But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Cor 4:7
I am quirky. The other day my writer’s group unearthed my inability to read before audiences. A panic attack melted my voice to a muddy puddle. My joys are to preach, evangelize crowds, pray in public, but please don’t ask me to read. On the way home, I slammed the steering wheel and expelled a primal growl that loosely translated: “Why Lord, why?”
Jesus absorbed my hostile venting into His serene smile. Then He tripped a memory-switch in my head: “Treasure in jars of clay”. While that phrase rattled in my noggin, the Lord made no bones about reminding me I am of earthen mud. Public reading is only one of many things I can’t do. I can’t solve other’s pain, can’t live entirely pure, can’t take wing like a bird, and can’t call a world into existence by my words. So what if public reading expels the contents of my bladder involuntarily? This gets added to the lengthy list of inadequacies where His grace will suffice. If He can do things like hold the stars in their place and erase my sin, it is no big deal to provide for a little public reading.
Exodus says Moses couldn’t speak well (14:10). Galatians implies Paul was nearly blind (6:11). Paul elaborates, “There was given me a thorn in my flesh” (2 Cor 12:7). If Paul’s singular weakness was a thorn then I must have rolled in the cactus patch. But I had barked a question, and God would not leave it unanswered. He showed me the many things I can’t do to clear the way for an encounter with what He can do. Mine will be the thrill of experiencing precisely how He provides for my inadequacies. Instead of slamming my hands in anger, I should clap them in anticipation of what my King is about to do.
Prayer: Father, with joy I release my weakness into Your strength.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
King Jesus
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. Rev 5:13-14
I have a confession. In the midst of my deepest worship, I fret over which part of the Trinity to pray to. Will I offend God by exclusive devotion to His Son; how does it make Father and Son feel when I yearn for only the Spirit’s presence? If I peek into the Holy of Holies (Ezek 3:12; Heb. 1:3; Rev 22:1), my concern is revealed to be more needless human anxiety. All three share the same throne, side-by-side. The Three in One, God the Father, Jesus the Son, Holy Spirit; perfect harmony, intertwined unity, eternal accord. Any praise to one is absorbed with joy by all three. By their unity I am freed to worship as I will.
Personally, I can best picture Jesus so I often worship Him alone. Holding nothing back, I hurl my being before the feet of King Jesus. Jesus, the object of all my yearning and of everything I hope to encounter. I see Him standing amidst His many lovers, billowing robe crossed by a sash of gold, a wholly attractive son of man with flame-white hair lofting around a rainbow-luminescent face (Rev 1:12-16; Ezek 1:26-28). It is a mental image worth holding onto until it is fulfilled.
On the day of my completion my spirit will rise out of this flesh—a butterfly free of its worm-cocoon. I will soar in ecstasy up to the dais and gape before the splendor of Jesus. His supernova radiance will not cause blindness and I will drink thousands of penetrating beams into my spirit-body and feel them as brilliant points of excitement, knowledge, peace, wholeness, and joy blended one and all into the truest definition of love. Oh come, Lord Jesus!
Prayer: With my face on the ground I worship you King Jesus.
I have a confession. In the midst of my deepest worship, I fret over which part of the Trinity to pray to. Will I offend God by exclusive devotion to His Son; how does it make Father and Son feel when I yearn for only the Spirit’s presence? If I peek into the Holy of Holies (Ezek 3:12; Heb. 1:3; Rev 22:1), my concern is revealed to be more needless human anxiety. All three share the same throne, side-by-side. The Three in One, God the Father, Jesus the Son, Holy Spirit; perfect harmony, intertwined unity, eternal accord. Any praise to one is absorbed with joy by all three. By their unity I am freed to worship as I will.
Personally, I can best picture Jesus so I often worship Him alone. Holding nothing back, I hurl my being before the feet of King Jesus. Jesus, the object of all my yearning and of everything I hope to encounter. I see Him standing amidst His many lovers, billowing robe crossed by a sash of gold, a wholly attractive son of man with flame-white hair lofting around a rainbow-luminescent face (Rev 1:12-16; Ezek 1:26-28). It is a mental image worth holding onto until it is fulfilled.
On the day of my completion my spirit will rise out of this flesh—a butterfly free of its worm-cocoon. I will soar in ecstasy up to the dais and gape before the splendor of Jesus. His supernova radiance will not cause blindness and I will drink thousands of penetrating beams into my spirit-body and feel them as brilliant points of excitement, knowledge, peace, wholeness, and joy blended one and all into the truest definition of love. Oh come, Lord Jesus!
Prayer: With my face on the ground I worship you King Jesus.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Sermon – The Holy Spirit, Our Best Friend --Sept. 18, 2005
Intro
Last week we spoke about walking in the strength of the Holy Spirit to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. But what does it mean to walk in the Holy Spirit? There is a great amount of mystery and confusion about the Holy Spirit and so it seems good that we should spend some time discussing the Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit Timeline
If we take this chronologically we can go back to the very beginning of time in the book of Genesis.
Gen 1:1-2
1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
So far we can see that God was present, and His Spirit was present in the beginning. But there was actually One other who was present.
Gen 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,…”
To whom is God speaking when He uses the plural? Here is the answer:
John 1:1-3
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Down in verse 14 we find out Who the Word is:
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the Word. So present in the beginning were God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Spirit-filled Patriarchs
Fast-forward on our timeline to the time of Moses. Here we find that the Holy Spirit helped Moses and some select leaders in a special way.
Num 11:16-17
16 The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.
All through the Old Testament we find special people filled with God’s Spirit to perform special tasks. Here are a couple more of many examples:
Judg 6:34
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.
Samson:
Judg 14:6
The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat.
King David also enjoyed the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life. He was grieved at the thought his sin would bar him from God’s Spirit.
Ps 51:11
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Prophecy of Filling
Fast forward again to the time of the prophets. Ezekiel foresaw that God would one day give His Holy Spirit to all who followed him.
Ezek 36:24-27
24 "'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Enter Jesus
Next comes a critical point on our timeline; the advent of Christ. From this point forward all who come to Christ will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38-39
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call."
Part of the confusion on the Holy Spirit is a false teaching that unless we speak in tongues or have some spectacular experience we don’t have the Holy Spirit. Yet Paul said:
1 Cor 12:27-31
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Paul was saying not everyone would have supernatural gifts. I personally don’t reject all present day demonstrations of supernatural gifts. I also think it is not important what I think on this subject. In light of Jesus’ passion for our unity, it is a tragedy the church has polarized into groups who do use gifts and groups who do not. The Holy Spirit lives in all Christians, whether or not there are supernatural demonstrations. Many passages promise the Spirit to all believers.
Luke 11:13
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Rom 5:4
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
1 Cor 6:19-20
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
Eph 1:13-14
13 Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.
Titus 3:5-7
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior
You Have the Holy Spirit
You may not feel you have ever experienced anything from the Holy Spirit. But you heard the Holy Spirit speaking when you first responded to the gospel.
1 Peter 1:12
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
According to this verse, whoever first shared the gospel with you was speaking by the Holy Spirit. And when you opened your heart to God’s truth it was the Holy Spirit speaking to you and saying, “I know you can hear me. Don’t harden your heart.”
Heb 3:7-8
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
That was the Holy Spirit drawing you. And when you were in a difficult conversation with somebody and didn’t know what to say, but suddenly you spoke the Lord’s truth—that was the Holy Spirit giving you words.
Mark 13:11
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
When you needed to understand a spiritual truth or recall the words of Jesus, the Holy Spirit spoke to you.
John 14:25-26
25 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Our Friend
The name Counselor in this passage is translated Comforter in the King James Version and the Helper in the New American Standard. The original Greek word is Paraclete, which means one who is called alongside. Listen for that same word in this passage:
John 14:16-18
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Notice that last phrase, “I will come to you.” Jesus is plainly telling us He comes to us in the form of the Holy Spirit; He comes alongside; He lives in us.
The World only believes in that which it can see. God’s Spirit is invisible and so unbelievers don’t accept that an external Helper is with us. Jesus told Nicodemus:
John 3:5-8
"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
Let It Blow
You and I are to allow ourselves to be blown by the Spirit; to be changed and moved by Him. In fact, listen to Paul:
1 Thess 5:19-21
19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything.
Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; let Him blow full strength across your soul. However, notice it also said to test everything. Let’s use an analogy to demonstrate this point. An Aeolian harp is a musical instrument made so that the wind blowing across the strings causes a kind of singing. But to get the box to vibrate with sound it must be carefully placed where the wind is strong. They are often placed in windows or doorways that are slightly opened to create a rush of air.
We must place our hearts where they can be strongly blown by the Holy Spirit. Places like meditation, fellowship, prayer, and singing are the best for the wind of the Spirit. But it is absolutely essential to test what we hear from our hearts against the written Word if God. Sometimes it is our hearts that are out of tune, other times it is an evil spirit blowing instead of the Holy Spirit.
1 John 4:1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.
The simple test is to listen for harmony between the Spirit blowing on our hearts and the music of the Bible. Those two sources will always be in agreement, always in harmony.
Now is the Time
Can you imagine if Jesus were still here on Earth? What questions might we get answered and what clarifications could He make? But Jesus knew the time we now live in, with the Holy Spirit in us, was more important than even if He Himself were to stay on earth:
John 16:7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
You and I have the blessing of living in the best possible time, with the best possible Friend right alongside of us. Let us take full advantage and allow the Spirit to blow strongly on our hearts and to listen to His harmony with the Word; after all, as we saw a moment ago, they have been One since the beginning.
Prayer
2 Cor 13:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Last week we spoke about walking in the strength of the Holy Spirit to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. But what does it mean to walk in the Holy Spirit? There is a great amount of mystery and confusion about the Holy Spirit and so it seems good that we should spend some time discussing the Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit Timeline
If we take this chronologically we can go back to the very beginning of time in the book of Genesis.
Gen 1:1-2
1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
So far we can see that God was present, and His Spirit was present in the beginning. But there was actually One other who was present.
Gen 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,…”
To whom is God speaking when He uses the plural? Here is the answer:
John 1:1-3
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Down in verse 14 we find out Who the Word is:
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the Word. So present in the beginning were God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Spirit-filled Patriarchs
Fast-forward on our timeline to the time of Moses. Here we find that the Holy Spirit helped Moses and some select leaders in a special way.
Num 11:16-17
16 The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.
All through the Old Testament we find special people filled with God’s Spirit to perform special tasks. Here are a couple more of many examples:
Judg 6:34
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.
Samson:
Judg 14:6
The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat.
King David also enjoyed the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life. He was grieved at the thought his sin would bar him from God’s Spirit.
Ps 51:11
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Prophecy of Filling
Fast forward again to the time of the prophets. Ezekiel foresaw that God would one day give His Holy Spirit to all who followed him.
Ezek 36:24-27
24 "'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Enter Jesus
Next comes a critical point on our timeline; the advent of Christ. From this point forward all who come to Christ will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38-39
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call."
Part of the confusion on the Holy Spirit is a false teaching that unless we speak in tongues or have some spectacular experience we don’t have the Holy Spirit. Yet Paul said:
1 Cor 12:27-31
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Paul was saying not everyone would have supernatural gifts. I personally don’t reject all present day demonstrations of supernatural gifts. I also think it is not important what I think on this subject. In light of Jesus’ passion for our unity, it is a tragedy the church has polarized into groups who do use gifts and groups who do not. The Holy Spirit lives in all Christians, whether or not there are supernatural demonstrations. Many passages promise the Spirit to all believers.
Luke 11:13
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Rom 5:4
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
1 Cor 6:19-20
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
Eph 1:13-14
13 Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.
Titus 3:5-7
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior
You Have the Holy Spirit
You may not feel you have ever experienced anything from the Holy Spirit. But you heard the Holy Spirit speaking when you first responded to the gospel.
1 Peter 1:12
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
According to this verse, whoever first shared the gospel with you was speaking by the Holy Spirit. And when you opened your heart to God’s truth it was the Holy Spirit speaking to you and saying, “I know you can hear me. Don’t harden your heart.”
Heb 3:7-8
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
That was the Holy Spirit drawing you. And when you were in a difficult conversation with somebody and didn’t know what to say, but suddenly you spoke the Lord’s truth—that was the Holy Spirit giving you words.
Mark 13:11
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
When you needed to understand a spiritual truth or recall the words of Jesus, the Holy Spirit spoke to you.
John 14:25-26
25 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Our Friend
The name Counselor in this passage is translated Comforter in the King James Version and the Helper in the New American Standard. The original Greek word is Paraclete, which means one who is called alongside. Listen for that same word in this passage:
John 14:16-18
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Notice that last phrase, “I will come to you.” Jesus is plainly telling us He comes to us in the form of the Holy Spirit; He comes alongside; He lives in us.
The World only believes in that which it can see. God’s Spirit is invisible and so unbelievers don’t accept that an external Helper is with us. Jesus told Nicodemus:
John 3:5-8
"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
Let It Blow
You and I are to allow ourselves to be blown by the Spirit; to be changed and moved by Him. In fact, listen to Paul:
1 Thess 5:19-21
19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything.
Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; let Him blow full strength across your soul. However, notice it also said to test everything. Let’s use an analogy to demonstrate this point. An Aeolian harp is a musical instrument made so that the wind blowing across the strings causes a kind of singing. But to get the box to vibrate with sound it must be carefully placed where the wind is strong. They are often placed in windows or doorways that are slightly opened to create a rush of air.
We must place our hearts where they can be strongly blown by the Holy Spirit. Places like meditation, fellowship, prayer, and singing are the best for the wind of the Spirit. But it is absolutely essential to test what we hear from our hearts against the written Word if God. Sometimes it is our hearts that are out of tune, other times it is an evil spirit blowing instead of the Holy Spirit.
1 John 4:1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.
The simple test is to listen for harmony between the Spirit blowing on our hearts and the music of the Bible. Those two sources will always be in agreement, always in harmony.
Now is the Time
Can you imagine if Jesus were still here on Earth? What questions might we get answered and what clarifications could He make? But Jesus knew the time we now live in, with the Holy Spirit in us, was more important than even if He Himself were to stay on earth:
John 16:7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
You and I have the blessing of living in the best possible time, with the best possible Friend right alongside of us. Let us take full advantage and allow the Spirit to blow strongly on our hearts and to listen to His harmony with the Word; after all, as we saw a moment ago, they have been One since the beginning.
Prayer
2 Cor 13:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
The Ulysses Maneuver
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen. Rom 1:25The trick was to blow a kiss to the planetary giant called Jupiter, exploit her gravity, and be flung beyond. Launched from the space shuttle Discovery in 1990, the Ulysses spacecraft approached the massive layered marble rolling across the black reaches of space. But could Ulysses break free of a pull 1,000 times that of Earth? As he rounded out his dip into Jupiter’s orbit, he felt her allure of pink, rust-red, and beige dust swirls teasing of glorious mysteries below. At exactly the right moment Ulysses turned his eyes from her beauty and with a blast of his rockets set a trajectory for the Sun. What does Ulysses teach about spiritual life?
God created earthly gifts for us to enjoy. Each has its gravitational pull. The hazy-warm rays of a sunrise in spring, the tongue delights of an hors d'oeuvre, the soaring escape of a symphony; they draw on us saying, “More? Do you want more; to get closer?” No matter how wholesome gifts begin, without moderation they can be misused and made an end to themselves. They would keep us in their orbit forever where we miss the far greater wonder of encountering their Creator.
A beautiful woman, a delectable meal, a vintage wine, or anything for which I can find an appetite, the Ulysses maneuver applies to them all. The blast used to jump orbit is a simple concept shift. When the attraction tugs, I tell myself if Jesus can make something so exquisite then He Himself is exponentially more breathtaking. I turn all my attention to Him. He is the fulfillment of the passion for whatever Jupiter was holding me. I shear away and worship the creative qualities of my Lord. I do it until I feel the gravity of the created thing release its pull.
Prayer: Father, fix my trajectory on the true Son.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Sermon –What is Required Sept. 11, 2005
Intro
God has been blessing me over the last few weeks with the beauty and the simplicity of the gospel. I often over-complicate the Christian life. I wrestle with God’s will. I agonize over difficult Bible passages. I vacillate on my commitment. The Lord put a straightforward and simple verse under my nose. He brought it to me on multiple occasions and in various ways so I know I’m supposed to talk about it today. Here it is:
Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Three things are required for a successful Christian life and here they are:
Act Justly
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly with God
Let’s go through them one at a time.
Act Justly
To act justly is to treat others with fairness and integrity. It seems there are two standards for justice today. The first, and by far the most popular, is comparing my actions to what others would do. How the average person behaves becomes my guide. If the average person would fudge a little on their income taxes, then it is okay for me. If the average person fails to disclose a problem with a car they are selling then it must be okay for me also. If most others speed when they are running late, then I can, too.
The second standard is WWJD. What would Jesus do? What would He want me to do? To use the second standard we must be very confident God will honor our just acts. By nature we are self-preservationists. We look out for ourselves. If it will help me to tell a white lie, then I tell it. God is asking us to overcome our self-preservation instinct and trust Him to cover our backside. Act justly even if it does not benefit me and trust God to see and reward in His time.
When I owned a business several years ago we were printing paychecks for hundreds of employees each week. At the end of the month the accounting department would find errors in the prior checks. Usually it was only a few cents or dollars. My dilemma was, do we admit these errors or just keep going. We could admit them and return underpayments to employees and vendors but we would never get money back if the mistake went the other way. So was it best to ignore the mistakes and assume the pluses would eventually equal the minuses? We could adopt the standard of our competitors. I was active in the trade leadership of our industry and I knew most other companies never corrected costly mistakes unless someone else caught it. But I believed in the second standard; that God honored justice and He would somehow make us whole even when we returned all mistakes in favor of others but ate the mistakes made against us.
To act justly in every life circumstance is difficult yet it is to be our goal.
Love Mercy
The next requirement listed in Micah 6:8 is to love mercy. In the Old Testament this word is checed. It is pronounced kheh'-sed and I remember it well because it was on every exam given by my Old Testament History and Theology professor. He never missed an opportunity to say it in class and spray the front row with spit on the khec sound. He taught us it was the most important word in the Old Testament because it was a running theme that demonstrated God’s mercy down through history. He was so right. Without mercy every one of us in this room would be dead ducks; we would be cursed for eternity. God’s mercy is the most important reality of our lives.
We are to love mercy in two ways. First we are to love the mercy shown to us. We have talked about the degree of our sin in previous sermons. You may recall I said, “Take heart you are a bigger sinner than you thought.” Sin is not just the Ten Commandments of idolatry, using God’s name cheaply (as we talked about last week), honoring mother and father, murder, adultery, stealing, lying, coveting; no - sin is any impure thought or word. It is any kindness or grace left undone. I don’t know about you but by this standard I am a sinner through and through.
I am like the old man who prayed, “Lord, here I am your faithful servant. I am trying hard not to sin today. I haven’t been unkind, I haven’t coveted, and I haven’t lied. But then, I haven’t gotten out of bed yet.”
My sin is no small thing; but God’s grace is not small either.
Mic 7:18-20
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be true to Jacob,
and show mercy to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our fathers
in days long ago.
Don’t you love God’s mercy? But the other part of loving mercy is to show mercy to others. How small of us to accept God’s mercy and then fail to extend mercy to others. Jesus was particularly hard on those who used a double standard regarding mercy: one for themselves and another for others. Recall the parable of the forgiven servant who would not forgive his fellow. We studied that a few weeks back when we used the scales of forgiveness. Jesus was very clear on this subject. He said:
Matt 6:14-15
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
He who burns the bridge of mercy destroys the very bridge he himself must walk over if he is to reach God.
So why are we so slow to pardon others? It is because once we have acted justly as we talked about, it seems unfair that others should be allowed to be unjust. The gap in that logic is no one ever acts unjustly and goes unnoticed. God sees all. God is keeping track. That is His job. It is not ours. We are not the judge or even the accountant. The one who loves mercy will hate sin, and the effects of sin, even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh, as Jude puts it. But the lover of mercy will busy himself with begging mercy for the sinner and leaving God to the task of deciding who gets punished and how much.
One of the reasons the church of Jesus is not much larger and well attended is because we have not loved mercy toward others. When a street person, or drug addict, or prostitute, or a gay comes into our circle, we shrink. “Eeeuw, that person is involved in heinous sin. I can’t condone that behavior by talking to them.” We need to love on sinners and demonstrate God’s mercy to them.
I heard of a church where the pastor invited a gang of bikers to attend. When the church ladies heard about it they approached the pastor and asked him where he intended the bikers to sit. The pastor said, “Well, I guess we’ll have to ask them to sit between the gossipers, the busybodies, and the bigots.”
May we commit together to love mercy and leave the judging to God.
Walk Humbly With God
Boy do I fall down a lot here; both on the walking with God part and the humility part. God has gently but firmly prodded me on this one. Here are a couple of passages I must frequently pray into my life:
1 Cor 4:7
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
John 3:21
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
Every last drop of goodness you see in me, any progress in God’s kingdom, has been done through God. Any weakness or inadequacy you see in me is strictly mine. I can lay claim to all the pathetic failures.
One more passage comes to mind on the subject of humility:
Matt 18:3-4
I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
In light of Christ’s strong words I went to my two-year old grandson for advice on being childlike. I caught up with Jaden as he finished breakfast in his highchair. When asked about his future plans he replied by banging a spoon on his bowl for enjoyment of the ceramic ringing sound. Clearly this child was absorbed in the present moment and not worried about the future. Oh that I might be so trusting of my Father’s watch-care that I would relax into the present.
I asked Jaden what his joys were. The cherub cheeks puckered up as he said, “egem.” His mother interpreted this effusion as “eggs.” He loves eggs. Information from other sources revealed that Jaden also enjoys playing with trucks, balls, and loves his bath. Whatever simple joys are available are what he indulges in. This insight cuts a sharp contrast to the schemes I develop for ever increasing material possessions and pleasures.
I asked Jaden to list his accomplishments. The only reply was, “Uh-oh.” I believe the response was more reflective of his immediate challenge with eggs on his spoon then it was of chagrin for not having founded a charity, led a cause, or gained international acclaim. To cover Jaden’s modesty his mother rattled off a list: walking, sleeping all night, eating solid foods, a 250 word vocabulary. When I compared Jaden’s list to mine, the one accomplishment where he had an edge was in humbly accepting the love that surrounded him. According to what we just read from Jesus, this is the accomplishment that matters.
Simple But Hard
The Christian life really is a simple matter. It is simple, but hard. Simple enough a child can excel and come in first. But it is hard for a corrupted, unforgiving, self-sufficient adult like me to practice. Thank God even here we are not left to our own devices. God has given us the Holy Spirit to make it possible for us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.
Gal 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
I submit to you it is impossible to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly unless we are living in the strength of the Spirit. Toward that end, let’s commit here and now that every day we will call on the Holy Spirit to aid us in these three simple requirements.
Prayer
God has been blessing me over the last few weeks with the beauty and the simplicity of the gospel. I often over-complicate the Christian life. I wrestle with God’s will. I agonize over difficult Bible passages. I vacillate on my commitment. The Lord put a straightforward and simple verse under my nose. He brought it to me on multiple occasions and in various ways so I know I’m supposed to talk about it today. Here it is:
Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Three things are required for a successful Christian life and here they are:
Act Justly
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly with God
Let’s go through them one at a time.
Act Justly
To act justly is to treat others with fairness and integrity. It seems there are two standards for justice today. The first, and by far the most popular, is comparing my actions to what others would do. How the average person behaves becomes my guide. If the average person would fudge a little on their income taxes, then it is okay for me. If the average person fails to disclose a problem with a car they are selling then it must be okay for me also. If most others speed when they are running late, then I can, too.
The second standard is WWJD. What would Jesus do? What would He want me to do? To use the second standard we must be very confident God will honor our just acts. By nature we are self-preservationists. We look out for ourselves. If it will help me to tell a white lie, then I tell it. God is asking us to overcome our self-preservation instinct and trust Him to cover our backside. Act justly even if it does not benefit me and trust God to see and reward in His time.
When I owned a business several years ago we were printing paychecks for hundreds of employees each week. At the end of the month the accounting department would find errors in the prior checks. Usually it was only a few cents or dollars. My dilemma was, do we admit these errors or just keep going. We could admit them and return underpayments to employees and vendors but we would never get money back if the mistake went the other way. So was it best to ignore the mistakes and assume the pluses would eventually equal the minuses? We could adopt the standard of our competitors. I was active in the trade leadership of our industry and I knew most other companies never corrected costly mistakes unless someone else caught it. But I believed in the second standard; that God honored justice and He would somehow make us whole even when we returned all mistakes in favor of others but ate the mistakes made against us.
To act justly in every life circumstance is difficult yet it is to be our goal.
Love Mercy
The next requirement listed in Micah 6:8 is to love mercy. In the Old Testament this word is checed. It is pronounced kheh'-sed and I remember it well because it was on every exam given by my Old Testament History and Theology professor. He never missed an opportunity to say it in class and spray the front row with spit on the khec sound. He taught us it was the most important word in the Old Testament because it was a running theme that demonstrated God’s mercy down through history. He was so right. Without mercy every one of us in this room would be dead ducks; we would be cursed for eternity. God’s mercy is the most important reality of our lives.
We are to love mercy in two ways. First we are to love the mercy shown to us. We have talked about the degree of our sin in previous sermons. You may recall I said, “Take heart you are a bigger sinner than you thought.” Sin is not just the Ten Commandments of idolatry, using God’s name cheaply (as we talked about last week), honoring mother and father, murder, adultery, stealing, lying, coveting; no - sin is any impure thought or word. It is any kindness or grace left undone. I don’t know about you but by this standard I am a sinner through and through.
I am like the old man who prayed, “Lord, here I am your faithful servant. I am trying hard not to sin today. I haven’t been unkind, I haven’t coveted, and I haven’t lied. But then, I haven’t gotten out of bed yet.”
My sin is no small thing; but God’s grace is not small either.
Mic 7:18-20
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be true to Jacob,
and show mercy to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our fathers
in days long ago.
Don’t you love God’s mercy? But the other part of loving mercy is to show mercy to others. How small of us to accept God’s mercy and then fail to extend mercy to others. Jesus was particularly hard on those who used a double standard regarding mercy: one for themselves and another for others. Recall the parable of the forgiven servant who would not forgive his fellow. We studied that a few weeks back when we used the scales of forgiveness. Jesus was very clear on this subject. He said:
Matt 6:14-15
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
He who burns the bridge of mercy destroys the very bridge he himself must walk over if he is to reach God.
So why are we so slow to pardon others? It is because once we have acted justly as we talked about, it seems unfair that others should be allowed to be unjust. The gap in that logic is no one ever acts unjustly and goes unnoticed. God sees all. God is keeping track. That is His job. It is not ours. We are not the judge or even the accountant. The one who loves mercy will hate sin, and the effects of sin, even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh, as Jude puts it. But the lover of mercy will busy himself with begging mercy for the sinner and leaving God to the task of deciding who gets punished and how much.
One of the reasons the church of Jesus is not much larger and well attended is because we have not loved mercy toward others. When a street person, or drug addict, or prostitute, or a gay comes into our circle, we shrink. “Eeeuw, that person is involved in heinous sin. I can’t condone that behavior by talking to them.” We need to love on sinners and demonstrate God’s mercy to them.
I heard of a church where the pastor invited a gang of bikers to attend. When the church ladies heard about it they approached the pastor and asked him where he intended the bikers to sit. The pastor said, “Well, I guess we’ll have to ask them to sit between the gossipers, the busybodies, and the bigots.”
May we commit together to love mercy and leave the judging to God.
Walk Humbly With God
Boy do I fall down a lot here; both on the walking with God part and the humility part. God has gently but firmly prodded me on this one. Here are a couple of passages I must frequently pray into my life:
1 Cor 4:7
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
John 3:21
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
Every last drop of goodness you see in me, any progress in God’s kingdom, has been done through God. Any weakness or inadequacy you see in me is strictly mine. I can lay claim to all the pathetic failures.
One more passage comes to mind on the subject of humility:
Matt 18:3-4
I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
In light of Christ’s strong words I went to my two-year old grandson for advice on being childlike. I caught up with Jaden as he finished breakfast in his highchair. When asked about his future plans he replied by banging a spoon on his bowl for enjoyment of the ceramic ringing sound. Clearly this child was absorbed in the present moment and not worried about the future. Oh that I might be so trusting of my Father’s watch-care that I would relax into the present.
I asked Jaden what his joys were. The cherub cheeks puckered up as he said, “egem.” His mother interpreted this effusion as “eggs.” He loves eggs. Information from other sources revealed that Jaden also enjoys playing with trucks, balls, and loves his bath. Whatever simple joys are available are what he indulges in. This insight cuts a sharp contrast to the schemes I develop for ever increasing material possessions and pleasures.
I asked Jaden to list his accomplishments. The only reply was, “Uh-oh.” I believe the response was more reflective of his immediate challenge with eggs on his spoon then it was of chagrin for not having founded a charity, led a cause, or gained international acclaim. To cover Jaden’s modesty his mother rattled off a list: walking, sleeping all night, eating solid foods, a 250 word vocabulary. When I compared Jaden’s list to mine, the one accomplishment where he had an edge was in humbly accepting the love that surrounded him. According to what we just read from Jesus, this is the accomplishment that matters.
Simple But Hard
The Christian life really is a simple matter. It is simple, but hard. Simple enough a child can excel and come in first. But it is hard for a corrupted, unforgiving, self-sufficient adult like me to practice. Thank God even here we are not left to our own devices. God has given us the Holy Spirit to make it possible for us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.
Gal 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
I submit to you it is impossible to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly unless we are living in the strength of the Spirit. Toward that end, let’s commit here and now that every day we will call on the Holy Spirit to aid us in these three simple requirements.
Prayer
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
A Spiritual House
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5We descended weightless and wide-eyed into a rush-hour mix of yellow tangs, iridescent wrasses, happy triggerfish, rainbowed parrotfish, comical goatfish with their Colonel Sanders beards, and even a snowflake moray eel. Son-in-law Josh and I joined in the fishy frolic as we swam through their playground made from acres of white coral. Masses, walls, arches, and branches bloomed from the sandy floor in every direction. Enter now with me into the microscopic throb of God’s coral reef.
Each razor-sharp wrinkle and finger is made up of thousands of empty stone cells left by jelly-soft polyps now deceased. Only the colony’s outer layer houses the current generation of polyps hiding in their tiny cup-shaped skeletons. These polyps have built on the foundation of their ancestors for hundreds of years until grand coral cities are formed. By night a polyp reaches his feathery tentacle out for feeding and by day he hides his fragile body. He is unaware of his contribution to a rising, soaring, sanctuary for all manner of tropical marine life.
We wrestle through life, eke out our living, try to serve with heart, but see little accomplished. We are jelly-soft, fragile polyps. Now Christian, take this wonder in. God causes our meager existence, our infinitesimal contribution to be added to that of thousands before us, which will be built upon by those coming after, and together we rise into a spiritual house acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. A deep and awesome miracle is at work, and you and I are a part of it. We don’t see it rise or how our life-struggles contribute; nevertheless, the temple grows. It is the true structure, a sanctuary of artistic design and mastery far more solid and real than this fleshly, polyp-life would admit. We are more than meets the eye because our contribution is added in a realm yet to be seen.
Prayer: I am awed by you, our Architect.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Flighty Goals
But as for me, it is good to be near God. Ps 73:28
Mid-stride-vigor sparked my old dog. She was chasing birds like a puppy with a purpose. Instincts cheered her on: You can do it, run harder, that one is yours. The plovers merely peeped, scissored their little legs away, and—when the gap became too narrow—flew back to where the chase began. What a hoot. The golden retriever merrily spun around and redirected to other prey. Back and forth she galloped, from one bird to the next, tail riding high, a dog in her element. She was out birding with her master.
The Holy Spirit opened a wonderful truth in this scene. Those birds are like goals and ambitions. I run for all I’m worth toward a target and as the gap closes it flies to a new location. I re-group and head for another mark only to see it flutter away too. Goals rarely bring satisfaction. Objectives expand, change, or evaporate. I never catch the birds of there-don’t-you-feel-wonderful-because-you-made-it. But my instincts won’t let me sit and look on uncompleted possibilities, so I’m driven to keep up the chase.
Jesus says, “It is okay to want the finished product; I made you that way for paradise. But don’t get worked-up that, in this life, you reach and never seize. The point is not arriving; it is finding My joy through the chase. Learn from your dog. She is happy running if she never gets near a bird. Take pleasure in galloping with Me through every activity. Let go of your pride that murmurs you were made to be a solution to the world. You were not. I am the solution. Your place is as the object of My love and joy. Go romp, laugh, and grab after goals. You don’t have to win. Have fun. I’m with you. Let My presence complete you.”
Prayer: Sovereign God, my ambition is to rest in You.
Mid-stride-vigor sparked my old dog. She was chasing birds like a puppy with a purpose. Instincts cheered her on: You can do it, run harder, that one is yours. The plovers merely peeped, scissored their little legs away, and—when the gap became too narrow—flew back to where the chase began. What a hoot. The golden retriever merrily spun around and redirected to other prey. Back and forth she galloped, from one bird to the next, tail riding high, a dog in her element. She was out birding with her master.
The Holy Spirit opened a wonderful truth in this scene. Those birds are like goals and ambitions. I run for all I’m worth toward a target and as the gap closes it flies to a new location. I re-group and head for another mark only to see it flutter away too. Goals rarely bring satisfaction. Objectives expand, change, or evaporate. I never catch the birds of there-don’t-you-feel-wonderful-because-you-made-it. But my instincts won’t let me sit and look on uncompleted possibilities, so I’m driven to keep up the chase.
Jesus says, “It is okay to want the finished product; I made you that way for paradise. But don’t get worked-up that, in this life, you reach and never seize. The point is not arriving; it is finding My joy through the chase. Learn from your dog. She is happy running if she never gets near a bird. Take pleasure in galloping with Me through every activity. Let go of your pride that murmurs you were made to be a solution to the world. You were not. I am the solution. Your place is as the object of My love and joy. Go romp, laugh, and grab after goals. You don’t have to win. Have fun. I’m with you. Let My presence complete you.”
Prayer: Sovereign God, my ambition is to rest in You.
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