“FAITHFULNESS AS RESPONSE” 8/22/10

1Samuel 20:30-36, Luke 19:11-17

Our world needs less Eli’s and more faithful servants.  Here’s why.

Eli was high priest of Israel.  He knew the law, knew the Lord.  He raised his sons in the faith, knowing they would one day take his role in the land.

Eli also let his sons misuse worship, so that their pleasures were satisfied.  He accepted what his sons stole from God; sacrifices intended for God alone went into Eli’s large belly.  He got so lazy in his relationship with the Lord that he could not tell the difference between a woman in heartfelt prayer and drunkenness.

Churches are overrun with folks like Eli.  And, so the world burns in sin.

More faithful servants would make the world different.  Such people would take all the gifts of the Lord and use them in ways that enrich the Kingdom of God rich, rather than themselves.  Servants would work at making things better for others.  Servants would work on their Master’s business not when they had time, but most of the time.

Servant people may not know all the ways and wishes of the Master, but what they know they faithfully act on.  Why?  Because they enjoy the Master and see the importance of the task assigned.

A world overrun with faithful servants would be different.  And so, the churches would be magnets for souls in need of life and changed lives.

Faithfulness is God’s deposit of heaven in us to share with all He brings to us.  Let’s lower  our Eli level, and raise our servant quotient, shall we?

“ABRAHAM’S FAITHLESSNESS” 8/22/10

Genesis 16:1-6

Out of the Ten Commandments, Abraham here breaks at least 6.  And, though the commands had not yet been given they, even then, were a good idea.  How did Abraham go astray?

He took a promise of God (for a child) and came up with his own plan for getting that promise fulfilled.  Trust involves letting God work, rather than doing God’s work for Him.

He yielded to doubt and worry.  The promised child was not happening!  Maybe we should “hurry the work along”?  Love involves letting life unfold, rather than forcing oneself on another.

Abraham left his love for his lust.  It takes an awfully strong man of character to stay with his elderly wife when the chance for a change shows up.  Abraham just wasn’t strong enough.  Hope doesn’t wander around, but waits on the Lord.

Abraham dodged his duty.  The women were fighting; one had the promised child; one did not, Nynah, nynah!  Abraham lets the two fight it out amongst themselves, and, in the process, almost loses the only child he has!  Faith steps in and makes things new.

But, let’s be fair here.  Who hasn’t chosen their ways over God’s?  Who hasn’t unleashed a host of problems with their best solution?

We have all been faithless, more often than we care to admit.  God is faithful, more often than we know.  Because He promised Abraham, the Lord takes the garbage here and makes compost.  Ishmael is the father of many nations, Islam for one.  But the child of promise is yet to come.

Not because Abraham is so great, but because the Lord is.  So, who will we live by: ourselves, or our Maker and Savior?

“ABRAHAM’S FREEDOM” 8/15/10

Genesis 14:17-24

A war is over.  Abraham wins it.  He fights in it because his nephew Lot managed to get himself captured, and Abraham was going to get his relative free.  In the process, we read of Abraham’s freedom, and ours.

A Freedom To Act:  Abraham and his men are taking on large raiding parties.  He is outnumbered, yet he goes and attacks.  Why?  For the sake of someone else.  Cowards live for themselves and their pleasure.

Sainthood forms in those who act for others.

A Freedom To Give:  Abraham has collected a not inconsequential amount of other peoples’ stuff from this war.  By rights, he “earned” it.  What does he do with his property.  He tithes.  He gives to a representative of the Lord.  Hebrews does much with Melchizadek, and I mention here only that, as the Hebrews writer sees it, this priest is a picture of Jesus Christ.  So, in a sense, Abraham is giving his achievement to his Lord.

Only those who can let go are free to give and live.

A Freedom From Debt:  The king of Sodom wants Abraham to keep some riches.  Abraham has his treasure: God and family.  The material things can go to the king.  As Abraham puts it, “so that you will never be able to say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’”  Abraham owes God all; therefore he seeks to live owing others nothing.

If God makes our way in the world, there are no strings attached.

Abraham’s freedom is for anyone who wishes a life that matters.  What must one do to receive this life?  Ask Christ into one’s life, then open all of one’s life to Christ.

“FAITHFULNESS AS ABILITY” 8/15/10

1Corinthians 2:1-5

All believers have an invisible partner in faith, the church “bug bear.”  He is the inner voice that says, “I can’t; I won’t; I don’t.”

But notice here Paul’s approach to church and to faith.

He sets aside his knowledge so that He may know and live by Christ’s love.

He relies on the power of Jesus above and beyond his own talent.

He bases his faith on the life and truth of Christ, who uses Paul as He sees fit.

Can that fit in our lives somehow?  Well, try these thoughts on:

We are weak, but He is strong.

We don’t know it all, but know enough IF we know Him.

We feel inadequate; He is sufficient.

He moves, so why not follow?

He acts, and we may help and tell others what is going on.

In short, our faith is in Christ alone.  His life working on ours changes who we think we are and what we think we can do.  His life working through ours changes who we are and what we are doing.

That change is faith: alive, ever dynamic, ever vibrant, ever the Lord’s.

“FAITHFULNESS & FEAR” 8/8/10

Isaiah 7:3-9, Matthew 8:23-27

Never fear!  Oh, yeah?  How about when an army of three peoples is going to wipe you and yours out?  How about when a storm will kill you and your friends on the water?  What does God say here?

“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”  “You of little faith; why are you so afraid?”  Well, that’s kind!

Ahaz relied on anything and anyone else but the Lord, and now his kingdom was at risk.  There is a connection there.  God is not a prop for our real values, our real agendas.  God is Lord of all, and will not be mocked.  Faith mentioned here lets us look at an impending disaster and trust what will be to the One who is I AM.

Yes, we can and will panic over the possible trouble.  Christ was crucified and rose again!  The future is in His hands, not the hands of the trouble makers.  Work with Him, rather than against your fear.  See what He does.

The disciples did.  They were new to this Jesus thing.  They trusted what they knew of reality as fishermen, rather than trust the One who made reality.  Now, they all were in danger of dying.  Jesus is sleeping in the midst of it all.

Why wake up our terrors, our “what if’s”?  Why not awaken ourselves to the presence of Christ in the boat with us?  Call on Him; let Him calm the storm.  As we tend to our task in the boat that carries Jesus into the world, He will take care of His crew.

The disciples’ faith was “little” in the sense that it was new, untried.  Jesus showed them that calling on His life makes their journey possible; their mission achievable.  We are called to carry Christ across the seas of our world.  Yes, that is a bit fearsome, but God is AWESOME!

“ABRAM’S CALL” 8/8/10

Genesis 11:31-12:3

His father was going to the wilderness, out by Canaan.  The family lived in one of the most modern and exciting cities in the world at that time.  On the way, they stopped at Haran, a distant suburb of Ur.  His father found city life more pleasant than hardscrabble country living, so they stayed.

Abram, the son, was called by God to move on out.  Why Abram?  Well, why anyone?  “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  It is only our arrogance that makes us think God “owes” us anything, especially divine, loving favor.

God called Abram because God called Abram.  Just like God called you, Christian.  No real reason, save God’s choice.  Those predestined are also called.  Those called are also justified.  Those justified are also glorified.  We are called to live as God’s own.

And, like Abram, we are given the Lord’s promise.  Here, Abram is promised to be the father of a great nation.  As the story goes on, that promise expands: from a great nation on to many descendants, then on to many nations, then, finally, to Abraham being the start of how all the nations on earth will be blessed.

To my mind, this progression is like that parable Jesus tells of the talents.  As we make good on what God gives us, we get more.  Now, “make good” means “show others Christ” more than it means “raise the bottom line!”  And, Abram does this.

How?  Not well, not often.  But, because God is faithful and will not quit on a promise, He keeps at Abram’s life, sculpting a person who is both blessed and a blessing.

Just as God in Christ does with us, through the Holy Spirit.  Thanks be to God!

“PETER & CORNELIUS” 7/25/10

Acts 10:9-48

God accepts people from any and everywhere who fear Him and do what is right.  What’s the big deal?

FOR PETER: He had a prejudice.  Only Jews could know the true God.   God had dealt with them, and set down rules for their lives.  Become a Jew, and then God would be yours too.

Does this mean that any good person goes to God, as one new pastor in our presbytery was badgered into saying?  No, it means that any person seeking God can be found by Christ.  Christianity is not bigoted; anybody can join on.  Christianity is exclusive; those who join on must know Jesus.  Peter learned the difference.

FOR CORNELIUS: He’d been the proverbial “good boy”, and still knew he was missing something.  All his work, all his compromises among the way of Rome, the way of the Hebrews, the way of his heart, led him only so far as frustrating effort can.  Until, he heard and received grace.

Does this mean all his good work was for nothing?  No; the works were like athletic practice.  They weren’t the game, but prepared him for the contest.  What is the contest?  Will he receive openly and willingly the true God into his life, or not?  He did.

FOR US: Our Union City is not the way it was, and unless we work tremendously hard, never will be again.  The people here are not those we grew up with, not those, perhaps, we’d care to spend time with.

Jesus might care about them.  Jesus might want us to walk with them in their search for Him.  There are people in town looking for something more, someone better.  We have the answer to their need.  Will we go to the Cornelius in our town?

“SWEPT UP IN GOD!” 7/25/10

Ecclesiastes 2:24-3:15

Solomon, I think, wrote this as an old man, after he made a mess of the blessings God gave him.

Let’s look at these same words in a less glum way, shall we?

What we are without God doesn’t matter.  What we are with the Lord, is life and peace and power.  What we want to get, God supplies.  How sweet and content would we be if only we accepted what our Savior offers!

God orders things, and all things have their place and value.  Good and bad come to all.   Those who love the Lord seek in both His life and activity.  Situations both blessed and baneful affect all.  God’s children let God affect them in those situations.

There is never a good time for a tragedy, never enough planning for a disaster.  There is the Maker of time right there for whomever would live and rise beyond the moment.  God would not have us crushed by yesterday, but walking tall towards tomorrow.  And, even better, God will help us stand.

There is a frustration in the souls of those who love the Lord.  As He is infinite, as He is beloved by those souls, they find they cannot love Him enough.  They cannot express that love adequately, or they forget to do so at all.  In that incompleteness is Jesus’ promise, “He who began a good work in you will perform until the day of Jesus Christ.”  The frustration is God’s way of working on you.

And, best of all, life may ebb, flow, even go, but the Lord’s work and way lasts.  If he has started reconstructing you, then He will not stop.  What He has begun won’t fall apart.

Therefore, beloved of the Lord, you are OK, no matter what.  Unless you leave your Maker behind, like Solomon.

“MYSTERIES OF CAIN” 7/18/10

Genesis 4:8-17

Some questions about this story.

Why didn’t God accept Cain’s offering?:  We want an answer; none are given here.  The question that matters more is this, “What will you do when God doesn’t do as you would like?”

Why kill Abel?:  He didn’t do anything; God rejected the offering.  God warned Cain about his attitude.  How often are we mad at God, but take it out on others?

Am I my brother’s keeper?:  Cain both asks and accuses here.  He accuses God, the keeper of life, of neglect.  If Abel mattered so much, then why didn’t God protect him?  From the accusation comes the question.  If God won’t take care of him, then why must I?

Cain as a wanderer?:  Wasn’t death the punishment for murder?  God lets Cain get off the hook here!  And gives him a warning mark. And a family.  And a new way to live.  What great mercy!  If you consider living outside of God’s fellowship, but still having a life a good thing.

Where did his wife come from?:  Was she one of his sisters?  Were there other people besides the Adam family?  Go back to what was just mentioned.  Does it matter where your life and love come from if they don’t come from God?  She shows up, and the entire line of Cain gets flooded away not too many pages later anyway.  Wherever she came from, she and her descendents didn’t get to stay.

So what?:  Personal: how are you dealing with your disappointment in God?   Interpersonal: Yes, you are your brother’s keeper.  Who needs you?   Material: What are you living for, and how are you going about getting it?

“SAUL TO PAUL” 7/18/10

Acts 9:1-22

Here’s the distinction between a Christian by the Spirit & a Christian by one’s own choice:

Saul persecuted faith: By either active resistance, or by active indifference, the un-Spiritfilled seek the end of the love for God.

The conversion is personal: Only Saul heard Jesus, for Jesus was seeking only Saul.  True faith is sent, and we can’t make it show up.

Saul goes blind: God fearers see the world in a new way, unlike the way in which they viewed it before meeting Christ.  They go blind to the former things.

Saul needs help: God’s chosen ones admit they need other believers, know they cannot serve God on just their own abilities.

The church is where the help is sought: True Christians seek, not just the fellowship of the church, but the powerful One who lives and moves among those there.  Other believers think church is optional.

The true church follows the true God: Ananias didn’t want to have anything to do with Saul, but God wanted him to.  Ananias followed his Lord, not his heart.

A healing of self becomes a sharing of Christ: Once Paul can see, he starts his life work: loving Jesus enough to tell others.

Now, is this just a story?  Well, there are more a few reports of Muslims having visions of Jesus and becoming Christians, albeit ones in hiding, or ones fleeing all they’ve known before.

Christ can transform anyone.  Even me.  Even you.  Praise God!

“REJOICE: THE HOLY SPIRIT AT WORK!” 7/11/10

John 16:7-15

God is at work today: in the world at large, in the children of God!

What world work is happening?

* Sin is shown to be more than a mistake, but an offence.  As people act apart from the life of Jesus, their actions cause suffering, if not death.  The Spirit brings about the consequences of turning from Christ.
* Goodness is made more miraculous, as Jesus cooperates with the Holy Spirit in the family of God to do what is right and just, even as the world at large gets more and more sinful.
* The Spirit reveals that evil has its day, but godliness is always in season.  God’s ways, God’s will, triumphs in time, over time.  Those who fight God, fight good.  They will lose.

What work in us is happening?

* We daily meet with and live into the infinite love and justice of God, as the Spirit forms us into a Christ likeness.  Our truth is His life.  And, He is infinite.  Faith becomes a lived out adventure.
* The Spirit gives to believers what they need from the Lord to  serve God’s cause, and become like their Master.  In simple terms, our job is not to cope with who we are, but to live because of Whose we are.  The Spirit lets us do that.
* We find that God is bigger than our understanding, already doing things in our world, and inviting us to swim in infinite love, climb the rock of perfect justice, treat others as precious creations of our Savior.  In short, we are being changed to see the world God’s way, and live that way in it.

So what?  Well, here’s the “so what.”

* God is alive and well.  Our faith grows as we join in His work.
* We are alive to the Risen Christ.  When we wake up from sin, we will rise each day with an excitement to serve and love.
* We live in hope, for the worst goings on are opportunities for the best of God to be recognized, and to act: in and through us.

“DEVILS, DISEASE: DEFEATED!” 7/4/10

2 Kings 5:1-14, Luke 10:17-20

Most people are like Naaman.  He wants Abana and Pharpar, the good rivers.  He wants some sort of entertaining spectacle over his life.  God gives him the muddy Jordan and healing.  And that shows the difference between faith in God and all other faiths.

That difference is grace.  God’s care is not for some time in the future, not based on some performance on our part, not given to those who earn it.  God’s care is given.  Period.  Healing is at the Jordan, where you are.  The prophet does not need to come out, see you and say a fancy prayer.  You do what the Lord commands, and you will be well.  Grace is God’s immanent presence working on and working around us, just because God wants to.

Which leads to the second difference between faith in God and all other faiths:  individuality.  Even today, most people are defined by their tribe, their clan, their group.  In Luke we read of a different definition.  Each disciple, sent out in the grace of God, lives out that grace in such fashion that demons flee.  They go out in different directions, and all, each one, are used by the Lord.  No longer must a certain class of people, or someone in a certain position do the work of the Lord for us.  We do it.  Each one of us.  Because we are personally beloved of the Lord.  Because we are each surrounded by grace.

What does this have to do with the 4th of July?  Just this.  Our nation, like all nations, is in the grace of God.  We who claim to be Christians, therefore, need to live by that grace.  Furthermore, each one of us is to do what the Lord calls us to do.  Yes, we are our brother’s keeper, but our brother is also our keeper!  Together, each one does what God has for each one to do.  That is the essence of liberty.  That life breaks the secure prison of tyranny.

The devils and disease in our nation have been defeated in Jesus.  Forget fireworks; let’s leave here and blow away the defeated one!

“‘WE’, WHO?” 6/27/10

Genesis 3:17-24

This phrase happens twice in Genesis 1-3.  God speaks and says, “We” or “us”.  We, who?

If you believe God had little if anything to do with the Biblical record, then you say that the “we” is the Israelite understanding of their god as one among many gods.  Evidence for this idea is in, among other places, 1Kings 11:7-8, and Ezekiel  8.

If you believe God had something to do with the revelations of Scripture, but aren’t sure quite how, then you say that this “we” indicates a late addition to the story, put in by someone from a king’s court, to reflect the general population’s faith.  You believe that the Bible is a record of a struggle with faith in God.

If you look at the words, however, you will discover that the noun “we” or “us” is plural, and the verb that goes with it is singular.  In English it would read thus: “The man, like us, become” or earlier, “Let us makes man in our image…”  Either the writer has really bad grammar, in just a few places, or there is something else going on.

That something, I suggest, is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of an ancient Hebrew.  Yes, that Hebrew knew many gods, but had chosen one above all.  But, the language used is intentional, as if the writer knew something amazing about this one God.  This God is One, but also More.  This God might, just might, be as Christians learned: Father, Son and Spirit, Three in One.

Then, we could believe that an infinite God is truly free of all limitations we know and accept, as well as being an Intimacy we are invited to join and live by.

Or, the words could simply be an arrogant god talking about Himself as if He were so important He needs to be pluralized.

You pick one.

“Psalm 23″ 6/23/10

Psalm 23

Today, rather than look at Jesus’ tender care of us, I’d like us to focus on two verses in this psalm we may know, but may overlook.

The 1st is, “He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”  When it comes to enemies, I would rather God load my gun than fix a meal.  But, no war ever ends when the bullets cease to fly.  A war ends when people decide to live together, rather than die.

God’s gracious hospitality, to both sinner and saint, the victim and the criminal, is shown right here.  God makes them sit down and start a new relationship.  Hospitality rules in Middle Eastern culture demand that people share a meal when offered.  One never knows when such a sit down might be essential in one’s own life!

God makes peace, makes us peacemakers.  If He is our Shepherd.

The 2nd is, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”  Now, I’d prefer good to be ahead of me, so that the future is happier than the past.  God’s forgiveness entails a healing of our yesterday sin, before we carry that wrong into tomorrow’s promise.

So, the Spirit through the Lord works a sort of janitorial service, a clean up job, if you will.  God brings out from yesterday’s trash some treasure that shows divine goodness and mercy in today’s troubles.  Some of you can look back on your pasts and see how God calmed the stormy waters, broke down the walls of bitterness, used Jesus’ heart to bring about new life from old wounds.

This is what grace looks like:  Where the Eternal moves in time, to show heaven’s hope; Christ’s wounds, to those who have so far chosen to live by neither.  And, then, in that work of Resurrection in times past, is healing and mercy.

“MEN OF GOD, ARISE” 6/20/10

1Kings 19:1-5, Luke 8:26-39

Two men here, both beloved of God.  As each story opens, though, neither one would say that.  Elijah is running for his life.  The man is exiled from his community, forced to live in a forbidden place, and is filled with demons.  One man’s life has been shattered by circumstance.  One man’s has been shattered by things inside him.

We might expect words of comfort, actions of caring or support here.  We might.  They might.  God gives otherwise.  The Lord of these men gives them the ability to be who and whose they are, “Men of God, arise!”

Elijah is hunted by Queen Jezebel.  He just killed 450+ members of her church!  There is no safe place for him in his known world.  He wants to die.  God tells him, “Get up, eat, or else the journey will be too great for you.”  Journey?  Not escape, but a journey?  More work to do?  More risk to take?  Yes.  That is what God calls His children to.  No life of island ease and lakeside leisure.  The world dies all around us every day.  Men of God, arise.  Eat.

When life is destroying who and how we’ve been, the Word of God can feed our souls, strengthen our hearts, and makes us strive again.

Men of God, arise!

The man with demons is trapped inside himself, possessed and in hell.  Jesus tells the demons, “Get out!” and tells the man, “Go and tell what God has done for you.”  The man is given no ability to cope with his condition, but a command for it to stop running his life.  The man is given no “time off” for recovery and adjustment.  The adjustment has come with the healing.  The world is already full of weak and sickly hearts.  God heals men who would stand as men.  Men of God, arise.  Stand.

When our insides are unsure, unable, unsteady, the healing of Christ makes us bold, powerful, more than ready.

Men of God, arise!

“DAVID & GOLIATH” 6/13/10

1Samuel 17:1-50

Several REALLY short sermons here.

The vast # of God’s people are afraid to fight.  Goliath challenges; everyone cowers.  Why?  They don’t want to get hurt.  How often does evil and cruelty hold sway because the godly do not want to risk getting hurt.  Thank God Jesus was willing to be hurt!  His wounds healed our lives!

David’s brothers complain rather than fight. Were not all of Jesse’s sons shepherds?  Didn’t they all have the skills necessary to defend their family’s sheep?  Why then, did only one of them go forward and use his skill for the good of the people?  What makes people complain about what isn’t done, rather than getting up and doing something?

David can’t wear the king’s armor. Saul tries to dress David up as Saul thinks the young man should be.  David waddles around like a toddler in dad’s clothing.  He needs to be as he is, rather than as Saul wants him to be, in order to complete his purpose.  We get in each other’s way so often, with straightjackets of expectation that keep us from seeing one another’s gifts, and accepting one’s another’s hearts.  We could take the jackets off.

When siding with God, you will often feel overwhelmed. Goliath had all the size, weaponry, and power needed to win.  David had the courage God gave him, and the skill he worked on.  What is inside can’t be seen.  Giants on the outside can be!  But, our giant God is able to make a victory, to bring about a new thing.  Be scared, but not so much that you don’t take on the challenge!

Let the one without sin throw the 1st stone. David did just that.  Compared to Goliath’s blasphemies, at this point, David is an angel.  He threw the rock against the sin, and it fell dead.  Where must you throw, and at what must you take aim?  And, why?

“SEE THE GLORY!” 6/13/10

Psalm 8

Do we matter?  In comparison with the greatness of the world, do we matter?  In comparison with the wonders of God, do we matter?  Psalm 8 tells us.

First, God is glorified.  The Maker of all things is seen as above and beyond all things.  So much so that the weak and the powerless, the infants, give a praise that silences the power and evil of the world.  God makes the world spin in ways those in it cannot.  What are we against such power?  Well, we are…

A Little Less Than God:  We are God’s image – God’s eyes, hands and feet, as it were.  There is a glory to humans none but the God fearing see.  There is a glory in humans none but the God fearing show.

Crowned & Given Dominion:  Our glory is shown in our potential to live by the Holy Spirit, in the nurture of souls and life on earth.  We were meant to be gardeners, caretakers of life.  We cannot master either other people or the forces of nature.  We, instead, tend them, seek their best, point them to Christ, lift them to the presence of the Lord.

Have All Things Under Our Feet:  In the NT, this is said of Christ.  As we are in Him, we have authority over all else.  Again, this is not mastery, but mystery.  How to live, how to make the family whole again, how to use one’s possessions—all of these issues are discovered day by day, as the Spirit and the Lord show us our place and responsibility.

Do we matter?  God gave us a big assignment.  He thinks we do!

Do we matter?  The earth and all that is on it needs caretakers, or else, as we have seen again and again, life and earth get messy, if not deadly.  Yes, we matter, and matter eternally.

“WE ARE MORE THAN WE THINK!” 6/13/10

Ephesians 3:20-21

Our lives are too small.  Our dreams are too tiny.  Our concerns are too simple.  We are meant for bigger, bolder, better things!

Christ can do, through us, “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”!  The Maker of the universe wants to work through us to remake lives, engineer justice, sew together peace and righteousness.  And He can do it!  And we can do it, through Him!

To be a Christian is to have God on our side, because we have taken God’s side.  What does that mean, in practical terms?  It means we care now about what concerns God, trusting that He will care for our dreams if we tend to His.  Or, our dreams will change into ones bigger, bolder, better!

What keeps this power from us?  What holds us back from our true destiny, true purpose?  Not money; God is rich.  Not health; God is eternal.  Not skill; God is able.  Not prior commitments; God is pre-eminent.  What holds us back is a struggle, if not a rejection, of this:

To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus

We want to know, “What’s in it for me?”  There goes the glory!  We want to know, “What about my needs?”  There goes the glory!

See, we have too much to live for already, and so miss life.  God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine!  We are busy doing all we can, and, face it, it isn’t much.

To yield to God’s dreams, to follow Christ, is to enter the world as a power giver, a mighty liver, a soul of a lover, one who wants to discover.  In short, we are asked to live an adventure, not a “honey do” list.  Will we?

“LIFE AS WE KNOW IT” 6/6/10

Psalm 8

First, a “heads up.”  The Scriptures do NOT come with those spaces between passages of Psalms.  That is how we see lyrics, so that is how they are presented.  But the spaces help!

HELP ME, GOOD GOD: How often do we say that sort of prayer?  How many times do we find life is stronger than we are, and seek the Author of Life to defend, or at least support us?  And, don’t we always try and “put a good word in” for ourselves, as if God should see that we are deserving of help and goodness?  Verses 1-7 take us where many people are, and give us a language to speak in that forbidding country.

THANKS FOR THE HELP: This prayer isn’t as common, but it is there.   Whatever God did between verse 7 and 8 was enough to inspire deep and sincere words of gratitude, praise, and a commitment to be a better person, since God has helped out.  We too, have been here, where life is able to continue, and we resolve to be better for it.  Verses 8-13 put us where faith and praise find a welcome home, and life finds its true strength.

GET THE BAD GUYS: We live on a roller-coaster, ups and downs, twists and turns.  Some are of our making.  Many are the fault of other people.  The Psalmist didn’t have J. Edgar Snyder to set things right, & so cried out, as before, to God.  From bullies on the playground to neighbors’ unthinking selfishness, we are taught our lack of power to make the world go our way.  So, we ask Someone bigger to fix it.  Verses 14-17 is the language of that cry for help.

So, faith is not always, in fact, not usually, a wonderful experience.  But it always is a reliance on God, no matter how miserable, how unjust, how scary, each new day may be.

Psalm 86 is the language of the way life is.  And how God  is the Author of Life.

“RUTH 4” 6/6/10

Ruth 4

Ruth’s story, to this point:  Moabite woman who married an Israelite.  All the males in the family die.  Mother in law, Naomi, heads for home.  Ruth goes with her.  She picks scraps out of a field for food.  The field belongs to a relative, Boaz.  Naomi “suggests” she offer herself to him, as a way of finding a husband.  She does; he acts nicer than you would think.  Now, he wants to make things legal and tidy.

It all hinges on the kinsman-redeemer, the person who helps a family keep both its property, and its place, in the society.  A K-R would buy land from a relative, to help meet expenses incurred.  Then, during a Jubilee year, give the land back.  That is why Naomi’s K-R didn’t want to “do his duty.”  Because, the land goes back to the descendant, the child, born after the sale, so that the child’s family name is not lost in Israel.  The K-R would get more mouths to feed and less land to own.

Boaz knew this.  He would let the K-R have the land, but he would have Ruth.  And Ruth’s child would have the land back.

So what?  Well, how many benefactors, how many Saviors, have we known who act for their benefit, over ours.  “You don’t get something for nothing,” we say.  Proof that we believe no one will honestly and sincerely come to our help, without expecting pay back.

But, there is a kinsman-redeemer who actually is just that way.  He is Brother Jesus.  He sacrificed Himself, so that our debt would be paid.  He gave Himself to us, so that we could live and thrive.  He is foreshadowed in this story.  He is present at the Communion Table.

Will we accept His offer, His care, or will we turn from it, believing that “nothing in life is free”?

“MEMORIAL DAY” 5/30/10

2 Samuel 10:6-14

Here’s the situation:  David sent emissaries to the new king of the Ammonites, to express condolences for the death of the old king.  David’s people were humiliated.  David wanted his honor back.

So, for the sake of politics, people were going to kill each other.  Sound familiar?

Now for the battle.  The Ammonites hired mercenaries to outnumber the Israelites.  Joab and Abishai saw the situation.  Politics says to make a treaty, cut one’s losses, lose the war.

This passage is about those who believe some things are worth fighting for.  The brothers see the situation, and know the fight will be bloody and bad.  They decide to fight anyway.  “The Lord will do what is good,” says Joab.

If, indeed, God is active in history, then what we do on earth is a response to the Lord.  Call it religious war, if you will.  If God is Lord of all, then all wars are religious ones.  (Lincoln’s view of the Civil War here).  All laws are statements of faith, or faithlessness.

The army of David acted on orders from the king, in faith that God would do something.  Their part was to do their best and help each other.  How many struggles, how many dangers, could be overcome, if we would do our best and help each other?

They won their fight.  We have fights as well.  Many people would say no battle is worth it.  Christ fought and conquered sin, and death, and hell.  God thinks some things are worth fighting for.

Do we?

“PENTECOST” 5/23/10

Acts 2:1-21

Yes, you may speak about your faith.  Here’s why:

* YOU PRAY FOR HIS PRESENCE:  The disciples are all gathered together, seeking God, not things from God.  When we place ourselves in God’s service, then the wonders begin!

* THE SPIRIT HAS YOU:  All Christians who are born again, are born of the Holy Spirit.  What happened in this text is for you, since the Holy Spirit hasn’t changed.

* YOU KNOW THE LANGUAGE:  Pentecost is not about “speaking in tongues” but about speaking so someone understands.  Only pride keeps us from talking to people at their level.  Love heals pride.

* THE HEARERS ARE HUNGRY FOR HOPE:  The people there are Jews who want to hear the passion and power of faith.  People are all around us in the same situation.  Don’t leave them starving!

* YOU KNOW GOD’S WORD:  Some of you have been in church for decades.  Surely something must have rubbed off!  Base all you do and say on the Word, and Christ will take care of the rest.

In simple terms, we can speak about our faith because:

We love God enough to talk about Him, and
We love people enough to talk about God.

Doesn’t that sound a bit like the Great Commandments?  It should, because it is.

“NOW WHAT?” 5/16/10

Acts 1:6-11

Here the Resurrection stories end.  Here comes the time when we must live as different men and women because we have seen the Lord.  That is not as easy as it sounds.

The disciples are right there, and don’t quite get it.  “Will You restore the Kingdom to Israel?” means, “Will you do all the work needed for us to live in glory and goodness?”  Jesus’ answer to them, and to all of us who want the questions answered before we start the life, is this:

“You go and tell what I have done, and done for you.  Go to your neighbor.  Go a few miles away.  Go to other counties.  Go across the world.  There is no place off limits for you.  Get going.”

And, Jesus does get going.  He leaves.  So, now what?  The question wasn’t answered.  No clear instructions given.  Doesn’t faith often seem like that?

The disciples keep looking to where Jesus was.  The great I AM here, becomes the tiny WAY I REMEMBER IT.  The mission of faith, becomes the passion for watching the world go by.

An angel breaks up the group.  “He who left is coming back.  When he does, do you want Him to find you looking at air, or trying to do what He told you?”  God has done all things necessary for His will and way to fill our lives and shape our world.  That work is sufficient, but not complete until we live by what we have received.

The commands here to the disciples are to all disciples who have seen the risen Lord and believe He will never leave nor forsake them.  They are for us.  Go and tell.  Go and live.

Now what?

“MIGHTY GOD, MIGHTY CALL” 5/16/10

Isaiah 6

I think Isaiah was a temple priest.  All his life he served God in some form or manner.  He was religious, not spiritual.  He had the form of faith down, and the behaviors mostly OK.  But he didn’t know the God he believed in.

Are you there?  Have you gone to church decade upon decade and still feel yourself distant from the God you worship and try to obey?  Perhaps you’ve never known there was an alternative.  Isaiah didn’t.

At least, not until this day.  He was doing his ritual things in his ritual way.  This day, God broke in.  This day, God broke open Isaiah’s world, revealing glory that had always been there, but never seen by the priest.  God was AWESOME.  Beyond anything Isaiah could imagine, and far greater than he could ever understand.

Can this experience happen to us?  Yes, notice the key.  God comes unbidden, but our response will be like Isaiah’s.  He confesses how messed up he is. He sees himself in the light of God’s holy glory, and all his goodness is but dingy shadow.  “I am a man of unclean lips, who dwell among a people of unclean lips,” he cries.

When we can cry out our own inadequacy in light of real glory, we have met the Lord.

And, He changes us!  Isaiah is touched by a burning coal of the day’s sacrifice, just as the lifeblood of Jesus touches all who seek His holiness.  And Isaiah is ready.  Not to be religious, not to keep church going, but to follow this wonderful Lord who met and moved him.

That is the other way you can be sure you’ve had this Isaiah experience:  when God’s way, God’s will, is all you want.

“MOTHER’S DAY” 5/9/10

Proverbs 15:20

Even now, you reflect your parents.  Their reputation in the world is shaped, in no small measure, by how you live.

Back in these days, there was no Social Security.  The attention of the child took care of an elderly mother’s needs.  The way a child lived in town provided the father with a good social standing.  A child demonstrated to the world how a parent raised him or her.

Notice, a wise child brings honor.  A foolish child brings disgrace.
Now that we understand the context of the verse, and see that the world we live in is UTTERLY different from then, let us look at what makes one wise and foolish.

Wisdom, biblically, is this:  “Doing the godly thing, in the godly way, at God’s direction.”  This goes WAY beyond common sense.  Such living is born of time spent consuming God’s Word, and inhaling the Holy Spirit.  The Scripture becomes part of who one is, and the Spirit therefore easily guides one to actions and words that are healthful; empowering, we might say.  “Shalom,” the Hebrews would say.

Foolishness, biblically, is this:  “Doing one’s own thing, one’s own way, with whatever understanding or desire one has.”  A lot of smart people in our world are biblically foolish.  That is why our world is in the shape it is in.  That is why families are in the situations they are in.

To break a mother’s heart, even from her grave, live foolishly.

To heal a mother’s heart, even in the grave, embrace wisdom.

The best gift she can have this year, besides you, is proof you are a wise child.

“DO YOU LOVE ME?” 5/2/10

Communion ~ Nicene Creed ~ #717 ~ John 21:15-19

A few questions, with possible answers.

Simon, do you love Me more than these?  These who? They just finished eating fish.  Maybe, Jesus wants to know where Peter’s allegiance lies, with his career or his Christ?  They ate with the other disciples.  Maybe, Jesus wants to know if Peter was steady enough be an example of love to others.

Why three times? I’ve always heard that Jesus asks 3 times because Peter denies 3 times.  So then, Jesus forgets our sins, but keeps them in mind enough for us to force them from our futures?

Maybe the three times signify completion, as often happens in Scripture.  Jesus is satisfied, and Peter comes to satisfaction by saying “I love you” more than once.  Try it at home.  It might have the same effect!

Feed sheep/tend lambs? The animals are Jesus’ flock.  We are to take care of each other first and foremost. How well?  Three times as well as we’ve been, according to the flow of the story!  But, how to do it?

* Be hurt by the responsibility. (v.17)  Peter got tired of saying He loved Jesus.  We get tired of showing we do, but the world around us is still dying in sin.  Feed; tend still.

* Go where faith leads, not where our old nature desires.  Peter, when young, followed his impetuous nature.  When old, he would be martyred by the Romans.  Faith leads us to follow Jesus, not ourselves.

* Glorify God, as we live.  Peter’s death glorified God, as did Jesus’.  Peter’s obedience in faith glorified God, as did Jesus’.  As with Peter, as with Jesus, so with us.  The church is hungry for glory; feed it.

“SANCTIFICATION AS COURAGE” 4/25/10

2Corinthians 5:6-10

Notice how this passage flows: “always confident” – “aim to please God” – “appear before His judgment seat”.  Things get worse as we go!  Or, do they?

The key is that precious sentence of sanctification: we walk by faith, not by sight.  Which means?

*What we see matters less than Who sees us.
*We affect things, more than things affect us.
*Our faith = our walk.  Our life’s purposes and choices harmonize with our beliefs.

Now, watch the passage’s flow get better:

“Appear before God’s judgment seat.” – Christ’s holiness makes us innocent.  Our response to Him certainly can always improve, which is our aim.  And, God helps us with that improvement!

“Aim to please God.” – We live IN God’s pleasure.  That means we do what pleases our souls, souls transformed by the pure holy love of Christ!  That phrase in the Lord’s Prayer “thy will be done” becomes our hearts’ desire.

“Always confident.” – What is the source of our confidence?

Christ before us, prepares for us His way.

Christ within us, keeps us heading that way.

Christ among us, inspires us to enjoy the way He leads.

“FISHER PAR EXCELLANCE” 4/25/10

John 21:1-14

Why is Jesus the best fisher ever?  3 reasons:

1)  He knows His quarry. Disciples are at a loss.  They were to stay in Jerusalem; went back home.  They were to follow Him; went back to old job/ old ways.   Jesus “goes where the fish are” and meets them.  He doesn’t judge them.  He meets them.  His presence challenges their present choices.  His life hooks them back to His purpose.

2)  He is prolific. 153 fish were caught.  Somebody counted!  Who was he?  One of the somebodies who caught nothing all night long.  One of the somebodies who was a professional fisherman.  Our best work is nothing compared to what Christ can do.  All our skill gets swallowed up by His ability.  And, what He does is more than we can ask or imagine!

3)  He prepares the catch. Jesus already has a fire going, and fish cooking.  What He didn’t have were disciples obeying.  They needed to be caught (“It is the Lord!”)  They needed cleaning, “Come and have some breakfast with Me.”  They needed to be served. (He fed them, so they could feed others).

Can we see ourselves in this story?

Christians, but wandering around according to the goals and dreams and ways of the world.

Christians who need to be caught again and again by the Master Fisher.

Isn’t it great that God’s love for us is so vast that Jesus will go to where we are to catch us, so we can go where He wants to catch others?

“WHERE TO PUT OUR HANDS” 4/18/10

John 20:24-29

What to do with hands?  Actors need to know that, or they lose an audience.  Speakers need to know that, or they distract from the message.  People on dates need to know that, or they get hit.

Jesus invites Thomas, who wasn’t there at the first, to put his hands in His hands and side.  Usually, we make much of the last verse, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe.”  However, we are more like Thomas than not, so what if we took Jesus up on His offer?

What if we put our hands in His hand wounds?  What if we touched there the reason He went to the cross in the first place, for us?  Hands of eternal God stretched out over a world of hurt and hurtful people.  Hands that were infected with every wrong ever done.

What if those hands touched us, as we were bringing pain into those wounds again?  Wouldn’t the touch overwhelm us?  Wouldn’t we see our hands as part of His own?  Covered in the blood, couldn’t we cover a few wounded, broken people we know, the same way He covered us?

What if we put our hands in His side?  There, where the water and blood, where life eternal gushed forth:  onto the earth, onto us.  Might our idea of what life is be changed, once we’ve been in that place; felt that life which death cannot claim?

What if that life stayed with us?  An impression greater than any memory.  Wouldn’t that life, that wound, be seen all around us?  Christ with us would show us God’s heart for all around, and invite us to give the life we’ve touched, the life that touched us.  Couldn’t we treat the world and those in it differently, once we’ve been touched to the One who died for the world?

“SANCTIFICATION AS ADVERTISEMENT” 4/18/10

2Corinthians 5:16-21

Here in a nutshell is why sanctification is so important.  Because we are now Christians, we are VITAL to the world.

WHO ARE WE?                             WHY THAT MATTERS:

People who see life anew                  Show others freedom.

New creations                                   Delivered from our pasts!

Reconciled to God                            Help others reconcile.

Forgiven by Christ                            Others can be so forgiven.

Christ’s ambassadors                        People see faith by us!

Those who grow in grace                 People need to see faith!

Righteousness of God                       Lives of holiness attract.

We are holy for the sake of others, just as we became Christians because of someone else’s influence.  It now is our turn.

A world enslaved to emotion and addiction needs freedom.
People are imprisoned by quarrels and hatreds.

We are the people who set the captives free by Jesus’ power!
We are the people whose lives demonstrate the truth of Christianity!

That is why we need to be holy.  We are holy, and the world needs us to be that way.