessel but would recreate it. That gives us a ray of hope.

God now has a different purpose. God has a new plan. If we are yet in the Master’s hands there is still hope. On that potter’s wheel, the Christ-child was formed as a new ray of hope to a messed up world.

Out of this I find three hands of hope. First, if we are to be in the Master’s hands, we must take notice of our thoughts. Second, hands of hope are mindful of the mandates of the Master, the commandments that were left for us to follow. Third, the hands of hope made a difference when Jesus was born and later declared His ministry…it was to make a meaningful difference.

When I realize that I am in the Hands of my Master…no matter how bad it looks, don’t throw in the towel. Don’t give up. Because I still believe that you and I are in the Master’s hands. And those hands are the hands of hope. That means we are malleable in the Master’s hands. We can be remolded, renewed, so that we can rebuild our lives and rebuild our nation. There is that ray of hope that shines through in verse four. That is, the Master does not fashion a vessel to our liking, but one that seems good to Him.

What we might consider worthless and ugly, useless and unwanted…the hands of hope find worth. Paul reminds us that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels.”

Advent reminds us that as long as we are in the Master’s hands, we are a work in progress. The pressures we may feel may be the remolding procedures.

If we take this Advent season seriously, we can make a difference. If we are willing to stay in the Master’s hands, it might be misunderstood, but I am in the Master’s hands. I may be messed up, messed on, messed over, but I am still in the Master’s hands. Those hands that sent us Jesus Christ, those were the hands that made us in His own image. Those are the hands that remold us. It is through those hands that we have hope.

Are you in the Master’s hands? Do you want that wonderful hope in your life?

November 9, 2008

“Goodness”

Galatians 5:22

Goodness is not a gift…it is a fruit! As a fruit, it should grow. When something isn’t growing it is either dead or starting to die. Being filled with the Spirit will produce goodness. Good works does not produce salvation but salvation should produce good works. All Christians should practice goodness everyday.

I. Supernatural Goodness

1. Personality of God: Psalm 25:8 “The Lord is good and glad to teach the proper path to all who go astray.”

2. Place of goodness: Psalm 33:5 “The Earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.” Should the Lord remove His goodness, we would be hopeless and helpless.

3. Pardoning goodness: Romans 2:4 It is God’s goodness that leads us to repentance, and salvation. He doesn’t have to forgive us our sins. We deserve punishment. It is only His goodness that keeps us from being sent to Hell.

4. Peace and goodness: Psalm 34:8 An invitation to “taste and see” that the Lord is good! How can any of us know God is good unless we “taste Him”?

II. Sensible Goodness

1. Practical goodness: Luke 6:27 Not only loving our enemies, but doing good for them. This is not natural! But, then unless we live in the spiritual, we cannot expect to fulfill God’s rules and laws, as well as being good.

2. Pity and goodness: Romans 12:20 When our enemy is hungry, we should feed him. If thirsty, we should give him something to drink. It is easy to do good to those who are good to us. It is easy to help those who will repay us, helping us later. But, doing this to my enemy?

3. Prayerful goodness: I Thessalonians 5:15 Never return evil for evil. Always return good for evil. Again, this is not natural! But it is spiritual! Only as we are filled with the Spirit will we be able to practice this.

III. Spiritual Goodness “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. Psalm 23:6

1. Reaping: Galatians 6:6-7 God promises that we will reap what we have sowed. We always are paid for what we do whether it be good or evil.

2. Reward: Luke 6:38 If we give, God will give back. This means our money, our time, our life and work. Withhold from Him, and he will withhold from you.

3. Results: Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 “Give generously, for your gifts will return to you later. Divide your gifts among many, for in the days ahead you, yourself may need such help.”

The Bible says of Jesus that He went about doing good (Acts 10:38). We need not be educated to be able to do good. Doing good should be an overflow of the Spirit-filled life. Goodness should be natural and normal for the Christian. It should be a part of your everyday life.

Is goodness a part of your life?

November 2, 2008

"Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness"

Galatians 5:22

Kindness is more than pity or sympathy. It is more than concern. It is more than love. All these are a part of kindness. One may have love, pity, concern and sympathy, yet not be kind. Kindness calls for action. Kindness does something. It is love at work. The true Spirit-filled person will practice kindness.

1. The Purpose of Kindness

As a follower of Christ, they will practice these attributes of kindness

1. Kindness - More than words, but deeds and actions.

2. Humbleness of Mind - Not thinking self to be something.

3. Meekness - Christ being first and above all.

4. Long suffering - Without patience, one will not be kind.

II. The Practice of Kindness

1. Considerate - “And be ye kind one to another,” the Spirit-filled Christian is considerate of both the Christian as well as the sinner. He “sits where they sit.”

2. Concern-”Tenderhearted” … Kindness leads to charity. Charity is more than love - it is love in action. It has a tender heart that see man’s problems, then helps.

3. Christ-Like - “Forgiving one another,” Practicing the teaching of Christ in being forgiving.

III. The Personality of Kindness

1. Joseph - Genesis 50:18-24 ... Joseph forgives his brother. He could have sent his brothers to prison for selling him as a slave, but he forgave and forgot the past.

2. David - Samuel 18:5 ... David forgives Absolom, who was seeking to kill his father. What a shame and sorrow, a son seeking to destroy his father.

3. Christ - Luke 23:34 ... Upon the cross, Christ prayed that God would forgive those who were crucifying Him.

4. Stephen - Acts 7:60 ... Stephen forgives the religious leaders and others, who were stoning him to death.

Kindness requires giving. Kindness will cost something. It will mean more than what is required of us. It is going the second mile. It is forgetting self and thinking of others as Christ thought. Only as one is filled with the Spirit daily will he be able to practice this kindness.

Keep filled with the Spirit, and you will be kind.

October 26, 2008

“Truth in Advertising”

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

You may have seen the movie in which Kate Hudson’s character is assigned to write an article for “Composure Magazine” on “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days”. Perhaps the apostle Paul could have written: “How to Lose a Convert in Ten Seconds”.

Perhaps Paul should have taken a short course from today’s “Health-and-Wealth” preachers. Just send your offerings to them, they promise, and God will make you rich. They have the wealth to prove it: expensive suits…big homes…personal jets.

What is without dispute is that we can make them rich. But the appeal is certainly there. A TV preacher the other night was offering a $100 miracle night. Which is actually pretty cheap if you had a dreaded disease or are in foreclosure.

Eugene Peterson stated, “In our kind of culture, anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly.” It might sell, but is it the Gospel of Christ? Ministers can get caught up in this culture as well. Instead of telling the people what they need to know, they tell them what they want to hear. Some actually promise that if you become a Christian, your problems will vanish…your dreams will be fulfilled and you will begin a prosperous, healthy, happy journey to Heaven.

Well, Paul never studied under those folks. He practiced straight talk, truth in packaging.

In today’s reading, Paul reminds the Thessalonians Church that he was subjected to shameful mistreatment in Philippi in response to his ministry. He and Silas had been stripped, severely flogged, and thrown into prison.

Jesus told His disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Wow! No one can ever say that he or she was induced to follow Jesus by false pretenses. Jesus never tried to bribe men by offering them an easier way.

During WWII, Winston Churchill promised citizens of England, “Blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” Garibaldi appealed to the Italian people in these terms: “I offer neither pay, or quarters, nor provisions: I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country in his heart, and not with his lips only, follow me.”

Jesus never tried to lure people with the offer of an easy life. Neither did Paul, who declares, “Our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery.” Paul further insists, “We never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed.”

The Christian life is hard. It is a challenge to pursue the road of self-denial when advertising agencies are forever inviting us to self-obsession…urging us to ask: “How do I look? How do I smell” How do I feel? What do I want?”

1 John 2:16 “Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.” Practically everything that goes on in the world…wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important…has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him.

Paul is a straight shooter. He practices truth in packaging. He wants the church to know that it can expect difficulty, suffering, and persecution.

Yet it is still rooted in God. From Christ alone, the church derives the strength it needs for its calling.

October 19, 2008

"Stir Up the Fire"

Revelation 1:1-10, 16, 19-20

When Jesus wanted to send one last message to His churches, He did it by sending His angel to His servant John, who was exiled on the Island of Patmos. These letters were addressed to seven churches in Asia…churches founded by the apostles and their co-workers during the years immediately following Christ’s ministry.

In these letters, Jesus looks inside His churches…and inside us. His searching eyes see what we are inside, in our heart of hearts. He sees not only what we are but why.

The first letter was written to the church at Ephesus. Have you ever had a friendship change from gripping to just “so-so”? Have you ever been excited about a project that you later found hard to keep working at? Now fast forward a month, a year, or five years. Were you still enthusiastic, or more enthusiastic, as you were at the beginning? If not, what happened to the fire?

This is what Jesus saw in Ephesus. They still believed, and they were standing up well against opposition from the outside. But inside they were growing cold. They were still going through the motions, but the glow was gone.

Whey do we lose our love for God? For the same reason our car runs on gas. If we don’t keep refilling it, there comes a time when the car’s engine will stall. We may coast for awhile if the slope is downhill…but eventually it will come to a dead stop. The same is true with our faith. To lose our passion for God and His kingdom, we need do nothing at all. Just stay at home…relax…and let the fire inside die. Faith that is not fed will soon die.

Jesus said the church at Ephesus “left their first love”. The key word here is “left”. They moved away from God and toward the world. Love that is not nurtured dies. Zeal that is not renewed dies. Faith that is not fed dies. It is only a matter of time.

What happened to Demas? Paul’s last words about Demas were: “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” (II Timothy 4:10) A growing love for the world smothered the fire of His love for God. When Demas and Paul were walking down the street together, Paul’s mind was on his message and what he could do for the brethren they were about to visit. Demas was looking around and grew such longing in his heart for the things around him that his love for God died out. He lost his focus. Forgot the promises of God for the bright lights of the city.

So, what causes the fire to go out? What causes love to grow cold?

1. The threat of the familiar. Did you ever read a verse of scripture…and after reading it…wondered what you had read…even though it is familiar? Just like the flame, if it is not fed it will die.

2. The wrong priorities. What comes first in our lives? Is everything we do part of our service to God? Are we absorbed with fulfilling ourselves first? Hear the warning in Jesus’ words: “You no longer love me as you did at first.”

The remedy:

What is the remedy for a dying love? Jesus said it in three words: REMEMBER, REPENT, DO.

Love does not have to grow cold. There is a way to turn it around, to keep our love for God warm and glowing.

1. REMEMBER: Remember where you use to be! We need to remember our God. It is important to go over the faith lessons in the Bible that deals with Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David and the prophets.

2. REPENT: Just to remember is not enough. We could remember and be resentful. We could remember and blame someone else. Our faith must change the way we think, the way we respond to other people. Repent means to turn around. It means a change of heart.

3. DO: That means to put our faith into action…living faith must work!

Remember, repent and do. And then…Jesus promises us: “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7)

September 14, 2008

“What Does God Say About It?”

Romans 14:1-12

A friend, Nancy’s daughter, came home from Sunday School with a note in her pocket. Nancy was so deeply moved by what was on the note, she put it on the kitchen cabinet. It said: “Help me not to be OK just because everything is OK with me.” Life in a community means, “It is not just about me. I’m part of a body.”

In today’s world, there is a hunger to be a part of a community…we desire it so much that it is very important that understanding what Paul says about a community. In verses 1-4, Paul addresses the issue of the weaker brother.

Paul tells us that if we live in a community, we have to accept someone else who doesn’t share our convictions. Sometimes, it may be some personality quirk that we just have to overlook. It may be a habit you find irritating. Do you make a big deal out of it or do you just accept the person because he or she is your brother or sister?

Other matters are more serious than that. Paul uses the example of food. Today we have folks that are vegetarians. When I am with them, I refrain from eating meat out of respect for their convictions. Notice, my convictions didn’t change and I didn’t try to change their conviction…for the sake of our friendship, we respect each other’s convictions.

That comes from a basic conviction that what we do, we do before the Lord. The weaker brother does not answer to you; ultimately, he answers to God.

Paul, in verses 5-9, says that the important principle to remember is that we live a life consistent with our own God-given convictions. Some people have God-given convictions about the Sabbath or eating meat. Others have strong convictions about abstaining from drugs and alcohol. Paul says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” He goes on, “For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.”

Each one of us will have to give an account one day of how well we have done at living out our own convictions; so, rather that judging someone else because he or she doesn’t agree with you, focus on how well you are doing at living out of our own convictions.

In verses 9-12, Paul addresses the issue of what does God say about judgment? Jesus Christ was crucified so that He could be the Lord of the dead and of the living. If Jesus Christ is Lord, He is the one who determines how well we are doing at living for Him instead of ourselves. God says that one day, every knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess to Him.

What is the practical outworking of this? How can we disagree over certain convictions our brothers/sisters don’t share with us and still live in a community?

The answers to these questions are in the next passage…in verse 13, Paul says, “Therefore, stop passing judgment on one another.” Rather than judging, live the law of love. It is not about you; it’s about God and what He wants to do in your brother’s heart and life.

Negatively stated: How can you make sure you don’t hinder your brother’s growth?

Positively stated: How can you help your brother become all God intends for him to be?

September 7, 2008

“When Jesus Names Your Neighbor”

Luke 10:25-37

The flyer came in the mailbox. It announced an emergency neighborhood meeting to oppose the building of some low-income apartments near our community. The meeting was to be held in a church. What does it mean for Jesus to name your neighbor?

Across town, in another neighborhood there was an uproar. The local mental health agency has purchased a house to use as a transition home for the mentally retarded. The neighborhood captain said that they were for helping the mentally retarded but not in their neighborhood. What does it mean for Jesus to name my neighbor?

He stands up and asks Jesus a loaded question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The question seems simple and direct but it is very complex. After all, it’s a lawyer’s question being used to test Jesus. Now Jesus responds to the lawyer’s question, “What is written in the law?” The lawyer gave the correct answer. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus agrees with him and tells him if he does this, he will inherit eternal life. The lawyer has answered his own question with the approval of Jesus.

So what’s wrong? Well, the lawyer wants to be confident in his position and seek the minimum requirement for obedience. He demands that Jesus define a neighbor so that he can be sure to define a “non-neighbor”.

Jesus tells the parable about a man who is beaten and robbed and left for dead. He is lying along the side of the road that runs between Jerusalem and Jericho.

The first person to come upon the scene is a Priest. He sees the man and passes by on the other side. There is no motive given for his harsh reaction. Following close behind is the second man, a Levite. The Levite’s action suggests that he takes a closer look than the Priest but he also passes the man by. Again there is no motive given in the text.

Many suggestions have been offered:

1. The Priest and Levite, who worked in the temple, cannot touch a dead body, if they thought the man was dead.

2. They were fearful to help someone who is a sinner.

3. They are afraid that the man is a decoy used to set up more robberies.

We do not know the motive for not helping. Perhaps we should not be so hard on these two fellows. After all, they were caught between duties: The duty to perform the rituals at the temple as spelled out by the law or the duty to risk becoming unclean by helping the wounded man. The Priest and the Levite are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Jesus presents a third traveler; the opposite of the lawyer, priest, and Levite. The Samaritan is a hated outcast, unclean and an outsider in first century Judaism. Yet he is the one who stops and helps the wounded man. He delays his travels, takes the man to a safe place, binds his wounds, spends his own money on the wounded man, and risks his own life.

At this point, Jesus asks the lawyer to redefine the term neighbor; “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The lawyer cannot bring himself to say “Samaritan”; instead he carefully worded his answer, “The one who showed mercy.”

To be a neighbor in the eyes of Jesus is to be one who shows mercy.

August 31, 2008

"Deception Overcome by Grace"

Genesis 29:15-28

Deceit seems to run strong in this family. Finally, in these few short verses, Jacob seems to get what’s coming to him. Some might call it Karma; some might say what goes around comes around. However, we would describe this, the one who plotted with his mother to deceive his father and brother is now himself deceived.

I find it interesting that this takes place after God’s revelation to Jacob, after God’s promise of presence and blessing. Why, if God walks with Jacob, does Jacob experience this kind of trauma?

Maybe this was the only way Jacob could learn what he needed to learn. It’s usually the harder circumstances of life that teach us the greatest lessons.

In order for Jacob to grow, his heart would need to understand what deceit from a family member feels like. Yet, God’s activity in our lives touches us at many levels, and many lessons come into being. It is no different for Jacob. Right after Jacob’s vision at Bethel, which was my topic last Sunday, Jacob makes a vow to God in response to receiving the promises of God. But Jacob’s vow is full of conditions: If God will be with me and keep me in the way that I go, if God will give me bread to eat and clothing to war so that I come again to my Father’s house in peace, the Lord shall be my God.

It almost sounds as if Jacob is giving God a trial run. Isn’t a faith relationship with God supposed to be more than our setting the ground rules and putting God to the test? Nevertheless, it is a beginning, and that faith response to God will turn Jacob’s life around.

Like Isaac and Abraham before him, Jacob’s faith and response to God … as frail as it is … will create a whole new future for God’s people. What comes out of it, though, will be God’s doing. Jacob will need to grow into the future that the gracious hand of God is creating. Jacob, as he is, is not quite ready.

Do you believe that faith has the power to do that for you; to turn your life up-side-down and set it right? Do you believe that your faith relationship with God … as frail as it is … carries within it the seed of a new life and with new hope? To you, what does it mean for you to walk with God, responding to that presence and building your life around it?

Jacob would need to answer those questions for himself, through the hard experiences of life. Whether it was the consequences of his own choices or the decisions of others, Jacob would have to decide how he would respond to the circumstances that were given him.

I would think those responses would have a lot to do with whether or not Jacob believed God was with him.

Jacob’s struggles reflects something of our own, for sooner or later if our faith is to go deeper and become interwoven with our daily lives, we will have to decide exactly what it means to be in a relationship with God.

Is our faith made up mostly of what we say we believe about God or about Jesus … is it the presence of God that stirs our souls to greater things? When something goes terribly wrong in our lives, what do we most need? Do we need to comfort ourselves with phrases like: “I know my spouse loves me.” “I know my children are thinking about me.” “I know my friend cares about me.” If these statements were all we had, would they be enough to get us through times of grief and loss? These statements need something more for them to mean something to us, and that something more is presence. We need our spouse, children or friends to come to us and hold us, pray with us, sit quietly with us, and listen. That’s what relationships are all about.

Faith is a relationship. We may have certain belief statements that guide our beliefs about God but our relationship with God must go far beyond that … if it is to live and to fully shape our lives. Just having thoughts about God will never constitute a relationship.

Jacob, with all of his shortcomings and false starts, will slowly learn this. Through his life and relationship with God, we will see that a life of faith often involves doubt … doubt about the future, doubt about what’s coming down the road, doubt about hearing God correctly.

But a life of faith also means stepping out in trust and obedience anyway. What we say about life and what we believe about life and the choices we make spring from our relationship with God.

Do you believe that we are being led and loved by God?

August 24, 2008

"Pursued by Grace"

Genesis 28:10-19a

Jacob was fleeing for his life, running away from his brother’s fury, richly deserved, I might add. Jacob had stolen Easu’s blessing by deceit. Although Jacob’s blessing was the fulfillment of God’s command, the way his family chose to bring it into being sent out ripples of rage and revenge…which would affect his family’s life for a long time to come.

And what does God do about it? God comes to Jacob in a dream and promises both God’s presence and a future hope.

I find this rather remarkable. God seems to traffic with sinners; Isaac, his father, who disregarded God’s word out of favoritism for his older son, Easu. And Abraham, his grandfather, who on two occasions denied that Sarah was his wife to protect himself. BAD, BAD choices; yet God continues to pursue this family with grace.

If this family story tells us anything, surely it is first and foremost that God will not be satisfied with anything less than total commitment from His people. This commitment is so important to God that God will pursue us not matter where we go.

At this point in the story, Jacob is pretty much lost. Maybe he knows the geographical end of his journey, but everything else has been tainted by his deceitful behavior toward his father and brother. Jacob doesn’t even know if he’ll ever be able to return home. And you and I, who sit back and look at this story from the comfort of our own time, understand that Jacob probably deserves whatever he gets.

Into this story of selfishness and deceit walks the God of mercy and new beginnings. If anyone ever needed a fresh start, it was Jacob. God’s long reach into Jacob’s life gives us reason to hope for our own fresh start. There’s no one alive who is so faithful, so perfect, that he/she isn’t in need of God’s loving pursuit in some way. The task for each one of us is to discern how it is we are being chased by God and why.

What is it that God wants to say to us and what is keeping us from stopping dead in our tracks and surrendering completely to God? Of what are we afraid? The God who pursues Jacob is the God who also relentlessly pursues us. And if we dare to commit our lives to listening to the voice of God, we will find that once such a commitment is made, God won’t let us alone. But maybe that’s what we fear.

Relating to this God can bring moments of intense discomfort when God is pressing in on us, seeking to get our attention. Maybe we would prefer to be left alone most of the time. Something tells us that if we stop and really listen, we will find ourselves in the uncomfortable and wonderful place of being addressed by the Creator of all that is.

God’s pursuit of us is with tremendous purpose. It aims with relentless accuracy into our hearts and souls. If we stop and listen to God, and then continue with our lives as though God’s presence and guidance were only for us, we withhold blessings and light from others. We can’t encounter the living God and hold ourselves apart from this world.

It is the people of God who know this God and who live out of God’s presence…who are to serve as agents of healing to the world that God loves. God is always searching and seeking people of God’s hearts who will not be afraid to embrace fully the life of faith God offers.

It is an awesome responsibility to serve as a channel of God’s grace and healing in this world. Abraham learned this, Isaac knew it, and Jacob will now walk this same journey.

We’re simply not put on this Earth to satisfy ourselves or to look pretty. This isn’t about us. It is about the God who loves this world and is not content to leave this world as it is.

Not only do we need to be pursued by God…it is our greatest hope. It is our deepest yearning…for we know that if there’s to be a future of us and anything good about life on Earth, it lies in God’s gracious unwillingness to give up on us.

Jesus laid his life on the line to make certain that we would always be pursued by mercy and compassion. Thank God that God is always one step ahead of us.

August 10, 2008

"Enjoy the People in Your Life"

Philippians 1:3-11

Do you ever wish you were like Robinson Crusoe, living alone on a desert island away from the difficult people? Would that be paradise to you?

The apostle Paul came to realize his need for other people. When Paul came into a relationship with the person of Christ...he moved from a user of people to a lover of people.

Writing from a Roman prison cell in A.D. 61, Paul was near death, afflicted with pain, acutely aware of persecution, yet foremost for him were his relationships.

From Paul's example and his writings, we can learn what it takes to enjoy the people in our lives.

I. Thank God for the people in our life. (V. 3) At Philippi, Paul was arrested illegally, whipped, humiliated and thrown in prison. Yet, he didn't dwell on the negative experiences; he thought of his friends. And for them he gave thanks.

II. Become a team in a venture together. (V. 5) The Philippians weren't just friends...they were co-labors in spreading the message of Jesus Christ, fighting along side. They were a team. Team is reflected in the word partnership, translated from the Greek koinonia. The word is translated as partnership, fellowship, communion, fellow workers and sharing together. Sharing or participating with someone in an experience.

III. Be patient with their progress. (V. 6) When Paul looked at the people in his life, he looked at their future and their potential. Paul knew that what God starts, God finishes. The words began and completion are like the bookends of life. We can do so much to encourage and affirm the people in our lives. It helps to remember not just how far they have to go, but how far they have come.

IV. Be affectionate from the heart. (V. 7-8) The word affectionate means bowels. In the first century, it was believed that the intestines, stomach, the liver held the most tender parts of human emotions. Regardless of its source, Paul loved these people with tender affection and devotion. If people aren't on our hearts, they're on our nerves. When we love from the heart, it changes people in our lives and it changes us.

V. Practice positive praying. (V. 9-11) Notice the repetition of the word "ALL": "All my prayers...All of You...Always with joy." That means that every time Paul prayed for all his friends with the spirit of delight. Praying for the people in our life will change your attitude and change them. People may resist our advice, spurn our appeals, reject our suggestions, not listen to our help, but they are powerless against our prayers.

April 20, 2008

"The Frozen Face"

Genesis 19:17-26

Here is a striking story that is very modern and up to date. But we of today miss it because of the queer costume in which it is dressed. Here is a woman warned to flee from a doomed city. She is further warned that she is not once to look back. She must keep her face toward the heights. At last she gives her consent and begins the journey. But she disregards this last warning. After all she have lived in Sodom for a score of years. Naturally it has some delightful associations. It has some haunting memories. She can not break with it all at once. Therefore, she takes one lingering backward look. The result is disaster. She becomes a pillar of salt.

Here is an arresting fact. Jesus read this old story. He looked at this frozen face with its sightless eyes turned back toward Sodom. He read in it not an absurd slander against the love of God. He read in it rather a solemn warning to the men and women of his day and to those of ours. As He pauses at our side to gaze at this strange figure, He says to us, solemnly, almost sternly, “Remember Lot’s wife.”

What is the meaning of this story? There was nothing arbitrary about it on God’s part. Sometimes we read this story and think that the author is trying to tell us that God struck this woman dead for doing so innocent a thing as looking back to the city where she had lived for a score of years. But this is not the case at all. This woman was not so much punished for her sin as she was punished by her sin. This backward look on her part worked tragedy, I know. It will work the same tragedy in your life and mine if we give way to it. God is therefore not punishing this woman because He is vindictive and angry. Nor are we to think of this act of disobedience on the part of Mrs. Lot as one born of stubbornness. She did not reach a certain spot where she planted her feet with grim determination and said, “Beyond this I will never take another step.” That was not her intention at all. She was going to stop for only a moment. Hers was a temporary pause, she herself thought. She was a temporary transgressor, even as you and I. No one of us intends to hold on to our sin forever. We are only going to enjoy sin for a season. But that temporary stop became for her, as it may for us, eternal.

What are some of the problems we have for being of a divided mind?

1. We miss the joy that is the privilege of the decided. To be unable to decide between two prized is to experience the pain of missing both. So it was with Lot’s wife!

2. A divided heart makes us unfit because it robs us of our strength. A divided heart makes us unfit because it robs us of our joy and of our power to go forward.

3. Indecision ends in disaster. We miss the whole story if we see as the only tragedy her physical death. Her tragedy was not physical, but spiritual.

Let us, then, listen once more to these solemn words of our Lord: “Remember Lot’s wife.” Remember that a wrong choice led to a wrong character. Remember that God gave her a chance to make a new start. Remember that though she took that chance, she took it halfheartedly. Remember that hers was the tragedy of a divided mind. Almost to be a disciple for Jesus is to miss knowing Jesus. Almost to be saved is to be lost. Almost to live is to die. “How long go you limping between two sides? If Jehovah be God, then follow Him.”

April 6, 2008

"The Strength to Live"

Acts 4:18-22; Psalms 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 29; John 3:1-2, 10:11-18

A man who was preparing to take his own life (fortunately, the attempt failed), wrote a suicide note which said, simply, "I don't have the strength it takes to go on just existing."

A woman who was beginning to feel the same way decided to skip the routine of greeting her husband at the front door when he came hone from work. When the husband arrived, he opened the front door and discovered not only that his wife wasn't there to greet him, but that the house was a complete mess. He saw the children's muddy foot prints all across the living room rugs. He saw clothes scattered all about. He tripped over toys on the kitchen floor. The sink was filled with dirty dishes. No dinner was cooking on the kitchen stove. The breakfast plates were still on the table. Then he saw his wife, just sitting and staring at the wall. "What is going on here?" he asked. "What's wrong?" To which the wife replied, "Nothing is wrong. It's just that you keep asking me what I do all day when you're at work. Well, look around. Today, I didn’t do it."

Many of us can identify with persons who have grown tired of "just existing" to the point where they don't want to go on. But somewhere deep within ourselves we know that life is more than just existing. We know that our daily routine should be more than dull and empty and lifeless.

The Gospel of John celebrates the way in which God's presence in Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to move from "just existing" into abundance of life.

The dominant theme in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke is that Christ's coming makes it possible for us to enter the Kingdom of God (to come under the rule of God). But in John's Gospel, the Kingdom of God is mentioned only one or two times. Instead, John speaks of eternal life. It is John’s way of describing the reality of the Kingdom of God. John is talking about fullness of life, wholeness of life, or "abundance" of life (the word Jesus Himself used).

In the daily routine of waking up...doing our work...making a living...going to sleep and getting up, life often loses its flavor. it becomes dull and meaningless. But what Jesus is saying in his promise of abundant life is that it is possible for us to celebrate each moment of our daily life, in the simple things: the food we eat, the gift of sleep, the opportunity to work and to do something creative, the experience of finding joy in a simple tree or in the first spring flower or in the smile of a child or in a loving glance from a spouse or in the warm touch of a friendly hand. But this is also true in times of suffering, in times of crises, because we throw ourselves more fully on the Christ-presence. And abundant life is released within us.

Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd...and I lay down my life for the sheep." By giving us His life, by sharing His life with us, He makes your life. By giving our life to others, by sharing our life with others, we do the same. "There will be one flock and one shepherd," Jesus said. The strength to open the palace doors is given to all who believe and are ready, willing and eager to share!

March 30, 2008

"Easter, The Sequel"

John 20:19-31

It's the week after Easter. Most of the tulips are gone from our sanctuary. Last Sunday's crowd isn't matched by today's gathering.

If this "Sunday-after" seems a letdown from the alleluias of last week...welcome to the community known and reveals by the Gospel of John.

John's Easter account closes with Mary Magdalene serving as apostle to the disciples, announcing the news of Jesus' resurrection. "I have seen the Lord!" (20:18)Now John doesn't tell us how the disciples reacted to this announcement on Easter morning. Joy, perhaps? Thanksgiving, certainly.

But what do we find on that first Easter evening? We find locked doors. Instead of Easter unleashing these disciples on the world, we find that Easter has them barricading the doors.

Before we shake our heads in disbelief at "How could they not get it"...do we get it? Do we get it that we don't need to live by fear. Do we understand that Christian community and locked doors are a contradiction?

As a friend of mine once asked in response to this passage: "What fears keep us locked away from discipleship? What doors does Christ still need to break through to reach us?" But Christ has a way of breaking down doors and dismantling fears.

On this first Easter evening, Jesus breaks down doors so He can squeeze into church. And what is the first thing that Christ says? He doesn't scold. he doesn't berate. He simply says, "Peace be with you."

A week has passed, so the text catches up to where we are this first Sunday after Easter. The disciples are together again, the doors are shut, not locked. Thomas is there and Jesus comes. Again Jesus offers His greeting, "Peace be with you." (v. 26) But beyond peace, Jesus graciously invited Thomas to feast his eyes on the proof he needed.

The invitation is very visual. Jesus even asks Thomas to place his fingers on the wound in His hands. Thomas does none of this...he simply says: "My Lord and my God." (v. 28) Faith, it would seem, comes on the basis of word and invitation.

We often think what a blessing it would have been to see Jesus. It would have made faith so much simpler. Really?

Jesus says: blessed are those who have believed without seeing. It is the blessing of each of us and to all: to trust...without having to understand all the details of resurrection or needing to insist on tangible proof...that we serve the God who has raised Jesus from death to life. Thanks be to God!

Easter, March 23, 2008

"Raised with Christ!"

Colossians 3:1-14

This is the day we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Did you know it’s the day we celebrate our resurrection too?

It’s true. In Colossians 3:1, Paul speaks to every follower of Jesus and declares…”You have been raised with Christ!”

In other words, when Jesus burst out of that tomb on Easter morning, you did too. Have you ever thought about what it means? In Colossians 3:1-14, Paul tells us what it means.

1. Because we have been raised with Christ, we have a new life.

Since we have this new life, why are so many of us trying to recycle the old? Now that we have been raised in Christ, Paul says any thought of recycling our old lives is disgusting. God never tells us to reform our old lives. In fact, God tells us that our old life is dead.

When Jesus burst out of the tomb, you did too. That means you’ve got a new life. It can’t be salvaged. It can’t be reformed. We are to leave the old life which has to do with earthly things. Our new life has to do with things above.

2. Because we have been raised with Christ, we have a new home.

Because we have been raised with Christ, Paul says that’s what this world ought to be for us…a place to leave behind. We may eat in this world, sleep in this world, breathe its air…but our life is in Christ and Christ is seated in Heaven.

3. Because we have been raised in Christ, we have a new hope.

We have been raised with Christ! His life has become our life! And the life we now have in Him is ETERNAL LIFE. It’s a life of unending wealth and Glory. Paul reminds us in verse 4 that soon, very soon, this future hope will become our present experience.

Regardless of what this world has to offer in wealth and riches, it doesn’t hold a candle to the eternal riches of Christ. That is why Paul reminds us to “set our hearts and minds to things above.”

4. Because we have been raised with Christ, we have a new family.

Paul makes it very clear that this new life in Christ is a life we will live together. Together we have been raised with Christ. Together we have been loved by one Father. Together we have become one family.

You have been raised with Christ. Celebrate Easter! Celebrate your new life! Celebrate your new Home! Celebrate your new hope! Celebrate your new family!

March 2, 2008

"Between a Rock and a God Place"

Exodus 17:1-7

What is a rock? I don’t know the Hebrew word for rock. I could have looked it up, but I don’t feel I need to. The children of Israel of long ago looked at rocks pretty much like we do.

Rocks are solid, unyielding…being caught between a rock and a hard place…would make sense to them as it does to us.

The Hebrew children, here and elsewhere n the first five books of the Old Testament, have issues with expectations. What was Israel expecting anyway? I’m sure Moses asked himself that same question many times. I can also imagine God asking Himself the same question…”Who are these people? What do they want?”

What did Israel want anyway? The book of Exodus tells us that story. They wanted, to put it simply…FREEDOM. They were enslaved and languishing under their oppressor…Pharaoh. The Israelites were put to work making bricks. But when they complained that the workload was too hard and that Pharaoh’s expectations were too high…he responded by cutting off the necessary items they needed for making bricks…forcing them to forage for it themselves, actually increasing the workload. The Israelites then called out to God for freedom.

And God granted their freedom from pharaoh. Expectations met, right? Not exactly! They found themselves not knowing what they were getting into…learned the hard way that freedom comes with a different set of expectations. In order to be free, we need to remove ourselves from what is enslaving us, which takes us into the unknown.

They looked to Moses and said, “What have you gotten us into? You were supposed to be leading us to freedom!”

What I want us to consider now is this question: “Who are we in this story…who is it that we identify with?” Is it God? Is it Moses? Are we Moses trying to lead complaining, griping, never satisfied people…maybe. Are we like God…feeling some of what God feels as he looks over this complaining and rebellious nation of ours?

I believe we are all like the Hebrew children…grumbling…whining…complaining people of God…nothing less than that: the people of God.

We want to get to the promised land without any difficulties…after all according to Paul, Christ has set us free…yet it isn’t quite what we expected it to be.

It brings us up against rock after rock. And we complain to one another and to our leaders…we cry out to God how unfair it all is…and God hears us and shows us once again, that this rock we’re up against is a God-place, not a hard place but a thin place, a place that does not conform to our expectations at all…thank God!

This rock is not a hard place; it is a place of nourishment, it is truly a gateway into the promise land.