After Christmas there seems to be all sorts of leftovers – food in the fridge, half-price sales in the stores, a mess in the house. Joyfully we anticipated the coming of Christmas, but now that it is over, what do we have to show for it? Leftovers?
I think there is a great question for us to ask on the Sunday after Christmas – I am asking the congregation I pastor this question and I ask you as well – over this Christmas season did you get a chance to see Jesus?
The apostle John talks about that – he got to see the glory of God manifested before his very eyes. I love the way he words it in 1 John 1 – "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life – and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you." Historically John was one of those blessed few who saw the glory of God in the flesh.
There were others who had seen the glory of God – the splendor, the majesty of God Almighty. Isaiah in the temple, Moses before the burning bush, Israel in the cloud, Ezekiel and God’s throne. But this was different for John. "We beheld his glory," John says in John 1:14 – but it was not a glory that overwhelmed people, not a brilliance that blinded, not an excellence that shamed. No, as one writer put it, His splendor was robed in the coarse garment of human nature; His brilliance shone through the prism of human flesh, His excellence was seen in the light of our common day.
We beheld his glory, John says – and in his gospel he tells about the ministry of Jesus, His compassion for a woman at a well, a failure from every other person’s standards, an outcast, one who had crossed the line – and yet one who could receive from the Creator of the universe life.
We beheld his glory — we saw the lame walk, the leper cleansed, the hungry fed, the blind see.
We beheld his glory – and for John, that meant the suffering and the cross. John 1:14 declares, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory" – we saw what he had come for, the moment in time when the cradle was replaced by a crown of thorns, when the baby’s coo became the Creator’s cry, when a mother wept not in joy, but in horror. We beheld his glory – His battle with death, His confrontation with sin, His paying of the ultimate price – that we might live.
We beheld his glory – that Easter morning the grave was opened and confusion and chaos was replaced by the shout, “He is alive! He is alive!”
We beheld His glory – the glory that brings the same confession as that which slipped from the lips of Thomas – “My Lord and My God!” Thomas saw the face of God in Jesus.
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.” And so here is the leftover question of the season – have you seen Jesus? If not, it’s not too late.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
On Christmas And Having Christ Within...
Every year she’s there. You can’t miss her, she is just off center, a look of love and adoration on her face. She has a robe on, and for some reason it is almost always blue. Her hair is covered, with a strand or two escaping the folds, long, often dark, sometimes blond, maybe red, a slight wave.
She is the mother of Jesus, and once a year we honor her, we give her a place in a manger scene, we dress up a little girl in a bathrobe and give her a plastic baby doll and let her walk on stage. Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary, the one the angel called “blessed.”
A lot of Christians don’t know what to do with Mary. Many things have been said about her through the centuries, and a good number of those have no basis in Scripture. Some even reflect a gross misunderstanding of Jesus. Bottom line, nobody knows us like Jesus, and a mother’s love is a distant second to the love of the Savior.
Still, Mary was in on things from the beginning. She received the angel’s greeting, and she pondered what it meant to have the Lord with her. If she has anything to teach us, it is in her response. Listen to her words in Luke 1:38, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” What a contrast that is to other Biblical characters. When Abraham heard God’s promise, he didn’t know how to respond. Sarah responded with laughter. Zechariah asked for proof. But Mary simply responds with belief, a belief wrapped up in obedience. That should be our response as well.
We speak of having Jesus within us as Christ followers. Paul gives us a basis for that when he says in Galatians 2:20, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Max Lucado says that we must not miss out on the reason we are placed on this earth, to be so pregnant with heaven’s child that He lives through us. I really like that image – so pregnant with heaven’s child that He lives through us. What would that be like for us to have Christ within? Lucado writes these reflections in his book, Next Door Savior:
And it all begins as we give God Mary’s response, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said." May that response be our Christmas gift to God this year.
She is the mother of Jesus, and once a year we honor her, we give her a place in a manger scene, we dress up a little girl in a bathrobe and give her a plastic baby doll and let her walk on stage. Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary, the one the angel called “blessed.”
A lot of Christians don’t know what to do with Mary. Many things have been said about her through the centuries, and a good number of those have no basis in Scripture. Some even reflect a gross misunderstanding of Jesus. Bottom line, nobody knows us like Jesus, and a mother’s love is a distant second to the love of the Savior.
Still, Mary was in on things from the beginning. She received the angel’s greeting, and she pondered what it meant to have the Lord with her. If she has anything to teach us, it is in her response. Listen to her words in Luke 1:38, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” What a contrast that is to other Biblical characters. When Abraham heard God’s promise, he didn’t know how to respond. Sarah responded with laughter. Zechariah asked for proof. But Mary simply responds with belief, a belief wrapped up in obedience. That should be our response as well.
We speak of having Jesus within us as Christ followers. Paul gives us a basis for that when he says in Galatians 2:20, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Max Lucado says that we must not miss out on the reason we are placed on this earth, to be so pregnant with heaven’s child that He lives through us. I really like that image – so pregnant with heaven’s child that He lives through us. What would that be like for us to have Christ within? Lucado writes these reflections in his book, Next Door Savior:
To have my voice, but him speaking.
My steps, but Christ leading.
My heart, but his love beating
in me, through me, with me.
What’s it like to have Christ on the inside?
To tap his strength when mine expires
or feel the force of heaven’s fires
raging, purging wrong desires.
Could Christ become my self entire?
So much him, so little me
that in my eyes it’s him they see.
What’s it like to a Mary be?
No longer I, but Christ in me.
My steps, but Christ leading.
My heart, but his love beating
in me, through me, with me.
What’s it like to have Christ on the inside?
To tap his strength when mine expires
or feel the force of heaven’s fires
raging, purging wrong desires.
Could Christ become my self entire?
So much him, so little me
that in my eyes it’s him they see.
What’s it like to a Mary be?
No longer I, but Christ in me.
And it all begins as we give God Mary’s response, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said." May that response be our Christmas gift to God this year.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Old Friends
Something happened this week that brought delight to my soul. Three old friends made contact with me in as many days. Two of them were from a church I pastored in the early 1980's, and the third was a pastor friend I hadn’t seen or heard from in more than twenty-five years. Through Facebook, emails, and phone calls, we caught up on the happenings of those silent years, and I was reminded that life went on for each of us even if we had completely forgotten about each other’s existence. I am sure those years carried a lot of joys and sorrows for each of us, but it was good to know that God had continued His kindness to each, and that each of us had a journey to share.
We sometimes forget that the first Christmas was the breaking of the silence by an old friend – in this case, I should capitalize “Friend.” The Old Testament era ends with God’s people struggling to form a faith community again, clinging to the promise that some day God would send the Christ. As the years passed, I wonder if some forgot – forgot the promise, forgot the hope, maybe even forgot the Father. Those years were shaped by all the things that shape our lives – the ups and downs of economy, the birth of babies and the death of elders, the expected and the unexpected, the hoped for and the feared. And then one day God broke the silence – angels spoke to an old man and a young maiden, a dream assured a worried husband, and before all was said and done the heavens exploded with shouts of glory and the assurance that God, having once broken the silence, would never be silent again. As John puts it in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Christmas reminds us of that Friend who wants to journey with us through life. He split the heavens and came in person into our midst, and now He comes to reside in the heart of every person who will receive Him. Spend some time catching Him up on the joys and sorrows of this past year. Yes, I know, He already knows them all, but it will do you good and you will find your spirit lifted and your soul delighted as you journey with this old Friend who promises never to leave you or forsake you. What a friend we have in Jesus -- One who will never lose touch with us!
We sometimes forget that the first Christmas was the breaking of the silence by an old friend – in this case, I should capitalize “Friend.” The Old Testament era ends with God’s people struggling to form a faith community again, clinging to the promise that some day God would send the Christ. As the years passed, I wonder if some forgot – forgot the promise, forgot the hope, maybe even forgot the Father. Those years were shaped by all the things that shape our lives – the ups and downs of economy, the birth of babies and the death of elders, the expected and the unexpected, the hoped for and the feared. And then one day God broke the silence – angels spoke to an old man and a young maiden, a dream assured a worried husband, and before all was said and done the heavens exploded with shouts of glory and the assurance that God, having once broken the silence, would never be silent again. As John puts it in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Christmas reminds us of that Friend who wants to journey with us through life. He split the heavens and came in person into our midst, and now He comes to reside in the heart of every person who will receive Him. Spend some time catching Him up on the joys and sorrows of this past year. Yes, I know, He already knows them all, but it will do you good and you will find your spirit lifted and your soul delighted as you journey with this old Friend who promises never to leave you or forsake you. What a friend we have in Jesus -- One who will never lose touch with us!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Thirty-Five Years
Thirty-five years ago on December 7, 1974, my wife Holly and I were married. I have said to our children that we were just kids and didn’t know what we were doing, and I think there is more truth to that then I care to admit. I didn’t know how great marriage could be but also how difficult and challenging. For whatever reason, I thought if you picked the right person it was easy. I am sure there have been times in our marriage where my wife wondered if she picked the right person – but then, maybe she understood more what marriage would mean than I did.
I am fond of quoting David and Vera Mace when I perform weddings. They write, “A wedding is not a marriage. A wedding is only the beginning of an undertaking that may or may not, someday, develop into a marriage. What a couple have on their wedding day is not the key to a beautiful garden, but just a vacant lot and a few gardening tools.”
A vacant lot and a few gardening tools – most of us thought we were getting more than that when we said, “I do!” The years of marriage include a lot of hard work, breaking up the soil, tossing out the rocks, pulling weeds, planting seeds. But the years of marriage, if we work at it, also yield a great garden to enjoy with your beloved. I think it also makes us better people if we will accept what marriage offers us. We learn to put the other person first, deny ourselves for a greater good, be mature rather then petty, giving rather than grasping. I am not saying that this happens automatically or easily – in fact, we will wind up doing a lot of praying in the midst of it all. But again, when we accept what marriage offers, the payoff is tremendous and the joy is sweet.
Lewis Smedes once said that his wife had been married to seven different men in her lifetime, and everyone of them was him. My wife could probably say the same. We do change, just as our lives together change. Simplistically we may divide marriage according to tasks, whether it is starting out, having children, coping with teenagers, or facing the empty nest. But we do change – we change with the passage of time and the best marriages change as well, growing deeper and wiser and greater and stronger and more loving than ever. That has certainly been my experience, and for that I am grateful.
My son Chad was married this past year, and he shared a quote with me by C. S. Lewis. Lewis talks about “falling in love” as the engine that gets a marriage started, but it takes a lot more to keep it going. For Lewis love “is a deep unity maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced (in Christian marriage) by the grace which both partners ask and receive from God.”
Those are wise words – the unity of marriage requires an act of will, a daily choice to put the other before yourself. It is strengthened by habit, which means we all should pay attention to what our marriage habits are, whether they help or hinder marriage. And marriage calls on both partners to receive and extend the grace of God.
Thirty-five years ago I said I would take Holly for better for worse, in sickness and health, for good times and bad, be we rich or poor. I didn’t really know what all that meant then – but I have to tell you, thirty-five years later I am exceedingly grateful to share my life with Holly and I can’t imagine life in any other way. My wife said that thirty-five years is a long time – but we both agree it is not long enough!
I am fond of quoting David and Vera Mace when I perform weddings. They write, “A wedding is not a marriage. A wedding is only the beginning of an undertaking that may or may not, someday, develop into a marriage. What a couple have on their wedding day is not the key to a beautiful garden, but just a vacant lot and a few gardening tools.”
A vacant lot and a few gardening tools – most of us thought we were getting more than that when we said, “I do!” The years of marriage include a lot of hard work, breaking up the soil, tossing out the rocks, pulling weeds, planting seeds. But the years of marriage, if we work at it, also yield a great garden to enjoy with your beloved. I think it also makes us better people if we will accept what marriage offers us. We learn to put the other person first, deny ourselves for a greater good, be mature rather then petty, giving rather than grasping. I am not saying that this happens automatically or easily – in fact, we will wind up doing a lot of praying in the midst of it all. But again, when we accept what marriage offers, the payoff is tremendous and the joy is sweet.
Lewis Smedes once said that his wife had been married to seven different men in her lifetime, and everyone of them was him. My wife could probably say the same. We do change, just as our lives together change. Simplistically we may divide marriage according to tasks, whether it is starting out, having children, coping with teenagers, or facing the empty nest. But we do change – we change with the passage of time and the best marriages change as well, growing deeper and wiser and greater and stronger and more loving than ever. That has certainly been my experience, and for that I am grateful.
My son Chad was married this past year, and he shared a quote with me by C. S. Lewis. Lewis talks about “falling in love” as the engine that gets a marriage started, but it takes a lot more to keep it going. For Lewis love “is a deep unity maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced (in Christian marriage) by the grace which both partners ask and receive from God.”
Those are wise words – the unity of marriage requires an act of will, a daily choice to put the other before yourself. It is strengthened by habit, which means we all should pay attention to what our marriage habits are, whether they help or hinder marriage. And marriage calls on both partners to receive and extend the grace of God.
Thirty-five years ago I said I would take Holly for better for worse, in sickness and health, for good times and bad, be we rich or poor. I didn’t really know what all that meant then – but I have to tell you, thirty-five years later I am exceedingly grateful to share my life with Holly and I can’t imagine life in any other way. My wife said that thirty-five years is a long time – but we both agree it is not long enough!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Chosen
John Ortberg writes, “To be loved means to be chosen. The sense of being chosen is one of the very best gifts love bestows on the beloved... On the other hand, there is no pain quite like the pain of not being chosen.” I understand that last part – I have the emotional scars to show for it. I still remember the fourth grade experience of a bunch of kids playing a game. Two boys claimed the right to choose teams, and they went back and forth, “I want Jim.” “I want Doug.” “I want Mike.” On and on the choosing went.
The dread of that moment is still with me, etched in my psyche. I have to be honest, I was never very good at sports of any kind. Too clumsy, awkward, two left feet, not the right genes – I don’t know, I just know that when God gave out talents in the athletic arena, He gave me zero talents. You can guess what happened that day – down to the last two, and then one – the team leader griped, “Oh, I’ll take Johnston if I have to.”
A childhood experience, of course. Builds character. Makes you search for what you are good at. Creates strength. You’ll be good at something. I heard all of those things and said them and more to myself. But it took a long time for me to find out what I was good at, and those many experiences of being picked last created a good bit of self-doubt.
I projected much of this on God. I didn’t blame Him for my lack of athletic prowess, but I was quite sure that if He began dividing folks up that I would be at the tail end, not completely worthless but not much better – “Oh, I’ll take Johnston if I have to.” I tried to believe God loved me, but frankly, I had a hard time believing that.
I was in college when the message got through my dense skull. I still remember Bill and Ruth Martin encouraging me to change John 3:16 from “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” to “For God so loved Bob.” I struggled to believe that – and then began to read the New Testament with new eyes, recognizing that God truly did love me, not because I was valuable to His team or exceptional in skills, but because I was valued by Him. He loved me because He loved me – amazing! I experienced this overwhelming sense of being chosen – of being wanted by God. I looked at what Jesus did with new eyes – it was as if God said, “Bob, I did all of this for you.”
Chosen – it really is a wonderful thing. Marriage at its best conveys much of that, a person picking us out, knowing us warts and all, and they say, “I choose you.” It truly is a tremendous gift – but no one outdoes God. I love the way Paul begins Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved...” The holy part is what God does, not what I do. And the chosen part, the loved part, that is God’s as well.
Colossians 3:12 and the verses that follow tell us the kind of spiritual clothes our Lord wants us to wear – things like compassion and kindness and humility and patience – it is a fairly complete list, I hope you will look at it. But this isn’t a list of necessary characteristics to earn God’s love – these are things we strive to do simply because we are loved. Because we are chosen. Because one day God said, “Oh, I’d love to take Johnston!” Thank You Lord!
The dread of that moment is still with me, etched in my psyche. I have to be honest, I was never very good at sports of any kind. Too clumsy, awkward, two left feet, not the right genes – I don’t know, I just know that when God gave out talents in the athletic arena, He gave me zero talents. You can guess what happened that day – down to the last two, and then one – the team leader griped, “Oh, I’ll take Johnston if I have to.”
A childhood experience, of course. Builds character. Makes you search for what you are good at. Creates strength. You’ll be good at something. I heard all of those things and said them and more to myself. But it took a long time for me to find out what I was good at, and those many experiences of being picked last created a good bit of self-doubt.
I projected much of this on God. I didn’t blame Him for my lack of athletic prowess, but I was quite sure that if He began dividing folks up that I would be at the tail end, not completely worthless but not much better – “Oh, I’ll take Johnston if I have to.” I tried to believe God loved me, but frankly, I had a hard time believing that.
I was in college when the message got through my dense skull. I still remember Bill and Ruth Martin encouraging me to change John 3:16 from “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” to “For God so loved Bob.” I struggled to believe that – and then began to read the New Testament with new eyes, recognizing that God truly did love me, not because I was valuable to His team or exceptional in skills, but because I was valued by Him. He loved me because He loved me – amazing! I experienced this overwhelming sense of being chosen – of being wanted by God. I looked at what Jesus did with new eyes – it was as if God said, “Bob, I did all of this for you.”
Chosen – it really is a wonderful thing. Marriage at its best conveys much of that, a person picking us out, knowing us warts and all, and they say, “I choose you.” It truly is a tremendous gift – but no one outdoes God. I love the way Paul begins Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved...” The holy part is what God does, not what I do. And the chosen part, the loved part, that is God’s as well.
Colossians 3:12 and the verses that follow tell us the kind of spiritual clothes our Lord wants us to wear – things like compassion and kindness and humility and patience – it is a fairly complete list, I hope you will look at it. But this isn’t a list of necessary characteristics to earn God’s love – these are things we strive to do simply because we are loved. Because we are chosen. Because one day God said, “Oh, I’d love to take Johnston!” Thank You Lord!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
God's Heartbeat
Have you ever heard your own heartbeat? Chances are you have. You exert yourself and you can hear your heart beating as you try to catch your breath. Or maybe you lay in just a certain way and you can hear your pulse beat in your head, the gentle throbbing just at the edge of your awareness.
What does your heartbeat say? Sounds like a stupid question, I know. My heartbeat isn’t very eloquent – the best I can translate it, it says something like “Thump-thump, thump-thump.” Our hearts don’t say much except to a doctor who knows what an irregular or unruly beat means – for us, it is just a steady beating of a drum that means we are alive.
We celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and I will spend time thanking God for a good number of things. Included will be gratitude for my family and friends, for good health, and for the privilege of serving such a great and gracious God. I will let you in on a little secret – I will also spend time listening to God’s heartbeat and thanking Him for that as well.
God’s heartbeat – I am speaking in images now, but I think you can get the point pretty easily. You hear God’s heartbeat in an amazing Scriptural passage known as Psalm 136. The Psalm starts out with a triple plea to give thanks to God, and then there are statements that direct our attention to God as the One who created us, redeemed us, and sustains us. Pretty standard stuff for the Bible. What sets this Psalm off from all the rest is the refrain, the steady, recurring, ever beating, never stopping, always pulsing “thump-thump” of God’s heart. Only, God is more eloquent – twenty-six times the refrain sounds in Psalm 136, “His love endures forever.”
Writer Peter Wallace says this refrain continually and repeatedly reminds us that God loves us. Despite our weaknesses and failures, our circumstances and struggles, even our doubts and fears, God’s love for us is unswerving. “His love endures forever.”
The Apostle John reminds us of God’s tremendous love for us as manifested in Jesus’ determination to go to the cross for our sins. John 13:1 says, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” What was the “full extent” of His love? He let His heartbeat stop on the cross so that when our heartbeats stopped in death, we would awaken in eternity with Him. Now, that is a love that endures forever.
Take some time this week and try to listen to your own heartbeat – and then listen to God’s heartbeat as reflected in Psalm 136 and in all the experiences of life as you follow Jesus. Sing a song of gratitude for the God who made us, saved us through Christ, walks with us through life.
Thump-thump, thump-thump – “His love endures forever.”
What does your heartbeat say? Sounds like a stupid question, I know. My heartbeat isn’t very eloquent – the best I can translate it, it says something like “Thump-thump, thump-thump.” Our hearts don’t say much except to a doctor who knows what an irregular or unruly beat means – for us, it is just a steady beating of a drum that means we are alive.
We celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and I will spend time thanking God for a good number of things. Included will be gratitude for my family and friends, for good health, and for the privilege of serving such a great and gracious God. I will let you in on a little secret – I will also spend time listening to God’s heartbeat and thanking Him for that as well.
God’s heartbeat – I am speaking in images now, but I think you can get the point pretty easily. You hear God’s heartbeat in an amazing Scriptural passage known as Psalm 136. The Psalm starts out with a triple plea to give thanks to God, and then there are statements that direct our attention to God as the One who created us, redeemed us, and sustains us. Pretty standard stuff for the Bible. What sets this Psalm off from all the rest is the refrain, the steady, recurring, ever beating, never stopping, always pulsing “thump-thump” of God’s heart. Only, God is more eloquent – twenty-six times the refrain sounds in Psalm 136, “His love endures forever.”
Writer Peter Wallace says this refrain continually and repeatedly reminds us that God loves us. Despite our weaknesses and failures, our circumstances and struggles, even our doubts and fears, God’s love for us is unswerving. “His love endures forever.”
The Apostle John reminds us of God’s tremendous love for us as manifested in Jesus’ determination to go to the cross for our sins. John 13:1 says, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” What was the “full extent” of His love? He let His heartbeat stop on the cross so that when our heartbeats stopped in death, we would awaken in eternity with Him. Now, that is a love that endures forever.
Take some time this week and try to listen to your own heartbeat – and then listen to God’s heartbeat as reflected in Psalm 136 and in all the experiences of life as you follow Jesus. Sing a song of gratitude for the God who made us, saved us through Christ, walks with us through life.
Thump-thump, thump-thump – “His love endures forever.”
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Falling From Grace
Periodically I spend time praying and planning for future sermons. This has been a week for doing that, and I am spending time with the theme of grace. I recognize why grace is so important to me – before I came to Christ I felt I was completely unacceptable. I had this mental image of God as stern, unloving, and lacking compassion. Becoming acceptable was something I had to achieve, and it didn’t take me long to recognize that wasn’t going to happen. Imagine my surprise when I was blindsided by the tremendous grace of God found in Jesus (sounds like a good sermon title, “Blindsided By Grace”). Jesus did for me what I could not possibly do for myself, and I love Him for it.
I love Him for it, I say – and I imagine many Christ-followers would say the same. But something often happens, and I am trying to get a handle on it. Those who are touched by grace and immersed in the love of God often become ungracious and unlovely – in short, unChrist-like. There are many relationships this affects, but it especially affects our relationship with those who are watching us. Sheldon Van Auken wrote, “The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness.” And what is the best argument against Christianity? Van Auken continues, “When Christians are somber, joyless, self-righteous, smug, narrow, repressive – Christianity dies a thousand deaths.”
What’s up? How can those who enter the kingdom of God through the gracefulness of God come to the place where they do not reflect that gracefulness in their day-to-day living? To put it in Luke 15 terms, how can young prodigals greeted by the tremendous love of the Father become elder brothers who look in judgment at those around? How can we fall so far from grace? How does the drift occur – and what can we do about it?
I love Him for it, I say – and I imagine many Christ-followers would say the same. But something often happens, and I am trying to get a handle on it. Those who are touched by grace and immersed in the love of God often become ungracious and unlovely – in short, unChrist-like. There are many relationships this affects, but it especially affects our relationship with those who are watching us. Sheldon Van Auken wrote, “The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness.” And what is the best argument against Christianity? Van Auken continues, “When Christians are somber, joyless, self-righteous, smug, narrow, repressive – Christianity dies a thousand deaths.”
What’s up? How can those who enter the kingdom of God through the gracefulness of God come to the place where they do not reflect that gracefulness in their day-to-day living? To put it in Luke 15 terms, how can young prodigals greeted by the tremendous love of the Father become elder brothers who look in judgment at those around? How can we fall so far from grace? How does the drift occur – and what can we do about it?
Monday, November 9, 2009
Slightly Imperfect
Not long ago my wife and I stopped by a candy store. I have to be honest, we weren’t going to buy any candy – we were there for the freebies. You know the ones I'm talking about, the samples they promised in big letters, the “slightly imperfect” pieces they could not sell but which would taste just as good as the unblemished variety. I would like to say that we had a great time, but to our dismay, the only pieces of candy were the kind no one wanted – and they looked like it. Mold wasn’t exactly growing on the candy, but – what was that white, fuzzy, stuff?
Slightly imperfect - I guess that describes a lot of things. My wife married me almost thirty-five years ago – I wonder when she discovered that I was “slightly imperfect?”
I have two great children whom I love, and my wife and I probably counted their fingers and toes when they were born and declared them perfect. Of course, then we brought them home from the hospital and, well, you can guess the rest. At least we love them – imperfectly, of course.
I like the way The Message translation gets at God’s choice of us in 1 Corinthians 1:26f: “Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of ‘the brightest and the best’ among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these ‘nobodies’ to expose the hollow pretensions of the ‘somebodies’?... Everything that we have – right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start – comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, ‘If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.’”
You get the point – everyone of us is more than a bit “slightly imperfect.” You want something to thank God about? Here it is – knowing you and me as we are, He chose to love us, come to us through His Son, and offer us life. He came to us nobodies and made us somebody because of Jesus. Slightly imperfect, yes, of course. A bit moldy, tossed aside and neglected by others, perhaps. But God wasn’t looking for the unblemished variety that wouldn’t see their need for Jesus in the first place – He is content with the less than perfect that He might do His perfect work of grace in our lives. He knew what He was getting and chose us anyway. So go blow a trumpet for God and celebrate His tremendous grace.
Slightly imperfect - I guess that describes a lot of things. My wife married me almost thirty-five years ago – I wonder when she discovered that I was “slightly imperfect?”
I have two great children whom I love, and my wife and I probably counted their fingers and toes when they were born and declared them perfect. Of course, then we brought them home from the hospital and, well, you can guess the rest. At least we love them – imperfectly, of course.
I like the way The Message translation gets at God’s choice of us in 1 Corinthians 1:26f: “Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of ‘the brightest and the best’ among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these ‘nobodies’ to expose the hollow pretensions of the ‘somebodies’?... Everything that we have – right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start – comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, ‘If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.’”
You get the point – everyone of us is more than a bit “slightly imperfect.” You want something to thank God about? Here it is – knowing you and me as we are, He chose to love us, come to us through His Son, and offer us life. He came to us nobodies and made us somebody because of Jesus. Slightly imperfect, yes, of course. A bit moldy, tossed aside and neglected by others, perhaps. But God wasn’t looking for the unblemished variety that wouldn’t see their need for Jesus in the first place – He is content with the less than perfect that He might do His perfect work of grace in our lives. He knew what He was getting and chose us anyway. So go blow a trumpet for God and celebrate His tremendous grace.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Time Change
This was the weekend the time changed for those of us in Missouri. We “gained” an hour, meaning that when our clocks said 10:00 PM, it was really only 9:00 PM. You go to bed by the old time, and you get to sleep an extra hour. We like the time change in the Fall; the one in the Spring where we “lose” an hour is not so loved.
I’m not sure my children, and especially my daughter, has ever forgiven me for the time change. When they were young, we never told them about the time change in the Fall – we just put them to bed at the normal time, let them fall asleep, and then went around the house and changed the clocks. My wife and I enjoyed another hour of solitude and our kids knew nothing about it. However, come Spring, we told them for a week before that they would have to go to bed early. On Saturday we would start changing the clocks so they could get accustomed to the idea that bedtime at 7:30 PM was really bedtime at 8:30 PM.
My daughter never got it. Since she was never told about the Fall change, she didn’t realize the Spring change just completed the cycle. It didn't make sense to her as she got older. It seemed like we were always losing time but never getting it back. She went through a long phase in her life where she lived in her own time zone, refusing to change her watch and even refusing to wear one.
She now lives in Arizona where the time doesn’t change.
The writer of Ecclesiastes 3 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” All the things you would expect are listed – a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to harvest, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh. There is something of a balance to life, a rhythm, and we are called to make the most of what life throws at us. Ephesians 5:16 even tells us to make the most of time because the days are evil. We don’t know what the day may bring, but we know every day brings opportunities to live life well under the Lordship of Christ. We can love God with all we are and love our neighbor as ourselves, a good response to the evil that may come our way.
My daughter would point out that Ecclesiastes 3 says nothing about a time to change our clocks. She’s right, of course. It also doesn’t say there is a time to forgive her father for not telling her about the time change, but maybe she will do it anyway.
I’m not sure my children, and especially my daughter, has ever forgiven me for the time change. When they were young, we never told them about the time change in the Fall – we just put them to bed at the normal time, let them fall asleep, and then went around the house and changed the clocks. My wife and I enjoyed another hour of solitude and our kids knew nothing about it. However, come Spring, we told them for a week before that they would have to go to bed early. On Saturday we would start changing the clocks so they could get accustomed to the idea that bedtime at 7:30 PM was really bedtime at 8:30 PM.
My daughter never got it. Since she was never told about the Fall change, she didn’t realize the Spring change just completed the cycle. It didn't make sense to her as she got older. It seemed like we were always losing time but never getting it back. She went through a long phase in her life where she lived in her own time zone, refusing to change her watch and even refusing to wear one.
She now lives in Arizona where the time doesn’t change.
The writer of Ecclesiastes 3 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” All the things you would expect are listed – a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to harvest, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh. There is something of a balance to life, a rhythm, and we are called to make the most of what life throws at us. Ephesians 5:16 even tells us to make the most of time because the days are evil. We don’t know what the day may bring, but we know every day brings opportunities to live life well under the Lordship of Christ. We can love God with all we are and love our neighbor as ourselves, a good response to the evil that may come our way.
My daughter would point out that Ecclesiastes 3 says nothing about a time to change our clocks. She’s right, of course. It also doesn’t say there is a time to forgive her father for not telling her about the time change, but maybe she will do it anyway.
Monday, October 26, 2009
A Long Ways Away
A year ago today (October 26) I had the privilege of preaching in the Bethel Baptist Church of Chisinau, Moldova. I spent some time looking at the pictures I took and watched a little video clip of my preaching in this historic Baptist Church with my translator. I will always be grateful for that moving experience.
For those who do not know, Moldova is a small country located next to Romania. An organization called the Future Leadership Foundation asked me to be a part of a three person team to provide a training retreat for leaders of the Moldovan Baptist Union. It was a tremendous experience and I appreciate the work of the Future Leadership Foundation as they partner with Christian leaders in former Soviet Union countries to encourage those leaders in their growth and service. I was honored and humbled by the experience – I don’t know how much those leaders were encouraged by me, but I know I was by them.
One of the leaders in Moldova is named Peter. The church I pastor, First Baptist Church of Rolla, Missouri, not only paid my way but helped fund the retreat for Peter. We have kept up with each other from time to time through email, and recently I received an email from Peter stating he was in the United States in a place called Georgia, and he wondered if Rolla was close enough to drive over to see him. I wish it was – when Peter writes about God’s work in the church he pastors, I am in awe. The challenges are great, the country’s opposition fierce, and yet Peter and his church family remain focused on sharing Jesus with all they meet. I realize how complicated things can get for me at times, how comfortable and convenient things are for American Christians, and how easy it is for American churches to lose sight of what really matters. Peter’s emails always help me regain my focus.
Rolla is a long way from the state of Georgia, and even farther from the country of Moldova. But Peter and I always promise each other we will do something that the distance can not stop – we promise to pray for each other. God’s unlimited reach, that is how I once heard prayer defined – I am so glad God is not hindered by the distance.
For those who do not know, Moldova is a small country located next to Romania. An organization called the Future Leadership Foundation asked me to be a part of a three person team to provide a training retreat for leaders of the Moldovan Baptist Union. It was a tremendous experience and I appreciate the work of the Future Leadership Foundation as they partner with Christian leaders in former Soviet Union countries to encourage those leaders in their growth and service. I was honored and humbled by the experience – I don’t know how much those leaders were encouraged by me, but I know I was by them.
One of the leaders in Moldova is named Peter. The church I pastor, First Baptist Church of Rolla, Missouri, not only paid my way but helped fund the retreat for Peter. We have kept up with each other from time to time through email, and recently I received an email from Peter stating he was in the United States in a place called Georgia, and he wondered if Rolla was close enough to drive over to see him. I wish it was – when Peter writes about God’s work in the church he pastors, I am in awe. The challenges are great, the country’s opposition fierce, and yet Peter and his church family remain focused on sharing Jesus with all they meet. I realize how complicated things can get for me at times, how comfortable and convenient things are for American Christians, and how easy it is for American churches to lose sight of what really matters. Peter’s emails always help me regain my focus.
Rolla is a long way from the state of Georgia, and even farther from the country of Moldova. But Peter and I always promise each other we will do something that the distance can not stop – we promise to pray for each other. God’s unlimited reach, that is how I once heard prayer defined – I am so glad God is not hindered by the distance.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tent of Meeting
We have been studying the book of Exodus on Wednesday nights, and we spent last Wednesday talking about Moses’ intercession for the rebellious children of Israel in Exodus 32 and 33. His prayer was filled with boldness and drenched with intimacy. He spoke His heart to God, and God listened. Three times Moses prayed – three times God responded in a wonderful way.
Of course, all of us would like to be able to pray prayers of intercession like Moses did. We often miss the fact that Moses’ intercession put God’s people even before himself. At one point he ties his own fate with that of the people – God, if You are going to blot their names out, blot mine as well (Exodus 32:31). Such selfless, sacrificial praying was effective as Moses interceded for God’s people.
In our study I asked those present why Moses was so effective in praying. Many things were offered – his honesty, his self-sacrifice, his willingness to persevere. I focused on a brief interlude between the second and third intercessions, found in Exodus 33:7-11. I see this as a parenthetical section, helping us to understand that the strength of Moses’ intercession comes from his intimacy with God. The verses speak of a “tent of meeting” where Moses would go regularly to spend time with God. His habit was so well known that the Hebrew people would see him go to the tent and they would worship at their own tents as the cloud representing God’s presence rested on the tent of meeting. Obviously Moses was able to be bold, authentic, intimate, and effective because of the time he spent with God in that tent.
I have thought a lot of the tent of meeting and have tried to figure out where mine needs to be. I recognize how easy it is to come to God with a list of requests but shortchange things when it comes to just being in God’s presence. Purposely and intentionally pushing away from everything else that gnaws at us or demands out attention can be difficult. Just spending time in God’s presence, praying His Word, listening and stilling oneself in His presence, can be a challenge. Even so, we all need a tent of meeting.
I suppose I have several places where my tent of meeting might be, but I find myself sitting on the floor in my office behind some short file cabinets near the preaching and pastoral care section of my library. If my secretary came in and saw me there, she probably would think I was just checking a book out, but God knows that this place seems to be a place I can still my mind and listen to His voice. Maybe there is some symbolism in it all – if I am to effectively proclaim God’s Word and minster/intercede for the people God has placed in my care, I need to spend time in the tent of meeting.
What about you – where is your tent of meeting?
Of course, all of us would like to be able to pray prayers of intercession like Moses did. We often miss the fact that Moses’ intercession put God’s people even before himself. At one point he ties his own fate with that of the people – God, if You are going to blot their names out, blot mine as well (Exodus 32:31). Such selfless, sacrificial praying was effective as Moses interceded for God’s people.
In our study I asked those present why Moses was so effective in praying. Many things were offered – his honesty, his self-sacrifice, his willingness to persevere. I focused on a brief interlude between the second and third intercessions, found in Exodus 33:7-11. I see this as a parenthetical section, helping us to understand that the strength of Moses’ intercession comes from his intimacy with God. The verses speak of a “tent of meeting” where Moses would go regularly to spend time with God. His habit was so well known that the Hebrew people would see him go to the tent and they would worship at their own tents as the cloud representing God’s presence rested on the tent of meeting. Obviously Moses was able to be bold, authentic, intimate, and effective because of the time he spent with God in that tent.
I have thought a lot of the tent of meeting and have tried to figure out where mine needs to be. I recognize how easy it is to come to God with a list of requests but shortchange things when it comes to just being in God’s presence. Purposely and intentionally pushing away from everything else that gnaws at us or demands out attention can be difficult. Just spending time in God’s presence, praying His Word, listening and stilling oneself in His presence, can be a challenge. Even so, we all need a tent of meeting.
I suppose I have several places where my tent of meeting might be, but I find myself sitting on the floor in my office behind some short file cabinets near the preaching and pastoral care section of my library. If my secretary came in and saw me there, she probably would think I was just checking a book out, but God knows that this place seems to be a place I can still my mind and listen to His voice. Maybe there is some symbolism in it all – if I am to effectively proclaim God’s Word and minster/intercede for the people God has placed in my care, I need to spend time in the tent of meeting.
What about you – where is your tent of meeting?
Monday, October 12, 2009
Just Quotes
My wife and I flew out to Phoenix this past week to visit our daughter and son-in-law. We had a great time eating ourselves into oblivion, walking their dog Sydney, watching movies, playing cards and the Wii, and even climbing a mountain (it was an easy trail, no big deal). On the trip out and back I did a little reading – John Ortberg’s book, Love Beyond Reason, and Dave Gibbons’ book, The Monkey and the Fish. Ortberg’s book is warm and encouraging, and Gibbons’ book is challenging – let me share a few quotes from each.
From Ortberg –
“As Lewis Smedes put it, it may be a very bad thing that I needed God to die for me, but it is a wonderful thing that God thinks I’m worth dying for.”
“Love notices. Love listens. Love remembers.”
“The secret is to be so filled with the life of Jesus that in touching the world, instead of its infecting us, we infect it.”
“If there is one way that human beings consistently underestimate God’s love, it is perhaps in his loving longing to forgive.”
“The church is a place for people who need do-overs. That is what God does.”
From Gibbons –
“Jesus is the trickiest part of the Christian faith to understand and the most difficult part for churches to keep alive.”
“You can be a church and lose your perspective on what activities are truly valuable.”
“The issue is not just sharing our message but becoming the message... And since our message is Jesus’ message – the extravagant love of God for a needy world – the stakes could not be higher.”
In reaction to a church member’s acknowledgment that he had gone into enormous debt to get things, having a picture of a BMW on his desk that he wanted to buy – “I asked myself, ‘What is my BMW? What picture have I placed on my desk? What really motivates me to do the things I do?’”
Just quotes... but inasmuch as they continue to be on my mind, maybe they are far more.
From Ortberg –
“As Lewis Smedes put it, it may be a very bad thing that I needed God to die for me, but it is a wonderful thing that God thinks I’m worth dying for.”
“Love notices. Love listens. Love remembers.”
“The secret is to be so filled with the life of Jesus that in touching the world, instead of its infecting us, we infect it.”
“If there is one way that human beings consistently underestimate God’s love, it is perhaps in his loving longing to forgive.”
“The church is a place for people who need do-overs. That is what God does.”
From Gibbons –
“Jesus is the trickiest part of the Christian faith to understand and the most difficult part for churches to keep alive.”
“You can be a church and lose your perspective on what activities are truly valuable.”
“The issue is not just sharing our message but becoming the message... And since our message is Jesus’ message – the extravagant love of God for a needy world – the stakes could not be higher.”
In reaction to a church member’s acknowledgment that he had gone into enormous debt to get things, having a picture of a BMW on his desk that he wanted to buy – “I asked myself, ‘What is my BMW? What picture have I placed on my desk? What really motivates me to do the things I do?’”
Just quotes... but inasmuch as they continue to be on my mind, maybe they are far more.
Monday, September 28, 2009
A Father and Son Conversation
I am finding the idea of a blog to be interesting, especially since I am not sure who all will read this. I imagine that visitors to the site might check it out, along with a few members -- perhaps with time that will change. My son was the first to write a comment -- and today being a typical Monday we sent a few emails back and forth. Surprise of surprises -- this is my blog for the day, a conversation between father and son.
Chad – I am enjoying listening to Dad’s sermon on marriage from August 2nd! I tell you, it’s much easier to listen when you don’t have to sit through hymns first, and when you can see how much time he has left on his sermon on the iPod.
Dad – So you are counting the minutes until the sermon is over? It should sound familiar -- reflective of what I said at your wedding. Have a great week! Love, Dad
Chad – Ha! No, but it was just funny to realize I could see how much more was left. J Can’t d0 that in church! Sara and Li Kwen will be able to continue listening to your sermons now if they want! I think this will be a really good thing to have your sermons as MP3s. Did you see I commented on your blog?
Dad – I did see -- I don't have the hang of the blog yet, nor do I know who in the world is going to read it. If I had a "following" I might do more with that -- I am uncertain how to "market" it or if it is ready to be marketed -- but we will see.
Chad – Post about it on Facebook and see who shows up. You’d be surprised at how many people read blogs.
Dad – That means I will have to work hard to say something meaningful... not something I do very well on a Monday morning...
Chad – Well, a blog is not necessarily a place where finished things live. You can grapple with things on them, get people to weigh in on things, share stories, humor, happenings, etc. It’s a good way to keep a record of things.
Dad – Yeah, maybe I suffer under the notion that as pastor I have to have everything figured out and others need simply to say, "Oh, how wise you are!" -- at least, I think that is what some of my church folks expect -- or maybe I just think they expect it.
Chad – You can be wise and still not have everything figured out. J I think you’re a “wise guy” in the best way possible.
Dad – So maybe I will just use this series of correspondences as my blog for the day, the dialogue between father and son on a Monday
Chad – You sure could!
And now I have!
Chad – I am enjoying listening to Dad’s sermon on marriage from August 2nd! I tell you, it’s much easier to listen when you don’t have to sit through hymns first, and when you can see how much time he has left on his sermon on the iPod.
Dad – So you are counting the minutes until the sermon is over? It should sound familiar -- reflective of what I said at your wedding. Have a great week! Love, Dad
Chad – Ha! No, but it was just funny to realize I could see how much more was left. J Can’t d0 that in church! Sara and Li Kwen will be able to continue listening to your sermons now if they want! I think this will be a really good thing to have your sermons as MP3s. Did you see I commented on your blog?
Dad – I did see -- I don't have the hang of the blog yet, nor do I know who in the world is going to read it. If I had a "following" I might do more with that -- I am uncertain how to "market" it or if it is ready to be marketed -- but we will see.
Chad – Post about it on Facebook and see who shows up. You’d be surprised at how many people read blogs.
Dad – That means I will have to work hard to say something meaningful... not something I do very well on a Monday morning...
Chad – Well, a blog is not necessarily a place where finished things live. You can grapple with things on them, get people to weigh in on things, share stories, humor, happenings, etc. It’s a good way to keep a record of things.
Dad – Yeah, maybe I suffer under the notion that as pastor I have to have everything figured out and others need simply to say, "Oh, how wise you are!" -- at least, I think that is what some of my church folks expect -- or maybe I just think they expect it.
Chad – You can be wise and still not have everything figured out. J I think you’re a “wise guy” in the best way possible.
Dad – So maybe I will just use this series of correspondences as my blog for the day, the dialogue between father and son on a Monday
Chad – You sure could!
And now I have!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Website changes
The pastor's blog is a new addition to our website and one I am looking forward to using. Our site administrator, Rob Hribar, has made a number of changes on our web page to make it easier to navigate and to be more user friendly to those who make their first visit. My hope and prayer is that this may be just one more way that we can impact the lives of those visit our site.
Hebrews 12:15 in the NIV has weighed on my mind all week. Though I have read it many times, only recently did the first part of the verse have such impact -- "See to it that no one misses the grace of God." That is truly my desire and the desire of the First Baptist Church family -- we don't want anyone to miss out on the grace of God found through the Lord Jesus, and so we are on the look out for ways to make connections with people, build relationships, and share God's love.
Hebrews 12:15 in the NIV has weighed on my mind all week. Though I have read it many times, only recently did the first part of the verse have such impact -- "See to it that no one misses the grace of God." That is truly my desire and the desire of the First Baptist Church family -- we don't want anyone to miss out on the grace of God found through the Lord Jesus, and so we are on the look out for ways to make connections with people, build relationships, and share God's love.
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